#i know we're all older and tireder right now

[buginateacup]

Save me horny fanartists...horny fanartists, save me

[idkwhatimdoinghere1655]

Journals - Charles Leclerc

<word count - 3518>

It had now been 5 years since you and Charles had started going out, and what a 5 years it had been. There had been tears, laughter, anger, and pure, unfiltered love. Despite the hectic, emotional rollercoaster that you had ridden together, you wouldn't change it for the world.

And now, this morning was the morning of his birthday. His 27th, to be more precise. The 5th of his that you would be spending together, and hopefully the 5th of many, many more. He was never really fussed about the day when it just told him he was getting older, but you liked to celebrate nonetheless.

You had gotten up before Charles, canceling his alarm the previous evening when he had fallen asleep to give him a well-deserved lie-in. Everything was already prepped and ready to go, so all you had to do was make sure it was all in place.

You crept out of bed, scampering off to the kitchen so that he couldn't hear your footsteps on the hardwood floor. You had bought some helium balloons the previous day and hid them in one of the cupboards in your walk-in closet. He'd never find them in there.

You also picked out the single box that was wrapped in the most colourful wrapping paper you could find, bringing it into the bedroom and putting it on your side of the bed. You put the balloons on his side and let Charles sleep longer.

Around an hour had gone by, and he still hadn't stirred. One thing you always marveled at with Charles was his ability to just sleep. Didn't matter how many hours or how loud anyone was being around him, the man would sleep. He'd probably sleep through an F5 tornado if you'd let him try.

"Charles?" you softly said, nudging his shoulder. All the man from Monaco could do was grunt and roll away from you, pulling the covers up to his shoulders. "Baby c'mon," you chuckled as he turned his head to look at you, squinting through one eye.

"5 more minutes, mon amour..." he mumbled, closing his eyes and settling back in again. You didn't want to force him up, since he'd be grumpy. And, the last thing you needed was a grumpy Charles on his birthday.

"Fine, 5 more minutes," you relented, sitting back against the pillows as you counted down his extra sleep time.

"Darling, c'mere," he sleepily mumbled, rolling back over to face you as he pulled the covers back and opened his arms out.

"What?" you laughed, and the scowl on his face was more adorable than it was scary. If Charles wanted something, he wouldn't stop until he got it. Even if he wasn't getting anything but laughed at when he pulled a face like that.

"I want cuddles. And before you deny me, let me stress that they are birthday cuddles," he instructed, but there was no real frustration in his words. As he had said, there was no way that a good girlfriend would say no to birthday cuddles, so you did as he asked.

Shuffling closer to him, you shifted to lay by his side, and he wasted no time in wrapping his arms around you and pulling you so that your head rested on his chest. "See? That wasn't so difficult. Now we're both comfy," he teased, holding you tighter.

"Never said it was difficult," you mumbled, the claws of tiredness trying to drag you back into the realm of sleep. It wasn't like you had anything to do for the rest of the day, so not getting up right now wasn't the end of the world.

You drifted back off to sleep, snuggling even more into Charles' side, embracing the comfort he brought. How much time had passed? You didn't know.

When you woke up, you opened your eyes to Charles looking down at you with a listless smile on his face. "And you were knocked out for another 3 hours." he chuckled, not too loudly since you had just woken up.

"3 hours?" you asked, shocked that you had been out for that much longer. Glancing over him to the clock on his bedside table, you saw that it was nearing 12 pm, but you felt very well rested.

"Yes darling, 3 hours. You were out like a light. And, thank you for the balloons and the random box on the bed. I haven't opened it, don't worry," he smiled, and the realization hit you like a tonne of bricks.

"Oh my God, happy birthday!" you squealed, obviously being more excited for his birthday than he was at this point. Scrambling out of the lying down position that you were in, you moved to straddle his lap and pepper kisses all over his face. "How does it feel to be 27?" you asked him, holding his face in your hands.

"I can feel the hip replacement coming on, that's for sure," he chuckled, and all you could do was roll your eyes at him. "But I feel a hell of a lot better now that you're where you are," he smirked, tugging you closer by your hips.

"You don't need a hip replacement, drama queen," you laughed, ruffling up his already messy hair.

"No, no I don't. All I need is you, right where you are," he grinned, leaning in and kissing you. It started off soft and chaste before quickly turning more passionate, hungrier. "You have no idea what you do to me," he mumbled against your lips, gripping your hips harder.

"Oi, not yet, presents first," you told him, trying to get off his lap. Charles was one step ahead, holding you down.

"It's my birthday, can't I decide what I want?" he pouted, trying to lean in for another kiss.

"For the rest of the day, yes. But now? You're just gonna have to listen to me," he said, getting off his lap before he could protest again.

"God it's a good job I love you." he scoffed, letting you grab the box and replace yourself with it on his lap. "And what's this?" he asked.

"Gotta open it to find out, silly," you giggled, watching him with bated breath. This was something you had been waiting literal years to give him and now seemed like the right time to finally hand it over.

Ripping the wrapping paper off of the box, nothing but cardboard was revealed to him. He opened the flaps, seeing the leather-bound journal as the contents. He cocked a quizzical eyebrow at you, and you just nodded.

He picked it up, scanning his eyes over the plain cover. "Open it," you told him, eager to see his reaction to it. Opening the cover, his eyes fell to the note scrawled on to the inside of it.

'Dear Charles, happy birthday! The big 27... not long until you're 30, eh? Anyway, I have been wanting to give you this for a while, but I didn't think it was quite complete. Now, however, I feel like it's the right time. This has been a work in progress for 5 years, and I really really hope you like it. I love you.'

"What?" he asked again, and you just expectantly looked at him. Tentatively, he turned the first page of the book. "You... is this...?" he trailed off, reading the words scrawled on the page.

'7/8/19 - I've got a date tonight... Yeah. You read that right. A date. A real date. I met him in the coffee shop on Monday and he asked me out. Who knew that kind of shit actually happened to people? He is absolutely gorgeous, apparently he's famous so we'll see just how famous he is.

OK, I just googled him and he's a Formula 1 driver. How the hell I am going on a date with this man is beyond me, but I am not complaining! I'll let you know how it goes!

I just got home and oh my lord that was the best date I have ever been on. He's just so... lovely. Like he is such a gentleman and I really really really like him! He gave me his number, so you best believe I am asking for another date. Unless he's not interested... which is like... totally fine... wouldn't be upset at all...'

"Is this just from the early days or is this everything up until now?" he asked, not taking his eyes off the pages. The first few were mainly writing, until there were more pictures of the two of you, receipts, tickets, just everything and anything you could get your hands on and stick in the book.

"This is everything from 2019 up to the start of 2021. Then the rest of 2021 to 2023 in the other book in there. And then I do have one currently running which is hidden somewhere," you explained, and the look on his face was nothing but pure awe.

"And I can read through all of this?"

"Yeah, all of it. It might take you some time, so you don't have to right now,"

"Oh no I am reading through it right now." he dismissed, one of the next notes after your first date containing a few capitalised words.

'21/8/19 - Right. I have news. HE KISSED ME HOLY LORD THIS MAN IS LIKE A GODSEND! It was just such a good kiss, you know? He wasn't doing it to go any further than that, it felt like he just wanted to kiss me. It was perfect. He seems perfect. I really hope he doesn't just magically become a dick, because I think that'd break my heart. I really like him, and I can see this whole thing going somewhere really good... We're going out again tomorrow before he goes away for a triple header of races, so that'll be good.'

"Our first kiss was that special to you, huh?" he teased, loving the way you blushed at him. It was just the same as it had been since he first met you. It was so nice to see that your thoughts on those moments reflected his own.

"Course it was," you replied, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Charles flicked through the pages some more, looking for a particular date that he had ingrained into his mind forever.

'1/9/19 - OK... So... I don't really know how to put this. Things may have, dare I say, progressed, in certain departments. We can just say that we partook in the devil's tango and the moves were perfectly blissful. One minute we were at dinner, the next we were back at his place. In his bed. Racing isn't his only talent, and that is saying something.

What can I say, it was nice to feel considered during such an activity. Again, perfectly blissful, and it was also all thanks to him. And did I forget to mention that I am officially off the market? Yes, you heard it here folks, I am officially a girlfriend! We woke up the next morning, he made me breakfast in bed and asked if I wanted to be his girlfriend and I would be a fool to say no. God I love my life.'

"That night surely was something. And I'm glad you felt considered, my love," he laughed, and you couldn't help but swat him on the chest. You knew he'd poke fun at you for what you had written in there, but that was the price of sharing something so intimate with him.

"I felt very considered, thank you very much. Always do," you winked at him, and now it was his turn to flush red. "If you thought that bit was bad, read the next day." you laughed, knowing that this could go one of two ways.

'2/9/19 - So, not much has changed from yesterday. Bar a few things. We have spent all day in Charles' apartment, mainly in bed. And a few other places, we like to switch it up. We're not all vanilla. Again, this man already knows me inside and out and it is baffling. I'll spit it out now, best sex of my life. No beating around the bush.

Currently writing this and he's fast asleep next to me. God he's so gorgeous, isn't he? You can't see him, but the possessive part of me doesn't want you to. He is such a handsome man. But he looks so peaceful, you know? I almost want to take a picture, but I don't want to feel like a creep. I might be his girlfriend, but I feel like that's a little too much, so I'll settle for a mental snapshot for now.'

"Best sex of your life, eh?" he smirked at you, the mischief in his voice not being lost on you.

"After that whole segment, that was the bit you focus on?" you sighed with no real malice.

"As much as I love the compliments, I am still a man at the end of the day. So yes, that is the bit I focus on. And don't worry, it's the best sex of my life too, my love," he chuckled, purposely trying to toy with you.

That was one thing that Charles was always relentless with, and it was teasing you. Any opportunity that presented itself, he'd be there to take the mick out of you for one thing or another. He wasn't doing it to hurt you, but he loved the reactions that you gave him.

"So is this after every date or big event?"

"Yeah, it is," you told him, and his eyes widened.

"Wow... this is so cool..." he mumbled, flicking through a couple more pages. You had stuck in all sorts, tonnes of pictures that he didn't know you had taken, the first of many tickets to the concert of your favourite band that he always took you to. One of the entries after a weekend away that the two of you had spent together caught his eye, however.

'3/11/19 - I won't lie to you, I miss him a hell of a lot more than I thought I would. He'll only be gone for the weekend, so why am I so... lost without him? All we did was spend the weekend glued to each other's sides, but now he's gone I feel so weird. Does that make sense?

Or maybe it's because he told me he loved me before he left and I didn't say it back. I don't know why I didn't say it back. I just panicked, kissed him and told him to have a safe flight. I didn't want to text him that I love him because I want him to hear me say it. I really hope I haven't messed all of this up.'

"Yeah, you did scare me pretty bad with that one. Although, I thought I had messed everything up by saying it too early. Even if I had loved you for a pretty long time before that," he sheepishly admitted.

Every word of it was the truth, Charles thought he had loved you since probably your second date, but that was definitely too soon to spill the beans and actually confess it. He had never felt fear quite like it when you hadn't said it back, and he had spent all weekend wondering whether things would be weird when he got home or not.

But he'd never forget walking out of the airport and being nearly tackled to the ground in a hug and instantly inhaling the scent of your familiar perfume. All you said was, "I love you too," before he kissed you stupid.

He didn't care that he had spent all weekend worrying anymore, it didn't matter. All that mattered was that you felt the same and now he was home for a short while. He would able to spend the weekend with you, in bed, as per usual.

"Sorry about that, that was completely my fault," you conceded, still not sure as to why you hadn't said it back. Charles would've been overjoyed, so would you. It would have saved a while weekend of distressing for the both of you.

Skipping ahead a good chunk of pages, the snippets of words that he was seeing made him smile. There was all sorts of little memories and snapshots that he would've forgotten about if he hadn't had them in perfect detail, in your writing.

'25/12/19 - Merry Christmas! I've come home to have Christmas with Mum and Dad, Charles has stayed in Monaco. Spending two weeks at home is really nice, to be honest. I do miss him, and a hell of a lot, but I'm coping.

I guess I don't need to be dependent on him, but I do want to see him on Christmas. Maybe next year, huh? I'm home for the new year as well, so I won't be able to spend that with him either, but I'm sure we've got a lot of time.'

He had missed you that Christmas and New Year, but he understood that you needed to spend it at home, just like he did. He remembered having your gifts sent over, and the surprise when you called him to thank him.

That Christmas was when you learned about Charles tendency to spoil you rotten whenever he got the chance. But he agreed with you, he knew you'd come home and there wasn't any anxiety or pressure over what might happen, since you had gotten to a point in your relationship where you were feeling stable.

Another heading caught his eye.

'15/5/20 - Charles has gotten into this little habit of streaming now that he can't race as much, and today I spotted him in a banana costume. You heard me right, a banana costume. Don't worry, I will be putting a picture in here somewhere.

When the Amazon box arrived the other day, I asked him about it and I was wondering why he was being too twitchy about it. And now I know why. Well, I don't know why he did it for the stream, but I do know that it was funny as hell.

Poor guy looked mortified when I walked in after the stream and saw him sat there looking like one of the bananas in pyjamas. I don't think I've ever seen him that embarrassed. But God do I love him.'

"Right the banana costume was not that funny," Charles pouted, sending a scowl in your direction.

"Oh it was," you laughed, even the thought of the memory triggering an oncoming fit of giggles.

"Stop laughing at me," he mumbled.

"But baby it's so funny!" you cackled, trying to contain it but failing miserably. Every time you calmed down, you looked at him and saw the scowl plastered on his face and it set you off again.

"That's it," he said, putting the book back in the box and pushing you back down against the pillows. Before you knew it, Charles was on top of you, his hands boxing you in at either side of his head.

"Not laughing so much now, are we?" he said with a slightly mocking tone, and all you could do was shake your head, still adjusting to the sudden shift in the atmosphere.

Before, it was a nostalgic innocence as you walked down memory lane together. Now, the air was charged with an electricity that only Charles seemed to be able to spark you with. "Now, the only thing I want to hear from you are those pretty sounds you make when I make you feel good, got it?" he instructed.

You nodded, looking up at him with wide eyes. He never failed to make heat pool in your stomach when he got like this, and who were you to deny a man what he wanted on his birthday - especially when you knew how good it was going to get?

"Tell me you understand, darling. Talk to me," he murmured against the skin of your neck as he leant in to press soft kisses on the area.

"Yeah, I understand," you confirmed, a little too quickly. The eagerness was practically radiating off of you, and Charles couldn't help but revel in it. He loved when you got like this, all submissive and pliable just for him.

"That's my good girl," he praised, moving his lips over your neck and shoulder, occasionally nipping at the skin and seeing how it turned red. "And you're going to let me to what I want to you, aren't you, princess?"

"Mhm, yeah," you hummed, letting him lavish your body in attention. He let out a low growl at your response, needing to have you. All of you.

Sitting back on his haunches, he hooked his fingers into the waistband of your shorts, giving you a knowing smirk. "Can I?" he asked, knowing you'd say yes. Surely enough, you nodded to him as he started to pull the fabric down your legs.

And it was at this point you knew that Charles was going to have a very, very happy birthday indeed, and you were both going to have a hell of a good time. 

A/N - What would we do without this man, eh? Tanti auguri to the prettiest of them all, Lord Perceval himself! Forza Ferrari, Forza Charles Leclerc.

Side note as well - Part 4 of the little Lando series (part 1, part 2, part 3) I have going on is nearly done and nearly at 10k... will be wrapping it up and whacking a part 5 and possible part 6 to it. I'll see how much more I have to go over!

|masterlist|

[definesanity]

Atone, Intoner.

When One came to, it was dark all around.

She was standing, her body unharmed, her senses less intense than before.

Without much to do, she walked.

She spent her time thinking on what happened; Zero had killed her, yes, but after was a haze; she felt... connected, to her sisters, in a way she could not describe.

The final moments of them singing together played in her head. 'A monster that can only hurt itself and others'... it explains the Intoners perfectly.

She was the 'oldest', and spent her time finding out the origins of herself. It all stemmed back to Zero, but there was no explanation behind it. She had memories of a 'mother' and Zero being a true older sister, but she believes them false.

A speck of white appeared in the black, and as One walked towards it, she was eventually face-to-face, barring the height difference, with Zero.

Zero had a strange expression, somewhere between defeat, annoyance, mild anger and tiredness.

"Hey." she said, finally. She sounded exhausted. One also saw that, while the Flower was gone from Zero's eye, she did not have her eye grow back, nor did she have her prosthetic arm, leaving only a stub.

"Hello," One greeted back. "I did not expect to meet you here, let alone again."

"Mm." Zero made a noise in her throat. Then, she sighed. "It all went wrong, didn't it?"

"An understatement. Still, at least now I finally know the reason for your slaughtering."

"Yeah, a fucking genocidal plant that wanted me to kill everyone. Fuck that."

One raised an eyebrow at that. "You?" she echoed.

"Me," Zero replied. "I was gonna finally die in peace when that bitch grew before me, thinking I wanted to destroy humanity. I didn't hate humanity, I hated the world itself. Unfortunately, it didn't get the memo." Zero looked around the darkness. "And now, here we are in this new shithole. Fucking A."

"Pause..." the Intoner of Knowledge heard something in the rant that made her curious, despite it all. "What do you mean, 'finally die'?"

"I don't have to tell you of all people jack shit." Zero shot back.

"Maybe. But if we're dead, you can't kill me again, can you?"

Zero looked at One with her single rose-coloured eye, then scoffed. "Exactly what I said: I was gonna die."

"You are an Intoner, the Original one, at that, Zero."

"Yeah, but before that Flower found me," she gestured to herself. "I was a human. Although, that's a stretch. I didn't have anything by the time I died, even with my tally. I was, in the literal sense, nothing. Nought. 'Zero'."

Another voice, of which One had not heard in months, spoke up. "But what about us?"

Turning, the Original and the Oldest saw Two. She did not appear catatonic, and instead looked the same as she did when Zero initially attacked the Cathedral City; albeit, more confused, even with her eyes wide and full of life once more.

"Not even a hello?" dryly remarked the white-haired lady, and Two immediately apologised, eyes widening even more.

"Oh, shoot, sorry, Zero! I was just a little surprised, that's all..."

"Eh, forget it: if you're here so are the other cunts. Anyways, the Flower didn't like how I didn't want to follow its way of thinking, so when I tried to kill myself again, it split itself off into five kids. Any guesses?"

"...So you're our mother?" Two jumped into the air as Three suddenly appeared, the slothful girl looking intrigued for the first time in a while.

"No, dipshit, you're technically me."

"You?" One sounded akin to a broken record, but that cannot be blamed.

"Yeah, you all got some aspect of my personality, some more than others, and some having a boost in certain aspects. Like Two; I definitely don't remember having that much of a heart."

"But that, you had some kindness, right?" Two immediately replied like the wind.

"Yeah, for Micheal... and Mikhail." her eyes turned downcast when remembering her dragon. "Oh, that idiot is gonna be alone, isn't he...?"

The three stood in silence for a while, literally and metaphorically.

"Oh, right, you seem a bit calmer now, Two."

"Oh, yeah, that..." Two laughed nervously. "Guess I didn't give you much trouble this time?"

"This time?" One quirked an eyebrow, before grabbing her head at a sharp pain. Thinking about her memories made her realise that some were similar but different. Like swearing, like her brother, like...

"...You stabbed One." Three breathed, her tone a mix of her tiredness and a small bit of awe.

Two looked like a deer being caught. "...Oops??"

"Zero?" One asked.

"...Ah, fuck, you guys remember the Branches..."

"Oh, that's what they're called?"

Zero groaned, as she turned to see Five walking towards them. "Hello, Five. And Four, I can see you."

Four walked from behind Five and marched to Zero. Then, she reeled back her fist and punched--

Zero caught it.

"You. Fucking. Bitch." Four growled out, her eyes filled with fury and her body shaking from sheer rage. "I have more than a few things to say to you!"

"Save it for later, after this." came Zero's reply. She let go of the fist, and looked around. "Well, that makes six. Any others I need to know of?"

Zero half expected to see Accord pop up out of nowhere. Instead, from One's side, that brother of her's appeared.

The Intoners, sans Zero and One, blinked.

"Oh! Hello there!" Two greeted warmly, waving.

"...Hello." the brother greeted back. Actually, fuck it, Zero is going to call him Decimal. He is half of One, so it makes sense.

"Hey." Zero looked at the twin of One, who looked back at her, eyes narrowing as he placed his hand on his blade.

"Zero."

One placed her hand on her twin's. "Stand down. She is not the enemy. Tell me, everyone; what do you last remember?"

"Apart from being stabbed?" Four spat out. "It was singing. Then I sang with you guys. Then nothing until now."

"Same here!" Five gasped. "We are... dead?"

"No; Decimal didn't die, did he?" Zero directed the question to One, who tilted her head.

"Decimal?"

"One, listen; I can sorta respect you. But I'm giving him a name as his older sister."

"That's the first time I think I have heard you use that privilege." One's red eyes displayed curiosity more than anything. "I'm surprised you didn't ground us."

"Maybe when you all were kids."

"Ah, sisters--?"

"I mean, look, okay, I'm an awful person. But I had reasons, you know?"

"Hello--?"

"Reasons that include senseless genocide of our soldiers, per chance?"

"H--"

"Don't start, Three, you fucking experimented on them. You think I would--?"

A sharp whistle cut them off, and Zero exploded. "OH, FOR FUCK'S SAKE, WHAT?!"

Two pointed. Everyone looked. A glowing portal was on the ground, akin to a hole.

"...Oh. Neat." Zero walked over, and looked through the portal. "..."

Zero looked back. "Right. The Flower found me when I was dying--don't ask--and when I hated the world. That was because of my own growing up."

"See anything you like, Sister?" Five asked.

She pointed to the portal. "So what if, that never happened?"

"What."

Zero sighed. "That building in it. I know it. It's from like, way before the Intoner's time. Go through and find me and get me not to be me."

"Wouldn't that kill us?" Decimal tilted his head in a way similar to One.

"I don't fucking know!" Zero then blinked, as of having a sudden epiphany. "Oh, hang on a second. I have something to do."

Three looked back, tiredly. "What's tha--"

Zero punched Three in the face, knocking the purple-haired girl back as Zero brought out a pair of gauntlets without her noticing.

Three attempted to stand up, but was knocked to the ground by Zero, this time by her foot. Her hair was then grabbed, and forced to look at Zero. She saw her expression, and it was one akin to a disappointed parent.

"Oh, Three, you sweet little bitch." she said it almost fondly, as she let go of Three's hair and punched her in the stomach, causing Three to dry heave from it. "Tell me: Why do you think I'm attacking you?"

Three began to reach for her scissors. "The madness consumes all, in the end--"

A scream of agnoy cut her off, her scream of agnoy, as Zero took a hold of her arm and broke it with a sickening crack.

"Your dolls." Zero spat out. "I had a bit of time to think after I killed you in Branch A, same with everyone, and I could kinda understand everyone, even with Four's fantastical racism problems. But you?" Zero shook her head. "Listen, Three, I'm not sunshine and daisies, but even I know you fucked around too hard."

"What are you taking about?" Three retorted snappily, as she felt herself getting hot with anger. It wasn't often that it happened, but this is a special occasion. "My dolls were perfect. Better!"

"And yet, still not good enough to beat me." Zero dropped Three to the ground, as her gauntlets faded into a sword. Zero's Sword. "You went on a campaign of murder, and for what? A few nice toys to keep in bed, and the others to send off to die to lovely Big Sis Z?"

Three attempted to get up, but the moment she placed pressure on to her broken arm, she yelled and collapsed. "I made the dolls to be perfect!" she repeated, for that was her truth.

Zero leaned down, her single eye almost glowing. "And what of during it?"

Three stopped, and looked at Zero, squinting at her with fury, confusion, tiredness and pain. "The fuck are you rambling on about?"

"Did they scream? Did they plead for mercy? Did they try and convince you otherwise?"

Three scoffed. "Of course they did. They weren't making any sense. I gave them sense--"

A blood-curdling scream ripped its way out of Three's throat. Despite not feeling any pain from the arm itself, Zero breaking her smallest finger made it infinity worse somehow.

"Three. I'm going to give you a simple request." Zero almost looked like an actual big sister as she said this. "Say you are sorry."

"For wha--?!"

The ring finger snapped, and Three screamed again. Her mind caught up with recent events, and as she tried to look for her sisters (and... brother?) for help, she saw them all standing there silently. Four looked pale, and she saw vomit on the floor, but they all remained still, looking at Three.

As if this was right.

"Take your time." Zero said, almost gently, as her fingers closed in around Three's middle finger.

Her mind raced, trying to figure out why this is happening. Her dolls, yes. They were made to be perfect for Three, of which she had personally handcrafted herself. Many hours went into the creation of each one, with some having her forget she needs rest, food, water and sex to keep her alive.

"I... made them." Three began.

"Go on."

"...Is that where the problem in is?"

Zero looked at her.

"...Why--?"

CRACK.

A noise that sounded oddly like an injured wolf made its way from Three's mouth, as she looked and saw said middle finger broken. Only her index finger and thumb remained.

"Don't worry. I'll just heal you. And then we can try again." If Zero had attempted to comfort Three, it did the opposite.

The creation of the dolls...

"Did they scream? Did they plead for mercy? Did they try and convince you otherwise?"

Three's eyes seemed to get less cloudy as she pondered on it. They did, yes...

...Oh. Ethics.

...Oh, fuck.

"Oh, God." blasphemy crawled out of her mouth, as Zero looked with a neutral gaze.

"There are no deities here, other than ourselves. And congrats, you're beginning to realise it."

Three thought more on it. The people she killed... did they have parents? Children? Siblings?

Three looked back at her sisters. She had, on more than one occasion, fantasised about turning them into dolls.

But, then, what would happen to their personalities?

She knows she cannot recreate any of them; having a doll of Two would be cute, but she won't talk, or joke, or laugh, without Three voicing her, and she won't be able to get her personality back.

"I'm sorry." The words felt so foreign to her. Yet, they felt right to say. "I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry ImsorryImsorryImsorryImsorryImsorryImsorryImsorryImsorryImsorryImsorryImsorry--"

"Shh." Zero cut her off. "No point crying now, is there?"

"...Atonement."

"What."

"'An individual's reconciliation with God by means of repentance and confession of one's transgressions'." Three looked at Zero, almost in wonder. "I... my dolls."

"Yes?"

"They are... hollow. Like a tree. Beautiful on the outside, but on the inside..." it felt strange, having her entire world view shift, but...

She clutched her head with her hands, not realising it was fully healed, and sobbed. Not laugh, or giggle. Sobbed.

That sobbing then turned to crying. And, she then let out of screams of despair, as the reality came to hit her in the face.

She had dolls, yes. But what are dolls, if they cannot be fun to play with?

She screamed for what felt like hours. She then gasped as someone awkwardly placed their arms around her. Looking up, she saw Zero trying to hug her, patting her head gently.

"Pat, pat, gestures that are kind..." she muttered.

The crying stopped, finally. Three shakily got up, as she walked over to the others, who looked at Zero in... fear?

"The rest of ya are also mega fucked up. Minus maybe Two. So I'm going to tell you something: Go into that portal. Find me. And raise me to never become this."

They all stood in silence. Then, Four walked to the portal, the glowing surface on the ground.

"What about you?" One asked.

"Eh."

Five went in first. Then Four. Then Three. Then Two. Then Decimal.

"See you later... Sister." One said. Zero rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. Same with you. Sis."

One went into the portal. The last of Zero she saw was her smiling face.

A small, real, genuine smile.

[harryforvogue]

Part One | Chapter Three: Harry

London, England

December 1915

Christmas at the Styles' is quite different from how it is back home in Champagne. Having been brought up there in near isolation, being surrounded by so many unfamiliar faces can be quite frightening, and while I've decided to stay close to my friend for most of the morning, she's a socialite who insists on introducing me to everyone she sees and then disappearing for hours. She has a very big family and more people have gathered in this tight house than I've ever seen in my own home.

My friend, Thea, is the eldest daughter of the family I'm staying with for Christmas break. She's the only name I have remembered so far, but I'm sure when we're all a bit sober, I'll be able to recall and put names to faces.

People are still arriving, even though it's 9 in the evening. As I look around, holding a glass of wine to my lips, I notice that there are no signs of this party stopping anytime soon. While I'm growing tired by the second, it seems like this family is going to stay awake to see 1916 happen, and when they all kiss each other at midnight, they'll fall asleep as well. There are still 6 days until the New Year, but this family is certainly laughing and drinking as if it's their last month.

I drink as much as the average person does, having given into the invitations with some of Thea's older cousins. I find myself a bit tipsy, accidentally bumping into the corners of tables and chairs and laughing strangers as I find a place to sit. Most parties back at home aren't this lively, which comes as a shock to the English people I've stayed with because we seem to give off the impression as being well balanced in our daily and nightlife. That may be a part of French culture that I'm not all that familiar with because it's not how I was raised.

I was raised by my parents to be proper and courteous and docile even when I wanted to throw a tantrum and get my way. The first lesson I received was that things won't always go my way and it's my right to be the bigger person and accept it. Parties meant drinking and loud brash comments one could not take back.

But I am not that person who is proper and courteous, no matter how much it was drilled into me. I get angry easily, despite my better judgement, and I'm not often a good conversationalist.

I feel out of place right now. Thea is nowhere to be seen, so I sit down in the family room and watch the relatives hang by the fire, drinking and having a wonderful time. The small prick of tiredness has begun to grow and soon I find myself nearly fallen over, asleep.

When I'm very tired, I become a bit delirious. I'll hear ringing in my ears and stiffen as I fall asleep, and perhaps that's why I don't notice the person beside me. The room spins until I find the magnetic center, falling towards it. My temple hurts from the hard object poking at my temple, but it's support, regardless of how uncomfortable. The hum of busy people becomes a white noise, my brain shutting off, everything coming to a rest.

Suddenly, there's a voice, just a small murmur in my ear. The cracking of the fire nearly draws me back to the warm sleep I so desperately try to accept, but then the hard person nudges me. Forcing myself into an upright position, I open my mouth to apologize to whoever I've fallen on.

"It's fine," the drowsy voice says. "I was just making sure you're alright. Don't know what to do when people pass out, that's all."

My vision focuses on a man about my age with thick brown curls falling into his eyes, an amused expression on his face. His eyes, however, are just as tired as mine, a light green shade that reflects that orange flames from the fire.

"Sorry," I mutter, dragging my hand under my mouth because I've been one to accidentally drool in my sleep. "I just nodded off."

The man hums, raising his glass to the stairs. "Have you been given a room yet?"

"Yes. It's just that I don't want to be rude and head upstairs early." I put distance between us, scooting away. "Sorry, I just landed on you."

He ignores my embarrassed apology for a second time. "I can tell them to keep it down if you want to head to bed. It's not a big deal," the stranger offers with a new concerned expression. "You're Thea's guest, right? I'm sure they'll want you to sleep well after your travels."

I shake my head, looking back at the fire to wake myself up from the bright light. "Oh, no. That's alright. I'll just be up until they sleep."

The man leans in a bit. "Are you sure? It's not a big deal."

"It's alright." I pause, glancing over my shoulder. Sleep fogs my memory and my reactions are late. "Sorry, how do you know I'm Thea's guest? Everyone here is a guest."

With a quirk of his brow, the man says, "Right, well, it's just that I know everyone here except you, and you're the only one here speaking like... that."

I look back to the bright flames. "I see. I'm working on it but it's nice to know my efforts are failing."

"Trying to lose the accent?" the stranger asks, concerned once more. "Why? It's quite nice to hear something different."

The drowsiness is causing me to complain to a stranger. I barely register my shoulders shrugging and my mouth opening to speak again. The lightheadedness settles in, eyes defocusing despite the brightness of the flames. "People say they can't understand me. Leads to them not taking me seriously."

From the corner of my eye, I see the stranger sit back against his seat and shrug his own shoulders. "I understand you just fine. And I'm taking this conversation quite seriously even though you're nodding off as I continue."

I sigh, pressing a palm to my eye. "Sorry. Your voice is just... it's putting me to sleep."

Knowing I've said the wrong thing, the stranger and I sit in silence. A moment passes and he says, "What's your name?"

"Annaliese. It's nice to meet you."

The man laughs quietly, causing me to divert my attention back to him. As my eyelids grow heavy, my vision swims a bit, and I'm suddenly unsure if I'm dreaming or just that lightheaded. "Why are you laughing?"

"Well," he says casually, throwing an arm over the backside of the couch, showing off a pair of dimples. "You're saying it's nice to meet me but I haven't even told you my name."

I tilt my head back as it suddenly feels too heavy for me to hold upright. His voice sounds far away. "What's your name?" I hear myself asking. I have asked this question to at least fifty people today and I will not remember his, but I have to be friendly to all of Thea's guests.

The smile is evident in his voice. "How about I tell you tomorrow, so you'll actually remember it?"

"Sounds like an excellent idea."

The silence returns and I blink my eyes to keep myself awake, but the final nail on the head is when the man beside me stands up and holds his hand out. I don't know him, but he looks warm and inviting, so I put my hand in his. He hoists me up. My body leans on him for support unintentionally, however, he doesn't seem to mind except when he has to walk me up the stairs. There, he struggles a bit, and if I were in my right mind, I'd help him.

Lightheaded and dizzy, I'm willing to go anywhere, as long as I'm half carried like this. In a sober and less tired state, I'd be mortified, but I can't be bothered to lift a single foot until he murmurs in my ear that I must if I'm going to make it safely. Safely? Where are we going that the journey is expected to be dangerous? I want to ask, but it's in that exact moment that we stop. He pushes open a door for me and sits me down on the bed.

"Oh," I whisper. "It's my room."

The stranger laughs. "Glad I got it right. I'll tell them to keep it down. You get some rest." I need to change out of my clothes, but he lingers for a bit. "Are you alright?"

"So tired."

"Right. Well. Goodnight."

I think he smiles at me.

"You don't need to tell them to keep it down. The way I'm about to sleep, not even a gunshot will wake me up."

The stranger's footsteps are heavy as he walks away from me, closing the door until it's almost shut. The final thing I remember is his voice assuring me, "I'm sure nobody will be firing any guns tonight."

***

Apparently, I can't handle my alcohol well because everyone is chirpy in the morning while I cradle my head at the dining table, letting Thea laugh and poke me. I want nothing more but to head back to bed, but the family woke up early and began making a ruckus. I had fallen asleep in my clothes and they irritated me too much for me to sleep in.

I'm massaging my own head when a cup of coffee is put in front of me, and then the seat across from mine is taken by the man I vaguely remember from last night. He looks far more refreshed than me, light eyes awake and alert. He nods at the drink.

"It'll help."

I frown down at it, wrapping my hands around the mug. It smells lovely, but a bit too strong for my taste. Sipping cautiously at the bitter coffee, I peer at the man, tilting my head. He looks at me over his mug too, though from the movement of his throat, I can tell he's not taking small sips like me, but somewhat bigger gulps. Freshly showered and shaved, he looks handsome in his regular shirt and trousers, crossing one leg over the other comfortably.

"Harry," he says when he puts the mug back on the table. "We met last night when you were pissed."

"I wasn't pissed," I protest, putting my mug down as well, keeping my hands around it. The warmth causes goosebumps to rise on my arms. "I was just sleep deprived."

"Of course. My mistake. Did you sleep well?"

"I did."

He nods. "Good."

Thea returns to the table with a bowl of fruits, stabbing her fork into an apple slice. "You came home late last night," she tells Harry as she chews. "Mum said you'd be home by afternoon."

"I was visiting someone on the way."

Thea's eyes shine. "The girl you're seeing?"

Harry's eyebrows raise and he leans in with narrowed eyes. "How do you know about her?"

"Everyone knows. You think you can sneak off and go on dates and just expect us to stay in the dark?"

"I thought putting a few miles between myself and this house would give me the ability to breathe a bit better, but of course, I was wrong."

Thea bites into her apple. "When are you not wrong?"

I finally piece it together. This is Thea's brother, Harry, who goes to Kings College. He's graduating this spring. As if he knows I'm thinking about him, he looks over at me and says, "I thought Annaliese was going to be here a bit later? You said the 27th."

He's talking as if I'm not here. Having dealt with this before, I sit up straighter and answer for Thea. After all, he's speaking about me, not her. "Found no reason to do Christmas alone."

He nods as he takes a sip. "It's just that you've taken my room."

It makes sense. I couldn't figure out for the life of me why the guest room had a closet filled with men's clothing and professional attire. "I won't touch anything," I tell him honestly.

The amused expression that frequently finds its way onto his face returns, this time his eyes shining as well. Thea's audible chewing serves as a background noise as I lean in to listen to him when he speaks. The kitchen is filling up and the Styles family can be quite loud.

He doesn't answer my promise, instead saying, "Is there a nickname I can use for you? Annaliese is quite mouthful."

At that moment, I forget all my manners and the etiquettes I've been taught by my parents and the years of private schooling. This is a question I've heard too many times, and it irritates me to no end when I have to answer politely, providing them with any nickname, such as Ann or Annie. Perhaps it's my hangover mind that rejects all notions of politeness, but I suddenly can't take this question anymore. With my arms crossed over my stomach, I tell him, "No. It's either Annaliese, or it's nothing."

A smile spreads across his face. "But I cannot pronounce it right."

Thea is called by her mother to help in the kitchen. She leaves before I can answer her brother.

I say, "I'd like you to try pronouncing it correctly. That would make me happy."

"But I can't."

"Figure out how to pronounce it correctly."

"Is it German or French?"

"Both."

"Hmm," he says thoughtfully. "Alright. I'll just have to say your name frequently in order to get it right."

"It's really not that difficult."

Harry tilts his head and then stands up, neatly pushing his chair back in. "I'd still like to practice." My eyes don't follow him as he walks away. I can't help but be intrigued by the conversation, eager to hear from him again.

At least my mom was right about one thing. Drunk men are vastly different from their sober selves.

***

I continue to see glimpses of Harry as the nights go by because gatherings are held nearly every night. They go well into the morning and most people don't get to their beds until 3 in the morning. I am not one of these people. The Christmas carols have stopped and now the relatives of the family I'm staying with have turned to bellowing songs about the New Year. I don't know any of them.

I learn that Harry can be social when he wants to and that he loves telling stories about people he's met. He's very hard to avoid. It's also very hard to get him to stay quiet for long. The man loves to talk about anything and everything. He has an opinion for everything so getting sucked into an argument is very possible.

Harry and I have been talking more. I learn about how his dream job is to teach history while working with historians when he has spare time. He particular loves learning about ancient cities and ruins. Harry has a lot of opinions, but he also has a lot of facts. He's an intelligent man.

Aside from that, Harry's also very attractive. I don't become used to his looks for a while, my cheeks burning when I catch his eye from across the room or when he sends me that ridiculously attractive smile after he's decided he's won during a heated conversation between us.

I can't help the slight jump of my heart when I see him throughout the day and I've become excited to witness the next party even though I usually wouldn't have. He's charming, to say the least. How cliche is it for me to have a crush on my best friend's brother?

Harry's the life of the party every night. But he's also dead tired like Thea and I every single night.

It's New Year's Eve. Thea is nearly asleep next to me. Harry too, on the other side.

Finally, Thea decides to get up and head to her room, mumbling something about sleeping like the dead. Harry and I are left on the same couch once more, eyelids heavy.

"You can fall asleep on me again if you want," Harry murmurs, a deep sound vibrating from his throat that makes me want to take up on his offer. "Annaliese."

I glance at him. "Yes?"

"Nothing. Was just testing your name to make sure I got it right. Did I?"

"You did," I tell him, desperately trying to force my voice to stop being so high pitched. "I'm beginning to think you were just faking not saying it correctly. You're funny."

"I have been known for being quite a funny guy."

"Only when you're drunk maybe."

"What am I like when I'm not drunk?"

"I don't know. Maybe we should talk when you're not drunk."

He laughs and leans in. "I'm rarely ever drunk, Annaliese. What you see is the real me."

We continue our banter until I physically can't keep up and he offers to take me back to my room, half dragging as usual. I need to time my departure better. I can't be on the verge of collapse all the time.

He brings me to my door and lets me rest against the doorframe. The gentle music grows fainter, and colder air makes us shiver.

I look at him for a long time after my vision focuses on him, taking him in. He looks less tired than me now, while I'm about to drop. I reach behind me to open the door but Harry suddenly steps forward and stops my hand from twisting the handle. The close proximity forces me to get a whiff of his scent, alcohol mixed with some spice.

There's suddenly a loud cheer from downstairs and a shout of "Happy New Year!"

Harry doesn't say anything, but I notice that he's beginning to lean in. Suddenly excited, I lean in also, closing my eyes. His mouth is warm and hesitant, but when I wrap my arms around him, he holds my waist and kisses me firmly, pressing my back against the door. He tastes like the candy canes I've seen him eat all day today, peppermint on his lips and tongue. Having that taste in my mouth causes me to want to press myself closer to him while he's completely unaware of his effect on me.

"Annaliese," he whispers against my mouth, barely audible. "Annaliese."

I tilt my head back and open my eyes, dragging my hands down his shoulders. I hold his sleeves tightly. "Harry."

"Am I saying it right?" he grins, leaning in to kiss my neck softly. I give him more access, my breathing shaky.

"Yes."

"I like saying it."

"I like saying yours. Harry."

"Sounds good when you say it in your accent. From your throat." His thumb brushes against my throat as he says the word. "But you know what? I think like kissing you even more."

With that, he presses kisses to the other side of my neck. Embarrassingly enough, I'm nervous and I can't help but swallow anxiously. His kisses tickle so good. Harry smiles as he pulls away. "What?"

"Sorry! Sorry, no it's nothing."

"Sorry?" he repeats, brushing his lips up my jaw. "I don't like when people apologize to me. Don't do that."

He slowly pulls away and rests his forehead on mine, smiling sleepily. He steps back and reaches for my hand still on his neck. He kisses my palm and then sighs, "I've got to leave you now or you'll die from how tired you are. Goodnight, Annaliese. Happy New Year."

And that is the first time I think about how lovely it was to have Harry's mouth on mine. I hope he kisses me again soon.

[mangoshorthand]

Flesh and Blood- [Five Hargreeves x F Reader]. Ch12 (Hard Feelings Part 3)

SUMMARY: As Christmas approaches, everything between you and Five is perfect...until a destructive temporal anomaly gets in the way. Five is convinced another permutation of himself is to blame. Nothing's simple when you're in a relationship Five Hargreeves: could your loyalties be tested in a way unique to him?

Chapter One - Chapter Two - Chapter Three - Chapter Four - Chapter Five - Chapter Six - Chapter Seven - Chapter Eight - Chapter Nine - Chapter Ten - Chapter Eleven - Chapter Twelve - Chapter Thirteen

With two to protect, Five does something he thought he'd never do.

Daddy Five ahead, and not in the way we're used to. Proceed at your own risk.

Chapter Eleven: Aoife

You’re in the bed, having cried yourself to sleep with the baby at your breast. He took her from you gently, giving you as much opportunity to rest as he could. Now, Five sits in the room’s only comfortable chair, his shirt open with her against his own chest. 

Aoife. 

Four hours old. So tiny, exquisitely beautiful and completely his.

He’s never understood Allison more than now. Every time he looks into his daughter’s face, he feels a fierce protective urge as well as adoration. He’d rip out throats with his teeth for this girl; he’d do a deal with the devil and whistle a happy tune.

He knows he has to be alert. Until now, he’s been working on the basis that her nonsense portals happened because her power was incompatible with your body, but he has to consider the possibility that he’s wrong.

There’s been nothing so far, however, and it’s hard not to let exhaustion overtake him. Some of that Modafinil Klaus sourced for him when you were ill would be useful right now. 

Aoife shifts against him and twitches his jacket. He feels the hard rectangle of his notebook in the inner breast pocket. 

Partly to focus his mind and stave off sleep, Five gently shifts her full weight onto one arm and uses the other to wriggle it out of his pocket. He flicks it open to his latest calculations.

He plans to reread his theory and calculations on the effects of him producing opposing frequencies, but his eyes are immediately drawn to the scrawlings in red pen dotted around the pages. 

Though it’s his handwriting, he certainly didn’t put them there.

His older self had apparently taken it upon himself to correct Five’s calculations. Despite him having guarded it with particular care, he’d somehow stolen and then returned it.

‘Faulty assumption’, reads one of his comments. One of Five’s equations is entirely crossed out with a correction written beneath. In other places, elements are circled and underlined, pointing out errors in judgment or mathematics. 

His eyes take in all the smug comments with a mixture of shock and irritation: 

‘ Seriously?!’ Older Five had written beside one of his shakier surmises, ‘you think that would work?’ 

‘Were we really this dumb?’ he’d written, beside an underlined multiplication that should apparently be division.

Five turns the page, unconscious of tiredness now as he reads. 

Beside a rough Feynman diagram: ‘Think about the compression factor .

Beneath his last lines of theory, there’s a final line of red pen:

‘C+ If I wanted you dead, you would be. Idiot.’

Five stares for a moment and then rereads the entire thing, doing enough of the math in his mind to know that it fits. 

He flips the notebook shut. For the first time since her birth, he’s unaware of Aoife. He stares straight ahead, face screwed up in concentration.

So it was true: his plan all along had been to die? If so, then the bathtub incident really was an accident?

It doesn’t compute. It doesn’t make sense . How, when he had you and this baby to fight for, could he make it a kamikaze mission?

He watched you both die, spent eight years planning and calculating; why would he do all that not to reap the benefits of it?

Five tries to imagine it.

The other him said you died of postpartum hemorrhage. It would have been a bloodbath. This baby, in his arms now, would be even tinier, discolored, flayed-looking. 

He shudders at the thought, wanting to push it away, but deliberately staying with it. He needs to know; he needs to understand.

That Five would have buried you somewhere in the woods around the cabin. He would have dug a grave in the snow and covered you over.

He went home���and then what would he do?

He knows his own impulsivity well enough: if it were him, he’d drink himself to death. He’d lock himself in his room and down a bottle or two of vodka. If he was thinking clearly enough, he might also take a dozen or so pills for good measure. 

But that Five didn’t die. He lived eight years since losing you. Eight years of planning, calculating and alcoholism. 

He looks back down at Aoife and then he understands. 

The other him did it for the same reason he, himself, didn’t tell you about his suspicions: he did it so you and Aoife could have a better life. 

Eight years without you both? Eight years of grief and heavy drinking? Would he inflict himself on you as an (even more) mentally unstable alcoholic? No, not if there was another, healthier Five to take his place.

And there was another reason too, wasn’t there? 

Penance. Atonement for the version of you he couldn’t save.

***

For you, the first few days are a blur. Grief for the older Five mixes with bliss every time you hold Aoife and whenever you see Five hold her. Whenever you smile, you’re overcome with guilt too.

For his part, Five is at last convinced that her nonsense portals have stopped. If she didn’t produce any in the first couple of days, she was unlikely ever to.

You both begin to realize how woefully underprepared you were for this- unable even to drive her away from the hospital without a car seat. On the day of your discharge, Five hastily buys a travel system and other newborn supplies from the nearest big box store and fits it in the parking lot, cursing at the incomprehensible instructions. 

You spend the first few weeks at the cabin, spring becoming ever more apparent. Five, used to getting by on little sleep, is coping better than you. He walks her around the bedroom when she cries, holding her to his bare chest and rubbing her back while you sit up, slumped against the headboard pumping breast milk, barely awake. Your body is a leaking, bleeding, chafing, aching, stretched-out mess and, on top of everything, you feel like a dairy cow.

Though he’s coping better, Five is still struggling. He's wearing sweatpants stained with her spit-up and can't bring himself to care. He's read about the benefits of multilingualism for infants, so he talks to her in a sleepy mixture of Italian and English. He might introduce Latin when she's older, but for now he's sticking with two.

“ Va bene, mia piccolina. Non piangere. Daddy’s got you. There we go. Little gas, eh? Better out than in.”

Slowly she quietens as he sings to her softly. When he transitions from Hotel California to his old go to, I Can’t Stop Loving You, you find yourself crying. Your body and mind are wrecked. As she starts to drift to sleep, he continues to rock her, but looks over at you. Keeping his voice in the same soothing, half whispered cadence, he says

“Poor Mommy. You get off to sleep, little girl. Momma needs a hug too. Permetti a papà di aiutare la mamma .”

Shushing her, he lowers her carefully into the bassinet, tensed in case the change of position sets her off again. He lays her down gently, withdrawing his arms slowly. When she doesn’t cry, he heads back over to you, takes the pump off your cracked nipple and pulls you under his arm.

“It’s ok. You’re doing so well.”

You keep crying. “I can’t stop thinking about it.”

He sighs and pulls you closer: “Me neither.” 

“But why did he do it?”

“Because I love you…and I’d do anything to put it right if…”

He knows he’d do exactly the same. Down to a t. His world has shifted since he met you. He’d do another forty-five years in the apocalypse if he had to; he’d do it with a smile if it meant the chance to see you both again, even if just for a while.

“Guess I’m not that much of an asshole, after all.”

***

One morning, Five bends from the waist to wake you with a kiss to your temple.

“Good morning, beautiful,” he says, as you stir.

You look up at him blearily.

“Baby need feeding?”

“No, I fed her. She’s asleep.” 

You look up at him. For the first time since bringing Aoife back to the cabin, he’s clean shaven and wearing a suit. 

“Where are you going?”

His smile seems rather forced.

“I need to go out for a few hours.”

“Why?”

A pause.

“Because I got stuff to do.”

You sit up, expression clouding over.

“What stuff?”

He sighs. You can see the battle going on behind his eyes: between partnership and his need to protect. There’s something he doesn’t want to tell you. 

“Five.” you say, simply. 

It’s enough. He looks at you, nods minutely and makes the decision to be open.

“I need to renegotiate with the Commission,” he says. 

He smiles, clearly trying to minimize the gravity of this situation, but his hands go into his pockets in the way they always do when he’s uncomfortable.

You close your eyes. You knew this was coming, but you hadn’t expected it this soon.

His hand finds yours.

“It’s okay, dear one. I’ll be back, I promise. Whatever happens, I’ll be back by the evening.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

He exhales and sits slowly on the bed beside you. His face is very earnest, lips pressed together. He leans over and strokes your face gently.

“I promise.” he says, seriously, “And I’ll tear a hole in the fucking sky before I break this one, okay?"

***

He intends to drive over the Maine Border, up to Bangor, perhaps. 

While it’s true that the Commision has become a more reasonable place under Herb’s leadership, he can’t rely on that.

He’s noticed a germ of resistance to adaptation that seems almost baked into the very fabric of the organization. It was possible (probable even) that reluctance to file more paperwork might alone make them unwilling to call off the contract. They might just allow things to trundle on, regardless of the resourcing costs. 

So, beyond blowing the entire place sky high, there’s only one option for negotiation. He only has one card to play.

He drums his fingers tersely on the steering wheel, hardly able to keep his eyes on the road in front of him with the frequency he checks his mirrors, looking for any other vehicles acting suspiciously. He’s no stranger to being tailed and can usually behave with a cool head if there’s any danger of it, but today he’s too agitated.

Leaving you and Aoife alone in the woods feels intensely wrong. He knows logically that the Commission must have no idea where you are, (if they did, they would have come long before now. He also knows that maintaining your cover and making contact with them as far away as practical from you is the safest option.

But still…not being physically present to protect you both goes against every newly awoken fathering instinct he has. It makes him scared in ways he isn’t used to. It makes him feel weak; a vulnerability he hasn’t felt since those first few apocalypse years. 

He reaches Bangor and then, for good measure, carries on into a small town in Hancock county. At the first stop he sees, he pulls into a gas-station and what must be the town’s only grocery store. As the car crunches over the badly maintained asphalt, he looks around the area appraisingly. There are only a few cars parked. That’s good: less chance of collateral damage if this goes sideways. There’s a payphone at the back of the lot, nice and far away from the grocery store. 

After pulling up beside it, he takes a moment to steady his nerves, leaning back against the headrest and briefly closing his eyes.

In the bargain he’s about to make, the only leverage he has is himself. 

It’s true that his relationship with Herb up until this mess has been collegial, with Five as the more domineering force, but Herb is one man in an entire organization and he can’t guarantee it will be enough without another few years of service out of him to sweeten the deal. 

With his head in his hands, he knows that it’s the best option. He wouldn’t be in the field, he’d probably be working at HQ developing tech or even as a Case Manager. He’d work his contract quietly and then retire back to this time, appearing in the cabin only a few minutes after he left, a little older but otherwise unharmed. 

He’ll still get to be a dad, still get to marry you…he just has to delay it for a while. 

So why is it so hard?

His feet like lead, he hauls himself out of the car and slams the door shut. He positions himself in front of the payphone and lays his head briefly against it.

It’s hard because even being away from you for just over four hours has been difficult. It’s not just the anxiety about you coping alone together for the first time, it’s a need to be with you both that comes from within. It’s entirely for his own benefit. He needs you with him.

He dials the long string of numbers imprinted into his memory from his Commission days and waits miserably as the dial-up modem noise connects his call to the space out of time in which the Commission operates. 

An automated answer bot picks up his call. Five remembers it well.

“Hello, and thank you for calling the Temps Commision. You have reached the-” a recorded human voice takes over “-main switchboard,” (then back to the automated voice), “Due to a high volume of calls, please allow this automated system to triage your call.”

Five taps his foot impatiently. Everything with this organization is painful. The permutation of him that founded it must be a real sadistic prick.

“For general information and contact-”

Unwilling to sit though all the options, Five employs a trick he learned in his latter Commission days, mashing the hash key to try and get through to a human operator.

“Hello?” says a polite voice on the other end.

“Get me Herb,” he responds, curtly.

“Can I ask who’s calling?”

“Five Hargreeves.”

There’s a pause: for a few moments, he can hear the operator breathing. 

“Put me-” Five begins, but then there’s the abrupt sound of the receiver being put down and an empty dial tone in his ear. 

“The fuck?” Five grunts, irritated. 

Scowling, he hangs up and redials, punching the number with unnecessary force. 

But this time: nothing. There’s no modem sound, no cool fembot, just an empty line.

He looks wildly around. Was making contact enough to summon Herb to him?  Yet there’s no sign of Herb’s silhouette in the empty parking lot: no stillness in the air brought about by the stopping of time. 

Five hangs up and dials again. Still nothing.

“You fucking… hang up on me ?” he mutters. 

First the pipeline, now this?

And then dread begins to fill him, descending over his mind and body like an icy deluge. 

He’d been stupid beyond usual stupidity.

Only now does it strike him that locating you probably wouldn’t be that hard; all they had to do was torture it out of any one of his siblings. Hell, they probably didn’t need to do that- there would likely be records of Klaus inheriting the cabin. 

How did he not see this before?

He’d just given them the perfect opportunity to attack. He’d offered you up on a silver platter.

Fuck , he’d even paid them the courtesy of calling them from a location hours away, letting them know that you and your perfect newborn were alone and entirely unprotected.

He blinks immediately into the car, thankful at least he’d left the keys in the ignition. He pulls out of the parking lot with a screech of tires, accelerating wildly back down the road.

***

Luckily for you, Aoife’s slept most of the day, waking for feeds and to be changed but otherwise content to sleep in her bassinet or held close to your chest. 

You’ve spent a good deal of today crying for the other Five: feeling guilty, confused and even angry, though you can’t always pinpoint exactly why. 

He gave his life for yours and yet he never consulted you about it: he just left you to live with that knowledge. And, if you mourn him, are you perhaps betraying the Five who remains? The one who also risked his life for you and would have done the same as his doppelganger in the same scenario? Will it seem to him like you’d rather the other version survived? Is it stupid to mourn at all, given that they’re the same person?

All this confusing mess is whirling around your head when a loud noise from outside the cabin makes you and the baby start violently. She gives a sharp cry and you shush her urgently. 

You know something’s wrong. 

With swift movements, you look urgently around the cabin’s bedroom for a means of escape, for somewhere to hide, but before you can, another noise, right beside you this time makes you yelp and turn away from the source, instinctively shielding Aoife with your body.

A pair of hands grab you around the upper arms and force you around to face their owner. You struggle and shriek until his voice gets through to you.

“It’s me, I got you. Have they hurt you? Where are they?”

You stop resisting and turn to him, Aoife crying fearfully in your arms.

“Five!”

He holds you at arms length only long enough to check that you’re both unharmed before pulling you to him, looking around the room frantically as if expecting Commission agents to reveal themselves from the walls.

“You’re okay,” he murmurs, “you’re okay.”

“You scared me,” you say, your own lips trembling as you try to comfort Aoife. 

“I’m sorry dear one, I thought- I thought.”

He looks around one more time, reassuring himself of what he already knows. They aren’t here; he was wrong.

He buries his head in your hair, one of his hands protectively on Aoife’s head. ***

There was a knock at Herb’s office door.

“Come in,” he called, putting his pen down.

A smartly dressed middle-aged man entered the room with a clipboard under his arm. He stood respectfully back from the desk.

“Hi Rudi,” smiled Herb, “how can I help?”

Rudi shifted nervously from foot to foot, “I wanted to let you know that Five Hargreeves called.”

For a second, Herb looked surprised. 

“What did he say?” he said, curiously, looking down at the desk top.

“He just asked to speak to you.”

Herb nodded solemnly. 

“You stuck to the plan?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you. And thanks for letting me know.”

Rudi smiled slightly worriedly and left the room, leaving Herb to contemplate his own hands on the table. 

He and Diego had come to an agreement: this was only ending one way now, and Herb didn’t intend to go back on that.

Tag list: (please comment to be added or removed.) @dilfjohhny , @sunsunhe, @w4stedtr4sh, @nevbrooke-555, @theredvelvetbitch, @td-miley01, @five-hxrgreeves, @rorygi1more, @jamiebower88

Masterpost

Alternatively, join me on A03.  Here is a link to the whole series

[rogeriswater]

Don't Leave Me Now

xxxviii

This work contains fictionalized versions of real events and people. Most details won’t be accurate to real life.

tags for this chapter: p.o.v changes, a bit of some lactation kink, IT'S HAPPENING YA'LL, Ronnie being a protective older sister <3

September, 1969

~m.r~

The months of the tour went by. And with every month that came, the bigger my stomach got. You could now tell that I was, in fact, pregnant. Even with the maternity dresses that I wore. I couldn't even see my own feet anymore. It made it difficult whenever I tried to put on my boots, but thankfully, Roger was there to help my when I needed it.

He was so sweet and attentive to my needs. He was always fussing over me whenever we had rehearsals and I showed any signs of aching or tiredness. Like the rehearsal we were having right now. I was standing at my mic, singing along to the music my bandmates were playing.

And if you don't mind I'll spend my time Here by the fire side In the warm light and the love in her eyes

This had been another song that Roger wrote for me. There was another ache in my back and it caused me to groan in pain and put my hands to my back, instead of singing the next lyric. I heard the bass stop completely and I rolled my eyes. Here comes Roger fretting over me. "Sunshine, are you alright?" He had worry in his tone as he put his bass down and came over to me.

"Yes, Roger, I'm okay" I told him. "It was just another pain in my back"

"You wait here, love, and I'll go get you a chair" He said. He ran off to go find me a chair to go sit in.

I heard chuckling coming from the other boys. They were huddled around Nick's drum set, gossiping like a bunch of high school girls. "What's so funny?" I asked them.

"Do you think if I get pregnant, Roger will take care of me like that?" Nick jokes. "Because I call in sick and all I get is "you will play drums until you vomit, and even after, you'll still play" from him"

"You know Mags, if we didn't know any better, we'd think Roger is the one that got you pregnant" Rick says. Panic sets in momentarily, but I try not to let it show.

"Roger is just being considerate of my condition" I said, putting my hands on my very pregnant belly. "Lord knows Billy hasn't been" I muttered to myself. He still has me fetching him beers for him when he knows full well I should be resting when I'm not doing band stuff. Those thoughts were quickly interrupted when I heard the boys choking on the air and their own spit. "What the fuck is wrong with you guys?"

David avoided my gaze. "You're--er--leaking" Oh, shit! Did my water break and I haven't even noticed? I'm pretty sure I would have felt it. I looked between my legs and saw that it was dry. "Not there"

I looked down and I caught on to what David was trying to tell me. There were wet patches on my dress, right where my nipples were. "Ah, shit" I muttered. No wonder my breasts had been so swollen and tender lately. I was already producing milk.

Roger came back with a chair for me. "Here you go, sunshine" He said, and stopped right in his tracks when he saw the wet patches on my dress. "M-Maggie..." He stuttered.

"I know, I know" I said, waving my hand at him. "I'm going to my dressing room to change"

"Let me help you!" Roger blurted, just a little too quickly and with too much excitement. I didn't argue with him on that, for I was already thinking of how else he could help me once we're alone. It was a slow walk for me to the dressing room. Roger walked beside me, keeping his hand on my lower back.

Roger and I made it to my dressing room. I sat on the couch and sighed with relief as I was off my feet. Roger sat beside me on the couch. He carefully lifted my feet and put them on his lap. He began to rub my feet and I sighed in relief. "Oh, that feels so good" I moaned.

"Darling, maybe you should sit this one out tonight" Roger suggested to me. I gave him a glare. "Don't look at me like that. You're nine months pregnant, you can barely stand, and you're leaking milk"

"Yeah, but it's not like the baby is coming tonight" I said. I sat up a little bit and started unbuttoning the front of my dress. "And speaking of leaking milk, I need you to do something for me"

Roger watched with hungry eyes as I undid the buttons on my dress. "And what would that be, darling?" His voice was raspy with lust.

"Well, I don't have a pump of any sort, and fucking hell Roger, my tits are so sore" I got the last button undone and pulled my dress open. Roger's eyes went wide when he saw my tits. I could hear his breath hitch just at the sight of milk leaking from my nipples. "I just need some sort of relief Roger, please" My tone was desperate.

He cleared his throat. "You want me to...drink the milk?"

I cringed when I realized how weird my request was. I was basically asking my lover if I could breastfeed him. But I was so desperate for relief from the pressure, I didn't know what else to do. "That's really fucking weird to ask, isn't it?" I said. "Okay, you don't have to drink, but at least massage them or something--"

"I never said I didn't want to do it" He said, his voice low and raspy. His large hands enveloped my swollen tits and he began to massage them. God, that already felt so good. "If it helps you, it'd be my pleasure" He lowered his head to my stomach. "Hey, little one, I hope you don't mind if I have some of mommy's milk. It just feels very uncomfortable for her and she needs my help to relieve it" Roger put his ear to my stomach and nodded as if the baby was talking to him. Then he lifted his head and looked at me. "The little one says to have as much as I want"

I giggled. "What are you waiting for then, lover? Help yourself"

Roger smirked. "Gladly." He squeezed my breasts gently. As he did so, a little droplet of milk came out of both nipples. "Christ love" He groaned. I giggled. If I didn't know any better, it would seem like someone had a bit of a lactation kink. Roger leaned in and licked the drop of milk from my nipple. He moaned at the taste. "Fuck, that's really good" His lips wrapped around my nipple and he started suckling the milk. I felt instant relief. I could tell Roger was enjoying it too. He was moaning every time the milk hit his tongue. Once he's drained one tit of milk, he moves onto the other one. The sounds he made as he slurped on my milk were so fucking hot. Once he was finished, he pulled away. He still had a drop of milk on his lips, but his tongue quickly darted out to clean it. "How does that feel, darling? There was quite a bit of milk in there"

I sighed, finally feeling relieved. "So much better. Thank you"

"If you ever need me to do that again, you just let me know, okay?" Roger says with a smirk.

"Oh, you liked that did you?" I giggled.

"I already love sucking on your tits, and now I get a little treat when I do" He gives my tits one last caress before he helps me button my dress back up.

I noticed the bulge in his jeans and it made me giggled. "Did my naughty boy get hard from that?"

Roger chuckles. "To be fair, darling, everything you do makes me hard. I always have to hide my erections on stage"

"Do you want me to help you relieve it?" I started reaching for the front of his jeans but he grabbed my hands.

"Don't worry about me right now, okay?" Roger said, giving my hands a kiss. "You need to relax. And I'm sorry to do this to you, love, but you're going to sit tonight out."

"Roger, no!" I whined.

"You're nine months pregnant, and that baby could come out at any moment. I don't need you popping out a baby on stage"

"This is your fault, you know" I grumbled. "You're the reason I'm pregnant"

Roger smirked proudly at that. "And don't you forget it, sunshine" He said, leaning in to give me a kiss. His hand went to my belly. As soon as it did, I felt the kick in my belly, as if the baby knew their father was there.

"The baby knows you're there, love" I told him.

Roger smiled. He put his head closer to my stomach. "That's right, little one, daddy's here, and he already loves you so much." He kissed my belly, causing the baby to kick again. "Did you feel that, darling?" He asked me.

I smiled at how excited he was. "That baby loves you already, Roger" He laid his head on my belly. There was just something about the sight of your lover's head on your pregnant belly that was just so beautiful.

...

I was basically confined to my dressing room during the show. I would rather be on stage performing right now, but Roger was too stubborn, insisting I rest instead. He assigned Alan to look after me so I wouldn't be alone, and in case anything happened, there was someone here with me. Out of all our roadies, I was probably closest with Alan. I even told him the truth about Roger and I, and he swore not to tell a soul. All of a sudden, I felt a cramping sensation in my lower stomach. It made me wince, and it caused Alan to look at me. "Are you okay, Maggie?" He asked me.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine" I told him. "Just thought I felt a cramp." I could tell I concerned Alan with that news. A pregnant woman feeling cramps this late in her pregnancy only meant one thing. "They aren't contractions, Alan"

"If you're sure" He said. About thirty minutes passed before I felt another cramp. I winced again. Alan checked his watch. "That was half an hour since the first one"

"What are you trying to tell me Alan?" I asked him, my tone a bit snappy. I didn't mean to be but these cramps were fucking awful.

"Today might be the day Maggie" He said.

"Nope!" I shook my head. "This baby is staying in me until this tour is over, even if I have to make it stay in" I felt another cramp again, only this one was more intense. My eyes shut tight and I gripped my stomach. "Bloody hell! That one hurt!"

"Maggie, maybe we should get you to a hospital"

"Alan, I'm fine!" I tried to tell him. I stood up and felt another cramp. This one made me cry out in pain. "G-go get my sister!" I could tell Alan was a little hesitant about leaving me alone when I was beginning my contractions. He left and I was only left alone for about three minutes before he returned with Ronnie.

"I'm here, pup" Ronnie said, immediately rushing over to my side. "I'm here" She wrapped her arms around me and started rubbing my arm.

I began to cry. "I don't want to do this, Ronnie. Not today"

"I know" She cooed soothingly. "But it looks like the baby isn't giving you much choice"

"I want Roger!" I cried.

"The show will be finished soon, and then Roger will be here, okay? Do you think you can hold out until then?" My sister asked me. I was ready to say yes, but unfortunately, I felt something wet splash between my legs. Of fucking course my water had to break now. Ronnie noticed as well. "Okay, pup, you are having this baby now. We need to get you to a hospital"

"I already called one, and it's on the way" Alan said.

Ronnie turned to Alan. "Go let Roger know that this baby is coming" Alan nodded and then ran out of the room.

"But he's doing--"

"There's going to be many other shows, pup" Ronnie said. "But there's only one chance to witness the birth of your first child. I know he's not going to want to miss that." I just nodded as I continued to cry. My sister kissed the top of my head. "It'll be okay, pup"

~r.w~

We were just about to start our second set when I noticed Alan standing off to the side. What was he doing here? He's supposed to be with Maggie. I nodded at Alan, telling him to come over while we prepared for our second set. "Is everything okay?" I asked him.

"Maggie's water just broke" He tells me.

I freeze at that, and look at Alan with wide eyes. "Where is she?"

"She's still in her dressing room"

Without a second thought, I put my bass down and make a run for Maggie's dressing room. I don't care that I've now just completely abandoned the show and my bandmates. I don't care about Steve's yelling at me as I run past him. All I care about is getting to my Maggie. She needs me right now. I make it to her dressing room. First thing I noticed was the big wet stain on the floor. Oh my God, this was really happening. My gaze falls to Maggie and Ronnie who are sitting on the couch together. "Look Maggie, Roger's here" Ronnie says to Maggie.

Maggie lifts her head from her sister's shoulder and she looks at me. "Roger!"

I go over to her and I kneel in front of her. "It'll be okay, sunshine" I take her hands in mine and kiss them. "I'm here, okay?"

"What is going on!?" I can hear Steve's angry tone. I turn my head to look at him and his face softens when he sees the state that Maggie's in. "Did someone call an ambulance?"

"One is on the way" Alan says.

"And what about Billy?" Steve adds.

Alan sighs and then rubs the back of his neck. "I called him and told him, but he sounded so drunk, I don't think he could even comprehend it"

That made me so angry. Maggie was still Billy's wife, and she was going into labor. He's really going to miss this special moment because he prefers the company of booze to his wife. I heard Steve sigh. "Alan, go with Maggie and Ronnie to the hospital once the ambulance gets here"

"What about me?" I asked him.

"You have a show to stay and finish" Steve told me.

"How can I possibly perform a show when I know the woman I love is giving birth to my child? I'm not missing that, Steve"

"Alright, you can go" Steve agreed. I knew he just didn't want to argue it any further. This situation was already stressful enough and he didn't want to make it any more so for Maggie. "I'll think of something to tell those people out there"

"Thank you, Rourkie" Maggie says with a smile. Of course, Steve returns her grin. That man is a sucker for Maggie, though I can't say I blame him.

...

Ronnie and I went with Maggie to the hospital when the ambulance got here. When we got there, they took her off to a room. Sadly, they said only one of us could go with her. "I think you should go" I told Ronnie.

"Roger, you're the father" She tried to reason with me. "If anyone should be in there with her, it's you"

"I saw how safe she felt when you were comforting her in the dressing room." I said. "It should be you"

"Roger, if you're not in there, Maggie is going to be really upset. She wants you to be there. Not me" I knew there wasn't a point in arguing with Ronnie any further. Besides, she was right. If I miss this, I'm going to regret it.

I walked up to the nurse. She smiled at me. "You're Roger, right? Maggie keeps asking for you. She won't even let the doctor into the room until she sees you first" I smiled at that. That was definitely my Maggie. She was almost as stubborn as me. I followed the nurse to the room where Maggie was being kept in.

"Roger!" She said as soon as she saw me. I went over to her and grabbed her hand. "Thank God it's you. If Ronnie walked through that door, I would've thrown something at her and made her turn around to go get you"

I chuckled at that. "I wouldn't miss this for anything, sunshine"

"Love, when the baby gets here, you and I both know this baby is a Waters, but on the birth certificate, I have to put Billy as the father" Maggie says.

I sighed. "I know, sunshine, I know" I began stroking her hair. "But it doesn't matter what it says on paper. This is my child" Maggie smiles at me, but her face changes to one of discomfort. She must've felt another contraction. "Roger, it hurts!"

"It's okay" I kissed her forehead. "I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere"

At that moment, the nurse from before walked in, along with the doctor that would be handling Maggie's labor. It was a female doctor, which surprised me a bit. "Hi, Maggie. I'm Dr. Hart" Her voice was soothing and gentle. She then looked at Roger. "And you must be the father"

"It's... complicated" I told her. Maggie cried out in pain again, which caused her to nearly crush my hand when she squeezed it. I can't even imagine the pain and discomfort she's going through right now and it made me feel a little bit bad considering I'm the one who got her here.

"How far apart are your contractions, Maggie?" Dr. Hart asked her.

"They're getting closer and closer." She answered.

Dr. Hart stood up, walking to Maggie's side. She took Maggie's other hand. "You are having this baby today, Maggie"

Maggie turned her head to look at me. I could tell from the look in her eyes that she was scared. I gave her a smile and started petting her hair. "It'll be alright, sunshine. I'm not leaving your side"

Her frightened eyes disappeared. Instead, they filled with love and joy. She leaned into the touch of my palm that rested on her cheek. "Let's have this baby, Roger" She said.

...

Maggie was in labour for several hours. That baby was just as stubborn as their mother. But even throughout the crying and the pain, Maggie was a trooper through it all. Dr. Hart encouraged her to give one final push. That's what Maggie did. Her cries of pain were replaced by smaller cries. The cries that signified new life.

Dr. Hart was smiling as she was cradling the newborn baby in her arms. "Maggie, Roger, say hello to your daughter" I knew it! I knew we were going to have a girl! "Here you go, Maggie" Dr. Hart wrapped up our little girl in a blanket before gently passing her over to Maggie.

"Hi baby" Maggie cooed gently to our little girl. "My little Victoria, you're more perfect than I ever could've imagined" Maggie looked at me with the biggest smile I've ever seen her wear. "Isn't she perfect, Roger?"

I returned her smile. "She is"

"Do you want to hold her?" Maggie asked me. That question scared me. Of course I wanted to hold my baby, but I was scared. Scared that my own flesh and blood would reject me. "Don't be scared, Roger. She loves you"

I carefully took Victoria into my arms. She looked so tiny, especially in my long arms. It was all hitting me as I held her in my arms. I was a father now. It was too overwhelming for me. I hadn't even realized I had begun to cry. "Sunshine, she's perfect" I said. I held her for a few more minutes before giving her back to Maggie.

Dr. Hart began to speak. "I really don't want to do this to you, Maggie, but it is hospital procedure that I put Victoria in our baby room where we can closely observe her for any complications"

Maggie looked hurt. "No, don't take my baby away from me!" She held Victoria even closer to her. "She's mine!"

"I know you want to stay with your baby, but we have to make sure that she's nice and healthy that way she'll be able to go home with you" Dr. Hart tried to explain. She tried to take Victoria which proved to be a mistake.

"Keep your hands away from her, you cunt!" She spat. I had to keep myself from snorting out in laughter from what she said. But, instead, I tried to be a good sport and get Maggie to hand over Victoria.

"Sunshine, you want them to make sure Victoria all healthy and clean, right?" I asked her,

"I'm sure they can do that without separating me from my baby" Maggie said.

"Maggie, the sooner you let them take Victoria, the sooner they can check her, and the sooner you can have her back"

Maggie looked at me for a moment. I saw betrayal flash through her eyes, but only for a moment before they softened. She sighed in defeat. "You're right" She extended Victoria towards Dr. Hart. "Sorry for calling you a cunt"

"Believe it or not, I've heard worse" Dr. Hart said. She took Victoria from Maggie. "It's a normal reaction for a mother to be angry when you try to take her baby from her" With that, she walked out of the room with Victoria.

Maggie already started to cry. I sat beside her on the bed. I wrapped my arm around her. "It's alright, darling" I held her close against me as I rubbed her arm. "Victoria will be fine. She's in good hands"

"I know" Maggie cried. "It's just not fair how they can take her away from me like that"

"It's not like you won't see her again" I said to her. "They aren't just gonna steal her and give her to some other family" I kissed her head. "She'll be home with us" I stopped myself. Victoria wasn't going to be coming home with me. "She'll be home with you soon enough"

...

Maggie eventually cried herself to sleep. Once I was sure that she wasn't going to wake up, I left the room to find the baby room where Victoria was being kept. I found the big window looking into the room, and right there front and centre was Victoria. She was still sleeping. I felt a presence beside me. It was none other than Ronnie. "She's beautiful" I heard her say.

I smiled proudly. "She really is"

"Did Maggie freak out when the doctor tried to take Victoria away?" Ronnie asked me.

I nodded. "Yep, and she called her a cunt"

Ronnie laughed at that. "Of course she did" I could feel Ronnie's eyes boring into me. "You seem upset about something, Rog"

"Victoria is my baby, I know that, but she won't be coming home with me"

Ronnie rubbed my back. "I'm telling you now. You're already a much better father to that baby than Billy will ever be"

"Does he know yet?"

Ronnie sighed and shook her head. "I've been trying to get a hold of him, and when he did answer, he was slurring a bunch of nonsense"

My jaw ticked. "What did Maggie ever see in him in the first place?"

Ronnie shrugged. "I've been asking myself that for 13 years now"

~m.r~

I didn't realize just how exhausted I was gonna be from pushing a baby out of me. I just woke up from my nap but now I wanted another one. I wish I had my baby in my arms. I understand the doctors have to make sure that every thing is fine with Victoria, but she should be bonding with me right now. The door to my door opened and in walked my sister. "Hi, pup" She greeted me. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm tired" I told her. "And I want my baby"

"I know, but you know what? I just saw her and she's looking pretty healthy. And she's absolutely beautiful"

"Do you think they'd let me leave with her tonight?" I asked.

"I think they're going to keep both of you here overnight"

"Where's Roger?"

"With your daughter. Actually, there's something I did want to ask you" Ronnie mentioned.

"What is it?"

"I know you and Roger both believe that he's the father, but maybe you should do a DNA test or something to be absolutely sure"

"Ronnie, I don't need a DNA test to know that Roger is Victoria's biological father. Even if he wasn't, it's not the DNA that makes him her father at the end of the day"

Ronnie nodded. "I suppose that's true. Look pup, I don't want to do this to you, but it's getting pretty late and I need get back to the hotel"

I didn't want her to leave. I didn't want to be alone. I grasped her hand. "Don't leave me, Ronnie"

"You'll be okay, pup. Besides, someone has to tell your bandmates the good news, yeah?" She said, squeezing my hand and kissing my forehead. "I'll be back tomorrow first thing in the morning, okay? I promise"

Ronnie passed by Roger as she was leaving the room. My gaze shifted over to my lover. "I suppose you're going to leave now too" I said to him.

Roger pulled the chair up beside my bed. "I'm not going anywhere, sunshine. I'm gonna stay here with you all night"

I smiled up at him as he grabbed my hand. "Did you see her?"

"I did, love" Roger said, rubbing his thumb on the back of my hand.

"Does she look okay?"

Roger smiled at me and leaned closer to me. "My sunshine, she's the most perfect creation ever put on this planet, right next to you of course" Roger kept his promise and he stayed with me the whole night. I fell asleep again with him still holding my hand.

~r.f~

Did I want to leave my sister knowing she was still in the hospital? Not really, but I knew Roger wasn't going to leave her so I knew she was in good hands with him. When I entered the lobby, I saw everyone waiting anxiously in the lobby. Lindy was the first one to notice me. "Everyone, Ronnie's back" She said to them.

Suddenly, all eyes were on me. I knew they were waiting for me to say something. "Maggie gave birth to a beautiful baby girl" I told them. Everyone started to clap and cheer. Well, everyone except for Billy of course, because he wasn't here. "Where's Billy?"

"Still in his and Maggie's room" David answered me. "We've all took turns knocking at the door but he would never answer"

That's it. Someone is going to put Billy in his place. I began my walk up to his and Maggie's room. I was beyond furious at him. Regardless of whether or not Victoria is possibly Roger's baby, Billy is under the impression that she's his baby and he completely missed her birth. I made it to his room and I began banging my fist against the door. "Billy, open this fucking door right now!" I yelled.

My banging on the door ceased when it opened. Billy looked absolutely hungover. "What the fuck is your problem, Ronnie?" He asked me.

"What's my problem!?" I yelled, marching into the room and slamming the door behind me. "Aren't you wondering where your wife even is right now?"

"Isn't she at the show?" Billy answered like a completely idiot. I wanted to slap—no, punch him in the face. But I refrained from doing so. "She's in the hospital, you fucking idiot!"

I saw the colour drain from Billy's face. "What happened to her? Is she okay?" Oh, so now he cares!?

"She just gave birth to your daughter" I said.

"I...I missed my daughter's birth?" He sounded utterly heartbroken.

"Yeah, all because you decided to get piss drunk"

Billy sat on the bed and put his head in his hands. "God, Maggie must hate me right now" He looked up at me again. "I have to go see her and my little girl!"

"You'd probably be better off waiting until morning" I told him.

"Wait, if you're here then who's with her right now?"

"Roger is"

I saw the anger flashing through Billy's eyes, but the oaf was wise enough not to burst it out. "Alright. I'll go first thing in the morning instead"

As I was looking at Billy, flashes of my sister's bloody face raced through my mind. I could almost see him hitting my sister and it just made me so angry. I wanted to strangle him right then and there. It's not like I could confront him about it either. You don't let someone who is abusing someone you care about know about the abuse. I wouldn't want Maggie getting killed because of me.

"I'm going back to see her in the morning" I said, without any emotion in my voice. "When I come knocking on this door, you better be ready to go, or I swear to God Billy, I'll make you regret it!"

Billy looked at me and I saw him swallow nervously. Huh, I guess the big tough man was a little bit scared of me. Good. "Yes, Ronnie, I understand" He said.

 "Good fucking night, Billy!" Was the last thing I said to him before leaving the room and slamming the door shut. When I made it back to the solace of my own room, that's when I let everything go. I cried, I screamed, I even threw a glass against the wall, just to let go of my anger towards Billy. Why did my sister have to end up with such a vile human being for a husband? I should've been a better sister and saw the red flags earlier. Maybe I could've kept them away from each other. But it's not like I can change the past. All I can do is hope that Maggie and Roger both grow a pair and leave their spouses so they can just be together without the guilt or the secrecy. That's what they both deserve. And as for Billy, well, he deserves to rot in hell.

[abronzeagegod]

Untitled YA Novel Chapter 24: Everyone's First Post-Spy Mission Debrief

First Chapter || More

3:53 PM local time

Untouched Horizons, House Dinchdrast, Si Yátz

The group slept through the entire flight back to Si Yátz. It had been an exhausting series of days and they felt that they had earned it.

When they landed Alt greeted them and told them it was a success but they would go over all the information in a meeting the next day when everyone was recovered. Now they just needed to relax, eat, and rest.

Mike was told to go see a doctor because he had suffered the worst of the physical injuries, and Rafe was taken to see the doctors that had treated Justin's dad.

"Thank you," Hira said with a little bow towards Justin. "You didn't have to do what you did, and for that you have my thanks."

"You helped me out in saving my dad, and I owe you for that one," Justin said with a little bow back.

"There are no humans that have been counted among my friends, you and Mike will be the first, I hope."

Justin chuckled. "Of course. Just don't say that to Mike. He'll be made that you didn't think he was your friend before this moment."

"He is a strange human," she said thoughtfully.

"That he is, but he's a good friend to have."

"I am going to check on Rafe."

"I'm gonna go check on Mike," Justin said, "but I know he'll be mad if I don't bring him any snacks. You want to go stop by the cafeteria before we go see them?"

"That is a good idea."

After collecting what she knew were Rafe's favorites from the cafeteria, Hira waited outside her room until she could go in and see her friend. After all this time, and everything that happened, she did it, she got Rafe back. And now she didn't know what to do with herself.

It took over an hour for Rafe to be cleared and the doctors to leave.

"She wants to see you," one of the doctors told Hira. "Be gentle. She's got a lot of healing to do."

Hira nodded, gathered her gifts, and walked into the room. Her friend was laying on her arms and legs, curled up underneath her, wings and back out to Hira.

She didn't know what else to say to Rafe, so instead she said, "How are you feeling?"

Rafe turned to look at her. There was a tiredness, a soreness, to her every movement that Hira immediately picked up on. "That is a silly question."

"It is, but I still would like to know," Hira responded. She set down the basket overflowing with fruits and Rafe's favorite snacks.

"I feel terrible," she admitted. "Tired, the kind of exhausted that I've never known was possible. And I feel bad. I knew what I was doing the entire time, but I wasn't exactly in control. It's hard to explain. Hira... Hiraksyua, I'm so sorry."

Rafe turned away from her at that moment.

"Don't," Hira said as she moved to the other side of the bed to look at Rafe. "You did everything right. You were the best. And I failed you. I screwed up and you got captured because of me. And then I left you behind at the institute place in Miami. I'm so sorry for everything. If I was better I wouldn't have let everything happen to you."

"No, no," Rafe said. Then she paused. "We're just going to keep going in circles aren't we? I'll keep telling you it wasn't your fault, and you'll keep trying to take the blame for something that wasn't your doing. On and on."

"You're probably right."

"Thank you for saving me," Rafe said, and went quiet. "I... I know why I was taken. And it has nothing to do with combat skills or anything like that."

"Rafe-" Hira tried to say, but her friend cut her off.

"I want to tell you. My parents are shrar. All my older siblings are shrar. They got a special dispensation to have another child, to have me, because all my parents wanted was to raise a qiin or someone that could lift them out of the shrar life. You can imagine their disappointment when they got me."

Hira didn't know what to say so she remained quiet.

"For the last few years, for as long as I can remember really, I've been depressed," Rafe explained. "Sometimes nothing at all would set it off. Sometimes I would see a look in my parents' eyes or they wouldn't acknowledge me and the spiral would start. When the spiral gets really bad it would effect my work, my job. So they kicked me out, they sent me to the middle of nowhere, stationed with you."

Hira stood there for a moment and was about to speak when Rafe continued.

"I've felt so extremely isolated and alone for years now. And I think that feeling made it so much easier for the Silence to take me. The things it showed me, made me feel, it felt all so familiar because it was everything I was already telling myself."

Hira finally closed the distance between them and knelt down so that their faces were close together, and they could look each other right in the eyes.

"I knew some of that," she admitted. She had to admit to that first. "You know how I am about research, so I researched you to try and save you. I'm sorry."

Rafe closed her eyes and didn't say anything for a moment. "You knew."

Hira buzzed slightly with worry and nerves. "I did. I felt so bad because I was prying into your life without your permission, but I was so desperate to save you, to get you back, because you're my friend. My best friend. Right?"

Rafe, her eyes still closed, just nodded slightly.

"You're my best friend, and I'm not going to let you be alone or taken or whatever, ever again. If you'll have me."

"You sure? I'm not actually a good zlilfian-"

At that Hira got a little angry. Her wings buzzed an angry tone. "You are great just the way you are!" She moved a little closer to Rafe, not all the way, not as close as they were on the catwalk.

Rafe tensed for a moment when she opened her eyes. Then she pushed a little forward and touched her head to Hira's.

"Are you sure?" she whispered.

"Yes," Hira said. "And I will be sure forever."

"That's a long time."

"Yeah, but you're my best friend, my only friend," Hira said and then stopped herself short. "Well that's not true anymore. Mike and Justin are my friends, but you're still my favorite one."

Rafe for only a second, tentatively reached out touch Hira. "How did you become friends with two humans?"

"That's a very long story," Hira said. "And even the shortest version will take a long time. So lay there, grab some snacks. I brought your favorites."

"You spoil me."

"Only as much as you deserve."

Being looked at by a zlilfian doctor was a strange experience for Mike. But in the end it wasn't really any stranger than his yearly physical.

"Drink this," the doctor said as they handed him a small paper cup with maybe a tablespoon of strangely thick red-purple liquid. "It's made from a local plant. It is a painkiller and will help you heal your bruises."

Mike reached out for it, but the doctor pulled it away.

"Do not take more than two doses of this in a week," the doctor said. "I need you to fully understand this. It helps you heal, but this is not made for humans. So if you take more than two of these over the course of seven days your kidneys will start to fail. Which is bad. You understand?"

"Ok, maybe I don't want it now," Mike said with a concerned expression.

"It'll help, really, but too much is dangerous. If you see another doctor who wants to give you a dose, just remember what I said."

"You sure?"

"I don't deal with a whole lot of humans on my island so this is the first time I've had to give out this warning."

Mike shrugged and took the medicine, swallowing it in one gulp. "Tastes like... oh man, I don't even know how to describe that. If strawberry was combined with... pomegranate and the taste purple."

Now it was time for the doctor to shrug. "I don't really understand human palates, but this is the medicine of the choond plant."

"If you say so," Mike responded. "Now what?"

"No strenuous exercise for the next few days, rest, and make sure you drink plenty of fluids."

"As you say, doc," Mike said.

"You can see your friend now," the doctor said to Justin waiting outside.

Justin walked in, bringing the arms full of food into the small exam room. "I brought snacks."

"Oh thank god," Mike said as he immediately grabbed some mysterious fruits and dug in.

"Thanks for everything, Mike," Justin said sheepishly. "I know being my friend isn't easy and I don't think a lot of people would have done for me what you did."

"Shut up," Mike responded. "Don't put yourself down like that. You're the coolest, smartest guy I know. And what kind of friend, what kind of person, would I be if I let you go through this alone?"

"Good point. I just feel bad you got hurt because of me."

"This is nothing," Mike said, trying to suppress a wince from one of his bruises. He could already feel that little shot of medicine making his toes feel all tingly. "I get hit worse in practice."

"If you insist."

"Thanks for being my friend," Mike said. "I think I'm going to fall asleep. This medicine is something else."

"Get some rest then," Justin said. "I'll be here when you wake up."

"Ok, everyone get a seat," Alt said as the teens and Mister Collins came into the room. "I have something for each of you to sign. This is a secrecy agreement. You cannot mention a single thing that is going to be said in this room, even to each other, ever. And if you do let this information out you will be caught and put in prison for a very long time."

"Does this say 'eternal imprisonment'?" Mike asked.

"I believe so, yes," Alt said. "These are some extremely dangerous state secrets that we are dealing with and Si Yátz is very nervous about sharing it with anyone, much less three humans."

"You don't even know what this is about?" Justin asked Mister Collins.

He shook his head but signed. "I've done enough clandestine work to know this comes with the territory. But you kids should be careful, state secrets aren't things taken lightly."

They all took a moment to read over the documents and sign them.

"Good, good," Alt said as he cleared away the signed documents and started his presentation. "Now this is what Frost was after." He clicked a button and a projector showed a hazy, distant shipwreck at the bottom of the ocean. "This is the ship that brought all zlilfians to Si Yátz."

"Oh my god," Mike said with awe, "are you telling me that Atlantis is real?"

Alt laughed. "No, no. I'm afraid it's much more complicated than that."

"Aliens," Mike said after a moment of thought. "You're aliens."

"What? How did you know?" Alt said with total shock, trying to figure out how Mike could have possibly known.

"What?! You're saying he's right?" Justin said loudly. "You're aliens?!"

Alt sighed and nodded. "We were originally but not any more. I think that after more than five thousand years we've stopped being counted as extra terrestrials. But right now I'm more concerned with how Mike figured it out. No offense."

"Well, it's not Atlantis," he said completely seriously. "This island is vastly different than anything else on the planet. If humans were over in the cradle of civilization, is that in Mesopotamia? I don't remember. Anyways, if sentient life is evolving and becoming humanity and sentient life is developing vastly differently over here on this island, we would have seen more than just two different species evolving on earth. And then there's the fossil record, or lack thereof for you guys."

"Wow, that is some impressive reasoning," Justin said in awe.

"Thank you. I was extremely into dinosaurs as a child and did a lot of reading and documentary watching about how life was formed and stuff."

"He is correct," Alt said with the air taken out of his presentation a bit. "We landed on this planet after our original home was destroyed by the Silence. And after 5,000 years the Silence has found us and followed us here. Now, can you appreciate why we need to keep this secret?"

"You're worried that humanity would be mad that there are aliens and they are just now finding out?" Justin asked.

"And that they've seemingly brought this big old planet eating evil with them," Mike said looking a little pale as he figured out what the problem was.

"In the case of someone like Bradford Frost, we are worried that certain global powers, for example the United States, that we've had a long and complicated political history with," Alt explained, "would take offense at us interfering with their political aims over the years."

"Is it really that bad?" Mike asked.

"Considering that the world is still recovering from the issues that steamed from the global slave trade that ended 200 years ago, yes, I would say that it is a pressing concern," Alt responded.

"So what do we do with this information?" Hira asked. "What do we do now?"

"Well I'm sure that you two are less shocked at this revelation than others would be, but we have to do what this House was built to do, take care of the Silence, study it, and find a way to destroy it if we can. We've already made good progress and managed to rescue people from it's hold, which we've never been able to do before."

"Can we do anything to help?" Justin asked. "We're in this now."

"Yes, you are. But for right now, I'd ask that you go back to school and go home. You'll have plenty to do later. When we've come to understand our enemy a bit better, we'll let you know what the next moves are."

"What happened to Frost?" Rafe asked.

"Thanks to Justin's quick thinking and sabotage, the submarine crashed about 600 feet outside of the submarine pen when it ran aground in a small underwater rock wall. The ship had to be abandoned as the Cuban authorities were quick to intervene. Frost managed to escape, however, but that might be for the best as we are not prepared to explain the Silence to the world at large."

The meeting wrapped up almost two hours after that. There were lots of things to go over, including cover stories that Justin and Mike were to memorize and stick to. But once that was all settled it was time for the humans to return to Chicago.

"Goodbye," Hira said to each of them. "It is nice to know you, and to finally have some human friends."

Justin shook her hand, but Mike, of course, went right in for the hug.

"I'll miss you," he said.

"Thank you for rescuing me," Rafe said. "And I'm sorry for anything I did while I was controlled."

"Don't worry about it!" Mike declared as he gave her a hug. "We'll stay in touch!"

"Yes," Hira said. "We will."

Justin, his dad, Mike, and Mister Collins all waved as they got back on the plane.

"What is next for us?" Rafe asked Hira.

"I think we need to report back home. Which is going to be a headache," Hira answered.

"You know we could always stay here for a little bit longer. I can claim I need to recover."

"Maybe you should stay," Hira said. "I can face them myself."

"No, I'm going with you. After this whole thing, I'm sticking by your side."

Hira hummed with happiness that she couldn't contain.

i have a kofi

find me on pillowfort

[themultifandomgal]

Sister Shelby- War

Trigger Warning- talk about poor mental health, PTSD, depression and anxiety

This one was a request over on wattpad 😊

The war changed everyone. I volunteered to be a nurse while my brothers were soldiers. I had no idea where they were stationed at the time. Although I wasn't in the frontline that didn't matter because we were bombed. I remember seeing many soldiers and nurses loose their lives that day, I was one of the lucky ones, if you could call me that.

When we returned home my kind caring brothers who used to hug me became stern and hard faced. Arthur drinks all the time, Tommy uses drugs, John uses girls, me? well I'm more of  a suffer in silence type. I barley sleep anymore because every time I try to sleep I can hear the bombs, see the blood, the bodies of my friends lying on the floor.

Last night was no different, I lay in bed tossing and turning, every time I closed my eyes I was back there, so I gave up in the end. I'm now sat in our private room at the Garrison cradling a drink in my hand

"Bloody hell YN you look rough" Isaiah says walking through the door and noticing how tired I probably look

"Thanks Isaiah right back at you" i grumpily say then realise that it was probably a little rude "sorry, just tired. Haven't been sleeping very well"

"Getting a little to much action 'ave ya" Isaiah comments laughing earning an eye roll from me

"Obviously not, you think my brothers would let anyone in the house?"

"She's right" Arthur sips his drink.

As the night goes on I begin to get more tired and anxious about being out so late. Arthur and John have also become very rowdy and began banging on the tables making me flinch

"You know what I think I'm just gonna head home" I shakily take in a breath knowing that even if I go home to sleep, I won't sleep. I hear my older brother grunt in response

"Get a drink down ya, that'll help"

"Drinking doesn't solve all of your problems Arthur" I yell, my tiredness really getting to me

"Woah it was just a suggestion" he holds up his hands in defence. I get up and leave my nearly full drink on the table and walk out of the pub.

I lean on the wall outside taking in deep breaths

"Now what are you doing out here in the cold aye?" I look up to see Tommy frowning at me with a cigarette in his mouth "I noticed you flinching earlier so come on tell me what's going on"

"I don't want to burden you with anything"

"YN I'm your older brother, come on I'll take you home then you can tell me what's been going on.

The walk home from the pub was quiet, Tommy puffing on his cigarette with his hands in his pockets. As always people move out of the way for us, not wanting to piss off a Shelby. Arriving at the house Tommy and I walk through the door and into the kitchen

"Sit down" he orders, I sigh in response putting my head in my hands. Again it's silent until a hot cup of tea is placed in front of me and Tommy sits opposite "come on tell me what's been going on" my eyes start to tear up

"Before we went away, things were so simple Tom. I was able to walk around without worrying about being shot or a bloody bomb going off" Tommys face changes for a brief second, also probably thinking the same as me "at night I hear them" I say in almost a whisper "the bombs. I remember seeing men come in with no limbs, sometimes I'd assist taking their limbs. One soldier was screaming telling me that his legs were on fire and begging me to amputate... they had already been blown off Tom. For 4 years I dealt with the shit of war and now we're home I'm reliving every moment. When I hear something loud my heart races and it's like I'm back there helping the soldiers and moving them to the huts. I can't sleep at night and it's only making things worse... I just want to feel normal again Tom I hate it" I now let the tears flow and for the first time in about 5 years Tommy pulls me into a hug making me cry even more

"Shhh, shhh I know I know. The wars fucked all of us up in one way or another. I didn't think how this could have effected the nurses and doctors that saved us and treated us. I'm going to help you through this, it won't be easy but I'm here for you so are your other brothers, Ada and poll. You'll be ok YN. You need a good sleep"

"I can't Tommy I can't sleep" I cry into his chest

"I'll be right by you, you don't have anything to worry about, I'll watch over you I promise"

"Thank you Tom" I sniffle.

That night Tommy kept his promise and I actually manage to sleep through the night. Tommy talked to my other brothers and aunt Polly and we have all agreed to help one of another. Hopefully things will now start to look up with the help of my brothers by my side.

[llondonfog]

twstober '22, Day 24

Prompt: "Potion"

"Good morning, Your Royal Highness— I trust you slept well?"

Silently, he bemoans the faded splendor of this forgotten safehouse, a tragedy that their prince should have to awaken to such tattered sheets and dust-caked window panes. But it is a blessing that he is waking at all, and miracles are so few these days that a gift so precious could not be understated.

Pale lashes struggle to lift from the thick veil of sleep (and what a troublesome curse that had turned out to be—) and he approaches with slow, purposeful steps so as to not frighten the young man. "I apologize for not informing you of our nightly move, but I feared our enemies had once again learned of our position. I know you must find this slumber such a burden, but your guard are so thankful that it allowed us to transport you without trouble."

Opalescent eyes stare at him with an inhuman exhaustion as he approaches the prince's bedside, those slender fingers curling lightly against the worn covers as he struggled to speak against the tiredness in his voice. " . . . Were there any injured?" Ah, how grateful they were to have a prince who cared so deeply for their well-being, knowledgeable in the artform and casualties of battle. At least the fae had taught him something of use— not everything was a loss to be wiped away.

"Minimally, they are being treated now," he soothes with an easy lie, no need for their prince to know of the devastation wrought in the previous town. No need to distress him with the knowledge that they had lost nearly half of their small contingency to that monstrous fae and his two companions, that grotesque demon alone who had forgone magic and sought to disembowel his men with the sheer strength of his claws, shrieking with a horrific and wild rage that they release his son.

His son? What madness had seized the world, that a fae would lay such filthy claim to their lost prince?

The mere thought was too inconceivable to behold, and he withheld a shudder as he coaxes the young man into a sitting position, brushing those silver bangs away from his face before reaching into his coat pocket. "Come now, your Highness, we must make haste before we're discovered—"

"I had that strange dream again," the soft voice cuts across his own, brows knitting together in frustration at the fast fading images melting into the dim shadows of the room. "The one where I'm standing in front of a small cabin in the woods. But someone else was with me this time, a man with pointed ears—" "Your Highness, do you not remember what I told you?" He tuts reassuringly, pulling out a glass vial from his pocket a third full of a dull, viscous liquid. "I asked you to trust me that this would restore the memories of your kidnapping, that it would combat against those false impressions that the fae had given you. And you've already recalled so much, please do not be led astray by such visions now when we've struggled through so much to find you."

Silver wonders if he's right as the bittersweet taste of the potion coats his tongue and the older man prepares for their leave. He must be, this was the guard that his parents had entrusted his safety to after all, before the war had destroyed everything—

but why had he reached out in his dream with such desperation to the man with pointed ears and screamed for his father?

Concept: Silver, the lost prince of a human kingdom that had fallen to a feared fae commander, is discovered and spirited away by the last remnants of those fevered loyal few of the royal family. It is rather unfortunate that he's been living among the very enemies that slaughtered his bloodline, but surely whatever brainwashing can be undone?

[fandom-lover20]

Bash Babe

Request: Hi this is my first request so I just wanted to request a Dean Portman smut please! I can't find any!! It's so hard to find them since it's an older movie and not many people watch it these days :) Hi! I love your writing and was wondering if you could do a Dean Portman smut after he starts going to Eden Hall and gets jealous once he sees how much the varsity guys have been hitting on her while he was gone

Mighty Ducks Masterlist

Now, I am from the UK and the age of consent here is 16 however it is legal to have sex underage if both people consent, I don't know the American laws or at least the Minnesota laws so we're going to go with the laws from the UK for this fic, okay? Notes: I used no pronouns except they/them as far as I'm aware but reader does have female anatomy Warnings: Little swears, violence, underage sex

Disappointment, fear of losing, tiredness. Those and a few other things were all the Ducks were feeling right now as it was the 15 minute break between periods 2 and 3. The team was in the changing rooms as Orion gave them a pep talk.

“You’re playing hard,” Orion started, tapping Russ Tyler’s shoulder. Most of the ducks still had their pads on, just their shirts off. It helped cool down even if it was fairly cold in the changing room. “I’m proud of you, guys.”

“They’re cheap-shooting us to death,” said Luis.

“I know they are, I know they are,” Orion was sympathetic turning around but standing still when he’d gotten to the end of who was sitting on the bench, closest to the bulletin board and furthest away from the door which was you, next to Adam Banks and opposite Charlie Conway.

You were just fed up of how much defence you had done, you’re a scorer like Charlie. He’s centre, Fulton’s left wing and you’re right but the two of you had swapped this year so you both were pretty good at either. “At this point, it’s going to take a miracle for us to win this game.”

“I know,” Coach nodded, a hand resting on your shoulder when all of a sudden the door nearly slammed open revealing your boyfriend who had been in Chicago all year.

He had his black bandana with white spots on around his head and his signature leather jacket, he had given you his other one. He was also looking down a small book? In his hand as he read out from it.

“‘Dean Portman is awarded a full athletic and academic scholarship to the Eden Hall Academy.’,” that was when he looked up, grinning. “I had this lying around my house in Chicago. My attorney thought I should sign it. I agreed. It’s official boys, I’m back!”

The changing room erupted in cheers as nearly everyone went to hug him and welcome him. You and Charlie however went to the Coach saying the same name.

“Bombay.”

“Hey, babe.”

You turned to see him no longer holding his acceptance letter, still grinning a clear path to him. You also smiled and laughed a little before running up to him and jumping so your legs were around his torso and arms around his neck while his arms went around under your legs, holding you up.

You leant your foreheads against each other’s as you enjoyed being near him as you hadn’t been able to visit each other, just video call with Bombay and Orion’s computers. “Hi.”

Dean had obviously had enough time away as he had slammed his lips up against yours, nearly immediately invading your mouth with his tongue.

“Oh, ew! No one wants to see that!” Julie had called out, looking away.

The two of you pulled in away in laughter before apologising.

“Portman!”

You turned to look over your shoulder seeing Orion staring at your boyfriend.

“Stop making out with Y/N and get dressed. We have just under 10 minutes left.”

~~~

“Oh, dear god,” you muttered, though it was loud enough for Fulton -who was beside you- to hear it.

“What’s wrong?”

“Dean’s talking to Cole,” when you saw that Fulton didn’t see why you were worried since you normally loved it when Dean beat someone up on the ice, you elaborated. “The one who I told him who’s been hitting on me the entire year.”

“Oh, ho, ho,” Fulton started laughing. “Someone’s gonna die,” he sing-songed.

“Yeah, no shit,” you muttered before skating to your starting position.

The puck was on the ice and it was gone while Cole skated away from Dean until you heard him yell.

“Let’s see what you got, bash brother.”

Cole skated towards Dean who was grinning until he bent over so Cole flipped over him and went through the protective glass for the crowd. How his skates didn’t cut anyone, you had no clue.

You and Fulton were quick to skate to Dean on either side, watching Cole stay try and get up before falling over again and groan.

“Now, that’s clearin’ the garbage.”

“Hey, man, we’re just getting warmed up! Beside it’s what he gets for hitting on my girl.”

Dean gave you a smile before he skated off, you and Fulton following.

Another face off with the same line and Portman, Fulton, Goldberg and you were all going to town on the varsity boys, banging them into the glass and tripping them on the ice.

Line change, Guy passed to Averman, Averman faked and passed back to Luis, Luis shot and the goalie hit it with his glove while Luis banged into the glass again like he used to.

You winced at the impact before he started skating again, showing that he was fine.

“All right, change it up!”

Coach decided to change it up and your line was back on the ice.

Dean skated up behind Rick Riley, captain of the varsity team, who then ‘fell’ over his stick earning a whistle from the red.

“21, white. 2 minutes, hooking.”

“Are you kidding me?!” you yelled.

Everyone could hear Coach Orion from the bench. “Come on, red.”

“Give me a break, I didn’t do anything. That’s a dive!” said Dean as he followed the ref to the box.

Now Dean may have seemed annoyed but as soon as that door was shut, oh man. He was wild shouting and started stripping his helmet, gloves, shirt and padding underneath. Then decided to the stereotype Egyptian dance.

You laughed along with the other ducks.

“Oh my god.”

After it had been nearly a minute, you had your helmet up so that the cover wasn’t over your face and skated up to the box he was in where he decided to stop dancing, finally.

“What am I gonna do with you?”

Dean hummed for a second, thinking. “Kiss me?” Dean’s hand went to the side of your face, pulling you in for a soft kiss that you don’t normally get.

“L/N!” you pulled away, reluctantly, when Coach called your name. “Come on, we got a game to play!”

“See you soon, bash babe,” you said, stealing his name for you before skating away, leaving him stunned.

When the line change happened Ken Wu went just a second too early and you got caught for too many men on the ice so he went to the box, Luis came back on the bench and coach decided for Adam, Goldberg and Charlie to be on the ice. If the team gets allowed the chance, you’re to join them, even for only a couple of seconds.

There was an open net a few seconds into the game but Adam had jumped at the perfect time and the puck bounced off his chest. Your team could breathe while the team continued to play. Riley was skating with the puck heading for Julie but Conway was between them and flipped him over his back, skating off with the puck himself.

The score was still 0-0. You were now allowed on the ice so you jamp over the barrier and skated off for Charlie, to the left of Goldberg.

Charlie was right at the net and about to score before passing back to Goldberg who completely froze up.

“Shoot, Goldberg!” Everyone was yelling, while you and Adam wouldn’t have time to accept the puck and score so it was down to him. The varsity players came for Goldberg but he shot the puck and literally right before the buzzer sounded the puck went in the net.

“Yeah!” You and Adam turned and hugged each other while Charlie skated to Goldberg. Everyone’s helmets were off when they skated to Goldberg and Charlie, cheering as a team and celebrating, Dean pulling you away to kiss you. The two of you only stopped when everyone started yelling, pointing to the small banner of the Ducks symbol of your white shirts. The ones Yan had made during the Olympics a couple years ago. Except only now it had a red circle around it with yellow words reading ‘EDEN HALL DUCKS’.

~~~

You were walking backwards as you and Dean stumbled into your dorm, kissing while he slammed the door behind you, laying you on your bed.

“Now, we’re going to have to do something about those varsity boys.”

“Dean, none of them are going to be coming near me anymore. Except, maybe Scooter. I saw him kiss Julie on the cheek.”

Dean hummed before going back to kissing you, leaving trails of kissed down your neck while his hands slid under your shirt to grope your breasts. After another second he had pulled the bra down so your boobs were partially loose like he ran his thumbs over your nipples. Your head moved further back into the pillow your head was on as you groaned.

You stopped however and your head quickly lifted up when you heard your shirt rip. Dean had torn it in half so it could come off, however he actually unhooked your bra which was strapless -it was very supportive- and sooking on one breast as your head thrown back again as you moaned. His right hand then slid down your body and onto your thigh then up your skirt and grabbing at your ass.

“Holy--” You cut yourself off with a groan as he slid in a finger.

“Baby, you’re soaking wet,” he whispered into your ear. “Is that all just for me, hmm?”

You nodded quickly.

“How did I make you this wet, huh?”

“I kept thinking about how you threw Cole through the glass.”

Dean pushed himself up with one arm looking down at your flushed face. “Oh, yeah?” He gave a small hum before sucking at your neck as he added another finger.

Your leg wrapped around his, your foot rubbing up his thigh while your nails scratched ta his back through his band shirt.

“Did you really miss me handling you that much, baby?”

You nodded, humming as a yes while your other leg wrapped around his torso, pushing his fingers further inside of you.

Dean shook his head, forcing himself up, his fingers pulling out of you and your legs no longer around his waist. While you whined in protest he undid the belt on his hips, and pulled of his shoes and jeans before lining himself back up with you and slamming himself into you.

“Fuck, you still feel just as good as I remember,” he groaned as he nearly bottomed out inside of you.

You mouth dropped, legs wrapped around him again and your arms around his neck and shoulder, holding him close to you.

Once you had figured out his pace and adjusted to his size after not being intimate with him in nearly a year and even then you’d only had sex with Dean a couple of times, plus tonight, you met his pace and thrusted your hips up to meet his at the same time as him.

It didn’t take long for either of you to come and both of your moans and grunt to stop at the heavenly feeling.

Dean practically collapsed on top of you after the two of you came, after a few minutes he had the strength to pull out of you and go into the bathroom to grab a wet cloth.

It wasn’t until he was lying down on the bed beside you with you cuddled into his side that he thought. “Are you on the pill?”

“Yes, I’m still on the pill. I was going to fly out to see you in a week or so and it takes a while for my body to adjust to the pill again after not using it for however long.”

Dean gave you a small smile and kissed the top of your head.

“I love you, baby.”

“I love you too, hot stuff,” you cuddled more into his side and kissed the side of his chest.

[eletronicmonkey]

Sex night

↪characters: Aizawa Shota x dom!reader

↪genre: smut, fluff

↪pronouns: not mentioned--AFAB reader

↪TW/CW: sitting face, squirting, aizawa cumming untouched, oral sex (reader receiving), dom!reader, uses of petname, uses of master title. (let me know if I forgot something)

↪WC: 1.722

menu

Probably there are so many grammar errors, so I’m sorry.

Please, reblog. It’ll makes me happy! Hope you enjoy <3

I open the door of our apartment with a heavy sigh, day was exhausting, so much trouble for so little time. I leave my purse on the hall table and went ahead for the living room searching for him.

"Baby, I'm home!"

"Coming!" Aizawa shout from the bathroom

I enter the kitchen to drink some water while he's finishing his shower. I sit on the chair's bench passing through the social apps in my phone, getting immersed in trivial things. I didn't notice him approaching my side, only lifting my head when I feel him involving me in his slender arms. I put the phone down returning the hug and hiding my face in his neck, inhaling his fresh scent, feeling all my tiredness leaving me.

"How was your day, kitty?" I smile hearing the nickname. Always loved his voice, even when he's only murmuring to himself something about the students turning his life into hell, it's so quiet and calm, relaxing. He has this effect on me, regardless of anything he can always calm me down.

"Stressful, at least I'm here with you now. Yours?"

"Normal" He starts patting my head slowly, leaving sweet kisses all over my face and finishing with a peck on my lips. I smile and tighter the embrace as a thank you.

"Are you hungry?" I give him a nod "Good. I'm gonna make something for us"

I stay sitting, watching him cooking for us, admiring the sight. His face frowned in concentration as he cut the vegetables, his hands floating through the kitchen leaking skills as everything he did. The dinner was set on the table one hour after.

After the soup, I went to the bathroom for a shower.

Now we're laying on the sofa watching TV, my head positioned on his arm while his other one is surrounding my waist, my back against his chest, and his face hiding between my neck and shoulders, his breathing warming me up in a comforting way.

"Are you awake?" I turn to face him without an answer.

"Hi," He says before leaving a peak on my lips. I smile and return the kiss. "Can I help you relax?" Aizawa lifted himself, doesn't waiting for my response, and put himself on top of me, kissing my jawline.

"Baby, I'm sorry but I'm very tired," I said, throwing my head back allowing him more access to my skin.

"You don't need to do anything. Please, I wanna make you feel good" I let go a sigh hearing his voice on the foot of my ear, causing me goosebumps. He smiled, knowing that he won. "I need hear you saying, kitty."

"If you don't run with it maybe I change my mind" He chuckles.

"Ok, ok, I understood," He says as he reaching for the hem of my shirt lifting it, and throwing the piece of clothing to the floor.

He goes down while leaving wet kisses along the way. He's staring at my chest with lusty and a small smile playing on his lips. He starts with sweet pecks between my breasts becoming wet open mouth ones, he reaches the nipples and starts sucking around the bud. I grip his black strands and pull it harder, getting a hum of the older—he adores when I treat him roughly—signaling that he was supposed to stop teasing. Getting the message, he opens his mouth and gets the bud between teeth, circling it with his tongue and sucking it hard getting a moan of his name. I arch my back, gripping his hair stronger and pulling his head closer to me,—if that were possible—getting a groan from the bottom of his throat and a bite on my swelling bud. Aizawa always said that he loves my breasts, the feeling of them against his face goes him crazy. While he's giving attention to one breast his free hand starts playing with the neglected one. All of this, he does, looking directly into my eyes.

He continues playing with my breasts, alternating between them until he gets pleased. I pull his face up for a kiss. And he continues his path. After, he passed through my belly, leaving sucks, kisses, bites. Before he gets my remaining clothes off me, he licks around my bellybutton while he saw me shivering at the feeling of his tongue. He pulls off my shorts and underwear and looks directly at my cunt, soaked after his teasing, with an intense look, he runs his nose against my core, smelling my desire. He takes his hands to my clit and pulls the hood up, leaving it exposed to him—all I can do is breathing heavily, my legs shaking for the waiting. My body is burning with desire, I can feel the sweat all over my body. Then, he blows the swollen clit and my legs shake more, I let a whispering "fuck" pass through my dry lips. I grip his hair again, pulling his face closer to my core, but I find resistance. Suddenly, he grabbed my waist and turned us on the sofa making me sit on his chest. Seeing my confusion he explains "I want you to sit on my face, ride my face until you feel satisfied. I want you to use my face for your pleasure." He can feel me shivering and shaking with desire at his submissive tone. God, he knows what he does to me. As one last blow, he whispers "Please, maste-" I didn't allow him finished his ask, I'm smothering him with my pussy and locking my legs around his face grabbing his hair. We both groan simultaneously at the feeling. He wraps his arms around my legs and presses them around his face. He gives the first lick from the bottom up, dragging his tongue to the clit and moving in circular motions at a slow pace, return to the hole, in and out, circling it, dragging his teeth on my clit. Always hitting the right places. I can't control my moans at this point, I'm pressing my legs tighter around the side of his head. I can feel his nose on my clit, his whimpers as I use his face. I reach forward e and grab the sofa arm.

"SHIT!! that's it, baby, like that -fuck-" He sucked hard my clit, that's my limit. I press his face on my core and starting ride faster, his hands are squeezing my thighs and he's eating me out like I'm your last meal. "Oh my god, that's it, baby boy. You're so good - fuck- I love your mouth, always so good!" I said, looking at his beautiful face between my legs—like a faithful devotee—and I'd see his eyes rolling to the back of his head and shooting close. "Look at me." He stayed that way "I said to look at me." I raise my hips and he opens his eyes immediately.

"Why did you stop?" He raises his head searching for my cunt. I push him back to the sofa.

"You are going to look straight into my eyes until I say that's enough. Do you understand?" I grab his dripping sticky face, covered with my juices, waiting for his response.

"Yes, I'm sorry. I- please, I need more." I almost cum on the spot, fuck, why he has to be so fucking beautiful.

I return to my previous position, riding his face. Aizawa takes his fingers to my slit, rubbing the hole and put two fingers, bumping into, twisting his wrist just that right way, curling his fingers, hitting my g-spot, sucking, licking, leaving little bites over my clit. I could pass out from so much pleasure. All are incredibly pleasant, overwhelming. I can feel my climax getting more and more closer—but a little bit different as the usual—Aizawa, noticing it too, quicken his pace and unconsciously starts slightly bumping his hips into the air. I hold his hair tighter, pulling his black strands, my legs start shaking, my chest moving up and down with my breathing becomes desperate, my vision gets blank; I arch my back, throwing my head back, feeling the knot in the stomach tighter, my walls clenching in Aizawa's fingers. "CLOSE - FUCK"

He's watching me intensely, carefully, and marveling himself with the sight, getting more and more pleased by himself, knowing that he's the one who makes me feel that way, that he's capable of getting me like this, above him, riding his face and pleasuring myself, using and abusing of him, just like the way I enjoy.

I reached my climax with a loud moan of his name, arching my back and tensing all my muscles, cumming, squirting, all over his face. To Aizawa, that's the vision of the gods, he can't help himself of arch his own back—feeling his cock twitching and his balls squeezing, feeling his entire body burning, the coil in his stomach compressing tighter —his eyes rolling to the back of his head, and, just like that, he came, with a muffled loud groan he cum inside of his trousers.

I feel my body getting relax and heavy. Aizawa helps me to lay beside him while he's licking his lips, savoring my taste.

"Oh, my-fuck- baby. This was amazing." Aizawa says as he drags me to lay in his chest, wrapping me in a hug. I start to kiss him and reach my hand down to help him but he holds my hand intertwining his fingers with mine, kissing the back of it. "You don't need to, I'm already done"

"Oh- this was hot" He chuckles hiding his face between my neck and shoulder.

We stayed lie until we recover and went to the shower for cleaning and relaxing.

Now we're in the bathtub, my back against his chest, his arms wrapping my body, and his head laying in my shoulders. I'm patting his head humming some songs.

"Are you relax?"

"I can say so" Smiling I reaching for his lips, leaving a small kiss "Thank you, love"

[myhockeyworld87]

Bubble Wrapped - Part 12

Word Count: 2,510

POV: Reader

Warnings: Same as always, Language, Smut, NSFW, Please see the note in the Masterlist

Teams: Bruins, Caps, Flyers, Lightning, Pens, Jackets, Canes, Islanders (more to come)

Notes: I literally have no clue what happened the frist time, but let’s try this again. When last we left this story, (Y/N) had just had a steamy encouter with Joel. Now with Svech back at the suite hurt, let’s find out what happens.  As always feedback is greatly appreciated and wanted…hahaha! Luv ya all!! Happy Reading to all!

A quick run downstairs and a check-in with Carly told you that everything at the hotel was running smoothly. You gave her a recap of what had happened with Svech and told her that you were heading back upstairs to be with him at least until Joel and Dougie got back from practice. By the time you got back up to the suite, the boys were just heading out the door. "Ready to head up to bed?" You asked Svech and his eyebrow shot up. Obviously, you didn't mean it that way as the man was in no way able to perform. Or was he?

"Sure," he said eagerly then hobbled on his crutches to the elevator with you. It took a few minutes to get him into his shared bedroom with Joel, but once you did you propped his foot up on a stack of pillows, making sure to take extra care with it, so as to not cause him any more pain than necessary.

"Comfy?"

"Yeah," he mumbled and you could see the tiredness in his eyes.

"Do you need anything else?"

"I don't think so."

You dug through your bag and placed the bell you'd found in one of the offices on the nightstand. "Here, in case you need me, just ring this. I'll be downstairs doing some work, but will be up in a flash." He looked so young and innocent just lying there and you swept a bit of hair that had fallen onto his forehead away. "Get some rest."

You went to leave, but he grabbed your wrist, tugging you back in his direction, which caused you to stumble and land awkwardly on his chest; your face a mere inches away from his. He didn't say anything, just cupped your cheek with his free hand and brought your lips to his. It was soft, yet with the right kind of pressure, and he sought entrance to your mouth with a simple glide of his tongue to your lips. You opened for him, deepening the kiss. Svech was gorgeous there was no denying that, but at the same time you felt a little bad after doing what you'd done with Joel last night and now you were kissing his teammate. Though when he moaned into your mouth all thought of that left.

Gently you pushed back from the kiss. "Svech, what are you doing?"

"I want you, (Y/N). I have from the moment I saw you in this bubble a few weeks ago." You tried to think back about running into him at any point before the Canes had actually transferred to your hotel but couldn't recall a time that the two of you met. "Don't worry, I don't expect you to remember. I would come here to play tennis. Well, not really, it was just an excuse to see you. You're so beautiful." His hand caressed your body lightly as he spoke and it ignited a fire deep within you. "I know I'm younger than you, but it doesn't mean that I can't satisfy you."

"Svech it's not that..." For really it wasn't. You had no doubt that he was good in bed, it was just, well, his injury and all.

He must have caught on to your hesitation. "I'm fine I swear, though you'll have to be on top. I just think this is really the optimal time. The guys are gone and won't be around for a couple hours. Say you want me too."

There was a pleading look in his eyes, this sort of need to be wanted. Your body definitely couldn't deny that you craved him. It was just your head that wasn't in sync. You threw caution to the wind and decided to just give in to what your body wanted this time; not that you hadn't been doing that all along. "I want you too."

His hand went to the back of your neck and he drug you down to his lips again for a hard and searing kiss. "Undress for me, beautiful." He whispered out and you stepped back from the bed. Slowly, you unzipped your skirt, then shimmied it down your hips to fall on the floor. Your hands worked each button on your blouse revealing your soft supple skin to his gaze, and look he did. There was a hunger in his eyes as the top fell to the floor and you stood there in only a bra and thong. "Fuck you're gorgeous." He sat up and shucked his shirt over his head before propping himself up against the headboard a bit. "Don't stop now."

A small giggle escaped you at his eagerness. Your hands went to the clasp of your bra, releasing the globes for their confines. Holding the bra with one hand, you let the straps slide off your shoulders, then dropped the garment. You cupped your breasts, gently squeezing them and pulling on the nipples. Svech sucked in a breath of air and you saw him bite down gently on his bottom lip. Your eyes dropped to his crotch, where you could see his erection growing even through his shorts.

Hooking the elastic of your panties, you wiggled them over your hips and glided them down your legs. There was a visible wetness in the crotch that you knew Svech could see, letting him know how badly you wanted him. You sashed back over to the bed, then slid your hand down his chest and abs to the waistband of his shorts. "We're going to need to do something about these." He lifted his hips up, using his upper body strength and you slid them along with his boxers down. It was a bit tricky getting them over his boot, but you managed.

Once that task was accomplished, you went back up and kissed him. "You know you're a really good nurse." He laughed and you joined in, as you straddled his hips.

"Well, I try. Gotta keep my patients happy." His hands went to your hips, while you used his shoulders to steady yourself. "Let me know if I hurt you in any way."

"You're killing me now because I want to be inside you." You chuckled, then took his cock in your one hand and guided it to your entrance. You coated him a bit in your wetness before sinking down on him. "Fuck you feel amazing. So wet...and..." He didn't say anything more as you began to move up and down on his length. "Oh...yeah...fuck..." There was an endless stream of moans out of his mouth. When you swiveled your hips, he almost lost it. "Do that again."

"You're quite the demanding patient," you hissed out as you rode his cock.

"Can't help...it..." he panted. "I've wanted...this...oh fuck...for...mmm...yeah just like that....so long...faster baby." His hips started to rise up, thrusting into you, and you were concerned that he would be putting pressure on his bad foot. Your mind was so lost in making sure that he wasn't hurt, you'd knew that you'd never get off. "I'm so close...are you?"

You weren't but you didn't tell him that. Instead, you grabbed his hand on your hip and moved it to your clit. "I need you to..." you moaned out as he started to rub your little nub, grabbing onto the headboard now to steady you both. "Mmmm...yeah." His movements got faster pushing you to that familiar crest you wanted.

You could feel him tighten his grip with the hand that still held your hip and knew he was close. "Come on baby," he encouraged you and flicked your clit more. It was all you needed, as you screamed out in ecstasy as your orgasm came over you. "Fuck," Svech moaned as your pussy spasmed around him and he thrust deep in you, cumming hard. You were both breathing heavily as you came down off your high and it took a moment for you to collect yourself. As you made a move to roll off him, he held you tightly. "Don't go just yet."

"You've got to be uncomfortable like this." After all, you were practically lying on top of him.

"Quite the opposite, really. Besides, I don't know if we'll get another chance at this. I plan on savoring the moment." His fingertips skated up and down your spine. "You're really something, you know that?"

"I don't know about all that."

"I know I wouldn't have a shot, but if I was a few years older and maybe had a bit more experience in the league. I'd try and steal you away from everyone else here."

“You make me sound like I’m ancient or something. I’m only a few years older than you.”

His hands skimmed up and down your body, fingertips gliding along your ribcage and making you shiver. “I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just…I can’t even take you out to dinner in Raleigh and buy a bottle of wine.” Damn, you forgot the boy was under twenty-one. You really should’ve thought about things before you jumped into bed with him. Why did your libido have to run rampant around these men? “These guys here are probably showering you with expensive gifts and I just can’t compete with them, though I wish I could. I’d give you the world if I could.”

“Aww Andrei, the fact that you want to do something like that, is just so sweet.” You placed a gentle kiss on his lips. You needed to diffuse the situation before things got too out of hand or the next thing you know he’d be asking for your hand in marriage or something. “I think you’ve had a little too much prescription medication.” He went to protest but you stopped him placing a finger to his lips. “This was fun, but you should rest. Besides I’m sure the others will be back soon.” He nodded as if he finally understood that nothing more was going to happen between the two of you. It was then that you climbed off him and out of bed, picking up your scattered clothes before kissing him one last time. “Get some sleep. If you need anything just ring the bell.”

The tile floor on the hallway felt cold as you made your way down to your room so that you could change into something more comfortable. Hearing Andrei’s declaration really made you start to think. Maybe you should be looking for more than just a fling here and there. Tyler was begging you to let him come to Toronto if the Stars lost or have you fly there if they continued on; maybe it was time to seriously start to consider his offer.

The rest of the morning you buried yourself in paperwork until Dougie and Joel got back early afternoon. Then they took over nursing duties, or at the very minimum getting their teammate food when he wanted. You were still in a cropped hoodie and leggings when you headed downstairs to see how things were going. Thankfully, no one had set the hotel on fire, which was a major accomplishment considering all the rival teams you had under one roof.

“So how goes it with your three roommates?” Carly asked you wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

“You don’t even want to know.”

“Of course, I do. I’m living vicariously through you now that Brayden and I are together. Spill the juicy details.”

“Juicy details about what?” You knew that voice, before turning to see that Mat Barzal was standing there, a sheer sheen of sweat lightly coating his forehead, telling you that he had been working out. His shirt clung to his body in all the right places. And those thighs. Ugh! It should be downright illegal to have thighs as muscular as his and shorts that tight.

“We were just talking about…” Carly started to say before you elbowed her.

“It’s just about someone that works here in the hotel. You probably wouldn’t know them, considering you’re staying at the Royal.” God, you sounded like a snob; a snob and a prick. “I mean it’s really just work gossip.”

“Oh well, hopefully, I’ll be moving in here soon. Then maybe you’ll let me in on your little secrets.” He gave you a little wink as if he knew you weren’t exactly talking about some indiscretion of a hotel staff member. Although technically you were. That member just happened to be you.

“I guess if you do get to move, I’ll have to reveal all the dirty laundry this place has going on,” you said flirtatiously, and suddenly you were throwing out that whole idea of settling down.

“I wouldn’t mind seeing what you’d got going on underneath everything.” Mat playfully bantered back, as his eyes roamed your body. His heated stare had your panties getting wet. You were really going to have to do your laundry after the day you had.

“Well, I can see I’m not needed here.” Carly chimed in as you’d completely forgotten about her being there. “I think I’ll go check on what Chef’s preparing for dinner.”

She sauntered off leaving you standing there alone with Mat. “Speaking of dinner. Would you like to get some, say maybe tomorrow night? We’re playing tonight or I’d say in a couple of hours.”

“I’d like that, but it’s not like we can go out to any restaurants.”

“True, though I do remember you mentioning something about a suite you’re staying in.”

Had you mentioned that? You couldn’t really be sure and it didn’t really matter at the moment considering you had roommates. “About that…You see there was kind of a little incident here. Let’s just say it involved a hockey stick and some busted pipes.” Mat looked like he was ready to bust out laughing but he took a deep breath regaining control. “So now I have three people staying there with me.”

“Oh well if it’s your friend there and a couple others I’m sure Tito and a couple guys wouldn’t mind coming along.”

“Yeah,” you said cringing as you told him this next part. “It’s not Carly. It’s three guys from the Canes. Dougie Hamilton, Joel Edmunston and Andrei Svechnikov.” Mat’s eyes widen and his jaw dropped a bit before drawing together to form a hard line on his jaw. He hadn’t seemed like the jealous type in your last encounter but then at the time, it didn’t seem like you were having a foursome every night in your suite. “It’s just temporary.” You were quick to add. “Their room should be fixed in a couple days.”

“I see.” It was a short response and you could tell that he wasn’t pleased. “I guess dinner is off.”

You didn’t want it to be. In fact, Mat was the first guy that you really were interested in more than just a fling with since Sidney. You just needed to come up with another place for dinner and maybe some sort of dessert that involved both of you being naked. That shouldn’t be too hard.

.

[friendlyfirestarter]

The moon is loud.

It's always loud these days. Doesn't matter if it's morning or night, if the moon is full or new. Raff is alone, now, and lone wolves have no defenses against the pressure. There's no one else to help drown it out. Not that she would deserve it anyways.

The moon is also what wakes her up. Or at least, she thinks it is? Something is obviously off as she claw her way back to consciousness. The seat underneath her doesn't feel like the thin worn backseat of her stolen jeep. The blanket isn't her scratchy army surplus one either, it's too soft. Did someone knit this? Instead of questioning it she pulls the warm blanket farther over her head, already slipping back into sleep-

"I said helloOoOo? I know you're awake!"

There's a jolt to awakeness and Raff's half sitting up on the couch in an instant. Standing with her arms crossed is a little girl looking imperiously back.

"You shouldn't talk to strangers," Raff rasps automatically.

Her voice feels rusty and unused, and she's full of nervous energy, trembling a little while trying to remember where they are. Last night it was raining. There was the smell of another wolf, a tapping on the window. This room smells the same.

Shit.

Is this the Alpha's house? Is this his couch? Raff needs to be gone, now, before he comes back and decides what he wants to do.

There's actually three kids, she realizes. Two younger ones are standing farther back, nervously glancing towards the door like they're ready to make a break for it. Or maybe they know they're here on a technicality and they're waiting for someone to come back and catch them.

The girl huffs and literally stomps her foot. What is she, five? "Fine. I'm Isabelle, what's your name?"

It takes longer than it should to dredge that piece of information up from the fog of moon, sleepiness, and panic swamping Raff's mind but she manages. "Raff."

"Hi Raff," Isabelle shoulders on like she has a mission, "that's JiAn and Nik, this is their house. And that is their tv."

She point across the room to a huge old block of electronics, perched on a coffee table that seems like it's straining under the weight. It could probably flatten these kids if it ever really fell.

"They have cable so we watch cartoons here on Saturday mornings, but Alpha said we can't while you're sleeping in here. But now you're awake! So we're going to turn the TV on. Okay?"

"M'kay?" She is not awake enough to be dealing with this.

"Awesome! Move over." She breaks out into a big grin and climbs on the couch while Raff shifts out of the way, and after a moment the boys do too. The older, Nik? Wrinkles his nose.

"You stink."

A laugh escapes Raff at that and all four of them jump, but after hiding out in the woods for so long he's not wrong. And that seems to break the tension for the kids. They bicker over the remote control before settling on something with dogs, and Raff is left to the side to think.

Which she can for once, weirdly enough.

They don't completely drown it out, but under the noise of the kids this is the quietest she can remember the moon being in ages. It's a relief. Like being able to take a deep breath after holding it forever. She should leave before the Alpha comes back, maybe see if she can find the way back to her car and get out of here before the pack comes back for her, but it should be okay to stay for a bit right? She tells herself the stinging behind her eyes is only from tiredness as she resolves to stay for just one episode. Just to enjoy the quiet a little longer.

It ends up being more than one episode. She'd nearly made it to the door when her stomach had growled loud enough JiAn had started laughing, and Nik had said there was cereal above the fridge. He did not, however, specify where the eating utensils were. So now Raff is sitting on the floor with her back to the couch and Izzie's foot bouncing on her shoulder, trying to drink breakfast.

Something feels off. If the kids are here, where's the rest of the pack? There's a tension in the air, rising like a mounting tidal wave of pressure until it breaks and Raff can hear again.

-thekidsthekidsthekidsTHEKIDS-

-wherewherewherewhere-

-ifshesomuchasTOUCHESthemI'll-

They're howling loud enough for a half-mad stray to hear, which means it’s time to go. But there's nowhere to run and already footsteps are pounding closer outside. Is there a backdoor?

Doesn't matter, because the door slams open with a bang as a dozen werewolves in various stages of shifting pour in.

Two older women swoop in to grab the protesting kids, carrying them off and leaving her alone with the pack. Maybe Raff can try talking this out

"M-" She has to stop to hack Captain Crunch out of her lungs.

"G'morning?" Nailed it.

A blond with too many teeth growls, "What are you doing?"

She holds up the bowl. "Breakfast?"

"Without a spoon?"

"We used all the spoons last night," some dark haired woman calls from the doorway.

Their Alpha's shoulders start shaking, and Raff presses back against the couch. There's no way out of here that doesnt go through a few hundred pounds of angry wolf and they know it.

But then he start barking with laughter. Maybe it's relief? The pack look uncertain but they relax at least a fraction, and there's less fur in the room by the time the Alpha's done.

He calls back out the door "We're good everyone, the kids are fine."

And when people start filtering back out Alpha looks back down at Raff with a broad smile. He's still wearing the sweatshirt with 'Save the Quolls' emblazoned across the front and Raff still doesnt know what a Quoll is.

"Thanks for putting up with the kids today. We got a lot of talking done while they were busy."

He holds out a hand and pulls her up effortlessly when she takes it.

"You know, I have a feeling this is going to work out for the best."

[roguerogerss]

Sorry is a Sorry Word

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Henderson!Reader

Plot: Steve fucked up - bad. He doesn’t really know how, or if, he should say sorry, until Dustin gives him a pep talk.

W/C: 3.1k

A/N: Just now realising how long this is oops, sorry. My first Stranger Things fic! Finally. (watch this flop so hard lmao) Remember to like and reblog if you enjoy! It really helps me out. As always, requests are open and any and all feedback is appreciated <3

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"Dustin, Please, just leave me alone." She lay back on her bed, tears streaming down her face and hair amiss from where she'd run her fingers through it. "I'm fine, I just...give me some time."

"But, we tell eachother everything." Her little brother sounded so small and defeated that it almost broke her heart in two. She could hear him leaning his back against the door, the back of his head thumping dully against the wood a second later. "I feel like we're drifting apart. You don't talk to me anymore."

"Dustin-"

"No, it's okay. Don't worry." Dustin cleared the remnants of his upset from his throat, "We can talk later. I get that you need time."

And with that, he'd left. She could hear his muffled footsteps on the carpeted floor of the hallway, walking away from her bedroom and back to his own. She knew that she wanted to talk to him and vent about all of the happenings of the day, but she couldn't bring herself to let her walls down in front of anyone about her current situation just yet.

It was Steve. And it was bad.

They'd been together for a year and ten months. He'd been there for her through thick and thin. Whenever their mom went MIA, something that happened more often than not, during the days and weeks and months that Y/N was left to take care of her thirteen year old brother on her own with no notice whatsoever, Steve was there. And he'd take Dustin out to the cinema, give him free ice cream, play Dungeons and Dragons with him and his friends - even though Steve had no idea how to play Dungeons and Dragons. He'd sleep over, make her feel like she wasn't alone. It filled her with pride to see him taking Dustin under his wing, more like a dad than even an older brother.

When they lost Hopper, who'd become more of a parental figure than she and Dustin's mom was to her, he was standing by her side at the funeral, hand grasping her own smaller one with force and squeezing it every so often, just to remind her that he was there. He was there after the funeral, too, when they went to the cabin and went through Hopper's things. He was there when she found the birthday present that Hopper had bought for her, a necklace with, 'you're pretty cool, kid', engraved on it. Hopper's way of saying that he loved her. It came with a letter, one that she cried so hard while reading that she couldn't see the words on the page.

The point was, that Steve had been there through everything. And now that they'd had a huge argument over - of all things - Nancy Wheeler, she was unsure of whether or not she'd have Steve to lean on anymore.

It wasn't so much a stupid argument as it was a stupid mistake on Steve's end. He even admitted to himself that what he'd done was more than a dick move. Tina was having a party, a big one, for old time's sake. Y/N wasn't invited, having been socially considered as 'uncool' while in High School, while Steve was invited. He said that it wasn't a big deal, it didn't matter, he wouldn't go.

Except that it was a big deal, it did matter, and, well, he did go.

He'd gotten really drunk, so drunk, in fact, that he had no recollection of the night at all and managed to stumble to Y/N's front door at five in the morning.

He'd told her that he went to the party, that he was sorry. She'd been mad, but she was so tired that she said she'd deal with it in the morning and told Steve to sleep it off on the sofa. Before going to sleep, however, Steve had told Y/N that he 'thought he might've kissed Nancy' that night.

They'd argued about it the next day. She'd dropped him off at home, neither of them speaking at all in the car, and they'd screamed at eachother in Steve's living room. Little did either of them know, Steve hadn't actually kissed Nancy, he was just so drunk that he made himself believe that he had. And then, Y/N told Steve that they were done, and he'd said 'fine', and she'd left and cried in her car for an hour.

And now, she was here. Crying on her bed, little brother probably thinking that one of her friends had died or something.

She hated herself for blowing up and flying off the handle and literally breaking up with Steve. Steve, on the other hand, hated himself for even going to the party, hated himself for - possibly - kissing Nancy, hated himself for going to Y/N's front door and waking her up so early in the morning.

In the grand scheme of things, Steve Harrington had been an asshole. And he was all too aware of it.

It had been around half an hour since she got home when Dustin knocked on the door again. This time, she'd managed to calm down enough to allow him to come inside. She looked horrifying, hair messed up, tear stained face, cuddling a pillow and wearing one of Steve's shirts, but Dustin was her brother, he had no right to judge her.

The door swung open slowly, and Dustin was there, grinning and holding two pints of ice cream, spoons, and some movies. "Thought we could put a movie on and eat. And you can tell me about your problems and I promise I'll listen."

"Is the ice cream cookie dough?" Y/N asked, sniffling, and a watery smile crossed her face. Dustin laughed, happy to see his sister perking up at least a little bit, even if it was over ice cream, and turned the carton to reveal to her that it was, in fact, cookie dough.

"Only the best." He tossed one of the cartons and a spoon at her, and turned on the TV set that sat across from her bed. "Besides, I know it's the only one you'll eat when you're sad."

"You know me entirely too well." She hugged her knees to her chest and dug into her ice cream, relishing in the taste of it for a second, "Oh my God, I haven't had this in so long. And the Scoops cookie dough is so bad."

"Right? I know Steve thinks it's the best, but he is so wrong." Little did Dustin know, one mention of his name would make Y/N's meltdown begin all over again. Soon enough, she was crying hot tears into her ice cream, and she allowed Dustin to lay his head on her shoulder while she explained everything.

"Okay, I have to go somewhere." Dustin knew what he had to do, and Y/N's eyebrows furrowed as he got swiftly up from her bed. "I'll be like, maybe half an hour. But you can eat my ice cream if it starts to melt."

"Dustin! Don't leave me!"

"Watch the movie!"

And then he was gone, and she was by herself, with only some ice cream and E.T. to keep her company.

Meanwhile, Dustin had found Steve at work. He was insanely hungover - although, the headache and sickness had gone away thanks to Robin and her Tylenol, but the tiredness still remained - and reminded Dustin faintly of a particular zombie in Day of the Dead when he walked into Family Video to find him leaning on the counter. The grim look on his face wasn't so much because of the hangover, though, it was more to do with the fact that he and his girlfriend of nearly two years had broken up half an hour ago, and he'd been forced to go to work.

"If you're here to talk to Steve, I wouldn't. He nearly punched me when I asked him if he wanted Tylenol. And I'm a girl." Robin stopped Dustin at the front door, a serious look on her face, but he shrugged her off.

"It's fine. He won't do anything. Besides, I know what this whole thing's about. That's why I'm here." He tried to walk off again, but Robin grabbed his upper arm, tugging him back and making him elaborate.

"Is it Y/N? I think there was a fight between them or something. He’s never looked this rough.” Robin looked concerned, and she was. She’d never seen Steve so upset before. “He was crying when he came in.” She added.

Dustin shrugged, “Yeah, I’m gonna talk to him. He’ll be fine tomorrow.” He decided not to give Robin any more information on the situation in case Y/N or Steve would've gotten mad at him for it.

"Henderson, hey." Steve said quietly when he noticed that Dustin had entered the store. He looked like he'd been crying, and Robin was definitely right when she said he’d never looked rougher. "If you're here to hang out-"

"I'm not here to hang out, Steve. We have to talk." Dustin crossed his arms sternly over his chest, raising his eyebrows and nodding his head in the direction of the store room. Steve grumbled and complied, unlocking the door and ushering Dustin inside.

"You have to apologise."

"Apologise? Apologise for - what exactly are we talking about?" Steve rubbed a hand exhaustedly over his face, leaning against a sealed box of movies that he was supposed to have put away by now.

"You know what for, Steve. Y/N. You hurt her. Like, really badly. I don't think I've ever seen her so upset." Steve already wanted Dustin to stop, but he continued, really wanting him to get the message of just how hurt his sister was. "She cried in her room for half an hour before she even let me talk to her, and now she's at home by herself, probably crying some more because you went to a stupid party. I mean, seriously man, couldn't you just have stayed home? What was so important about it?"

Steve threw his head back and hid his face with his hands, wanting the floor to open up and swallow him whole. He knew that he'd been a dick, he knew that he'd hurt her, but, Jesus, knowing the details made his heart flip in his chest and his stomach hurt. He hated seeing Y/N upset at the best of times, nevermind when it was his fault.

"Yeah. Yeah, I should've just left it. Jeez, Dustin, I'm such an asshole."

"Yes. An asshole, you are. And what was that other shit? About you kissing Nancy?"

"I didn't kiss Nancy, okay? My drunk mind just kinda...made me believe that I did. I called her today just to confirm." Steve swallowed, suddenly having the nausea of his hangover coming back to him.

"Does Y/N know that?" Dustin had his arms crossed, back against the wall, looking unimpressed as Steve shook his head. "Seriously man? Don't you think that the first thing you should've done after finding out that you didn't actually cheat on your girlfriend, was tell your girlfriend that you didn't actually cheat on her?"

"My head's all over the place, Henderson. Cut me some slack, okay?"

"You have to come say sorry, you know that, right?"

"I will. I will, I promise. I finish in an hour, why don't you go home, I'll buy some flowers, take a shower and get changed, and I'll come chap on your door like none of this even happened." Steve had suddenly perked up, gesturing with his arms and almost getting excited to initiate his plan.

"Yeah. Sure. But it better be good, Harrington. You better make her happy."

Steve didn't even have time to respond before Dustin was running off, getting on his bike, and cycling back home to his sister. He promised himself internally that he'd do all it took to make her happy.

Y/N had finished her ice cream and Dustin's had started to melt by the time he got home. She hadn't cried any more, had been too focussed on the movie, and Dustin was relieved to see her laughing at something on the screen when he entered her bedroom.

"Hey." She smiled. "Your ice cream's melting, you'd better eat it."

Dustin smiled and bellyflopped onto her bed, sending her into a fit of laughter. They both laughed so hard, in fact, that they barely heard the doorbell ring, and Dustin almost got up to go and get it.

He stopped himself though, not wanting Steve to call him an idiot or something along those lines. "You should go. I have to eat my ice cream before it melts." He said sheepishly, sitting back down from where he'd jumped up. Y/N rolled her eyes and threw the pillow that she was holding at Dustin's face.

"Alright, make your sad sister get the door because you have to eat ice cream." She stood up even as she spoke, knowing that Dustin wasn't going to budge. "Nice one, asshole."

Y/N had left her bedroom before Dustin could retaliate, bounding down the stairs and realising that, if anyone saw her the way that she looked now, they'd probably never respect her again. The doorbell went again, and she sighed quietly at the lack of patience from whoever was on the other side.

She - stupidly - didn't even bother to look out of the window that stood next to the door to check who it was before opening it, and nearly closed it again when she realised who was standing there.

"Hey, woah, don't close the door yet!" It was Steve, his eyes widened from the possibility that he'd come all the way to her house so that she could slam the door in his face, holding white lilies and a box of chocolates, which was - in Y/N's opinion - the cheesiest apology ever. "Just...listen? For like, a minute."

She slowly let her hand slide off of the door knob, watching as Steve relaxed a significant amount even from seeing her do that. "A minute." She crossed her arms over her chest, chewing her cheek. "You have a minute."

"Okay, uh, yeah, okay." Steve began his rambling. "Listen, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I know I shouldn't have gone to that party, I know I shouldn't have gotten so drunk that I managed to convince myself that I kissed Nancy. Did I already say that I didn't actually kiss Nancy? I called her, and she said we didn't even speak. Bottom line is, I'm an asshole. I know that, and I hate myself for hurting you. Dustin told me how upset you were and I...I couldn't even comprehend the fact that I did that."

He paused, looking down at his feet and waiting for Y/N to say something. Something that didn't come, she simply stood, looking at and biting her fingernails, trying to figure out whether or not she should give in and forgive him or not, so he stopped waiting and spoke some more.

"I'm sorry. I love you. I love you so much. And I know that I fucked up, and I don't expect you to forgive me-"

"Steve." Y/N stopped him. He looked up at her, expecting that she'd look upset or annoyed, but she was smiling and shaking her head. "Come here."

"Seriously?" He already wished he hadn't said what he did before he'd even finished speaking. Seriously? What kind of thing to say was that? "I mean, you know-"

She was already hugging him before he could finish speaking. She knew that he'd ramble on for hours if he could, but she also knew that she already forgave him and didn't need to listen to his rambling. "It's okay. I forgive you."

"Oh, thank God. I thought I'd lost you, really, I did." He sighed into her hair, realising that he was probably ruining the bouquet of flowers with the way that he was crushing them against her back.

"Well, you were an asshole. You had every right to think you'd lost me." Steve had always loved her subtle sassiness, it was a habit that she often fell into unknowingly, but it made him chuckle.

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right. I was an asshole."

She let go of him, finally, and stood back. He was wearing his light blue jeans, a black t-shirt and belt, with a blue jacket. It was an outfit that she'd seen him in before, quite a few times, but he never failed to look good in it anyway. His hair was slightly amiss, as though he'd gotten ready as quickly as he could - which was true, but she didn't know that for sure - but it still had his Steve 'the hair' Harrington charm.

"So, can I come in, or are you just gonna stand there and mock me?" He grinned and she stood to the side, allowing him to join her in the hallway. He went straight for the kitchen, taking out a vase and filling it up with water, then placing the flowers in it and leaving it on the kitchen counter.

"I didn't say you could-" She was trying to joke with him, but he didn't seem to care much, as he cut her off by dipping his head towards hers and kissing her passionately. He hated to admit it, probably something to do with the small part of his King Steve persona that he still carried around with him, but he'd missed her, and it had only been a few hours.

"Woah, easy tiger." Y/N laughed, pulling away when Steve's hands started to travel downwards. "We haven't even properly spoken yet."

"Yeah. Sorry." Steve said sheepishly. He pushed his hands into the pockets of his jeans and smiled down at the floor. "Do you wanna talk?"

She shrugged. "Not particularly."

"So, really, it's okay for me to do this," He closed the gap between them again, beaming at her while he searched her face for any sign of disapproval and admired the little flecks of contrasting colours that danced in her eyes. And then he kissed her again, lips soft against her own, gentle - something that wasn't widely believed, Steve Harrington was actually one of the most gentle people that Y/N had ever met.

"Well, yeah." She grinned, breathless. "But I'm sort of in the middle of watching a movie, wanna join?"

And so they spent the rest of the day, wrapped in the blankets on Y/N's bed and Y/N wrapped in Steve's arms, watching movies that Dustin fished out from the cabinet under the TV that Y/N didn't even know that they had.

She had to say, Steve's apologies were often cheesy and terrible, but this one wasn’t so bad as it was enjoyable.

[welcometothecityyy]

Summary: Julian always seemed to be bothered about something, and Eun seems to notice. What is he hiding? Or...more like what are they hiding?

Character(s): Park Joo-Won/Julian; Huang Eun-hee/Eun (Julian/Eun). Mentions of the rest of the group.

Other Mention(s): Jaxon of WATCHERS (@watch1ngyou)

T/Ws?: None really - besides LGBTQ talk so if you're uncomfortable with any of that, I suggest you don't read ahead. (Though really, why would you be on my blog if you don't like LGBTQ things in the first place?)

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"Alright that's it for today," Hyun-Woo yawned as he stood up from his spot on the floor to stretch out his arms.

"You boys did so well today," Their dance instructor commented as he handed a water bottle to Julian. Julian smiled a bit, nodding slightly. Eun, who stood next to him, noticed his friend's smile faltered a bit.

"Haha..." Julian laughed weakly. "Thanks..."

To the rest of the boys, Julian's weak laugh could have just been him being tired. After all, it was 1 in the morning and they just finished practicing.

But Eun could hear the hint of sadness. There was something wrong with Julian, and he seemed to be a bit bothered by something. The younger one couldn't help but feel curious about what his older friend was hiding.

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As the rest of the group walked back to their dorms, Julian walked slowly behind, sighing to himself. Just as he was about to try to catch up with the rest of the group, he felt a tug on his sleeve. He looked to his side to see Eun walking next to him, holding onto the sleeve of his hoodie.

"You okay hyung?" Eun-hee asked softly. At this Julian hesitated to answer.

Was he really okay?

The answer was clearly no.

He wanted to cry after he was asked that.

But Julian didn't want to burden his friend with his answer.

"Yeah I'm fine," He said quietly. "Why'd you ask?"

"Nothing I just saw you looked a bit down," Eun mumbled. Julian chuckled.

"Haha, you're worried about me?" Julian said. That earned him a soft punch on the arm.

"Of course I do, idiot," Eun-hee said, shaking his head. "You need to take care of yourself more."

"Yeah..." Julian mumbled as the two continued to walk. Eun hummed.

"You know Juls," He said. "I'm here for you if you want to talk."

Julian bit his lip.

Don't cry, don't cry.

"Yeah, I know," Julian answered again. "And thank you for that."

Eun smiled softly, slipping his hand down to hold Julian's hand. Julian smiled at the small affectionate gesture, intertwining his hand with the younger male's hand.

For the first time tonight, Julian smiled all the way back home.

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Eun-hee looked out on the balcony of his group's dorm, looking up at the stars. Though it could be barley seen because of the city's bright light, the stars were still there and sparkling over the sky.

He liked watching the stars at night, even if he should be in bed at this time.

Eun felt a pair of arms wrap around his shoulder.

"Isn't it a bit late to be star gazing?" A familiar voice said. Eun turned around to see Julian smiling at him.

"Shhh don't be too loud," Eun said as he turned back around, looking at the stars. He allowed Julian to continue stand behind him and admire the sky with him. "I just had something on my mind...that's why I'm here."

Julian hummed, "What is it?"

Eun sighed and turned around to face Julian. "I know you were lying to me back there."

Oh crap. Was it that obvious?

"Why?" Eun-hee asked softly. Julian gulped, looking away. "Julian-"

"Shh, I'll tell you," Julian said as he grabbed Eun-hee's hand and pulling the younger boy with him. "Just be quiet so we don't wake up the others."

Eun let Julian pull him up the steps of the dorms to the rooftop. His eyes lit up as he could see the stars more clearly now that they were higher on the building. Julian sat down on one of the couches that was set up on the roof and Eun followed, sitting down next to him.

"So...?" Eun-hee asked. Julian bit his lip. "You can tell me anything Juls."

"I just don't...I don't understand it."

"What's 'it'?"

"Everything!" Julian sighed. "Look, I like being an idol okay, but it's all bullshit." Eun could only hum and continue to listen to his friend rant.

"Boy-group this, and girl-group that, we're all separated by who we're seen as, who we're born as," Julian said.

"But what if...what if there's people who don't identify as being a girl? Who don't identify as being a boy?"

"And what if some people don't identify as neither a boy or girl?"

Julian let out a frustrated sigh.

"And what if I'm one of those people huh?" He mumbled. "Trust me, I love you guys and I love it here in this group, but I hate that we're called a 'boy-group' when not every one of us is a boy."

"And what if-"

"Julian," Eun finally cut him off. Julian went quiet, afraid of what his friend might say.

Did he say too much?

"Juls, you're right...it is frustrating that we're trapped in this gender binary thing. And it's even more frustrating that things are separated by it too," Eun-hee finally said.

"I don't care who you identify as - be it male, female, both or gender-neutral non-binary - I still love you for you. We still love you for who you are."

"But...what will other people think?"

"Well then they can think what they want because you're special, Juls. They can hate you, they can be happy for you, it doesn't matter."

"What matters is if you're comfortable for who you identify as a person. Like I said, whoever you identify as doesn't affect how we think of you. You're still our family. A member. A part of ENTERNAL WONDERLAND. And you'll always be." As Eun finally finished, Julian lunged at him and hugged him. The tears at the corner of Julian's eyes finally spilled out.

This was what he wanted. What they wanted.

They just wanted to be accepted.

"Thank you..." Julian mumbled. Eun smiled softly, hugging Julian back.

"Of course Juls," Eun-hee said. "And I'll always be here by you're side whenever you're ready to tell our members."

"Do you think they'll act positively too?" Julian asked. Eun nodded.

"I'm sure of it," He smiled. "We'll be happy about it. I'm glad I was the first one you told me."

"Well actually," Julian laughed lightly. "I kinda told Jaxon when I first started thinking."

"Well then," Eun said. "I'm glad I'm the first one in the group to know about this."

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Back inside their room once again, Julian smiled as he gently ran his hand through Eun-hee's hair, who was sleeping beside them.

Eun's words played back in their head as they tried to sleep.

Gender-neutral non-binary..

Julian definitely knew that they didn't identify as a female, but being labeled as a male felt like it was too loose for them either.

I guess Eun's right...it doesn't matter who I identify as...as long as I'm comfortable with who I identify as...then they'll all be happy for me.

Closing their eyes, Julian felt themselves slowly fell into their tiredness. And for the first time in days Julian fell asleep with a smile on their face.

[imtryingmybeskar]

This was a request I had a few months ago for my 100 follower celebration and I can't for the life of me find the request in my blog. So I'm so sorry it's late, but finally. It's happened!

Rating: General. Word count: 466

Just a tiny drabble about Marcus Moreno and his increasingly creaky joints still being able fight when they have to!

Marcus Moreno exhaled deeply as he moved to the familiar position. This was the initial fighting stance he usually took - a katana in each hand, weight on the right foot which was angled slightly behind him, knees ever so slightly bent. He was intentionally slowing his breathing, exhaling all of the thoughts that were attempting to crowd his mind, as well as carbon dioxide. He couldn't allow himself to be distracted. His opponent was scrutinising him, watching for any weaknesses that he might display. He kept his face carefully impassive, the only emotion allowed was the determination displayed in the set of his jaw. He knew he was getting older. Could feel creaking in his joints that hadn't been there even five years ago, the pull of certain muscles threatening to cramp if they didn't like their positioning, and the tiredness! Leading the Heroics was getting more and more tiring, even when he was behind a desk. But this...this encounter. He had to give it his all. Earth's very future might well depend on it.

He moved to his second position, lithe and smooth as a cat. His katanas now crossed in front of his face, and his weight now more evenly spread and subtly shifted to the balls of his feet, coiled and ready to spring. His opponent moved to their own fighting stance and there! He could see where their defences were weak, where they would be unable to parry his blows in time. He darted forward, his burst of speed not quite taking his opponent by surprise. His last minute change of direction did, however and his katanas made a satisfying swooshing sound as they sliced through the air...

"Annnd bam! You're dead, honey. Sorry."

"You don't sound very sorry."

"Oh I am. Seems a shame to kill you when we're halfway through that Netflix series!" Marcus grinned at his daughter, who looked mightily unimpressed.

"Okay, so...what did I do wrong?"

"Your defences aren't fully up. And trust me when I say your grandmother won't be as kind to you when you're sparring with her." Marcus held the wooden practice katanas in one hand and moved Missy to better mimic the correct defensive stance. "See how you protect this side of you now? And you're only presenting a minimal target to hit. Also remember that when someone has two weapons, you need to be-"

"Aware of both of them at all times. I know, dad."

Marcus drew his daughter to him and kissed the top of her head. "I know you know, honey. I just want you to be as prepared as you can be for anything you might face out there. You're going to be amazing. But just like everything, it will require practice. Now come on...one more time."