#i know that ‘soon.’ some complex message and that they are a band who is releasing music SOON bug the way it was presented in my dreams and

[ythankucaptainmccoy]

The Cowgirl and The Aviator Ch.2

Hope you all enjoy this next chapter. Third chapter will be out as soon as possible. This may be a slow burn fic it may not be I haven't decided yet (INSERT EVIL LAUGH HERE).

Jake couldn’t stop thinking about you even after a great night's sleep. He had even turned down the hot woman who asked to show him a good time last night at the bar. Here he stood at his kitchen counter waiting for his coffee to be finished when there was a knock at his door. He walked over trying to think who could be knocking on his apartment door this early. What he isn’t expecting is for you to be standing there in basketball shorts and a baggy band shirt. “(Y/N)?”he asks, confused. 

Then it hits him like a train. Rooster is his neighbor and you had said you were staying with him. You stood there frozen looking at his shirtless body and his shorts that were way too low to be considered decent, but you weren’t complaining. He chuckled, bringing you out of your thoughts to realize you were totally eyefucking him. “I swear I had no clue you were Bradleys neighbor, but I was wondering if I could borrow some eggs. I went to make breakfast, but he’s out of eggs”, you say. 

“Yeah come on in”, he says, turning towards the kitchen. His apartment has the same layout just backwards to Bradleys and a huge window that looks out over the beach. You watch his muscles ripple as he reaches in his fridge for the eggs. You're caught watching again when he turns toward you with the container. “Here you can take them. I have to go shopping today after work anyway”. 

“Um, thanks I swear I’ll pay you back”, you tell him. “It’s alright don’t worry about it there are only four eggs left anyway”, he responds. His smile is so genuine you can’t help but smile back at him. “Thanks”, you say as he walks you back to his front door. “Don’t hesitate to knock on my door if you ever need anything”, he says as you wave walking back to Roosters apartment.

He replays the events that had just happened, and how amazing you looked even in your sleep clothes. He imagined you standing at the stove cooking breakfast as you listened to soft music. He shook his head as he realized he has been thinking about you since last night at the bar. He needed to get his head straight as he would be training with Maverick and Rooster today. 

You had just made it back to Bradleys apartment as you heard the shower down the small hall running. You quickly cooked breakfast and had everything set when Bradley came into the kitchen. “You made breakfast?”, he questioned. “Yeah I figured it was the least I could do since you're letting me stay here”, you replied. “Well I’ll take it. Hey I have training today, but the beach is private up until the flags down at each end of the complex if you want to swim”, he explained.

“I was actually thinking about searching for a job”, you replied. “You know you don’t have to search right away”, he responds. “It’s alright besides it would be wrong of me not to help pay rent”, you state. Bradley watches you carefully as he decides on his next words. “Alright but make sure you take a job you like and that pays you. No low cut rate because I know how hard you work”, he said.

You nod along as he shovels food into his mouth saying something about how good it is. Once he finishes eating he says goodbye and heads out. You go take a quick shower and get ready to go job hunting. All day is spent trying to find a job, but none of them pan out or pay enough. By the time you get back to the apartment you decide to go for a swim in the ocean. You quickly get into your one piece bathing suit and head for the beach. 

You're so upset that by the time you reach the beach the waves are calming. You make your way and lay out a small beach chair and head towards the water. You go out and swim until you start getting pruney so you head towards the sand. Flopping down into the beach chair you lay out in the sun to tan. Your phone alerts that you had a message from Rooster asking how the job search went. 

You quickly typed a reply that you didn’t want to talk about it and that's when another text came through asking about the Hard Deck. Replying with “sure” you got up and made your way to the apartment with your towel and chair. As you headed up the stairs you dropped the chair as it clattered down the stairs. You turned to go get it when you heard someone call out that they would get it. 

It was Jake and butter you up and call you a biscuit. He was in his khaki uniform that fit him so well and when his biceps flexed to pick up the chair you swear you felt heat lick up your spine. “Thank you”, you finally respond. “You are very welcome”, he replied cockily. “I’m guessing training went well”, you said. “Of course it did”, he replied. “If you call Mav shooting you down each time then yeah it went perfect”, Bradley grouched coming from the apartment parking lot.

“Hey I saved your ass a couple times”, Jake huffed. “Look guys, no fighting alright. It sounds like we all had a shitty day and could use a break at the Hard Deck”, you interjected. “Sounds like a plan”, Jake said as he took in your bathing suit. Rooster knew Jake was undressing you with his eyes as you turned to walk towards his apartment. “Look man don’t even think about it”, Rooster hissed. Jake just smirked and handed Rooster the chair you had dropped.

You made it into the apartment and straight to the shower where you quickly got ready. This time pulling on your jeans and shirt walking towards the parking lot to wait on Bradley who was taking his sweet time. “You want a ride?” Jake asks, walking towards his truck. You looked at the apartment then back at Jake. He technically wasn’t a stranger and Bradley was still in the shower. “Yeah sure”, you reply. 

You quickly shot a text to Bradley that you were riding to the Hard Deck with Jake and you would see him there. When you got in the truck you noticed two things. The cowboy hat sitting in the back seat and the cowboy boots on the back floorboard. “Well definitely a cowboy”, you replied. “Well I am from Texas”, he laughed. He turned the truck on and turned the radio on to a country radio station. You sang along as you both made your way to the Hard Deck and Jake swore you were making it harder not to ask you out on a date. 

When you both arrived he held the door open for you as you made your way over to the others around the pool table. Nat looked at you then raised an eyebrow when she noticed you came with Hangman. “So where’s Rooster?”, she questions. “He was taking too long to get ready and Jake asked if I wanted a ride”, you explained. “Well that was very nice of him”, she tells you. You agreed as you went to the bar to grab a drink. 

Penny was surprised when you asked what the strongest drink she had was. “What happened today that made you want something that strong?”, she asked. “I went job hunting and it was a bust”, you informed her. “Well I know that there is a position here at the bar for waitressing”, she said. That being said you agreed and she took you back for you to fill out all the forms. Once all the terms were agreed upon she said she would text you your schedule and to enjoy the rest of your week.

You almost skipped to the pool table smiling happily, noticing Rooster had made it to the bar. “You seem happy. What happened? Get a guy's number?”, Nat asked. That sent Jake snapping to attention to look at you as Coyote looked between you and Jake when realization dawned on him. “Holy shit your crushin’ on Rooster’s friend”, Coyote says. Jake rolls his eyes and denies it as he continues to wait for your answer. 

“No, I got a job here as a waitress”, you gushed. Nat was happy for you as Jake relaxed and Coyote started laughing. “What's so funny?”, Rooster asked. “Oh nothing, just thinking about something that happened earlier”, Coyote responded. Jake was watching as you were now smiling and sipping your drink. When you smiled at him he couldn’t help it and smiled right back. “Oh man you got it so bad”, Coyote whispered. 

“No you're just seeing what you want to see”, Jake responded. You made your way over to the jukebox and looked through seeing the song you were looking for and pressed the numbers. “American Pie” by Don McLean played through the speakers as you sang walking back to the pool table. As the chorus hit Nat and some of the others sang along with you. Jake was watching as the squad accepted you so quickly. 

The rest of the night went great as you played a couple rounds of pool with the guys. Nat teamed up with you a couple times where you ended up beating the guys who took it with a grain of salt. When you all decided to leave you went to Bradleys bronco. “You don’t want to get a ride with Hangman?”, he asked haughtily. “I wouldn’t have gone with him if you had hurried up”, you replied angrily. 

The ride back was tense but you had to know. “Why do you hate him so much?”, you asked. “I don’t hate him, it's just that he sleeps around a lot. I don’t want you getting too close with him. We call him bagman because he always leaves us out to dry. I haven’t ever seen him have a steady relationship. He isn’t the type you take home to meet your parents”, he tells you. “I get what you’re trying to say but I can handle myself”, you reply. 

When Bradley parked the car you made your way to the apartment letting yourself in,and made your way to the kitchen to get a glass of water. “Look I’m sorry for being an ass”, Bradley stated. “I accept your apology, but I am my own person. If I make mistakes they are mine to make”, you say. He nods as you get ready for bed. Once your head hits the pillow you realize that while you were out today job searching you were going to get eggs to repay Jake. Oh well it was going to have to wait until you could get them another time.

The next morning before the sun rises you wake up in a cold sweat as you try to relax. The nightmare had felt so real, but you were miles away from home. Checking the clock you get up and put a bra on and another shirt keeping your baggy shorts on. You make your way down to the beach and walk to the edge of the water letting it lap over your feet. The water is cool and refreshing as you relax even more.

The sun starts to peek up on the horizon painting the sky such beautiful colors. That's when you spot Jake, shirtless, making his way down to the beach. He doesn’t seem to notice you as he scrolls on his ipod then starts bobbing his head to the beat coming through his earbuds. He takes off down the beach at a jog and you watch him go until you become unbalanced from your feet sinking into the sand. 

You walk a little more into the water up to mid shin letting the sounds of the ocean soothe your frayed nerves even more. You walk through the water along the beach and you don’t know how much time has passed, but you can see Jake making his way back to where he started. You caught yourself staring and you weren’t watching the water when pain wrapped itself around your ankle. You cry out in pain and kick as you realize a jellyfish has gotten wrapped around your leg.

Your thrashing must have caught Jake’s attention because as you get out of the water he is making his way to you.  “What’s going on?”, he asked. “I got stung by a jellyfish”, you inform. “Here let me help”, he says, kneeling down. He then proceeds to pick you up bridal style and walks towards the apartments. “I think I can walk”, you huff. “Best not to aggravate the site of the sting”, he says. 

He carries you as if you weigh nothing even as he climbs the stairs. He lets you open Roosters apartment then takes you straight to the bathroom. He sits you down on the counter and asks if you have any tweezers. You told him where to find them and then he helped get the remaining tentacles off and threw them away. Then he picked you up again and sat you on the side of the tub. “Now we get some hot water running to help take away the sting”, he explains as he turns on the tap.

You put your leg under the water and true to his words the sting alleviated until it was completely gone. “Thank you”, you say. “You’re welcome”, he replies with a wide smile. “So what were you doing out there so early?”, he questions. “Bad dream decided the ocean would help me relax, but seems to have only made it worse”, you laughed. He laughed with you and you had to admit his smile was so contagious.

“Now for the last part some hydrocortisone cream”, he states. He rummages around for a few minutes until he finds the cream. He bends back down patting his thigh for you to put your foot there. He applies the cream when you hear Bradley ask, “What the hells going on here”. “I got stung by a jellyfish and Jake was helping me”, you explain. He doesn’t seem to buy it until you show him the area that you got stung. Bradley shook his head then walked to the kitchen. “How about I take you out for lunch?”, Jake suddenly asked.

“I don’t know”, you said, looking back towards the door. “Just lunch, it's not a date or anything”, he explains. “Alright fine what do you have in mind?”, you ask. “There’s this place on the beach that has great burgers. I’ll drive and pick you up in an hour”, he tells you. Once you agree he sees himself out as Bradley stands in the kitchen. When you turn to him he just shakes his head and starts making a sandwich. 

You get dressed in some jeans and a tank top since the weather was calling for a warm day. You're pulling on your boots when there’s a knock on the door and no surprise Jake is on the other side. He’s in jeans, white shirt and the cowboy boots and cowboy hat you had seen in his truck. He looks like a cowgirls wet dream and you mentally kick yourself for agreeing to going to lunch. 

He opens the door to his truck and you get in smiling when he closes the door for you. The way that you have heard some of the Daggers talk about him and Rooster, this doesn’t seem like the Hangman you were told about. “Thanks for helping me with the jellyfish sting. How did you know what to do?”, you inquired. “You're welcome. I got stung a couple days after being stationed here, and an elderly woman in the apartment across the way told me what to do”, he explained.

“Well thank goodness she told you the jellyfish sting treatment secret”, you said. “Treatment secret?”, he chuckled. “Don’t make fun of me”, you joked. After a fifteen minute drive he was pulling into a parking space. It wasn’t very large, but it was very busy as Jake waved to the owner. “This is the best spot in the house”, he tells you. He pulls out a chair for you as you thank him. “It’s very cozy”, you say. 

A woman comes over to take your drink orders and from the look on her face she doesn’t seem happy to see you. “Can I take your drink order?”, she asks, more to Jake than to you. You both order sweet tea and look at the menu. “The BBQ burger is the best burger they have here”, he told you. “I’ll take your word for it”, you say. The waitress comes back with the teas and places them on the table. “Are you ready to order?”, she questions. “I know what I want”, you tell Jake and he agrees ordering the BBQ burger. 

“And what will you be having?”, she sighs. “I’ll have the same”, you reply, trying to be polite even though this woman has been nothing but rude since she asked your drink order. She walks off to put your orders in as Jake takes a sip of tea. “How did you find this place?”, you questioned. “Had a day to burn after training one day and I was driving around when I saw it. Decided to try it and been coming here ever since”, he explains. 

“I heard that Penny gave you a waitressing job at the Hard Deck”, he says. “Yeah I was hoping for a farm job, but they didn’t want to pay very well and the Hard Deck is closer to the apartment”, you explained. “Well at least I’ll be able to see you more often”, he smiles. “Yeah I bet you get tired of me within a week”, you joke. “Nah, don't think that’ll happen”, he replies. You feel your face heat up at his words.

You both continue your conversation until your food arrives. When you bite into the burger you moan at how good it tastes. Jake is shifting in his seat slightly as you tell him he was right about how good the burger was. He would never admit it and even though he hasn’t known you that long he enjoys watching you try new things. The way your face lights up with that crooked little grin and how your eyes twinkle. 

The waitress comes by with the checks and puts them down on the table. You go to grab your receipt when Jake's hand shoots out and snags it. “The check wasn’t supposed to be separate”, Jake said to the waitress. “Well it is today”, she huffs. “What's your problem”, you say before you can stop yourself. “Excuse me?”, she asks. “Ever since you came to take our drink orders you have been rude. You act like I don’t even exist at this table and you didn’t even come to ask if it was one check or two”, you explain.

Jake seemed to be getting uncomfortable as you explained. She turned to Jake, “You never paid for my food when you took me out”. Now it all made sense as the dots connected. “We only went out that one time and I told you it wasn’t going to work out”, Jake said. “Whatever, I'll put it on one check so you can pay for your whore”, she snapped. Jake looked mortified as she turned and walked away with the checks. 

“I’m so sorry if I knew she was here I wouldn’t have brought you here. She got upset when I wouldn’t sleep with her after our date. I know you probably don’t trust a word I’m saying, but I really am sorry”, he explained. You didn’t say a word as the waitress brought the check back as Jake seemed to be deflating the longer the waitress stood there waiting for the money. She took the money and stormed off as you reached across the table and squeezed his hand. “I believe you”, you told him.

When the waitress came back you looked her straight in the eye. “You know you call me a whore, but when you get upset that a man won’t sleep with ya on a first date that is a whore move. It’s probably a good thing he didn’t sleep with ya because I’m sure you probably would have given him some disease. You’re the type of girl that gives other women a bad name and yes I called you a girl because you obviously aren’t mature enough to be a woman. Stay away from Jake”, you tell her.

Jake’s jaw dropped a little at your words and when the waitress fled with tears in her eyes he couldn’t help but smile at you. “What?”, you asked. “That is the first time I have ever had a woman stand up for me like that”, he says. It breaks your heart a little to hear that, but you grab Jake's hand and walk back to the truck. When you arrive back at the apartments he walks you to the door as you thank him for lunch. “Maybe next time I can take you somewhere for lunch”, you tell him. 

“I might be available for something like that”, he replies. Once he says goodbye you go sit on the couch when two texts come in. One from Penny saying you can start Monday and another from an unknown number. The text from the unknown number just has a picture. When you open it, it's a picture of your brother's house with his kids playing out in the front yard and the caption on it reads ‘YOU MAY BE SAFE BUT THE REST OF YOUR FAMILY ISN’T’.

[ask-a-w]

Change of Plans

Summary: Newlyweds Leon and Ada Kennedy keep having their plans interrupted. Set after RE6 and follows OG canon with some RE4R lines as a shoutout. Takes place between Chapters 19 & 20 of my other story, "Life". Oneshot story and contains smut.

FF.net

AO3

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The velcro band around Leon’s arm increased in pressure dramatically, lingering for a few seconds before it loosened gradually. A series of pings sounded soon after and the doctor looked pleased. “Well, Mr. Kennedy, you have a clean bill of health, as always.”

Leon returned the smile and patiently waited for him to remove the blood pressure cuff. “Thank you. Does it mean I can be released from quarantine now?”

Dr. James nodded, “Indeed. I suppose you know the procedure, given by how many times they send you to areas with biohazard outbreaks. Please sign this and you’re free to go.”

A plastic clipboard was given to the blonde government agent and Leon scribbled ‘LSK’ in rapid succession on the dotted lines across a few pages. Already, his mind was on his beautiful wife who was waiting for him back home. 

He and Ada got hitched a few months ago and this was his third mission since the wedding. They did not even manage to go on a honeymoon thanks to his unpredictable schedule. It seemed that they were still apart despite being together at last. Was destiny mocking them? 

Leon was still thankful though, as after fifteen years, Ada reached out to him one day and explained that she had retired from espionage. The puzzle pieces quickly fell into place soon after and they settled into domestic bliss. It was only natural that they sealed the deal half a year after she moved in with him. 

The doctor stamped and endorsed the quarantine release form before nodding to his patient. Leon was at the exit within seconds. Dr. James was quite amused by the change in his patient’s behaviour after getting married. As the agent’s physician for over a decade, Leon was always patient and professional with his physical examinations before his discharge from quarantine. Since the beginning of the year though, the blonde was suddenly eager to leave as soon as possible. That’s when the doctor learned Leon was seeing someone. He did not pry into his patient’s private life but gave his congratulations when he spotted a gold wedding band on the agent’s finger during an annual physical check up. 

Protocol dictated two weeks of quarantine whenever agents encountered bioweapons. Even though Leon had never been bit, one could never be too careful. Previously, Leon enjoyed being cooped up in a room for half a month, taking some much needed downtime to himself. But now, the blonde had someone waiting for him and he grew restless. 

[txt] I’m coming home. 

Leon fired off a quick text as he got into his blue Cadillac which was a little dusty from neglect. He was re-adjusting his mirrors when a buzz sounded from his pocket and he immediately pulled out his phone. The message on the screen brought a lovestruck grin to his face. 

[txt] Excellent. Getting ready for our date. ;)

Briefly, he wondered which outfit Ada would be wearing. She had plenty of clothes that accentuated her form in all the right places. Would it be a figure hugging number or one that showed off her sexy back? Either way, his wife looked stunning in practically anything. 

Feet floored the gas pedal and Leon was barely under the speed limit as he drove down a series of familiar roads leading to the apartment complex. At least it was still the middle of the day and he did not have to be stuck in traffic. 

---------

There was someone else in his designated parking spot and the government agent became annoyed. Was it a visitor that did not read the signs? Just because he was away for a while did not mean the space was permanently vacant. Leon circled around for a moment to locate an available slot. 

Glancing at the intruder’s license plate when he got out of the car, the blonde made a mental note to file a complaint with the building’s superintendent. As he reached the elevator, he flipped open his wallet for a keycard… that was missing! Panic set in as he checked all the slots in his wallet and he quickly patted down his pockets, finding a couple of keys that were unfamiliar to him. He remembered his apartment had more keys than this…

FUCK!

Leon cursed inwardly when it finally dawned on him that they moved into a new house shortly before his latest mission. Ada needed more space and his bachelor pad was getting a bit cramped for two people so the couple purchased a nice two-storey home just near the outskirts of the city. It would take at least half an hour to drive to his new matrimonial home. 

Running back to his car, he put on his ear piece and dialled Ada’s number. 

“Hey handsome, can’t wait to hear my voice?” She teased him playfully when she answered the call. 

“Sorta. I’ll be a little late, beautiful. I accidentally drove back to my old apartment. Completely forgot that we moved.”

Ada chuckled, “It will be fine, we still have time.” 

“We might be cutting it close though. Tell you what, why don’t I meet you directly at the restaurant instead?”

His wife murmured in agreement and both said “I love you” to each other before hanging up. 

---------

Given his proximity to the establishment, Leon arrived first and waited in a private booth. Glancing at the menu, he was tempted to order cocktails but both of them would be driving back in their respective vehicles so he reconsidered his decision. 

The blonde settled on mocktails instead and instructed them to be served once his wife arrived. As for the entrees and mains, he would wait for Ada before deciding together. 

Since it was early afternoon, the lunch crowd had long since dissipated and there were only a handful of patrons, mostly tourists, lingering in the restaurant. In the solitude of his booth, Leon closed his eyes briefly to rest. Age was catching up to him and he sometimes found his energy waning in the afternoon. 

He still kept his senses peeled though, listening to the ambient noises of his surroundings. People were having small talk and waitstaff made their way around the tables and kitchen. 

Leon estimated that he was idling for fifteen minutes when he caught a whiff of his beloved’s perfume and heard the soft click of her heels emanating from behind him. Immediately, he opened his blue-grey eyes and waited for her next move. 

“Put your hands where I can see them,” Ada whispered into his ear as Leon turned his head and shot his wife a smile, remembering the time when she uttered the same words to him under different circumstances. He admired her outfit, which was a body-hugging purple turtleneck dress paired with tights and kitten heel boots. It was only after she moved in with him did he learn that she did have more colours in her wardrobe. He was always used to seeing her decked out in shades of red and it still surprised him whenever she wore something that was not her signature hue. 

Obliging her request, he placed his hands on the table, sliding further down the cushioned seat when she made a gesture to make room for her. Ada sat down beside him and pulled out his wedding band from a ring box. “Do you?” He asked before she slid the ring onto his finger and replied, “I do.” 

Whenever Leon went on missions, he left his ring at home for fear of losing it. Plus, he did not want his enemies to know he had a weakness that could be exploited. Furthermore, his physician also told him about the risk of ring avulsions and he certainly did not want to be subjected to such an injury even if he wore tactical gloves. Thus, the Kennedy couple created a small ritual of sorts between them when Leon cleared quarantine and came home. They would reaffirm their vows with Ada putting the ring back on Leon’s finger. 

Leon kissed the back of her hand and rubbed his thumb over her ring. “I’ve missed you. How have you been?”

Before she could respond, their drinks arrived. Ada nodded her thanks as she eyed the beverages. “Isn’t it too early to drink?”

“They’re mocktails, honey. Just wanted to celebrate being with you again.”

A smile perked up on her glossy red lips as she leaned in for a quick kiss. “Why, thank you. I see you have not lost your charm in quarantine.” She took a sip of the pink concoction which tasted like grapefruit and carbonated soda water. “I’ve been busy at work. Valentine has been having me detail all B.O.Ws that I’ve encountered over the years and their weak spots. I’ve also been looking through their current catalogue of known B.O.Ws and updating them for accuracy if required.”

Leon listened intently and was pleased things have been going relatively smoothly in her new job. In an unusual twist of fate, she was now a legitimate employee of the BSAA. Despite having posed as one years ago in the Eastern Slav Republic, some strings were pulled when Jill offered the position of biowarfare consultant to Ada. 

Director Jill Redfield knew a valuable asset when she saw one and even though Chris vehemently objected to Ada’s job appointment, she would rather have another qualified personnel on their side instead of losing a talent to the enemy… or whomever Ada used to work for. 

“Enough about work, what would you like to have?” Ada said when she saw her husband had nothing to add. She flipped open the menu and barely read through the appetisers when his phone rang, piercing through the silence of their booth. 

A perfectly groomed eyebrow was raised as Ada’s hazel eyes glanced down to his pocket. Leon pulled out his phone with an apologetic look and answered the call, “Kennedy here.”

Judging by the scowl on her husband’s face, it seemed his downtime would be cut short. Ada decided to glance at the menu as she let him continue the conversation. 

“Will Hunnigan be assigned?” 

There was a little pang of disappointment in Ada’s chest as that meant he was going on another mission again. But that was the nature of his job. 

“Good. I’ll be there in an hour.” Leon hung up and sighed, scrubbing his face with the palm of his hand. “I’m sorry, beautiful… Looks like it’s another few weeks away from you.”

Ada placed a hand over his and pulled it away from his handsome mug. “I’ll order something to go for you. I know you don’t like to work on an empty stomach. You can eat during briefings, right?”

He nodded solemnly as his wife tugged the wedding band off his finger. The weight of the ring brought some comfort to him and he felt naked when it was gone. At least he could wear the special watch Ada got for both of them. It was waterproof, had GPS capabilities, and could monitor some vitals. Even if his wife could not be on the field with him, she was able to track him remotely. 

The blonde leaned in to touch his forehead against hers, “I love you, Ada.” His lips met hers and he lingered for a few moments before parting. 

“Love you too, Leon.” Ada Kennedy whispered before she slid out of the booth and made her way to the cashier. She returned moments later with a receipt and spent the next few precious minutes with her spouse as he drained his mocktail. 

“I thought you were being transferred to training work… what’s taking so long?” Ada murmured as she laid her head against Leon’s shoulder. The blonde rubbed circles on his wife’s back. “Manpower shortage, unfortunately. It takes time to train someone to be competent.”

They sat in silence, enjoying each other’s company until a server walked over with a plastic bag and a plate of pasta. Leon sighed with reluctance as he eyed his food. 

“I got you a cheese steak wrap. Time for you to save the day again. Be safe, handsome.” Ada whispered as she gave him one more kiss for good luck. Leon smiled a little as he grabbed the takeout bag and headed to his car. 

His wife never took her eyes off him and only started eating when she could no longer see his car on the road. 

---------

Damn!

Leon thought to himself as the B.O.W. mutated, growing new sets of arms and chucking more debris at him. The blonde quickly vaulted over a railing and landed onto the floor below in a tuck and roll. He had to be careful now, after a rock grazed his forehead from the monster’s first wave of attacks. The skin was stinging as a bead of blood ran down his temple. 

After years of being on the field, he was no longer surprised by grotesque transformations. Instead, it annoyed him as it meant that he had to waste more time taking it down. That was precious time away from Ada. 

The B.O.W. roared when its prey went out of sight. This gave Leon time to formulate a new strategy to take it down. Even though he had enough firepower, it was not wise to waste all of them at once. 

Leon kept to the shadows as the target lumbered down the staircase. It was not quite a tyrant but not a simple zombie either. He had to observe its movements and body for any weak points before deciding his next course of action. 

The extra arms added more mass to its upper body which meant it was top heavy and slightly unstable. There also appeared to be glowing fissures on where the extra appendages attached to the main body. Grabbing his sniper rifle, Leon carefully aimed for what he assumed was a weak spot and fired. 

It yelled in pain as the fissure was torn clean through and the arm dropped to the floor. His assumption was correct! Leon waited to see if it would regenerate and to his relief, it did not. This would be easy. 

The game of cat and mouse began as the blonde ran in circles around the monster, firing off shot after shot to get rid of the extra arms. It grew weakened and more desperate as it broke into a rampage, tossing aside everything in its way, and chasing Leon down to the ground floor of the laboratory. 

When it stopped near a gas canister, Leon seized the moment by pulling the pin on his grenade and hurling it at the creature. The canister exploded in a shower of flames as the B.O.W lit up like a Christmas tree. It shrieked an ear piercing scream, movements getting all jittery as it slowly got incinerated. 

Smouldering corpse dropped to the floor and Leon spared it one last glance before continuing his mission. His report was going to be another long one. 

---------

There was so much going on around him. Yet another self-destruct sequence was triggered and the building was on fire. The surrounding air grew uncomfortably warm and the grey smoke was threatening to smother him. He was also bone tired and had a gnawing hunger in his stomach too. But Leon could not falter now, not when he was so close. His chopper ride was right in front of him as he kicked open the door and burst onto the rooftop. With a surge of adrenaline, Leon ran and leapt off the building, grabbing the ladder that dangled off the chopper. 

His arms protested in pain from the force of yanking on the ropes as he was successfully evacuated. His old shoulder wound was going to be terribly sore after this. He grunted as the winds swirled around him and he made the climb into sanctuary. 

“Aurum checking in,” Leon said as he laid on the floor of the chopper, exhausted and spent. He had new codenames for every mission and this time, he quite liked it. Not too pretentious and nothing that would give away his identity. 

Hunnigan’s voice rang in his headset, “Good job, Aurum. Glad to see you’re in one piece. Looking forward to your report.”

“Noted. I’m going to rest for a while. Do you mind letting A know I’m coming home? Aurum out.”

Hunnigan had become acquainted with Ada in the past few months and while his spouse wasn’t privy to confidential information about his missions, Hunnigan did notify her whenever Leon was coming home.

“Of course. Have a good rest, Aurum.”

Leon closed his eyes and promptly fell asleep despite how noisy the chopper’s whirring blades were. He dreamt of Ada teasing him with a coy smile before allowing him to take her into his arms. 

A nudge to his shoulder awoke Leon some time later and he found Dr. James in his protective gear kneeling over him. “I can stitch up the wound on your forehead after we run your blood work.”

Pushing himself up off the ground, the blonde agent followed his physician to the decontamination chamber and examination room. It was time to serve out his quarantine. 

---------

Fingers flew rapidly across the keyboard as Leon wrote down every single detail from his recent mission. After a good night’s sleep, he was energised enough to begin his report. When he reached a good stopping point, he decided to take a break for today. 

Glancing at his watch, he saw it was dinner time. Right on cue, the bell to his room rang. Leon opened the door and picked up the takeout box on the table just outside his room. From the scent, it smelled meaty. Barbecue or rotisserie chicken maybe? 

His thoughts went to Ada who would be on the way home from work at this hour. He would call her after he ate. It was pretty late when his preliminary medical examination concluded yesterday and he slept in this morning, leaving him no opportunity to hear her voice. They did exchange a few flirty text messages though. 

He dropped her a request to do a video call when he was done with dinner. She responded promptly and her face appeared on his screen soon after. Her hair was damp and she wore a bathrobe, looking like a beautiful vision in his eyes. 

“Hi, gorgeous. Did you just get out of the shower?”

“Hey, handsome. You called at the right time. I was going to start making some dinner,” Ada replied before doing a double take. “What happened to your forehead?”

He touched the bandage above his eyebrow. “Got hit by a rock and the skin split open. It’s not that bad.”

Ada pursed her lips as she made her way downstairs, stopping as she looked down and picked up a fluffy orange cat. “Cobalt misses you, by the way. He has been sleeping on your side of the bed.”

The cat grabbed onto the lapel of her robe, pulling it down ever so slightly and revealing the top of her cleavage. Leon blushed a little as he felt his pants tighten. “Give him a kiss for me.”

His spouse obliged and kissed the top of the ginger cat’s head before setting him down on the floor and taking a seat at the kitchen counter. 

“Everything alright so far?” 

She nodded, “Same as always.” There was a small pause as she continued, “I was thinking of having date night at home when you’re done. I don’t want to waste any more time…” His wife was looking at him all seductively as she opened up the top of her robe just a little more. 

His mouth went dry as he became lost for words. She always had that effect on him. No matter how many times they’ve made love, he would go weak in the knees when she behaved sultrily. 

“Are you blushing, Leon? It’s not the first time you’ve seen me almost naked.”

“You don’t know how alluring you are, Ada,” he replied as there was now some discomfort in his pants from the rapidly hardening erection straining against the fabric. His spouse merely leaned toward the camera and let him get a glimpse of the gap between the robe & her body. She was nude underneath and it was now borderline painful that they could not give into their passions in person. 

Ada pulled away with a smirk and began to take out leftovers from the fridge and a plate from the cabinet. “I am looking forward to our reunion. I hope you can hold out till then…”

“You definitely love to tease me.”

She just continued to smile at him. “Because you look so cute when you’re all flustered, Mr. Kennedy.”

“Hmm, I should learn to take a page out of your book then.” Leon said coyly in return as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms behind his head to show off his biceps. 

His spouse regarded him with curiosity and accepted his challenge. “I look forward to it.”

---------

Leon could smell the scent of pizza wafting from the kitchen as he entered the house. He heard the bell jingle as a flash of orange turned the corner and Cobalt trotted up to him excitedly, rubbing his legs. He picked up the ginger cat and carried him to the kitchen where Ada was tossing some salad in a bowl. She was dressed simply in a pair of pajama pants and a sweater with an apron wrapped around her torso. 

“Welcome back, handsome.” She wiped her hands on a towel and embraced her beloved, planting a quick kiss and being careful not to squish their cat. 

“Anything you need help with?” He asked as he let the cat jump out of his arms and wander off. She gestured to the cabinets, “Could you help take out the plates and utensils please?”

“Gladly.” He laid out the required items before hugging Ada from the back. She smiled once more and chided him playfully, “I can’t serve dinner if I’m trapped against a counter.” Even though she could easily free herself from this position, she allowed her husband to have some fun. 

Leon merely pressed a kiss on her temple, “Just giving you some support with my presence.” His hands rubbed her arms sensually before resting them on her wide hips, feeling the curves underneath the fabric. 

“I think you’re just trying to distract me.”

“Whatever gave you that idea?” His voice was a little husky in her ear but the moment got interrupted when his stomach rumbled. 

Ada laughed and turned around in his embrace, lightly tapping his nose, “You’ll need some energy first before you can ravish me.” Leon responded by giving her a lingering kiss before reaching behind her to grab the salad bowl. 

At least dinner was simple and easy to consume. They spent a lot of it quipping innuendoes at each other and getting a little touchy-feely. When they finally loaded the dirty dishes into the dishwasher, Leon picked up his wife by the waist and lifted her onto the island counter. Ada wrapped her legs around him instantly as he showered hot kisses on her neck and reached underneath the sweater to pull it off her hot body. 

He was fingering the straps of her red bra when his phone’s ringtone interrupted their make out session. The blonde ignored it at first as he reached behind Ada’s back to unclasp the bra, giving him a sight of her fair breasts. 

When the ringing refused to stop, Ada sighed and gently disengaged, reaching over the counter to grab his phone. The way her muscles stretched made her look incredibly sexy and he really wanted to take her right then and there. 

Holding the mobile in front of his face, Leon was forced to take the call. Once again, brows furrowed upon listening to the caller’s instructions which indicated that he had to leave his beloved Ada once more. 

“At least you got to eat this time,” his wife said when he finally got off the phone. Leon pouted as he hugged his half naked wife and gently palmed her breast. 

“I should give you something to tide you over until I return,” he murmured as his mouth descended onto her dark nipple and he gingerly scraped the bud with his teeth. Ada let out a soft moan and her fingers sought purchase within his blonde locks, tugging the hair strands when he nipped and sucked her tits the way she liked. Her nipples rapidly peaked within his talented mouth and delicious tingling sensations shot down her spine. 

His hand cupped her nether regions through her pants and his thumb lightly pressed on her clit. At least the fabric was thin enough for her to feel his touch. She bucked against him as she wanted more and he acquiesced. 

Ada’s face was flushed when Leon was done with his ministrations. “Well now I feel obligated to return the favour…” She scooted off the counter and pressed her body against him, capturing his lips once more as her hands undid his pants. 

With a tug, they sagged to his knees and Ada pushed him to sit on the dining chair before kneeling down to free his manhood from his underwear. Before he could register what was happening, he felt his wife’s warm, moist mouth engulf his length and her slick tongue licking him slowly. There was no teasing today, he was on a tight schedule after all. 

“Ada…” Leon muttered as it was now his turn to caress her hair. The blonde did not think he would miss fellatio this much but now he was slowly losing control. He felt himself hit the back of her throat and then a little further. That was new. 

Her throat contracted around his girth as she continued to suck, coaxing him towards orgasm. “Oh god…” He moaned as her tongue swiped the underside of his cock and when she took another swallow, he just lost it right then and there. 

His wife gladly licked him dry as he came and when he stopped shuddering, Ada pulled away with glee. She helped him pull up his underwear and pants before kissing him once more. Leon did not mind tasting himself on her lips as he savoured every ounce of affection she bestowed. 

“I hope that’s enough motivation to slay monsters, handsome.”

“It’s more than enough. Now I can’t wait to properly fuck you when I return,” he replied as he helped his wife get dressed. This time, he departed in much greater spirits. 

---------

Ada was getting ready to leave for work when her phone rang on the last day of Leon’s quarantine. She saw her husband’s name on the display and had a feeling it was going to be unfavourable news again. Such was the nature of being a government agent. His texts were a little sporadic this time and he was not keen on video calls. She figured he was exhausted. Going on back to back missions would be draining, after all. When he was recharged, she would be here for him. They had all the time in the world, after all. 

“Good morning, Leon,” she greeted him after swiping the screen to accept the call. 

“Morning, Ada…”

There was a long silence and she asked, “Is everything alright?”

A drawn out sigh was heard on the other end. “Do you want the good news or bad news?”

“Bad news then.”

“I need to do overtime to finish up some paperwork since I’ve been away for so long.”

Thank goodness it was not another mission. “But no fieldwork, right?”

“Mm hmm. Good news is no fieldwork and I’ll be given a few days off once I’m done with overtime.”

“At least we’ll still be in the same state,” she replied as she picked up her phone and headed out of the door. 

There was another pause, and Ada thought she heard a huff of annoyance. "I thought you’ll be a little more disappointed that our plans keep getting disrupted.” There was a tinge of bitterness in his voice. 

“That’s the nature of your job. I’ve grown to accept it when I married you, handsome.” Ada opened the door to her car and got in, strapping her phone to the holder on the dashboard and putting in her earpiece to continue the call. She turned the keys to the ignition and allowed the engine to warm up a bit. 

Leon snapped back bitingly, “I don’t think you’ve changed since marrying me, Ada.”

His outburst caught her off guard and she glared at the phone. “I won’t be spoken to like that, Kennedy. Did something happen?” The change in his demeanour was perplexing as he was in such a cheerful mood during their last meeting. He would not act like this unless the mission went south.

“Other than seeing more people die, everything’s just peachy…”

Her heart broke for him and she wished she was there personally to soothe his pain. “I’m sorry that happened to you, handsome. Is there-” She got interrupted by the hiss and pop of a can and she could hear Leon chugging it. 

“Are you drinking?” Ada asked worriedly as she pulled out of the driveway. 

He scoffed, “What are you, my mother? And shouldn’t you be a little impatient to see me instead of going to work?”

In the past, Ada would have gladly dropped everything if she was still an independent contractor but now, she was gainfully employed. She took pride in her work. 

If that was how he wanted to behave, she would not be his punching bag any longer. “I know you’re upset but I don’t appreciate that you’re taking it out on me. Until we can have a proper conversation, I am ending the call now.”

“Of course you run away,” she heard him take another swig from his beer can, “when things get dicey. You haven’t changed.”

Ada was dismayed by his response and hung up. How dare he say she did not change! Being a dutiful wife had never been on the cards when she was a spy. Didn’t he know how much he affected her life back in Raccoon City? Falling in love with Leon Scott Kennedy changed everything. 

She was tempted to exhibit some road rage but all her years of training to control her emotions prevented her from lashing out. The ex-spy merely exhaled loudly through her nose and took a deep breath, filing this incident into another part of her thoughts to revisit later. 

---------

There was radio silence from him since yesterday and Ada went about her morning with a slight emptiness in her heart.  She will not reach out to him until he apologised. 

Upon reaching the office, her supervisor, Mary, informed her that she had to go down to the DSO for a meeting since the staff who was supposed to attend it was feeling unwell. Ada took the clipboard and glanced at the meeting agenda. A frown appeared when she read her husband’s name. “Wouldn’t there be a conflict of interest? I am his spouse after all.”

Mary shook her head, “This has been cleared by the director. You are not handling any purchases or signing agreements with the DSO for this meeting. There is no COI.”

Ada remained silent with a pensive look on her face and Mary probed a bit with concern, “Trouble at home?”

She almost responded with a piercing glower out of habit. Her private life was just that, private. Instead, she gave a look that said she did not want to talk about it. Ada decided that she will conduct the meeting professionally, separating work from personal matters. 

Mary’s gaze softened. Even though Ada was known to be quite a force to be reckoned with and having nerves of steel, she could sense some form of unease radiating from her. “We could always postpone it until-”

“I will go ahead as planned,” Ada said calmly as she strode off to her desk to pack a briefcase of files and stationery.

Meanwhile, at the DSO, Leon Kennedy was feeling a headache forming at the sight of the never-ending stacks of reports piling up on his desk. Even though he worked almost non-stop yesterday, it felt like he barely made a dent in his workload. Good thing he now had a small office to himself so he could curse out loud without disturbing anyone else. 

He strode over to the window and opened it, allowing a bit of fresh air to stream in. The room was still a bit musty from weeks of disuse, after all. Almost immediately, he could hear the AC cut off thanks to him activating the window sensor. The blonde turned back to his desk and glanced briefly at the framed photograph of him and Ada on their wedding day. 

A whirlwind of emotions coursed through him. God, why did he pick a fight with her? She probably would not want to forgive him now. Going after her like that after his gruelling debriefing was a cheap shot. Sitting there and listening to his superiors berate him for the body count took a toll on his psyche. Leon really should have gotten a grip on his emotions before the phone call with his wife. 

At the same time, he wished Ada showed some neediness instead of being so level headed at his absence. It had been almost two months since they spent quality time together. Did she even miss him at all? What’s the point of being married if his wife was so unflappable? Just once, he wanted to be fawned and fussed over. 

He sighed and angled the photo slightly away from him so he would not be too distracted by his thoughts. The blonde got down to work, reading through the multitude of emails that kept entering his inbox. He tried to clear it during quarantine but his expertise was well sought after by many parties, hounding him with email after email. 

A pop up on his desktop reminded him of a  biowarfare meeting with a BSAA personnel in half an hour. He wondered who it could be, Chris or his spouse, Jill? Those were the only two people he knew from that organisation who were typically sent out to meet others.  Whoever it was, he would find out later as he squeezed in some time to reply to some urgent queries. 

A knock on his office door fifteen minutes later interrupted him and he called out, “Enter.” The door handle jiggled and one of his co-workers, Jin-hee, opened the door. 

“Hey, you have a visitor from the BSAA. I’m going to let her in, alright?”

Leon shook his head, “I appreciate her punctuality but please show her in at the appointed time. I still have some work to do.”

His colleague nodded, “I’ll just let her continue waiting in the lobby then.”

Outside at the entrance of level five, Ada sat on a bench in a prim and proper posture, exuding confidence and professionalism. Even though she acknowledged those who walked past her with a polite nod of her head, they gave her a wide berth as she exuded a vibe that indicated she was not in the mood for small talk. The DSO staff who escorted her in felt like he was going to disintegrate under her penetrating scrutiny too. 

She turned her head upon hearing footsteps rounding the corner and stood up when she saw Jin-hee. He motioned her to take a seat though. “Apologies, Mdm. Wong. I’m afraid Mr. Kennedy is still not done with his current appointment. I will escort you in at ten o’clock.”

Ada nodded in response. It was surprising how her husband was sticking so rigidly to his office schedule. He was never in a rush on the battlefield but she surmised he had a lot of paperwork to complete. Well, if it meant delaying their “get-together”, she was sure he would be relieved. Given how he did not contact her this morning, he probably wanted to avoid her… for now. 

No point dwelling on that, she ought to take the time to go through the agenda once more. It was mostly a discussion on ways to take down bioweapons and known patrons of the black market. 

She jotted down some points on the sheet when someone cleared his throat from beside her. “Pardon me, Mdm. Wong. Mr. Kennedy is ready to see you now. Please follow me.”

Meandering through the various open concept cubicles, Ada did a quick glance of the office floor. Most of the workers appeared to have their heads buried into their laptops but she could sense them peering at her from the corner of their eyes. Everyone was well trained here, including her. They were all silently sizing each other up and the ex-spy maintained her poised stance. Eventually, the atmosphere changed into a relaxed manner as they acknowledged the other party’s expertise. 

She was then led down a narrow passageway of rooms that had name plaques on them. Scanning through the names, she finally located Leon’s at the end of the corridor. 

Jin-hee knocked on the solid wooden door and called out, “Leon, the BSAA staff is here.”

“Okay. Thanks, Jin-hee.”

His colleague gestured to the door and Ada murmured a soft thanks before he scurried away. She waited till he was out of earshot before she opened it. Ada was quite certain her husband would exclaim upon seeing her and it could potentially cause a scene. 

She knocked and heard him asking her to enter. Taking a deep breath, her hand rested on the handle and she tugged it down, pushing the door forward. She was greeted by an empty chair before her eyes panned to the right where Leon Kennedy was seated. He was dapper in a light grey shirt, red tie, and a navy blue jacket. 

His eyes were still fixated on the computer screen as he was speed typing a final response on the keyboard. Ada took the opportunity to look around his office as she closed the door behind her. It was small and a bit cramped, with filing cabinets that were ajar and filled to the brim with documents. Not as neat or spacious as his home office and the air felt slightly humid and smelled a little stale too. 

The setup reminded her of old detective shows from the 50s which was not surprising, given how he used to train as a cop. If the Raccoon City incident did not happen, he could have the potential to be a sleuth now. More papers littered his desk and she noticed a photo frame angled toward a bookshelf instead of facing him. Hm, at least the photo was not face down on the table. 

The typing ended and Leon sent the email. “Sorry about that, I-” he looked up and saw his beautiful wife dressed smartly in a coral coloured two piece blazer and skirt suit. Blue-grey eyes widened in shock. “Ada? What are you doing here?!” He realised his last sentence came out a little harsher than he intended as Ada regarded him coolly. 

“I’m your ten o’clock appointment from the BSAA.”

His face must have twisted into confusion as Ada raised an eyebrow, “I am on the whitelist and have cleared security.” She strode forward and pulled out the chair in front of his desk before taking a seat. “Let’s get down to work, shall we? To keep things professional, you will address me as ‘Mdm. Wong’ and leave our personal lives out of the conversation.”

Leon had to admit that he was a tad disheartened that she was not identifying herself as ‘Mrs. Kennedy’ but nonetheless relieved she was wearing her wedding ring and did not use ‘Miss’ as a prefix. 

“… Alright then.” He made room on the desk by picking up a few stacks of files and dumping them on a stool beside the bookshelf. Ada merely opened the briefcase on her lap and laid her notes on top of it, opting to ignore the space on the table. 

That did not go unseen by Leon and he noted that his wife was probably still displeased with him. 

“Do you mind if I take off my jacket before we begin? It’s a little stuffy in here,” Ada asked as she was ready to pop the buttons off her blazer. 

The blonde knew that he would be thoroughly distracted by the tiniest hint of cleavage that peeked beneath her blouse and raised a hand. “Let me get the window for you, ma’am.” He rolled his chair back and reached behind to slam the window shut. The AC kicked in and hummed to life, blowing cold air into the room. 

“This is going to be a sharing session on B.O.W. termination methods and known individuals who patronise the black market,” Ada said as she clicked her pen. 

Leon linked his hands together on the table as he listened to her intently. “For termination, it depends on the type of bioweapon and the host. Is it a virus or parasite? Human, animal or an advanced gross mutation?”

Ada nodded in agreement, “Indeed. The common technique for humans would be a headshot, am I right?”

“Yes and not just any part of the head either. Preferably between the forehead,” he pointed to the spot above his brows. “Shooting them in the cheek just makes them look ghastlier,” Leon sniggered a little to himself as he recalled a zombie that struggled to moan while its jaw was barely hanging on. The sound it made was quite absurd, almost to the point of being funny. 

His wife still maintained a neutral expression, preferring to jot down some notes. “The same target area can be used for animals. Just that they are more mobile and harder to hit. Some are too big to be destroyed with a single bullet,” she added, remembering Leon talking about an alligator in the sewers of Raccoon City and a shark-like entity in Tall Oaks. “… and that’s where explosives come in to deliver more firepower.”

It was refreshing to see Ada work like this outside the field. So professional and charismatic with a tinge of charm. She would definitely not be out of place in a boardroom meeting. 

“Mr. Kennedy? Did you hear what I said?” Ada asked with slight bemusement. Less than five minutes and he was already spacing out?

“My apologies, could you repeat that?”

“I said that it’s a good thing that despite mosquitoes transmitting plenty of vector-borne diseases and causing a high number of human deaths yearly, there has been no evidence of them turning living things into B.O.Ws.”

The thought of that horrified him. It had never crossed his mind before. He hoped no scientist would try to turn mozzies into biohazard carriers. “Let’s hope it stays that way.”

“And that’s why any correspondence about anti-biowarfare has to be kept confidential. Don’t want people getting ideas now, do we?” She eyed him with a fleeting grin that disappeared when his stare lingered too long on her luscious, ruby red lips. “Now, do you have anything more to add for infected creatures or can we move on to advanced mutations?”

With a shake of his head, they began to discuss the methods of defeating stronger enemy types. Mainly highlighting weak points like glowing spots, fissures, joints or other things that looked out of place. 

“If there are no obvious weak spots, scientists usually leave notes lying around that provide hints on how to destroy them,” Leon cited his Regenerador example and even though he had personally recounted his side of the story to her before, Ada still wrinkled her nose in disgust, glad that she only ran into the B.O.W’s corpse back in Spain. 

“And when we have zero knowledge of how to defeat one, the best option is just to run. No point wasting precious ammunition if they cannot be stopped,” Ada replied as scribbled down more remarks on her documents. 

Leon patiently waited for her to complete her scrawls and he could not help but admire his wife, liking the way her brows narrowed ever so slightly when she was concentrating. What was their argument again?

Without looking up from her files, she said, “You’re staring.”

“I was waiting for you to finish writing before I start talking,” the blonde countered smoothly. Sometimes he forgot how well trained she was, being able to detect a person’s gaze on her without giving any indication that she was aware of their scrutiny.

Ada made a small ‘hm’ as she was finishing her notetaking. “Alright, now that we are done with bioweapons, it is time to talk about black market personnel.” 

“I guess you might know more than I do about this,” Leon replied as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.

“Doesn’t hurt to compare notes first,” she mirrored his posture too and also crossed her legs, balancing the files carefully on her lap. “And I am quite sure you are pulling knowledge from our personal life into this.”

Ada spent a lot of effort to make sure what she knew was not public knowledge, at least, not amongst government agencies. Many corrupted officials in the past were willing to keep her name off the books in exchange that the dirt she had on them would never see the light of day. 

It was obvious they were now silently challenging each other but neither side was going to yield. The awkward tension in the air was borderline uncomfortable as well. Being so formal and courteous around each other just felt so unnatural. This tiff was just getting ridiculous.

“It felt like old times for a moment there, must have slipped into my previous habit,” Leon conceded in the end, knowing he did not have more time to waste with his growing mountain of paperwork. 

“I certainly do not miss the old days,” Ada relaxed a little as well after their standoff but something in her words triggered her husband, causing those blue-grey eyes to harden, making them a few shades darker than they usually were. She was taken aback and it was reminiscent of the time he choked her when he was under a Plaga’s influence. 

Leon felt himself tapping his arms irritably as he glowered at her, “Old days huh? Is that why you didn’t miss me at all? Disappearing when everything’s calm and then re-appearing at unexpected moments.”

If looks could kill, Ada’s eyes narrowed so dangerously and Leon felt as though lasers were going to shoot out from them. She spat acidly, “Are we really doing this right now?” 

His arms loosened from his torso and they rested on the table as he nodded back at her. 

In a composed manner, Ada packed her things into her briefcase and set it on the floor with a thud. With her chin held high, her voice was strong and unwavering. “What seems to be the problem here?”

Leon had a scathing retort ready but closed his mouth as quickly as he opened it. A small, rational part of his brain urged him to be civil. His wife remained patient, cupping her hands against her knee so she would not fidget. 

After a moment, the blonde decided he was tired of locking horns with his wife and chose to confide in her, “I am upset that you don’t seem frustrated that I’ve been sent on back-to-back missions. You don’t even ask about my well-being either when I return home.” 

Ada saw the change in his posture as he hunched over slightly and his gaze turned sorrowful. She had to be gentle now. “I am sorry for hurting you, Leon,” her voice took on a delicate tone. “Do you want to hear from my perspective?” 

All Leon could do was nod in response. 

“I feel that since you’re a grown man, and an extremely capable and experienced agent, you do not need to be fussed over. If I did not care about you, I would not look at the stats from your watch every time I wake up or before I go to sleep.”

Leon turned his wrist and glanced at the sturdy watch adorning it. The watch face was black while the hands and numbers were silver. The bottom of the watch had a digital display and he remembered toggling through various functions to showcase his vitals, elevation, direction, day, etc. His wife put a lot of thought into getting a set of matching wedding gifts that she too, had a similar one on her wrist. 

“What stats do you see?” 

“I mostly look at your pulse and blood pressure to make sure you’re still alive. And your current location as well so I know you’re making progress. If there are any anomalies, I would personally find you myself. I worry about you all the time when you’re on missions.”

Leon already knew what she would say but he wasn’t completely satisfied. “Hm. And can the watch read my mood?”

Ada shook her head. It finally dawned on her what an utter fool she was. How could she have missed all the signs?

He took a breath and sighed, “While I’m physically alright… mentally, it’s a hurricane inside.”

Ada leaned forward and looked into his eyes sincerely, “I take full responsibility for how my actions made you feel unwanted… What can I do to make things right?”

“I just want to hold you,” Leon whispered as he finally relented, accepting his beloved’s apology. 

Without hesitation, Ada got up and went around his desk before plopping herself down on his lap.  His arms immediately circled her waist in a vice grip and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, burying her face into the crook of his neck. 

Leon pressed his lips against her temple, inhaling the sweet scent of her shampoo and he  was instantly comforted by her presence. 

The Kennedy couple spent the next few minutes just embracing in silence, occasionally rubbing their spouse’s back soothingly. No words were needed as they basked in each other’s companionship. 

After a while, Leon pulled away and said earnestly, “I want to apologise for my outburst over the phone. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you…”

Ada laid her warm palm against his cool cheek and stroked her thumb gently on the faint scar adorning his skin. “Would you be open to suggestions?”

The blonde nodded against her hand before laying a quick feather-light kiss on the fleshy bit of her palm. 

“I think you should go for therapy, handsome.”

He closed his eyes and huffed a bit. 

“You’ve been through a lot since you were twenty-one, Leon. I don’t want to see you keep hurting yourself drinking like what…” the words got caught in her throat as painful childhood memories resurfaced within her, “- like what my mother did.”

Leon had rarely heard Ada sound so vulnerable before and it tugged at his heartstrings, vowing to never make her feel this helpless again. He opened his eyes and muttered an affirmative. 

The blonde leaned in and rested his forehead on Ada’s before cradling her face. Their breaths mingled and it was inevitable that their lips met in a tender kiss. Ada responded with fervour, deepening it after a few moments and Leon reciprocated with equal passion. Hands roamed everywhere and Leon groaned when his wife lightly grinded against his crotch. Both were deprived of much needed intimacy and before Ada knew it, her back was on his wooden desk. 

“I need to make up for what I did…” Leon said huskily as his hand caressed the hem of her skirt. 

Ada could only grin and she merely kicked off her heels before placing one foot on his shoulder to halt him, “Do you mind drawing the blinds?” As thrilling as it was to have fun in his office, she did not want prying eyes to intrude on them in the throes of passion lest he get fired…

He agreed to the request and stepped back to tug on the string, allowing the blinds to fall and darken the room slightly. “Now, where was I?” He asked cheekily as his hands went back to her knees, feeling the soft skin beneath his fingertips.

“You were going to make it up to me,” Ada replied and already, she could feel her underwear getting a little damp from the anticipation. 

“Mm hmm.” 

Leon kept stroking her knees before he slowly pulled up her skirt to expose her bare thighs. His touch was delicate and gentle as he skimmed over the muscles underneath, remembering the way those shapely legs wrapped around his waist during lovemaking. The way they tightened along with her core during orgasm before turning to jelly. He was getting hard just thinking of the various ways he would get her to come.

As eager and impatient as she was to get to the main event, Ada allowed her husband to slowly take his time with her. Good things come to those who wait, after all.

His fingers trailed into her inner thighs, drawing circles on the skin before skimming over to her black lace panties. Ada whined a little when he skipped her clit altogether but was pleased when she felt him tugging on the waistband of her underwear. He merely chuckled at her reaction.

She automatically lifted her butt off the table to aid her husband in removing her panties. Leon tugged the garment off her and laid it on the table before gently nudging her knees apart. He was greeted by the sight of her glistening womanhood. 

“I am flattered, beautiful.”

“You have that effect on me, handsome.”

Leon smiled at the compliment and began to stroke her labia, feeling the moisture from her arousal gather at his fingertips. His wife let out a happy sigh and relaxed against the table from his touch. “Did you touch yourself while I was gone?”

Ada raised an eyebrow and replied coyly, “What do you think?”

“Touché.” He leaned down and captured her lips before slipping two fingers into her wet entrance. Ada’s back arched off the table and her moans were muffled against his mouth. She wrapped her arms around his strong back, wanting him to be as close to her as possible.

Leon braced himself against the table with his free hand, careful not to squash his wife beneath his weight. She was getting more slick with each passing second and he used the extra lubrication to repeatedly slide in and out of her slit, feeling her walls contract against his fingers. He had to do his best in multi-tasking now that he was lost in her kisses and also pleasuring her with his hands. 

Ada continued to quietly vocalise her approval and he alternated between gliding his two slicked fingers on either side of her clit before plunging his fingers back into her hot flesh. He was determined to make her come. 

He curled both fingers upward to play with the spot of textured flesh within her and his thumb came into the fray as it rubbed circles around her swollen clit. That proved to be her undoing and she quivered with immense pleasure, almost melting into the table. They finally pulled away for air as they caught their breaths. 

“I’m not done yet,” Leon muttered matter-of-factly as began to fumble for the zip located at the side of her hips. The skirt unravelled and he opened it like a blanket for her to rest on. The blonde took a seat and gingerly tugged those sexy legs forward till her pert ass was almost on the edge of the table. 

Carefully placing her thighs on his shoulders, he dove into her flushed sex and took an agonisingly slow swipe from bottom to top. 

“Oh God…” Ada panted. He barely gave her time to recover from his fingering and now he was giving her oral. If he kept this up, she was going to explode again pretty quickly. Emboldened by her reaction, Leon continued to deliver relentless kisses to her slit and clit, feeling the little bud engorge some more beneath his tongue. 

Her hands were now fisting at the skirt beneath her as she tried so desperately to hold out. As if sensing her resistance to the orgasm, the blonde moved away from her vagina and nuzzled her inner thigh instead. Ada sat up and admonished him, “Leon!” 

“I’m giving you a respite, dear. Don’t you want to enjoy this a little longer?” 

“I do but I want you inside me too…”

He smiled at her reassuringly, “Then relax and just enjoy this. I’ll give you more in the future.”

She nodded and laid her head back on the table, closing her eyes and doing slow inhales and exhales. Soon, she felt the tension leave her body and relaxed, surrendering herself to what he had planned. 

Leon trailed kisses from her thigh and down to her labia once more, sweeping his tongue from left to right and lightly brushing against her slick opening. Her hips jumped a bit from that teasing motion and he took the opportunity to slip his tongue inside, drinking in her essence. She tasted just as sweet as ever and he would never get bored of it.

This time, Ada allowed a series of delicious sensations wash over her. Her pulse quickened and her breathing became more frequent and erratic. Leon was truly a man of many talents… 

While he was either stabbing his tongue through her moist folds or swiping it all around her slit, his thumb found its way back to the little bundle of nerves at the clitoral hood and he stroked it firmly in broad circles. 

Ada seized up once more and her vision went white as she rode out the second wave of release. When her eyes could finally focus again, she found her husband gazing at her with adoration. “You really know how to spoil me.”

“You deserve it,” he replied as he took a sip of water from the tumbler on his desk. His pants were now unbelievably tight as his erection was straining to be freed. Leon reached down to unbuckle his belt and he barely popped the button on his pants when there was a knock on his door.

“Agent Kennedy? It’s urgent, I’m coming in.”

The door handle rattled and Ada sprung up, deftly snatching her panties and skirt off his desk before rolling off and ducking under the table in a split second. If the situation was not so urgent, Leon would have continued to admire her sleek flexibility. She managed to grab her fallen heels just as Leon scooted his chair inwards, feeling it press up against Ada’s form. It was a good thing his desk was enclosed on three sides and fully flushed to the floor. No one would be any the wiser. 

The door creaked open and he recognised the man to be one of the trainers. He struggled to remember his colleague’s last name but recalled his first name starting with a ‘G’. Gerald? Gregory? Georgios! 

“How can I help, Agent Georgios?” Leon asked as he felt Ada shift from his knee to between his legs. The raven haired woman laid her skirt on the floor and proceeded to sit cross legged on it as she waited for this interruption to end. 

Georgios looked apologetic as he stepped into the room, “I know you just got back but could you approve the latest cadets for probationary field work?” He saw a briefcase beside the empty chair. “Sorry, do you have a visitor?”

“From the BSAA, yes. She went to use the restroom.” At his remark, Ada rolled her eyes and as she gazed at his crotch from her vantage point, a wicked idea formed in her mind. She reached up and gently stroked the bulge on her husband’s pants. Leon stiffened his legs as he tried to close his knees but Ada was holding them open. What on earth was she doing?? 

Leon got his answer when he felt his pants zipper get slowly pulled down. Was she serious?! He prayed that his co-worker did not hear anything unusual. 

“That scary-hot lady in orange earlier?” Ada paused her stroking of Leon’s hard-on as she too, was curious on what this man was saying about her. “She was the walking definition of ‘if looks could kill’. I saw a ring so I guess she’s taken. Lucky man.”

Leon gave a small grin, “I guess so.” He then felt Ada slide her fingers through the split in front of his briefs and grasp at his manhood, bringing it out into the open air. He shifted ever so uncomfortably in his seat. 

Georgios thought the blonde’s discomfort stemmed from agreeing with him that the BSAA visitor was beautiful. “Lighten up, Kennedy. You’re not cheating on your wife if you think she’s pretty.”

Ada took the opportunity to put her husband in a tough spot by brushing her lips on the tip, her wet tongue teasing the glans in a feather light touch. 

His breath hitched in his throat and he closed his eyes to compose himself. With a quick exhale, he looked at Georgios in a no-nonsense manner. “It just so happens that she is my spouse.”

Leon was rewarded with a lick on the sensitive ridge on the underside of his cock and his manhood involuntary jerked in response. 

There was a brief moment of silence before Georgios stammered out an apology. “I wish my partner would surprise me at work too."

“This is probably a… one time thing…” Leon dragged out his reply when Ada finally took him into her mouth. She hollowed her cheeks and began to suck him quietly. 

Georgios went back to the task at hand, “Anyway, do you think the cadets can go to the field? The higher ups are pushing for more active agents.” 

“If their performance is to my satisfaction.” Leon was trying very hard to concentrate when Ada was varying the tempo and laved her tongue on the entirety of his rigid length. “It’ll be a waste of resources if they all die because of a mishap.”

He remembered the castigation from his superiors on his latest debriefing and it was a good thing he was being thoroughly distracted by his wife’s talented mouth to even feel an ounce of disappointment right now. 

If he approved all the rookies and they failed on the first mission, it would be his head on the chopping block. The higher ups could wait a damn while longer. 

Ada noticed the change in her husband’s demeanour and was determined to keep him in a good mood. Her hands glided along his thigh with practised ease, knowing how he was sensitive there. 

Leon definitely felt horny at that moment and the blood was rushing everywhere but his brain. He had to force his lips to remain in a thin line when they would rather hang open and slack with pleasure. 

Georgios mistakenly thought his words were making his colleague relieve a bad memory. He had heard rumours that Leon was recently chewed out from his latest mission. Damn, this was bad timing. “You’re right. If we lose all of them, we’ll be forever stuck in a loop of recruiting a fresh batch of cannon fodder. Maybe approve whomever passes your strict criteria.”

“That’s the plan.” Leon could feel Ada slowing down her movements and impatiently drumming her fingers on his knee. 

“Thanks. I’ll take my leave before your missus gets back.” Georgios retreated out of the room and swung the door shut behind him. 

His wife released him with a wet pop and Leon rolled his chair back, glancing at Ada’s rosy cheeks and mischievous grin. “You’re being a bad wife,” he mock scolded her but his eyes were full of mirth. 

“Perhaps you should punish me then.” Was her reply as she stretched out her legs, giving him a tantalising view of her womanhood. 

As much as he wanted to roll around on the floor with her, Leon reached down to help his wife up and he planted a swift kiss before walking towards the door. The lock engaged with a loud click. 

He turned back and saw Ada perching on his desk and crossing one leg across her knee, accentuating the roundness of her hips. Both his pants and underwear were left discarded on the floor within seconds as he hurriedly returned to his wife while he tugged the jacket off his torso. 

Their lips came crashing into one another once more as Leon unbuttoned her blazer, peeling it off and leaving her in just a crisp white blouse. A surge of desire knifed through him as an image of her bent over his desk appeared in his mind. 

“Turn around…” he asked and she complied. He plucked off a cushion from his chair and placed it on the desk in front of his wife to make her more comfortable. 

The craving inside Ada was now on the verge of bursting as her legs and hips shifted restlessly while she got comfy. The sight of her wiggling her butt only made him even more aroused as his cock brushed up against the top of her ass. 

“Hmm…” The disparity in height was going to be an issue but he got another idea as he eyed her footwear on the floor. “Wear your heels, beautiful.”

She could only smile, “How kinky.” Her feet slipped into the heels easily and the additional inches now allowed Leon’s manhood to align perfectly against her entrance. 

Leon slid between her legs in a slow rocking motion, eliciting a throaty groan from her as she bucked up against him. 

“Patience, dear.” He was coating himself with her essence and also getting himself nice and hard for the intercourse. It was a prelude for things to come and her thighs were a close mimic to the real deal, much to Ada’s chagrin. She rather he just got on with it already! 

Once he was all worked up, he grasped her lush backside and slowly eased himself in. Ada’s eyes nearly crossed from sheer pleasure while Leon was amazed how snug her walls were hugging his shaft in this angle. 

When he was fully sheathed inside her, he took the chance to lean down and shower more kisses on her neck while one of his hands plucked at the buttons of her blouse, splaying it open. His fingers slipped under her bra to play with a hardened nipple, pinching the brown bud lightly as he felt his wife shudder once more. Ada was practically melting like putty under his touch and she gave into all the affections that he was lavishing upon her. 

He pulled out almost all the way before driving in at a languid pace, over and over again. Sounds of his wife’s throaty whimpers and the wet smacking of their hips filled the room which spurred Leon to give it his all. The grip on her ass cheek became firmer, leaving red finger marks on her snowy skin. 

“Fuck, you’re so tight in this position,” he whispered into her ear as Ada squeezed him with her pelvis, giving him extra pressure on his cock. He reflexively twitched his length within her and she gasped when it stimulated another spot she did not know about. 

“Do that again…” She begged and he obeyed, twitching once more as he slipped out and continued their fornication. “Harder…!”

Leon yielded to each demand and felt the tremors quivering down her legs. Sensation was building within him and a fire was now concentrating in his belly, threatening to incinerate at a moment’s notice. He was getting closer and he increased his speed, not letting himself slide out as much as before. 

Ada was still vocalising her delight with each thrust and one of her hands reached up to grasp his arm that was on her chest. She was holding onto him for dear life and on the final push, she exploded into sheer ecstasy for the third time with a cry of his name on her lips. 

Leon lost control soon after and his manhood erupted, flooding her vagina with his seed. He sunk his teeth into her shoulder as he emptied himself into her over and over, almost never ending. 

The couple collapsed in a collective heap on his desk as they still spasmed from aftershocks of their lingering orgasms. Ada felt Leon’s heart pounding against her back and his ragged breathing took a minute to normalise. She was blinking away the stars in her eyes when he tried to pull out but her core was still tensed up. Both moaned at the intense friction of his manhood rubbing up against her walls when he eased his way out inch by inch. 

If they did not have work to do, there would surely be a round two… or more. 

Leon gently pulled his wife up and turned her around. Her raven hair was slightly damp with perspiration as it plastered on her forehead and almost all the lipstick was gone from her dainty mouth. His shirt, on the other hand, was drenched in sweat. She did not care about their appearances as she hugged him close. “That was incredible, Leon.”

“Indeed… I think I’ll forgo overtime and come home tonight for an encore.”

Laughter bubbled from her, “We never did quite finish our meeting either.”

“How about we conclude it over lunch?” 

The next few minutes were spent dressing each other up to look presentable. Luckily Leon had a set of spare clothes in his drawer and he now donned a matching white top like his wife. Ada had to playfully swat away his hand when he began to grope her butt over the skirt. “You need to get back to work, Mr. Kennedy.”

“Just brushing away some lint, Mrs. Kennedy.”

She rolled her eyes as she helped to fasten his tie and flatten the creases on his jacket. When they were fully clothed, he thumbed a switch on his desk and the bookshelf slid to the side, revealing a secret exit. 

While unexpected, Ada was not too surprised by this. Her previous line of work had desensitised her to hidden entryways. 

He provided an explanation nonetheless, “I’m frequently called away on missions at a moment’s notice that they decided to give me an office with a private entrance.”

“That’s handy.” She said as she picked up her briefcase and took his outstretched hand. 

They stepped through the archway and the motion sensor lights activated, illuminating a short L-shaped corridor. The bookshelf rolled back into place behind them. Both of them followed the lights and as they turned the corner, an elevator greeted them. Now Ada was impressed. 

“It skips even numbered floors. You didn’t think they would make me run down so many flights of stairs now, would you?” Her husband remarked upon seeing the admiration on her face. 

The couple stepped into the elevator and Leon punched the button for the basement. “What would you like to eat, Ada?”

Her stomach growled at the mention of food. Their intense lovemaking definitely worked up an appetite. “Something with rice. How about sushi?”

“That sounds good.” The elevator chimed upon reaching their destination and the doors opened up to the parking garage. 

The Kennedys enjoyed an early lunch before parting with the promise of a spectacular night at home. 

---------

Leon had managed to squeeze in time after lunch to contact the in-house psychiatrist and was immediately put on leave for his lingering trauma. The shrink was appalled that the blonde agent was being made to work overtime after such a punishing mission. Even though he had cleared the physical check up, there was zero assessment done on his mental state. Leon felt relieved that he could make good on his promise to his wife as he got off work on time. 

Now, he had the most magnificent view of Ada’s breasts bouncing in rhythm with her movements. He drank in the sight of her once more, forever mesmerised by her form. His hands roamed everywhere, down her smooth back, the dip in her hips, and then the curve in her ass. It had been a while since he saw her in the nude. She was relentless as she gripped his shoulders, letting him glide in and out of her soaking core, stimulating the pleasurable spots within her. 

Dinner was left forgotten in the oven as Ada was preoccupied with riding Leon, slapping her hips against his repeatedly. They had practically jumped on each other when Leon arrived home, shedding their clothes in rapid time before she shoved him on the sofa and eagerly impaled herself on his rigid length. Their cat was thankfully still asleep somewhere. 

While they took their time in the office, Ada was currently impatient and wanting, the temptress in her unleashed as she was focused on having her fill of her husband’s cock. 

“Twitch for me,” she said commandingly and he granted her wish. Feeling her walls grip him tightly once more. God, how did she get so snug? Does not having sex for a couple of months do that?

It did not matter now, they were reunited at last. Her nipple brushed against his lips and he took it into his mouth, eliciting an airy “Oh!” from her. His teeth raked against the bud and it always made him pleased when it hardened under his tongue. He released it and gave the same treatment on her other breast. Ada slowed down her motions, lazily rutting against him as she relished being pleasured in two places at once. 

Even though she had reduced the intensity of her movements, the fire was burning brightly in his belly again with her muscles still clenching around him. “I’m going to come soon…” he rasped as she growled a bit. 

“Not yet, not yet. I’m not done.” She moved again with determination, grinding the tip of his manhood on her G-spot. 

Leon could barely hold back the rushing tide of his orgasm and he reached up, pulling her body down before rolling them onto the carpeted floor with his wife on her back, still joined. 

Both her legs automatically wrapped around his waist; just the way he loved it, and he withdrew his manhood before roughly plunging it inside. Ada was practically shrieking with delight as he drove into her repeatedly at a furious pace. 

“You’re completely irresistible…” he panted between thrusts before reaching down to stimulate her sensitive and swollen flesh. It didn’t take long for her legs to squeeze his waist as she trembled with bliss from head to toe, murmuring a mixture of words that consisted of “Oh yes!” and “Leon!”

Her name spilled from his lips continuously and he came hard once more before leaning down to kiss her passionately. Her nails raked down his back and he was too caught up in the throes of passion to even register the stinging sensation. 

Both pulled apart for breath and Leon slumped down, bringing them to cuddle on their sides. His hand reached up to stroke her cheek before he gently touched foreheads, “That was one hell of a welcome home greeting, beautiful.”

She leaned into his palm and smiled, “You got me all worked up the entire afternoon with thoughts of you.”

“I spent a portion of the afternoon going for a preliminary therapy session.”

If there was any surprise, his wife did not show it. Instead, she continued to beam at him. “I’m proud of you, Leon.”

Both their stomachs rumbled and they chortled with laughter. “Let’s get started with dinner,” he said as he carefully disengaged from his wife. 

They slipped on their undergarments before tucking into a hearty dinner, discussing potential destinations for their honeymoon. With their first marital crisis resolved, the couple was confident they would be able to tackle anything in their marriage as long as they were together.

[the-captain-sushi]

Survey

What does the shirt you are wearing look like?   Not wearing a shirt, I'm wearing a dress :P

What was the last thing that stressed you out or upset you?   A customer not answering my questions.

How do you stay positive with all that life throws at you?   In the end it doesn't fucking matter.

What quality do you admire most in other people?   When someone can easily forgive.

What is the highest level of physical pain you have ever been in? rate 1-10   Um idk, maybe a 4?

...same question, but with emotional pain?   8

What is your most prized possession?   My computer?

Which youtuber do you feel like you could be friends with easily?   Not sure if I could be friends with any of them.

Do you like your natural hair color?   Not really, it's a mousy brown that doesn't suit my complex well.

Do you think you will dye your hair when you start going gray?   (already have some grays lol) Likely, I want to have fun hair! I have dark red with a copper tint right now but I love changing it up.

Are you pale right now, or do you have a tan?   Pale

Do you think you look best with a tan?   I don't care, I like how I look tanned but I don't like the sun.

What is your favorite app on your phone?   TikTok

How old were you when you got your first smartphone?   17 I think?

Do you ever meditate on Scripture? Nope

Are you living a life you want to escape from? or do you love your life?   I wish I could escape certain things and people but not my life itself.

When was the last time you felt that life was good?   Recently it's felt nice.

Do you have one big mistake that you've made that you want to fix?   Nope, none that I can think of.

Do you wish people would forgive you for your past so you could move on?  Nope.

Do you wear green on St. Patrick's day?   If it happens it's coincidental

Are you Irish at all?   I have some Irish.

Do you pray to God every day?   No, I'm Agnostic.

What are three things you are currently looking forward to doing soon?   Tears of the Kingdom, JJK season 2, Demon Slayer season 3?

Do you ever dance in the rain?   No.

Have you ever sat on a rooftop?   Yeah

Who is that last good musician or band you discovered?   Can't think of one

Do you like to watch talent shows like America's Got Talent and X Factor?   Nope.

Have you ever tried avocado toast?   Nope

Name three items on your wish list right now.   A certain pair of Dr. Martens, 86 light novels, Boba? lol

Are you more talented musically or artistically or neither?   Musically? been a while

Are you better at English or math?   English. I hateeee math. (same)

What were your best subjects in school?   English.

What was your favorite subject in school?   English.

Have you ever visited a teacher at their home?   N/A, don't remember lol

How many windows are in your bedroom?   One.

Who was your first roommate?   My now-husband :P

Who was your first best friend (besides a sibling)?   Samona

Do you have a sibling who looks like you?   Yes

Name three women you know who have lost a child.   Can't!

Whose was the last funeral you attended or watched?   Samona's brother

What types of cancer are in your family, if any?   None that I can think of.

Do you have big dreams for your future?   Nope.

Do you feel alone?   Nope, I live with my husband

What is this month's calendar picture?   Don't have a calendar.

What is the theme of your wall calendar for this year?   ^^

Have you ever seen a double rainbow?   Yes.

How old will you be on your next birthday?    29

Which nationalities have you been told you look like? (i.e., Asian, Irish)  Irish maybe?

Have you ever had an outstanding library fine?   Nope.

What book are you currently reading?   Sword of Destiny, the Witcher series

Are you poor/broke right now?   Not exactly.

Have you ever received any scary, threatening messages on social media?  Yah when I was a kid.

What is the name of your youtube channel?   I don't do anything on my YouTube so it's not worth looking into lol

How many subscribers do you have on youtube? None!

Do you wish that life were more fair?   Mm yeah.

Who was your first kiss?   My ex. *refuses to elaborate*

Do you feel you have found your soulmate yet?   I think so :)

Are you single or in a relationship?   Married.

If you're single, do you want to be, or do you wish you weren't?   ---

Ever collected shells at the beach?   Yeah.

Would you rather paint or carve a pumpkin?   neither :P

Who are three of your favorite youtubers to watch?   Kendall Rae, John Wolfe, can't think of a third.

What year did you graduate high school?   2013

What do you miss about high school?   Band.

What do you miss about college?   Didn't go to college!

What color was your first car?   White

Do you have a car now?   Yes

What color was the house you grew up in?   I lived in several houses.

Growing up, what floor was your bedroom on?   First, never lived in a two-story as a kid.

What is your birth order in the family?   I’m the oldest child.

What would your name be if you were the opposite gender?   Not sure, Dalton? Can't remember if that would have been mine or my brother's name.

What were you almost named?   Not sure! ):<

Does your bedroom have carpet?   Yes.

Best camping experience?   Can't say! Never been camping.

What are the top three travel destinations on your bucket list?   Japan, Ireland, New Zealand

Do you get heartburn?   Not really

What are three things you are known for in your town?   I live in a city and nobody knows me ;) So nothing!

What are three things you are known for on social media?   Cat pictures, red hair?, anime-lover

What is your Instagram account name?   thecaptainsushi

Have you ever used Snapchat?   Yeah.

Did you want to be famous when you were younger?   Of course lol

What show did you most want to be on as a kid?   Maybe a Disney show? Not sure.

First celebrity you were obsessed with?   Kevin Bacon lol!

First celebrity crush?   ^^^^

What was your first favorite stuffed animal?   Barney x_x

What was something unique about you as a kid?   Nothing?

Were you ever goth/emo?   Not goth and I was emo-lite, lol. never dyed my hair black despite wanting to.

Do you want any more piercings?   I want some more ear piercings and maybe my nose repierced.

How many tattoos do you have?  I have one.

If you had to get a tattoo, what would you get?   A bee flying around

Do you mostly write in cursive or print?   Print and sometimes cursive mixed in when I get tired of writing

Were you ever homeschooled?   Nope.

Describe your dream wedding in five words. No dream wedding, weddings suck.

Pick three animals that you think resemble you, and why?   I don’t think any animal resembles me.

Are you unique?   Nope.

Do you get called a free spirit?   No.

What day of the week were you born on?   Wednesday

How are you feeling right now? Tired, bored.

[notsmartenoughforsmartphone]

Thanks for the reply @frostyyyroyalmilktea​  I do not see your original post as an attack, but I did not think it was fair to call it a Trojan horse with pro-Russian messaging, when the band was clearly trying to say the opposite. Seeing that most people on here probably aren’t aware of the context and instead  may see it as a feminist song more than anything else, it seemed important to write a bit more about the intended message. You never know who is behind a post on the internet and who may end up reading it, so I thought it was important to get it out there, adding some Czech-specific context because we’re a small country and people don’t know much about our history or where we stand politically. The context was to show that it is unlikely that a country like this would produce a pro-Russian song. I got a bit overdefensive as well (I’ve been somehow more emotional since the invasion, this was my first opinion post on social media). These are some tough times to navigate. I get teary-eyed just reading the news, so I can’t imagine what it must be like for you. You never really get what a war is like unless you’re actually forced to experience it. I understand why the Slavic brotherhood/sisterhood narrative is not ok from a Ukrainian point of view, thanks for the added explanation. Again, it is one thing to read about propaganda from books but another to actually have to live through it. And as for the Russian immigrants/dissidents, I do not really have a first-hand experience with them (just a few second-generation Russian immigrants in my school who seemed ok), I just know through media that there were Russians (mostly young) protesting the war in Prague, and there have been some interviews with them on Czech TV.  But I do not buy the idea of the poor Russian nation being fed propaganda from above. Although intellectually, one could argue that it is more complex and give reasons like lack of education and information to back up the average Russian (which I guess is what Vesna was trying to do?), personally I think that if a person has a conscience and some empathy, they just can’t be ok with what is happening, regardless of the propaganda they’ve been exposed to. All in all, I just hope we all stick together (after all, the thing playing into Putin’s hands is Europeans arguing with each other) and that this hell ends soon. Feel free to reach out and take care

Why Vesna’s “My sister’s crown” in no feminist anthem but a Trojan horse filled with pro-russian messaging

My thoughts as a Ukrainian with a poli-sci degree.

I was debating whether to write this post but as the discourse around this song grows, I want to give people from other countries some context on the messaging used in the song and why Ukrainians are grossed out by it.

While I was writing it this post grew a mind of its own and I even ended up adding pictures so I'll fold the post here in case you don't care and just want to scroll through quickly.

First of all, it’s worth mentioning that this song attracted so much attention from Ukrainians because they use UKRAINIAN LANGUAGE in the chorus. It’s an important detail seeing how one of the singers is russian. A lot of Ukrainians share the opinion that letting a russian woman sing in our language is a completely vile thing to do to our culture. I agree with it too. But the abuse of our culture doesn’t stop there.

See this shot? This is supposed to be Borsch, a traditional Ukrainian dish. It’s worth mentioning that russia tried to appropriate this dish and in 2022 we fought tooth and nail to have UNESCO protect it as part of Ukrainian heritage. But back to the shot. The letters around it are supposed to symbolize russian propaganda. Great start🙄

But it gets better, lads. They start “feeding the propaganda” to the girl that —judging by stylistic choices as well as matryoshka makeup—  is supposed to represent russian people.

Right, so they *checks notes* use Ukrainian cultural dish —that russians almost succeeded in stealing from us— to show… what exactly? “Poor russians🥺 uwu” getting brainwashed? Oh, then let me grab my handkerchief. This is so so sad I think I’m about to cry😶😶😶

I mean, just a thought but if they wanted to show how shitty russian government treats its people, they could’ve recreated the historically accurate moment when russian tzar Ivan the Terrible shoved his underling’s face into a boiling soup. What does Ukraine and our long-suffering dish has to do with all this bs???

Now let’s talk about that “Crown”, that is supposed to belong to the sister (aka Ukraine). To me, as a poli-sci major, this is so stupid I don’t even know whether to laugh or cry. From the words of the band themself, where they explain —quite poorly might I say— the meaning of their song, we learn that “Crown” symbolizes the sovereignty of the 13 Eastern-European countries. Sounds perfectly valid. Here's a few random countries that I can remember from the top of my head in no particular order that have crowns in their symbols:

Coat of arms of the Czech Republic, Coat of arms of Serbia, Flag of Poland and Flag of Croatia

I actually decided that I don't want to have russian flag and emblem in this post because I don't want to look at it every time I scroll through, but you can go google it if you want, they have not one but two crowns on their emblem actually.

So what am I leading up to with all this flag-talk, you might ask. Well, the kicker is that THIS ⬇️ is Ukrainian emblem:

Not a crown in sight as you can see. I guess as a nation that was constantly fighting against imperial colonisation we’re not very fond of those. Who could’ve guessed🤷‍♀️

But the aforementioned two points are pretty circumstantial and in the grand scheme of things are not particularly significant. I felt compelled to point them out first to give people from other countries a bit of insight into the music video's visual. You are free to disagree with me on those. The main problem that triggers the majority of Ukrainians is the use of the word "sister". Listen, I know you don’t want to read a lecture on the nuance of Slav politics and I don’t really want to write it, I know you know how to google. So here’s the gist:

One of the BIGGEST narratives that russia is pushing in its export propaganda (aside from their go-to claim that all ukrainians are nazis) is that Slavs are all a family. Talk about shitty relatives, eh? But basically, it’s a lingering thing from USSR where russia exploited a bunch of neighboring countries and called this shit a “Union” (while convincing the rest of the world that those countries entered that union willingly and not under threats —or as a result of— hostile invasions, but I digress). So the way russia frames it is that russia is this big brother that "takes care of other little siblings”. Even writing it down made me want to barf🤢🤢🤢. This narrative was specifically very actively weaponized against Ukraine before the 2022 invasion. Its goal is to infantilize Ukraine as if we're not a whole-ass independent country, but a little sibling that doesn't know how to wipe their own ass. And that we just need good ol’ russia to come and save us from our own stupidity. I hope I shed some light on why this word specifically triggers us so much and why I think that this song has 0 to do with solidarity and overall is complete populistic bs with a generous dash of russian propaganda.

I want to emphasize that I didn’t make this post to fight or argue with anyone  but to give people another perspective if you’re interested in it from my pov as a Ukrainian. If you have other takes on it, I’d love to read them in the comments. Just please be respectful or I won’t interact.

This is all I have to say for today. Love, love, peace, peace, my dudes.

[stevie-baby]

Indulge in my insanity for a bit, please.

You’re me. You had dreams as a kid where you saw yourself as an adult (in hindsight, you’re terrified with how accurately you invisioned how you’d look in your 20s. how did 6 year old you know that your hair would go from blonde/light brown and straight to dark brown and extremely curly after puberty? I digress.) In these weird dreams, you meet a band in a bar. You assume it’s the 70s because of the way you are all dressed and the way their music sounds, but something feels off about that assumption. You fall in love with the enthusiastic lead singer who you simply know as J. He’s got curly brown hair and he’s about the same height as you. You can’t remember his face when you wake up but you do remember every other detail in the dreams. Keep in mind, you are having them frequently from the ages of 6 to 13. In high school, you rarely get the dreams. You almost forget about them. Just before your senior year, you hear about a band called Greta Van Fleet. They’re from Frankenmuth, MI (hey woah! You’re parents almost moved you there in middle school and you’ve had a small fascination with the town ever since. That’s cool) They sound like a band from the 70s. That’s cool. You like 70s rock. You listen to Flower Power for the first time and immediately burst into tears. That’s weird. But anyway, you swear you’ve heard that song before, is it a cover? Nope. Weird. You move to Nashville for college. Why does everything here look familiar? You’ve never been here. You start have the dreams consistently again. You chalk it up as your brain seeking comfort in your childhood dreams. A few times when you not-so-legally hang out at bars, you almost run into that band you listen to sometimes (GVF). You just barely missed them, but that’s still cool. The dreams are starting to feel more real. You and J start acknowledging you’re in a dream. You start realizing that you look like you do in the dreams irl and you try not to freak out about it. Also, you’re in Nashville in the dreams. You’ve always been here. This whole dream situation is weird. The school year is over and you have to decide if you’re moving back to California with your dad or to Florida with your mom (you dropped out of school and are too broke to live on your own). You decide to go back to California for the summer and then to Florida in the fall. Right after you make your decision, you find out that GVF was having a show in Florida the week after you move out of the dorms. You move to California. You are pissed off because you remembered why you left California, you miss Tennessee, and you haven’t seen GVF in person yet depite listening to them for about two years and almost running into them a few times. It’s May, GVF announces a tour and you decide you absolutely must go see them. You impulsively buy tickets to see them in Nashville. You’re not going back for school, but you’ll be in Florida by the time they do their shows in California and you can go visit your only friend who you miss dearly. You keep having more dreams. You think it’s kinda funny that J is similar to Josh Kiszka. What a weird coincidence. It’s September now. You have another dream. You and J are sitting and talking and he suddenly just says “soon.” You’re like “what do you mean soon??” And he just repeats himself. The next day GVF releases a song called Always There, which mentions a woman in a dream. That’s weird. Very weird. But logically you know it has nothing to do with the dreams. More weird coincidences happen between the dreams and GVF. You posted about them on your blog a few times and the typical reaction is “wow your imagination is active”. At times you question whether or not you’re making it up, but why would you do that? The coincidences are making you feel like you’re going crazy and you hate it, so why would you make it up? It’s December 2020, Greta Van Fleet keeps posting “Soon.” How are you feeling?

[wonderlandleighleigh]

Midge and Lenny are out with their friends and run into each other? Maybe post Carnegie? (Love all your writing by the way, thank you 👏🏼 living for anything midgelenny)

(thank you!!)

"Shy, Shy, Shy, what are we doing?"

"We are going to a very classy bar," he promises. "To celebrate my divorce and the end to our little tiff, Mrs. Maisel."

"Which is all well and good, but I know and you know that you-know-who tends to hang out at this very classy bar sometimes when he's feeling flush and we should not be here because he played Carnegie Hall a few months ago so he is definitely feeling flush."

"You worry too much," Shy waves her off as he scores them a table and flags down a very flirty waitress. "Hello, darling. Can we get a bottle of scotch to split?"

"What kind would you like, Mr. Baldwin?" the waitress asks, swishing her skirt a little.

"Is Lenny Bruce here tonight?" Shy asks curiously, looking innocent.

"Shy," Midge warns.

"Oh, yes, he's at the bar with some friends," The waitress tells them helpfully.

"Then whatever kind Lenny Bruce is drinking," Shy tells her. "Actually, bring us every bottle of that stuff you have."

"Shy!" Midge hisses.

"He hasn't returned your calls in months, it is now almost February, that man deserves to be dried out."

And soon, there are five bottles of moderately nice scotch sitting at their table, and Shy is pouring some into their glasses.

"Look, if he doesn't want to talk to me-"

"Oh, please," Shy groans. "Midge, you did exactly what he told you to do. You started really working again, you tried to get a hold of him, and he's pulled a disappearing act. Don't you want to get his attention?"

Midge considers the scotch in her glass and lifts her chin. "Yes. Yes I do." She raises a glass to Shy. "To you, dear friend. On the eve of your very messy, very public divorce."

"Why thank you," Shy laughs, clinking his glass with hers and then taking a sip.

"Has Reggie called you back yet?" Midge asks.

"He had his valet leave me a message," Shy tells her. "A very brief 'fuck yourself.'"

"Yowch," Midge winces.

"I've earned it," Shy shrugs. "He'll come around. And I'm getting the band back together. I'm thinking about a tour again."

"Count me out," Midge tells him.

"Oh, I will," Shy chuckles. "But I expect you to be very nice to me on Gordon Ford next week."

"I will be very nice to you, I promise," Midge tells him. "Only jokes about how many show business secrets your hair holds."

Shy laughs at that and they drink some more, until they hear a very familiar "What do you mean you're out?!" from the bar.

"Oh, here we go," shy chuckles, pouring them more scotch.

"Should I hide the other bottles under my skirt?" Midge asks playfully.

"Like he wouldn't dive under the table to look for them," Shy jokes back, and they both laugh.

It only takes a moment for Lenny to wander up to their table.

"Lennyyyyyyyy!" Shy grins. "What a surprise to see you."

"Hello," he says awkwardly. "It seems you've stolen all of the decent affordable scotch in the building."

"Stole?" Shy asks innocently. "No, no. I'm paying for it. Why, did you want some?"

"This is a little unfair, don't you think?" Lenny asks with an awkward laugh, turning to Midge.

"Just about as unfair as nine unreturned messages, and avoiding me at every club you work at," Midge shrugs.

Shy drains his glass and sets it down, taking a breath. "I saw some old friends a little ways away. I am going to go say hello." He pats Midge's hand, and eyes Lenny judgmentally before slipping out of his seat and disappearing into the lively crowd.

Lenny takes a breath and slowly takes his seat as Midge hands him her glass, and he takes a sip.

"It's a dirty trick, Midge," he comments.

"If it makes you feel any better, it wasn't my idea," she tells him, taking the glass back.

He doesn't respond.

"You could give a girl a complex, you know," she tells him. "Another...complex. For a second I thought you might have died, but then I saw you had a gig at the Troubadour and I was relieved for a second, but then I just felt...hurt, all over again, so..."

Lenny still doesn't respond.

"I'm working again," she goes on. "I...you were right. That's what I wanted to tell you when I called. Nine times. Which I know is a lot but...I wanted to tell you that you were right, and I was an asshole for turning down the Bennett gig, and thank you. Thank you for the verbal dressing down."

"Yeah," he says quietly.

Midge stares at him, before picking up one of the bottles and handing it over. "You obviously don't want to be here, so...here you go."

He stares at the bottle, the neck held in her perfectly manicured fingers, and then looks at her.

"This is my giving you an out, Lenny," she tells him. "Take the booze, and you'll never hear from me again."

Lenny stares at her, confused. "What are you-?"

"Look, it's obvious that you feel like we made a mistake," Midge explains. "Or you would have returned my calls."

"That's- not-" He shakes his head. "I don't-I don't want an out."

She looks equally confused. "Then why did you ignore all of my messages?"

"Because I am fucking terrified," he blurts out, staring at her. "Because the last time I felt this strongly for a woman was...never."

Midge's confused look turns to shock. "I-"

Lenny fumbles over his next words. "And I didn't know...how to...And I'm....a mess. I'm a fucking mess, Midge. You knew that. You saw me that morning outside of your apartment. You found that bag. You know."

Midge settles her elbow on the table and her cheek against her knuckles, gazing at him as he keeps going.

"You and your Hudson River view, and your aprons and your...expensive uncomfortable shoes," he tells her. "That's not- I have no business- you shouldn't-"

"Shouldn't what?" Midge asks softly. "Come on, Lenny. We're past that."

"Are we?"

"The second you didn't ask for my help getting my corset off," she tells him. "That's when we crossed that line."

"The clasps aren't rocket science, you just squeeze in and unhook," he rambles.

"Lenny."

"This cannot work," he tells her. "We cannot work."

Midge sighs and sets the bottle of scotch, using those same fingers to stroke his jaw gently. "Yes we can. And you know we can, or else Miami wouldn't have happened. And that night after the raid wouldn't have happened. You know what I think?"

He does his best not to lean into her touch, but mostly fails. "What do you think?"

"I think you're afraid of what happens if we do work," Midge tells him. "You, Lenny Bruce, are afraid of a little fucking happiness."

He doesn't respond, but he doesn't meet her eyes either.

Midge takes a breath and slides her hand down his neck before pulling it away, and takes another sip of whiskey. "I need to go find Shy. He's a free man, and there's no telling what he might do."

Lenny nods. "Yeah. Yeah."

"Think about what I said, Lenny," she requests, as she gets to her feet.

She's two steps away when he reaches out and takes her hand in his, his fingers holding hers.

Midge gazes back at him for a moment and squeezes his fingers. "Don't break my fucking heart, Lenny." She slips her hand free of his and walks off, leaving him with the five bottles of scotch.

[hansolmates]

distance learning (m)

banner done by the beautiful @eerieedits​

summary; after their first hookup, jungkook isn’t so sure whether you’re serious about being exclusive. after all, people say things during sex. jungkook takes it in his own hands to figure out where you stand, and he realizes soon enough that eavesdropping is a bad habit pairing; neighbor!jungkook x (f) reader genre/warnings; fluff, humor, crack, insecure!jk, unresolved sexual tension, stressed!mc, this is really just unnecessary drama bc drama is fun™, sexting, dom kook’s still a meanie in control, posession kink, cock slapping, a blowjob, cockwarming, unprotected, creampie, squirting, (wrap the pickle before u tickle folks) and of course the excessive use of the petname [redacted] w/c; 6.1k a/n; haaaaaa three months later im finally posting pt 2! i figured that no matter how many times i edit/reread at this point i think it’s time to finally let this beast go!!! enjoyyy click here for part 1: remote learning drabbles; 01

if you enjoy this, please considering giving our pasta couple a like n’share💚

It’s been a week since the thing.

The remote-controlled vibrator thing. 

The whole sappy-love-confesion-during-sex thing. 

Jungkook is antsy, tail tucked in, perpetually wondering whether he went too far. You seemed to like it, and Jungkook definitely loved it. It was spicy and dirty and hot, and at the same time Jungkook thought he really made progress in expressing his feelings for you. Not only that, you said you liked him back!

At least, he thought you did. 

“I really said I’d feed her lasagna and cum in the same sentence,” Jungkook bemoans into his pillow, which still lingers faintly of your Redken shampoo. “I’m disgusting. She thinks I’m disgusting.” 

People say things during sex, Jungkook knows that. In the throes of passion and pleasure, people will say anything that comes to their mind, anything that fits the mood. Of course, you’d be tied in and say you like him back. But did you like him back as a friend? As a fuckbuddy? As something more? 

“Fucking text her,” Taehyung is tired of Jungkook’s wallowing, everytime he checks in on the app developer he’s brooding in one of three places. Today’s his bedroom. Taehyung dips under the blankets, and steals Jungkook’s pillow right under his nose.

Jungkook suppresses a whimper, face melding into the blankets. Now that pillow is going to smell like Taehyung.

“Text her what,” Jungkook replies despondently. 

“I don’t know, something along the lines of ‘I wanna follow through with my proposition of feeding you my cum and lasagna—not simultaneously. Wanna go on a date this weekend?’ It’s that simple,” Taehyung gets up in Jungkook’s face, dark eyes forcing him to bore right in. “Want me to do it for you?” 

“Noo, I’m an adult I can—”

“I did it for you.” 

Jungkook nearly knocks into Taehyung’s hard head, sitting up straight when he notices his phone behind his roommate’s back. This is what he gets for sharing passwords. Thankfully, the message is cleaner than Taehyung’s words, and you’ve already replied. 

[1:23] Jungkook: would you like to go out for dinner this weekend? pasta and wine?

[1:25] You: it’s a busy week this week 🥺 raincheck? 

“Was the sex that bad?” Taehyung frowns, reading the message twice. 

“N-no,” Jungkook is sweating. He isn’t sure anymore. 

Taehyung hands Jungkook back his phone, slowly, as if you’ll reply back with a change of your mind. Jungkook is a deflated balloon on his bed, feeling like a bum in his ratty sweater and a dateless weekend. 

“It’s just that,” Taehyung puts a hand on his lip, mulling, “busy people don’t reply that fast. Like even if she wasn’t busy, there’s a fifteen-minute leeway before replying.” 

This silly rule overrides Jungkook’s mind for the rest of the week. 

The gyms have been reopened for months, and Jungkook’s trainer misses him dearly. Jungkook meets with Saeroyi in the morning, eager to get a few jabs in with some fresh equipment. He tries to move on, distract himself with a couple of pumps and a match with Saeroyi. It feels great to sweat it off, but it doesn’t help sway Jungkook’s incessant thoughts. 

The ball is in your court now, Jungkook has nothing to do but wait. Some people are just bad texters, maybe you just happened to have your phone near you when Taehyung sent the message. Maybe you just wanted to cut Jungkook off as quickly as possible so you decided to reply fast and rip the band-aid. 

No, you’re definitely not that cold-hearted. 

Re-entering his apartment complex, his eyes linger towards where your room lies on the first floor. It’s all the way at the end of the hallway, and he’s tempted to just confront you and make sure that what you and him really had is indeed, over. Conversely, you could just really be having a bad week and you genuinely do want a raincheck. 

Jungkook’s eyes trail to his form. Still in his gym clothes, and a little sweaty from the travel time. If he gets caught, he can just tell you he’s doing a cooldown by running across the hallways. Not the first time it’s happened, afterall it led him to you at one point. 

He breaks into a soft jog, making a beeline to your front door. His feet squish against your old welcome mat. You haven’t changed it since Halloween, and he smiles fondly at the black scripted “Boo Y’all” written in script next to a chibi-ghost. 

His heart beats faster as his hand lingers by the door, ready to knock. Deep breaths. Who knows, he could just be overthinking (like usual.) 

“Fuck, Hobi!” 

Jungkook freezes, his knuckles a centimeter away from your door. He backs up as if he’s been burned. His heart has fallen all the way down to his ass, and intends to stay there because now he feels like a damn fool. 

The bed is creaking relentlessly, a rhythmic pattern that has Jungkook’s face crumbling at every spring. Jungkook’s face hovers over the door, his ear brushing against the wood. 

“C’mon, bunny,” the male voice is teasing, “you know you love having me over. It would satisfy both of us if you’d just let it go.” 

Bunny. A cute pet name, for sure. The way it rolls off the stranger’s tongue is natural, as if he’s been saying it for years. But what about being his doll, is that not good enough? 

You’re huffy, taking deep breaths. He doesn’t want to hear anymore. Jungkook has put himself through enough self-wallowing for the week. What if he was just a stepping stone to meeting new people that will satisfy you better? What if you just needed one good orgasm to get your flow back, and Jungkook’s job is done? Sure, there were no strings attached when he proposed to have sex with you, but he thought… 

No more thinking. Jungkook jogs away from the door, even going so far is to jog all the way up to the penthouse. 

He hates this. 

You hate this. 

It’s been five days since Hoseok’s arrival, and you are going bonkers. Why couldn’t he get a hotel or an AirBnB? Because he’s cheap as fuck, that’s why. Your dinky cousin has been clinging to you like a lonely koala, and while you found it cute in the 5th grade, it doesn’t translate well nearly two decades later. 

Every morning is the same. You make a subpar toast and Nutella breakfast, letting Hoseok’s slices go cold as you log in for work. You’ve been clocking in earlier in the hopes to finish the majority of your tasks before Hoseok wakes up, because by then you can barely function. Once he wakes up, he’s relentless, bouncing on the bed and talking your head off while you try to concentrate on whatever your boss is telling you. Whenever he jumps too hard, your cheap mattress causes your laptop to fly, and the only thing you can do is curse him out. Sometimes he plays Disney movies and sings in tandem, choreography and all. 

You know that Hoseok is stressed and this is his outlet, and you don’t have it in you to stop his incessant habits. He’s visiting your area because of a lucrative job offer nearby and the interviews are sporadic, making Hoseok linger in your apartment for hours at a time until he’s summoned for whatever test they want to throw at him. 

Most of the interviews are in the evening, and it’s when you can clock back in and finish your leftover assignments while Hoseok is also working. By the time he returns, you’re dog tired and so is he. 

Every night, you try to move away from Hoseok’s clingy self, as he grapples onto your waist and slings a thigh over your belly. You wish it were someone else sharing the bed with you. 

If you bring Jungkook into the picture however, you’d be burnt for the week. Complete crumbs. It would be too much stimulation for you, having to balance work, Hoseok’s incessant attitude, and putting on a face for Jungkook. Your relationship with the penthouse neighbor is barely budding, hardly watered considering Hoseok’s sudden visit. You cling to the fact that in a couple days you would be giving your undivided attention to Jungkook, most of your priorities out of the way, and most importantly, you’ll have your own room back. 

Maybe you could surprise him by giving him a pasta dinner, just like he proposed. 

Unable to get the thought out of your head, you blindly reach for your phone on the nightstand. It’s late, very late for a workday. The blue screen burns your eyes a bit, but you're determined to at least check up on Jungkook. You can’t take too long, otherwise you won’t be able to sleep and get him out of your head. Dear, unassuming cousin Hoseok is fast asleep next to you, due to the fact it’s nearly midnight. Making sure not to disrupt him, you carefully cup your phone in your hands, putting it on the lowest light setting. 

[11:54] You: hey, hope work hasnt been as draining for u as it’s been for me  ☠️  what’s your opinion on pasta sauces, red or white? 

Jungkook is normally a fast texter, at least from your experience. It’s you that’s the sporadic texter, sometimes taking hours to reply, other times in seconds. It never really mattered until now, however. But it takes five, ten, and finally fifteen minutes before you get a response. 

[12:09] Jungkook: ??? 

You frown, wondering what you said wrong. 

[12:10] You: do you not wanna do pasta anymore? Are you craving something else now?

[12:10] Jungkook: i don’t think it’d work out 

[12:10] You: why? 

[12:11] Jungkook: im sure you know why, bunny. 

Strange. He’s never called you bunny before, and in your opinion you think he’d be the bunny in the relationship—soft and cuddly on the outside, and an absolute horn ball in bed. Is this some sort of weird power play? Is he being passive aggressive on purpose? Whatever this game is, you’re not into it. Grumbling under your breath, you snake out of bed, looking blindly for your slippers in the dark. You’ll be in and out of Jungkook’s apartment in ten minutes. 

Just as your hand brushes the doorknob, your new roommate calls for you. 

“Bunny?” Hoseok calls blearily, and you’re staring straight at his cookie-printed eye mask, “what time is it, where are you going?” 

“Um, out,” you reply shortly, “I forgot I left my laundry in the dryer.” 

“Oh, m’kay. Come back soon, y’know I can’t sleep alone.” 

It’s then you realize. Bunny. Jungkook thinks that Hoseok and you are a thing. He really needs to stop eavesdropping on you. 

You feel your pussy frown. Your cousin is such a cockblock and he doesn’t even know it. Without an answer, you slip through your door and into the first free elevator. As you zing up the floors with the magical 1234 code, you work and rework your hair in and out of its style, wondering if you’ll look more presentable with your hair messy or thrown back. 

As soon as you reach the penthouse, you burst into action. “Jungkook!” you cry, pounding the front door, “it’s a misunderstanding, open up!” 

The door immediately swings open after the first three knocks, and you punch Taehyung in the chest. 

“You look awful,” Kim Taehyung drawls. Taehyung is wearing nothing but a cranberry red silk kimono, and you have to avert your eyes and focus on his face, which is even worse because he’s looking at you like an all-knowing psychic. 

“Gee, thanks,” you try to move past him, but he’s blocking the door. 

“Jungkook’s in a meeting with some foriegn developers,” Taehyung talks with his hands, pretending like he has any idea of the nature of his roommate’s job, “when it’s this late he doesn’t leave his office until morning. Door’s locked.” 

“Well then, can you relay a message?” 

“Depends, is this message going to hurt him further?” 

Oh my goodness, when Taehyung wants to be he is such an enabler. “Tell Jungkook he’s done wallowing. Instead of jumping to conclusions, maybe he should’ve just asked me why we couldn’t go on a date this week.” 

“You could’ve also just told him you have a man on the side.” 

“Ohmygod you two are two iotas of a combined braincell!” you shove your hands in your pocket, hotly scrolling through your phone so you can shove a picture in his face. “This is Jung Hoseok, my cousin who derailed my plans this week by crashing in my too-tiny apartment and forced me to raincheck with Jungkook. He’s a blabbermouth and would tell everyone—my parents, my grandparents, my great-aunts—about Jungkook if he found out I was dating, and I’m not ready for that,” you zoom in on the picture, despite the fact that the screen is practically touching Taehyung’s nose, “and the reason Hoseok calls me bunny is not sexual—you two are fucking gross—I had front tooth problems in elementary school and I had a brace on my two big teeth, it was not pretty.” 

“Ah, bunny.” Taehyung echoes with wide eyes, looking at you as if you’re now the one with sage wisdom, “it all makes sense now.” He gulps, taking in the old photo of a mini-Hoseok and you, yourself frowning to cover your huge braces and Hoseok trying to pull your gums apart with his greasy little fingers. 

Satisfied by Taehyung’s evident squirming, you decide you’re too tired to further this interaction. “Tell the other half of your cell for me, will ya?” You’re already turning away, pressing repeatedly at the elevator button, “I would love to go on a date with him as soon as he gets his head out of his ass.” 

Jungkook is tired, but not tired enough to murder Taehyung and make it look like an accident. 

When he has late meetings, Taehyung is usually quieter around the apartment, and even gets Jungkook a hot meal once he wakes up in the afternoons. Today, Jungkook slept through and through. Normally he’d wake up midway to Taehyung’s television dramas, or the clanging of last night’s dishes but nope, not a peep. 

And today’s hot meal is takeout from Jungkook’s favorite ramen restaurant. That only means one thing—something has gone to shit and Taehyung feels guilty. 

Jungkook sips his tonkotsu impossibly slow, hearing Taehyung’s words—your words from last night—clear as day. Taehyung even describes in detail where the nickname bunny comes from, down to how miserable you looked in the photo with your monstrously metal-bent teeth. Oh, how he wishes he can swaddle you between the blankets, hold you and comfort you while you deal with your family. 

[2:45] Jungkook: doll, im so sorry

[2:45] Jungkook: please, i booked us a weekend at that new spa that just opened downtown. The tickets are flex, so if your cousin doesn’t leave by then week we can always reschedule 

[2:51] Jungkook: baby doll… 

This is far worse than believing you didn’t like him. Now Jungkook is antsy, knowing you deserve all the space in the world because of how silly he was being. You owe him nothing. If he just waited it out until you were ready, he wouldn’t be in this mess. He’s potato-esque throughout the day, thankfully Taehyung gives him space as he watches hours of mindless television. 

You don’t reply until very late into the night. 

[10:10] You: IM ALIVE--barely!! And mr. jeon, you’re not only a triple texter, but an ellipsis texter???? You’re asking for trouble

Jungkook has no shame, immediately texting you back. He can’t help it, he’s smitten. 

[10:12] Jungkook: taehyung explained everything. It’s all his fault. Don’t ask why, it’s his fault. Im so sorry. 

[10:12] You: mm, it’s okay. Just a misunderstanding. I was pretty upset last night, but i’ve been pretty tired this week so my fuse is short. 

[10:14] Jungkook: you should go to sleep now, doll. We’ll have time together after your cousin leaves

[10:14] You: just a couple more minutes. Miss u and your cute face 

[10:16] Jungkook: 

[10:16] Jungkook: will this hold u off until saturday?

Jungkook is a pile of goo. Pink, warm, happy heart-glittered goo. It takes a minute for you to reply, and for that whole minute Jungkook is kicking his legs under the sheets of his bed like an eager five-year old who just gave his crush his Valentine. Maybe it’s taking you so long to reply because you’re trying to send a selfie of your own, running off to the bathroom to take a cute selfie if your cousin is asleep in bed. 

[10:19] You: fuck, i kno that’s supposed to be a cute selfie, but i want you so bad. I want to sit on your face, let your lips glisten with my pussy as i cum all over that pretty face

[10:19] You: i wanna touch myself so badly but fuckin’ hoseok is out here snoring like he’s gon hack a lung. Panties are so wet 🥺🥺 your doll is needy for you, wanna be played with

[10:20] Jungkook: lfjsdl;fkjs;fjsoisfoisljsdfsdklfjsdklf 

He throws his phone across the bed, feeling himself twitch in his red flannel pyjama bottoms. The thought of you so hot and needy when you’re ten floors down has Jungkook absolutely livid. He doesn’t know how he’s going to talk to you, comfort you without missing you like crazy. 

Jungkook thinks back to what he has in his fridge. His contractor sent him a cheese assortment, maybe he can bring it down pretending to be a friendly neighbor. Maybe Hoseok can go to the convenience store to conveniently grab a bottle of wine. He can make both of you cum in five minutes, flat. 

Akin to a dumb, horny teenager, he sighs. He rubs his palm longingly over his member. He’s horny, but he’s also eager to see your face. Talk to you, get reacquainted with your routine and sneak his way into it. He wants to be a part of your life, and he’s hoping you will too. 

[5:02] You: Jungkook, you left me hanging last night

[5:05] Jungkook: baby doll… i wouldnt have been able to handle myself if we continued

[5:06] You: so you decided to dip :( 

[5:06] You: could u play with your doll a lil bit, kook? Hobi left for another interview

[5:08] You: PNG.0901

Jungkook was a fool to believe that you would drop him like that. No, Jungkook can see now that you two are a match made in heaven. You have a bite, never afraid to speak your mind when needed. This translates to a hunger you shamelessly share with Jungkook, both sexual and romantically intimate. He almost wishes he could’ve seen you act like a bitch to Taehyung last night, he can only imagine how sexy you looked telling him off. 

He has the technology to blow up your picture, the one that’s currently having him close his laptop and shove it to the side. He spreads his legs further across his glass desk, trying to find comfort between his tight pants as he absorbs every bit of your skin. 

It’s nothing too risque, but it’s nothing short of sensual. The room is dark, but it’s very clearly a picture of your hand between your thighs. Again, you’re between your wall and bed, squished between your office chair with your legs spread as far as they can go. Your skin is so soft looking, plush as you press two fingers between your damp panties. Adorable. 

[5:12] Jungkook: you know why i never replied last night? Because i was too busy jacking off to your dirty words doll. U really need your mouth washed

[5:12] You: wanna wash it with something else🍆

[5:12] You: please kook, i need something. Hoseok will come home soon and i might rip his head off. Help prevent a murder

Jungkook chuckles, clutching his phone closer to his body. He loves how much you’re opening up to him. Last week feels like so long ago, how you were all flushed and wide-eyed at the proposition of sex. He thinks you two can have a lot of fun getting to know each other, both emotionally and physically. 

[5:15] Jungkook: i was gonna wait until i sent this, but i think my doll needs it. Here’s what i was doing last night

[5:17] Jungkook: MP4.13

He… has a meeting in five minutes. A very important, very serious meeting. Jungkook jacked off enough last night, now it’s your turn. He hopes you like it. It’s not a very long video, barely a twenty-second clip of him fisting his cock. Taehyung was still home at the time, so he had to keep quiet. However, he couldn’t get the image of you out of his head that night, rubbing your thighs together in a cramped mattress as you try to erase the dirty thoughts of him. A murmur of your name, and the image of his precum dripping down his knuckles. You hope it’s enough. 

[5:34] You: u make everything so much easier💜✨

[5:35] You: MP4.234

Two minutes. The video you send is even shorter than his, barely fifteen seconds. You’re in a much more comfortable position, horizontal on the bed. Your shirt is ridden up to the underside of your breasts, one hand clutching your bare breast so hard he can see your cotton plush skin bulging between your fingers. The other hand has your panties shifted to the side, three fingers in your sopping cunt. 

“Mmh—fuck, f-uck Jungkook—” the words are mere breaths, puffs of air as you reach your orgasm. 

His call connects. He nearly drops his phone on the glass.  

“Jungkook!” Andreas from Germany wishes him brightly, “you look great, glowing even!” 

Jungkook blushes, and mutters something about having to go to the bathroom before they start. 

Taehyung makes himself scarce on Saturday. He packs a duffel bag for himself and takes the PlayStation, knowing it’ll be a long weekend at Jimin’s. 

Jungkook is on livewire for the morning. He even express-delivers a pasta roller to his house, and he spends all morning testing out the perfect pasta dough. His black apron is covered in flour, and he can barely comprehend the tutorial that’s teaching him on his flatscreen. 

He’s on autopilot. He hasn’t contacted you since he sent that selfie, and he doesn’t intend to. Jungkook understands why you made yourself scarce in the beginning of the week, preferring to raincheck and pin your relationship for a better time. Jungkook’s brain is overridden with you, swollen with thoughts of you. You would never be able to focus if you kept in contact like you did last night, especially if you can’t get away from Hoseok. 

Absence surely makes the heart grow fonder. 

Slapping his hands against his trousers, he surveys his handiwork. His pasta is appropriately floured and wrung, each handful of fresh dough wrapped in little nests. Off the stove is a bechamel sauce, a base ready to be cooked in whatever kind of pasta dish you want. He thinks the two of you would have fun making your own non-traditional pasta dishes. 

The soft knocks on his front door interrupts his train of thought, and he knows it’s you. 

You stand in front of the door, impossibly small in a large shirt and a plain pair of leggings. At the sight of Jungkook, a smile as warm and sweet as hot chocolate worms its way to your face, and you collapse into his arms. 

He sighs gratefully, sinking into your small body. When he pulls away, he can’t help but frown at your apparent exhaustion. You must’ve come back from something tedious, because sweat dots your brow and your eyes are still puffy and dark. Your chest arches bonelessly into his, hoping to melt in his embrace. 

“Hi,” you say.

“Hey,” he replies. 

“It’s Saturday.” 

“It is Saturday.” 

You rub your nose between the fabric of his button down, “I should’ve been more specific when I wanted to raincheck on you,” you murmur into the white cotton. 

“No, I’m sorry for jumping to conclusions,” Jungkook whispers, even though you’re the only two people on the floor, “I’ll make it better, yeah? I’m going to love you so good tonight, won’t have to lift a finger—” 

You shake your head, looking at him calmly. “Jungkook, it’s been a long week. Hobi got the job, I spent all this morning moving his two-ton speaker set into his new apartment. I don’t want anything gentle. I want you to rail me into next week,” Jungkook chokes on his saliva when you reach to cup his dick through his pants, already sporting a chub, “fuck me breathless. I want—no, I need this.”

Anything for you, but Jungkook isn’t going to let your mouth runneth over that easily. He wants that too, obviously. But again, you’ve made him wait. 

Bending slightly, Jungkook whispers darkly into your ear, “Who said you can decide the rules here, doll?”  he’s been waiting all week to slip back into this persona, one that has you shivering delightfully under his touch. A small, secret smile tucks itself under your lips as you tilt your head down, but Jungkook catches it. It shows you’ve missed it too. He lets your sneaky smile  slide for now, only because he’s missed you so much and you’ve had a long day. 

“If I wanna fuck you rough, I’ll fuck you rough. If I want to edge you until you're sobbing on the corner of the kitchen table, I’ll do it,” Jungkook spits every declaration into your skin, biting at your shoulder so hard you cry deliciously. 

He drags you over to the living room, and he could sing at how easily you follow directions. Both of you have been tied up this week, and some hard sex would definitely ease that frustration, “Knees,” Jungkook commands, and you waste no time sinking to the floor, hands atop your knees. 

You look up through your lashes, eyes big and glassy. His poor girl is tired, and he finds it all the more attractive that you’re willing to push that aside to make eachother feel good. 

“Pretty, pretty,” he chants, pulling down his pants and letting his dick spring free, “suck.” 

You waste no time, and he watches as your eyes dilate over the expanse of his cock, half-hard and ready for your mouth. Your nails dig into your knees as you start with featherlight kisses, finally turning into sloppy smacks as you lick all over his dick. 

Jungkook groans, weaving a hand into your hair to force his dick down your throat. You gag at the sudden intrusion, but it doesn’t stop you from taking it like a champ. Hard, deep thrusts that he’s sure you can feel all the way in your stomach. You gag at each thrust, but don’t let up as your hot tongue wraps him up and licks at the pre-cum. 

“Fuuuuck, doll,” he rips you away, his now hard dick springing away. He’s a little shaky on his knees, but he plants his feet down as he grips his cock, slapping the tip of it across your cheek. It smears your face, glossing your flushed cheeks in a mixture of your saliva and pre-cum. “Are you trying to make me cum first? So sweet, you don’t even care if you cum tonight, hmm? You owe me, making you believe you had another man.” 

This isn’t true, of course. The both of you know it was just miscommunication, but it doesn’t hurt to play it up for pleasure. 

“N-no Kook, I’m yours,” you grapple at his pants, pulling them down so he can get them off completely. 

“Right. You’re. Mine.” With every punctuated word is a light slap to your cheek, and you take it. His cock bounces right off of you, until you finally move your head to suckle at the engorged tip, “I’m keeping you forever, doll. Don’t you know that?” 

Throughout this whole process, you don’t move, other than the minute clawing at your knees. You’re so good to him. Jungkook pulls away and ignores the ache in his member for now, taking off your clothes for himself. It’s like unwrapping a gift, revealing every bit of skin reserved for his viewing. “So sexy,” he remarks once he’s got you bare, pulling you onto the couch. He’s still in his button down shirt, his date night shirt, sleeves rolled up to the elbow. However, he lets your hands inch under the stiff fabric, feeling for his taut muscle. 

He guides your aching cunt to his cock, sinking you down. It’s a tight fit, and you both moan at the brush of contact. Despite not being prepped, you’re still slick, and it makes up for it. He doesn’t thrust up or anything, just guides his lips to yours with a threadbare brush of his finger. 

“Kook, d-do you want me to move?” you mumble against his cherry-flavored lip balm. 

“Good dolls don’t move until they’re told,” your eyes widen innocently at the statement, and you crumple against his mouth, at his next words, “cum like this.” 

“Awh shit, please no,” you tear up, burying your head between the crook of his neck, “I can’t wait.” 

“Thought you wanted me to fuck you into next week. You can’t do this one little favor for me?” he’s being so mean, and you hate him for it. Haven’t you earned it? “C’mon baby, I thought you wanted me?” 

It’s silent, save for the soft Italian restaurant music playing from whatever tutorial he’s hooked up to his television. It���s terribly cliche, like you’re in the porno version of a European romance movie. He thinks nothing of it, not when your juices are dripping on his thighs, your skin soft and pliant in his grip. Jungkook drums his fingers against your spine, seemingly uncaring that you’re stuffed deep into your womb. 

On the other hand, it’s the only thing you’re acutely aware of. His thick, warm cock is nestled between your folds, right where it should be. You clench once, twice, thankful that this isn’t some crazed wet dream. States of sleep and consciousness have blurred this week, you’re lucky that you made it all the way up to Jungkook’s apartment. 

You can’t cum like this. You need to bait him. You moan, the sound slow and rumbly against your throat as you weave your fingers through his dark tresses. Moving the strands aside to kiss his cold metal earrings you murmur, “I love this, Kookoo. I’ve wanted you all week, I was going crazy. I kept playing last week in my head over and over. I even put in my little vibrator, hoping you’d pull up the app.” 

Jungkook’s teeth clench, and his grip is borderline painful as it digs into your hips. 

“I haven’t been able to cum all week, and I want to do it all over you,” you husk, playing with the roots of his hair. 

You can feel yourself dripping, wetness lubricating you even further and probably staining his thighs and couch with your arousal. Every second that passes is killer, and the fluttering towards your pussy tighten further as Jungkook’s cock twitches in response. Your pussy continues its ministrations, butterfly-like flaps against his hot member that have you vibrating.

“Mm, oh, I’ll cum for you,” and surprisingly, you might be able to. All this dirty talking has gotten you riled up. Just a little bit more and—

Jungkook shoves you off his cock, forcing you to land on the couch. 

“No!” you cry, wiping your face. Your cheeks are ruddied, and you’re annoyed. The coolness of the autumn air has you feeling chilly, and you want to scream at Jungkook for disrupting your orgasm. You feel empty. 

You’re not annoyed for long however, as Jungkook flips you on your back and gives you what you’ve been craving. 

“You glide right in, don’t ya doll,” the friction is deliciously blazing, his hands pushing you further into the large couch as he takes you from behind. Hot, fast smacks against your ass come from the way his balls bounce back and forth as he pistons his cock in and out. “F-fuck, you’re so good to me. So good, I love having you like this. All pretty and dripping, you really know how to make a guy wait, huh?” 

“Mmph! N-no—hng, but I’m y-yours, Kook,” you garble out, and you’re practically eating the throw pillow you’re propped up on as he slams you further into the cushions, so hard you may fall off, “all yours, honey. N-no more waiting. I want you, want you so badly—ah fuck!” 

“It’s worth it, you’re worth it,” he says over and over, his thrusts becoming sporadic and losing their rhythm once he feels you clenching uncontrollably. He presses his two fingers to your sloppy bud, swirling around the juices eagerly. “C-cum, baby doll. You deserve it, yeah? Cum on this cock, let go.” 

You’re starting to see spots, black and white alike. Finally shying away from his cock you rest on your back, but Jungkook doesn’t stop his fingers from flying across your clit. One look at his face and you’re gone. Pretty brown eyes, overflowing with affection. The feeling is different, and it’s the acute pressure between your stomach and pussy that makes you notice what’s going on with your body. The pressure finally releases, your eyes fluttering shut as you rest your cheek on the cushions. You dissolve, a mess on the couch as white hot liquid ejects from your body, spraying Jungkook’s thighs and cushions. 

“Y-you just,” your lover’s mouth is parted open like a baby kitten, uncaring as to how the dark liquid stains his couch fabric. 

“Squirted?” you answer breathlessly, a melty smile on your lips, “y-yeah.” 

 It sets him off, a button left dormant until now. The thatches of hair that surround his cock are dripping with your mess, a cold reminder that he got you to this high. He doesn’t hesitate to slip his cock back into you, and you gasp at the overstimulation. You try not to focus on how your body is a bundle of lit nerves, only to help Jungkook reach his completion. 

“S-so perfect,” he warbles, pressing kisses to your jaw, chin, lips. Each thrust is deep, thick and heady with emotion. “Mm, I wanna cream this pussy sooo badly—mm, all mine, all wet and warm and so so sweet—” 

He cries out your name, biting into your shoulder as your walls fill further with his hot cream. Your thighs are shaking from sensory overload, and Jungkook has to hold you down and soothe you into a state of reality to cling on. 

Satiated, he nuzzles into your chest, feeling absolutely featherlight. 

“T-thank you,” you say gratefully, when at least three out of your five senses return to your body. Your hands dip down to clutch his cheek, pinching lightly at the warm skin.

“Don’t thank me yet,” Jungkook exhales into your breasts, “d-didn’t even feed you my cum yet.” 

You scoff, pinching his cheek again. You’re aware of his softening cock between your folds, ready to seep the efforts of today’s coupling, but your stomach says otherwise. You crane your neck to make note of the kitchen island, staring curiously at the metal pasta roller and the little nests of carby goodness that decorate the cutting board. 

“Feed me pasta first, please. You have all night to feed me dessert.” 

Jungkook giggles into your stomach, he doesn’t mind feeding you in that order. 

bonus.

“So.” 

“So?” you have cream sauce on your lips, happily slurping on an angel hair. 

“You haven’t told me you liked me back yet,” Jungkook rests his palm in the swell of his cheek, content with watching you eat from where he’s standing on the counter. He leans his upper body across the marble table, muscles rippling against his white shirt. 

“Oh, I did!” you’re affronted, swinging your legs on the high chair, “I totally did last week!” 

“Yeah, well. Can you say it while I’m not inside you?” 

“Okay,” you blink, quirking him with a simple smile, “I like you.” 

“That was anticlimactic,” Jungkook jokes at the brevity of your confession, yet his heart betrays the charm he finds in the three words. 

You scoff, jabbing your fork in the little next of springy noodles. “What do you want to hear? I’ve wanted you since I’ve moved in? I think you’re really handsome when you pace the hallway doing work on your phone? I like the way you cook?” 

“Keep going,” Jungkook sing songs, walking over to hug you from behind.

The stool swings back and forth as he rocks the two of you, softly and slowly so you don’t throw up your dinner. He noses into your neck, inhaling your scent and committing it to your memory. 

“Mm, dessert first,” you insist, twirling around the stool so you can wrap your legs around his waist. “And then I can tell you exactly how much I like you,” your fingers play with the buttons of his shirt, walking the pads of your fingers across his chest. 

Jungkook grins, hands reaching to cup your bottom and bring you to his bedroom. Of course, he’s always willing to satisfy your insatiable appetite. 

[dovenymph]

a film by peter parker

authors note: this was inspired by another thinkerpete tweet that read "peter probably watches the bit from "a film by peter parker" where he's in the car with tony over and over when he misses him" and@peterparkers-bad-youtube-apology’s summer of love prompt list💛💛 also the video edit was made by me so please do not screen record/save and repost it even if you do credit me (also this is unedited so sorry for any typos, i’ll probably go through it sometime this week, i just wanted to post it first)

prompts used: 2. making the backyard/rooftop into a movie theater

my masterlist

warnings: mentions of tony’s death, other than that, nothing but fluff

word count: 3.9k

Peter hated the summer.

Peter hated not having anything to busy himself with; no homework, or academic decathlon, or seeing Ned everyday who could wrap him up in his graphic novel fan theories or the drama in his on and off relationship with Betty. It was petty drama and minor stimulation, but it was something to distract him momentarily. But now Ned was in Aruba with his parents for the entire month which meant Peter had to suffer through the scorching heat of Juy all by himself.

Peter knew he didn’t have to be alone each day, -Aunt May had spent many dinners trying to get him to join her at the movies or the mall, even offering to let him have free reign of the lego store (when he said no to that, she knew he was in worse shape than she thought)- he had a handful of trustworthy and dependable friends he could hang out with for the afternoon like MJ and Betty, or even Flash who had been uncharacteristically nice to Peter ever since he found out he was Spiderman; this having happened only a few weeks after Tony had died and Peter had let him in on his secret to console a sobbing Eugene who, honestly, seemed to be more broken up about the news than Peter was. But even with his expanding friend group, Peter had found the most his body could endure was the contents of his bedroom.

He tried to get back out there after Tony’s passing, he really did, but at the first Iron Man tribute he admired on patrol, his body completely shut down and he swung back home, tears dampening the material of the mask.

So a lonely summer was what Peter submitted himself too, and he’s come to terms with it. He’s rewatched his favorite old shows, started binging some new ones. He’s taken apart and put together his lego death star four times now, each time faster than the last. But he’s been particularly fond of staring out the window. His apartment complex was quite close to the building besides his and he could look down into the backyard everyone had to share. Peter’s building had one as well, but since he was pretty sure he was the only person under 35 who lived there, it went unused.

Next door, there was always a different activity occurring in order for the patrons to beat the heat, and Peter often thought about how easy it would be for him to just go downstairs and introduce himself, and ask to join. It’d really be as simple as that and he’d meet some new people, get a free lunch and a chance to swim in the plastic pool they set up; maybe they’d laugh at his jokes and clap when he did flips, but it was all just a maybe, just in his imagination because his brain never let him wander to far before squandering the idea of getting close to someone again, for if history has taught Peter anything, it's that anything he gets close to, is not meant to stay for long and will be soon snatched away from him in the cruelest of ways.

And this thought is what resigns him to slink back behind his window and pout the day away, as he was doing now, vision blurring as he stared at nothing.

“Hey!”

Peter jumped, his eyes focusing on the target of whoever pelted his window and they landed on your form, slumped against your open windowsill, chin resting on your hand as you gazed back at him.

“Can I help you?” Peter bit back after lifting his window half way, his tone unconsciously laced with annoyance. He really didn’t even notice it anymore since that’s how he’s been speaking to everyone in his life for months now, but when you flinched at his tone, guilt started to creep up his spine.

Before he could ever begin to stumble out an apology, you cut him off “Yeah, is there a reason you stare into my room everyday?”

Peter's face flushed red and he opened and closed his mouth like a fish. He couldn’t remember the last time someone had spoken so bluntly towards him, and honestly, he liked it. He was getting tired of everyone walking on tiptoes around him, he just wanted things to go back to how they were, where he was just Peter Parker, your friendly neighborhood student.

“Or could you at least give me some money for some curtains if you just can’t give up the beautiful view of a concrete wall?”

“S-sorry, I- I didn’t even know you were there.”

Lie.

Peter knew you were there, he always knew when you were there.

Peter Parker isn’t a stalker, though! Sure, he’s gone through some fucked up shit on Earth and in space, so yeah, he wouldn’t call himself the most …sane person he knows, but he really wasn’t a creep. With your buildings being so close and your rooms directly across from one anothers, he was bound to notice you at some point.

And at some point he did. It was the first day of summer and Midtown let out at 12 instead of 3 to mark the occasion, so Peter had been mulling about in his room for quite some time already, thinking about how he heard all his classmates amazing summer plans and how the farthest he was going to go was probably the Thai restaurant down the street, and even that was a maybe. Peter sulked in silence until a couple hours later he heard a door slam closed, thumps from things being tossed on the ground, and a loud groan as he peeked through his windowsill at you who was currently flopped on the bed, window wide open without a care, scrolling on your phone.

At first, he was taken aback by your beauty, a small, small feeling of intrigue spiked his system, but it flew under the radar due to the seemingly everlasting dread that’s been weighing down on Peter's shoulders for months. But he couldn’t look away. You’d been doing nothing but looking at tiktoks mindlessly, occasionally cracking a half smile if a video was particularly amusing, but you still remained cemented to your mattress with no plans on moving anytime soon.

This brought comfort to Peter as he fished his phone out from the bottom of his bag and pulled up Ned’s messages and started to look through the media he sent him, almost two months worth of funny memes and videos that he hadn’t been bothered to look at, and he sat there along with you, aimlessly letting the time pass by. He enjoyed it, knowing he wasn’t really alone in his lazy and distracting behaviors because the pretty neighbor girl was doing just the same.

Ever since then, he’s just been …aware… of your coming and goings. He figured you had a summer job as every other day you were gone for a few hours, a solid shift. But on the days you were home, you also spent it mainly up in your room, every now and then, playing music from your record player, and if he was really lucky, you’d, unknowingly, give him a private concert as you sung out whichever niall horan or ariana grande song struck your fancy that day. He grew quite fond of the music, having added some of the regulars to his own playlist. And he enjoyed knowing you were right there, and he was right here; each of you living your lives, as uneventful as they may be, but you were together in some sort of way.

He’d never spoken to you, the ability of being able to just push his window up and call out to you at any time was what he liked, and each day he thought he’d do it but chickened out, and now it seemed like he’d have to make introductions whether he was ready or not.

“Mmm, right, so you haven’t seen me change or anything like that?” You asked and the content of your question and the inquisitive tone brought a flush to his cheeks.

“N-no! Of course not! I-I’d never do that, why would I even want to look at you? I mean! I don’t think you’re ugly or anything I… I just…”

Peter’s ramblings were cut off with your laugh as it bounced off the summer air and into his room. You were fully leaning out your open window now, and Peter had found himself in the same position, as if he was drawn to you.

“I was only joking with ya, but it's still nice to have the confirmation. I’m Y/N, your neighbor! Obviously.” You trailed off at the end, knowing that information was unnecessary since the boy next door obviously already knew that.

He was like no boy you’d ever seen before, only read about in books. He had a sweet disposition and inviting brown eyes that matched his soft chestnut hair. But he was built like a man, a strong jaw and strong arms. You’d seen him leaving his building everyday on your way to school, and when he’d get dropped off in a big black SUV during the late hours of the night, but he walked in the opposite direction or darted inside so fast,you never really got a chance to take him in.

“…Peter?” His tentative tone snapped you out of your daze and you realized he was introducing himself.

“Sorry, Peter! I- I… got distracted… by your… death star!” You let out, eyes focusing on the black and grey figure resting on his bed.

Peter felt his cheeks heat up as he moved to push it to the ground.

“That’s pretty cool! I finished the star wars series last summer.”

Peter’s eyes snapped up to yours and the friendly smile you were giving him along with the genuine interest in your tone seemed to break something inside him, snapped the band of hesitation that wrapped around his heart. “You did? For the first time?”

“Yeah! I know I’m like super late, but there’s like nine movies!”

Your laughs melded into one as you leaned out your respective windows and began talking about your favorite movie series. Peter was aware that this was unnatural for him. He had been more open to this stranger in the past few minutes than he had to his own Aunt in months and the same guilt from earlier crept up on him. But Peter was having a good time talking to you and he felt his insides turn in excitement when he realized you really had no idea who he was. He had a clean slate with you and he could make any first impression he wanted, well he hoped your first impression of him wasn’t that he was a peeping pervert, but we move, as MJ would say.

You were about to start telling Peter about this new dystopian novel you began reading when you heard a woman call out to him.

“Oh, that’s my Aunt May. She must be home from work. I- I should go say hello.” He explained, a sad look crossing his face that you didn’t quite understand.

You felt your own sadness wash over you, though. You didn’t want to stop talking to Peter either. “Yeah, of course!”

“But we can talk tomorrow right?” Peter asked, his tone laced with uncertainty.

“Oh well, I work double tomorrow… so I probably won’t be home ‘til late.” You said and the way the brown haired boys face visibly fell felt like a punch in the gut and you were scrambling for a reason to make him smile.

“B-but hey! I also get paid tomorrow so if you want, you can come over on saturday and we can have a movie night and we can order a shit ton of take out?”

“Come over to your place?” Peter asked, and he felt himsef involuntarily tense at the idea of leaving his room for the first time in weeks. It was safe in his room. But the pleading look on your face and hopefulness in your tone encouraged him to take the chance.

“I’d love to y/n.” Peter said with a soft smile and you smiled back shyly at him before closing your window and making your way out your room, making sure you were safe in the hall, away from his prying eyes to do a little happy dance.

Peter was unable to wipe the grin off his face as he walked out his room to greet his Aunt.

She heard his feet padding down the hall as she was setting out dinner, “Sorry its not ready yet, Petey, today’s been crazy, but I’ll get started now.” She rushed. Recently, she’s been hoping food’s the key to lift her poor nephews spirits, so each night she’ll either order or make something more fattening, cheesy, and delicious than the last.

“It’s alright May,” Peter let out easily as he turned the counter and placed a kiss on her cheek, “why don’t you let me cook tonight?”

May’s jaw dropped and she blinked a couple times. She could barely get two words out of Peter recently, and they were always either a meak thank you for dinner or an it was good when she asked about his day. She felt her eyes tear up at the slight sliver of her old Petey back.

“O-oh, really, you wanna cook?”

Peter ducked his head down at the ingredients in front of him to avoid looking in her eyes, his heart dropping at the glossiness that overtook them. He truly hadn’t realized how closed off he’d been. “Well, how about we do it together?” He began and the face splitting grin that spread across May’s face was all he needed to know he was taking a step in the right direction.

“G-good idea, honey. Can’t have the house burn down, can we?”

“Hey!”

May laughed and kissed Peter’s head as they began winding through the kitchen, making casual conversation. It was just like the old days, May thought. Before the wave of devastation drowned Peter as he lost a father figure, once again.

“So what did you do today, P? Do you know when Ned get’s back? I’m sure you’re both excited to see each other.”

“Oh, uh, yeah, I am. I don’t know when he get’s back actually, but that’s okay-“

“I know you like your peace and quiet, I really do, but I do think it’ll be good for you to get out of the apartment for a little bit, see if Michelle is available. Oh! Or maybe that Lisa, Liz! I liked Liz, see if she’s available-“

“May! Its okay. I don’t need to hang out with Liz Allen,” Peter grumbled, “I- I made a new friend actually.”

May looked over at Peter in confusion since he hadn’t gone out or had anyone over in weeks, that she could remember; and Peter took her silence as an opportunity to continue.

“The neighbor.”

“Mrs. Wozniak?”

“No! Y/n, she lives in the next building over. And my room is right across from hers. We’re gonna hang out on saturday.”

“Oh?” May raised her brows at her nephew and bit back a smile, much to Peter’s chagrin. “Is she pretty?”

“And that’s relevant why?”

“I don’t know!!” May drawled and Peter just rolled his eyes and kept chopping the vegetables in front of him, the blush adorning his cheeks refusing to go down as he thought yes, yes she is.

.・゜゜・　　・゜゜・．

You yanked the door open as soon as you heard Peter’s knocks against it. He jumped back a bit, his arm still partially raised from when he knocked and you silently berated yourself for being so eager, but the spreading smile across his face made you feel not so bad.

“Oh, sorry, I was just-“

“It’s alright.” Peter replied with a soft smile, and you let yourself trace the golden flecks in his eyes before he cleared his throat, once again, snapping you out of a daze. You seemed to be in a dreamy state around him alot.

“Can I come in? I brought my Star Wars DVD collection by the way, I know you’ve seen them, but this one has the director's cut which I thought totally changed the course of the first trilogy!” Peter explained, rocking on the balls of his feet in excitement.

You bit your lip at the sight, his cuteness was rubbing off on you. “Yeah, that sounds great, but actually we aren’t gonna be watching in here.” You said, grabbing the bag of Chinese food and snacks and stepping out.

Peter’s face sputtered as you both walked to the stairs. He’d spent all day building up his courage to just go six feet from his building, there was no way he’d be able to go around the city with you for the fear of seeing something that’ll remind him of the avengers or crime.

“Y’alright?” You asked, noticing Peter’s stony silence as you walked down the last flight and made your way to the back gate.

“Yeah, sorry, I guess I’m just nervous. I haven’t really hung out with anyone new in a while, well, with anyone at all really.”

You smiled in sympathy, “I get you, I haven’t either. All my friends are out of town, so I’ve mostly just hung out in my room, too.”

“But you already knew that, don’t ya stalker?”

Peter rolled his eyes and shoved your arm as you laughed, glad you got his nerves out of his system. You unlocked the gate and lef Peter to the back garden.

“Woah..” Peter let out. There was a large white sheet hung up between two trees, and a projector set up on the table behind where a blanket lay, covered in a mess of pillows. The setting sun lit up by strung lightbulbs.

“You like? I figured since we both seemed to be home bodies, we could have the fun of the movie theatre, but here!”

Peter felt his heart swell at your words. You’d only known him for two days, and you already treated him with so much consideration and kindness. “I- I love it, y/n. This is amazing.”

He saw how you tucked your cheek into your shoulder in bashfulness and felt his spirits raise even higher. You were adorable.

“I’m glad you like it. I hope the projector works though, it took me forever to translate the instructions.”

Peter walked over to it and gave it a once over. “It seems fine to me, but I can always look at it if you want.”

“Oh yeah? You good with tech?”

“Good enough to get by. I needed it a lot while working with Mr. Stark” Peter began, forgetting that he wasn’t talking to an old friend.

“You worked with Tony Stark?!?”

“Oh.. oh yeah, only for a little! I was an intern.” He said quietly, beating himself up for even bringing up the topic of Tony. The last thing he wanted to do was cry in front of a pretty girl.

“Wow, that must’ve been amazing. You, you must miss him a lot then, huh?”

“Yeah,” he chuckled lifelessly. “Yeah I do.”

“But no matter, we’re here to have a good time right?”

“Yeah, yeah we are!” You grasped his hand and gave him a sympathetic squeeze -neither of you blind to the sparks that shot from the place your hands met- and got settled on the blanket.

Two and a half moves later, the sun had set and the two of you were sitting in the darkness, the only light coming from the flickering of the projector as the abandoned movie played. You and Peter were sitting cross legged, facing each other as he told you another story about working with the Avengers.

“Yeah, it was so crazy!! We were in this airport and he went from being like two inches tall to two hundred feet, it blew my mind. But it was okay though, because I had this idea-“

“Wait, wait, wait. You were there? Why?” You asked, loving every adventure filled anecdote he told you, but it wasn’t all adding up. For just an intern, he seemed incredibly close to Mr. Stark himself, but then again, you’d only known him for less than a week and you also wanted to go everywhere with him.

Peter worried his lip, thinking about how he could worm his way out of this one. Why would a teenage intern be at the Avengers civil war? He figured he could lie, or even just run away and buy black out curtains. Maybe he could convince Aunt May to switch rooms with him even. But you’d already brought so much light to his life in multiple aspects, and he thought, just maybe, you’d be able to bring light to that aspect of his life too.

“You know what, lemme just show you! Wait here, I’ll be back!”

Peter ran back down, his Chewbacca flash drive in hand, adrenaline running through his veins. He plugged it into your laptop and dug up a folder he hadn’t touched in almost eight months.

“What’s this?” You asked as he sat back down next to you.

“You’ll see.” He said, eyes glued to the screen in front of him.

A Film by Peter Parker, read the title as a compilation of videos featuring Peter, Happy, Aunt May, the Avengers, and Tony projected before you both.

Peter heard you gasp as the camera flashed to the suit, and saw, from the corner of his eye, how your head snapped towards his as he backspringed across the battleground. The film continued and neither of you could tear your eyes from the screen. Peter felt his eyes well up with tears as a scene with him and Tony talking to the camera began and he thought that watching this was a bad idea and he was about to turn around and turn it off when he felt your fingers intertwine with his.

He sucked in a sharp breath at the warmth you brought him and he squeezed back, his brain nearly malfunctioning at the speed in which he tried to memorize the feel of your hand in his. But his senses were overloaded as he picked up on your accelerated heartbeat.

The two of you continued to watch the video, neither moving even when it autostarted from the beginning, and this time you laughed outwardly at the funny parts, and asked him questions about why Happy didn’t seem to like him.

“What did you do to him Peter?”

“Nothing I swear!”

“Likely story.”

And he felt the steel blanket of grief fall off his shoulders. The feeling of intrigue and excitement for going back to life was no longer a small trail buried deep within him, but now a firecracker that ignited his insides and aurated off of him. Things were going to be alright, he was going to make it out this summer with more than just the memories from his bedroom, and he’d make it through whatever else life would throw at him, as long as he had you by his side.

Because you didn’t make his heart beat faster out of fear, you made him feel flustered and full of affection.

And you didn’t hold him roughly, with the intent to harm him; you held him delicately, and he could only wait to be able to hold your heart the same way.

[thestraggletag]

Roll for Initiative, a Rumbelle D&D Fic

Summary: Tales of the Enchanted Forest was the hottest online D&D game, in part for its charismatic players, in part for the twisted turns of the DM's mind and in part because of the outrageous chemistry between its greatest OTP, the party's beautiful bard and the Dark One, an anti-hero side-character who is there to provide information and uncomfortable levels of UST. Mr Gold thinks it's a harmless flirtation that could never become anything else, just like his silly little crush on the town librarian, Belle French.

He's wrong.

Rating: Explicit.

Author’s Note: Surprise, @argoslight​, it is I, your Gifter! Sorry to make you wait till near the end but I just had way more banter to write in me than I thought. I hope you enjoy your gift. I’m so sorry to not be able to add more D&D elements but since I don’t play I don’t have a lot of idea of what could be done. Also I apologise for any mistakes! And thanks so much to @little-inkstone for her help and D&D knowledge.

The castle was quiet when she entered, her steps echoing against the stone. It was gloomy inside, curtains obscured and decor sparse and sombre, the castle living up to its name. But there were flowers on the table, moon lilies, her favourite flower. They bloomed only in the Eastern Mountains past the Old Wall, but she had long since suspected he grew some on one of his enchanted hothouses, with the excuse of using them for potions. 

“Where’s the rest of your pretty little troop of do-gooders, dearie?”

The voice came out of nowhere, echoing around the empty halls of the castle. Thankfully she did not need directions, knowing exactly when to turn and where to go. Soon she found herself in a vast room, with a table on the centre and curios filled with oddities and the like. Some others were displayed on pedestals, including a rather fearsome sword and a nasty-looking crown made of thorns. None of the artefacts were what she sought, but she was not there to bargain for an item, but rather for information.

“Off on their own quests, taking care of other things that need doing.”

The voice tsked, seeming not to approve.

“They let you enter the lair of the beast alone? Some heroes.”

The woman lowered the hood of her cloak and walked towards the unlit chimney. Immediately a fire blazed to life, as if the castle itself was trying to cater to her comfort. The fire provided much-needed light as well, revealing the profile of a man in the shadows. Or something that looked like a man, at least, if not for the reflective scales that covered his body and its strange eyes: gold irises around catlike pupils.

“I asked to come alone. I felt like we could talk more openly this way.”

She removed her cloak, ostensibly to drape it across a chair near the fire and let it dry. The creature, however, seemed to read more into the gesture, tsking again.

“You come here all alone, a pretty little lamb, and take off the only real bit of protection you have. Reckless, dearie, most reckless.”

 The creature stood up, walking slowly towards the light, revealing more of its form as it approached her. Leather pants and a long, reptilian-looking vest and coat. It wasn’t particularly tall but power emanated from it in suffocating waves. She closed her eyes, finding his cloying presence strangely comforting. Then again, she had always been odd. 

“Once again your pitiful little party of friends needs my help. How they weigh you down, Beauty.”

He stepped fully into the light then, revealing a being more creature than man, the reptilian skin and claws as off-putting as his unnatural eyes. She should’ve taken a step back, should’ve gone for her blade or the dagger tucked into her left boot, but she didn’t. As much as she knew she shouldn't, she felt at ease in his presence. Well, perhaps not quite. She certainly felt a strange sort of anxiousness in his presence, a fluttery sort of feeling that she attributed to being particularly attuned to his magic. None of the other members of her party felt that way. If anything, he repulsed them, which wasn’t something she could understand. To her he was… magnetic.

“Are you in the mood for dealing or not? I can trade for information.”

He snorted.

“With what? Your little band of misfits is dirt poor. That idiotic paladin of yours ruined your last mission. You really should think about ditching the man. All brawn, no brains. At least your rogue is a smart woman.”

His gaze left her briefly, running down the length of her clothing: sturdy black boots, a nicely-cut dress that stopped around the knees and a sturdy belt with a few pockets for her spells. But the clothing, as well-made as it was, was dated, old. Looked worn and was signed and stained in places, and it left a lot of her frail human skin exposed. She had not been able to afford an upgrade in a while, preferring to spend her coin in what could benefit the group.

His moue of distaste disappeared once his eyes fell on her cloak. Well, his cloak, since he had been the one to make it. It was a lovely thing in varied shades of green, shot through with golden thread, his trademark. She had bought it off him a long time ago, a simple thing to keep her warm during cold nights and dry when it rained. Miraculously, though, it also did not sustain damage, looking exactly the same as when she had first put it on.

“I’m glad at least my protection is serving you well.”

He ran a claw along the seams of the cloak, making it glitter, like to like, magic calling for its own. He looked smug, as if pleased she was wearing something he had made.

“It does more than we bargained for. I’ve been blasted with magic strong enough to burn through most fabric but it has not even frayed. How strange of you, Rumplestiltskin, to lose out on a deal.”

He shivered when she said his name, walking behind her to the safety of the shadow she cast next to the fire.

“Can’t help it if my magic is just that powerful, my dear. I’m glad you are a happy customer. Always thought that cloak was a nice bit of magic. Can’t fault you for always wearing it.”

She felt him close in on her from behind, to the point that it almost felt like they were touching.

“It smells like you. That’s why I wear it all the time.”

The noise he made behind her was inhuman, a cross between a whimper and a growl. His claws scrapped against the back of her dress, the feeling muted by her stays, but she could feel his breath against the back of her neck and that alone was-

“Hey, this is a decent stream! Keep it PG for the kids, you weirdos.”

“Damn it, Grumpy, I wanted to see how long it would take them to snap out of it!”

“Sorry, Snow, but I ate a big dinner and I aim to keep it down.”

The messages in the chatroom wheezed by, mostly disgruntled complaints about their OTP never catching a break. The other participants in the stream were mostly silent, their mics muted likely to hide the amused snickers. There was no video feed on any of the members of the party, all of them represented instead by artwork to preserve their anonymity. Once upon a time that had been a fanciful choice, and perhaps a way to stay safe when interacting with strangers on the internet. Now it was mostly to keep their private lives from being overtaken by the popularity of their stream. “Tales of the Enchanted Forest” was shaping up to be one of the hottest D&D online streaming shows, already on its third campaign and counting.

“Beauty is just trying to get us some answers, Grumpy. We can’t just go stumbling about hoping to run into some fairy wand by chance.”

“Oh, it’s that what the kids are calling it these days?”

“Enough! Can we get back to the campaign already? It took me weeks to plan and it kinda hinges a bit on the Dark One helping, which needs to happen today.”

“Fine by me, dearie, if the dwarf can curtail his temper.”

The party was composed of five characters, a paladin, a cleric, a bard, a rogue and a thief, which along with the Dungeon Master made up the regular cast of every weekly stream. But given the popularity of the show, and the amount of time they had been playing, they had managed to amass a good amount of side-characters, guests invited every now and then to help the campaign move along and keep the interest of the audience. And by far the most popular of those guests was the Dark One, a wizard of unknown lineage and tremendous power that served both as an antagonist and a pseudo-ally depending on the situation. 

His presence was likely the reason why the livestream’s numbers looked so robust. He had amassed quite a fanbase, due in part to the commitment the player put on the character (the voice-acting was above and beyond what anyone could’ve expected from an amateur performer, and the backstory was quite complex, revealed in bits and pieces fans had meticulously assembled together) and in part to the chemistry he had managed to develop with the group’s bard, a half-human named Beauty.

“Okay, let’s all go back to what we were doing.” The DM’s voice was authoritative, though also more than a bit pissed off. “Okay, Beauty, you were about to try and cajole the Dark One to sell you the information you needed in return for a vial of water from Lake Nostos. Though the water is valuable, it’s not guaranteed to be enough to tempt the wizard. You have to roll at least a 13 in persuasion to make the trade. Roll when you’re ready.”

...

Rumford Gold stretched within the confines of the small backroom of his shop, where he had his computer stuff set up. Initially he’d bought the computer to better conduct his online business. His laptop at home wasn’t cutting it and it was better to photograph the antiques, update the website and handle the deliveries from his place of business. He had bought a good camera, some light fixtures and, on a whim, a microphone, for instances where he might need to virtually communicate with clients. It was something that was happening more and more, especially because a lot of his clientele was European. The internet had truly turned his antiquing- more of a hobby than a profession originally- into a profitable business.

He had gotten into watching D&D while waiting late at night for a client to become available in Austria. He had played as a lad, one of the few happy moments he could remember from his childhood in Glasgow, but had given it up once he had met Milah. And after they were over he had been too involved in making something of himself to remember past childhood enjoyments. But apparently D&D had evolved with the times and he had gotten into the habit of searching for and watching online D&D campaigns in his spare time. From that to actually being a side-character in one of them took almost no time. It was frightfully easy to go back to that frame of mind of playing make-believe, only now he had a distaste for the clean-cut heroic types and more of an affinity for the morally-grey, shady characters.

So he had auditioned for the role of evil-wizard when there had been an opening for a side-character in his favourite D&D stream, The Enchanted Forest. And though the DM had written what he considered to be a very flat, uninteresting character, he had been able to give it his own spin. He knew the DM hated him for it, hated when he deviated from what was expected of him, but people loved him. It was half the fun, pissing the DM off.

The other half, he had to admit, was Beauty. The one with the brains in the group, clearly, a half-human, half-fairy bard with an uncanny ability to think ahead, and arm herself with knowledge. Most of the other members of her party were more apt to try and decapitate something than negotiate with it, or even befriend it. Beauty prided herself on more of a gentle approach, which sometimes got her treated as the “fragile” one. He thought it just made her all the more interesting.

Their flirting had just kinda happened. He was half into it before he realised it had begun at all and by the time he had grown conscious- and self-conscious- of it fans were lapping it up and loving it. Even the DM, as loath as he was to admit it, found the banter engaging, even as if stole the spotlight from his story and where he wanted it to go. So every now and then he got invited into a stream, sometimes to interact with the whole party and sometimes, like the session he had just finished, to speak only to Beauty. And what was supposed to be a brief conversation before the party moved to greener pastures became a whole session, with the chatroom full of engagement and the view count off the charts.

But the DM had had a short tolerance span tonight, and had nipped things in the bud much sooner than usual. He felt… unfulfilled. Unsatisfied. Itchy, almost, in a way. So he was more than happy when he received an email from Beauty, who seemed to share his dislike of how the session had played out. They had started doing that more often, sharing emails after a session, even when he did not participate in it. It was harmless, he thought. Just an innocent online flirtation that could never realistically turn into anything. Not that his more in-person romantic overtures could ever pan out. He was in his third year of being completely smitten by the local town librarian, and in his second year of being able to put two words together in front of her without the help from Scotch, something he was perhaps a bit too proud of. And though he had decided very early on that the whole thing was utterly hopeless he had not been able to steer his thoughts or affections away. Realistically he was perhaps more in love with the idea of Belle French than the reality itself, given how little he had personally interacted with the woman. But he knew just enough to fill in the blanks and create a beautiful picture of how he imagined her to be: bookish- an easy assumption given how many times he had caught her in public places absorbed in a book-, kind, generous and delightfully able to hold a grudge and enact revenge when the time came. A bit reckless, and sometimes quick to form opinions, but also quick to revise them. A tactile person, with a great sense of fashion and a carelessness about what was expected of her.

He saw her in his head as clear as day, but little of that image was based on any personal knowledge of her. So, perhaps, he had found in Beauty a fictional substitute, someone he could talk to, and flirt with, without consequences, adopting the persona of someone more confident, more at ease with that sort of thing. The Dark One was comfortable in his skin in a way that he could only pretend to be sometimes. All the money and power he had accumulated over the years had helped him evolve from the spineless, cowardly lad he had once been, but when it came to certain situations, especially those that necessitated a level of vulnerability, he was still hopeless.

Perhaps, he wondered, it was better to think about his online liaison with Beauty as the real thing. They wrote to each other often, in and out of character, and over the course of their correspondence he had confided in her more than he had in any other person alive. Small things at first, every day peeves and details. Nothing that could identify them, certainly, but surprisingly intimate nevertheless. And over time it had grown to stuttering confessions and barings of the soul on both sides. She had told him of her teenage years in a mental asylum, the product of an overwrought widowed father trying to do right by his grieving daughter. He had had a few choice words to say about that, uncharitable thoughts about her father prompting his own willing sharing of the sad story of his childhood, neglectful father and all. It had felt nice, to confide in someone, someone he trusted.

He glanced at her email, where she lamented how their scene had not been as long or as satisfying as she had wanted, and saw she was proposing to meet later in a private stream to finish it the way they had both wanted. She had proposed something similar once or twice before and he had politely declined but now he wondered why not take her up on her offer. What was stopping him? His imaginary idea of Belle French, who in reality had never given him more than a polite smile in passing? Too young, too good, too beautiful to ever see him as anything other than an old cripple? Whatever he had built with Beauty felt infinitely more real, and attainable. A relationship without ever meeting in person seemed ideal in many aspects and, perhaps, if and when it came to meeting in the real world, his physical shortcomings would not be relevant, nor would it his rather uncharitable reputation.

He sent her a quick reply to arrange a meeting, feeling like a bit of roleplaying was, in the end, quite harmless. And if it were to lead to something a bit more meaningful, well, perhaps it was about time.

…

“Water from Lake Nostos. A key ingredient in most powerful potions and even some spells. I’m sure it could prove useful to you.”

The bard showed him the glowing crystal vial hanging from a long chain around her neck, with the glowing milky-white water from the cursed lake in it. He made a move to get closer to inspect it but the woman took a step back, tucking the vial back inside her bodice. The wizard’s eyes lingered there, hiz gaze growing intense. The bard felt her skin flush in response, something that felt a bit like fear but wasn’t running down her spine.

“And I’m sure a new wardrobe could prove useful to you, dearie. You’re practically wearing rags.” Rumplestiltskin made a show of running his eyes up and down her form with just enough disgust in his face to make it seem as if he was only noticing the rather sad state of her dress. 

“It’s my best gown, I’d thank you not to insult it.”

He made a moue of disapproval, shaking his head for good measure.

“You’re far from your days as a princess. I hope seeing the world is worth putting up with your band of idiots that waste most of the gold they earn with your wit in pointless goose chases that you know will lead nowhere.”

Beauty didn’t respond. There was nothing she could say to contradict what he thought of her party, none of which was charitable to say the least. And she also knew that he was aware that all of it was worth the freedom she had won when she had left her life in her father’s castle behind. She did miss one or two things, perhaps. Her mother’s vast library being one and, perhaps, some of the fashions. Not so much the silhouettes- she had never liked how the sea of petticoats she was always forced to wear restricted her movement- but the fabrics and colours, certainly. And the shoes.

“I’m here to make a deal, Dark One. Are you doing business today or not?”

Lesser creatures would’ve rather bitten off their tongues that throw cheek at the Dark One, but Beauty did not even bat an eye, lips curling in a defiant little smile that had the wizard smirking, something like admiration blooming in his chest. It’s what he loved most about his little bard, her spine of steel. And perhaps her blue eyes, but that was neither here nor there.

“I don’t do business with raggedy urchins, dearie. If you want to sit down and negotiate you’ll need a bath.” He made a face, as if he could smell her across the room. “And a change of dress, while I put your current outfit to wash… Or set it on fire, I haven’t decided yet.”

She could tell that he was pulling his punches, that he was playing at being repulsed by her state of dress and hygiene just bad enough that she would see he did not really mean it, not in any real way. She would’ve been able to tell either way, but it was nice that he thought it important to spare her feelings. And she couldn’t deny that a bath sounded heavenly after so many weeks on the road, sleeping out in the open and washing in freezing-cold creeks whenever possible.

“Well, if you insist…”

He took her to a well-lit and spacious bathing chamber, with the biggest copper tub she had ever seen, already filled with warm, soapy water that smelled of vanilla. She wasted no time after the door closed behind him, stripping quickly, careless of her worn and mended garments, and slipping into the tub. It was heaven on her tired muscles, and her dirty skin, and though she would’ve stayed there for hours she knew that every minute spent bathing was a minute less with the Dark One. Their time was limited. If she didn’t return to camp in the morning her party would venture into the castle, likely thinking the most dreadful scenarios. She could picture Charming attempting to kick the front gate open and getting hurt for his troubles. She could not let them worry for her, or risk the rapport she had developed with the Dark One by coming in unannounced. 

She got out of the tub with only a bit of reluctance and found a towel that she was convinced was enchanted to dry her faster than possible. She found clothing laid out in the adjoining dressing room, the undergarments soft and made of pale cream fabric and the dress of a lovely velvety, forest-green fabric, with a belt embroidered in small pearls that matched the detail about the neckline. She put it on gladly, twisting every which way to lace it up at her back. Living a less princessy life had made her acquire a number of small skills, including the ability to dress up mostly by herself even in gowns that did not lace up at the front, like most of her travelling clothes.

She did not spot her mauve travelling dress or her boots, but she was sure that Rumplestiltskin had whisked them away and would subtly mend them with magic, though she was sure he would deny it if she were to point it out. The green dress was accompanied by matching slippers, butter-soft and silent as they touched the stone floor. She made sure to dry her hair out, noticing how it shone red-gold in the flattering light of the candles, and took her time brushing it and styling it out of her face, so it fell flatteringly down her back. Her neck and most of her upper torso was bare but for the chain keeping the vial of water tucked safely against her breasts, the wide neckline of the dress dipping low enough to leave her collarbones bare, but she didn’t mind it. She was inside the Dark Castle, with the Dark One. She was safe there. On the road she always had to think about not attracting unwanted male attention. Here she rather felt like the opposite.

It was a silly infatuation, and many would argue any interest or desire on her part was due to the wizard’s power, which some would say was an aphrodisiac potent enough to make some look past the Dark One’s rather unfortunate exterior. No one would ever believe her if she confessed she rather… liked his appearance. The green-gold skin, the wild hair, the talons, but also the exquisitely-tailored pants and vests, the frothy cravats, the slim coats. A beast and a gentleman. A rather enticing combination, she had found.

She went downstairs into the trophy room once more, where two massive chairs were pulled up next to the roaring fireplace, the main source of light. The Dark One was sitting in one of them, a snifter gingerly held by a clawed hand, containing some sort of brown-gold liquid. He glanced at her the moment she entered the room, unwilling or unable to hide his appreciation for what he saw. He had removed his coat, leaving only his high-collared vest and one of his open shirts to cover his upper body, no forty cravat in sight. He seemed less guarded, more adventurous than he usually was when it came to matters of intimacy.

“You clean up well, dearie. Wish I could say the same for your dress. A wash will only do so much for it, but I refrained from throwing it into the fireplace. You’re welcome.”

“Good, as it’s not your property to destroy.” Beauty sat down, with a poise that betrayed her royal upbringing, and primly crossed her legs at the ankles. “So, Dark One, are you prepared to deal with me now?”

She had dealt with him dozens of times before, she had no idea why it all sounded so much like innuendo now. She couldn’t say she minded it.

“Of course, my dear. I’ve had time to think about our deal whilst you were splashing about in the tub.” His sing-songy voice broke, getting suddenly deeper for a second or two, as if he was struggling to retain his composure. “The vial is certainly a good start, but perhaps not quite enough. Now, I’m prepared to be generous given our long and fruitful history of dealmaking together, but I must also keep up certain appearances. So I thought I would also demand… an evening of your time.”

He tried to make it sound sinister, but she was past getting scared of him. At least in the traditional way. She raised an eyebrow, adopting a rather coquettish expression.

“And what would an evening of my time entail exactly?”

“Oh, well, you know. Companionship, perhaps a game of chess, some good wine, conversation and the like.”

She made a show of thinking it over before offering her hand, which he shook without delay.

“It’s a deal.”

Several hours later she had won two games of chess, one game of checkers, and was sipping from her third coupe of sparkling wine as she listened intently to a story about a deal the Dark One had once made with a king from a distant land. He was a gifted storyteller, engaging and funny, knowing exactly when to pause or gesticulate to keep the flow of the story just right. The king in his tale was rather unfortunate, in the sense that his hubris and arrogance had led him to make a deal with the Dark One that he did not understand. Most of Rumplestiltskin’s deals seemed to be like that, Beauty thought. And when he came to collect people dared be indignant that he demanded what they promised in the first place.

“The king was furious. Never let go of the grudge. Hired several assassins to try and kill me. A waste of gold, of course.”

He let out a trilling laugh, which soon proved to be contagious. Somehow, over time, it felt like their chairs had moved closer, because if she stretched out a hand she could easily touch him. Odd.

“Serves him right, for making such an open-ended deal. What a rookie mistake.”

She didn’t recall removing her slippers but she must have, because her feet were enjoying being pressed against the soft cushion of the chair. He made a gesture for her to lean close, which was a bit of a balancing feat, but she managed. Her heart skipped a bit when he leaned close too, almost pressing his mouth against her ear.

“You have no room to talk, sweet. You struck a very vague deal yourself, committing to an evening of conversation, chess ‘and the like’. That little turn of phrase is an invitation to all manner of sins, even the darkest and most decadent of debaucheries.”

He hissed the last part, making her shiver. Not content with letting him have the upper hand she turned her head so their lips were inches apart.

“That’s what I was hoping for.”

She could tell she had shocked him into inaction. Cocky Dark One, always in control of the conversation, always one step ahead of everyone else. It was nice to see him floundering, to catch him unprepared. Finally he gulped and put a little distance between them.

“Aren’t you the bravest little poppet.”

“My mother always said ‘Do the brave thing and bravery will follow.’ I’m a firm believer of the principle.”

Slowly, almost painfully so, both his hands clutched at the armrests of her chair, effectively pinning her to it. She knew she was supposed to be scared but she felt nothing but excitement, a buzzing just beneath the skin that made her strangely needy for something. Touch, perhaps, or more. The feeling was so overwhelming she did not realise at first that the laces of her dress were coming undone, as if invisible hands were painstakingly pulling them loose. She tried to make eye contact, but he ducked his head, pressing his face against the base of her neck, where it met her shoulder. She sighed, noticing how gentle he was, his touch feather-light, and discovering that she would not mind a rougher treatment. He was restraining himself, she realised, trying to be a gentleman. Sweet, but not what she wanted from him at that moment. Feeling bold Beauty carded a hand through his hair, pressing his face more firmly against her skin.

“Please, Rumple.”

Those two words seemed to have a magic of their own, producing a sudden and radical change in him. He moved too fast for her to see, wrapping her up in his arms and depositing her on the long dining table on the other side of the room. She did not know whether he used magic or simply moved inhumanly fast, but either possibility excited her, reminded her of the power of the creature looming over her, claws tugging at the unlaced bodice of her dress, dragging the velvet down to expose her undergarments. She was wearing the underbust corset he had provided over the snowy linen shift he had also left for her, so it was easy for him to simply tug the shift down a bit to expose her breasts. He leaned forward, nuzzling the space between her breasts, making a sort of satisfied purring noise as he sniffed up her clavicles and down her throat. Then, once he was happy with the level of squirming she was doing, he finally gave her what she wanted, closing his mouth, with all of its sharp teeth, around one of her rosy nipples. It was a strange feeling at first, more unfamiliar than pleasant, but when he began to suck it changed completely, little shocks of pleasure running from her nipple to between her legs. It was amazing, more than she had ever achieved with her own hands whenever she could get some privacy at night, and the feeling doubled when he grasped her untouched breast, his long claws estimulating the other nipple.

She sunk both her hands in his hair, fisting it in an effort to keep herself from squirming too much, feeling both aroused and impatient. She kept waiting for him to tire of her chest and move further down but when he was finally done sucking her nipples his head moved north, his lips blinding searching for hers till they were kissing. It wasn’t anything like any kiss she had experienced before, not even the unpleasant smack her former fiance had forced on her. Though it was just as forceful there was a wild quality to it, one she had never associated with the affectionate gesture. It was heavenly, the release of passion, far from cooling her down, setting her on fire, stoking her need for him till it felt like she would explode if he didn’t give her relief. 

He must have sensed it, her desperation calling to him like a siren song, because at some point he let go of her mouth to travel south, past her aching chest, and velvet-covered belly to where the skirts of her long gown kept her modestly covered. He wasted no time dragging the heavy fabric up, letting it pool around her hips along with the white linen of her shift. She did not have any other undergarments, having not been provided with any, so she was completely exposed to his gaze, from her milky things to her round hips. She squirmed, trying to picture what he must be looking at, the trim thatch of chestnut curls at the apex of her legs, obscenely drenched by this point and making a poor show of trying to hide the pink, glistening flesh beneath.

“What a lovely cunt you have.” His voice was dark, guttural, a monster trying to speak like a man. It thrilled her. “Let me drink from it, precious.”

He didn’t wait for her reply, choosing instead to simply bury his head against her flesh, his tongue rough and wide as it lapped at her field parting them to seek out the bundle of nerves that was throwing for attention. She arched her back, feeling like it was only her firm grip on her thigh and hip what kept her anchored to the table. She fell into a rhythm of sorts, her body seeking out something she could not find but his mouth striving to compensate, to give her what she needed. It was heavenly and seemed to last an eternity, the sensations building up till everything but them faded away, all sensations muted. She felt him move to, thrusting his hips against the edge of the table, making it rattle in a way that spoke of his sheer brute force. It was heady to have someone like Rumplestiltskin, who had always strived to don the mask of a gentleman around her, be so unhinged, so animalistic. More than anything it was that complete loss of control what drove her over the edge. She cried out, feeling her inner muscles coil and her senses spiral out of control, her orgasm leaving her dizzy. It seemed to last forever and not nearly long enough. She laid there for a while after the feeling passed, feeling satisfied and wanting at the same time. A few seconds later he also keened, slumping against her still-parted legs, his hair tickling the soft skin of her inner thighs.

They lay that way for what seemed like ages, while they scrambled to try and collect themselves. The afterglow did not feel awkward or uncomfortable, and it loosened up her tongue enough to venture out that she had hoped for an even more intimate act, a joining that was even deeper than what they had done.

 “A deal for such a prize would have to involve all my deepest secrets, my most valuable truths.” He paused, pressing his forehead against the silky inside of her thigh, like a penitent would. “One day, perhaps.”

...

“Do you want to meet? I think it’s time.”

The orgasm had mellowed him out, otherwise he was sure he would’ve at least panicked a little bit. But in the afterglow of what they had just shared, albeit virtually, a meeting did not seem like such a bad idea. In hushed voices they arranged the time and place, tomorrow at a café and bistro in Boston. Nice and public, for both their safety. They knew both lived near Boston, so it seemed natural to pick the city. The drive wasn’t too bad, and he hoped it wasn’t a great inconvenience to her either.

Reluctantly they said their goodbyes, both trying to prolong the moment a bit more till they were both close to nodding off. With a final, reluctant goodbye they both disconnected, leaving Gold to clean himself up and make his way home. With his rumpled suit, disheveled hair and five o’clock shadow it must have looked like the walk of shame. It certainly didn’t feel that way.

...

He woke up in a happy mood, perhaps the best in a long time. Far from feeling stupid or embarrassed about his little bit of roleplaying-turned-porn-session he felt smug, empowered by the notion that he had made a smart, desirable woman come with only his voice and imagination. He felt like he was on the brink of something, as if an exciting possibility was opening up for him. 

He went about his day with a bit of a spring in his step, though most citizens of Storybrooke would be pressed to notice. It was only when he saw the book on gardening he was due to return to the library that afternoon- his two Moth orchids had developed small water-soaked spots on the leaves and he had wanted to consult some verified sources instead of relying exclusively on Google search results- that his mood dampened somewhat. As nice as last night had been- bloody fantastic rather- it did make him sad, somewhat, to give up his crush on Belle French. However unattainable it was still nice to have it, that bit of feeling that did not need to be reciprocated to be real. It had been nice to feel something for someone for a change, to look forward to each smile and each small conversation. But it wouldn’t be right, and what he had now was more valuable in any case. Perhaps, with time, he would grow out of his infatuation with the librarian and they could be friends. That would be rather lovely.

He crossed the street towards the library around three o’clock, wanting to beat the rush caused by children being let off school, a busy time for one of the only kid-friendly places in Storybrooke. There were some patrons about, and the afternoon light made the library look truly beautiful. Miss French truly worked miracles with her limited budget.

He found her easily, shelving a few books in the poetry section, and tried not to preen when she smiled widely at him.

“Mr Gold, hi! Always a pleasure. Here to return a book?”

The librarian was always sunny and welcoming, but she looked even happier that day, an excited sort of energy practically rolling off of her in waves. Thank goodness he had decided to give up on his silly little crush, otherwise he might have buckled under the power of her brightness. 

“Yes. And you look particularly happy today, Miss French, if I might say so.”

The librarian smiled even more, if possible, and leaned close, as if to tell him a secret.

“I have a date tonight.”

It hurt, the slightest bit, the shock making him take a step back, but less than it would have yesterday. And perhaps, he reasoned, this would be good. This would put them both in the path of becoming friends, allowing him to leave his crush behind much faster. He forced himself to enquire politely after the lucky man, listening as she talked about someone she had been flirting with for a long time now, and it seemed like the relationship was finally ready for the next step.

“I’m really happy. And very nervous. It feels like such a risk, after all this time building something that could easily fizzle out with a first date. But I’ve always believed in doing the brave thing, and bravery will follow. It’s what my mother always said.”

She had turned back to shelve a book as she finished the last sentence, so thankfully she did not see his jaw drop and his eyes widen, his surprise so visible no one could’ve missed it. His heart lurched in his chest, sheer and sudden panic making it difficult to breathe. Fuck. Fuck. It wasn’t possible. Belle was Beauty. Belle was Beauty. He tried to contradict the notion in his head but he had known Beauty’s British accent was passable but fake, and it made sense for him not to have identified her voice when she usually spoke with her natural Australian drawl, something he associated so closely with her. Everything else he had ever found out about Beauty, in and out of the D&D setting, coincided with what he knew, or thought he knew, about the librarian, one of the reasons why he had developed a crush on her in the first place.

The initial shock was followed by a spike of elation and then a sinking feeling of dread. He needed to cancel. She would be disappointed, but more disappointed if he didn’t and she realised her crush was a man a good deal older than her that was known for being the town monster. It would be awkward and she would not be able to escape him after it, both doomed to meet each other often, given the small size of the town. He could not put her through that.

He stopped himself then, noticing the familiar dark turn of his thoughts, dipped in so much self-loathing it was almost stifling. And he wondered if he really was thinking about Belle or about himself. Being a coward, taking the easy way out. He thought about how he had woken up, the world full of promise and the future bright with the possibility of something great on the horizon. And how he had felt brave last night, to leap into something that had been so worth it. Perhaps it was time to be brave more often. Do something, however small. Put the ball in her court, somehow.

“I wish you the best of luck, then. Perhaps some other time, if you’re not too busy, you could pop into my shop. I have a few antique books I feel you would appreciate.”

It was a nice recovery, and he was happy to see her smile, apparently welcoming the proposition. Everyone knew Mr Gold’s shop was only to be entered when making deals. He didn’t really allow idle perusal of his stock and no one had the money or interest to buy his antiques. His business was conducted mostly with people from major cities on the East Coast.

“Wow, an open invitation to traipse into Mr Gold’s shop, that’s not something one sees everyday. What do you want in return? I hear only deals can grant you access to the shop.”

She made sure to make it clear she was joking, something he appreciated. Feeling emboldened by her kind gesture he adopted a slightly higher pitch and replied:

“Oh, nothing much. Companionship, perhaps a game of chess, some good wine, conversation and the like.”

Being close enough he got to see as it dawned on her, as her brain quickly processed what he had said and where she had heard it before. And he knew, knew because of the way she looked at him, as if she did not recognise him, as if he was a brand new person to her, that she understood the implication, what he had meant to tell her without actually telling her. 

“Hope to see you soon, then. Good luck with the date.”

He turned around before he could second-guess himself, feeling terrified by what he had exposed but satisfied at the same time. This way it was Belle’s choice to show up. For all she knew he had no idea that she was Beauty. She could make up an excuse and simply not meet her, and their worlds would never merge. If she did not want to pursue anything between them all she had to do is cancel the date, or not show up. He would respect her decision and never push for anything, or acknowledge their online relationship in the real world.

He sent her an email just as he was about to get into his car, letting her know that he understood that this meeting was a bit of a risk and he would understand if she backed out at the last minute. There were other things he could do in Boston, and he was not adverse to having dinner by himself. And they could still be friends, no matter what she decided. He was halfway to Boston when he heard his cell phone ping, letting him know he had a new email. As he expected, it was from Beauty:

“I’m on my way. Can’t wait to meet you! See you soon.”

He smiled.

[free-pancakes]

Kiss the Drummer

Summary: a LeviHan Jazz!AU

Levi, a talented trumpet player famous in the jazz clubs of New York, is struggling with his instrument and feels burnt out—he wonders if he chose the right path in life.

The bassist of his quintet, an old friend named Erwin, invites a quirky new drummer to play with them, who brings a new spark into Levi’s life.

Notes:  Drum "chops” describe a drummer's technical ability, including a large vocabulary of licks, and how freely they express themselves on the instrument. BPM = beats per minute Songs: Giant Steps - John Coltrane

sorry this AU fic is pure self-indulgence and has become much longer than originally intended lol

crossposted to AO3

CHAPTER 1

He licked his lips and pushed them readily against the smooth, silver mouthpiece, ready to hit the first note of the song, Giant Steps. He suppressed his desire to grumble at yet another fast swing tune.

He stared out into the audience, peering at the people sitting around the tables of the club. Their faces were slightly lit from the reflection of the stage lights, wearing expressions of both excitement and anticipation. “Just another night of the same old thing,” Levi thought to himself, letting out a soft, exasperated sigh, one only he could hear. His stance conveyed confidence, but his eyes spelled apathy.

He heard snaps on 2 and 4 marking their starting tempo at 289 bpm and Levi quickly puffed warm air into his trumpet.

“One… two… one two three four—“

——

Levi wiped down his trumpet, carefully cleaning the beautiful brass after yet another great performance. He gently placed it in his case, and looked up at himself in the dressing room mirror. He stared blankly at his reflection, noting the tinge of purple beneath his eyes—he knew his body was aching for sleep. It had been restless upon restless night for the past year or so, and he wasn’t completely sure why. He looked down at his trumpet case with both affection and disdain. Maybe... he just wasn’t meant to do this for this long.

He didn’t hate playing, but the truth was, he had simply been good at it all of his life. Quite gifted at it, one would say, and thus he passively let it lead him to success. It was just what it was. He was good at jazz, he was good at trumpet. Naturally he studied it at a top university for jazz performance and joined this famous quintet, and naturally he worked hard to improve his skills. But as any routine would, practice and rehearsals became monotonous, grunt work.

While lost in thought, his eyes trailed over to his small, neat pile of math textbooks at the edge of the dresser.

If anything, he did enjoy jazz theory. It was just math, anyway—circle of fifths, cadence patterns, fancy scales—it all just added up and broke down for any message or feeling you wanted to convey with a melody for your solo, and those tools were simply available in your brain to make it happen—tools to play some straight dirty solos that make you smirk satisfactorily when listening. To Levi, it just made sense, to a lot of other people, he was called “genius”. But after years and years of this, he was burning out and he was quite aware of that. He felt like he was losing his edge, and he was just a machine clunking out music most nights of the week. Again he thought, maybe he just wasn’t meant to do this forever. But what else would pay the bills?

Shaking his head, he let his jumbled thoughts fall away momentarily. He picked up a textbook, and leafed through the pages. He clicked open a ballpoint pen and began adding to his lesson plan for one of his students, a young girl named Sasha. Honestly, she seemed utterly hopeless with math at times, but he was determined to help her at least pass her algebra class. Her little friend Connie on the other hand…well that’s a story for another day, he thought, and chuckled softly to himself. If anything, he did enjoy his side job as a math tutor for the local school system. He didn’t really need the extra pocket money, but something compelled him to keep up with it.

As he jotted down notes, muffled noise of cheering and commotion rocked against the door. Tonight’s gig was Nile’s last performance with them, as he was moving out to the west coast to play with another group and accept a teaching position somewhere out there. Levi didn’t care much for his drumming or his personality for that matter, so he wasn’t particularly sad to see him go, nor was he keen on joining the celebration out in the bar. He yawned and continued finish up writing his lesson plan, as he knew he’d probably have to drive his drunk colleagues home.

——

“Levi! I’m gonna miss you buddy!” Nile exclaimed as he aggressively ruffled Levi’s hair, causing the cowlick he spent every morning trying to gel down to stick straight up embarrassingly at the top of his head. “Yeah, yeah, yeah… good luck Nile.” He shoved him and Mike into a cab, as they lived in the same apartment complex. He turned back into the bar to Erwin smiling drunkenly and Nanaba knocked out cold, sleeping soundly as she sat with her head down on a table. Levi grumbled and picked up Nanaba’s saxophone case to haul into the trunk of his car. He returned to pick up Nanaba and carried her on his back, and Erwin walked with them to Levi’s car.

“Hey Levi, Our new drummer is flying in tomorrow. I told her I’d come and pick her up from the airport at 7am.”

Levi looked Erwin up and down with a look of disgust. “In that sorry state, Eyebrows? Tch, go sleep off the hangover tonight, I can go to the airport. What’s her name and what does she look like?”

“Her name’s Hange. She has messy brown hair usually worn up in a ponytail, wears tortoise clubmaster glasses and well… honestly you can’t miss her, I’m sure you’ll find her right away.”

“Okay. So why’d we need to bring in a completely new drummer anyway? Couldn’t we have just brought in Moblit?”

“Ah you know his style doesn’t fit ours as well, plus he’s doing well with his band right now. Don’t worry, Hange and I played together all 4 years of college together, she’s got chops. Plus, I think Hange will probably bring in the change we need. Your playing’s gone a bit stale... hasn’t it, Levi?”

“Stale?! Pfft you’re just drunk,” Levi muttered, irritated as Erwin raised his eyebrows at him. They arrived at their apartment complex and Levi begrudgingly unlocked the car doors, gently woke Nanaba, and the three of them walked up to their floor. Erwin fumbled with his keys, and Levi snatched it out of his hands, frustrated at how long it was taking him. Erwin chuckled, and Levi scrunched up his nose at the stench of alcohol in his breath. As soon as the door opened, Nanaba immediately ran to the bathroom, retching into the toilet.

“I got her,” Erwin laughed. “Go to bed, Levi, you’re the one getting up early. Flight info’s next to the door.”

Levi nodded, turned into his room, and plopped down on the bed. He stared at the ceiling, and wondered how much longer he’d keep playing, or more like, how soon he’d quit. If this Hange person was as annoying as Nile, well… he probably wouldn’t hold out much longer.

——

Levi stood with his hands in his pockets, eyes peeled for this Hange person. He looked at his watch—“Maybe she was still waiting on her luggage,” he thought. He walked over to the small cafe to his left, and waited in line, squinting for any decent teas on the menu. Before he could decide, he suddenly heard a small yelp, and something shoved right into his chest, feeling piping hot coffee running down his white, longsleeve shirt. Before he could yell obscenities at the moron who just ruined one of his favorite shirts, he was met with frantic apologizes.

“I’m so so sorry! Oh my goodness it was a complete accident, can I get you a drink to make up for it? Man I am so clumsy...oh! Maybe you can wear one of my shirts I have here, free of charge! Or I could just—“

He looked up in the middle of incessant rambling to see the culprit—a tall brunette, hair messily tied up in a bun, wearing tortoise clubmaster glasses, and a bright yellow coat.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Levi thought to himself. He looked down to see a large black cymbal case and a stick bag with yarn mallets and drumsticks poking out of it.

—I could just buy you a new shirt! Oh, how bout—“

Levi was livid—this clown was potentially going to be playing gigs with them over the next year? The coffee stained fabric was sticking uncomfortably to his skin and he felt the biggest headache coming on—all this pain just from one person. He reached up and gently placed his hand over her mouth to physically stop her chattering.

“Is your name, Hange?”

She nodded, Levi’s hand still covering her mouth.

“You’re Erwin’s friend?”

She nodded again, her eyes lighting up at the name, Levi feeling her lips forming a smile under his palm.

“Okay, I’m taking you back to our apartment.”

Levi reached for her bags to carry them, but was interrupted.

“Wait—the least I can do is give you the extra shirt I have in my backpack so you can change out of your soiled one,” she said softly. She reached in her bag, and pulled out the shirt and Levi felt his eye twitch in annoyance at the words printed on its front. He sighed, and debated sitting in his wet shirt, but it seemed like he didn’t have much choice—he’d have to wear it.

——

Levi blinked his eyes open. He felt oddly rested, but one thing was strange—he was sitting up, and he felt something unusually heavy on his shoulder.

“What the—“

He looked to the side and saw a mess of brown hair immediately to his right, heard the soft sound of snoring, and felt… something wet on his arm? He looked down and grimaced. “Drool. She’s drooling. On my goddamn arm.”

He looked around for some kind of napkin. He didn’t remember falling asleep, let alone letting this absolute stranger curl up against him. How in the world did he let his guard down this far?

He stared blankly at Hange and thought, “What a mess—what was Erwin thinking? We’ve known each other for less than 5 hours, and she seems to have already made herself right at home. I haven’t even confirmed whether she was good enough to play with us, yet.” He tried to shift out from underneath Hange, but before he could wriggle is way out—

“Kiss the drummer?”

Erwin and Nanaba stood before Levi, both with hair in a complete mess, having just woken up from sleeping off their hangovers. Smirking and holding back laughter, they stared at the scene—Levi wearing an oversized t-shirt with the words “Kiss the Drummer” in bold letters plastered across his chest, along with Hange sleeping quite cozily on his shoulder, her glasses held gently between his fingers. Levi tried covering up the words and scowled at his two friends.

“Laugh it up,” he muttered. “What is this, Erwin? She’s clearly made herself at home already—and we haven’t even gotten to play together yet.”

“Relax, Levi, she’s a great musician. And look, she likes you!”

Levi grimaced at Hange draped over his shoulder.

“Hmph, I still have to hear her play and have my opinion considered. We all get a vote yknow…”

Over their hushed voices, Hange shifted groggily towards all of them and rubbed her eyes. “Erwin?”

Hange’s eyes lit up immediately in recognition, shoving Levi back further into the couch as she jumped up to wrap Erwin in her embrace, excited to finally be reunited with her friend after so many years.

After a few minutes of catching up, Erwin smiled brightly. “Yes, we can take you around the city a bit. Rehearsal’s not til this evening anyway—we did have a gig lined up last minute for the middle of this week if you were comfortable with that, Hange.”

“Of course I’d be down to do that! I—“

“Oi. Like I said, we still vote if you get to play with our group officially. Don’t be late to rehearsal tonight.” Levi then slowly stood up and walked quietly towards his room.

“Don’t mind him, he’s just being strict about our technical audition policy,’ Erwin reassured. He and Nanaba quickly darted for their rooms to ready themselves to take Hange sightseeing for a little while and introduce her to the city, leaving her standing alone in the middle of their living room. Her eyes trailed after Levi, curious about his calm yet sad energy. She felt that she saw through that aura, noticing every little kind gesture he made towards her from the time they met at the airport to the moment they fell asleep on the couch. Hange was determined to get him to show that side of himself a little more. As he turned to grab the door behind him, she smiled at him, and was quickly met with a scowl and the slam of his bedroom door in her face. Seemed it might take some more effort to get through to him than she originally thought.

[doitjake]

The music in us - P1

Jake kiszka x reader

warnings: none.

Requests: “two rockstars meeting in a festival, and both bands hanging out cause they are both friends with the struts, then jake starts falling in love w this person because of their personality, talent and charisma, they start to match in the second day of camping at the festival and then the bands have to play in the same day, jake tells his feeling and the reader doesn’t know how to react.”

A/N:  this was an incredible request and I took a while to post it because I wanted it to be at least reasonable haha. this is the first part, i will probably post the second part on saturday or sunday. I hope you like it and if you want to see a specific scene in the second part comment here or you can send me a message / question!!

Requests here: https://forms.gle/6uMRSCzFvyR2FgZPA

Being in a band with your 2 best friends and your cousin is definitely awesome, until the first week.

"POPPY WHERE'S MY FUCKING HAIRBRUSH?" A super angry drummer was seen getting on the bus.

"Ana, can't you speak a sentence at a normal voice volume?" That was Lexa, our guitarist or our mother, whichever you prefer. She performs both functions very well.

"No, I can't." She walks over to Poppy and snatches her hairbrush out of her hand. "At least not when vocalists with superiority complexes steal my stuff." She walks to the small bathroom on the bus as Poppy showed her the middle finger.

Even inside the bus you could hear several bands doing sound checks and stages being finalized outside. We had arrived at the Summer Rock Festival a few hours ago, it would be three days of festival, we would perform on the second day, after our friends from The Struts and before the boys from Greta Van Fleet.

"Luke texted me, he and the boys are already heading to the bar." Lexa stands up fixing the bottom of her beautiful dress that looked like it was straight out of the 70's, "So if we don't want to be late our dear drummer had better get out of this fucking bathroom soon."

"Hey, no swearing, Mom." I walk past her grabbing my leather jacket from the seat. "Ana! Let's go!"

By the time Lexa and Poppy are outside I am trying to find my cell phone amidst a pile of clothes, Ana finally comes out of the bathroom.

"Cousins by chance, twins by choice." She pulls up the sleeves of her jacket, just like mine, smiling at me.

I find my cell phone and slip my arm over Ana's shoulders, leading us to the bus door.

"Did I mention I hate you?" I ask coming down the small staircase and find Poppy and Lexa waiting for us to go.

"Hm, I guess not today yet." She goes to Poppy's side and pats her chin. "Stop drooling, Poppy."

Lexa and I turn to where Poppy was looking and find the 4 boys from Greta taking their instruments off the bus, about 50 feet away from us.

"Fuck you, Ana," Poppy starts walking towards the exit of the festival, where there is an avenue full of bars, nightclubs, strip clubs and karaoke places.

In less than 10 minutes we had already arrived at the bar and before we even entered Jed already called us shouting. "Hey, girls! Over here!"

It was always really cool to hang out with the boys, we knew each other because of Jed and Adam being friends with Poppy's older brother. We joined them and other people from the crew and some other artists at the festival and less than 2 minutes later several bottles of beer were already on the tables.

I looked at my band mates, we spend so much time together that it is fun to analyze them socializing with other people besides ourselves.

Poppy was probably the most outgoing of us, everyone liked her, she was always nice and polite to everyone and it was amazing to see men with long beards and leather vests making fun of a girl singing rock and then Poppy shutting them up, either with her talent or her knowledge.

Lexa was so calm that it is still shocking to me to see her play and totally transform on stage. She had a 70's hippie style that matched perfectly with her long blond hair and delicate features.

And Ana, my band mate that I have known all my life, my younger cousin. Certainly the strongest personality among the four of us, her life revolved around music, and I loved that about her.

Oh, of course. There's me too, but I don't think it's worth describing myself too much. I'm probably too dull around them. I wasn't outgoing like Poppy, I wasn't charming like Lexa, and I definitely didn't have as much personality as Ana.

My God, what a depression. I need another drink, one stronger than beer.

"Hey, I'm going to go to the bar. I'll be right back." I speak to Lexa receiving a nod in response.

Reaching over I choose the only drink capable of cheering me up.

"A shot of Jack Daniels. No ice please" I speak loudly so the bartender can hear through the music of The Who playing at the bar.

"I always thought it was the guitar players who were more into whiskey" A husky voice came over the music right in my right ear. "I thought bass players were more into vodka"

And then the seat next to me was taken by Jake Kiszka, guitarist for Greta Van Fleet, well I definitely can't compare to Poppy on the subject of "GVF FANGIRL", but wow.

"What about the vocalists and drummers?" I asked as the bartender left the shot of Jack Daniels in front of me.

"Vocalists? Probably some weird drink and drummers for sure are the beer guys." He smiles and turns the stool around facing me "I'm Jake" He holds out his hand to you.

"Y/N" I hold his hand.

"The bass player who made my theory go down the drain." He laughs arching an eyebrow.

"Well, maybe I'm an exception.

"Yeah, maybe there was a glitch in the matrix." He turns to call the bartender. "May I imitate you?" He indicates my glass with his head.

"You're the guitar player here, I think I'm the one copying you." I smile at him and he reciprocates, and shit, why do I think I could stare at him smile forever? And then I feel an arm on my shoulders.

"So you mean my friends are friends, and I didn't know?" Luke leaned one arm on me and the other on Jake, clearly not sober anymore. "Come on over to the table, antisocial people, your bands are waiting."

Luke releases our shoulders and looks at us. "Or are you guys busy planning to pick each other up?"

I could feel all my blood rising to my cheeks in a second, and thank God I had already swallowed the whiskey, otherwise I probably would have spit it all out.

"Of course not Luke." I gave a nervous laugh praying that I could disguise my embarrassment. Which only increased when Jake tilted his head to the side looking at me and gave a weak laugh and then getting up to walk over to the table.

Now there were more people at the table, including the other three members of Greta, and I sat down between Adam and Ana. "Please dig a hole and stick me in" I whispered to my cousin.

"With pleasure." She winked and smiled at me, "But may I know why?"

With the music loud and our friends talking around us I had to lean 'round to whisper right into her ear. "I was talking to Jake Kiszka and then Luke came over and thought we were going to kiss and I looked like an idiot."

"You always look like an idiot, cousin." He whispered in response. "But you want to kiss him?" Ana smiled mischievously.

"Oh my god, I was just talking to him."

"Well, you should kiss him, he's handsome." She picks up her beer and offers me a bottle.

"You say that because you have a crush on his twin." I open my bottle as I watch Ana choke on her own beer and cast a quick glance at Josh. "Oh come on, you can't disguise yourself." I laugh slapping our bottles together before taking a long sip.

"I don't have a crush on him." Ana squirms in her chair uncomfortably. "He's the lead singer, he has several women after him, and he must have a superiority complex just like Poppy."

"He seems pretty cool!"

"Y/N! ANA!" Poppy's voice managed without louder than the music in the bar, causing us to turn around and find 10 pairs of eyes staring at us. "Are you guys deaf?"

As I run my gaze around the table I realize that all the boys' crew have left, now it's just us, the boys from The Struts and Greta Van Fleet.

"Hm, hey!" I reply before Ana has a chance to cuss Poppy out.

"We're going to karaoke, the bar closes early today." Gethin gets up from the table, being followed by his bandmates, Josh, Sam, Danny, Poppy and Lexa.

"I'm in!" Ana stands up.

"I'm going back to the bus, I don't have as much energy as you guys." I stand up grabbing my cell phone and wallet.

"Let's go together." Jake speaks and I realize that he was the only one who hadn't gotten up until now.

"Ok" I say trying to look calm and not knowing why I am nervous, like a teenage girl who likes the popular boy.

I say goodbye to everyone and when I pass by Ana she winks at me, in a not discreet way.

After we pay for our drinks, Jake and I head out onto the streets of Chicago to return to the festival.

"Excited for tomorrow?" Jake asks as we cross one of the avenue streets.

"For sure, tomorrow and our days will have the best shows!" I look at him. "I feel like I might faint just remembering that I'm going to see Steven Tyler live tomorrow." He throws his head back and laughs. "Now you think I'm some kind of crazy fangirl." I smile.

"Oh, of course not." Jake returns the smile by looking at me. "The chances of me passing out at the Stones concert are not small either."

"So, you're a 'fangirl' for Keith Richards?"

"Definitely." He laughs again shaking his head.

"Does that mean that for you 'team stones' is right?

"Well, it's certainly a tough contest, but yes 'team stones'." He turns to me with the corners of his lips raised. "Team Beatles?"

"And a George stan with pride." I smile and wink at him amused. "Okay, important question."

"Okay, speak." Jake runs his fingers through the strands of hair that fall down the side of his face.

"Pearl Jam or Nirvana?"

"Is there a right answer?" He asks and I arch an eyebrow at him. "Okay, hm, Nirvana."

"You had a right answer! And you got it wrong." I smile. "Come on, Eddie Veder is almost a God."

Jake laughs and brings his hands in front of his body in a sign of redemption. "I don't disagree!"

And then I realize that we arrived at the festival some time ago and are now facing my bus.

"Thank you so much, for walking me here." I say to him, climbing up the first step of the entrance stairs, almost standing the same height as Jake.

"You're welcome!" He gives me a smile and puts his hands in the pockets of his black skinny pants. "See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, sure."

You smile at him and Jake moves closer and deposits a kiss on your cheek.

"Bye!"

“Bye, Jake!”

[todaydreambelieversfic]

Author Spotlight: Gleefuldarrencrissfan Day 2

Author: @gleefuldarrencrissfan

Share one of your strengths.

I've been told that I do a great job writing in each character's voice, especially Blaine, Kurt, Santana, Brittany, and Finn.  It's very important to me that my characters remain true to who they are.  I work very hard to make sure that each one sounds like they would in the show.  

I've also been told that I'm great at cliffhangers.  Honestly, I end on cliffhangers a lot as I try to figure out which route I plan to take for the story.  I map out stories, but sometimes, the story takes me in a different direction.  I also like to take suggestions from my readers.  Many times, I have multiple scenarios on the direction in which the story can go.  I love keeping my readers on their toes. 

Share one of your weaknesses.

Well, because I have so many scenarios running through my head, I sometimes get stuck, and so, I don't update regularly.  I used to try to publish weekly or more, but as a mom of two, a full time assistant in a high-needs classroom, an avid crafter, and a member of a band, my plate stays pretty full.  I hope that my readers will subscribe and drop a comment from time to time to remind me to keep writing. 

Which fic has been the hardest to write?

I'm going to bring up two, Dueling Duets and Love, Blaine.  Dueling Duets is a complex fic with many characters and a very intricate plot.  On top of that, Blaine has PTSD, as do I.  It became too painful to finish this, so it is the only fic of mine that is abandoned.  I would like to finish it, but I just don't see that happening any time soon.  

Love, Blaine was so difficult for me because I wrote it all before publishing, and I thrive on feedback.  I kept going back and rewriting scenes over and over because I just couldn't make up my mind about certain things.  I also get anxious with a timeline hanging over my head, and so I went past the deadline.  Unfortunately, my appendix decided to burst the week I was supposed to publish, so I was trying to write through the pain.  I did finish it, and I'm proud of it, but I probably won't put myself through that again. 

Which fic has been the easiest to write?

Private Messages, by far.  Honestly, it was so easy because Kurt was me in a sense, a fanfic author, desperate for feedback on his writing.  I also outlined this fic thoroughly, and so it just seemed to flow when I got to a certain point.  It is by far, my most popular fic, and honestly, it is my favorite of all of the ones that I've written.  Don't get me wrong.  It was very complex, bouncing back and forth from Blaine's and Kurt's perspectives, with plotlines from the show, Kurt's story, and the actual story all coming together and interweaving at times making it difficult to write, but I always knew where it was going, and so it was the easiest to finish. 

Is writing your passion or just a fun hobby?

It's one of my passions, along with music and crafting.  I'm an artist at heart, and so I'd never be happy or fulfilled in life if I wasn't creating in one shape or form.  I honestly love the way art makes you feel, both as the artist and as the person affected by other people's art.  My favorite thing is one someone tells me how my writing or work made them feel.  

I'm also writing educational children's books, and I hope to inspire kids in the future to love to learn, and so it is a major passion of mine to be a published author and get my books out there for kids to read. 

Is there an episode or character or arc above all others that inspires you just a little bit more?

Blaine Anderson.  He was by far the character that inspires me the most, probably because I see myself in him, the confident, happy performer who is really quite insecure and maybe even depressed. I wish that the show would have let us see more of his personal life.  At felt like, at times, he was just Kurt's boyfriend, but he was so much more than that.  It would have been nice to actually see his home, his parents, and his brother to get greater insight on why he is the way he is.  Thank god for fanfiction.

What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever come across?

Just write.  The first draft does not have to be perfect.  That's what editing is for.  Get yourself a beta, dig in, and just get the words on the page.  No one can read your work if the pages are all in your head.  

What’s the worst writing advice you’ve ever come across?

Stick to what you know.  That's what research is for.  Branch out.   Explore.  Interview and talk to others.  Although, if you are researching something embarrassing, for example, Brazilian waxing, use incognito mode.  lol. 

If you could choose one of your fics to be filmed, which would you choose?

Private Messages.  I just love this story, and I think it would best translate into a movie.  Besides, Blaine is an actor in this one, so it works. 

What’s your process? Do you write your story from start to finish, or do you write the scenes out of order? Do you use any tools, like worksheets or outlines? What are the perfect writing conditions for you?

Ha ha.   I find it funny that I have a process because it depends on the fic I'm writing at the time.  for my more complex stories, I do best when I map them out first.  I don't do a complex map, just a basic synopsis of the first 10 chapters or so, and then a rough outline afterward.  Of course, I keep it a soft outline, and I also plan a few other scenarios in case the story goes in a different direction.  Even Chris Colfer says that his characters surprise him in his stories, and so I'm in good company, I suppose.  

However, on my shorter stories like Rim Job, and idea just comes to me, and I just write what comes to me, and then I even take suggestions from my readers about further chapters.  I guess it just depends on the tone of the fic.  If it's serious, I'm much more structured, but on my less serious pieces, I just have fun and write.   

The perfect conditions are when I'm alone (be it when others are sleeping or out of the house) and I can just allow my muse to work.  I put on some background noise (Glee music or episodes) for inspiration and just sit down in front of my laptop with my notebooks.  Many times, I have scenes written in my notebooks before I type them out (I write when I'm waiting at the dr.'s office or at work during a break, ect) so all I have to do is type and polish the scene.  Unfortunately, I have several scenes in my notebooks that haven't made it into a word document yet just because of lack of time.  Hopefully, I will catch up this summer.

***

Check out Gleefuldarrencrissfan’s Fics

Somewhere Only We Know -  Blaine has three little words on his mind when he says good bye to Kurt in the court yard at McKinley. Can he make himself declare them out loud? An alternate ending to "Born This Way"

Silly Love Songs -  It's Valentine's Day, and Blaine had plans to serenade Jeremiah. But what if Blaine discovered the doodle Kurt made in Silly Love Songs before he serenaded Jeremiah? The scene at the Lima Bean is canon and everything to the point of Kurt sketching the doodle, but the ending, of course will be how I had hoped it would've happened.

Courage -  Do you believe that one moment can change the course of your life? That one event change the way you saw everything, or do you think it's a series of moments that build from one experience to the next. A year ago, I would've said that was crazy. But I'm not the same guy that I was a year ago.

[sheadre]

When Stars Collide (Jackson Wang x Reader) Part 2/2

Part One

Warnings: none

Jackson’s PoV.

He stared at his phone as he sat in his living room. Jackson felt so restless a long time ago, his heart was always thumping hard against his chest whenever he saw a picture of her. She was beautiful and her laugh was music to his ears. It’s been a week since he took her home after wrapping up the song at the studio. Ever since she debuted in N3XUS she drew his attention to herself in every music video or variety show.

Fans pointed out how badly her bandmates treated her and how much she was ignored by both the other girls and the company. She posted a few acoustic versions of their songs on her Instagram which left many people dumbfounded why her company was treating her so poorly. She was more than just talented. Jackson knew that he might fall in love with her right after he walked into the studio. Her voice was mesmerizing and it expressed so many feelings. He couldn’t help but stare at her in awe through the glass window.

He kept thinking back to that kiss she pressed onto his cheek as she said goodbye. He never thought he would feel like this. Even when he was so in love with Alice, it couldn’t compare to that buzzing he felt around (Name). Jackson sighed leaning back into his couch pulling a pillow into his arms, hugging it tightly. Then his phone went off startling him.

“Ey, man, I’m coming over with some take-out” sounded Bam Bam’s voice from the other end. “Jinyoung’s with me too.”

“Will you ever stop acting like you can just walk in here like you own the place?” Jackson sighed but smiled. Even after years of GOT7 ending, they were still as close as ever. Soon his doorbell rang and when he opened it, Bam Bam walked inside like he owned the place. He hung his head as he chuckled but his worry and nervousness never eased. Why couldn’t he just text her? Why was he so nervous?

“Hey man, you look like someone kicked your puppy” Bam Bam turned back to him while Jinyoung took his shoes off. Jackson’s response was silence as he walked over to the counter and started unpacking the food. “Wait, did Alice contact you again? Did she call you again?”

“No… the last time she did, I blocked her” Jackson shook his head while turning to the cabinets so he could grab plates and silverware.

“Then what’s wrong?” Jinyoung asked and his expression showed his worry for his friend.

“Ah, it has to be a girl! Did you get a new girlfriend? One night stand? Anything? Have you gotten laid ever since…?” Bam Bam was immediately interested making Jackson roll his eyes again.

“I have no idea, okay?” Jackson groaned as he planted himself in his couch with a pout on his lips. “We were connecting, wrote a song but… I don’t know…”

“Why are you not calling her? Just find out if she’s into you, man” his friend plopped down next to him. “It’s been so long since you looked at a woman other than as a friend. You need to get laid.”

“That is the only thing you can think about?” Jackson hit Bam Bam with a pillow. “I have no idea what to say…”

“Just text her ‘hi’ and she will respond, the pick up lines are so lame anyway but you can try them if you want her to run to the other end of the planet” Jinyoung chimed in making Jackson look at him as evilly as possible. The conversation quickly turned towards what everyone was doing and other things. It was relaxing to just let go of all the busy work days for a while and think about anything and nothing at the same time.

Then later that night, Jackson grabbed his phone and typed in those two letters with a winky emoji. His heart jumped in his chest but he decided to just put his phone down and take a shower first. He was tired and would have a long day the other day. When he finished with the shower, a message was waiting for him.

Time skip ~

A months went by and to his delight, the company wanted him and (Name) to shoot an MV for the song they collaborated on. It was tiring but he was filled with energy as he danced with her. She was so mesmerizing in her costume, her dance moves so smooth like she was born to do this and he thought so in reality. Jackson ever since seeing her perform on stage during a concert or in a music video, he thought that she was a natural. Her moves and gestures looked so effortless compared to the other girls in her band.

However, he knew that if you were passionate about what you were doing, people could achieve more than they would ever dream of. He was certain that she would achieve all her goals and more leaving everyone mesmerized. Then they were asked to perform on the newest Idol Producer during the live concert. The hype around the two of them was already large, fans wanted them to be together so when they appeared and he kissed her on stage, the whole place seemed to explode. They both agreed to it especially after the company asked them to show more intimate for the fans. It was too easy and he felt like no one was around them, like there was only the two of them. It was so sweet and he wanted to hold her and never let go. Jackson could see the same thing in her eyes but the moment ended with the music and she broke out of her trance.

To his disappointment, she had to leave the scene right after their performance for an interview with Elle. After that, they both had little time to even just chat with him being in a different country. It was frustrating then Jackson was invited to an awards show where everything turned downhill. One of the actresses he never even met before tried to make small talk and get closer to him. The intentions were so obvious and the woman was looking so cheap, acting so cheap. Though, the gentleman in him kept being polite to her which she took as a green light to be more pushy. Yibo, noticed it but was too busy listening to a director talk to him to go over to them. Jackson wasn’t angry with Yibo for not helping him out, he was still young and that director was way more important than to leave him hanging. Then the actress was in his lap before he realized what was happening and of course many fans and paparazzi shot a ton of photos in different angles of them.

First time in his life, Jackson pushed a woman away and ran away in frustration. He knew that by the time he reached the hotel room, (Name) would’ve already seen the photos and the none existent stories with them. But he couldn’t give up, he couldn’t let her slip away. For weeks, he felt miserable because she didn’t answer any of his texts or calls. One night, when he just wanted to fall into bed and not wake up for the next 72 hours, he found a letter on his coffee table with a ticket to Seoul. He furrowed his eyebrows as he lifted the letter to read it properly.

Dear Mr. Wang,

It’s Sue, (Name)’s assistant. I’m writing to you because I am aware of the truth behind those pictures. I’ve seen your live stream two weeks ago in which you explained everything. (Name) refused to see it but I know that it is not late, she is very much in love with you. I’m not writing to you as her assistant but as her friend.

There is an airplane ticket for you for the flight that comes to Seoul from Shanghai at 11 pm. I will arrange everything so she will be home, here’s the code for her apartment complex’s gate. I hope you can come…

Jackson’s heart seemed to skip a beat as he processed the words. He grabbed his phone, some cash with his keys and called a cab. He had to reach the flight which would take off in two hours. Throughout the flight he was restless, thinking about a million ways what to say to her. He couldn’t lose her. No one made him feel this way before, get under his skin, fill him with energy and make him giddy. Getting to her apartment was easy but knocking on her door was harder. Jackson stood there with a dry mouth and blinked a few times before he groaned and just knocked on the wooden surface of it without a thought in his head. He heard soft footsteps padding up to the door but all the air left his lungs when he saw her.

Your PoV.

You knew that everyone noticed your pouty face and bad mood lately but only Sue said anything about it. After all, she was the only person you told about your true feelings for Jackson. To your surprise, she wasn’t even surprised about that fact, just smirked at you knowingly and insisted on showing you Jackson’s live stream.

You definitely missed him. Being around him made everything so easy and effortless, so carefree. Ever since you stopped texting him, your days turned dull and grey. Nothing really interested you anymore and found yourself staring at your TV with a blank expression. Suddenly, someone knocked on your door which surprised you because you didn’t order food nor did you called over anyone. Not that you had many people to call over.

You walked up to the door with your eyebrows furrowed and opened the door. You thought you were having a heart attack when you saw who it was. Jackson was standing on the other side, disheveled, glitter sticking to half of his face and neck, dark circles under his eyes and panting heavily as he stared at you with wide eyes.

“J-Jackson?” you asked unsure of what you were supposed to do. “Um… Come in.”

Walking past you, you could smell his smell. You always thought that it was nice for him to not put on liters of cologne. Other guys tended to do so suffocating anyone in a ten meter radius.

“(Name)… just please, listen to me, I know the photos and what the media made up is contradictory but there was nothing going on between me and that woman” Jackson sputtered quickly after you closed the door. He grabbed your hand and looked at you pleadingly. “Please, believe me…”

“Why… are you explaining anything to me?” you asked quietly trying to pull away. He didn’t owe you anything, he was a free man, there was nothing official going on between the two of you. “You… don’t owe me anything…”

“Then why are you not responding? Why are you ignoring me since then?” he asked and leaned down so he could look into your eyes. He reached up to cup your face and wiped a tear away. You reached up and touched the wet trail of the tear in surprise. “I know we never got to officially go out… I wanted to ask you out properly after that night when we performed in live TV but you had to go to an interview. (Name)… I’ve never felt anything like this with anyone before…”

Jackson was looking deep into your eyes, forehead almost touching yours. He was still so perfect and you knew you would be a fool to not say yes. Every inch of you wanted to say yes… ever since you met him in the studio.

“I wasn’t angry with you…” you sniffed as you held onto his hand that cupped your face. “I was afraid that I was seeing too much into everything… I was afraid to be heartbroken.”

“I know… and I want to make it up to you” he breathed before his lips crashed against yours in an urgent, impatient yet sweet kiss. You could feel his desperation as he held onto you like his life depended on it. You kissed him back with your eyes closed. Your heart was thumping so hard against your ribcage as he pulled you closer.

He was everything you ever wanted and you were grateful for the stars to lead you to him.

Ten years later ~

Hong Kong was beautiful in its own way. You learnt Chinese quickly especially with Jackson helping you when you got stuck. When he first brought you home, to introduce you to his family, he seemed to be so proud showing you off. His family was nice and accepted you completely after Jackson proposed to you.

You knew how hard it was for him to propose after how his first fiancée let him down, but you couldn’t be happier to tie the knot with him. It was natural and nothing changed after years of marriage either except that you got two kids. You were always laughing your head off when Jackson was once left with your daughter for days because you had some work over seas and showed you the drawing your daughter made. He was glowing with pride and happiness, already telling your daughter that she was a true artist.

It was filling you with happiness to see him happy. He was so good at taking care of your kids, even made a special performance with them for Mother’s Day for you. Though, you got a whole different performance later in the bedroom. You loved him more than anything and you knew he felt the same way about you. There was no need for any proof.

End ~

[hermannsthumb]

Could you do #40 cancelled holiday party? Thank you!

40. i just found out that a friend of a friend of a friend isn’t hosting their annual holiday party this year, so now how am i going to have my annual run in with you?

from winter writing prompts here

happy xmas eve, if you celebrate it!

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

Newt doesn’t really have many friends, and certainly not enough to warrant a flood of party invitations come December, but for the past few years he’s been able to rely pretty consistently on at least one. Back when the band was still together, his drummer had a pretty cool girlfriend who would sometimes let them tag along as the entertainment for parties around town, and her brother (who was almost as cool as her) ended up liking the way they sounded so much he invited them back to his own parties a couple times. Then he dated Newt’s guitarist, and then he broke up with Newt’s guitarist, and then he dated Newt, and then he broke up with Newt, and it sort of fell apart from there (and so did the band), but the breakup was actually pretty amicable, and he’s never failed to extend the invitation to Newt for his annual holiday bash as a courtesy. And Newt’s never failed to make an appearance. What’s there not to like, you know? It’s free booze, free food, and the chance to not feel like a total loser loner for once. Plus…well. Another reason.

But this year isn’t looking too good for Newt.

“Sick?” Newt says. “What do you mean he’s sick?”

“I mean,” Newt’s ex-drummer says, irritably, “he’s sick. Caught the flu or something. I don’t know, Jackie just wanted me to call and tell you, she didn’t give me any details.”

“Couldn’t he have called me himself?” Newt says.

“No,” Newt’s ex-drummer says, “I told you, he has the flu, he’s totally out of it, man. Party’s off this year. Hey, did you get our Christmas card?”

“What? Oh. Yeah,” Newt sighs. He tacked it up on his fridge: the two women with their arms around each other, one pink-haired, one blue-haired, holding up their cat in the middle like it was their son or something. Clever. Quirky. Newt just makes a generic Tweet mid-December wishing everyone a happy holiday season and calls it a success—less effort. “Yeah, it was cute. It’s definitely cancelled? He can’t just, I don’t know, take some Advil or something and—”

“Newt,” she says.

“Yeah, okay, fine,” Newt says. “Tell Jackie to tell him to—get well soon? Soon enough for New Year’s, maybe? Because it would be great if—”

She hangs up on him. Newt probably deserved it.

He stalks Jackie’s brother’s Facebook for a bit after the phone call to make sure he’s not just lying about the flu to get out of inviting Newt to the holiday bash he’s definitely having. It becomes clear pretty quick it’s pretty legit—he’s made exactly one post in the last few days, and it’s a selfie of him looking absolutely horrid in his bed, advising everyone to not be like him and get their flu shots. Not lying, then. Damn it. There’s not even going to be anything for Newt to crash.

“Damn it,” Newt groans, and slams his laptop shut.

In all honesty, Newt’s not pissed about missing the party itself. He’s pissed about missing the party guests. How else is he going to have his annual spat at the snack table with his mortal enemy, Dr. Bitchy, British, Badly-Dressed Gottlieb?

Mortal enemy is too strong. Rival, maybe? Though certainly not a friendly one. He’s fond of Dr. Gottlieb, really, in some insane, backwards kinda way, like he’s a specimen Newt would love nothing more than to cram under a microscope and study up close. What makes him tick? What makes him scowl like that, yell at Newt—more or less a stranger—like that, attend the same party year after year like that only to stand in the darkest corner like a vampire and avoid every single other person? The first time they met was at the party three years ago, when Dr. Gottlieb loudly accused Newt of deliberately snagging the last cucumber finger sandwich because he somehow knew Dr. Gottlieb was eyeing it up, too, and only did it to annoy him, and it’s only gone downhill from there. Or maybe uphill. He fascinates Newt.

He’s also insanely attractive to Newt. Bitchy, British, Badly-Dressed, but, my God, what a set of cheekbones, what a set of eyes, what a big ‘ole mouth that Newt can only assume would be awesome for kissing. And only a few inches of height on Newt, too; he wouldn’t even need to stretch up that far to test out his hypothesis.

Since Newt has Facebook open, he does another search for Dr. Gottlieb—Dr. Hermann Gottlieb, technically, though he’s furious whenever Newt tries to call him anything other than his full title. If Newt was normal, he’d just shoot the guy a friend request or something. A simple message. He just stalks his page instead, which makes him feel the sting of the cancelled party even more keenly: Dr. Gottlieb doesn’t post, like, any pictures of himself, but the ones he’s been tagged in by his company and someone who appears to be his brother make it very clear very fast that he kinda just got even hotter over the year. He’s started wearing his oversized glasses on a librarian chain, and his haircut—which had always been a severe sort of undercut—has grown out up top to be adorably poofy. Tragic.

He shoots his ex-drummer a text later. Can you ask Jackie to ask about that Gottlieb guy that’s there every year? Like, what’s his deal?

The reply comes later, while Newt is reheating some leftover Chinese takeout for dinner. they’re friends w gottlieb’s younger bro. mostly invite him to be nice.

“Figures,” Newt mutters.

Well, if there won’t be a party at which to have their annual run-in, Newt is simply going to have to orchestrate a run-in himself. The first step is finding out where Gottlieb works.

Newt picks a miserable day to set his plan into action. A snowstorm swept through the city a few days prior, and before the sidewalks were even finished dethawing, a sleet storm followed and turned them into eighty-percent sheets of ice. And then more snow comes. Newt slips and slides all the way to the cafe across from Gottlieb’s humble little robotics research facility, cursing himself for not having invested in proper winter boots yet. Docs are practical and cool, but they could be warmer, and Newt’s are so old the treads are basically nonexistent. He orders himself the most expensive coffee on the menu as a reward for his troubles and claims a chair near the large shop window in front, underneath a hanging fern. He would simply wait and watch for Gottlieb to walk out. The man had to walk out eventually. Lunch break, or coffee break, or even just clocking out for the day. He had to.

“Would you like to see our sandwich menu, sir?” a waitress asks Newt. “We have a new—"

“Nah, no thanks,” Newt says. He doesn’t tear his eyes away from the window. “You don’t have to call me sir, by the way. It makes me feel old. Does a Dr. Gottlieb ever come here?”

The waitress snorts involuntarily; she flushes a second later. “Sorry,” she says. “It’s just that—yes, Dr. Gottlieb comes in a lot, and he’s kind of…”

“Awful?” Newt grins.

“Particular,” the waitress says. “He has us remake his coffee if it’s not perfect enough for him. And we have to write out the whole thing, Dr. Gottlieb, on his cup, every time. He tips really well, though, so we don’t really mind.”

“Has he come in today yet?” Newt says.

She opens her mouth as if to answer the question, but then furrows her eyebrows. “Why do you want to know, anyway? Are you guys friends?”

“Not really,” Newt says. Deciding it’s not worth the effort to explain the complex homoeroticism of his dynamic with Gottlieb, and to random waitress who probably doesn’t give a shit at that, he amends “I mean, yes. Good friends. I’ll see that sandwich menu, actually.”

Newt has a nice breakfast of avocado and egg on a bagel, and pretends to do work on his laptop for a few hours, but—to his disappointment—Dr. Gottlieb doesn’t come in for a coffee. Newt doesn’t catch sight of any familiar dark-haired, scowling men walking in or out of the institute, either. Gottlieb must have off today. Maybe it’s for the best, anyway; Newt’s not totally sure what he would’ve done if he ran into the guy on the street, or how he would have even explained why he’s there to Gottlieb if he did. He was just sort of operating under the assumption he’d figure it out in the heat of the moment. He calls it quits around three in the afternoon, not wanting to walk home in the dark after sunset. “Happy holidays,” he tells the baristas gloomily, and steps out into the snow with one last cardboard cup of coffee.

He mulls it all over in his head as he avoids ice patches and passersby on the way home. Should he ask for Dr. Gottlieb’s number? Is it weird to ask your ex, or even his sister, for the number of a guy you’re sorta-interested in? Newt supposes it’s weird to invite your ex to a holiday party in the first place, but he really wasn’t lying about it being amicable. Maybe he wouldn’t care. He could always just send that fucking Facebook friend request. Or he could just wait until next year. It’s just a year.

He’s so distracted that he doesn’t notice the patch of ice directly in front of his apartment until he’s already stepping on it, and his stomach flips in a way that lets Newt knows he’s just fucked up; his worn-out boot loses traction, his arms pinwheel, his coffee goes flying, and he lands—

In someone’s arms?

Well, even that’s not totally right. He lands mostly in someone’s arms, but he hears a little oof, an exclamation of surprise, and then they both topple over and into a snowbank. The coffee lands somewhere next to Newt’s head. “Bugger,” a familiar voice groans.

Newt sits up. Dr. Gottlieb is laying on his back next to him, wrapped in a green parka and about three scarves. To Newt’s relief, he doesn’t look angry. More embarrassed than anything else. “Apologies,” he says. “You were heavier than I’d anticipated. Or perhaps I was not as strong as I anticipated.”

“I appreciate it anyway, dude,” Newt says.

He gets to his feet, locates Gottlieb’s cane from where it’s somehow landed on the other side of the sidewalk, then tugs Gottlieb to his feet as well. Gottlieb makes a face as he rights himself. “You ought to watch yourself, and be more careful,” he says. “You could break your neck next time.”

“Worried about me?” Newt says. He dusts some snow off Gottlieb’s shoulders. “What are you doing outside my apartment, dude?”

“Er,” Gottlieb says.

He goes a strange shade of pink, and clears his throat. “I fancied…a walk. In the snow. Fresh air. And I just happened to be—er—” He clears his throat again. “I happened to discover you lived here, and my walk happened to take me by. I wasn’t looking for you, if that’s what you’re implying. Or waiting for you. I have better things to do with myself.”

“Really?” Newt says. “’Cause I was looking for you.”

“Oh,” Gottlieb says.

He really is cute right now, with his red-tipped ears, his dumb coat, his dumb scarves, the snow sticking to his back and his poofy hair. Sticking to his long eyelashes. It’s the first time Newt’s ever seen the guy not, like, at least mildly annoyed at him; it’s doing something funny to his heart. “Hey, you wanna come in for a coffee or something?” he says. “Mine kinda spilled, and I could go for another.”

“I couldn’t possibly,” Gottlieb says.

Newt grins. “Come on, I know you want to. It’s cold as shit out and you’ve clearly been out here for a while. We can order a pizza or something, too.”

“Well,” Gottlieb says, and he ducks his head as he finally smiles back. It’s worth the wait, because my God, is it cute, all broad and crooked. Newt has the feeling not too many people get to witness it. “Perhaps for a bit. I was hoping to discuss your latest article with you, you know, and was very put out when I learned I wouldn’t be seeing you at the party this year.”

“Oh?” Newt says. He holds out his hand, and Gottlieb startles visibly a moment before taking it. Newt can feel how cold Gottlieb is even through his thick red mitten—he could use a little warming up. Newt can light a fire in the fireplace he rarely uses…maybe break out some wine…it’ll be nice and romantic… “Did you like it?”

“Not in the slightest,” Gottlieb says cheerily.

“Just what I was hoping,” Newt says. “After you, Doctor.”

[kindahoping4forever]

Release // Ashton Irwin

This idea started when CALM went #1 in the UK and Cass @cal-puddies​​ received an anon asking what “celebrating” with Ash might be like. Before we got a chance to explore that, the US chart news started developing and the concept suddenly became a lot more complex. Part of this was actually our first co-write but we hadn’t really found our groove yet so it sat unfinished until last week when I got super in my feelings and rewrote and edited it.

 A massive thank you to everyone who read Is It Warm Enough For You Inside Me? and for all the kind words about Remember When We Couldn’t Take The Heat, those were much needed confidence boosts for me. And my forever thanks to Cass for both encouraging and indulging me with this and for basically being the greatest friend, writing partner and hype woman a 🤡 like me could ask for. 

Warnings: Smut. But also feelings. Frisky happy!Ash sex. (Morning sex, unprotected sex within an established relationship, oral sex performed on a male.) Hard dom!Ash sex. (Angsty subtext to a previously established dom/sub dynamic featuring rough unprotected sex, rough male oral sex, spanking, brief mention of choking, manual and oral overstimulation of a female, degrading language and use of the term “Daddy.”) Soft boyfriend!Ash sex. (Make up sex, basically. Unprotected sex, oral sex on a female.) Choose your fighter.

Word Count: 9,168

Masterlist // Taglist // Ko-Fi

Let   us  know  what  you  think!

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

FRIDAY

You turn over in bed, expecting to snuggle into your boyfriend but you frown when cool sheets are all you feel against your skin. You unofficially moved in a few weeks ago when LA’s quarantine order was announced and you’d quickly grown accustomed to waking up beside Ashton and enjoying a lazy morning cuddle. 

This wasn’t the first time you’d woken up alone this week as the release of the new album required what seemed like an endless whirlwind of band meetings via Zoom, live streams for the fans and early morning phone interviews. But you knew that this promo schedule was nothing in comparison to the vigorous trek across the globe they had originally planned and you were lucky to have him home with you, so you had no complaints. You settle back into your pillow and doze off once again. 

You sleep for a few more hours and in the meantime, Ash gets the call: CALM has gone #1 in the UK. It’d been a tight race all week so the triumph is somewhat unexpected and thus, that much sweeter. A #1 album doesn’t come without its share of responsibilities so he fields congratulatory calls from the label, sends off some gracious statements from the band to inquiring magazines and posts grateful messages on the band’s socials. 

By the time the rest of the guys call him for a short but sweet group FaceTime, he’s dying. He wants nothing more than to bound into the bedroom and tell you the good news; you’ve been so supportive and understanding during this whole process, it’s as much your victory as it is his. Not to mention the fact that the excitement has his adrenaline pumping and he can’t help but think of ways you could help him expend some of this energy. 

He’s finally able to break away and heads for the bedroom. He makes a stop at the kitchen to grab two glasses and the sparkling cider he saw you attempt to secretly stash in the back of the fridge when you were unpacking your grocery delivery last night. If he’d seen you ordering it, he would’ve complained that you were going to jinx their chances but he still thought it was a sweet gesture and especially sweet that you know him well enough to have foreseen his objection and went to the trouble to hide it. 

He enters the room and goes into stealth mode, crawling on the bed, wrapping his arm around you before he starts kissing on your neck, shoulders and cheeks. It takes a few moments for you to come around and another couple for you to remember what was happening this morning. As soon as you do, your eyes shoot open and you try searching his for any signs of what the verdict is. He’s grinning so wide, you know it must be good news. 

“Did you get it?” You excitedly ask. He nods proudly, grin spreading even wider and you throw your arms around him, pulling him closer to you. “Yes! Congrats baby, you deserve it!”

He offers a muffled thanks into your neck and gives it a playful bite as he pulls away. “I think we should celebrate,” he tells you.

You start to sit up, thinking to yourself maybe you'll cook a nice breakfast and toast him with that secret cider but he stops you by planting an absolutely filthy kiss on you, pressing himself against you so you can feel he's already half hard. “Oh THAT kind of celebration,” you muse breathlessly.

“Yeah, that kind. C’mon, baby.” Ashton slips his hand between your thighs. “Wanna be a good girl for me?”

“Always,” you reply, maneuvering to flip the both of you over so he’s underneath you. You take off his shirt and kiss over and down his chest. “So handsome AND #1 in the UK? How’s a girl get that lucky?” You tease, pulling at the button on his black jeans.

You take note of the look in his eyes when you mention the #1 and ghost your mouth over his clothed cock before pulling his pants and boxers off. “What’s got you this hard, babe? Me touching you? Or the fact that you’re #1?”

He grins. “Always you, my love.” With a twinkle in his eye, he laughs, “But I have to admit, I was definitely feeling frisky from the news.”

You lean back up and press a kiss to his lips, smiling. “I’m just teasing.” You reach down and stroke him. “You get me in your bed every night but how often do you get to enjoy being #1?”

“I like to imagine I’m always #1 to you, at least when it comes to this,” he smirks. 

You slowly kiss him, moaning at the scrape of his beard against your face, working your tongue against his while your hand also makes slow, skilled work on his cock. He groans as you pull away, only to groan even lower when you move down to lick at the tip of his leaking cock. You moan at the taste.

Ash loudly sucks in his breath and his hands immediately fly to your hair as your tongue gently rolls over the head. "Babyyyy..." he starts to whine.

You place open mouth kisses over the shaft, slicking it up to make it easier for you to work your hand over his length. You stroke him deliberately, while your sloppy kisses move down to his balls and you relish the sound of his breath catching. You lick along the underside of his cock and then focus your mouth over the head, swirling your tongue, licking at any beads of precum as they become available. “Taste so good, handsome,” you coo at him.

He brings his hand to cradle your face; he bites his lip and looks at you with an intoxicating blend of lust and adoration in his eyes. You can’t get enough and you hold his gaze as you lower yourself to slowly take his cock into your mouth as far down as you can. His head lolls to the side and he moans. You’ve only bobbed your head a few times before he’s tapping you to pull off. 

“Baby, I just wanna be in you,” he breathes.

"Success has made you impatient," you joke, trailing kisses along his neck, smiling against his stubbled skin. "I was automatically thinking a congratulatory blowjob to start but it's your #1, you tell me what you need from me." You make quick work of stripping off the t-shirt and panties you wore to bed.

“Just hard to be patient when you feel so fuckin’ good,” he praises you, pushing his hands up your thighs before pulling your hips down so you graze against his hard cock.

“Oh yeah? Feels very hard for you, babe,” you tease, rolling your hips against his. You intend to make him groan but the resulting sounds you hear seem to be coming from your own mouth.

Ash lets out a light chuckle but smirks big at you. “I think I like this... keep that up for me, gorgeous.”

You continue grinding on him, feeling him get somehow even harder underneath you. You lean forward, bracing yourself on his chest as you find your rhythm and he moves his hands from your hips to play with your breasts. "Look so good on top of me, baby, could watch you like this all fuckin’ day," he breathes.

“Is that what my #1 man wants? Me on top all day? Might be able to work that out for you,” you flirt.

He flashes you a mischievous smile and you note to yourself that he hasn't stopped smiling since he woke you up. You wish he could be this happy everyday, it's really a sight to behold. Your tender thoughts are interrupted by him leaning up to attach his mouth to one of your tits.

You let out a soft moan and reach between the two of you, slipping him inside you, easily sliding down his cock from all the teasing.

You both groan into the kiss at the sensation of him filling you. "Wanna make you feel good, baby, you deserve it," you breathe into his mouth as you start to ride him.

Ashton lays back to enjoy the show. His hands run up your body, massaging your tits, running down over your thighs and lightly smacking on your ass. Anything to make it feel as good for you as it does him. 

“So good, gorgeous,” he murmurs, grabbing your hips to still you, so he can thrust up into you a few times. “Can’t help it,” he admits sheepishly.

"Well you said you could watch me all day, you didn't say I'd be in control that entire time," you playfully reply. 

He slaps your ass in mock protest at your teasing and rapidly drives his cock deeper into you a few more times, causing you to roll your head back and whimper. "That doesn't sound like a complaint though, does it?" He says with a cocky grin.

“Have I ever?” You wink, taking back control as you slow down and really accentuate the rolling of your hips. You arch your back, showing off your body that’s feeling in desperate need of more attention from him.

He takes the hint and suddenly his hands are busy traveling around your body. He runs the palm of his hand up and down your chest between your breasts, detouring to roll each nipple under his thumb. He kneads your ass, spreading your cheeks and pinching appreciatively, groaning when his fingers unintentionally brush his length sinking back into your pussy as you move above him. Finally he snakes a hand down to find your clit, drawing slow but firm circles around it.

You take as much of the touching as you can before dropping your hands to his chest, digging your nails in. You get breathy, “Ash... please. Want to cum for you, baby.”

You see the fire in his eyes as he hears your words and as you expect, he doesn't waste a second, easily flipping you over and energetically thrusting into you. "And you said I was impatient," he teases. "Love it when you tell me you need me like this."

“Can you get deeper?” You moan, pulling him closer to your body.

He reaches for your thigh and squeezes it, angling it slightly, pushing it up towards your chest. He watches your face as he gives a long, slow thrust to test the change in position. "Better?" He asks.

You pant, “Much... baby...” 

With the agreed position, he picks the pace back up and grins, “Fuck… you’re right, baby, this is better.”

You sigh, rubbing your hands over his arms and you can't help but raise your hips to meet his movements. The way he's pumping into you, the feeling of his cock so full inside you, that fucking grin that hasn't left his face and you hope never leaves - you love it all and it all has you feeling overwhelmed. You want to cum but also need this to never end. 

You look at him for a few beats. “I love you,” you murmur, pushing up for a kiss. “Gonna cum for me, handsome?” You bite at his chest.

"Baby..." he softly responds. You feel a hand between you, gently thumbing over your clit and you let out a gasp followed by a deep whine. His pace is increasing rapidly and you know he's on the edge and he's trying to make sure you finish too.

You dig your nails into his back, wrapping your other leg around his waist, letting the little moans and whimpers falling from your lips serve as a counterpoint to the chanting of his name and your cries of “Baby, please.”

"I know, I know," he soothes, increasing the pressure on your clit. He feels you begin to pulse and offers you a near breathless, "That's it, baby, cum" and that's all it takes for you to squeeze around him. You hear the telltale moans indicating that he's seconds from orgasm as well and you wish you could see his face when he does; you love watching him cum but you can't bring yourself to open your eyes just yet, lost in the intensity of your own pleasure.

Ash groans and kisses your face once he’s done filling you. “So pretty when you cum.” He rests on top of you, head on your chest, breathing you in for a moment before pulling out and flipping onto his back. 

He pulls you into him. “Best way to celebrate, baby,” he grins and you hum in agreement as he kisses your forehead, "Wouldn't mean nearly as much if I didn't have you to share this with, and I mean that."

You pout and tenderly rub his chest. "So proud of you, Ash. Happy to be here to celebrate with you." 

He giggles to himself and slightly pulls away to look at you. "Glad to hear you say that." He wiggles his eyebrows at you. "Because I forgot to mention we've also got #1 in Scotland."

SATURDAY

You’re washing dishes after lunch and thinking about how you haven’t seen Ashton all day, which struck you as somewhat unusual. You knew he was still in the midst of album promo and there was the possibility of the US chart news coming in tonight but even at his busiest, Ash is always sure to at least text you a good morning message, if not some sort of saucy “sorry I’m so busy, make it up to you later” promise. You’d heard him storming around, slamming cabinets before you got out of bed this morning and even with him tucked away in his basement office, you’d definitely heard the rumblings of his loud voice during what sounded like some intense phone calls. But you figured if something was wrong, he would let you know.

You’re startled out of your thoughts by the sound of a door slamming and footsteps stomping up the stairs. You turn around to see Ash still in the t-shirt and shorts he slept in, looking intensely at you from behind the kitchen island. His hair is messy and his face tired. You wonder how long he’s been up and what exactly he’s been dealing with since. “Hey babe, I was just thinking about you,” you say brightly. “I already ate but I can make you something if you --”

“Upstairs,” his gruff voice sharply cuts you off.

“What’s upstairs?” You ask, confused, still moving around the kitchen distractedly.

Suddenly you feel his hands on your hips, lifting you up and throwing you over his shoulder. You get as far as the entryway to the bedroom before he sets you down and leans into you against the wall. He shoves his face in the crook of your neck and lets the roughness of his beard scrape your skin as his teeth gently bite you.

"Need you to be good for me, can you do that?” You answer his question with a slow nod but he pulls away from your neck and firmly grips your jaw, turning your face to look at him. “I need words, baby girl.”

You hear “baby girl” and take a deep breath, searching his face. That nickname means Ashton is in a very specific mood. You assumed he didn’t just drag you up here to talk but as you see the darkness clouding his eyes, the pieces start falling into place and you realize he had a much tougher morning than you initially assumed. You instantly feel for him and you know that whatever he’s asking for, the only answer you'd ever want to give is, “Yes, Daddy.”

He narrows his eyes, clenches his jaw and spins you around, pressing your chest against the wall. Normally he would tell you to strip but he doesn’t seem to have the patience for that today as he reaches to yank your panties and leggings down around your knees. He briefly ruts against you before you feel him move away momentarily; you hear what sounds like digging through a drawer followed by the familiar uncapping of lube and a groan as he moves back towards you, slicking his cock. 

“Spread,” he harshly commands, kicking your feet apart. You do as he says and in anticipation of what’s coming, you use your hands to brace yourself against the wall. You trust Ash with your life but your stomach is full of butterflies as you wait for his next move. The noise of your heart pounding in your ears is very quickly replaced with the sounds of a series of forceful, full-handed smacks coming down on your ass, the continued wet sounds of Ashton fisting his length and your gasp at the unexpected cold of lube being hastily smeared between your folds.

His hand wraps tightly around your hair, jerking it back and then suddenly he’s pushing his cock into you until you take him completely. You pant heavily, head spinning from the stretch of him inside you. He stays buried in you for a moment, not for you to adjust, but to roughly tug your tank top and bra down far enough for your breasts to spill out.

He pulls out almost entirely and then rams back into you in one swift motion and immediately sets what can only be described as a brutal pace. He drills his cock into you over and over, slowing only to tighten his bruising grip on your hips or to deliver another merciless slap to your quickly reddening ass. You cry out with every thrust and every smack, not quite out of pleasure but not quite from pain.

Considering the rate that he’s pounding into you, it’s not long before he’s using your hair to yank you up to his chest so that he can paw at your tits as he pumps you full of cum with a grunt. His breath is heavy and hot on the back of your neck. Your hands are shaking from the adrenaline rush of being manhandled and fucked so selfishly.

He pulls out of you and pays no mind to the cum that instantly starts running down your thighs and onto your pants that are still around your legs. “Take off your clothes and sit on the bed,” he says stoically, swatting your ass harshly one last time.

You quickly finish undressing and move to the bed as he says, wincing at the sticky feel of your cum-covered thighs touching and of the coolness of the comforter hitting your tender ass that you’re convinced has actual handprints on it. Ashton stays in the entryway for a minute, staring you down from across the room before he strips off his clothes and stalks over to you. 

He opens his mouth to speak but immediately closes it and purses his lips, as if he thought better of what he was about to say. If you didn’t know your boyfriend as well as you do, you would’ve thought he was about to divulge exactly what it was he was working through, what set him off. But you’ve been down this road enough times that you know he’s not interested in talking about it, not yet; the only thing he needs in this moment is to use you and use you right the fuck now.

He tightly grabs your chin again, tilting your face to look at him. His jaw tightens as he looks at you and says, “Suck.”

You promptly drop to your knees and are not at all surprised to see he’s already fairly aroused again. You dutifully tug at his cock, still slick from being inside you; you keep your head up in hopes of maintaining eye contact with him but he refuses to meet your eyes. You decide to be bold and try to engage him. "Getting so hard for me, Daddy," you say with a moan.

He finally looks down at you but with a far-off look of disinterest and annoyance on his face. "Don't fucking patronize me, I thought I said I wanted that slutty mouth around my cock?" He takes it from your hands and lets it lightly smack across your cheek, surprising you with the weight and sound of it. "Anytime, baby girl," he taunts, dragging it across your lips.

Unfazed, you obey, licking up and down the shaft a few times, getting it sloppy and wet just like you know he likes. You suckle at the head as your hand firmly strokes him before you take him in your mouth. You moan around him as you bob your head, taking more of him down each time. You lift your gaze to flash him the big innocent eyes that always make his cock twitch on your tongue but he's staring off into the distance again.

You pull off with an obscene pop and take his balls into your mouth. Still nothing out of him. You lick along the underside of his length, making sure to trace a particularly sensitive vein with your tongue. When you reach the tip, you pay special attention to eagerly flick your tongue just under the head, which always gets a big reaction from Ash. 

You get one, just not the reaction you expected. He finally looks down at you, rolls his eyes and grabs the back of your head, shoving your open mouth down on his cock. You sputter slightly but are able to recover as he gathers your hair once again, gripping it tightly in his hands before he begins thrusting rapidly into your mouth.  

He continues to snap his hips against your face until you lose your breath and begin to choke around him. He holds you on his cock for a beat before he pulls you back by your hair and takes in the sight of you: lips swollen, tears staining your cheeks, chin covered in spit with a string of saliva still connecting your mouth to his cock. 

“On the bed. On your back,” he barks.

You hurriedly get up and climb onto the bed, laying down as requested. “No, like this,” he instructs, grabbing your arm and easily spinning you so that you’re laying at the foot of the bed. He pulls you so that your head is hanging off in front of him and he nonchalantly slides himself back into your mouth.

This new position allows his cock to reach much further down your throat and he cradles your face in his hands as he rocks against you; you gag more than a few times but try your best to relax for him. You focus on breathing through your nose and distract yourself from his rough intrusions by gripping his strong thighs, enjoying the feel of them flexing underneath your grasp as he starts gaining speed. 

You’re getting used to the sensation of him gliding down your throat and you’re pleased to hear that he seems to finally be enjoying himself as well, judging from the murmurs and groans you’re hearing above you. A distinct whine that sounds just like your name gets you especially excited and you can’t help but moan around him, the vibrations of it causing him to moan as well.

Ash reaches down and starts massaging your breasts, tweaking the nipples before slapping them around a bit. “Touch yourself for me,” he growls. You slip a hand down your body and start rubbing your clit. “Give me one of your legs, I wanna watch,” he demands. You kick a leg up for him to hold, angling your hips towards him to offer a better view. He groans and pulls his cock out of your throat, only thrusting shallowly into your mouth so that you can easily suck him off and enjoy yourself at the same time.

“Fuck, I can see how wet you are, baby girl,” he groans and grabs your tit. “You love it when I use you, don’t you? Love being a good little slut for Daddy?” You know his questions are rhetorical but as you tease your clit and hear his filthy words, you can’t help but murmur around his cock in response.

He pulls out of your mouth entirely. “What was that? Hard to hear Daddy’s slut when her mouth is full of cock,” he taunts.

You pant, “Yes, Daddy, love it when you use me. Love it when you let me be a slut for you.”

He pinches each of your nipples and then slaps the inner thigh of the leg he’s holding. “You sure about that, baby girl? Doesn’t seem like you’re very desperate to cum for me,” he states disapprovingly. “Daddy’s being gracious enough to consider letting you cum and you’re laying there taking your sweet time.”

Ashton leans further over your body and unceremoniously shoves two fingers in you, pumping them relentlessly. You moan loudly and he rolls his eyes. “Should’ve known it wasn’t enough for my slut to have Daddy’s cock in her throat, gotta fill her pussy up too.” He fingers you mercilessly as your own hands travel from your clit up to your chest, massaging and pulling at your nipples eagerly.

The obscene sounds of his fingers working in you in symphony with the noises leaving your mouth fill the room. “Listen to how desperate, how wet you are, baby girl,” he comments, shoving his fingers in you harder. “You’re gonna cum for me now.” 

His demand isn’t met instantly so he pulls his fingers out and you cry out as he chuckles darkly. “You think I fucking care if you cum or not?” He taunts, fingers torturously working their way back inside you. “I’m doing you a favor and you’re just proving how fucking ungrateful you are. You don’t cum from this, you’re not cumming at all.”

You know this game and you know if you don’t work yourself up enough to finish in approximately 90 seconds or less, you probably won’t get another opportunity. You frantically begin rubbing your clit again, trying to focus on the feeling of his thick fingers moving inside you. You reach for his cock and pull it into your mouth because his insults weren’t far off, you do like being filled as much as possible.

He watches as your hips buck up to meet his fingers, smirking as you begin making familiar noises around his cock. “Knew you’d fucking get there,” he teases. He speeds his fingers up even further. “Get it, baby girl,” he commands and that’s enough for you to begin cumming around him. You work through your orgasm together and when you’re done, he pulls his fingers out and braces himself on your body, to instantly start fucking your throat again. 

“Baby girl... so good at letting me use you like this,” he muses.

Ash works your clit again while his other hand moves back to your chest, batting at your tits; he flicks each nipple and the surprising sensation causes you to choke on his cock. He scoffs and increases his teasing of your clit as a means of undermining your attempt to regain your composure.

He massages your tits until you’re swallowing him fully again and then his hand travels to your neck, where he finds the bulge of his cock in your throat and begins applying pressure to it. You moan as he presses down firmer. "I know that greedy pussy wants to cum again. You’re bound to get distracted, thought you might need some help getting me off," he sneers.

The unrelenting rubbing of your sensitive clit already had you nearly there but Ash knows his dirty talk is a weak spot for you and it sends you over the edge once more. He tsks as your body convulses. "See? I know what a predictable slut you are for me,” he ridicules. “I let you cum once and that's not good enough, you gotta have more. Well, now it's my turn." 

He lightly slaps your overstimulated pussy, causing you to squeak around him. He holds down on your shoulders as he picks up the pace and starts ramming his cock down your throat, determined to finish.

After a particularly strong choke, he suddenly pulls back and for a split second you expect him to ask if you’re OK but instead you hear intense panting followed by the feeling of several ropes of hot cum shooting over your tits and stomach and then the heavy thud of his spent body collapsing on the bed beside you.

Within seconds, Ash’s hand is pushing your legs apart again, fingers making their way towards your clit, wanting you to be as overstimulated as possible. 

“You know Daddy loves this greedy little pussy, don’t you?” He murmurs, pushing his fingers back in. “Daddy’s pretty little slut, covered in cum, getting her pussy played with again and again and again. Cumming for Daddy and making Daddy cum, like it’s what you were made for.”

Your head is still hanging off the bed and you know better than to try moving at without permission so the fact that you can’t even see him or what he’s doing to your body makes the sensations that much more overwhelming. You mumble faintly and blindly claw at him in pleasured distress as he teases you.

Ash loves the satisfied moans coming out of your mouth as much as he appreciates the tortured whimpers. He removes his hand from you and leans over to slowly slick his tongue between your folds. The whine that leaves your lips is one he especially enjoys because he knows it means you think you’ve had enough but understand that he knows you can take more. “Aww, did Daddy tire his slut out?” He teases, tongue immediately going back to work.

You can’t do much more but sigh in response, your mind swimming as it tries to process all the feelings you’re experiencing, both physical and emotional. Ashton needs control and when that’s taken away from him, you’ve learned that letting him dominate you is a healthy way for him to feel like he’s regained it somewhat. 

You know whatever happened this morning must have been rough and that has your heart aching; he needs this from you and that fact has you needing it too. This is the best way you can be there for him right now and for you, that's worth surrendering to whatever things he wants to say to you, whatever he wants to put your body through.

You’re literally pulled out of your thoughts when Ash finally realizes how long your head has been upside down and pulls you up to rest fully on the bed. He wraps his arms around your thighs and dives his face back in between your legs, making sure you can feel his scruff, guaranteeing you’ll be feeling this session for days. 

Even though your body feels like it couldn't possibly take any more, he knows what to do to get you moaning and running your hands through his hair in no time.

He clearly has no patience for teasing this time as he diligently eats you out, sucking your clit between his lips with concentrated precision. Your orgasm is sudden, silent and intense; you think to yourself that he must be feeling better because he doesn't berate you at all for cumming, instead he's murmuring approving noises as he laps up your juices. 

As your body relaxes, Ashton rushes to push himself up to gently kiss you; you note it’s the first time he’s done that today. “Taste so good, baby," he murmurs against your lips. “Such a good girl, cumming for me again.”

He pulls away and strokes his hand over your face, looking at you. You know he’s checking to make sure you’re grounded and present with him; you’re surprised you’re as cognizant as you are, you assume your underlying concern for him has kept you from spinning out.

“Bath?” He asks quietly. 

“Don’t know if I can walk just yet,” you admit. 

“Only three orgasms this time and suddenly you can’t walk?” He teases lightly. “I’ll come get you when it’s ready.” He kisses you softly and gets up, pulling on a pair of shorts and covering you with a blanket before he leaves to draw the bath. 

You’ve dozed off by the time he gets back and he gently lifts and carries you into the bathroom; the movement wakes you up and he sets you on your feet. Before he can say anything, you hop into the tub first and sink beneath the water until it hits your shoulders. 

He giggles and you swear you’ve never heard a sweeter sound in your life. “You don’t want me to join you?”

“Of course I do, handsome,” you smile brightly at him.

He grins back at you. “Well then this should be the other way around, baby,” he gestures at your positioning in the tub. 

“Ash,” you say matter of factly. “There’s no way you can think I don’t know that something’s up. C’mere. Come tell me.”

He looks at you incredulously for a beat. Although you’re tired, you’re up to his challenge and you stare right back at him, raising your eyebrows expectantly. He exhales loudly and relents, making a big show of shrugging and huffing as he strips down and steps into the tub. 

He lowers himself into the water and lays back against your chest, letting you wrap your arms around his neck and kiss the top of his head. You know him better than anyone and that means knowing he's so fucking stubborn he’s not going to give anything up without you pressing him. You let him sit in silence for about 30 seconds before you firmly prompt him, "What happened? Spill."

Ashton sighs deeply and pauses long enough that you start to wonder if you’ll have to cue him further but then he’s suddenly letting it all out at once: more problems with pre-orders shipping early, charting technicalities, rules being enforced inconsistently among artists. He’s talking so fast you’re barely able to process a word but it’s fine, you know he’ll come back around to it after he gets it all out. You sit with him and you listen, it’s all you can do and it’s all you want to do.

Several minutes later, he’s done with his explanation and you finally feel him go slack in your arms, relaxing into you. “Baby, I’m so sorry you had to deal with all of this,” you shake your head in disbelief. “But you should still be so proud of this album and everything it’s accomplished, this doesn’t change any of that.”

He takes your hand that’s resting on his chest and brings it to his lips. “I know… it’s just so frustrating. And I hate feeling like there’s nothing else I can do to fix a problem,” he admits.

You sit in the bath and talk until the water gets cold. Ash insists on getting out first and lifts you out of the tub to wrap you in a towel. He leads you into the bedroom where you both quietly dress, lost in your thoughts, processing the day’s events. You turn to him and without exchanging a single word, you both seem to agree it’s time for a nap before you tackle dinner.

You climb onto the bed and open your arms, gesturing for him to join you. He gets in bed beside you, smirking and shaking his head. “I don’t think so, gorgeous. I believe I owe you some aftercare,” he declares, pulling you onto his chest. 

“You needed it more than I did,” you shrug softly. “And I think I was pretty good at it, if I do say so myself.”

He kisses your forehead gently. “Excellent, even,” he agrees. He goes quiet for a minute, stroking your hair, and you’ve almost drifted off to sleep when he says, “Thank you, baby. For everything today. I know it was a lot.”

You consider your words before responding. “You needed me and I was there for you,” you say simply. “It was a lot but it’s never too much.” You tuck yourself in tighter to his chest and fall asleep.

TUESDAY

The charts were officially released a few days ago and as expected, though the fans rallied and made it an extremely close race, the record closed out the week falling short of the top spot. 

Ashton was doing his best to keep busy so as not to dwell on this disappointing turn of events; he’s out tending to his vegetable garden before you even wake up and he’s still in his basement studio working on his demo for the day long after you’ve gone to bed. 

His anger has subsided into something else that you can’t quite read but you know it's best to give him his space and he’ll let you know when he needs you. 

You try to be there for him in whatever way you can: asking if he’s eaten when you’re in the kitchen making yourself food, bringing a fresh cup of coffee down to the studio every so often (along with some water to make sure that’s not all he’s drinking), offering him a shoulder rub while you’re down there. 

The first day you sit his mug down on the desk and do it without thinking; seeing his broad shoulders set in a tense hunch leaned over his laptop, you instinctively massage them gently for about 10 seconds before he lifts your hands off and kisses them sweetly. He looks at you and graciously says, “Rain check?” before turning back to his work. 

The second day, you bring in the coffee and give his shoulders a simple but lingering squeeze which results in a soft “Love you” from him as you leave the room. You turn back to respond and see a sweet smile reflected in his computer screen. 

Today he seems especially focused, fingers typing in a flurry across his keyboard, so you simply run your fingers across his back before quietly starting back up the stairs. Before you reach the top, you hear him call out to you and you poke your head back down into the room. “This sound alright?” he asks, gesturing towards the words on his screen with his mug before taking a sip. 

You come back over to his desk and your eyes land on what appears to be an email to management, expressing his intentions to address the fans about the chart controversy, followed by a brief rundown of points he plans to make. 

“They need it in writing, legally gotta cover all of our asses,” he explains, snaking a hand around your waist, pulling you closer to his chair. His fingers trace along the skin peeking out from between where your tied up t-shirt ends and your lounge shorts begin; he eyes a fading bruise on your hip from your encounter over the weekend and presses a soft kiss to it. 

“It looks good,” you reassure him, running a hand down his unshaven cheek. “I’m proud of you for doing this.” He folds your hand into his and gives it a squeeze and a peck before letting it go and turning his attention back to the email. 

Ash’s video goes up in the early evening; the response seems overwhelmingly supportive and you notice he's even trending for a bit, all of which you hope offers him some comfort. But still, you wait for him to seek you out. 

The day winds down and you still haven't seen him. You text him that you overprepared your own dinner (you didn't really, you were just trying to ensure he would eat) and the leftovers are in the fridge. You get back a heart emoji in response. 

You're in the process of settling in for the night and are surprised to come back to the bedroom after washing your face to find Ashton, face down, starfished across the bed. You snort at the absurd sight and he turns his face towards you and offers you a sweet smile. 

"C'mere," he invites, extending a hand. You approach the bed, not sure exactly what to expect. "Lay with me? Wanna talk."  

You climb on the bed and lay down to face him, lifting one of his arms and placing it over your body. “Been hoping you’d say that,” you admit. 

He smiles sadly and runs his hand over your back. “I know. I’m sorry things have been weird the past few days,” he says softly. “But I want you to know how much I appreciate you giving me the time and space I need to process everything that’s been happening.”

You nod compassionately as he continues. 

“I'm so grateful for the cups of coffee every afternoon, the lingering touches before you go back upstairs... the way you suddenly don’t know how to portion your food and there’s always a plate for me in the fridge,” he smiles warmly as you giggle. “I’ve been giving you absolutely nothing and you’re still going out of your way to take care of me and I can’t tell you how much that means to me.”

You pout your lips as you bask in the tenderness of his words. “I was just doing anything I could think of, Ash… and I can’t help but wish there was more I could do for you,” you sigh. “I hate seeing you hurting and I hate seeing something that was so important to you be spoiled.”

He runs his hand through your hair. “Baby, that’s just it,” he says, contemplating his next statement before he continues. “Going through this whole ordeal and the way you still showed me your love in even those small ways everyday… I guess I’m just realizing that the things I was upset about aren’t really the most important to me anymore.”

“Ash…” you whisper softly, almost as if you’re afraid speaking will ruin this moment.

He leans in and brings his lips to yours, kissing you forcefully but lovingly. It’s as if you hadn’t been sleeping in the same bed all week, it's the kind of long, searching but reassuring kiss usually reserved for moments like reuniting after he's been away on tour for months.

He pulls away and smiles brilliantly at you. “I was referring to you. You’re more important to me than the other things. Just to be clear,” he jokes, eyes shining with delight.

You roll your eyes and poke his side, causing him to yelp. “I just wanted to be clear!” He protests, giggling loudly.

You shut him up with another kiss, just as tender as the last but slightly hungrier. He sighs against your lips, pulling you close. 

You lay side by side, slowly making out, reacquainting yourselves with each other. You languidly enjoy the taste of each other’s lips, the sound of each other’s breath, the feel of each other’s bodies and the building desire to feel even more. Ashton finally breaks the silence and comments, “It’s been too long without you.” 

“It’s only been a couple days, babe,” you tease. “But you’re right, it’s nice having you in bed with me and actually with me.”

He brushes your hair back and lets out a wistful "I know" before he presses a series of sweet kisses across your face, finally landing on your lips, which he kisses softly and comfortingly.

You deepen the kiss and he pulls back to look at you. “Are we taking this all the way or are we lookin’ at a good old-fashioned kiss and cuddle for now?” You ask, mostly joking. You’d honestly be happy to just lay there for the rest of the night with him.

He smiles and runs his hand slowly down the side of your body. "That's not entirely why I came up here but I certainly wouldn't object to either scenario," he says with a twinkle in his eye that you didn't realize how much you’d missed the past few days. You feel his fingers slip up the back of your t-shirt as he pulls you even closer.

You wrap your arms around him, hugging him tightly to your body. You hold him there for a bit longer before pulling back a little to kiss him, pulling at his shirt until he lets you take it off of him

Once it’s off, you bury your face into his bare chest for a minute or two, breathing in his scent and enjoying the warmth of him. He strokes your hair quietly, letting you feel what you need to. As tough as this week has been for him, he can't imagine what it must have been like for you. He knows there's nothing worse for you than feeling helpless and that's undoubtedly how you must have felt watching him deal with everything. Just as he's starting to wonder if he should ask if you're alright, you finally lift your head and begin kissing over his chest.

“Love,” you breathe, kissing his neck, scratching his scruff. “Wish we could always be this close,” you whisper, not necessarily for him to hear. You know these moments will be rare once things aren’t so crazy and you need to cherish it. You capture his lips in yours once again, overwhelmed with the feeling of just needing him, as much of him as you can get and as close as possible. 

He seems to pick up on your energy and reaches to finally pull your shirt off as well. "Wanna feel you on me," he explains.

“Yes, please,” you whimper, gripping onto him. “Need that too.” 

You can never get enough of being skin to skin with Ash, even when that’s all it ends up being, nothing else can compare. You both relish the feel of your bare chests pressed together as your slow makeout continues and it isn’t long before your hands start exploring each other as well. 

After a while, he ends up on top of you, lazily sucking a hickey onto your neck. Normally you'd get after him for so blatantly marking you but tonight having his mouth work on your body so deliberately feels too damn good and you can't bring yourself to care. 

You let out a small moan and Ashton inhales sharply, feeling the vibration of it against where his lips are still attached to your throat. He knows that moan, you're starting to crave a different kind of closeness and he can't deny he's feeling ready for it as well.

You tangle your fingers in his hair and moan again, asking him for something without saying a word. You push your hips up against him, giving him more of a hint and he responds by snaking his hand between the two of you to gently rub over your underwear. He likes the resulting sigh, it means he interpreted your sounds correctly.

You continue pushing your hips against his hand, unhurriedly, enjoying the feeling. The room is still, save for the occasional wet sounds of your lips moving against Ash's. You give a few more contented sighs before you have to interrupt the quiet and breathe out his name in a request for something more.

He gets it instantly, sensing the littlest bit of desperation in your voice, the way you’re holding onto him, he knows what this means. He pulls away to finish stripping you both. He pauses to look you over once you're both naked and you can feel the love in his gaze. You don't know what aches for him more, your heart or your body. He returns to your side and nips at your earlobe. 

"So gorgeous, baby." His warm breath tickles your ear. "Don't know how I got so lucky." You feel his hand between your thighs again and he can't help but lick his lips when he feels how wet you are for him.

You let out a little moan from his touch. “I’m the lucky one, Ash,” you whisper, pressing your lips to his nose. You sigh, spreading your legs a little more. “Want you, handsome.” 

He kisses you with purpose once more before he lifts himself off of you and moves to get himself situated. Your eyes are closed in anticipation so you gasp when he takes an unexpected detour and you feel his tongue lick a stripe up your center and flick at your clit. He chuckles at your reaction, "Sorry baby, looked too good, I couldn't resist."

“Never want you to, especially with that beard,” you hum, gently running your fingers through his hair.

"Well in that case..." He grins at you and tongues at your clit a little more. He makes an obvious attempt to move his head around more than he needs to while he eats you, to maximize the sensation the beard gives you.

You giggle a little and pull at his hair, moaning out for him, showing appreciation for his improved mood.

He teases his tongue over your opening, causing you to buck against his face. He moves back to dip one, then two fingers inside you and you let out a relieved half-whimper half-sigh that goes straight to his cock. "Such a good girl for me, baby. Am I making you feel good?" He goes back to work, sucking eagerly at your clit.

You look down and meet his gaze. “So good,” you nod, pushing his hair off his face so you can see his eyes. You pull him closer, moving your hips against him. “Fuck... I’m gonna cum,” you gasp.

You hear a muffled moan come from him in reply and you see him attempt to rock his own hips in search of friction for his surely throbbing cock. He's feeling this as much as you are and knowing that just adds to your pleasure. He places his free hand on your stomach to steady you but he doesn't fight the movement of your hips, instead allowing you to enjoy your orgasm as you see fit.

As you catch your breath, Ash continues lightly licking at your clit and you gently yank his hair. Without saying a word you start moving, pushing him on his back so you can straddle him. You can't help but tease the both of you just a bit and you roll your hips, running your pussy over his length a few times. 

He moans sharply and grips your hips, stilling your movements. He gives you an amused but incredulous look. "I'm trying to be sweet with you and this is how you act?" He shakes his head, mock offended. 

You smirk at him as you finally position yourself over his cock. "You love it." 

He sits up to hook your chin and pull you into a kiss as you sink down onto him. "Well. I love you."

“I love you,” you murmur back, pressing your lips hard to his, deepening the kiss while setting a rhythm. You take it slow, wanting both of you to enjoy it. You bite along his collarbone as he hits deep inside you.

His hands run down your back a few times and then move to your ass, grabbing onto it and helping you move up and down his length, encouraging you to slowly grind yourself on him. Your eyes are closed, losing yourself to the bliss of him filling you. He smiles softly at the sight of you, though he knows you can't see it, and kisses over your closed eyes.

Your heart melts at the action and a sweet sigh leaves your lips as you grind hard on his cock. You press your body even tighter to his. “Want all of you,” you mumble.

He sits up more, wrapping his arms around you, holding your chest against his as tight as he possibly can. "Anything you want," he replies earnestly. "Tell me what you need, baby."

“Just this, this is all I need right now,” you reassure him, a little embarrassed that things just keep slipping out of your mouth. “God... you just feel so good, Ash... I love this.” 

"I know, baby, me too." He strokes a hand through your hair; he loves when you're so into it that you can't help but think out loud. He buries his face in your neck and you feel him press a kiss to it, smiling against your skin. "Love you wrapped around me like this. Nothing better." 

You sigh dreamily as you roll your hips a little quicker, feeling the orgasm build in your stomach. You wrap your arms around Ash and cradle his head to encourage him to continue kissing and marking your skin.

He takes note of your increased pace and how deep you're starting to breathe. He squeezes you tightly against him and alternates soft kisses and loving nips along your jaw. "I got you, gorgeous," he reassures. He gently rocks his hips to meet your movements, trying to get you there.

“Can you cum with me?” You whisper in his ear, digging your nails into his skin and trying to hold off your impending orgasm. You nibble his earlobe and let out a moan. “Please,” you whimper against the skin just below his ear.

The groan he responds with tells you all you need to know and you gasp as he grips your ass once again and begins to thrust up into you faster. You kiss any and all skin you can reach, needing to feel as much of him as you can right now. 

Ashton lets out a whine and you swear you can feel it in the pit of your stomach as you start to clench around him. You feel his breath catch as your pussy squeezes him tight and he gives out a relieved sigh as he begins to cum inside you. You moan louder than you thought you could and it takes you by surprise.

You slow your hips to ride out your orgasms, enjoying the feeling of yourself still fluttering around his cock. Ash has his face buried in between your tits, breathing heavily and you think you hear a stray "So good..." fall from his lips. 

You feel his body relax against yours and you cling a little tighter for a moment. “The best...” you counter.

He answers with a sleepy "Mmmm" and squeezes you in his arms, wanting you to feel him surrounding you. He exhales deeply against you, kissing your shoulder, then your chin, anything he can get his lips on with minimal effort in his tired state.

“I needed this,” you admit, sighing against his skin. You lift yourself off of him and lean lazily against the headboard, pulling him to rest with you. “I’m glad you’re feeling better, Ash. Nice to see you smile.”

"Thank you for giving me a reason to," he says softly, kissing your forehead.

----

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@cal-puddies gc tags: @sublimehood @sugarcoated-pain @5sosnsfw @angelbabylu @aspiringwildfire @irwinkitten @lashtoncurls @myloverboyash @singt0mecalum

[mamabearcatfanfics]

It was already written, so I didn’t have to keep you in suspense for long. Here’s Part Two of Song and Dance Man. You can read the first part here, or go read the whole thing on AO3. Enjoy!

🎵

When Kagome had lifted her heavy head from her pillow the next morning and looked at her phone, there were ten messages. One from Shiori, one from Sango, and eight from Inuyasha.

She let her head flop back on the pillow, deciding not to open any of them yet. She wasn’t hiding, not exactly. This morning, she just wanted to pretend for a little while that everything was okay, have a quiet breakfast with her family, who she hadn’t seen for nearly a month, and then deal with the fall out.

The message from Shiori would no doubt be calm and caring. Sango’s message would also be caring, but she was pretty sure it would not be calm. And Inuyasha. She didn’t know. She didn’t know what to think. She’d put that in ‘after breakfast Kagome’s’ problem pile. Right now, she felt like crap, her period had finally arrived, and she needed to stand under a hot shower for at least, forever.

So she dragged herself to the bathroom and took some pain relief, had a shower, rummaged in her childhood bedroom for any clean clothes that still fit and found a pair of cut off jean shorts and a t-shirt from drama club that proclaimed Theatre is my Sport, then walked downstairs to the kitchen to sit listlessly at the table.

Grandpa read the paper, flicking the pages noisily every time he turned a page, making comments on various stories that no one replied to. Mama bustled around in the background, insisting on making her a cooked breakfast even though she’d said she wasn’t hungry. Souta clomped around noisily, calling out to Mama as he tried to find all the missing parts of his soccer uniform and put them in his bag for his game that morning.

Mama slid a plate in front of her and Kagome stared down at the single fried egg on toast as it glared at her accusingly. She deserved to be glared at. She had fought with Inuyasha. She had yelled at him, even after he’d been nothing but kind all morning at her bad mood, hurling her words at him like arrows, aiming to wound. Do you even care at all? Or are you just in it for the sex?! She felt the small amount of appetite she’d had leave her.

The back of Kagome’s eyes prickled with unshed tears, and she stabbed at the egg viciously with her fork, watching the yolk ooze out onto the toast. She should have known things were going too well.

Every few months, her period threw her a curve ball where her emotions got entirely out of whack and she became a paranoid anxious overthinking mess. If it happened when she was working at the theatre and they weren’t too busy, Jakotsu usually sent her home, recognising she wouldn’t be at her best. He jokingly called her mood swings her ‘little demon’ which made some of the youkai members of the crew roll their eyes, but it was true. She felt like an entirely different person when it happened, almost like she was watching someone else use her voice and say things she wouldn’t usually ever say out loud.

It had been so much worse this month, a slowly building feeling of anxiety and paranoia ever since she’d had the Depo Provera shot, wanting to try a birth control that was impossible to forget now she was in a relationship. Her doctor had been asking her to keep a diary of her symptoms, but she kept forgetting, and now look what had happened.

Sometimes Inuyasha said things without thinking. She knew that. He’d just been teasing her. And usually she’d just roll her eyes at him and tease him back, and they’d have a playful argument that led to a tickle fight or something a lot more hands on. But yesterday, she’d taken his words and twisted them. She could see that now. Yesterday, it had felt like her anxiety was looking for reasons to tear the world down around her. That look on his face – she’d hurt him. She had ruined everything.

She loved Inuyasha, even though sometimes he wasn’t the easiest man to love. He was a logical, practical person with a body to die for, who felt safest when he had order and control in his life. It was easy to see he was used to living alone, and sharing his personal space with her still threw him for a loop sometimes. He could be a little grumpy. A little obnoxious. A genuine diamond in the rough who carefully guarded his emotions. He was more a man of action than words, and she could appreciate that. But his sweet nature had been gradually revealed by the caring things he did for her, no matter how gruff his exterior could be sometimes.

She adored him. She’d never dated a hanyou before, and that came with a few extra complexities compared to being with a human, but she had grown to love his youkai traits. The way his ears told her how he was feeling. The way his pupils dilated when he was aroused. The way he took it upon himself to see to her physical needs, wanting to feed her, touch her, care for her. The way he relished how she smelled, how she tasted. He was a much more physical partner than she’d ever had before, and she loved it. How a simple touch from him, a spoken word in that low rumble could fill her with desire. In his hands, she felt cherished, desirable, wanted. She’d always thought she’d had a fairly average libido before, but with Inuyasha… she felt insatiable.

She’d had a couple of girl talks with Inuyasha’s friend Sango about him, and she'd hinted at a troubled childhood without giving any details. After that, Kagome had decided she wouldn’t push him out of his comfort zone before he was ready. He’d probably had to deal with so much growing up, and it was easy to deduce that he found talking about emotions difficult. That was okay, not everyone was good at that, he more than made up for his lack of words with his physical attentiveness and the way he looked at her. She could read the way he felt in those golden eyes.

To her delight, just recently he’d started to share things with her all on his own, just little details here and there, about his Mama or his Pop, family traditions they’d had when he was small, and she’d treated those tiny pieces of information like the gifts they were. And now look what she’d done. He’d probably never share his thoughts like that with her again.

It felt like there was a tight band around chest, making it hard to breathe properly. Her back was stiff from a night of tossing and turning, her lower belly twisted with cramps now that her period had finally arrived, along with a thumping headache that made her head heavy. She hoped the painkillers she’d taken in the bathroom would kick in soon.

The doorbell rang, adding to the family noise in the kitchen, and Souta ran to answer it, a piece of toast clutched in his hand. He was expecting a teammate who was getting a lift to the soccer game with him and Mama, and they heard him call out excitedly from the front room as he opened the door. Her mother sat down at the other end of the table.

“What are your plans for today, Kagome?” she asked absently, stirring her tea.

All Kagome wanted to do was go back to Inuyasha. Touch Inuyasha. Be with Inuyasha. But first they would have to have a Talk. Would he be like her previous boyfriends, and dump her for being ‘difficult’? Kagome sighed and slumped back in her chair. She shouldn’t have run yesterday, but she’d felt like a passenger in her own body, and had been frightened she would say something even more unforgivable than she already had.

Instead of going back to her apartment, she had caught a bus to the other side of the city to her childhood home, rushing in the door to fall into her mother's arms to sob hysterically, and had then taken some painkillers to dull what felt like an oncoming cluster headache and gone straight to bed before dinner.

“My plans? Oh nothing much. Mostly eating humble pie”, said Kagome dejectedly, pouring herself another cup of tea and pushing the impaled egg off to one side with a grimace.

Her mother lifted her head at that and inspected her daughter over the top of her teacup. “It’s going to be alright you know”, she said with a gentle smile, but before Kagome could ask her what she meant, Souta wandered back in, still eating his toast.

‘It wasn’t Kenji, it’s some guy for you, Kagome,’ he said vaguely.

‘Me? But nobody knows I’m here.” Puzzled, Kagome pushed back her chair and went to the door.

And there was Inuyasha. Her heart leapt with joy and the world, which had been dully monochrome and all askew, abruptly righted itself and sprang back into colour, just like the moment Dorothy had opened the door and found herself in Oz.

“Inuyasha?!”

She drank in the sight of him on the doorstep. He was looking more dressed up than she’d ever seen him, wearing an open-necked button shirt and jacket, his hair braided neatly. Even his jeans seemed to have no holes, and his black motorcycle boots looked polished. But otherwise he was indisputably, wonderfully Inuyasha. Her eyes roved over the austere angles of his face, his amber eyes and pointed silver ears, the stern mouth that made her knees go weak, the quiet solidity of him.

She wanted to throw herself into his arms and apologise profusely, but the strained look in his eyes, the tautness around his mouth, made her pause.

“Is everything okay?” she asked hesitantly.

“Fine.” Inuyasha cleared his throat. “Yeah it’s…uh, fine. I just came by because…um, I wondered if you had a balcony”, he finished in a rush.

Kagome’s jaw dropped. She didn’t know what she had been expecting, but it wasn’t that.

“A balcony?”

“Yeah. A balcony. Do you?”

Was this a peculiarly vivid dream? He seemed solid enough, standing there in a shirt and jacket she didn’t even know he possessed, his neatly braided hair revealing every nervous twitch of his ears.  

“There’s a back verandah”, she said cautiously, blinking up at him.

“That’ll do. Can we go there now?” he asked tensely. “If you’re not too busy that is?”

Kagome stared at him. “Inuyasha, are you sure you’re all right? You’re behaving very strangely.”

He huffed. “I know”, he said, his hands fidgeting with the edge of his jacket. “It’s just there’s somethin’ I need to do before I lose my nerve.”

“And this something needs to be done on our back verandah?” said Kagome slowly. He nodded.

She stood aside and Inuyasha stepped past her into the house. Maybe she was still asleep, and this was some sort of lucid dream brought on by those painkillers she’d taken last night. It definitely felt surreal. She blinked slowly and pinched herself, but he was definitely still there. Kagome led him down the hall and through the kitchen to the back door, ignoring Mama and Grandpa’s intense discussion about the need to clean out the storage shed, interspersed with polite requests to pass the tea.

“Well, here we are on the back verandah”, she said cautiously, wondering what might happen next. This day wasn’t turning out at all like she thought it would.

Inuyasha looked around anxiously and then gestured towards the old-fashioned swing seat that her father had made for her mother when she was a little girl. The paint was faded and peeling and it listed slightly to one side because the chains hanging from the beams were a little off centre.

“Sit down”, he said as he steered Kagome towards it.

“Inuyasha, what’s going on?” She watched as he walked down the two steps to the lawn and moved to stand in front of her, almost treading on her mother’s petunias, his hands clenching and unclenching.

“Just… don’t interrupt.” He took a deep breath, and opened his mouth. And then closed it again.

“What is it? Can I help?” she asked, twisting he fingers together. Kagome was getting really worried. Had he come all the way across town in his best clothes to dump her and now felt unable to go through with it?

Inuyasha cleared his throat savagely. “Sorry”, he said. “I’ll get it this time.” Another breath and then, to Kagome’s astonishment, he began to sing.

 You were meant for me I was meant for you!

Kagome’s eyes blurred with sudden tears. It was unmistakably You Were Meant for Me from Singing in the Rain. His voice was actually quite pleasant, a deep baritone that went off key a little here and there as he hit the higher notes, but mostly rang true. And then, when she thought she couldn’t be any happier, he began dancing! True, Inuyasha was no Gene Kelly, but he was definitely shuffling from side to side and every now and then he even tried a twirl.

 Nature patterned you, an' when she was done You were all the sweet things rolled into one!

His expression wasn’t really that of a lover delivering a heartfelt sentiment. It was intent, frowning as he tried to remember the words and coordinate his dance steps. Once he found himself facing the wrong way, and had to turn round hastily and pick up his routine again.

 You're like a plaintive melody That never lets me free

And then he was holding out his hand, inviting her to dance with him, drawing her up from the seat and leading her down the steps to the garden.

 I'm content, the angels must have sent you And they meant you just for me!

Smiling through her tears, she let him swing her round until he came to a halt with a flourish, looking into Kagome’s eyes at last with a mixture of relief, trepidation and excruciating embarrassment. Even the tips of his white pointed ears were red.

“Inuyasha,” she said, starry-eyed. “You were singing. And dancing.”

He coughed, then smiled at her hesitantly. “I’m not very good, I know. But I-“ She pushed her fingers over his lips to stop him talking.

“That was the best version of You Were Meant For Me I’ve ever heard.” Her voice cracked a little as she stood on tiptoe to put her arms around his neck. “The very best”, she whispered, “and I should know because I’ve heard it a lot.”

He gave her a relieved grin and pulled her close, leaning down for a kiss. But before their lips met, there was a burst of applause from the back door. Kagome’s family, evidently distracted from breakfast by Inuyasha’s singing, were beaming broadly and clapping. Souta whistled.

“Excellent! Very well done!” said Grandpa.

“Kagome’s always needed someone who will dance with her”, said her mother when Kagome introduced Inuyasha to them.

“I’m not really much of a dancer”, he confessed sheepishly, glancing down at Kagome with a blush.

“You looked like you were doing fine to me”, said Grandpa, which just went to show how much he knew about dancing.

Her mother, it appeared, knew more about what had happened yesterday than Kagome had thought.

“I have to admit young man, I had my doubts when you called me yesterday evening. When my daughter arrived here she was very unhappy”, she said, regarding Inuyasha with the severity she reserved for shoppers at the fruit market that squeezed the avocados hard and then put them back. And then she smiled. “But, you seem to have redeemed yourself. Welcome to the family.” Kagome giggled at Inuyasha’s wide eyed expression.

“We don’t like Kagome being unhappy”, her grandfather added. “She was born for laughter.” He broke off as the doorbell rang and her mother clicked her tongue as she checked the time on the kitchen clock.

“That’ll be your friend, Souta. You’d better let him in and then finish getting your soccer kit organised, we need to leave in fifteen minutes.” She turned back to Kagome and Inuyasha with a twinkle in her eye. “If there are to be any more song and dance routines, you’ll have to keep the noise down, I’m afraid, unless you want a larger audience.”

“I think once was enough”, said Inuyasha ruefully. He took Kagome’s hands as her family disappeared. “Was… once enough, Kagome?”

“Yes”, she said, her fingers tightening around his. She knew just how much that dance must have cost him. “Oh, Inuyasha, I can’t believe you did that for me! Especially after yesterday.”

“It was the only way I could think of to tell you how much I love you”, he said softly, stroking back her fringe. “I remembered what you said once about your job. That even though everyone in the company works hard to put a show together, being part of the backstage crew is always faceless because the audience is only there to see the actors shine. I wanted to show you that you’ll always shine like a star to me.”

Kagome’s throat was so tight, she could hardly talk. “Inuyasha…” was all she managed to choke out.

“I love you, Kagome”, he said, his eyes locked on hers. “If you want me to sing and dance for you every day, I will.” He grinned a little, one fang poking over his bottom lip. “You never know, I might even get better at it.”

“You don’t need to do that”, said Kagome, finding her voice at last. Drawing her hands free, she reached up and put them on his shoulders, feeling his strength and his solidity. “You don’t need to dance for me, or sing for me, Inuyasha. You just need to be you. You just need to be there. You just need to love me.”

“Now that, I can do”, said Inuyasha, so obviously relieved that a daily song and dance routine would not be required that she laughed, giddy with happiness. He laughed too and kissed her soundly, lifting her up and swinging her wildly around in a circle. Wild joy surged along her veins, and she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. The kisses didn’t get too heated, both of them very conscious that they were standing in her mother’s garden and could have an audience at any moment. But the promise of heat was there, and Kagome shivered in anticipation.

“I missed you”, she mumbled at last between kisses.

“I missed you too. You were gone for less than a day and it felt like a year.” He held her tightly, and she leant against him with a great sigh of contentment. “My apartment sounded so empty without you singing in it. I had to leave that damn musical running to fill up the silence.”

“Really?” giggled Kagome, delighted. “So that’s where you learnt the words! And how did you work out the dance routine?”

“Ah.” Inuyasha breathed out a deep sigh. “That was Jakotsu. When you wouldn’t answer your phone, I kinda panicked. Shiori said you didn’t go home, and Sango didn’t know where you were either. I called the theatre to see if you were there, and Jakotsu answered. When he worked out who I was, he made me tell him everything. And when he asked what I was going to do to win you back and I said I was going to sing for you, he said I couldn’t do it without a dance routine too. Made me come to the theatre to learn one. Longest fucking night of my life.”

Kagome giggled even harder. “He probably enjoyed himself.”

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. “He said that if you were prepared to talk to me after seeing the way I danced, you must really love me.”

“He’s right”, said Kagome, standing on tiptoe to kiss him again.

“Now you know why I was so nervous when I arrived. I was terrified I would lose my nerve.”

“I’m glad you didn’t. That’s a song and dance routine I’ll never forget.” Her smile faded. “Seriously, I know how hard that was for you, Inuyasha.”

“I felt pretty stupid. But sometimes, taking a risk and letting go means you can win everything you’ve ever wanted. And I want you Kagome. I want this relationship to work. If you feel I’m taking you for granted, please tell me. I’m sorry I didn’t notice before. I’ve just lived alone for so long, sometimes I forget. I'll make an effort to ask you more about your day, and the very next show at the theatre, I’ll buy a front row ticket. I know I’m not very romantic, but if you like, we could start going out for dinner. I could bring you flowers…”

Kagome shook her head, smiling. “It’s okay. I don’t need flowers. And I don’t need by the book romance. Your dance routine… now that was romantic. All I need someone who’s prepared to take a risk for me, someone who’ll grit his teeth and make a fool of himself to show me that he loves me.”

“And I need someone who’ll make me laugh and push me out of my comfort zone and make me feel”, said Inuyasha, gathering her into him for a long, sweet kiss, then sighing in contentment as he breathed in her scent, nuzzling his nose into her hair.

“So, about yesterday”, he asked carefully. “Are you feeling better today?” Kagome sighed.

“I am so, so sorry about yesterday”, she said. “I started on a new type of birth control, an injection instead of the pills I usually take, and I think it’s not a good fit for me. I’ve never felt that out of control before. I think I need to go back to my doctor and discuss it.”

“Would you mind if I came too when you have your appointment? So I know what’s going on? You really worried me yesterday Kagome", he said seriously, stroking her cheek. "I didn’t know what to do.”

“You would do that?”

Inuyasha scoffed. “Well, it’s not like you’re taking the birth control just for you”, he said, a light dusting of red on his cheeks. “And if it’s makin’ you feel bad, I want to know the right things to do.”

In the garden, a blackbird started to sing, a pure trill of joy. Kagome felt the sunshine on her shoulders and Inuyasha’s warm arm around her, and when she pressed her face into his throat and breathed in the scent of his skin, she thought she would shatter with happiness.

“I think I feel a song coming on”, she whispered, snuggling her head under his chin.

“Yeah?” he said. She could hear the smile in his voice, feel it as he kissed the top of her head. “I don't mind that. Just as long as it’s a duet.”