#i might actually go lay down since i already set an alarm for 5 am

[flowerakatsuka]

KUROBA'S RELATIONSHIP W/ SOME OF THE SIDE CHARACTERS!

feat. dobusu, yanagida, totoko, atsushi, ichiko, jyushiko, & chibita.

i've been thinking a lot about kuro's dynamics with some of the characters besides the sextuplets. i finally managed to write out my thoughts so ig it's time to lore dump. ✌️

DOBUSU — one of kuroba’s closest friends, ( and their only friend in high school. ) the two met during their first year when they were in the beautification committee together. kuroba was already shaping up to be an outcast and typically kept their head down while going about their duties, but dobusu would often ask to pair up with them since they were more knowledgeable about taking care of plants than her. she initially found them a little strange, ( like with how excited they got whenever lizards would show up in the flowerbeds, ) but they found each other easy to talk to and ended up becoming friends. even though dobusu decided to not rejoin the beautification committee after their first year and they were never in the same class together, they still found time to hang out together in and outside of school. they would usually eat lunch or walk home together, ( except when dobusu invited her more popular friends along, kuroba was super anxious about spending time with people “ in a higher social cast ‘’ than them back then. ) dobusu was aware that they had a crush on someone during their second year, but was never sure who it was until kuroba’s own realization during the reunion, ( she always assumed it was yanagida. )

they’re both still pretty good friends to this day and make time to spend time together despite their busy adult schedules. dobusu also brings mii over to visit the floral shop sometimes while she’s watching her, which kuroba enjoys, ( they’re pretty good with kids and love teaching them about plants. ) if they need someone to talk about life stuff, they’ll almost always go to her first. they usually call her “ dobuchu. “

YANAGIDA — kuroba and yanagida were in the same homeroom during their 3rd year, but didn’t really talk to each other until he found them crying in the school’s courtyard one day. after getting them something to drink from the vending machine to help them calm down, they ended up talking about what had gotten kuroba so upset in the first place. and even though they said it was because someone had trampled the pansies they had planted, it was pretty clear that it wasn’t the only reason why they were upset. kuroba asked why people think it’s alright to crush others like that and when yanagida suggests it could be because they’re trying to feel better about themselves by putting others down, he was taken back by them bluntly saying they think that’s a bullshit excuse to act cruelly towards others. the conversation ends up sticking with him, as well kuroba’s honesty, so he started talking to them more in class after that. they got along really well, but were never really anything more than acquaintances. ( not for lack of trying, though. yanagida tried inviting them to hang out after school a few times, but kuroba always rejected his offers. they were still kinda struggling with the whole " social casts " mindset at the time. )

they end up reconnecting at the reunion after party when yanagida invites kuroba to sit at his table, leading to them being seated across from atsushi. this doesn’t go very well, with them admonishing him for his own shitty behavior towards the sextuplets and leaving soon after. yanagida stops them before they go, saying he’s glad to see they’re as honest as ever and asking for their contact info. the two end up clicking pretty well, finding each other easy to talk to. they hang out whenever they’re able, usually going out to drink together. whenever kuroba finds a new izakaya or queer bar they wanna check out, they ask yanagida to go with them. they’re also very supportive of him wanting to reconnect with ichimatsu and tries to help him in that endeavor, much to ichi’s dismay. they usually call him by his first name, ( yukio. )

TOTOKO — despite having a mutual friend in high school, totoko and kuroba never really interacted with each other. this was purposeful on kuroba’s part — not because they didn’t like her, but because they didn’t want to give their bullies another reason to harass them. they do eventually start talking once they’re both adults, with kuroba frequenting the yowai’s fish market to get dinner supplies, ( grilled fish is one of the few things they can cook decently. ) unlike the sextuplets, totoko does recognize them from high school despite not really interacting with them. the two enjoy chatting with each other, especially with how complementary kuroba can be towards her, and occasionally go have coffee together, ( usually with dobusu. ) they’re also very supportive of her dreams of becoming an idol, but she could definitely do without their blunt observations on why she isn’t successful. both have definitely had “ yeah, i can see why people are into you “ moments with each other. totoko's also the one that helps clear things up between karamatsu and kuroba after the reunion.

ATSUSHI — honestly, atsushi and kuroba were never on each others’ radar until what happened at the reunion. kuroba feels very strongly about putting others down to build yourself up so the way he acted during the reunion really pissed them off. they recognize that the sextuplets also weren’t in the right, but him coming into the situation didn’t help things either. when what happened comes up at the after party, they tell him as much and when he tries to excuse his own actions, they kinda. snap. kuroba cuts into him, telling him that coming in to humiliate the sextuplets was shitty of him and people with his kind of attitude are the reason why they lied in the first place. they leave soon after, saying they’d much rather drink with a bunch of useless neets than someone like atsushi. now, he’s basically landed himself squarely on their shit list and every interaction they have after that is extremely hostile. to kuroba, he’s a guy with a generically handsome face that has little to offer besides his car and cash. their impression doesn't improve after they find out about whatever the hell he's got going on with todomatsu.

ICHIKO — one of kuroba’s friends from college, as well as their ex-girlfriend. they first met during their entrance exams, when kuroba stumbled upon ichiko sulking in the train station. they stopped to check if she was alright, ( her muttering under her breath and intense expression didn’t scare them off, surprisingly. ) apparently, ichiko had gotten lost on her way to her own entrance exam and couldn’t look up directions because she forgot her cell phone at home. when they offer to let her use their phone to find directions, they realize they’re actually applying to the same college. the coincidences keep coming — kuroba was accepted into their first choice and when they’re moving into their new dorm, the person living next to them ends up being ichiko. the two became fast friends, with her finding kuroba pleasant to talk to and them enjoying the eccentricities of her personality. they eventually developed a crush on her at the end of their first year, made more complicated by them moving into an apartment together before their second year started. they worked up the courage to ask her out halfway into the school year and they started dating, but it didn’t last long. while ichiko really did like kuroba back and thought they were a good significant other, she had a lot of anxiety about their relationship not working out in the end and ruining the friendship they had before, which she didn't want to happen. kuroba took being broken up with pretty graciously… as far as ichiko knows, they actually cried to dobusu about it for months after.

thankfully, their friendship is still going strong after college and are pretty close. both of their jobs make getting together kinda hard, but they do find time to hang out ( usually with jyushiko tagging along. ) they like going to fancy bars or eclectic shops and watching esoteric movies together. even if they can’t meet in person, they usually chat through text basically every day.

JYUSHIKO — another one of kuroba’s friends from college. since they were both really close to ichiko, they spent a lot of time together, but initially didn’t really know how to interact with each other. kuroba was a little thrown off by jyushiko’s gal-ish personality after being bullied by one in high school and they seemed a little standoffish to her, but what helped break the ice between them was finding out they both had roots in okinawa, ( with their dads both being from there originally. ) after that, they were able to smooth things over and get along really well. kuroba’s a good listener and doesn’t mind her rambling so she loves spilling gossip to them, ( and they love getting to hear. ) they still hang out sometimes, mostly with ichiko, though. when they do get together one-on-one, jyushiko likes shopping with them since it’s like going out with a boyfriend just without all the expectations that come with it.

CHIBITA — whenever kuroba doesn’t feel like attempting to cook or wants something fresher than konbini food, their go-to spot is always hybrid oden. mostly because the food is delicious, but also because they enjoy chatting with chibita. while they’re more acquaintances than friends, they get along well and he likes having them as a frequent customer, ( especially because they actually pay their bill. ) chibita doesn’t get why kuroba stands karamatsu hanging around their shop so much, though. he gets kinda annoyed when they tell him that it’s probably the same reason why he keeps letting him eat at his stall.

[dienamights]

A Reverberate Lullaby | K.Bakugou

✎ The echoing howls stalk you, a ghost hunched on your shoulders, wailing like a child calling for rescue, who cries with no tears. Chanting for a hero that is willing to pick up the pieces of its soul and being, yet it is only left to wither. For the ghost has lost faith that such others exist and can only be cured by finding them, for you are the ghost of your world and love is the only true exorcist.

✎ Protagonists: Katsuki Bakugou x Fem!Reader.

✎ Word count: 4.1K

✎ Category: hurt/comfort, Implied Mature Content MDNI, Prohero!au, Established relationship!au

✎ Caution(!): Implied Mature Content MDNI, mention of depressive state, toxic family, toxic coping mechanism, mention of reader’s weight gain and thoughts about self worth. Please keep in mind while every person’s reaction to depression is different, don’t belittle anyone’s battle when you don’t understand it.

✎ Author’s notes: Hello! Hope everyone’s taking care! Still on hiatus BUT I’m here to post my contribution to the Mental Health Awareness collab by @doinmybesthere​ ! This has been in the works for a while because I kept scarping ideas for triggering me lmao. This piece is very personal to me and I’m glad I am able to share my experience with you all, I hope that it might help anyone out there in reaching out and asking for help because I know how difficult and scary it might be! Please check out everyone’s contribution that they worked so hard for! kisses kisses take care!

OOH ALSO! Thank you so much for 900 followers aaaaaah! You’re all so amazing and if anyone has suggestions for an event to hold in June lemme know! I’ll also think of some ideas

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The morning sun barely rises and peaks through your blinds, sunshine starting to kiss at your cheeks as you squint at the light, the room welcoming the warmth that is being brought into it after the evening’s chill that made you curl tighter in on yourself, clasping whatever heat you could muster than to turn around and find it in the heating pad of a body that lays next to you. 

An alarm only just rings before quickly being shut off, followed by the creaking of the bed when the person behind you shifts, shifts again, another time, before getting up and stalking to the bathroom, after letting an elongated sigh when they sit at the edge of the bed, not acknowledging your presence accompanying theirs. The door clicking closed before the trickling of water fills the quiet room.

Your clock reads 5 am when you squint at it, and you blink at the time before you go on with your routine, setting up breakfast while your boyfriend gets ready to go to work. 

Oddly enough, you don’t really quite remember when you started working on the food, all that you could see in front of you is nothing but a scene that looks like it’s out of a broken TV - there’s just so much static. The voices are distorted, as if they’re coming from a defective radio.

“Listen, this ain’t about me, this is about you and how you-”

“What about me? Huh? That you see me as nothing but a burden? No, you can say it-”

“You wanna hear me fuckin’ say it then fine! This is about you sitting on yer ass all day obsessing over her while she wouldn’ give you the time of day y/n. When will you fuckin’ realize that?”

The scene blurs and sways, and you feel your mind run at a speed you didn’t know it could muster, and you’re unable to keep up with it. The knife in your hand shakes vigorously and barely misses your fingers when you bring it down to cut the vegetables.

The sound of the bedroom door shutting closed alerts you, straightening your back when you hear the drop of your boyfriend’s gauntlet by his chair at the dining table. Katsuki approaches you with careful steps, his still ungloved hand circles your waist before pressing his lips to your temple, a gruff greeting of a whisper laced in between.

“G’morning.”

The familiar scent of caramel mixed in with his aftershave welcomes you, wraps around you and cradles you, promising everlasting safety and happiness. Yet, your heart wrenching sobs and muffled crash of your laptop against your floor that rings in your ears tell a different story, shrieking at you, roaring about your failures, mocking your entire existence.

“Made gohan, should be ready in a minute.” you mumble back, posture stiff at the close proximity of Katsuki and you feel the curl of his lips in displeasure pressing into your temple from both not reciprocating his greeting and your choice of meal for the morning. “You don’ eat gohan,” 

“s’why I’m making it.” The quick retreat from your figure is like a slap to your face, and you barely stop yourself from reaching out and forcing his arms back around you. Because it's the bite in his voice that halts your movement. 

“You’re still going?” you finally turn to take a look at him, the garnets in his eyes shifting, bleeding from hurt, betrayal, confusion, you really weren’t sure. And by God you had no energy left to try and figure out. “Yes I’m still going Katsuki, they’re my-”

“Yer really listenin’ to the bullshit spillin’ outta ya? This isn’t about em being your family y/n, we’ve been through with it already.” the space between you two feels like endless miles, pieces of the broken bridge you both worked so hard to build the only evidence of it ever being there, the rest crumbling into the valley in between your bodies.

“No, you’ve been through with it, I just wanna make things right, m-maybe I can fix it”

“It ain’t yours to fix y/n, when will you realize that?”

“No!” there you go again, sobbing pathetically. “W-why can’t I have a family, huh? Why- why can’t I, fuck, have a family that just loves and supports me a-and just doesn’t- ” your voice croaks, not failing to notice how Katsuki stepped away from the wreck in front of him. Probably having had enough of you, had enough of how troubling and bothersome you are, probably wondering how he got roped with all your shit and got dragged into your mess of a life.

His hands feel like scolding fire when they’re placed on your shoulders, halting their shaking as you cry into the palm of your hand to muffle the sobs, a habit Katsuki has been working so hard on to help you overcome, saddened to see you try and hide your vulnerability from him.

“Because they never made an effort, so why should you?” The tugging at your heart burns, the swallowed sobs feel like needles prickling at your lungs, making breathing feel like an impossible chore. You can’t help but feel restrained whenever you’re presented with the truth, especially unfiltered and unsugarcoated like right now, you know he’s right, you’ve known he was right a long time ago, but admitting it out loud just felt borderline impossible. 

So you do what you do best, push him away, all the strength you can muster barely budges his figure, the meal forgotten on the counter as you run and lock the bedroom door on yourself.

Your footsteps feel heavy, dreading the topics and scenes you’re bound to relive. The grip on the strap of your shoulder bag tightening as you push the glass door open. A sigh escapes past your lips again as you enter the restaurant, half-heartedly smiling at the hostess before making your way inside to look for them.

It’s always the same scenery, the kind that always makes you want to run away to the other direction instead of being dragged down into whatever hell this is. And you pause to question yourself, again, why you actually agreed to put yourself out there.

There they are, seated in the four person table, with two empty seats, one for yourself and the other for the sibling your mother always hoped to have instead of you.

Your mother’s pursed lip could be seen from where you stand at the entrance, the clicking of her tapping foot sounding as bad as grinding metals in your ear, you hate it, despise it

It’s the same clicking you learned to memorize, to anticipate, to fear, when she passed by your room, the clicking that made you smother your face in your pillows and swallow your sobs, because the sound of you crying brought her more distress and annoyance than concern for her daughter.

With another tug at the hem of the shirt you’re wearing, you approach the table, hugging your father when he stands up and nodding to your mom when she eyes your figure.

“Good morning mother. It’s good to see you.”

“What’s wrong with your hair?”

Here we go, you breathe out before tugging at a strand of hair, spitting out your words “nothing’s wrong with it.”

“Then why does it look awful like that?”

There are times like these where you are left to question your reasoning for accepting whatever invitation you received from your parents to have brunch with them after all those months, a moment of weakness deceiving you into believing it was better than to spend it in your empty apartment, with the silence that ate away at your sanity every second. The only evidence of life in it other than yours was the recently cleaned dishes and the note thanking you for the meal, the promise of cuddles and movies tonight making you gain just a little more patience, barely.

You refrain from answering, your response is to lower your head, drag the dining chair before plopping on it, a dreary sigh escaping your lips as you scoot your chair closer to the table. Your mother never changes, it’s been a while since you were able to move out of her home, and while your father tries to tell you that these brunches are a way to reconnect with them, you yourself know that it’s merely a chance for your mother to nitpick at everything you ever did or are doing since you left.

“How have you been y/n.” your father smiles at you, both of you ignoring the sound of your mother kissing her teeth when her attempted jab at you is ignored. “Uh, I uh I’ve been good, I just wrapped up with my exams and so far things have been-” 

“How is your hero boyfriend?” 

For a second, you contemplate whether to ignore her question and keep conversing with your dad, dreading the questions that are to be pushed your way regarding Katsuki, of which will be used as bragging material for when she meets whatever group of friends she associates herself with, but you know better than to ignore her with the way she gets when she isn’t fed with attention. 

“He’s uh, good.”

“Why isn’t he here today? What, too good to meet us?” your mother nags, and for the love of God, would that fucking clicking ever stop?

“No, he’s doing his job of, you know, being a hero.”

“Is he now? Well, what about you, hm?” She cocks her head as her nails tap the table. ”Did you think your father and I wouldn’t figure out you got fired?”

“How-” the gritting of your teeth is deafening at this point, your jaw clenching so tightly as you and your mother stare each other down. “Your dad pulled some strings, it isn’t that hard. So tell me, you like leeching off of him after you were done with us?”

“This isn’t, I just- I was- I, I had a lot of university work piling up a-and I couldn’t make time for my shifts and I just, it was just so hard for me to get out of bed these days and I.” why are you doing this? Why are you explaining yourself to people that don’t deserve it? Why are you feeding off of their acceptance, knowing damn well you never got it, and that thing was never gonna change. 

“Oh, I don’t wanna hear about you not getting out of bed, you’re here now aren’t you? This is all in your head y/n. You need to stop talking nonsense, what’re people gonna say about you, about me, when they hear you?” 

It feels just like yesterday, your figure standing and facing your full length mirror, your reflection eyeing you with identical vacant eyes. Fingers running through your bed head, a wince escaping you at the movement. Bringing your hand up and catching a glimpse of a slight swollen purple bruise along your wrist and the dried blood on your knuckles, the skin stretching upon rotating your wrist and causing notable pain.

Alas, that pain paled in comparison to when your mom barged into your room, blaming you for the way you were acting and belittling your reasoning. Beckoning your father over to replace your broken vanity and for your house maid to disinfect the space, the place sparkling clean and void of any evidence of what had transpired the day prior. 

The shattered glass was picked up and thrown out, the splatters of blood were wiped clean, and whenever you brought up, what your mom refers to as ‘the temper tantrum’, you’re ignored by both your parents as they continued about their day, fearing the shame it would bring upon their name if the event was to catch others’ attention. 

“Good morning! I’ll be your server for the day. What can I get you?” the foreign voice sounds more comforting than your own mother’s, and you almost laugh at the irony of it, but you only return her smile and take a look at the menu. Lighting up a smidge at the name of one of the dishes, while your parents place their order.

“Can I please get the soufflé pancake?” you look up to catch the horrified look on your mother’s face, followed by her clicking her tongue and shaking her head as if your choice of food was shameful. 

“Certainly-”

“Uh, no she won’t be having that. Get her the Honzen Ryori,” your mother eyed your figure -whatever was visible to her from across the table- before turning to face the server again “maybe cut down on the rice, God knows she doesn’t need the extra calories.” and waves her off, disregarding your protests and tapping her nail against the table top, her annoying method in demanding your silence, which you subconsciously react to, snapping your mouth shut when the sound reaches your ears.

“What was that for? You know I like having sweet breakfasts,” was fuming even close to what you are feeling? Probably not. “Yes I can clearly see that, you’ve let yourself go as well. Do you think that boyfriend of yours will stick around when you start putting on even more weight?”

At a loss for words, you turn to your father, who has been quiet this whole time, for any sense of support when it comes to his wife. But the way he presses his lips together tells you all you need to know, how just because he isn’t bad as her, doesn’t make him that great of a parent. That standing by while you have been bullied your entire childhood and well into your adulthood is just as bad as being the cause of it. 

“God forbid he realizes how much of a train wreck you really are and throws you on the side of the street, because you know damn well we won’t be here to pick you up.”

It began as a whispering in the air. The day had been beautiful -well, as beautiful as it can be with the kind of day you’re having- and the sky was like a dome of plasma-blue. The clouds had looked like airy anvils drifting under the gleaming disc of sun. People quickened their pace as the clouds began to gather in the sky. The postcard-perfect sky started changing. The beautiful cocktail-blue shade merged in with the flaming orange and mesmerizing purple as the sun sunk deep into the horizon, before beginning to darken into gravel-grey. Large pillows of cloud start to form, blocking out the old-gold color of the sun.

The first splatter of rain hits you when you’re halfway across the street, dismissing the need to take shelter under the roof of the buildings like some passersby are doing, hoping to see out the shower. Droplets of moisture begin to drip onto your head, sprinkling onto you like a gardener’s hose. It was well after your meal with your parents, and you had spent the last few hours walking aimlessly through the streets, making sure to avoid those covered by your boyfriend during his patrol. Hoping, praying, that something will clear your head, will help your poor jumbled mess of a mind forget about this entire nightmare of a day.

Should’ve listened to him 

The rainfall intensifies, the drops drumming against the hood of the cars that you pass by, there is so much rain that the sound blurs into one long, whirring noise, reminding you of the blades of the fan that you stuck your finger in, that one time when you were left alone in your house when you were only five years of age. Eventually, they fade into a musical chime as you push your drenched hair away from your face and feel the vibration from your phone as it rings the ninth, maybe tenth time. 

He told me so. 

Tall apartment complex building; you couldn’t see its end from where you stand. You shiver as you approach it, the doorman - bless his heart - running and placing his umbrella to futilely shield you from the rain, and you just laugh and tell him that you’re already drenched and just waiting to go back home.

God forbid he realizes how much of train wreck I am

Not wanting to dampen the people at the elevator and make them uncomfortable, you take the stairs up to your shared apartment, you usually don't mind the exercise but with how heavy you feel after the rain and day spent up on your sore feet, all you think about is locking yourself in your room and discover what kind of new façade could you try and fool Katsuki with when he reaches home.

Just how I trick him into thinking I’m not with him to leech off of him

Eventually and with a struggle, you make it to the door, dreading the sight you might come to face, almost hoping for a black hole to emerge and swallow you whole.

What would people say about me? Do people think I’m crazy?

With a forced exhale out of your lungs, you fetch the key from your bag to unlock the door, but it’s wrenched open before you have a chance to insert your key.

“Where the hell have you been?” 

Your eyes meet the beautiful rubies of Katsuki, and despite his anger that always overcompensates his worry, you smile and throw yourself on him. The shivering ceasing when he wraps his warm arms around you and that loving caramel scent engulfs you, in spite of how your hair is drenching his shirt and how you sniff against his neck.

“You need a shower, you’re shivering.”

“Take one with me?” you look up at him through your lashes, and he blinks at your uncharacterized boldness but agrees nonetheless, helping you out of your clothes and turning on the hot water before stepping in with you.

It is a struggle to help you clean up when all you do is grab at him, whether they’re your hands on his shoulders to lower him to kiss you, wrapping your arms around him and pressing your breasts against him, or palming his hardening cock as the poor man tries to shampoo your hair.

“Would ya knock it off? I’m tryna help you here shitty woman” you frown and squint your eyes when the shampoo gets close to them. “I wanna have sex.” 

“Yea I can fuckin tell, just lemme-” you bring his arms down and press his palms to your boobs, letting go of his wrist when he starts squeezing at them. “Do you not want to?” he gulps, his dick twitching at the feeling of your soft mounds in his hands, your nipples covered up by the suds from the shampoo, as your finger traces the underside of his cock. “Yeah, I uh, fuck, I do, just- you need to wash up so you don’t get sick, alright?”

“Do you not think I’m pretty anymore?” you pout childishly, tears threatening to escape your eyes, and they burn as you close them when he washes the product out of your hair, a deep frown on his lips when you open your eyes back again. “The fuck you on about? That rain really fucked with ya?”

“Are you gonna get rid of me when you realize how much of a mess I am?” you whisper, your voice muffled under the sound of the shower above you, and you keep quiet as he helps you scrub your body, but your boyfriend is observant, he isn’t fucking dense.

“What do you want, right now?” he lowers himself to your level when he’s done, his hands stroking your cheeks as he eyes the way the water droplets cling to your lashes, but still not missing the red rimming around your eyes.

“I just wanna for- I uh, I wanna have sex.” you mumble, a plea hidden underneath your words, a plea to help you forget, to help you bury this day behind you and pretend it never happened.

What you don’t expect is the way that Katsuki pulls your naked wet body out of the bathroom and drops you on the bed, feeling your bodies dampening the bed as he hovers over you, no words are spoken between you as he kisses and nips at your skin. Marking it up and down as he all but worships your body, strands of his hair tangle between your fingers when you run your hands through it, arching your back at the feeling of his tongue tasting your slick.

He doesn’t let up until you cry out, and not in pleasure, your sobs far beyond those he loves to hear when he’s denying you an orgasm. No, they’re sobs that wreck your whole body, kicking away at his shoulders as you curl in on yourself and wail into the sheets. Sitting on his haunches on the floor, Katsuki’s eye soften at your figure, the way your shoulders are shaking and how -yet again- you’re trying to muffle your cries with the sheets this time, pressing your face against the mattress in an attempt to lower your noise, as your mother would call it.

“Hey, look at me” you feel his lips grazing your ear as he kisses it, pressing his lips against your temple, fingers unwrapping your fist against the sheet and digging into your hands and pressing kisses against the nail marks in the palm of your hands. “There she is, there’s my girl.” you hear when you lift your head from the bed, sight blurry from your shed tears but still easy to distinguish Katsuki even between billions of people.

You sniff when he kisses at your lids, groan when he chuckles and calls you ‘snot the naught’ when you wipe your nose with the back of your hand, beaming when he hears you let out one weak chuckle at the way he teases you. Still pressing his lips against any surface of skin he can reach.

“You don’t have to talk about it you know, to me at least” he mumbles to you when you’re both dressed in your sleepwear and are cuddling on the dry side of the bed, opting to change the sheet the next day. “Maybe, maybe we can get someone who can help you, you know.” you press your face deeper between his neck and shoulder, shuddering when his warm palms rub your back from under your shirt. 

“I can make some calls, get in contact with someone.” you lift your head. “But I can’t afford-” he tuts and frowns at you “None of that.” 

“Remember what I said when we agreed to move in?” you do, you just love the sound of his voice when he says it, feels like he’s making all these promises all over again. “Tell me.”

“Told ya I’d be whoever you want me to be, whoever you need me to be. I’ll be yer mom, even better than that bitch, I’ll support and love you unconditionally.” you sniff and tighten your hold against him as he presses his lips against your cheek. 

“I’d be better than yer pussy dad, you can rely on me any time and I’ll live up to all your expectations. And callin me daddy is always a plus” he tangles his legs with your own when you wiggle away from him, laughing and giving you no chance of escape, not that you are even thinking of it. 

“I’d even be yer genius fuckin nanny that taught you to tell yer mom to go fuck herself when you were four,” your suppressed giggles lights him up and he can’t help but chuckle as well. “I’ll be anything and everything you’ll ever need, baby. I’ll be your goddamn hero.”

The sun comes out again, casting slanted beams of light across the buildings. Steam rises slowly from the greenery. It rises up eerily and drifts mist-like towards the molten-gold sun, right before it escapes into the abyss. The image is so vivid that it stays with you for as long as you remember. Because on this exact day, the shrieking that follows you everywhere you go, haunting you and mocking you, suddenly is nowhere to be found. And all you can hear is the comforting sound of Katsuki as he hums you a lullaby to sleep.

aaaah I hope you like it!

[systlinsideblog]

Part 5

Systlin slept. 

She always dreamed in vivid detail; scents, sounds, touch. Often, the dream felt quite real, until of course she woke. 

This dream was warm. The warmth of the feather bed, of the blankets. The pleasant warmth from the summer breeze blowing through the open window. The warmth, most of all, of Foicatch. 

She rested her cheek against the solid warmth of his chest, eyes closed. The beat of his heart, the tickle of the hairs on his chest against her nose, the smell of his skin, were all as vivid as reality. 

He smelled faintly of smoke; he'd been in the forge, then. He didn't need to, of course. Hadn't, for a long time. A Bloodguard earned quite enough to  hire a smith for whatever they might need, and a King Consort had the royal smith at his disposal.

But Foicatch, before any of that, had been the son of a master carpenter, and a smith's apprentice. He wore the tattoo on his arm that proclaimed his journeyman status proudly, even after two years spent in a city guard, a decade and more in the Bloodguard, and another twenty years as King Consort. 

He rather liked rubbing it in the faces of some of the high lords and high ladies, to be quite honest. A smith was an honored craftsman. And he liked the forge. He liked watching the colors of the flames, the smell of hot metal and smoke, the steam from the quench tank. He liked the sound of the hammer and the feel of it in his hand. And so, quite often, the King Consort of the Northern Lands, the father of the heir to the Throne of the North, would go down to the royal smithy and serve as assistant to the master smith of Stellas Keep. 

He joked sometimes that he was still working for his master-craft tattoo. It was, Systlin knew, not entirely a joke. 

She pressed her cheek against the solid warmth of him. His hand was moving, fingertips stroking her spine from nape of neck to small of back and back up.

His fingers were rough, both from a sword and from the forge hammer. Systlin liked that about them, and how strong they were. 

The sensation of his heartbeat under her cheek, the lingering glow of pleasure shared, and the fingers stroking her back were glorious. She hummed in pleasure, and felt him chuckle softly. 

"Little cat." He said, teasingly. "You're purring."

"Mmm." She kept her eyes closed. She was the Queen Regnant of the North, had fought two wars, held the high lords in check mainly through fear of her and had earned the love of the common folk by shedding blood and sweat for them. She was a Breaker, the first in centuries, and rumored to be the most powerful yet to live. She held that power, and herself, on a tight leash.

 But here, in the bedroom she shared with her husband, it all melted away for a little while. 

She wondered, yet again, if he knew just how much he was the center of sanity that kept her moored and grounded. She had told him, of course, but still. 

Foicatch shifted. She made a sound of protest, and he tweaked the gold ring in her ear playfully. She sat up reluctantly, eyeing the matching bond-ring in his ear and contemplating tugging back. 

"I have something for you." His voice was soft. 

She raised an eyebrow. He rolled to the side; she appreciated the shift of his muscles under his skin as he did so. He was a wonderfully built man. 

"Here." He took something from the bed-table, and turned back to her. "I made this today." 

'This' was a small round piece of iron. It was beautifully made, twisted threads of wire in a complicated interlinked pattern of knots. In the center was engraved the eight-pointed star of her family. It was strung on a chain, and clearly meant to be worn as a pendant. 

"You made it?" She put it on happily. 

"I purified the steel from ore myself. And quenched it in water mixed with a drop of my own blood. I burned three of my hairs, three of yours, and three of Serra's on it, for the forge spirits." He ducked his head a little, as if embarrassed. "They'll protect you, if you wear it." 

It was an old ritual, Systlin knew. Hairs from her head, his, and their child, offered to the forge-spirits for protection. His own blood in the quench-tank, to keep away rust and wear. 

"I know you don't need it." He was saying, still seeming embarrassed. "But..."

She kissed him. Hard and at length. 

"Thank you." She told him, when they finally came up for air. He smiled, his face lighting up like the sun, and kissed her again....

Systlin woke. 

The furs next to her were empty, of course. On her breast, the iron of the pendant Foicatch had made her long ago was as cold as ice. 

The loneliness hit her like a brick, but there wasn't time to dwell on it. 

From outside the wagon there was a cry of alarm. 

She was on her feet and had her weapons in hand before it faded. There were sounds of a struggle from outside, and she was moving, barefoot and wearing her sleeping tunic, reactions honed by decades of experience engaged instantly. 

It was coming from the rear of the wagon. The wood that made the wagon was sturdy, but it was roofed in canvas. Even as she leapt towards the sound of the commotion, a knife blade was stabbed through the canvas to slice a way into her wagon. 

The wood of the wagon was sturdy. 

That did not matter, to a Breaker, in the slightest. 

The rear wall of the wagon fractured violently into a million splinters as she Broke it; she closed her eyes and raised an arm to protect them as she dove through the cloud of them. 

She went low out of sheer instinct. Dove through the splinters, hit the ground outside in a shoulder roll and was back on her feet in an instant. Spun, taking in the scene before her. 

A woman was on the ground, her throat slit. Another was crying the alarm, pointing to the wagon. A man was struggling to regain his feet as splinters rained down around him; he must, she surmised, have been climbing the back wall of her wagon. A knife lay beside him. 

A second man was stumbling backwards, caught off guard by the explosion of splinters. He was armed with a quiva and a lance. 

He saw her, and his eyes widened. 

The cold light clarity of battle was setting in already. Systlin bared her teeth in a horrible parody of a smile, and lunged. 

She was faster than him. She was better trained than him. She had the element of surprise. 

It was a credit to his own skills that he managed to regain his footing and twist out of the way of the sword strike that would have gutted him. It was even more to his credit that he managed to parry the dagger strike that would have torn his throat open. 

He did not dodge the knee kick. Systlin slammed her heel into his kneecap, and felt the crunch as bone gave way. He fell as the leg gave out, and lashed out savagely at her with his lance. 

He was very fast. She was faster. Ice  snapped down to parry the lance, and she sank her dagger to the hilt in his neck, just above the collarbone. 

Then she was past him, and advancing on the stunned man struggling to find his breath again. He'd fallen a good eight feet from the top of her wagon, and the wind had been knocked out of him. He was bleeding in a dozen places, from where splinters had driven into flesh. 

He saw her coming, and reached for the knife. She smiled at him, baring her teeth in the sheer bloody delight of battle, and stepped on the weapon, kicking it away. 

"I was wondering," she told him, even as her guards finally arrived with weapons drawn. "how long it would take you bastards." 

 An hour later, the bound prisoner had been carted away. The corpse had been disposed of, and Systlin was back to bed. 

They'd both been men granted freedom for apparent good behavior. To be honest, she'd known that some of them were acting, and had expected this. 

It had been some time since she'd had assassins try to kill her in the night. It was rather refreshing, actually. Her aunt had always maintained that regular practice was needed to keep skills sharp. 

The chill had faded from her pendant. She held it, for a long moment, imagining for a moment that she could still smell him, could still feel his touch. 

She reached up and touched the rings in her ear...two of them, one a gold ring set with a ruby, the second silver, and set with sapphire. Foicatch wore a matching sapphire bond-ring. Sura wore a matching ring of ruby. 

How long had she been here? Four weeks now? 

Systlin Stellas, Queen of the Northern Lands, was not given to tears. But even so, as she lay in her bed alone, she felt wetness on her cheeks. 

 Come morning, when she had the prisoner dragged before her as she held court in the open space before her wagon, she had composed herself again. 

The man who'd tried to kill her was not the only prisoner present. She'd had the men who'd not yet been freed dragged before her too, and set where they could watch. They were silent, and stoic. Systlin had come to expect that of them. 

Despite this, of course, she noted with some pleasure that the presence of the severed head of her would-be assassin spiked on a lance set in the ground did seem to draw their eyes. 

She smiled pleasantly at them. She'd learned years ago that it unnerved people when she did this. 

"I am honestly surprised," she said. "That it took you this long."

The bound prisoner spat at her feet. She ignored this. 

"I would like to publicly recognize," she continued, "Dina of Turia, who was clever enough both to recognize that an attempt would likely be made, and to think of setting guards at the rear of my wagon as well as the front."

Dina smiled brilliantly at the praise, and brought her lance to her forehead in salute. Her smile faltered, though; Systlin knew that she'd insisted on arranging for the death-rites of the slain guardswoman personally. 

"I am sorry, Ubara." She said. "That your guards failed to stop them." 

Systlin shook her head. "You cannot expect to best trained warriors after a month of practice. I have said as much. But they saw the men, and warned me, and it was clever of you to deduce where such an attack might be made."

That got another smile. "I have lived among Tuchuks." She said. "I've learned how they think."

"Now, of course, we deal with you." Systlin stood, and drew her sword. The prisoner met her eyes, defiant. 

"Go on, sleen." He said. "You are no Ubara." 

"Ah. Of course. Because I have not killed your former Ubar." She smiled at his shock, and in the gathered prisoners there were many suddenly wide eyes. "What? You think that I've not spoken to people? You think that the other women didn't tell me? What kind of fool do you take me for?"

Shock, from many of the men. But from the women, mocking laughter. 

"It is a situation easily remedied." She smiled at him, and then planted her feet and cut, swift and hard, pivoting from the hips. 

Ice cut through muscle and bone quite easily. The head hit the ground with a thump and rolled. Systlin ignored the body as it fell, and pointed towards the prisoners with the bloodied blade of Ice. 

"You," she said, still smiling. "Kamchak, is it? Ubar of the Tuchuks?"

The man met her eyes steadily. She saw anger there, but no fear. He was, if nothing else, brave. 

"A lesson I learned long ago." She told him. "Is that a queen with no people who follow her is no queen at all. And you, former Ubar, have barely a handful of men loyal to you. I have six thousand loyal to me. So who, here, is Ubara?" 

He spat. 

"But I am willing," she continued, "to do this properly. It will be a pleasure, even." She nodded to her guards. "Remove his chains, and give him weapons. If he wants his position back, he can fight me for it." 

There was a roar from the gathered women, and Systlin smiled as Kamchak's eyes narrowed, and he bared his teeth right back at her. 

 We had known, of course. It had been whispered about camp, and the men who had managed to convince the women to free them had consulted Kamchak many times in the previous days. It had been done quietly, of course; Tuchuks are clever.

On the night that the attack was to occur, we of course heard the commotion, as the wagon we were chained to was not far distant from that claimed by Systlin. Adjacent to it, in fact, as I seemed to be of special interest to her and she apparently wished to keep me under close scrutiny. 

I had asked for Kamchak to at least be chained near me. The request had been granted. We sat practically on, indeed, the flat space of grass before the great wagon that she used as her court. 

We heard, quite quickly, that it had failed. Systlin sent out messengers immediately, and spent an hour before her wagon in plain view of any and all who wished to  see that she lived. 

She was wearing a brief silk tunic, as she had no doubt been startled from sleep. Her legs were strong; far too strong for Gorean tastes, but still shapely. The image was somewhat marred by the blood that had dripped down her thigh as she carried the head of her slain enemy to the lance fixed in the turf for this purpose. 

The second man who'd attempted the attack was dragged to the grass before her, chained hand and foot and hand to foot, and tied down to lances sunk deeply into the turf. 

The women, I noted, did not cringe so any longer when shouted at by an angry warrior. His cries of rage were ignored. 

I noticed, for the first time, how well formed were the muscles of the women. I supposed that the hard work at camp and the running after the kaiila of their masters had always left the girls in excellent physical form. Had the last month of their play at weapons truely wrought such a change, though?

Or had the girls always been so fit, and I had simply not seen them drag a grown warrior by his hair before?

Systlin sat there holding court, clad in red silk and the blood of a slain warrior, a man who'd been sent to kill her bound before her, the firelight casting flickering shadow and light over the scene, seated on the furs and pillows as if they were a throne of gold and rubies. 

She met my eyes once, in the shadows, and her smile was a terrible thing to behold.  

For the first time since the she-demon had arrived, I understood how such a creature could be called a queen. 

It's said on Gor that a woman who enjoys the touch of silk is a slave at heart. I wondered if the man who had first said it had ever seen a woman wearing silk and the blood of a slain enemy. I found myself, for the first time in a great while, doubting the phrase. 

Come morning, of course, we were dragged to court. And there, of course, Systlin killed the warrior who'd attempted to kill her before all the Tuchuk. I had supposed as much would happen, once I had heard of the failure of the attack. 

I had not supposed that she would call out Kamchak, or agree to fight him. 

Kamchak, of course, accepted. 

As the corpse of the executed warrior was removed from the circle, I realized that I had never yet seen the she-sleen truly fight. 

"Be careful," I said to Kamchak. 

He nodded, once. She was only a woman, of course, and he was proud...but I saw him narrow his eyes at her, thoughtful, as his chains were removed. 

He was sly, the Ubar of the Tuchuks. I knew this. 

"It is unfair." He said, as his ankle chains were unlocked. "You wear armor, and I am nearly naked." 

Systlin smiled, just a twitch of her lips, and removed the red larl-hide cloak, and her leather vest. The glittering shirt of strange scales was brilliant in the sun. I could see no two scales of precisely the same shade. 

She bent at the waist and wriggled out of the armor, leaving her in just the padded shirt that went under the armor. She unsheathed her dagger and spun it around the back of her hand, quicker than the eye could follow, the hilt sliding neatly back into her hand as the spin finished. 

"There." She said. "Choose whatever weapons you please." 

Kamchak observed her, eyes narrow, for some time. Then at last, he spoke. "Lance," he said, "And quiva." 

Systlin nodded, and weapons were brought. 

"You have the sun at your back," Kamchak observed. "So that it will shine in my eyes." 

"Yes." She answered him calmly, matter of fact. She made no offer to change the situation. 

"That is wise. I would do the same."

She inclined her head perhaps an inch in acknowledgement. 

"If I defeat you, I will simply kill you." He informed her. "You are too dangerous to make a slave, witch." 

She smiled at that, showing teeth. 

"I suppose if I seized one of these women as hostage, you would simply overpower me with sorcery." He stretched, and weighed quiva and lance in his hands. 

"Of course." 

Kamchak approached her, cautious. Systlin waited, and I saw her shift her weight slightly. She was balanced on the balls of her feet, I saw, her legs spread slightly in a way that would give her stable footing and allow her to move any direction at the slightest notice. 

"Tarl Cabot," Kamchak said, and I started. "It would be a terrible thing, should this witch slay me, and no one else know that which you seek is currently within my own wagon, and has often served me as throne." 

I started; the gray, leathery thing that I had supposed was a bundle of old leather, and which Kamchak often sat upon? 

Of course, it was like a Tuchuk, to hide such a treasure in the most clever of ways...

There was a ring of metal on metal, and I was torn from such thoughts. Kamchak had hurled a quiva, as he had at me once upon a time. And as I had, Systlin had apparently seen the throw coming, though it was so quick as to be missed upon blinking. She had moved, just as quickly, and the ringing had been her sword meeting the quiva in mid-air, and parrying it to the side. 

I had seen her before in bits and flashes in the battle that terrible night, and later executing bound prisoners. Her form with a blade, I had thought, was good. 

I had been wrong before. Her form with a blade was excellent, and beyond excellent. 

It struck me, as she nimbly dodged a striking lance and the slashing blow of a second quiva, Kamchak bringing it up and around in a hidden strike close on the heels of his lunge with the lance, that she would have compared favorably with the best of the warriors of Ko-ro-ba. 

As she danced in, light and nimble, and drove him back on his heels with a vicious, lightning quick series of strikes, it occurred to me that she was likely quicker on her feet than even I. 

The sword and dagger at once was not a common combination on Gor, but the she-sleen used them to devastating effect. One may parry while the other attacks, and attack may follow attack without the slightest moment of respite. Equally, both may be used to turn aside blows given in return, though this relies upon the warrior being quick and nimble and possessed of excellent timing.

Systlin was all three. She was quick, marvelously quick. She was nimble, her footing flawless. Her timing was precise and deadly.

Within the first exchange, she had opened a deep bleeding slash into Kamchak's arm with that dagger, and as he fought to hold those biting blades off the sword slipped around and opened a cut into his thigh. 

Kamchak's lance gave him reach, and he was quick on his feet as well. As she pivoted neatly around his lance and cut for his neck with a vicious flat slice of her sword, he threw himself to the side unexpectedly and hurled his quiva, at nearly point blank range. 

She saw, and with a degree of control over her body and momentum that I had thought nearly impossible checked her momentum and changed direction, but still the quiva opened a cut across the front of her thigh. 

Both warriors fell back, eyeing one another. Kamchak was serious, deadly so. Systlin was grinning, and I have seen that grin before on the battlefield. 

Only warriors who truly delight in the fight smile so. 

As we watched, the she-sleen lowered her hand, dipped two fingers into the blood flowing from her wound, and drew them across her cheek, smearing scarlet like war-paint across her skin. 

"U-BAR-A!" There was chanting from the massed Tuchuk. A few, though, including the other still-imprisoned warriors, were crying "U-BAR!"

"You are good." Kamchak admitted. 

Systlin simply grinned, and began circling. If the pain of her wound was troubling her, she did not reveal it. 

Twice more they clashed, and twice more the she-sleen opened up wounds on Kamchak and then retreated to resume her circling. Kamchak did not manage to wound her a second time in these clashes. 

I realized to my horror, as she closed the third time and hooked a blow of the lance out of the air as neatly as one could please, simply to rotate around and drive her elbow viciously into the back of Kamchak's skull, that she was toying with him. 

Kamchak knew as well, as she retreated to resume that relentless circling again. The blow had dazed him for a moment, and she could have slain him on the spot, but she only pricked him yet again with that dagger, opening a slash across the back of his shoulder to join the half-dozen others he was bleeding from. 

"Sleen." He panted. 

"I prefer" she said, still smiling that cold and vicious smile, "to be called 'Queen'."

And with that, she moved in again. 

Kamchak was a great warrior, and a canny one. Kamchak fought well. Kamchak fought with a skill that would have been credit to any warrior of Ko-ro-ba. Kamchak fought with skill and speed and guile. But no man can stand forever when bleeding from a dozen wounds.

Kamchak fought well. Kamchak fought bravely. And Kamchak died, a warrior of the Tuchuk, without begging or crying out in pain, when the she-sleen tired of the game. 

She did not quite behead him. When his guard dropped, dragged down by exhaustion and blood loss, she cut again with that strange sword and opened his throat clear back to the bones of his spine. 

Kamchak, Ubar of the Tuchuk, fell. I did not look away as his life bled out across the grass; I owed him that much. 

Systlin turned to us as Kamchak fell, fierce and furious. 

"There lies your Ubar." She cried this out, and I knew at once that she was used to speaking so that her voice would carry over battlefields. "Now we will have done with this! Is there anyone else among you who would challenge me? Because now is the time! If you wish to avenge your men, if you wish to claim the Ubar title...now is the fucking time! Because the next time I have to get out of bed to an assassination attempt, I am going to slow roast the balls of anyone involved and feed them to you." 

Silence. 

"Then." She hissed. "Who is the fucking Ubara here?"

I could say nothing, and I was not the only one to look away.

“That’s what I fucking thought.”

 Three days later

“Fuck.” Systlin dug her fingertips into her temples. She could feel a headache coming on, and it was only midmorning. “Fuck. What is wrong with this place?”

Dina gave an apologetic sort of shrug. “I cannot answer that for you, Ubara. But the Tuchuk had been preparing for the Love Games for some time, and it is considered the event of events on the plains. We could simply move the bosk on and skip it, though it will be noted.”

Systlin gritted her teeth. Her new warriors were not well trained enough to put up against those who had been trained, as she had, since they were old enough to hold swords. They were eager, she knew, but simply not yet ready for such a fight. It would be a slaughter, and she would not have it.

“Abominable fucking tradition.” She muttered. “What will happen to the Turian women placed at the stakes if we simply do not show?”

Her advisors glanced at each other and shrugged. “I do not know, Ubara.” Said Shayla, a fiercely intelligent woman. She had a keen mind for numbers and a genius for organization, and Systlin had promptly snapped her up to assist with logistics. Her former and very deceased master had kept her in a length of nearly transparent silk that barely counted as a scarf; now she wore a long bosk-wool skirt and a conservatively cut tunic, and her hair was braided and pinned up in a coil. “But I am not Turian.”

“It would be counted as a win for the Turian champions.” Dina said. “And they will be free to go. But the Tuchuk will be marked as cowards, and runners will be sent to investigate.”

“Ah.” Systlin relaxed a bit. “Well. That’s no problem. I don’t care what they think of us for now, and a few runners are easily disposed of. We simply do not go, then, and we will come back and deal with Turia when the warriors are ready.”

“The Turians,” interjected Mettna, a Tuchuk Free Woman. She also had a keen mind for logistics, and was the matriarch of a large extended family with many ties throughout the Tuchuk. Gorean laws or not, she ruled her family uncontested, and her word was law among them. Even her teenaged sons and nephews bowed their heads when she fixed them with a flinty stare. “Will consider the women the Tuchuk would have placed at the stakes theirs by default, and they will come looking for them.” A dark look; her youngest daughter Hireena had been among those intended for the stakes. “They take pleasure in breaking us to the collar and chain.”

Systlin’s hand tightened reflexively on her dagger. “If they come looking,” She said. “I’ll make drinking bowls of their skulls, and send the rest of them back to Turia.”

“Good.” A nod. “I simply wanted you to know, Ubara.”

“And it is appreciated.” Systlin tilted her head at Dina. “It would be good practice for the warriors. Fighting for real with your life on the line is much different than doing it in practice. I know that you are impatient, Dina, but I didn’t learn in a month either.”

Dina nodded. “When DO you think…” she trailed off.

“A year, perhaps.” Systlin shrugged. “It depends on how hard you train, and how many chances there are to raid and test yourself in small skirmishes. You’ve all thrown yourselves in heart and soul, and are progressing remarkably. Keep training, and you’ll be flaying slave masters sooner than you think.”

Dina looked mollified at that.

“So it is decided then. We continue to move over the grazing grounds, bide our time, gather our strength, train, and ignore this abomination called “Love Games.” Systlin nodded to each of them. “Ah, Shayla. I had meant to ask…you had located the stocks of that stuff you call the ‘releaser?’ And the stuff you call ‘sip-root?’”

“We have, Ubara. One or two of the women have requested the releaser. I gave it to them. I hope that was not…”

“Not at all. Such things are entirely up to the individual. Continue to distribute it to any who ask, and notify me if stocks run low. I am not adverse to raiding for more supplies of any sort, should they be needed. How many men remain living?”

“Thirty two of adult years. Many more nearing adulthood, though many of them have been…difficult. There will be problems there, Ubara.”

“I know. But those will be dealt with as they come. Children have not owned slaves or raped women yet, and I’ll not punish them for their upbringing. There’s hope of teaching them better yet.” She tapped her fingers against her thigh thoughtfully. “Your siproot, quite honestly, rather reminds me of stoneseed, from my own world.”

“And Silphium.” The woman named Elizabeth put in abruptly. “From mine. The Romans…an empire, some two thousand years ago…used it so much that it was harvested to extinction, but it was apparently quite effective.” She worried at her lower lip with her teeth. “I wonder…if this siproot was grown on Earth…there’s so many who don’t have access to birth control yet. It’s a hardy plant. It could change so many lives for the better.”

Systlin raised an eyebrow. “Indeed. Stoneseed is considered a basic stock necessity for any civilized place on Ellinon, as siproot seems to be here. What is done then on Earth, to prevent unwanted children?”

“Well.” A helpless sort of shrug. “We’ve pills that work well, and barrier devices, but…well, in some places there’s not much, and while we’ve plants too many are toxic or don’t work well. So, in those places there’s just…nothing.”

Systlin hissed through her teeth in disapproval. “It’s a worthy thought, then. But before we can figure out how to return you to your own world, we must set this one to rights.” She rose, as did the other women in the wagon. “Thank you all. We will speak again later.”

Outside the wagon, she found her kailla, mounted, and went for a ride around the perimeter of the camp. She’d taken to doing so regularly; an early and hard lesson had been that people need to see their leaders.

Her father had ignored this fact. He’d died for it, with her brother, and the northern lands had dissolved into war for a decade.

After her circuit of the camp, she went to the field where the fighters were training. A few of the freed men had offered to help teach, and were so far proving helpful. Systlin had been dubious; the women of this place were so conditioned to expect nothing but brutality at a man’s hands that she’d wondered if it wouldn’t cause more harm than good. However, it seemed, after some tentative starts, to be helping both sides. The women were faster losing their ingrained flinching cringe when a man moved towards them, and the men, she knew, had been stunned by how quickly the women took to training. She’d heard them speaking to the still chained men about it, and arguing. She’d seen them as well cuff and get into yelling matches with a few of the sullenly furious teenaged boys who were nearing manhood, and had found their expected power ripped away in a moment.

The man named Carl Tabot was there too. He was still chained, foot to foot, and was simply allowed to correct errors when he saw them. She’d contemplated killing him; she was certain, in her bones, that he was guilty of the same atrocities of most of the other men. But she’d no proof, and the man was a skilled warrior; she’d only broken his leg rather than killed him for that, and because she’d noted the first time he spoke that he was not of these wagon people.

He spotted her, and glowered. She was more than certain that he’d happily stick a knife through her throat in her sleep if he thought he could get by with it. She smiled at him in return, the sharp, worrying flash of teeth that was famed and feared across the sands and the northern lands. He flinched, and glowered at her.

Fuck, but she would have given anything to have Foicatch there. The ingrained misogyny of this world ran deep, and she knew that words from a man would be more seriously taken than her words, however thoroughly she demonstrated that she was, in fact, the new superior power on this planet.

Actually, the idea was quite amusing. The men of this place had made it quite obvious what they thought of being ‘true men’, and that men not like them were ‘weak’ and ‘unmanned’. Foicatch, all six feet three inches and two hundred fifty granite-hewn, deadly warrior-trained pounds of him, could hardly ever be called either. But, like most real men, Foicatch was quite secure in himself and felt little need to loudly proclaim it for everyone to hear. He was, really, far more even-tempered and easygoing than she. He’d be mostly bemused by the arrogant, angry posturing and bellowing and rage of the men of this shithole.

Until he was not. It took a great deal to rouse Foicatch’s ire, but once roused it was terrible.

Systlin entertained the thought of one of the sullen, angry Tuchuk boys being dangled from one of ‘Catch’s hands, her beloved bellowing at the little shit, and smiled again in private amusement.

[echo-three-one]

Chapter 40

THE ROAD SO FAR

It's not that hard to say goodbye. But it's really sad for the notable few who enjoyed it.

The SIXth Ship

"Alex"

Sierra Leone, Africa

"Echo 3 - 1 to Hunter One One. We have confirmed the presence of a suspected SAM Turret. Advising not to deploy air support until it's down, over." Alex muttered over the radio as he lowered his scope.

"Copy that, Three One. We'll stand by for your go signal." Roach replied as Alex signaled his team to move forward, covering Alpha Team's six.

"This place is suspiciously quiet." Price muttered over comms.

"It's 5 am. Bad guys probably needed sleep too." Alex commented, scoping on what's head of Team Alpha.

"Well, I want Volt awake, so I could beat Nero's location out of him." Price spat.

"Guardhouse on the east. Single guard, fast asleep."Alex shot his suppressed rifle as the guard dropped to the ground.

"Good Night."

"I'm hearing an engine starting on our east." Soap whispered as Alex turned his scope east. There was indeed a truck load of food arriving at their base.

"Civilian delivery truck." Alex warned.

"Let him pass. He'll notice the dead guard and run." Price predicted and it actually happened as the innocent driver sped off away from the base.

"How long till he calls the cops?" Alex asked.

"Never. France already bribed the guy." Soap answered.

"What?" Alex was puzzled.

"Welcome to Africa." Soap chuckled and they hid into the supply truck while Price drove inside.

"Alright, we're in. Soap and France should plant charges on SAMs and Comms. Once their alarm rings we light things up." Price ordered as Alex's team advanced and circled the perimeter, protecting the gates.

"Where could Volt be hiding?" Alex asked.

"Could be anywhere. This base has lots of buildings." Rocket replied not far behind him.

"There are also six ships by the dock. He could be in one of those." Royce added.

"Alpha Team, we've got movement on your six. Looks like they're looking for their supply drop. They're by the truck and unloading their supplies." Alex warned as the three remained quiet.

"Tango by the guard house down." Rocket confirmed his kill as the body dropped on the ground.

"They're about to discover their dead allies. Prepare for the alarm!" Alex roared as their alarm system activated, dozens of troops from their camps emerged carrying weapons.

"Shit! I'm taking sniper fire by the rooftops!" Soap yelled over comms. Bravo team immediately turned their sights to the rooftops and took down the snipers with ease.

"There's no sign of Volt here. He must've woken up early. Rendezvous with me by the tower." Price muttered.

"Sir. This is Meat from Charlie Team. We've confirmed movement on the docks. No positive ID of Volt yet."

"Copy that meat. Proceeding to the docks." Price said as gunfire echoed through his comms.

"Seeing multiple reinforcements from the gate!" Alex alerted as they attempted to shoot down armored cars loaded with more enemies.

"Alex! This area is compromised!" One of his allies suggested as smoke started to cover their forest.

"Shit! We'll have to meet up with them inside! Change to assault weapons and advance to the gate. You two cover our six using thermals." The two nodded as Alex switched to his assault rifle, advancing towards the gate, taking down reinforcements as they arrived.

"Price? Soap? France? Sitrep?" He roared through comms as his team was now barraged with heavy fire as they hid for cover.

"This is Bravo Six. I made my way inside the last ship. Looks like he's trying to escape. France and Soap are by the docks taking heavy fire. I'll handle Volt from here. You hold out for extraction. It looked like we didn't have a choice." Price said.

Alex felt the heat of the explosion as the ground shook. Soap had detonated the charges they set and help was on the way.

"Roach!" Soap sounded hurt.

"Way ahead of you!" Roach said as the air support bombarded the base with grenade shells, blasting every enemy away as the ground troops recovered.

"Reloading for another round. Stand by." He said as the plane circled back.

"Okay team! Their numbers have reduced. Let's finish this." Alex informed his bravo team as they finished off the remaining waves of enemies, which were too resourceful as they also had attack hyenas, something they didn't expect.

"These dogs are furious!" One commented as they entered the gates, securing the whole base or what's left of it, for valuable intel.

"Echo Three One to Actual. Jack, it looked like they cleaned this place already."

"Actual to Three One. Looks like it. I guess their getaway ship had all his latest work."

"Charlie team found a way to follow them. Bravo team resume recon on the five ships." Jack commanded and the rest followed

"Copy that, Actual. Proceeding towards the ships with caution." Alex replied as they carefully pressed deeper into the base toward the pier. Alex wondered how many piers and ships had been involved on his missions. Looks like Nero doesn't trust air travel.

The ships were rusted and broken, but the components inside were new stacks of equipment possibly used for his bomb making.

"This sly guy hides his stuff inside these rusty ships." Alex reported, his voice echoed around the ship.

"We're all clear, Alex. This ship is empty of tangos." One of his allies reported.

"So are the other ones." Another one reported.

"We found the rest of Alpha team by the pier. Looks like Soap's injured." Said another.

"Copy that. Stay frosty. We have no visual of the entrance so reinforcements might arrive." Alex replied to everyone.

"Roger that." The rest of his team replied in unison. Roach's Air support chopper hovered ahead of them and followed the getaway ship, providing support to Capt. Price. Charlie team had borrowed some small boats to aid in Volt's capture.

"It's all up to him now." Alex muttered as they resumed securing the enemy base.

"So, how was your day?" Samantha smiled, slipping herself inside the covers as she lay down beside Alex. The tired man huffed out a sigh and looked at her beautiful girlfriend, whose eyes were staring at him longingly. It's been almost a month since the task force was created and they were on separate beds, but Alex always makes sure he sleeps over every time he's free.

"Oh, you know. The other kind of usual. We beat information out of Nero's bomb maker today." He said in an interesting tone.

"I know beating people is wrong, but when you've been played with by these kinds of people, it's kind of pleasant to the ears." She chuckled, her hand gliding on his arms and looked for his hands.

"Yeah. I'll never stop doing it until they get a taste of their medicine." Alex breathed and looked at Samantha. Her eyes that once looked blank and lost now looked happy. It was tragic how she just wanted to live a normal life but had everything taken away from her.

"What would you do when this is all over?" She asked, questioning his last statement.

"Well, I could finally take you out on a nice date. Maybe say hi to your dad or something." he blurted, making Samantha's eyes widen in surprise.

"Aww.." She smiled as she leaned in for a kiss, while Alex slowly lifted her so that she's now lying on top of him.

"Why is it that every kiss feels so different." She mused as she leaned for another one.

"Maybe because my love for you grows stronger every second?" He replied.

"Haha. You're funny." She said sarcastically.

"That I am." He grinned as they rolled over, giggling at whatever they were doing.

"I love you, Samantha." Alex whispered in the sexiest way that he could resulting to Samantha actually giggling in disbelief.

"I love you too, Alex." She replied.

"Now, go to sleep. I want you well rested for your work tomorrow." She added as she turned the lamp off. Alex groaned like a kid who doesn't want to go to bed yet.

"How can I sleep, when even in the dark, I could still see your pretty face." He whispered as Samantha laughed.

"Flattery will get you nowhere, mister." She said as she turned back, letting Alex hug her from behind. She always loved his warm embrace beside him, a feeling of security amidst all the times that she'd been kidnapped.

The next morning, Alex came back to the base after breakfast with Samantha. It has been a while since he had that and thought that it wouldn't hurt to go late once in a while.

"Where have you been?" Roach asked as soon as he got to the base.

"I overslept." he lied as Roach scoffed.

"You? Hahaha. Nice try. I know full well that no matter what happens you always wake up at the exact time." Roach laughed.

"Why? Is there something wrong with Volt?" Alex pressed on to the main topic at hand.

"The guy had a little fight. But he actually talked."

"Yeah? About what? Nero's location?"

"No. And This isn't like the official thing, it's just rumors. Price slept at the infirmary today and hasn't woken up yet. So the news is that his EMP tech is now capable of killing humans on a set radius."

"Shit." Alex hissed.

"I know. It could launch anywhere anytime and no one could hide from it. A whole new kind of killing weapon." Roach wondered, making them worry about what Nero's about to do.

"Volt better get talking soon."

"Yeah. He better." Roach approved with an encouraging voice.

Later that afternoon the whole 141 was briefed about a message sent from Nero himself. Thousands of humans, civilians and soldiers alike, were nuked just outside the American capital.

The blast didn't do much damage to infrastructure but machines and humans suffered more than ever. Some were able to withstand the mental damage while some were left in a trance state. Some who already had some form of mental problems suffered horribly and dropped dead on the streets.

It was estimated that about half a million people were affected as the nuke exploded by the ocean. Some say this was a miscalculation and others speculated that this was Nero's warning shot.

America had raised itself on high alert, any time Nero's troops would charge on American soil ignoring all authorities who wanted to stop him. This was it. His plan finally came to fruition.

As for the task force, they have located the main signal of the nuke's control. A place somewhere in Cuba. Alex and Jack knew this place was once visited by older CIA SAD members and rumors had it that one of their Black Ops comrades died there. It once housed the reverse engineered Greenlight nuke. Alex never told anyone in 141 about this as history would tend to repeat itself. He hoped that this was not the case.

This would be the lead that the rest of the task force will be focusing on. As the war rages, Alex was sure that the following days would be the toughest so, while waiting for any potential final lead and orders from above, they spent the rest of their time training for the final showdown against Nero.

Optional Chapter : The Fall of the Capital - Pvt. Ramirez

Next Chapter : FIVE Seconds

Notification Squad my Beloved

@enderio @samatedeansbroccoli @smokeywhalee @ricinbach @bumblingbee1 @whimsywispsblog

[oof-musicals]

Together, you and me//chapter 2

Part two! This one took a bit because I've been preparing for school stuff but here it is! I've never been to Vermont, it's only research. Of course, let me know if you want to be added to the tag list and here it is:]] it's also very dialogue-heavy and kinda rushed whoops.

Tag list (let me know if you'd like to be added): @tarantulas4davey, @racecrack-higgins

Race gets bored very easily and two people trying to sleep in the backseat in a car isn't the best idea. First stop: Vermont.

Aka: Albert loves Race in 1419 words.

Word count: 1419

Read on Ao3

**Please Reblog/Queue if you like**

If you told Anthony Higgins five years ago that he'd be traveling to all 50 states with his boyfriend, he'd probably tell you that'd be something he'd do. But when he thought about it, this was probably the most expensive risk he's taken in a while.

Also the longest.

He knew it was going to take a long time, sure, this wasn't England where it took five hours to get from coast to coast. They were going to spend a lot of time in the car. But it sounded easier to be in a car for days at a time in theory rather than in practice.

Vermont, luckily, was only around 5 and a half hours away from Manhattan. If they avoided making too many stops, they could make it there by eight-fifty.

It took Race until about four pm to start complaining.

"It's only been 30 minutes, you'll live," Albert rolled his eyes in response to Race’s whining. “You aren’t even the one driving.”

“Exactly Albie!” Race complained, crossing one of his legs over the other. “I have nothing to do.”

Albert stifled a groan and turned off the radio that had been playing 90s songs for the past half hour. "Okay, let's just, talk."

Race looked out the window. "I don't really know what to talk about."

"You're really annoying,"

"That's my job." Race winked.

“What about astronomy? Where are your star facts?” Albert suggested as he changed lanes. “Come on, I miss them.”

“Fine, you win.” Race groaned. “There are nine thousand and ninety-six stars visible to the naked eye in the entire sky. That’s a cool fact.”

“I thought you told me it was like a trillion before,” Albert questioned.

"That's galaxies," Race clarified, but decided to move on. "Uh, what else? Oh! Callisto, the pretty moon I showed you once is ninety-nine percent as big as Mercury is." He grabbed a notebook from his backpack, flipping through pages of detailed notes and mumbling softly. “The first supernova was recorded in 145 AD AND nearly 2000 years after that, the remains were still identified.”

The rest of the ride consisted of Race rambling on about astrology and Albert loving every second of it. He might have the whiniest boyfriend in the world, but oh did he love this idiot.

___________

As the car pulled into the rest stop 4 and a half hours later, Race let out a comically loud yawn.

"Tired, huh?" Albert joked, turning the gear into park and unbuckling his seatbelt.

"You might be the one driving, but that doesn't mean it's not exhausting to be in a car for 5 hours." Race remarked.

"You could drive.”

Race ignored him, unbuckling his seatbelt and grabbing sweatpants from the backseat. “Do you really think that is a good idea?”

“Absolutely not, actually.”

Ten minutes and a never-ending banter later, the two found themselves laying down in the backseat. Race on the edge, Albert with his back facing the seat. It wasn’t the most comfortable, but if they’re going to control their budget, they can’t spend every night in a hotel.

“And tomorrow, we can hopefully hike that Antone Mountian,” Albert rambled about their day tomorrow while Race hummed sleepily. “But now, you’re around one sentence away from passing out, so we can talk about it later.”

"Yeah,” Race yawned, giving Albert a kiss on the cheek. “Goodnight Albie."

"Goodnight, T."

"I love you."

Albert smiled, his stomach still did a flip every time Race uttered those three words. He doesn't really know why he felt like a giddy teenager, considering he's in his mid-twenties, but the words never failed to make him feel just, so lucky. "I love you too."

Albert stayed up a little bit after Race closed his eyes. Not that he had any trouble sleeping, he could practically fall asleep anywhere he wanted. Race didn’t have the same advantage, even at home, where he was probably the most comfortable, he had trouble falling and staying asleep. It was only going to be more challenging in the backseat of a sedan with half of the space being filled with an ungodly amount of snacks.

It was really hard to find a position comfortable for the both of them. They could've really done without the snacks but Race insisted. If there was one thing Race was, it was persistent.

This was going to be a long trip. But if Albert was with Race, he’d do it a thousand times.

_____

Turns out, two people sleeping in the back of a sedan is not a foolproof plan. They found that out the hard way. Well, Race found it out the hard way - Albert didn't find out until the morning.

"Wake up," Race poked Albert in the side, resulting in Albert only groaning and slowly opening his eyes. It couldn't have been past 8 am, the sun was still rising. Why in the world was he being woken up this early?

"What are you doing up? You've never woken up early in your life." He asked, pushing himself up into a sitting position.

"Fell off the seat," Race grumbled, taking a seat next to Albert, leaning his head on his boyfriend's shoulder. "I've been trying to fall back asleep since like… four am? The sun came up and you were taking too long to wake up."

"'m sorry," Albert yawned. It was way too early to be up for someone who had to spend the day hiking mountains, that's for sure. He was going to need some coffee. Coffee sounded real nice right now. "What time is it now?"

"What am I a clock? I don't know."

"You are rude when you're sleep-deprived." Albert grabbed his phone, checking the time before setting an alarm. "It's 7:15. I say, we go back to sleep for two hours and then start out the day."

"You're sleeping on the edge this time."

Albert ignored Race's comment, slipping his arm under the pillow propped up against the blankets, one of which he took and tossed over his eyes to avoid the sun.

__

Race hated hiking. If that's one thing he decided today, it's that.

When he thought about it, the trail wasn't that bad, it really wasn't. And the view was probably beautiful, but hiking sucked.

"Maybe this hiking thing was a mistake. My legs hurt."

"You're dramatic," Albert called from up ahead. "Come on track star, you got this!"

"You've never been hiking before," Race jogged up to Albert. "I'm surprised you aren't dying right now."

"We walk around New York every day." Albert rolled his eyes "You shouldn't be dying."

Race "I hate you. So much." He said, tripping and nearly slipping off the trail.

"Don't fall off the trail there, Tones." Albert grabbed Race's arm, pulling him up. "Heard mountain lions like blonde idiots."

"Duly noted." Race replied sarcastically. "Don't think there are any mountain lions in this area though, wouldn't they have already gotten to me?"

"You're right."

"Well!" Race wrapped his arm around Albert, "Guess you're stuck with me."

"Shit, guess that's the worst-case scenario for me."

Race rolled his eyes and stopped complaining for most of the hike. And he was right, the view was pretty - breathtaking even. The rolling hills and never-ending trees… this was definitely worth the hike. This was definitely worth the trip. For all Race complained, he was having a great time.

__

"So!" Albert started the car, "Vermont, what'd you think?"

"I mean, I'm looking forward to other places. South Dakota has Mount Rushmore - which, no matter how many times you say, is cooler than the photos, I'm sure of it. Vermont just has mountains," Race adjusted the air conditioning, "but I didn't have the worst time."

"Mount Rushmore is just like the photos though," Albert rolled his eyes. "And if you don't want to go to states just for mountains, you didn't have to agree to go to every state."

"Albie, we've been dating for six years, you think I was going to not take it seriously?"

"I guess you're right, T. But if you keep complaining I'm not taking you on a road trip again."

"Rude," Race pouted.

"Only love, baby."

“But, I did like it.” Race admitted. “For all my complaining, I’m having a great time.” He took Albert’s hand, “Not to get sappy or anything but, thank you for bringing me along on this trip.”

Albert didn’t even have to say ‘I love you’ at that moment, Race already could tell.

[jamielea81]

Conversations

Chapter 5

Description: You accompany your friends on a day trip to Animal Kingdom Theme Park where you meet Scott Evans by chance. This one afternoon leads to a year long friendship with both Chris and Scott over text messages and phone calls.

Pairing: Chris Evans x Reader

Warning: Cursing and drinking.

Word Count: 5,200

A/N: See note at the end of the chapter. Italics are internal thoughts.

Catch up with Chapter 4

The Minneapolis-St. Paul International airport was packed for your five o’clock flight on the twenty seventh. Apparently, everyone else was also saying goodbye to the Christmas holiday besides yourself. Vacation time is always great, but you had a story due on December twenty ninth that really needed to be finished. Technically, the article could have been written while staying in the frozen tundra that you once called home. The assignment is a piece covering various places to celebrate New Year’s Eve. All the information for the story could be found online and any questions could easily be answered via phone call, but after a week with your family, you needed the peace and quiet. You had grown accustomed to living alone. Home centered you, even if it was just a rental. You also thrived in an office setting; the beat of the busy newsroom also matching the beat of your heart.

Y/N: Getting ready to board. Just wanted to say goodnight in case I crash when I get home.

Grabbing your purse and duffle bag off the floor, you joined the massive crowd waiting to board the plane. This was the part of travel that gave you anxiety. The takeoff, landing, and overall length of a flight never bothered you. Nope, it was the crowd that stood directly in front of the gate. As if being on the plane longer than need be and stuffed next to two other people was enjoyable. But because everyone else stood around the gate, your anxiety made you join them.

After twenty minutes of waiting for boarding sections to be called, why they even had family boarding on a flight to Orlando was beyond you, you were seated somewhat comfortably in your window seat. The flight was full, so you did have two seat mates. Sisters from what you could tell with the bickering. The one in the middle seat explained they retired to Florida but made the trip home to see their brother for Christmas. So, you were right, sisters.

Chris didn’t send a text back, so you quickly typed one out before shutting it off for the flight.

Y/N: There are rumors that the flight has a wealthy oil baron on it. I’m pretty sure I am seated next to him. If you don’t hear from me, you know why.

You made it through the flight easy enough. All the seats were equipped with monitors loaded with various movies and television shows. Plugging in your earbuds, you settled on Toy Story 4 since you hadn’t seen it yet. After that finished, you mindlessly watched a couple of episodes of the Big Bang Theory.

As much fun as you had with your family, it was good to be home. Between the time spent at your mom’s house and then at your dad’s, plus your brother dragging you out nightly, to quote Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon, you were “getting too old for this shit.”

Walking in your house around ten that night, you were a little disappointed to see Chris hadn’t texted back. Knowing that him and Scott where in Boston to spend time with family and friends, you tried not to let it bother you too much. You were exhausted anyway. A long hot shower and your bed sounded like the ultimate plan. Emptying your suitcase into the washer could wait until tomorrow.

 With a one load of clothes in the washer, a second in the dryer, and your article half done, you were feeling pretty proud of yourself. You even woke up before your alarm this morning. Maybe a trip back home was all you needed for a boost. Usually post vacation, you needed another vacation to cope with life.

Your phone vibrated on your desk indicating you had a message. Picking it up, you saw it was Chris, so you swiped the message open.

Chris: Oil barons are so overrated. You better be home in Orlando.

You smirked at his response.

Chris: I was out late last night. Hope you had a good trip home sweetheart.

Y/N: I’m sorry, me and Spencer (the oil baron) are picking out rings. Can I call you later?

Chris: OK smartass. Don’t make me fly out there.

Oh boy, did you wish he would deliver on that threat. In actuality, you had only spent five, maybe ten minutes at the most with Chris. And even though you’ve spent hours upon hours over the last couple of months talking to him on the phone and through text messaging, you were really hoping for some in person time.

Y/N: Oh no, the baron wouldn’t like that. I might though.

You bit your lip as soon as you hit send. While Chris flirted with you often, it was rare for you to come back with a comment of your own. When a few minutes had passed without a response, you got back to work on your article. Hours later and he still hadn’t responded, you worried that maybe you had taken the game to far. You knew your comment was totally innocent, but you couldn’t help but worry. You overthink everything, that’s just who you are.

Ugh! Why am I like this?

 It wasn’t until the next day when you received a response from Chris where he completely ignored what you said.

Chris: Can you tell Scott that purple pants is not a good look.

Yep, you were not going to attempt to flirt again. You would leave all the flirting to him.

Y/N: I need context here.

Chris: For New Years Eve. He’s wearing purple pants.

Y/N: I stan Scott Evans. You can’t change my mind.

Chris: 😂

Chris: You do you sweetheart

 The end of 2019 was here and it was a year you were happy with. You didn’t make any bad haircut decisions. All your potted plants were still alive. You had written a few articles you were very proud of. You spent time with family. You made some new friends. Overall, it was a year that you had no regrets in. You only hoped 2020 would be the same.

After finishing up at the office a little earlier than usual, you joined a group of your co-workers for a long dinner, opting not to join them bar hoping as the night went on. You were keeping your word on that whole not drinking for quite some time promise you made to yourself. Well, at least not hard alcohol. Wine doesn’t count.

By eight you were home and already in your pajamas. Brooks and Jana always went to Brooks’ brother’s house on New Year’s Eve. It was their tradition. The last few years they had invited you to come along, but you had always declined. It was their family thing and even though you loved Brooks like a brother, it felt like an intrusion to join them.

Even though Christmas was over last week, you had a pile of Hallmark Christmas movies you had stored on your DVR that you needed to get through. Write Before Christmas was the first on your list. The movie starred Chad Michael Murray who you had a crush on since his One Tree Hill days. DVR was really the way to go. Being able to fast forward through commercials meant you could get in almost three movies before midnight.

After you had thoroughly swooned over Chad, you moved on to Holiday Date. It was the whole fake dating plot with a predictable outcome, but it was cute so far nonetheless.

You hit pause because your phone was buzzing out of control. You could see from the preview screen that you had six messages from Scott.

Scott: Happy New Year!

Scott: Hope you’re out finding someone to kiss at midnight

Scott: You better be out

Followed by a picture of Scott and his boyfriend embracing. A picture of a few women standing on top of a bar pouring shots directly from bottles into the mouths of who you assumed were some of Scott’s friends. And a group shot of about ten that included Chris. The were all sitting in in chairs in front of a few tables, a few people crouched down in front and a pretty blonde sitting on Chris’ lap. So, there’s that.

“You can’t get jealous about someone who isn’t yours,” you said to yourself.

It was the truth. And you had no idea who she was. How many sisters did the boys have? You looked at the picture again, deciding for sure she wasn’t a sister. Not in the way she was sitting nor the way he was holding her.

Sighing out loud, you set the phone down on the cushion next to you. You moved from your comfy place on the couch, stomping your feet until you noticed you were doing so. You steady yourself and then walked calmly into the kitchen. Grabbing a bottle of rosé from your refrigerator, you uncorked it and filled your large wine glass to the rim.

It’s New Year’s, I’m allowed a glass of wine. A large glass of wine.

You made your way back to your couch, inhaling a couple of large gulps before hitting the play button on the remote. Deciding you needed to formulate an appropriate response to Scott rather than saying something stupid, you delved back into the romance on the screen. Or at least you tried to.

When a half hour had passed, you picked up your phone, typing out a normal response to Scott. Normal meaning how a person who was not in any sort of relationship with Chris Evans should respond. Because you weren’t. In fact, you hoped he got laid. Well, maybe not that.

Y/N: Happy New Year!

Y/N: You and Zach look so cute! Have a great night.

There. That’s how a normal person who wasn’t living in a fantasy land would respond.

Your second movie ended but you honestly weren’t paying all that much attention. Rather than starting up a third movie, you switched it to cable, finding Ryan Seacrest hosting the annual countdown show.

Finishing your wine shortly before midnight, you washed out the glass and set it in the rack to dry. You found your way back to your couch, laying down to watch the ball drop. You fired off a text to Jana to tell her you loved her as that was your traditional greeting to each other. She sent one back almost right away asking for the two of you to get lunch on Friday. The ball dropped to a chorus of cheers followed by a rendition of Auld Lang Syne by the New York City crowd. The after show played on and you fell asleep while a band you hadn’t heard of played in the background.

In the too early hours of the morning, you woke from your place on the couch, neck aching from the odd angle you slept in. Deciding to leave your phone where it was, you crawled in to bed with no plans of waking any time soon.

Of course, you couldn’t sleep forever. You had to eat at some point as evident from your stomach loudly growling around eleven in the morning.

After eating, then showering, and getting dressed for the day, you finally took a peek at your phone. Nothing from Chris. Which is whatever because you didn’t reach out to him either. But of course, there was a message from Scott from around three in the morning.

Scott: How you doin’?

You could totally hear him saying it in a Joey Tribbiani accent.

Scott: Earth to Sassy

You typed out a reply, but you doubted he was out of bed if he was texting you so late.

Y/N: Sassy was sleeping, you late night partier you

Deciding that you didn’t want to be rude, you sent Chris a text. It was New Years after all, so it was only polite. Hopefully he was awake. And alone. No. That was none of your business. Keeping it simple was the way to go.

Y/N: Happy New Year

Almost immediately, Chris responded back.

Chris: Happy New Year

And that was it. He was probably hungover...or occupied.

 Friday found you at Champs for lunch with Jana. The two of you chatting about New Year’s Eve. Brooks’ brother and wife had a little boy almost a year ago, so the party was a little different than it had been in previous years. This apparently ignited a fatherhood desire for Brooks over the last couple of days.

“And I want to have a little one too, but I’m so close to making partner. It’s just not the right time,” Jana sighed out.

You reached across the table grabbing her hand, rubbing it soothingly. “When it’s right, it’s right,” you replied.

She nodded her head, giving your hand a squeeze before pulling it away. “The thing is, I don’t know if I’ll be any less busy after I make partner. I kind of wish we would have started a family right after we got married. Coulda, shoulda, I guess.”

“Is there ever a right time though?” you asked. “Then there’s me who hasn’t dated in how long?” You let out a chuckle, quickly sticking a chicken finger in your mouth. You really didn’t want the sympathy, you’re not even sure why you said it.

“Whose fault is that? I don’t see you putting yourself out there. Oh! Maybe you should ask Chris out,” she says, wiggling her eyebrows.

“Dude. No,” you replied. “Number one, we don’t live in the same state. The same region even. Number two, he’s so not interested. If he were, he probably would have made something happen. Number three, he barely knows me. Number four, he’s him and I’m me.”

Jana put her hand over your mouth, giving you a warning glare. When she didn’t immediately remove it, you licked it, causing her to cringe and grab a napkin to wipe the spot you licked. You chuckled quietly to yourself.

“You’re a brat. Do you know that?” she questioned. “But you’re also amazing and I don’t want to hear anything different. If not Chris, just put yourself out there. It’s a start of a brand new year. Make some changes.”

Numbly, you nodded your head. Maybe you had been hiding away, in a way. It wasn’t like you were staying home all the time. You went out. Sometimes. Okay fine. When you weren’t working or out with your married couple friends, you mostly kept to the office and your house. You’d think about adding something more social to your schedule.

 January dragged on as it usually did. You definitely were enjoying the cooler and sometimes cold temperatures, making use of the new sweaters you purchased around Christmas. Your relationship with Chris had started to fizzle. It was subtle at first. Texts not being responded to for hours. Phone calls not being answered from time to time. Okay, that one wasn’t a big deal. But most of those phone calls weren’t being returned. A lot less sweethearts being tossed your way. It was different. And because you had developed feelings or the at the very least, a crush on Chris, you were feeling down about it. Scott was still in your life and it felt like he would always be. Maybe it was safer that way. Maybe being close with both of the brothers would ruin the other friendship in the end. Especially if feelings weren’t returned.

It was near the end of January when you brought it up to Scott. You weren’t looking for drama or attention, so you just casually mentioned over the phone when he brought up Chris that you hadn’t been hearing from Chris quite as often.

“Did Chris tell you what he bought Shanna?” Scott chuckles out.

“No, he didn’t,” you said and then took a breath. “Actually, I haven’t really been hearing from Chris a whole lot lately.”

You hear Scott blow out a breath and then you hear him groan. “He does that sometimes. I’m sorry,” Scott sighs.

“Why are you sorry? Don’t be sorry. It’s fine. It’s totally fine. As long as we’re good,” you stifled out.

“Of course, you and I are good. Not even a question Sassy.”

The nickname instantly putting you at ease.

“Good.” You bit at your lip, wondering if you should push further. Why not, might as well make this a one and done conversation. “What did you mean by, he does this sometimes?” you asked.

“When he’s with someone, he kind of just gets wrapped up in that person. He’ll eventually gets better at talking to the outside world, it just takes him awhile.”

Welp. There it is. So, at least you can give up on this little crush. Definitely not feelings. Just a crush and you would be over it by tomorrow.

“Oh!” you exclaimed.

Get. It. Together.

“I didn’t know he was seeing anyone,” you said in a much calmer voice.

“Yeah…It’s with Courtney. And you have no idea who Courtney is, sorry. They’ve dated a bunch of times of the years. Just can never seem to make it work. She’s great and everyone loves her, they just never seem to work. And you better not tell him I told you that,” he warned.

“Geez, calm down Grumpy. Like I said, we aren’t exactly talking these days and I’m not exactly going to bring up a girlfriend I don’t know,” you replied.

Scott chuckled. “There’s the Sassy I know. Anyway, it’s still new again. They started to hangout right around Christmas.”

“Oh, is she that girl on his lap from the pictures you sent me on New Year’s?” you asked.

“Yeah, she was there that night. Long blonde hair?”

“Yep,” you replied.

“That would be Courtney. I wouldn’t worry, it won’t last. I mean, I want the best for him and if it’s her, the more power to them.”

Now you were confused.

“Wh-why would I worry?” you said and then promptly cleared your throat.

“Come on Y/N, it’s not hard to tell that you maybe have teeny-tiny crush on my brother. A little bit. Come on. Tell me I’m wrong,” he teased.

He couldn’t see you, but you were giving him the best bitch face you could muster. “Shuddup.”

 It was a week a way from Valentines Day. Even though you were single for it again this year, you were never one of those people who hated the holiday. If you were with someone and the two of you decided to make the day special, great. If not, that was fine too. When your co-workers got flowers delivered to their desk, you always thought it was sweet. Brooks always went over the top for all holidays and you loved hearing about the special thing he did for Jana. What you didn’t love was your father calling you to wish you a happy Valentines Day that was really just a phone call prying into your relationship status. You loved your dad, you really did, you just wished he wouldn’t get on your case as much as he did.

You were up earlier than normal. Being the great friend that you were, you were bringing Jana breakfast since she was apparently going into the office earlier and earlier, surviving only on coffee. You stopped at your favorite coffee house, picking up two coffees, two apple cinnamon muffins, and a small bowl of oatmeal for Jana. You figured she could have the oatmeal now and snack on the muffin later.

Because she wasn’t pissed at you for any reason, she was already in the lobby, ready to sign you in.

“Good morning princess. I come baring gifts of a nutritional breakfast,” you greeted her after saying hello to Phil at the security desk.

“Why, thank you, bestie. Where would I be without you?” She puts her hand over her heart. The two of you were both smartasses and you often felt bad for Brooks.

You pass her the tray of coffees and wave your goodbye to Phil with your now free hand.

Jana’s apparently hungry as she scarfs down the oatmeal, only stopping to thank you for adding cinnamon for her. You’re still picking at your muffin because you ate a bowl of cereal before leaving your house. If you’re up early, your body wants to eat right away. Waiting was not an option.

“So, what does Brooks have planned for next week?” you asked.

“You know he doesn’t tell me. I’d bet money that you know and are just messing with me.” She smirks at you before picking up her own muffin, peeling back the wrapper.

Honestly, you don’t know. Brooks knows you well enough to know that you will squeal, especially if it’s something good.

“You’ll just have to wait and see,” you tease.

She sits up straight in her seat. “You know?! Tell me!”

You start to chuckle and shake your head. “I swear on your Chanel bag I don’t know. Just messing with you.”

After your short chat, Jana kicks you out of her office. The firm’s decision on who was making partner was going to be announced in a matter of days, so everyone was putting more time in. You checked your phone for any e-mails from the paper while you waited for the elevator. There were only two so far, just a couple of assignments for the week.

“Good morning, Y/N. What brings you here so early?” Ethan asks, bumping your shoulder slightly as he comes to stand next to you at the elevator. He’s dressed in another impeccable suit. Hair styled perfectly.

“Brought Jana a little breakfast. How are you Ethan?” you asked.

The elevator opens and a few people shuffle out. Ethan holds the elevator door for you to enter, and surprisingly he gets in. You press the button for the lobby, but he doesn’t push a button for any floor.

“I’m great. It’s going to be going to be a great week.”

He’s so sure of himself, but you can’t even fault him because he’s always so nice with a smile always present on his face. Jana’s said that he’s a bit of a know it all, but he’s a hard worker too.  

The elevator doors open, the two of you walking out with Ethan walking next to you. He walks a little ahead, grabbing the door for you.

“Thank you,” you muttered as the two of you start to make your way across the parking lot.

“So, Y/N, are you seeing anyone?” he asked.

You stop in your tracks, right in the path of cars circling the lot. Deciding that’s not safe, you walk to an empty parking spot, Ethan trailing behind. The fact that he’d ask such a question surprises, but at the same time, it’s Ethan, you’re surprised he hasn’t asked sooner.

“I put the siiiiing in single,” you kind of speak and sing at the same time. Ethan in turn stares at you blankly. Apparently, he’s not a fan of Lizzo. “Ethan, we need to get you listening to popular music. I’m single.”

He gets the biggest grin on his face. Your cross your arms across your chest and lean on one leg, slightly amused. You know what’s coming, but you don’t want him to be so sure of your answer.

“Can I take you out sometime?” he asks, forest green eyes looking directly into yours.

You let him wait for your answer. Ethan is nice enough, he’s also easy on the eyes, and your dating life has also been lacking for quite some time. You’re actually slightly surprised it’s taken him this long to ask. Chewing on your bottom lip to really sell your indecision, he finally starts to squirm. He starts to brush his fingers through his perfectly jelled hair and you almost feel bad. A smile starts to form on your face and he instantly drops his hand, realizing what he was doing.

“I’d like that. Just not on Valentines Day. Not for a first date,” you tell him.

“Okay. Not on Valentines Day. Great. Okay,” he replies.

He’s such a dork, but it’s sweet. Ethan just stands there grinning at you and you’re really itching to get in your car rather than standing in a parking lot of a law firm.

“Give me your phone, I’ll put my number in it so you can call me,” you tell him.

Ethan passes you his phone, smile still bright on his face. You shake your head slightly but smile back, entering your number and passing him back the phone.

“I’ll call you,” he said.

“I look forward to it,” you reply, instantly cringing at your words.

I look forward to it? Who’s the dork now?

You offer him a slight wave before turning around and walking to your car. You’re kind of excited for the first time in a while. Getting in your car, you fire off a text to Jana.

Y/N: Ethan finally asked me out.

Jana: Oh, great. I’m going to have to see him even more now?

You chuckle at her response. You know she’s half teasing, but what a brat.

Y/N: You assume I said yes?

Y/N: OK, I said yes. But calm down, it’s one date. No one said anything about double dating.

 Ethan waited two days before texting you.  He asked to take you to dinner on Wednesday, which was two days before Valentines Day, so you said yes. The restaurant he chose was on the higher end, so wearing jeans was out of the question. Jana called you before you had the chance to call her. She was screaming in your ear and you could barely make out what she was saying.

“What? But say it slower with less yelling,” you said to her screeching.

“She made partner,” you hear Brooks shouting from the background.

“I made partner!” she yells, in a much lower tone than before.

“Oh my god, this is amazing! I knew you’d get it!”

“I can finally get some sleep,” she sighs out.

You know she’s exhausted, but all you want to do is go out and celebrate.

“Drinks tomorrow then?” you ask.

“Yeah. Yeah. But like, let’s go early,” she replied.

You chuckle at her response. “Early it is. I have news for your too. Ethan’s taking me to The Capital Grille on Wednesday.”

“Oh, fancy. Makes sense though since the two of us made partner,” she said.

“What?! I didn’t know that was even a thing.”

“Yeah, it happens. Rarely though. They couldn’t decide, so we both got it,” she said.

“Well, you get some rest, and call me tomorrow, love.”

“I will. Bye Y/N.”

 You texted Scott a day later to tell him about your date. He told you he was excited for you and glad you had said yes. You laughed at the excited part because while you had been in a dry spell, it hadn’t been that long. Maybe six months. Maybe you should be more excited. Once you assigned a number to it, it sounded bad.

Scott asked if you’d heard from Chris. You had, but it was four days earlier. It was just a text saying hi, asking how I’ve been, but then the conversation fizzled out. That seemed to be the new norm in your relationship. A text every four days or five days. He had a girlfriend; he probably shouldn’t be talking to another girl daily and calling her sweetheart. You wouldn’t like that if it were the other way around.

Two days before your date, you sent Scott three pictures of dresses you were deciding between for your date with Ethan. He called you a few minutes later, wanting to go over your options.

“So, what kind of place is this?”

“It’s an expensive steakhouse in Orlando,” you replied.

“Okay, then option two is out. That’s way too casual. You should probably just throw it away. I don’t want to see that dress again.”

“Scott! Jerk. Leave my dress alone. It’s not that bad,” you complain.

“Want my help or not?”

“Fine. But I’m not throwing it out. I wear that to work a lot,” you replied.

“My point exactly. You don’t wear a work dress on a date Sassy.” Scott said.

“You takin’ to Sassy?” Chris says in the background.

Shit. He’s with Chris?

You’re not sure why you don’t want Chris to know about your date. You feel weird about him being there while this conversation is taking place.

“What about the first dress. The black one?”

It’s your attempt to move the conversation along. The sooner you get off the phone, the better.

“How slutty do you want to be on this date?” Scott asks.

Instantly you cringe, slapping your free hand against your forehead.

“Scoooott,” you whine.

“Slutty?” you hear Chris ask.

Jesus.

“It’s an honest question. Like a little slutty or a lot slutty?” Scott asked.

“Give me the phone,” Chris said. You hear Scott object in the background, but it’s too late, Chris has the phone. “What is Scott goin’ on about? You got a date or somethin’ sweetheart?”

There’s that nickname again and damnit if you stomach doesn’t flip. You really hoped you were over that.

“Yeah. Yeah, I have a date,” you practically whisper out.

“And you didn’t tell me?” he asked.

A part of you thinks he’s joking or teasing, but his tone isn’t coming off that way and it’s rubbing you the wrong way.

“Tell you?” you question.

“Well, yeah. You tell Scott all about it, but don’t mention it to me,” he replied.

“Chris, you and I haven’t been exactly talking a whole lot lately. When would I have told you?”

He scoffs at your response. “We talk.”

You’re shaking your head but he can’t see you which is annoying.

“Besides, you didn’t tell me you were seeing someone, let a lone had a girlfriend,” you replied.

There. You said it. It was none of your business, but you didn’t like this whole conversation and the attitude that was coming with it.

You hear breathing from his end but apparently the cat had caught his tongue because he wasn’t responding.

“I gotta go,” you said.

“Y/N, wait,” you hear him say, but your pushing the end call button before you can even stop yourself.

This was not a conversation you wanted to have. You were simply seeking a guy’s opinion on what to wear for a date. Your first in six freaking months and Chris who barely speaks to you needs to complain about not knowing about said date. You groaned out loud, picking up the work dress and sticking it back in your closest. Sending pictures of the two remaining dresses to Jana to make the final decision, you walked into your kitchen, opting for tea rather than wine.

You phone buzzed while the water simmered in the pot.

Scott: Hey, it’s Scott. I’ll call you later.

Scott was your friend. You just hoped that if your friendship with Chris was over, it wouldn’t cause any drama or stress for Scott.

Chapter 6

A/N: If you’ve read any of my past stories, you will know that I love a happy ending. Please don’t worry. I will fix this. I want this to be as realistic as it can be, so I don’t believe that Chris would put his life on hold for someone he has a phone relationship with. But have faith and know I love you all.

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[neo-culture-mafia]

그림자

last chapter

"'sup bitches." Hyuck called, walking in the front door with groceries in hand.

"Duckie, I have told you 9 separate times to not greet like that." I spun around in the swivel chair, "it's rude." I reasoned and he took his sunglasses off his face, holding them in the same hand as his motorcycle keys. "Whoops?...I guess." He chuckled, strutting over to where I sat at the living room desk.

I turned back around to look at the paperwork spanning across the wood surface. "What's this, sunflower?" He asked grabbing the first paper he could grab. He flicked his brown curls from his vision to have a good look at what was taking place in black ink.

"Money flipping?" He asked me, with a cocked eyebrow and an unamused look. "Yep. Just for a little while," I winked and snatched the paper back. I sighed, setting it back down on the desk, "just until we have enough for an apartment in the city."

He groaned and walked down the hall to the kitchen. "We have everything we need here." He called as I knew he was emptying the contents of the grocery bags into the respectful places they belonged.

I leaned my arm on the desk, laying my head in my hand and staring at the Polaroids above the desk. Some were of us: me, Mark and Hyuck, and some of the rest of the boys...now just a distant memory is what they felt like.

483 days...483 days since we last saw each other. On that damn night. That dreadful night that me and Mark were turned away and shunned like we were dogs.

Then we traveled back to Seoul to find Duckie. After he was missing for 3 weeks, I ran into him by chance in an alley. We actually had gotten in a first fight till his hood fell back and I was met with the melanin enriched skin that made my eyes weep.

I told him to leave, go back, that he was welcomed there. But, he didn't want to leave me or Mark. We lived in the shit shack eating nothing but crackers and water for a couple months, sometimes we opted for sleep as our daily meal.

Until Mark came home with money. He had gotten that damn tunnel door open by the grace of a higher-being: filled with cash to the brim.

Us 3 bought a 2 bedroom farm house in the somewhat country where we were best friends with our retired neighbors; their thoughts and whispers of us being in a 3-way relationship being the talk of the small farming town. We didn't care. We knew what we were doing here and what we needed to do in the future.

"Oh honey. I'm home." Donghyuck called through the house and a door opened to a wet Mark who was towel drying his hair in nothing but sweatpants. "Did you get me the stuff?" He asked all serious, and I looked down the dim hallway to see Mark's blonde hair being tossled by his towel.

Hyuck gave him a flat face, a hand on his hip and another holding him up on the counter. "Yes, Mark. I got you your 'stuff'." He rolled his eyes, going away and returning with a big ass watermelon.

"Yesss," Mark took it and automatically held it to his ear, knocking on it like it was a heavy wood door. "you picked a good one." Mark looked lovingly at the fruit in his arms as if it was a child.

I laughed as I looked at my wacky friend. "Why can't you be obsessed with something usual. Like beer, or poker."

The curly headed boy asked as he walked back down the hall towards me. Taking his thick jacket off and throwing it over the arm of the couch; sitting down he unlaced and unzipped his boots, throwing them by the door.

You watched the conversation play out like a terrible teen-sitcom. "Cause I'd rather die by watermelon overdose than alcohol intoxication-" Mark was cut off as he walked slowly to the front room where Hyuck and I sat. "Yeah yeah yeah. Too many big words for this early in the morning." Hyuck put his arm over his eyes and laid back.

Mark looked at me and we both looked at the clock. "Sweetie, its 3 in the afternoon." I giggled and he whined. "It's so early." He said and stood up.

"I'm getting changed and I'm gonna chill." He said looking at Mark who still clutched his watermelon to his bare chest, damp towel thrown over his shoulder.

"And?" Mark asked. "Why do I care?" He asked and the younger boy just shrugged. "Also...your night for dinner." Mark reminded him and Hyuck whined louder, running down the hall and smacking into our bedroom door.

"Donghyuck!" I jumped up, wanting to check if he was okay. He just kept on whining as he opened our door and went in, closing it.

You could still hear his shrieks as he was probably running around getting changed into comfier clothes.

"Then there were two." Mark sighed as he set his watermelon on the kitchen window, and plopping onto the long couch on the opposite side of the living room.

"I need to redo your hair soon." I said getting up and laying on the ground next to his couch. "I might let it grow up to a ponytail." I sat up quickly. "Uh. No you're not." My voice was harsh and he laughed.

"Girl you need to chill. I was joking." He chuckled, stretching and yawning.

Something that Jaemin used to say to me atleast once an hour. My smile faltered and I became more solemn.

"Do you miss them?" I asked and he just stared at me for a moment. "Who?" Was all he said and I knew that he knew exactly who he was talking about but it still hurt a little bit.

"Your boys." I said and a faint smile was broadcasted over his facial features as he stared into what seemed like distant space but was really just the dark TV.

"Of course." He exasperated and he looked back at my face who was just searching for reassurance that this path was the right one to take.

"But I am so thankful for the two of you, right here, right now." He smiled and my heart was put at ease.

"Alright I'm back. I sensed you guys missed me so I returned. Just for you guys!" Hyuck said as he sat down next to me and leaned back on his arms for support. "Oh yeah. 'Cause we were literally dying without your presence." I said sarcastically and he shrugged.

"Exactly. That's what I just said." He said as serious as possible and me and Mark laughed. "Oh you think you're so funny." Donghyuck said picking me up and pulling me on his lap, his hands reaching for my sides and tickling.

My shrieks and laughs radiated through the house as Mark watched on in admiration. He felt blessed that he made it this far. He also never failed to tell us atleast once a week. We were all each other's life and support systems.

Once hyuck stopped his evil act, I just laid there across his lap trying to resteady my breath.

"What's for dinner?" I looked up at him and he shrugged. "I haven't really looked to be completely honest." He said yawning.

"Well let's go see and then we can make it, eat, clean, and then chill for a while." I said getting up and putting my hand out for him to take.

He groaned but obliged at my request.

He was in some shorts and a basic hoodie. The scarring on his legs reminding us all of a dark period. A painful time that sometimes still follows us.

I have a scar on my back from that night. I don't remember anything of the tunnels but the burning pain in my calves, wanting to stop sprinting through the dark and lonely concrete jungle.

Him and I stood infront of the cupboards in silence.

I suddenly felt so tired and out of it. Like a heavy weight was on my chest and it wouldn't budge.

"Oooo. Spaghetti." He said stretching and reaching the noodles and sauce on the top shelf. I shrugged as he looked at me for my reaction to his suggestion.

"You okay?" He asked and I could only shrug and try to give a convincing smile.

"Yeah. Just thinking about stuff." I shrugged once more and he understood.

"Can you help me with dinner?" He asked and of course I agreed, wanting to get my mind off the looming darkness in the corners of the house.

"Alright. We need 2 pots and then you can figure out some sides we can have with it." He said and I was already grabbing the 2 pots.

I set them on the stove top and he began doing his own thing. I rummaged through the cabinets and fridge before feasting my eyes on what seemed like the perfect pairing.

"Salad?"

~~~~~~~~~

Trying to sleep that night was rough. It was just tough and not even the usual cuddly nature of the sleeping Hyuck next to me could lull me into dream land.

The dark feeling still followed me through dinner and to bed.

I tried staring at the wall but even then the small cracks started freaking me out. I turned towards Hyuck who's curly dark hair framed his face perfectly.

Don't get us wrong. We're not a thing. We're just close. Once we found each other again he has stuck to my side in hopes of fulfilling what he thought he didn't in the first place- protection.

I don't mind. We've always been close and now we've just gotten closer. Was sharing a bedroom in our plans?...no...but we didn't want to put up with Mark and his farting so he was blessed with having his own room.

We're just making do with what we have.

My finger lightly traced shapes on his arm tattoos, trying to pass time and get myself to sleep.

I groaned and his eyes opened. "What's wrong?" He asked looking at the alarm clock on the bedside table.

3:29 AM

He turned back to make sure I was okay. He sat up on his arm and just looked at me for a moment. "Are you hurt?" Was all he asked and I shook my head no. I wouldn't know how to explain the hurt I was feeling anyway.

"I just need water." I said getting up and crawling to the end of the bed. "Be back in 5 minutes please." He said grabbing his phone. I mumbled my recognition and opened our door.

I strided down the hall and grabbed a water bottle. I walked into the hall where the corridor meets living room. Hyuck's phone lit one end of the hall in our bedroom while the other was illuminated by the moon light.

1 sip.

I breathed and looked out the front window at the old couples house across from ours.

2 sips.

I can hear my heart beat as I try to drown it out with gulps of water.

3 sips.

I have a sudden urge to sprint up and down our street to try and rid the shakiness of my body.

4 sips.

I'm not even cold but my anxiety makes my bones sound like wooden spoons and my body go cold with shivers.

And that's when I see it.

The shadow.

It moved on the front porch.

"I'm going crazy." I spoke in a monotone.

"What?" I heard Hyuck call out, now sitting up in the bed.

The shadow came closer to the door, an arm raised, as if it was going to bash in the glass.

"That's not real." I said louder, my water bottle now dropped from my cold hand.

I heard a thud and a swear along with an opening door.

"Mark. Up, now." And a pair of feet come closer down the dark hallway.

The shadow just seemed frozen now as Hyuck stood right by me.

"What is that?" He muttered and Mark now was coming closer, trying to see tiredly through his glasses.

The arm went back and forth a couple of times. "Hyuck go get your gun." Mark said lowly but I wanted to fight this thing head on.

I walked straight to the door before any of their hands could grab me. I threw the door open as my heart felt like it was going to beat right out of my chest.

I was met with bleached blonde hair, a blood splattered face, a cold stare, and a muscly build that held ink and a face of an old someone I used to know.

"Jeno?" I choked out, wanting to vomit as my body went numb from shock. This wasn't real. I was dreaming. This wasn't happening.

I held my hands out towards his face, moving ever so slowly until his own hands held my own.

The boys behind me became silent as I knew one of them held a gun, still on edge for this too good to be true situation.

I threw myself at him and just held onto his muscular frame. His arms held me tight in a grip that I used to miss.

The metallic smell on him made my nose scrunch up in disgust but I was just too wrapped into the moment to care.

My body was yanked back forcefully and I was thrown back into the living room at the feet of a shell shocked Mark who could nothing but stare forward.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I thought Donghyuck was losing it as he cocked his gun and held it at the face of his once brother.

"Duckie what are you doing?" I asked getting up and grabbing at his arm.

Jeno just did nothing but stare down the metal barrel in front of his face, his hands being raised next to his head.

"I did a sweep of the surrounding place and it's sketc-" another body came walking up our porch.

The tall boy still seemed lanky but had glasses this time. His hair was now a lighter brown and it seemed like he had grown another 4 inches in the span of a year.

"Jisung?" I muttered and he was still met another gun barrel.

This time from Mark who had shoved me back again.

"Please don't shoot." Jisung pleaded, scared setting into his features.

"We need help. Please." Jisung begged but Jeno still held his stare with Hyuck.

"Everyone is gone." Jisung pleaded.

"Please." He whispered, his eyes were threatening to spill.

[pynkhues]

What’s you top 5 unpopular good girls ships?

I am eternally blessed, anon, because all my ships for Good Girls are pretty popular, haha. I’m all about Beth x Rio, Ruby x Stan, Dean x Suffering, Boomer x Grievous Bodily Harm! Even my non-canon ships like Annie x Nancy or Annie x JT are pretty popular! 

So instead, I’m offering you five crack ships and I’ve written the scenarios where I think they could work, because I am a glutton for punishment, haha. One of them I actually want to write, but I’m not going to say which, because I don’t want anyone to peer pressure me into writing it, hahaha. (I have way too many WIPs!)

Below a cut to save your feeds.

1. Krystal x Lucy

Okay, SO, I accidentally wrote them into the pornstar au, and ever since the thought came to me, it’s latched on like a parasite! I love the thought of them both having someone in their corner in the way that we sort of know they don’t? Lucy really needed somebody who could fight for her and was more clued into the world than either herself or Max, and Krystal pretty clearly needs someone who’s kind to her. Plus Krystal would edge out some of Lucy’s cutesyness, while Lucy would ground Krystal, and idk! I just think they’d be cute!

Okay, scenario though – I’m thinking the Hill’s have a Christmas party. Lucy and Max have recently broken up and Beth feels bad for her, so invites her to be her plus-one (or, well, plus seventh after Rio and the kids), and the gesture’s a nice one, but Beth is instantly distracted by helping Ruby get the food out or with Jane and Marcus inevitably causing havoc, and so Lucy ends up wallflowering, watching everyone else just - - know each other, right? 

And maybe Krystal sees her and maybe she’s a few drinks in already, so it’s not like it takes much to grab another cup of spiked eggnog and tumble against the wall beside Lucy. And maybe it’s awkward at first, because Lucy’s sort of weird, but maybe Krystal kind of likes that, and maybe Lucy compliments Krystal’s ugly snowman earrings, and Krystal really does think Lucy’s reindeer sweater is cute, and maybe Lucy falls a little in love when Krystal sings bawdy Christmas songs, her arm slung over Ruby’s shoulder, and Krystal falls a little in love when Lucy is unfairly good at drunk pictionary, and maybe it feels like they’ve known each other a lot longer than a night (and maybe they want to make sure they will). 

2. Mick x Mary Pat. 

Okay, okay, okay. Hear me out. 

So it finally happens. Rio finds out who Mary Pat is, what she’s done – that she’s Beth’s rotten egg – and y’know, Rio isn’t playing around anymore. He wants to send Beth a message, and what better way to do that than to handle the third person she couldn’t after Turner and Boomer? So he sends Mick off with an order.

And so Mick watches for a few days – keeps an eye on her schedule, her routine, carving out a plan to handle her as smoothly as possible (he’s not Rio after all, he doesn’t hand guns to women he’s just kidnapped, y’know?) – and starts to get a sense of her. Sure, maybe he feels a little bad. She has a lot of kids, y’know? And always seems pretty frazzled, at the end of her rope, but sort of sweet. She goes to church, sings in a choir, makes pancakes from a box, sure, but she adds both choc chips and blueberries which is a pretty good combo, and maybe it’s hard to believe she’s swept up in all of this, but then it was hard to believe Mrs Boland and that sweet girl from Paper Porcupine had been too. 

Still, Mick knows what he’s doing, y’know? 

He’s not Rio. He’ll finish the job.

So he steals into her house late at night, moving down to her bedroom, intending to take her outside, handle her away from the kids at least, when suddenly a wild Mary Pat appears! Brandishing a huge knife. 

Mick staggers back! Alarmed, and Mary Pat thrusts it at him, knowing exactly how long he’s been watching her and what does he think she is??? NEW to this??? She worked with the FBI! Okay, not --  not worked with them, but y’know, an agent was on her case for a while, and Mary Pat is not as stupid as her Uncle Larry told her that one time, and okay, Mick thinks, staggering back into his seat, eyes fixed on the knife Mary Pat is waving around at him. 

You wanna talk this out? 

It’s the wrong thing to say, because no, she doesn’t especially, and they just sort of stare at each other for a minute, trying to figure out what happens next when Billy wakes up and trots down the hallway, and he’s had a bad dream about the bad man, and for a minute, Mick thinks he’s talking about him, but then Mary Pat says something about how Boomer won’t ever step foot in this house again, and with the way she’s holding that knife, Mick is inclined to believe her. 

And then, well, Billy asks for pancakes. 

So that’s how Mick ends up eating pancakes with Mary Pat and three of her four kids at 2 in the morning, and y’know, he’s not a total asshole. He’s going to stay and help her clean up afterwards, and maybe it’s sort of nice, now that she’s put the knife down (although it is still in reaching distance, and honestly, he respects that), now that his gun’s back in his pants. 

And well, he can’t exactly kill a woman who just made him pancakes, so he figures next time, only next time, Mary Pat’s already cooking, and then the time after that, she’s already set him a plate, and maybe the time after that, she kisses him, and maybe the time after that, he kisses her first, and at least when Rio asks, Mick can just give him a look, because it isn’t like he doesn’t have his own batshit crazy mother of four he can’t kill. 

3. Rhea x Phoebe. 

So, y’know. Phoebe’s good at her job. 

Phoebe knows how to do a stakeout, to keep tabs, to collect intel. She revels in every part of the chase, every part of the puzzle, every part of the game of it all, because she knows that what she’s doing is right, she’s cleaning up the streets! Making the world a better place! But - - okay, she’ll be the first to admit that she already finds her marks exhausting.

Not so much Hill and Marks. They’re sort of fun to keep tabs on (and lowkey, Phoebe really does maybe daydream sometimes about what it might be like to sit on the couch and watch bad reality shows with them, drinking cheap wine and creamy, herb crusted cheeses). Even Boland is kind of awesome when she’s not with him. 

Because the thing is, as soon as Boland and the Big Kahuna are together, everything just gets a little - - hm. What’s the word for it? 

(”Nothing like watching a crime lord pull pigtails,” Henry had said on one stakeout, headphones on as they’d watched from afar as Big Kahuna had swung in close to Boland, said something that made her flush red and try to stamp on his foot. “Can’t wait until they graduate to passing notes. At least then there might be something we can use.”) 

And, well. It’s not like he’s wrong.

So maybe she starts to get bored of watching the highschool antics of them (as has everyone else, she thinks, if the looks on their faces is anything to go by - including the hitman clearly trying to take one, or both of them out [and please, a little part of Phoebe thinks, watching as Big Kahuna drags a finger across the back of Boland’s knuckles, and Boland wait until he’s gone to order the most expensive liquor in the bar to Big Kahuna’s tab]). Maybe that makes her dig a little deeper. 

Maybe that’s how she finds herself watching an under-9′s soccer game in a fold-out chair beside Big Kahuna’s baby mama. (She tells her she’s researching, so it’s not technically a lie, even if the cover of starting to coach a team of her own in the fall is a thin one).

And okay, maybe they hit it off. Which is kind of cool, Phoebe thinks, because it turns out Rhea is kind of cool (how she put up with Big Kahuna is a total mystery to her), and y’know, she’s actually pretty? LIke, pretty pretty. And nice, and totally normal, and maybe they get a coffee after the game, and catch a movie on the weekend, and maybe sometimes Phoebe forgets to fish about Big Kahuna at all, but that’s an easy mistake to make, and maybe Henry gives her a Look when he hears about it, but it’s nothing, Phoebe thinks.

She’s just doing her due diligence. 

Being thorough, y’know? 

I mean, who even knows when information could come out, and Phoebe’s just laying the groundwork anyway, she thinks, watching the line of Rhea’s neck, the purse of her lips, blinking rapidly when Rhea leans across the table, the curve of her breast visible beneath the thin fabric of her shirt, and says: “I know you’re a fed.” 

And Phoebe splutters as Rhea keeps leaning forwards. 

“I’m not going to tell you anything about him.” 

And what can Phoebe say except okay, something in her chest tightening at - - at what, Phoebe has no idea. Just knows that Rhea’s so close she can feel the other woman’s breath on her cheek.  

“I just want to be clear about that,” she tells her. “If we’re going to do this.” 

And Phoebe blinks, owlish at Rhea, pulse rapid and mouth dry as she asks: “Do what?” 

And well, it turns out Phoebe likes Rhea even more when she’s kissing her.

4. Greg x Dr. Josh.

Okay, so maybe two things happen. 

Maybe it’s a party of something when Annie finally turns around and tells Greg about kissing her therapist, and honestly, Greg shouldn’t be surprised. This is what Annie does, after all, and telling her off never really gets him anywhere, so he pours them both another drink, and - - sure, maybe another. 

Then maybe a few more. 

Because it’s just like they’re in this loop, y’know? Him and her. Like she fucks up and it’s not like she expects him to clean up after her (he’s not Beth), but it’s like there’s something in Annie where she needs him to know about it, and that just really gets to him sometimes, because like, Annie’s not his responsibility just because they have a kid together. Besides, he has Nancy now, so it’s not like he needs Annie, and even thinking about Nancy sort of makes him want to go and find her, so then he’s drunkenly stumbling around this party, looking for that cape of perfect blonde hair, and okay, maybe that’s when the second thing happens.

Annie. Nancy. Closet. Necking. Maybe a shirt’s off? There’s a lot of like - - like mouths and hand stuff and Greg slams the door shut and maybe goes and lies on the grass outside for a while. 

And okay, maybe it’s not a surprise either. Maybe this is also what Annie does too, but still, he stews on it, and then stews on it some more, and so what if he interrogates Ben for this therapist’s address, because like - - hadn’t Annie been going to him for months? How could this guy make everything worse. 

And sure, maybe storming into the guy’s office, drunk on anger this time instead of beer, isn’t the best idea, but he’s just - - pissed, y’know? And maybe he yells at the guy about where he gets off, kissing patients. Making his patients kiss his wife, and okay, the guy’s pale at first, but then is sort of nice, and they sit on the beanbags and talk for a bit about Hurricane Annie, and actually, he’s finished work for the day, so maybe they should go get a beer or whatever? 

And maybe later, when Josh drops a nervous hand to his knee and awkwardly closes the distance between them, when Greg’s kissing back, he does sort of wonder if he and Annie won’t always be pulling from the same pool. 

5. Turner x Noah. 

Come on. We all saw s2. There’s no way Turner didn’t offer a, ahem, hand to help Noah get over Annie. 

[brightsun-and-darkmidnight]

Bonds

TITLE: Bonds

CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: Chapter 2 / ?

AUTHOR: brightsun-and-darkmidnight

ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine Loki assuming your nephew is your son. He’s not totally wrong, though, since you’ve been the boy’s legal guardian for a couple of years now. Plus, you do play a convincing “mother” role. (more to the imagine in link)

RATING:  M (Swearing, maybe some violence and MAYBE some smut)

NOTES/WARNINGS: I don’t want to give too much away but obviously adoption takes place.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: In Raelynn’s POV. Immediately set later in the day of when Raelynn saw Loki in the park at the end of the first chapter. 

My Ao3: brightsun_and_darkmidnight

LENGTH: As usual I will try to keep to my 3,000 words per chapter.

*FINALLY..Read the warnings. Once you agree you can handle it...

 ~ ~ ENJOY  ~ ~

Raelynn sat at the table with Travis. 

He was talking about the animals he played with at the park. 

"The ducks really liked the pellets better than the bread. The squirrels couldn't talk much because they are getting ready for winter, could we get some nuts for them?"

Raelynn smiled, "yeah we could stop by the store tomorrow."

Travis looked at her odd. "You okay?"

Raelynn laughed a little. "I'm okay. Why would you say that?"

"Since seeing Loki you've been weird. You've told me how he is a good friend many times before, but thats the first time I've actually seen you two talking…"

Raelynn shrugged, "Just sort of fell out of contact is all. It was nice seeing him today though."

"Would you want to see him again?"

Raelynn's heart leaped at patching things with him and maybe telling him her own confession.

Then her heart crushed itself with how she left him behind. How she would ignore him after a while.

Raelynn looked to Travis, her nephew.

She didn't confess to Loki due to having to take custody of him. A relationship with her was now a relationship with a child. It wasn't just about her anymore.

She shrugged with a tight smile, "we will just have to see what happens. Maybe we will see him again."

Travis shrugged standing up, taking his plate to the kitchen. "I hope so. Natasha is cool and all, but she's your only friend. You need more friends."

Raelynn was quick to her own defense, "I have other friends!"

Travis rolled his eyes, "my friends' parents don't count. You only have Natasha."

Raelynn watched Travis carefully, "Why such an interest in my friendships?"

Travis shrugged, "You always encourage me to make friends. But you only hang out with Nat."

Raelynn cleaned the table. "It's okay to have a few really good friends. Natasha is a really great friend." Raelynn chuckled and ruffled his hair, "Don't worry about me Kido."

Travis pushed her hand away with a laugh, "stop that."

Raelynn ruffled his hair again. "Shower time. It's going to be past your bedtime by the time you are done."

Travis made a face, "Can't I shower in the morning?"

"I just cleaned your sheets a few days ago. Shower before bed."

Travis rolled his eyes, threw his head back dramatically as he turned towards the bathroom.

Raelynn typed a message to Natasha to see if she could call soon, then continued doing the dishes. Her phone went off from a message, but she waited until she heard the shower running to call Natasha.

Natasha answered quickly. "Hey, whats up?"

"I saw Loki today."

"Tell me more."

"I took Travis to the park today so he could feed the ducks. I sat on THE bench. Then Loki greeted me. It was nice. He met Travis today too. Obviously, since I took him there… He seemed really good with Travis…… anyway! Travis said I've been weird since seeing Loki and that I need more friends. Apparently, his friends' parents don't count."

Natasha chuckled a little. "Travis in the shower?"

Raelynn let out a few breaths of laughter. "Yes he is."

Natasha's grin could be heard. "So he was good with Travis?"

Raelynn sighed, rubbing her face. "Yes. I mean, I think? He was really nice to him. He was shocked at first, but he was very polite."

"I know you didn't want to put Loki in the situation at the beginning, but what do you think now?"

Raelynn inhaled deeply with a frustrated groan, "I don't know. I do wonder what it would have been like to have him there… but, It was extremely rough in the beginning. Poor Travis didn't understand what was going on. He was four when I got custody. You know how it was."

"I do. And you are a great mother figure for him." 

"I swear, if it wasn't for you to talk to and the help I got from Clint… I'd still be struggling. Well, worse than now."

Natasha perked up, "Laura is still waiting for you to bring Travis over again. You could drop him off and we could hang out."

"I don't know…"

"Raelynn. When have you had a day to yourself? You barely let the kid out of your sight. You have his friends come spend the night at your house. Has he ever stayed at a friend's house?"

Raelynn paused for a moment, "well no."

"I get you are his guardian now but you have to have some time to yourself. Time away from work, from motherly duties, from everything. We will get Tony to throw a party."

"I wasn't much for big crowds. I'm fine, I don't need to get out."

"Maybe some cuddle time with Loki?"

Raelynn blushed, remembering how Natasha would purposely wink at them when they would be cuddling on the common room couch. "I can practically see your wink and smirk. -That's never going to happen again anyway."

"Never know.. I know you daydreamed about it at least once today."

"Whatever Natasha."

Natasha laughed, making Raelynn smile. 

She heard the shower shut off.

"Alright, I gotta get Travis to bed. You know he gives me a hard time getting up in the morning."

Again, Natasha's smirk could be heard as she sing-songed, "I bet Loki would read him to sleep."

Raelynn dreamed of that happening multiple times, but it would never.

"Goodnight Natasha."

"Try to have a goodnight. We can talk later. Night."

Raelynn set her phone on the counter with a sigh. She finished putting away the dishes when she heard Travis walk into the kitchen.

Raelynn turned with a smile, "Ready for a story?"

Travis yawned, "Yeah."

After reading to him and he was in the embrace of sleep, Raelynn showered and tried to rest as well.

With her alarm blaring loudly, she woke up slowly. Touching her alarm, it shut off and told her it was definitely time to wake up. She groaned getting out of bed, hating her mind for keeping her up. Getting up, she heard the multiple alarms for Travis, knowing he was still sleeping... Raelynn went to wake him up for the first time.

Between getting herself ready, she went into Travis' room every 5 minutes, and got the table ready for breakfast.

She went back into Travis' room and he was laying in bed, staring at the ceiling.

Raelynn sighed, "Come on Travis, get ready. You gotta eat and I gotta get you to school."

Travis sat up and swung his legs over. "Today is Friday, right?"

Raelynn nodded, "yes. You got the weekend off after today. Maybe your friends could come over?" She watched him get a little sadder. "Something wrong?"

"No."

"Travis, what's going on?"

"John is having a slumber party Saturday. And I know you wouldn't let me go, so I didn't ask."

Raelynn felt her stomach sink. "Maybe-"

"Just get out of my room. I don't want to hear any lies about a 'next time.'"

Raelynn turned slowly as she nibbled on her lip. She sighed heavily once sitting at the table. Knowing she was over protective, but acknowledging the issue did not stop her worrying. She rested her head in her hands, contemplating on what to do.

Travis sat down at the table with a huff, not saying anything.

The ride to school was quiet too.

Before he got out, Raelynn turned. "I'm sorry. I am just worried about you."

Travis jaw tightened, "I know."

"We will go to the store after I pick you up, get those nuts for the squirrels. Sound good?" Raelynn offered a smile.

Travis crossed his arms. "I guess."

Raelynn let her face fall. "Alright. Have a good day kido."

Travis left without a word, slamming the door.

Raelynn watched him go inside the school before sighing and going back home. 

She felt terrible but also rightfully worried.

Travis was under her care now. She didn't want anything to happen to him and most importantly she didn't want him to feel unwanted. She also wanted him to have good friends and be able to talk to her. 

She apparently had already made a wall of communication errors.

Raelynn rested her head on the steering wheel. Shut the car off but did not get out. "Fuck."

She dialed Natasha's number, hearing her voice after a ring.

"Travis admitted that there is a slumber party tomorrow night but didn't tell me because I would say no. I feel like an ass hole…"

Natasha sighed, "well. I get you want to make sure he feels wanted but I think you are holding on a little too tight. You gotta let the baby bird learn to fly."

Raelynn groaned. "But how?"

"You could buy one of those watches that is set up for tracking steps and hooked up for messages."

Raelynn tilted her head in thought. "Isn't that…. A little much?"

"You would feel more at peace with it and Travis would be able to have some breathing room."

Raelynn pushed her lips together. "I suppose."

"I could hang out with you tomorrow while he is with his friends?"

"That sounds nice…"

"You don't sound thrilled. He will be fine Rae."

"Okay. Okay. I am supposed to take him to the store to get nuts for the squirrels. I'll let him pick out his own tracking device."

Natasha laughed a little. "Well that's basically what it is."

Raelynn forced a nervous laugh. "Well first I need to call and make sure its okay for him to go. Ya know? He probably did not tell them he was going."

"Probably a good idea. I'll talk to you later. Call the parents."

Raelynn took a breath, looking at her phone. Anxiety took control of her mind and body, all the terrible scenarios and horrible questions of "what if" plaguing her mind. Her stomach felt ill at everything.

She couldn't back out now though.

Natasha wouldn't let her live it down…. As well as feeling bad for Travis.

Raelynn imagined how happy he might be, which settled a miniscule amount of worries.

Raelynn called the mother of John. Unfortunately for Raelynn it went well, John's mother was ecstatic to have Travis over. She promised everything was fine and he would have fun, apparently there were many activities planned for them. Of course Raelynn thanked her for the assurance he could spend the night.

"Yeah, I could pack a bag incase he does stay." Raelynn did not think it'd go that far.

After hanging up Raelynn sat at her computer, researching different ways to keep in contact with Travis. She assumed, but it was confirmed, Travis would need a better phone. His simple flip phone would not work. Perhaps she could just get him a smart phone? Raelynn sat back with a sigh. Travis lost things constantly, Ofcourse he would need the watch too. The watch would stay on him, not the phone.

She sat at her desk and decided to get some programming done for her clients while she waited for school to be over.

Once Raelynn had Travis in the car she held casual conversation with him, he was obviously upset. They got into the store, picked out some nuts for the squirrels and got a few other things for the house. Then Raelynn looked at the snacks in front of her.

"So I called John's mom…" Raelynn hid her smile at Travis' instant attention. "I asked if it was okay for you to go over for a little. She said she would love to have you over. There is something else we need to shop for though…"

Travis's smile was threatening to crack his face. "What?"

Raelynn put a box of new crackers to try in the cart. "Well… you know how I don't like you going too far. I'm going to get you a smart phone with a watch. I'm going to buy a watch for me too. The watches will show notifications like calls and texts so we can keep in contact."

Raelynn looked to Travis who was excited.

"I get a smart phone?"

"You need to promise me you will update me regularly."

"I promise!" Travis exclaimed as he held his pinky out.

Raelynn smiled as she wrapped her pinky around his. "Let's go to the electronic store. They'll have more options."

Travis took his pinky away with a raspberry blown. "You just wanna look at the new stuff."

Raelynn rolled her eyes with a grin. "Well duh."

They picked out watches, a new phone for Travis, and Raelynn made sure to get a case and glass screen protector for the phone. She might have purchased a new video game… or few.

Arriving home Raelynn felt uneasy as Travis was excited about his phone. She set it up for him and made sure the watches worked. Feeling a little better once notifications worked. Travis smiled widely as she gave him the new devices.

"If you have questions, just let me know. Phones are capable of a lot. But its mostly important you know messages and calls."

"I got that part Rae Rae. You showed me two times and made them the lock screen thingys. I promise to check in."

Raelynn looked to the watch, tapping into it with her own watch… At least it worked.

"Alright Kiddo. You ready for the park? Those squirrels will be excited."

Travis grinned, grabbing his jacket, "Ofcourse."

Raelynn let him play with his phone in peace in the car ride. Once at the park Travis excitedly gave squirrels a few nuts each. Then he saw a friend and showed them his phone. They seemed to exchange numbers and talked huddled together over the devices.

Raelynn sighed as she watched them. Tomorrow was going to be hell on her nerves.

"May I sit here?"

The voice was familiar, like a fond memory. 

She smiled at Loki.

"You may."

He sat on the bench, making butterflies flutter out of control. Though he sat at a distance of a stranger, not like the treasured memories she had. Silence enveloped them, and awkward feelings weighed on Raelynn. The urge to grasp his hand was still fresh in her mind from over three years ago.

Loki sighed, "I admit, it has been a long time since I have sat on this specific bench."

Raelynn smiled, "they put a new playground over there. Travis likes the jungle gym."

Loki looked to the playground, then to Travis who was handing nuts to the squirrels with the friend. "Apparently the little critters too."

Raelynn grinned, "he loves animals. Very good with them too."

Loki's smile never left and his eyes were warm, "can he talk to them? Like you with electronics?"

Raelynn nodded, "yes he can. We come here often because he likes the animals that are here and the pets that pass through."

Raelynn smiled briefly then looked elsewhere out of the awkward silence. She played with her hair, longer since three years ago, it has been trimmed a few times and would be needing it done again. 

"I. Uh. I'm sorry. I feel like it needed to be said." 

Raelynn glanced at Loki who observed her with those gorgeous green eyes. With the look in his eyes, he was vulnerable, watching her carefully. Like in the past when he could only listen to her words of comfort. Raelynn sighed turning towards Loki, letting him know he had her attention and sincerity.

"I feel terrible that I treated you the way I did. I should have gave you the opportunity to be involved after I left. But I was a coward. I didn't want to…" Raelynn sighed as tears welled in her eyes. She looked away and blinked until the emotions passed enough to speak again. "Its not just me anymore. I have to take care of Travis now. And he has been my priority since the beginning. He still and will always be my priority. Sometimes his needs are met before most of my own, especially before any of my wants and desires. You are an amazing person, you did not deserve the way I treated you."

Loki slightly smiled. "I appreciate your apology. I fully understand children come first, they always should…" 

Raelynn watched his tongue lick at his lips before they parted. His eyes showing many thoughts but his mouth told nothing. His mouth closed and Raelynn worried that was all he would say. He looked to his lap at his hand causing her to wonder if some thoughts were of his past.

"Perhaps… If you are willing -If its okay. We could try to start over? Be friends again."

Raelynn's heart leaped. He knew she was attached to Travis now and it couldn't hurt to get close to him again. ...Right? She smiled after a moment of staring at Loki for so long. "I would like that."

Loki smiled and his eyes lit up to a bright green. "I would too."

Raelynn glanced to Travis who met her stare, which faltered as he glanced to Loki. Then grinned, running off to the playground with his friend.

"He seems full of energy." Loki spoke seeing Travis running around.

Raelynn sat back on the bench. "Yeah. All the time. Except in the mornings. He is a completely different kid."

"I can agree that the mornings are not desirable."

Raelynn laughed, "I remember you were so grumpy before your morning tea."

Loki turned to her, "and I remember you, who insisted on talking my ear off despite my lack of tea. Every morning."

Raelynn shrugged with a smile. "By the time you would wake up I had two cups of coffee already. You were usually the last one awake."

"I still have no idea how you function on less sleep than I need. We would stay up until the same time before we went to bed. You would always be up before me."

Raelynn laughed at Loki's face of disgust and disbelief. "I don't know. I've never needed much rest."

Loki’s eyes softened and a sweet smile pulled his lips, making Raelynn smile back.

Nothing needed said. Their bond was back, and Raelynn pondered… 

It never felt broken.

[lovingpartydeputyeagle]

Notes: Hi lyric and I guess Naomi, so for this story I basically tried to make it like tutor sessions but I wanted to put my own twist on it to make it like some of the other stories that I have been reading here’s a little disclaimer basically Lyric is the main character and Naomi is her best friends or her side character or whatever and there is a brief mention of hawks but the love interest or whatever is Dabi yeah. I wrote it on here cause like no one knows that I have tumbler I didn’t want to do it on wattpad. Hopefully you like this 😐

It was the first day back to school and over the summer you had gone through a horrible break up which wasn't the best way to spend summer but your entire focus was gonna be on school this year no more relationships. You thought to yourself.

As you entered you first period, you see your friend Naomi... she called you over "hey Lyric! come sit by me" you then walked over to your seat and set everything down while the rest of the kids came into the classroom.

As the class began your teacher projects "welcome back to school students my name is Mr.Jean and this year you will be taking AP history or in other words advanced history". "This year we have two students who are sophomores but were allowed to take this upper class because of their high GPA."

"Their names are Lyric and Naomi if you turn and look back they are sitting in the corner" Everyone turned to look back at you guys for about 5 seconds and for the most part you thought nothing of it, but this one guys with black hair and burn marks who was quite cute in your eyes stared a little longer. The guy sitting next to him with blonde hair grabbed him and said "dude turn around don't be a creep".

The teacher sighs, "Hawks and Dabi please don't forget that you guys are retaking this class because you goofed off last year, you're seniors get it together."

They both looked embarrassed and you kinda felt bad for them, you look over to see Naomi not even paying attention to them though, that made you a little upset since her and the blonde would definitely look good together.

As class ended you went to your other 5 courses, and thank god that you didn't have to see your ex since you guys didn't have any periods together. That made you super relieved, it was about 6:00 and you were done with cheer practice. You headed back to your dorm where Naomi already had been since she didn't do much after school. You were able to stay on campus in high school because of dual enrolment.

You dropped your things and plopped on your bed, you weren't planning on going to sleep because you wanted to shower but Naomi forgot to wake you up even though you told her 10 times to wake you up!. It was the next day 8:00 Am to be specific and class started at 7:45 you were late...or at least you were gonna be REALLY late ! You jumped up and quickly yelled "Naomi ! Wake up ! ....we are so late you didn't wake me up last night or set an alarm ! UHHH!"

"Lyric calm down, I fell asleep and couldn't wake you it's just class." "You are only mad cause you might see Your ex Todoroki in the halls because he's usually late to class too. You reply "uhh okay yeah maybe, anyways wait for me until I get out the shower we might as well be really late cause I don't wanna go to class smelly" You both got ready and headed to your first period where you saw Dabi and Hawks, something about Dabi had you so intrigued but uu didn’t know what it was. The entire class period you couldn’t stop thinking about him.

When class ended you quickly snapped out of it and thought about the promise you made to yourself after what you went through with Todoroki, boys would not be something that distracted you. At lunch you sat with Naomi and told her that she should definitely get with Hawks cause they would look so good together. She responded “don’t think that I didn’t notice the way you were looking at Dabi the whole class, let’s talk about that.

You looked confused and responded “no he’s not my type”.... “Who’s not your type?” said a deep voice coming from behind you, “oh um hi ! You responded “you’re in my first period right” “yeah my name is Dabi and this is Hawks, can we sit here?” Naomi nodded “yeah definitely, we weren’t talking about anything serious.”

He smirks “oh okay...that’s good to hear ladies”

Hawks turns and starts to have a conversation with Naomi while Dabi turns and faces towards you. He laughs “so I mean I can hear pretty good, who is this guy that’s not really your type”.....you blush “oh um that was just a little inside joke I promise , it’s nothing to dwell on. He says “hmm okay whatever you say, so how are you liking Mr jeans class Lyric, it must be so easy because you were able to get in because of your high GPA.”

You respond “to be honest the work seems kind of hard, harder than I expected” Dabi says “oh so “smartie” can’t even get that mans work done he’s such a pain in the ass.” You think to yourself wow this guy is pretty funny...maybe I shouldn’t push him away.

He says in his monotone voice “well since we both seem to be struggling...maybe we could have a study sesh, ya know for the upcoming quiz next week”. You respond “uhm yeah this Saturday right after the football game I can come to your dorm” his face lights up “yeah that’s perfect since I’m playing in the game, and your a cheerleader right”? “yeah, uh yeah I am”you responded.

Fast forward to Saturday you and Naomi head to the field and she wishes you good luck. You start to get in formation while you see Dabi warming up, he smiles at you. You turn around quickly because the game is starting. You and your squad are about to go on, you see Dabi from the corner of your eye looking your way...omg why does he have to be so hot it’s making me nervous you think to yourself. Uh I’m gonna forget the routine.

Luckily you didn’t forget and everything went just as planned. When the game ended it was around 8:00 Pm, You and Naomi headed away from the bleachers when you heard that same deep voice of Dabi yell “Hey! Lyric and Naomi” you both turn around to see him and Hawks running . Hawks says “hey Naomi we are still on for hanging out ?” She reply’s “uh yeah totally”, Dabi says “yeah Lyric we are still on too right?” You responded yes and then He hugged you goodbye that gave you butterflies.

You and Naomi make it back to the dorms, she smirks “I didn’t know you and Dabi had a little thing going onnnn...” you rolled your eyes “we are just studying, plus I’m pretty sure you and Hawks will be doing way more stuff than us tonight .She replied “yeah okay whatever you say I knew I was right, don’t let Todoroki hold you back, not everyone is like him” you ignored her and you guys proceeded to each get in the shower and then get ready.

When you both were finished you realized that it worked perfectly because while Hawks went to you and Naomi’s dorm you would be gone, and while you were at Dabi’s dorm Hawks would be gone. You saw the blonde approaching you...he asked “so Lyric is Naomi ready?, Dabi is ready for you and our dorm is 5b2 just in case you forgot. You reply “uh yeah Naomi is ready, okay bye”

You knocked on Dabi’s dorm and he hugged you again, everything was surprisingly neat and it smelled really, really good. He says “uhm you can sit at the desk I’ll be there in a minute I have to get my books” he came running back and sat right next you. “Okay so we are just taking notes for the study guide” you said he responded “yeah”.

He then wrote his name on the paper [dabi ackerman] your eyes quickly opened wide you thought... no, no way AKERMAN!? the same last name as Todoroki ? You asked “um akerman..that’s your last name don’t tell me you have a brother named Todoroki?”

He responded “uh yeah I do actually he’s in the same grade as you right..how do you know him?” You sigh “we dated last year and ended things over the summer” he looks shocked “ohhh you were the girl he was talking about, yeah my brother is a total piece of shit when it comes to relationships” he puts his hand on your thighs and reassures you “but i promise I’m nothing like him”

He slowly moves his fingers up your thigh “hey Lyric, tell me did you really come here to just study” you responded “well...that was my intention bu-

He cuts of your sentence and kisses you, “I know you didn’t, you can’t be as innocent as you look”. He grabs your hips and lays you down on the bed as he starts to unbuckle his belt, You could see how hard he was through his pants. You gave in, even though he was Todoroki’s brother you wanted to have some fun so you entertained the situation.

You pulled off his black tank top and put your hands in his pants, you then pulled him on the bed and got on top of him. You could see that he was very turned on and the mood was set because of course he already had music playing. You started to kiss his stomach all the way down to his dick.

You put your lips on the tip and his head titled back in pleasure “uh yeah fuck just like that” he then stood up over you and put his hands around your neck “be a good girl like you claim to be, and put the whole thing in your mouth” you did as he said, he still had his head tilted back as tears were running down your face and black eyeliner was dripping, you pulled yourself back and only focused on tip knowing that was his most sensitive place.

He said “oh so your being a bad girl, looks like I’ll have to punish you”. He pulled you up by your hair and pushed you on the bed, he groaned “panties off NOW” you looked away and thought “damn I didn’t wear any” he smirked “oh so you must wanna get torn up” he proceeded to start licking his way down your stomach then he pulled your sweats off with his mouth.

“Oh so no panties, your such a slut baby girl” he pulled your sweats off and kept eye contact with you. As he spit on your cunt, he stuck out his tongue and licked up and down your clit, the metal from his tongue piercing felt so good...you moaned..“uh- yea- !” He whispered “shhh other people will hear you”.

You moaned “uhhh I’- im cumming Dabi, you came in his mouth he smirked “does that turn you on..the thought that other people could hear you being a whore?” ..without warning he put 2 fingers in you moving in and out fast. “Dabi please! I- I can’t anymore... he laughed “yeah you can and you will, this tight little pussy needs stretching Lyric. He put his hand on your thighs and pulled your legs over his neck while he destroyed your cunt. You put your hand around his hands for support as you felt yourself coming close to your edge.

Dabi notices you tighten around his fingers and says “we can’t have my bad little slut cumming 2 times in a row” he gets up off his knees and turns you around so your ass is up. He takes your shirt off and fondles your titties, you move back pressing yourself on his dick “you’re so needy, you just can’t wait to have my cock inside you darling..huh?”

He teases your pussy by rubbing up against you, you sigh “please Dabi put it in I can’t take it anymore I want you inside of me !” He waste no time and starts ramming into your cunt. Dabi groans “your so fucking tight I’m gonna give you my baby” you cry “it feels so good DEEPER! please” not knowing what you got yourself into he puts his full length in you.

It was so big and thick that you couldn’t feel your legs, Dabi notices and pulls you up by putting one arm around your waist and the other on your neck. He turns your head around and presses his lips against yours...while saliva is dripping from both of your mouths.

You feel his cock twitching inside you, he knows your legs are giving out but he turns on his back and says “ride” you did as he said and started to bounce on his dick, he moans “f- fuck yeah baby girl cum on my dick” you kept riding until you couldn’t do it anymore you felt yourself coming close to an orgasm again but you fell on his chest.

He grabbed your ass and started to thrust hard into your cunt, you could feel it so deep in your stomach. You moaned “d- Dabi I’m cumming please give me your baby” you felt his dick twitching inside you and he released his load while his blue eyes were staring into yours.

You both exhale and lay on your backs he laughs “damn we just did that” you laugh “yeah...give me your number, I kinda like you. He says “yeah I like you too Lyric”. You guys exchange numbers and then you guys put back on your clothes..he notices that your legs are still shaking.

He giggles “I’m gonna carry you back to your dorm” you said okay... you got onto his back and you guys made it to the dorm where Naomi and Hawks were together. Dabi knocked and said “hey open up” !nobody answered so yall figured that they must’ve went to sleep together.

Dabi then carried you back to his dorm and said “well I guess you can sleep here tonight” you got into his bed and he cuddled you . Not knowing that you were awake, he whispered “I hope we can do this again soon, I know you’re the one.” You smiled and fell asleep with him.

[worldcakecakecake]

Feliciano and the King of Hearts

Chosen by the gods as the Queen of Hearts from the moment of birth, we follow Feliciano’s story as he grows into royal life, learns to rule, go against age old customs, and his relationship with his husband to be, the King of Hearts.

Chapter 1 I  Chapter 2 I Chapter 3 I Chapter 4 I Chapter 5 I Chapter 6I Chapter 7 I Chapter 8 IChapter 9I Chapter 10I Chapter 11I Chapter 12 I Chapter 13 I Chapter 14 I Chapter 15 I Chapter 16 I Chapter 17 I Chapter 18 I Chapter 19I Chapter 20 I Chapter 21 I Chapter 22 I Chapter 23 I Chapter 24 I Chapter 25 I Chapter 26 I Chapter 27 I Chapter 28I Chapter 29 I Chapter 30 I Chapter 31 I Chapter 32 I Chapter 33 I Chapter 34 I Chapter 35 I Chapter 36 I Chapter 37I chapter 38 I Chapter 39 I Chapter 40 I Chapter 41 I Chapter 42 I Chapter 43 I Chapter 44 I Chapter 45 I Chapter 46I Chapter 47 I Chapter 48 I Chapter 49 I Chapter 50 I Chapter 51 I Chapter 52 I Chapter 53 I Chapter 54 I Chapter 55 I Chapter 56 I Chapter 57 I Chapter 58 I Chapter 59 I Chapter 60I Chapter 61 I Chapter 62 I Chapter 63 I Chapter 64  I Chapter 65 I Chapter 66 I Chapter 67 I Chapter 68  I Chapter 69 I Chapter 70 I Chapter 71 I Chapter 72

                                                    Chapter 73

“I am incredibly uncertain about this,” Arthur said, yet joining the others in their decreed way.

 The castle seemed more active than it had ever been during this entire war, a rush passing by them or following behind.

 “It’s only obvious I should go,” Feliciano lead this huddle of many worried, trembling or even ready to begin the process. “I was the one who missed the alignment, I’m the one whose prophesied to finish all this and I have the magic necessary that can help me more than any of you in the interludes.”

 “Feliciano, you only but just recently left the birthing room. I don’t think you are yet mentally stable for this,” Kandake tried to walk at his pace, wanting that he would look at her, not just forward, to the room decided would bring their faith.

 “You are bearing!” Louis joined, of the many at the front wanting to keep his speed.

 “All the Queens should be here to take action,” Aldrich said.

 “I am fine,” he tried to make it sound stable, yet it was forced, there was anger, clearly part of the denial. “I am sure the children will be fine.” He gave the jewels a short caress, the only moment he had gotten his eyes elsewhere. “All the Queens will take action. I am only doing my part.” He began to take off the red cape and the jacket he had been wearing, meaning to throw it to the floor carelessly, instead, his mother caught it, part of her refusal, holding and offering for if he still changed his minds in the mere minutes left.

 “Amore, there are so many who could go in your name.”

 “I don’t need anyone to go for me. If I can do it, I will.”

 “But if we loose you, we loose the biggest piece we have in this war,” Herakles said.

 Feliciano took a deep breath, swallowing once again the weight and terror of all this, “I won’t fail.”

 “And if you do…what then?” Vincenzo posed the dreaded question, the one to turn Feliciano’s step into hesitance.

 It was small. Another breath and he continued as he had.

 “Then all hope is gone. Nothing else will be left.”

 Many servants and maids stood beside the room that was decided. They trembled in their eyes, it spread to their clothes, a panic that worsened at the groups’ coming.

 “But I won’t let you down. I know what this means, and I can’t let myself betray the kingdoms.” He raised his hand, with a queenly decree to open.

 Elizabeta held it before it was uttered. “Once you pass those doors, we will understand then that there’s nothing we can do to change your mind. We will start and you will be brought into the Interludes. One last time…are you sure you want to do this?”

 All, even the servants and maids, stared hoping still for other words that could spare him from this, that anybody else still had the chance to offer themselves. With the elongated silence, they wanted to believe it was to happen, coming ever closer for the acceptance.

 Feliciano released himself from Elizabeta’s grasp and used the hand to push open the door, making his way inside. The rest looked between themselves hoping for any new words that could help to get him out of there before it truly began, but now they had nothing. It was as Elizabeta had said, by this point, there was nothing they could do to change his mind. All they could do now was to fulfill their part, heading behind him to begin.

 The room they chose was the one that held the recreational pool. The specific servants who worked there could well count the times it had been used. Feliciano and Ludwig themselves had only been there two times…one of those being in their heated Roseann spring frenzy. All Feliciano could see were the spots they had made love, where they told sweet words, smiled and touched in what they had thought a forever. To Feliciano it was a new shot of pain, biting his lips, peeling himself harshly away from those scenes of memory, a new shade of tears to add to his eyes. No…he couldn’t show this now…especially now.

 “This place is actually gorgeous,” Lovino had to admit.

 And indeed it was a majesty.

 The room was dark, in the solid of the rock that had formed it. The only light was but those of specific jewels. There were three large ones that emitted a pinkish light, at three high points, right above the formations that cascaded new water into the pool below. The rest of these jewels were in the waters, showcasing the depths…perfect enough for one to lay in its infinite…no safe reach to the surface. Some shivered at its emptiness for now.

 Planted fauna, along with small statues decorated it heavenly, a beauty that made many wonder why they didn’t use it more often…and why did it have to come to them using it for a purposed drowning. Distracted they were to not notice how Feliciano already sat at an edge, rolling his pants and taking off his boots, to the side uncaring…he wouldn’t need them dead. He could have swung himself that instant, but he was held by a hand on his shoulder, looking up to meet with his cousin. Herakles turned his head, asking for patience.

 “All right, so, we need someone to stay always at the door, controlling who comes in and even defending if it comes to it,” Lovino loudly told.

 “I will offer myself then,” Louis said, already taking a seating, brandishing a polished and beautiful spear…out of its case for the first time in decades.

 “Us Queens will take the ever watch on Feliciano, as well as necessary mourning,” Arthur said, Elizabeta and Lili joining on his side, creating a sort of shield on Feliciano, to stand strong from that moment.

 “Yet, we are in need of more watchers and mourners for if we are needed elsewhere,” Elizabeta reminded.

 “Then the rest of us will stay here, to act quick if that is to be the case,” Kiku said.

 “Messengers are rallied, and we are prepared to work here,” Aldrich said, in his place along with the rest. He was determined to be a part of this, to be close. All the tables, plans, books, even charms and talismans were there with them, a good space apart from the pool so neither could be disturbed, each in their own mission.

 As they all made their final chats and placings, Lovino headed over to his brother, kneeling beside him, worried glances exchanged…but loving, yet dreading, both beginning to take a synchronized row of breaths.

 “Lovino, I’m already here. You can’t change my mind any-”

 “I know…I…just want to tell you to be safe…I don’t want anything to happen to you…”

 Feliciano smiled, yet a dry hand coming to take one of Lovino’s, the grasp tight and assuring.

 Lovino sighed, “you know what you have to do.”

 “Ever since I decided. I’ve read the chapters like twenty times. I know enough, I know what I need.” He gazed to the water, like a new door before him. “I’ll…do my best…and then I’ll be back before you guys know it,” he confided with such a large smile, the one of their youth, his and now Lovino knew ever shinning.

 “Any idea on where the power will be though?”

 “I’ll look, I’ll do whatever it takes, I know I’ll find it.”

 “Fine and…Feli…” and there was the chest, the musical one, placed right beside him on the ground.

 “I wish I could take it,” Feliciano admitted.

 “I’ll play the melody…perhaps you’ll be able to hear it…perhaps it can help.” He wanted to hope…he wanted to do more.

 “It might… I’ll try to hear it.”

 Lovino smiled…lowering down for an embrace, Feliciano knowing his last physical warmth before he left. It was then Vicenzo and Renata who came down, sharing in it as well.

 “What about…what about the children?” Vincenzo pointed to the jewels.

 “I’ve said it enough times, papa. They’ll be fine.”

 “The body will be well kept, and while Feliciano is surviving in the Interludes with a hold spell, the children will be able to grow as per usual from the magic here,” Renata deemed.

 “I hope so…” Feliciano let his hands caress them, not knowing if they will be in the interludes as his light and belief.

 “We still don’t truly know though,” Louis had to remind.

 “I don’t think someone has ever purposely gone to the interludes while bearing,” Lili added.

 “Well…I’ll come back and be the first one to write about it, I guess,” Feliciano breathed, his feet now entering the water, the cold giving a strong shiver that almost froze his entire body that instant.

 “The time is upon us…who will create and hold the suspension spell,” Vincenzo alarmed.

 “I-” Herakles was to offer, but he was interrupted by the crashing entrance of a messenger. It had been so sudden that Louis had bared her spear at him. The messenger was too frantic to care about the weapon pointed at him.

 “Destro! He has entered Austria!” He shouted, just the alarm that brought them all to hesitance once again. They shared panicked glances, their worry heightened, and a new dread of planning was to come…just as Feliciano was set to leave.

 Herakles looked to Feliciano, and he nodded, the Queen giving the command for what had been a planned leave.

 “And where is Khaos?” Lovino asked.

 “The defenses of the Amazon are crumbling…they expect soon entrance into Spades as well.” The messenger was still breathing heavily, every word more a weight on him.

 Many fretted, halted in confusion on what to do.

 “I’ll head to Greece immediately and begin our protection at the border,” Herakles stood proud, making his way, but not before coming to Kiku, a tight caring hold of his arms before they embraced and kissed.

 “We continue as we have. We create new tactics, new attacks, send orders,” Aldrich tried to calm.

 “There are casters in Italy of old age that wrote to me that they will act on such a case. I’ll message them this instant, perhaps they can join you, Herakles,” Vincenzo stood.

 “There are also casters of equal state and strengths in Japan as well. I’ll tell them to join along,” Kiku said…anything to help his intended.

 “See if there is anybody still in Germany that can go and fight,” Renata joined. She feared how they were in their last resort…sending seniors to war.

 “Arthur, I recommend you start sending reinforcements to the Oralee. It is an easy door for Diamonds that Khaos can misuse,” Elizabeta suggested, and the Spadian Queen began his orders.

 “Amore,” Renata kneeled back to her son’s sitting, who was now held, wanting to also fulfill duties in this fighting, but nothing came from his mouth, the water surrounding his feet reminded of what he was meant to do instead. “I’ll hold the suspension spell.” There were no disagreements and so it was decided. Feliciano held her hands tightly in gratitude.

 Orders and plans began to get shouted, the room now a mess. Lili began organizing a map, putting accord new plans, paths, and locations. “Opa, look,” she pointed and so all noticed the route Destro was taking, new terrors reigning.

 “He’s trying to get to Hearts,” Louis said aloud.

 “More specifically…he wants to come to Berlin,” Lili noticed.

 Some teared, some paced trying to rid of their shake.

 “His plans have long been obvious. What difference does it make that it’s more sure?” Vincenzo said.

 “It shows that there’s a specific purpose,” Lili glances to Feliciano and all knew for certain the main important plot for Destro.

 “He’s heading right to us,” Aldrich said.

 “Then we defend the castle. We make evacuation plans. We can’t let that freak get to Feliciano, especially while he’s in the Interludes,” Lovino appointed.

 “Our time has been shortened though,” Aldrich reminds.

 “Well, fratellino, you better hurry the fuck up then,” Lovino turned to him.  

 “I’ll try my best.”

 “We have to start now!” Kiku deemed it.

 “Hurry, we don’t have any more time to lose,” Herakles said, his last words before he was out of the room, to battle like many.

 “Feliciano, it’s time for you to start getting in,” Aldrich said.

 And so Feliciano nodded, taking his last deep breath before he followed the command of the last king and began a slow submersion into the water.

 No one else could work, no one else could go on with their mission, Feliciano felt all their eyes on him. If it wasn’t for the chill of the pool, for the coming dread of death, it would have bothered him, but it didn’t matter, not now when he was especially close. He could depend on the steps, taking them one by one, submerging only slightly each time. When the water was by his torso, he extended his leg and found no more rock to hold, it was then the vastness he had to take. He turned one last time to all, now so far.

 “Please…be safe,” the last words he heard were those of his father, taking his wife’s side as comfort for what he was seeing, pain like the ones scarred on his body.

 Feliciano nodded, hoping they could see all the love in his bright open eyes, before he faced the water, breathe and he jumped forward without any more delays.

 He was now completely submerged, falling and letting the water take care of his descend however it wanted. He didn’t fight, he didn’t reach, he was not meant to escape from this. Relax…he let it all take him in. Don’t be fearful…sleep.

 There was the constriction, of the water filling his lungs. It would have been painful if he had begun to fight it, but he was going in ease, continuing his fall, now reaching a mid where he could float in an infinite. Slowly did the darkness took him, easing everything until all movements ceased, and he couldn’t control anymore how even his arms and legs fell. He was gone with an accepting seal of his eyes.

 They all watched the rumbling, the bubbles, all to the very last one that surfaced.

 “Renata, now,” Kandake commanded, seeing the opportune moment.

 Renata breathed in, rubbing her hands together, her breath releasing in a pinkish glow in the palm of her hands. Like a blown kiss, it floated and coated the pool, a beautiful pink mist to arise and drape before it fell and reached for the body it was to work on. It took it like a large blanket, draping him all until only a glow on his silhouette was left. Renata’s palm was in the same glow.

 “The hold depends on you. Make sure to always keep it,” Kiku said.

 “With my life if it comes to it,” she held it dear to herself, as if it was her little son.

 Feliciano shone like another jewel of the ones below the pool, but it was still disconcerting…how he was dead… even if  he was meant to come back and was holding to some sort of life  line with Renata’s spell. Their entire future laid on him like this. They were fearful of all the wrong that could occur, of this castle crumbling under Destro’s wrath, of Feliciano never returning from this, of a future enslaved or killed by this menace.

 Arthur hated how defeated they looked…when they haven’t finished anything and Feliciano was just floating uselessly in the pool. “We don’t accomplish anything just standing around here. Feliciano won’t be coming back anytime soon. Come, let’s get to work.” He turned and continued his orders to get the Oralee mobilized, as well as see if there was anymore that could be done to defend the Spadian border that was soon to be breached. And one by one they followed the Spadian Queen’s suggestion, heading to their place. The only who remained in their stare were Vincenzo, Renata, Kandake and Pookie. They didn’t dare leave. They wanted to keep ever watch, as if they could help defend him even if he was in another world…as if they could still reach him.

  Eternal…always in these waters, floating, vast, in a surrounding of nothing. It extended like this, his body in answer to its void. No response, no way to-…wait. It was then that Feliciano realized he was aware, that he knew his body or…soul and spirit, were present in these new waters. He could move his arms apart, paddle his legs, if even slight moves, slow. He tested his eyes, welcoming, adjusting them to what they could see and meet.

 Vast darkness, more so than what he knew the pool had been. The pink jewels were gone, instead, he saw a far blue light, like a moon shinning far off, into a surface. He could see ripples, small, like small stones falling upon it. There was something out there, new and…he could turn his body, energy was coming to him again, he had impulse and he used it to swim upward, now far, a grand effort that for Feliciano was like swimming the length of a full ocean. As he did, he realized that he hadn’t used his breaths…and that he didn’t need them. They didn’t exist here anymore. The closer he got to the top, the more there was this invisible pull, rushing him forward until finally he was released. No splash, no disturbance in this surface. He landed as if he was on solid ground, easy and balanced…even with an infinite depth of water below him. His steps caused only but a small ripple that easily disappeared, and once it was gone, Feliciano came to the realization that he was just as alone, in yet another blanket of darkness above him. No sun, no moon, no stars…no jewels even from the Aces to decorate such dread. That blue light he saw was somehow emanated from the very line that divided the water and this…place.

 Could he…move, walk? He could raise his hands, legs, turn his head. He tested a foot forward. Solid, another gentile ripple. Yes, this was ground he could trust for now to venture.

 As he completely settled straight, he noticed that the jewels of bearing weren’t present…only a haze red that looked more like a simple bruise. Yet, they were in their form and place, still a reminder that they were there. Actually, now that he saw, he had his normal arms, legs, stomach, head. He rummaged his fingers through his hair, still with its curls, feeling the same texture and skin. Even his clothes were the very ones he had taken his dive with. The only difference was all his bruises, cuts and scars were gone, with a small red glow surrounding him, as another light to guide. The realization made him smile, even extend himself upward ready to jump and shout in celebration.

 This had worked! He was in the Interludes! This was surely the first realm.

 He gazed about him, still the same infinite darkness, nothing of the descriptions he had read.

 Where was he to go? What direction could he take? Who could he even speak to?

 He was ready to dash for whatever he could find, to turn and shout if he had to. A sudden blast of white, lightning and shock as he stumbled upon it. Feliciano startled and screamed back at the sudden appearance of a body, floating and resting right before him, all is if he was in the depths of water the person was not actually in. He was from the White Kingdom, deep dark skin, his silvers, pearls and rich white silks from his soldier uniform, swaying along with him in quite a majesty. The body would disappear into a haze, but then he would shimmer again in this sudden crackling of light. Every time it extended below him, a single zigzagged line reaching down, disappearing into vastness.  That glow made him notice another body, deep below in the waters, flying and extending with not a wetness noticeable. This one a woman from Diamonds…the Israeli province he knew, she had the symbols along with her yellows. She also wore her soldier uniform, the same flashes of sparks, only in yellow…deep in rest as the other figure.

 Feliciano waved, tried to do any kind of big movement that could get them to wake up…yet they remained as they were. He dared to reach his hand to touch, but the shocks instantly got him, painful and burning. Feliciano couldn’t believe he could feel such a physical attack…when he was supposed to be dead. He moved back, he felt another shock and burn, another sudden body. It pained to know it was a Heartian, red, from Greece…surely of those sent to aid the fight at the front with Destro.

 As the blazing continued, extending, Feliciano could spot another Whitean, a Spadian, Clubian…several more, making the space glow in quite a beautiful array of colors. They were now everywhere…but not a single one standing as he did, pointing or providing a way. He spun, he fretted, anxious breathing that he didn’t think would follow him here.

 Okay, think, steady your breathing as if you were still alive…what did the book say? What did we talk about with everybody else? He brought his hands to massage his head as he ordered everything in his mind.

 “The deceased enters. The first realm is a mirror lake,” he remembered Elizabeta’s word, clear now once he stared to the endless bottom of this water. It wasn’t mirror-like…he didn’t spot his own reflection…only the other bodies.

 “All resided magic must be released.” Those sparks…how it had no specification…it was just to…release.

 That very moment, the body of a near Heartian boomed loudly, the glow coating Feliciano all in red. The body continued its rest…into haze, then more small sparks, but yet he didn’t awake.

 Feliciano now couldn’t control his breathing as he realized that all these bodies…so many…so many… wearing soldier uniforms…were the dead of the war currently being fought. So many looked so young…so many with badges and seals that showed their hard efforts…a life dedicated…finished in this. Feliciano shivered, tears brimming, close to kneeling him in the loss and misery.

 “This takes a period of four days in our time. A week in the time of the realm.”

 Enough, enough, enough, he repeated to himself in deep anguish, understanding that there was a mission that needed to be fulfilled…and it had a time limit. Even if he managed a passing to the Interludes with the chance of survival, for those once past lives that hauntingly floated around him…there was nothing he could do. He wallowed in the pain and blame…wondering if part could have been avoided if he would have acted earlier, if there was something before everything that could have been key to an easy victory…not to this reach where he had to visit the afterlife.

 Breathe…he had a week in this realm to find whatever answer he could. Even if nothing seemed present that instant…he had to explore, venture and hope that he could find a clue…or even someone.

 He stood, just as a Spadian body flew along him, as he gazed upward and noticed a larger array than before, all from Diamonds. Feliciano swallowed, not wanting to know what it meant.

 Okay, he had to go on. One foot forward, the next following, a pace as if he was strolling through the castle. He tried to keep that singular line, only his gaze turning to the bodies he saw, careful of the lights that shot down.

 Into the depths he went, yet still the only red light that walked singularly in that eternal extend.

[sneakers-and-shakes]

Local Night Owl Tries To Be Morning Person

As you have probably figured out from the title, I’m not a morning person. I have seen more sunrises from staying up all night than waking up early in the morning and I love it. So naturally, I decided to challenge myself and wake up at 7 am everyday, for a week. Twice.

Let me explain. Mornings for me have always been very functional, I get up at the time I need to in order to be on time.  So around forty minutes to do my stretches, get ready, eat something real quick, and get out the door for work which runs me mostly on time.

It’s a habit I’ve carried on from high school when I would get maybe four hours of sleep, so in order to maximize my shut eye I would get up at the last possible minute that still ensured I got to school on time.

Now, this isn’t my life anymore, I don’t need to be maximizing sleep. So I thought maybe I can actually try and make the most of my morning. Maybe. I started by creating some goals, what I thought/want to get out of waking up early:

I realize this is a hefty list for someone who is the epitome of a night owl, but this is genuinely what I want to accomplish, and these are goals which means they are meant to be worked towards.

And then I decided to wake up at 7am for a week. Back in May.

Since you’re reading this in June, clearly it didn’t go well. The main reason was because I had to unexpectedly move last month and that threw everything for a loop so I ended up dropping the already failing challenge to focus on the move.

But I still want to share that experience with you because it was my honest first try at this so here’s my journaling from the 3 days I tried the challenge:

Journal Entry Day 1: Sunday:

I failed. I could not get up at 7am even though I was conscious enough to turn off my alarm. This is a probably a mixture of the fact that I stayed up till 3am the night before and I always sleep in on the weekends and can’t motivate myself to get up if I don’t have any plans. I actually got out of bed at 12:30 pm today and am so disappointed in myself. This is not a great start to this week and I’m debating starting over next week instead. I wanted to do so many things and not being able to do them they way I wanted is very discouraging.

As you can see the first day didn’t go well at all. In fact, I failed so spectacularly that I almost scraped the whole idea for this week and considered doing it the following week instead. Then I thought that I shouldn’t let this stop me and if this is going to be an honest post of my true experience, I need to share my failure. And so even though I wasn’t happy with myself, I decided to keep pushing on.

Journal Entry Day 2: Monday:

Well something is better than nothing, got out of bed at 7:40am. I stayed up till 3:30am the previous night reading (this is really quite a trend I’ve adopted) so getting up today was harder knowing that I could actually be getting more substantial sleep.

But at least I woke up earlier than usual and did have time to do both my morning stretches and a ten-minute core workout. I also managed to journal for a little bit, including this entry, but I definitely feel the pressure of time and can’t really take things as slow as I had hoped. Nonetheless, despite feeling rushed, this is progress from before.

I used to get up at 7am when I had to actually drive to work, but in the month or so I’ve been in quarantine, working from home has pushed that time by at least an hour (and usually more). I was able to get some things done on Day 2 despite the late wake up. I know this was heavily influenced by my 3:30am bedtime, but there were times (as my alarm periodically woke me up) where I could have gotten up had I pushed myself but I couldn’t do it, feeling the need for more sleep winning over.

I knew this was a mental hurdle but it felt all the more prominent as I had trouble convincing myself that it’s worth it to get up instead of keep sleeping.

Journal Entry Day 3: Tuesday:

Well I got up at 7:30 today, almost by mistake. It’s become second nature for me to ignore my alarms but somehow I happened to check right at 7:30. The tug of sleep is real. I had a hard time opening my eyes and getting myself to actually get up and move. I wasn’t even that tired, I just really wanted to sleep…

Somehow I’ve gotten myself up, it wasn’t bad five minutes into it when I was doing my stretches though. And from there I managed another ten minute workout and have been able to journal too. It’s definitely nicer to have more time today than I did yesterday. I don’t really feel the need to pick out my outfit (since I’m quarantining) so the next 15-20 minutes or so have opened up.

Adding an extra half hour to my normal forty minute morning routine was something I had been tossing around in my head as I started this. That was what I was actually going to implement into my life after this week long challenge was over. Mistakenly, I was able to test it out on Day 3 to see if I would have enough time with the extra half hour to accomplish the things I wanted.

It turned out alright, but I was aware of the fact that I am still mostly running on time with the added workout and journaling and still didn’t have the leisure time to take things slow the way I had hoped. However, my focus and goal for this challenge was to actually wake up at 7 which as of Day 3 I had not done. But still it was progress compared to the previous two days.

As you can see it was not successful. But it taught me a lot about myself and the habits I’ve created that are the hardest to fight.

-I stay up late most nights, the true night owl shining through, and that prevents me from waking up early

-I still hold on to the mentality that if I can sleep more and still get things done then I should sleep more (hence me running on time even though I was able to get things done)

-Actually getting out of bed is the hardest part, once I’m up and active I’m okay, but that first act is the hardest

-I expect myself to snooze, always have which is why I set alarms before I’m supposed to get up so I can snooze them, but it’s created the habit of me not getting up immediately which is probably why getting out of bed is so hard.

Keeping these things in mind I decided to try again, a week ago, to see if maybe I could do it better the second time around. But this time I decided to focus on only the work week, keeping the challenge to 5 days. I also decided to couple this with a morning routine of sorts to make me feel a little better, things I’d let slip since quarantine.

Now a lot of those probably sound obvious, but small things, intentionally done, create big differences. And I just needed to create a routine to hold myself accountable too. Plus. I work really well with lists so I thought this would be beneficial.

And now, for round 2:

Day 1: Monday:

I was conscious enough at 7am to know I should get up but ended up sleeping an extra 25 minutes. I went to sleep at 2 in the morning so that might have been a factor. But even then I know it has more to do with knowing I didn’t HAVE to get up that early. But I was able to get all the things on my morning list done.

Day 2: Tuesday:

Went to sleep at 3am so really couldn’t get myself up at 7am. I wasn’t even truly awake until 7:45 and didn’t make it out of bed till 8. I was still able to get my morning list done though.

Day 3: Wednesday:

Got up at 7:25 this morning, remember being somewhat conscious of my 7am alarm but once again couldn’t get my self out of bed earlier than I needed to knowing I could still accomplish my list without getting up at 7am.

Day 4: Thursday:

Got out of bed at 7:35 this morning even though I woke up at 6:30 wide awake because of some noise outside. But once I realized I had half an hour left, I went back to sleep and this happened. Once again was able to complete my morning routine.

Day 5: Friday:

I don’t know what I did yesterday that made me so tired that I just could not get myself out of bed. I became conscious at 7:45 and didn’t get out of bed till 8:10. I was so tired, even more so than what I usually feel when I wake up. I didn’t got to sleep that late, around 1:30 or so but I really struggled this morning. Today is the first true flop of the week. I got my morning stuff done, after I started working and if I hadn’t been working from home I would not have been able to do more than just my stretches. It’s actually really disappointing.

(Note: I ended up staying up till 6am, had there been a day 6 I would have failed even more)

As you can see, I fell back into the same patterns. True that I’m (for the most part) able to consistently get up early, but only early enough to accomplish my routine. What I haven't accomplished is the "taking it slow" thing that morning people do.

While there are some parts of my morning routine that do force me to slow down, it's not quite what I had envisioned. And I know this is because my morning is still very functional. I've listed out my morning routine and while it's definitely more positive, I'm still only getting up early enough to do those things.

Then again, I’m not a morning person and I don’t think a week can change that. I still view the night as my area of enjoyment where I can relax, read, write, do whatever at my own pace in comfort.

And that’s okay. I don’t think this needs to completely change me as a person. I know that I don’t want to give up the night the way I would need to to wake up early and while my heart and mind lay in the night I will never be able to truly become a morning person.

Your mindset and intention has everything to do in developing new habits or changing old ones and I know that where I’m at and what I’ve accomplished is what I could given those two things.

So yes, I did fail this challenge, but I’ve still walked away with a better, more positive, lifestyle experience. And moving forward, I will find a compromise between sleeping in and waking up early, perhaps some days I allow myself to stay up late and sleep in the next morning and other days go to bed on time to wake up early.

And there you have it, a night owl tries desperately to be a morning person and…somewhat succeeds? It’s not a white or black answer but a shade of grey as most things in life, and it’s been my honest, real experience.

I hope you guys enjoyed! This was a long one I know, but regardless I hope you got something out of it! If you’re a night owl and want to try this challenge out then please share with me your experience! And if you’re a morning person, please share your tips!

As always, thanks for reading!

See ya in the next one!

[alicepink-me]

Secrets Revealed

By: Alice Pink (Btw I was 14 when I wrote this, so not my best work)

Story Summary:

Chat Noir’s goal has always been to find out Ladybug’s true identity. Can one hint about Ladybug lead to the truth? Secrets will be revealed about the past as mysteries unfold. How will Marinette and Adrien react to everything?

Chapter 10: Spells

The next day after school:

Marinette was sitting on her bed reading the spell book once again. She had almost finished looking through every page of the book, but still hadn't found anything that could help her. Tikki sat on Marinette's shoulder and helped in the search for the right spell.

"What if there isn't a spell, Tikki? We might be wasting our time searching through this book if there is nothing." Marinette stated, laying her chin on the book.

"Even if we don't find anything now, we'll keep looking. You can't give up. There's always a ways out of a situation and you'll find it." Tikki preached.

"I hope you're right, Tikki."

"Hello. Marinette?" Alya called, stepping through the trap door.

"Up here." Marinette waved down to Alya.

Marinette picked up the book and walked down the stairs.

"I heard about some spell book that you have and came over to check it out."

Marinette held out the spell book to Alya.

"This is the spell book, but . . . I haven't found anything that will help me get back to the Betweens."

"Well I'm here now to help you and maybe I'll even be some extra luck in your search."

"Maybe, but I've almost finished looking through the book." Marinette said, opening the book back up.

"You might have looked over something, Marinette. Try looking for a different kind of spell instead of one that's just going to take you somewhere." Alya advised.

"Well here." 

Marinette handed Alya the spell book and she flipped through the pages. Alya looked through the book for five minutes before stopping at a page.

"I think I found something useful."

"What?!" Marinette shouted, looking over Alya's shoulder. "What did you find?"

"A secrets spell. It will tell us anything. Look." Alya pointed to a page in the book. "If you cast this spell on someone, they'll tell you the answers to anything. It's better than a truth spell since the person you cast it on will know all secrets about the universe."

"Thanks Alya!" Marinette hugged Alya excitedly. "But . . . who am I going to cast the spell on?"

"You can cast it on me. I said I'd help you." Alya smiled, giving Marinette the book.

"Are you sure Alya? I haven't cast it before. What if I say it wrong?"

"You and I will both be fine." Alya rested her hands on Marinette's shoulders. "Just cast it already."

Alya sat on Marinette's chaise and waited.

"Alright." Marinette walked in front of Alya, closed her eyes and chanted. "Revealer aller Geheimnisse kommen heraus und bekennen!"

Alya's eyes turned to a gold and she seemed to be glowing.

"What must I confess?" The deep voice emerged from Alya quietly. "What answers do you seek?"

Marinette's eyes widened as she stared at her friend in surprise. The deep voice that was now inside Alya was creeping out to her.

"Oh . . . um . . . " Marinette scratched her head and thought of what to say. "Do you know about the Betweens?"

"Of course I know the Betweens." The voice laughed. "I know everything."

"Yeah. That was a stupid question." Marinette mumbled. "So . . . Is there . . . any way . . . to get into the Betweens?"

"Yes."

"Is there an answer in this spell book?"

"Yes."

"Well where?! I've looked through almost every page." Marinette whined.

"Have you really looked?" The voice said, making Alya's face smile. "Secrets are everywhere and they're not always in plain sight. You must pay close attention."

"What do you mean?" Marinette asked, glaring at "Alya's" smile.

"The answer is there, but not there."

"What does that mean?"

"Look."

"What page is it?"

"Page 136. But you must search for it."

Marinette frantically searched for the right page.

"I found it . . . but . . . this a page full of food spells . . . where is the answer?" Marinette looked up at "Alya" confused.

"Must people like you summon me like this. Open your eyes and you'll find any answer. You don't need me unless you've given up. My life is a confession. A confession that never ends as I tell all that I'm asked. I know everyone and everything in existence. I know what you are looking for and I must say that you are brave and persistent." The voice said soothingly.

"You are wrong there. I have not given up." Marinette boasted, standing up straight. "I continue searching for answers until I have found one. You are a useful short cut."

"I guess I'll always be some sort of short cut to people."

"Confession . . . people shouldn't abuse your power, but you can be useful when in need of help. Everyone should appreciate you more."

"Marinette . . . " The voice made "Alya's" grin rise. "Do you need a light to help you read?"

"What? No. It's bright enough in here."

"I mean a different light." The voice laughed. "One that will actually help you see. Page 12 paragraph 5 for a thought spell. The spell will give you whatever you're thinking, but if you put your hand on my head then you'll get what I want."

"I don't need a light." Marinette announced.

"Light for an answer."

"Fine. I'll get a light but only for the answer that I'm looking for."

Marinette found the spell and put her right hand on "Alya's" head.

"Erscheinen, was ich für mein gutes denke und wünsche!"

An ultraviolet flashlight appeared in Marinette's lap. She removed her hands from "Alya's" head and grabbed the flashlight.

"An ultraviolet light?" Marinette held it up and focused on it. "Why would I-" Marinette stared at "Alya". "Oh. A UV light! Brilliant! You were trying to tell me that if I use this light then . . . I'll uncover this book's secrets. This book is filled with twice as many spells as I thought."

Marinette shone the light onto page 136 and awed.

"You were right. 136 has the answer . . . and now . . . I'll be able to save everyone. Thank you Confession." Marinette hugged "Alya" in excitement.

"You're welcome Marinette and remember not to give up." The voice made Alya smile again. "You don't always need a short cut."

"I'll try my best." Marinette smiled. "Rückgängig alte Wünsche."

With that, Alya's eyes changed back to hazel as she sighed.

"That . . . was . . . awesome!" Alya shouted. "It was like something was talking through me . . . but I could still hear and understand everything. That confession guy was so cool."

"Thanks Alya!" Marinette squealed, hugging Alya. "I found a solution and I found out that there are hidden secrets in this book. And I can unlock those secrets with an ultraviolet light."

"Glad I could help." Alya pried Marinette's arms from her. "See I told you to cast the spell. If I hadn't been persistent then you wouldn't have found anything. You shouldn't have doubted yourself so much."

"I know." Marinette smiled. "And I'll tell Adrien tomorrow before school."

"Yeah. He'll definitely want to know." Alya said, walking over to the trap door and stepped through. "I have to go now, Marinette. And now that you have your answer, you can obsess about it to Adrien."

"I have to obsess about it in my head first, but bye. I'll see you tomorrow."

Tikki woke up from a pillow on Marinette's bed and flew down to her.

"Did you hear any of that, Tikki?"

"Yeah. I heard most of it and I'm excited that you've found something."

"This is fantastic. Everything is going great and I'm going to tell Adrien as soon as I go to school tomorrow."

. . .

The alarm rang for the third time as Marinette sprung up out of bed. She spooked Tikki as she screamed in realization that she was late. She frantically got dressed and grabbed her stuff.

The day before:

Marinette: I have something important to tell you.

Adrien: What is it?

Marinette: A surprise. I'll tell you tomorrow before school. I'll try to be outside of the school fifteen minutes early.

Adrien: Okay. See you then. Can't wait.

Back to the next morning:

"Tikki hurry! Get into my purse." Marinette freaked. "I promised Adrien that I'd meet him fifteen minutes before school started and that would have been five minutes ago."

"Everything will be fine." Tikki assured. "Adrien probably won't care that you're late. Everyone knows that you're always late and forgetful."

Marinette grabbed the spell book and sprinted out of the bakery. She ran across the street to the school and was stopped by Adrien on the sidewalk.

"Woah. Slow down." Adrien said, stopping the out of breath Marinette.

"I-uh . . . sorry I'm late." Marinette panted.

"I kind of figured that you'd be late, but don't worry. We still have ten minutes left." Adrien smiled. "So what surprise did you have to tell me?"

"Guess what I found . . . a spell that will get us into the Betweens!" Marinette shouted. "We use our miraculouses to open a portal that will take us there." Marinette showed Adrien the page in her spell book and shone her UV flashlight on it.

"This is amazing, Marinette." Adrien smiled, spinning Marinette around.

"We just need to press a button in the fountain there. The button wasn't accessible before when I was there, but when we enter the Betweens through the portal, we are breaking down the walls and security. The button will appear on top of the fountain when we enter."

"Will it be easy to get to?"

"I think so and when we press the button, everyone in the entire Betweens will be set free. They'll all be transported back to where they were in the real world while we'll still be in there until we get transported out."

"And what about my mom?" Adrien asked, concerned.

"We'll have to find her. She's the only person not in a separate world." Marinette saw as Adrien's face changed to a worried look. "We'll get her out. Since we're basically breaking the Betweens, she'll be able to teleport out without a miraculous."

"That's good."

Marinette hugged Adrien as Alya took a picture from behind them. Marinette had jumped when she heard the flash of Alya's phone.

"Alya! Did you just take a photo of us?" Marinette let go of Adrien and ran to Alya and looked over her shoulder at her phone.

"Maybe." Alya smiled. "At least now I have a picture of you two as a couple."

"Good. Spread the word." Adrien said, wrapping his arm around Marinette.

"I will." Alya put away her phone and looked at them. "So Marinette . . . did you tell him about the spell?"

"Yeah . . . but . . . I kind of found a problem with the spell that I . . . didn't tell you two about yet." Marinette's voice got quieter.

"What kind of problem?" Alya said, raising an eyebrow.

"The spell requires four miraculouses."

"What?!" Adrien and Alya both shouted.

"I saw it written on the page when I was getting ready this morning. Look." Marinette held her flashlight up to the open book again to reveal what it said.

"There must be another way." Adrien whined.

"Nope. I've checked. There isn't any other way."

Marinette looked to Alya and noticed that she was staring at something.

"What is it Alya?" Marinette asked.

"There is some old guy staring at us from over there."

Marinette turned around to see Master Fu looking at them from a lamp post.

"Master Fu!" Marinette called as her and Adrien ran over to him.

"Master who?" Alya questioned before following them.

"Alya, this is Master Fu." Marinette said.

"Oh yeah." Alya said in realization. "I remember you. I was at the library to update the Ladyblog and I had handed you a book that you couldn't reach on a high shelf."

"That's how you met him? I just helped him up off the ground when he fell in front of the school." Adrien announced.

"I helped him cross the street on the first day of school . . . but Alya, Master Fu is the one who gave us our miraculouses."

"Oh . . . why did you give me a miraculous for helping you get a library book?" Alya asked, confused.

"Not many people will stop to help an old man like you three did." Mater Fu smiled. "So Marinette, how is your search going for the Betweens?"

"I found a spell to get us there." Marinette smiled, excitedly. "The only problem is that it requires four miraculouses. Will you use your miraculous to help us?"

"Well . . . " Master Fu started. "I don't know. I'm 187 years old now and I'm not as young as I use to be. But . . . it may be time for me to hand down my miraculous."

"Are you sure?" Adrien began. "Who will you give it too?"

"Oh!" Alya shouted. "You could give it to Nino, Master Fu. Then we wouldn't have to leave him alone all of the time to fight."

"Alya. Master Fu has to pick the miraculous holders." Marinette said, glaring at Alya.

"Now Marinette, she might have a point." Mater Fu said, holding up a hand. "Each of you earned your miraculouses differently, but you were all friends before. I'm sure that another one of your friends would be just as kind hearted as you guys. I might have to consider it."

"Really." The three said in shock.

[claimedcrossbows]

The Big Setup (Bellarke Fanfic)

So I also posted this on my Fanfiction account under MsPlotTwister, so if you want to read it there you can do that as well. https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13591315/1/The-Big-Setup

Anyway here’s the first Chapter, Tell me what you think and if I should continue. 

Description:  Clarke Griffin just wants to do her job as New York's Matchmaker but working side by side with her infuriating Ex Husband Bellamy Proves to be a difficult task. "Oh my God." Clarke gasps looking at the news. "What?" Bellamy asks looking at the news of a escaped convict. "Don't panic..But I think I just set my client up with a criminal!" She yells. "What?"

--

The sound of an alarm wakes her and she already knows this is going to be a very long day. But she was excited none the less. She might not have much in life at the moment, but her job was something she always looked forward too.

With that enthusiasm and a cup of coffee she gladly approached the day by looking through her phone at the schedule she had layed out for today.

She looked at the email of one of her current clients and some of the pictures they had sent and she knew she had her hands full with this one

She quickly got dressed and headed out to her office where she was more than excited to finally meet her client.

Clarke Griffin was a strange woman in many ways.

Her enthusiasm seemed to stay on a 10, her mind was constantly coming up with new ideas, and to top it off she was a very paranoid woman with many trust issues.

At least that’s what people mostly said about her who knew her.

But then again..How could she trust them?

Her out look on life was to remain positive, until of course something goes awry, then its time to panic.

And panic she did.

She was stuck in traffic in the busiest streets of New York and her appointment was in less than 5 minutes!

“Isn’t there anything you can do!?” She shrieked at her taxi driver who was struggling to keep from rolling his eyes. But he had told this woman for what must’ve been the 10th time since she got in  the car that there’s nothing he can do about the traffic conditions. Apparently their had been some really bad accident and the police had blocked off the streets. Pretty much delaying everyone who had somewhere to be.

“Uhg!” Clarke sighed looking at her phone at the time.

She released a sigh and quickly fished around in her purse for some cash, “Here this should cover it, i’m walking the rest of the way.” She said tossing him the money and quickly dashing out the taxi before the driver could even say anything.

Clarke quickly ran the rest of the way to her place of work and was regretting her decision of wearing heels because her feet were crying for an ice pack.

Clarke struggled to catch her breath as she entered the building which was actually nothing more than a condo that her Aunt had bought  in order to launch her match making business.

Yep you heard that right.

Clarke Griffin is a professional matchmaker, people email their company and give them their background information including medical records, criminal history, finance history and just about everything else you could imagine. They contact local family members and friends and get a good idea about you and then see if there’s anyone in their data base they could potentially set you up with. But if you think that is extreme they also specialize in makeovers as well, which happens to be right up Clarke’s alley, every since she was a kid she dreamed of being a fashion designer for celebrities. She wanted to see them walking down the red carpet in her fashion ideas, so she went to school as a Designer but of course getting into the industry of fashion in a place such as New York City was incredibly difficult. New York had as many fashion designers as they did Lawyers and Doctors.

So that’s when she went to her Aunt Diyoza when she heard that she was thinking about making a Match Making Company from her very own condo.

She’s been working their every since.

The only drawback is, there wasn’t many employees so Clarke was basically running things by herself.

Okay scratch that.

There wasn’t any employees, and Clarke was definitely running things by herself.

The only other person currently working there (who’s name she refused to mention) was currently on a leave of absence (busy partying all night and day)  and he never shows up.

That was until today.

“Clarke there you are.” The all to familiar voice said from the couch as he paused his video game to look at her dishelved appearance.

“Bellamy what the hell are you doing here?” She groaned, her mood worsening.

“Diyoza called me in, said we got a lot of new customers and she needs me back, I mean I can’t blame her, I am the best employee she’s got here.” He Smirked.

“Look I don’t have time for this, I have a client coming in a few minutes and-”

“Oh you mean Izzy?” He said, “Yeah she already came, I set her up with Murphy, she seems like his type.” He shrugged unpausing his game.

“You what!?” Clarke yelled.

He paused his game, knowing that she wasn’t going to let this go and turned to her giving her a shrug. “What you should be happy, I gave you the day off.” He said not knowing why she didn’t look grateful.

“Izzy is a vegetarian, Murphy isn’t!” Clarke said angrily.

“Okay, well maybe this is a good opportunity for Murphy to stop ordering KFC for dinner every night.” He shrugged not seeing the issue.

“Izzy is a sweet pollite girl, and Murohy…Well he’s Murphy!” Clarke huffeed.

Bellamy sighed running his hands through his long dark curly hair something she had loved doing once, but now the very sight of him made her nauseated.

“Uhg you make me sick.” Clarke frowned feeling the nausea build up.

“Oh yeah, here.” He said pulling something out of his jacket pocket and giving it to her.

Clarke looked at it and was surprised and irritated to see that it was a bottle of tums.

“You always say you feel ill around me, so I thought that might help.” He said smirking a mischievous look spreading through his face.

“My stomach isn’t the problem, its you.” Clarke huffed setting the tums on the table.

“Look I thought this would make you happy, I mean now you have the night off, you can relax, hang out with friends, maybe go on a date.” He said throwing that last bit in to see how she reacted.

“You know good and well i’m not dating anyone right now.” Clarke rolled her eyes at his attempt to pry into her love life.

“Really? With such a wonderful attitude I can’t imagine why.” He said sarcastically.

“You don’t get to pry into my love life, if you don’t remember, you divorced me.” Clarke spat.

“There it is, the constant reminder every time I see you, that I divorced you, Yes I divorced you Clarke, because you are a total hyperactive nut case.” He said bluntly.

“And your a playboy bachelor who wouldn’t know priorities if it bit you in the ass.” She spewed.

“Isn’t it ironic, the Match Maker can’t find a man of her own.” Bellamy rebutted.

Clarke shook her head tired of arguing with him, she walked to her office and made sure to slam the door shut to emphasize that she wasn’t happy.

She walked over to her laptop and immediately began sifting through customers who were in desperate need to find their special someone. She looked at a few of their backgrounds and started thinking of potential matches off the top of her head.

She was about to email one of her clients and tell them she might have a match for him when suddenly her door opened and a very uneasy Bellamy came in.

“What do you want Bellamy?” Clarke sighed not in the mood for any more of his help.

“There’s someone out there your gonna wanna see.” He said.

“Who?” Clarke asked standing up.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” He said.

To say she was now beyond curious was a understatement, so she got up and followed him to the living room where she was met with someone she didn’t think she would ever see come through her doors.

Roan Atwood.

Famous Male Model and Actor Roan Atwood who had been missing for 5 years was standing before the both of them looking a complete and total disaster, his hair was greasy and disheveled, his clothes were dirty and in shreds  and she could smell the whisky from across the room. She looked at Bellamy in complete shock and his expression nearly mirrored hers and it was in that moment she knew this was going to be the biggest set up they ever did.

[softspaceboibrian]

Journeys End in Lovers Meeting (Chapter 2)

Pairing: Professor!Gwilym Lee x reader

Summary: Reader is a new student at Harvard University and, on her first day, she does something she might regret. Or maybe not.

Warnings: none

Wc: 2700

A/N: okay, so, not as many people as I thought read the first chapter, which is sad since I thought it was good. but yeah, I'll keep posting it anyway and, hopefully, it will gain readers with time

Other chapters: 1 - 3 - 4 - 5

“Gosh, you’re soaking wet… get inside the car” He sounded worried and confused. You didn’t let him beg for you to actually do it. You didn’t know why, but you trusted him enough to get instantly inside his car, even though you had known him for, what? Less than a day? “What happened to you? I thought you were going to go home by bus.”

“Well, the bus didn’t come, I don’t have money for a cab, my flat mate is still working, I don’t know if I left my keys at home or if I lost them. Oh, and it started raining.” You explained without managing to look him in the eyes. You were embarrassed because of all that happened to you in less than ten minutes.

“You can stay at my place till your friend gets home.” His voice was soft, his smile sincere.

“Oh, no. Don’t worry. You can just drop me off at the library or, I don’t know, a café. I really don’t mean to bother you.” You started rumbling on, really not wanting to be a weight for him.

“You are not bothering me. I live alone with my dog, and she loves people. You’re more than welcome, trust me.” He smiled gently, before starting the car. Apparently, you didn’t have much of a say in it. He just decided that you were going home with him and, for some reason, that didn’t bother you, at all. The drive wasn’t long and surely a lot less embarrassing than the walk they had together to get to his office a few hours before. It was filled with funny comments and stories of embarrassing students hitting in him during lesson or trying to kiss him during office hours. After fifteen minutes or so, the car stopped in front of a beautiful townhouse, which reminded you of London.

“Make yourself at home” said the man while letting you in. The house smelled of cinnamon, books, coffee and cranberry. You looked around, noticing that that place looked exactly how you expected the house of an English literature professor to look like: books everywhere, papers full of notes and stains of coffee, tons of used notebooks, numerous bookshelves filled with every kind of book you could ever think of, the desk and the coffee table submerged with papers and, yes, you guessed it, more books. “I’m really sorry for the mess, we were obviously not expecting any visit anytime soon.” He laughed. The way he talked about himself and his dog warmed your heart.

“Don’t worry, my home is a lot worse. I mean, two girls leaving all by themselves, without any parent to remind them to tidy up the room. I think you can imagine how that looks like.” You giggled, putting your bag down and taking off your shoes. Immediately afterward, you felt something touching your leg and, when you turned around, you saw a furry ball sitting right in front of you, with two beautiful blue eyes, and a ball in her mouth.

“Lady, don’t bother our guest” Said the man, getting closer to them, probably to take the dog away. But you got down on your knees, petting the dog before taking the toy from her mouth.

“Lady, that’s a beautiful name” You commented, starting to play with her, throwing the toy and waiting for the dog to bring it back to you.

The man didn’t answer. He just smiled and disappeared in a room, coming out of it a few minutes later in some more comfortable clothes. “You’re still wet, maybe you want to take a shower and change into some warm, clean clothes.” His voice was so gentle it almost gave you shivers.

“Ehm… yes, thank you. If that not a problem with you.” You got up from the floor, leaving Lady alone and walking towards him.

Twenty minutes later you walked into the kitchen wearing warm clothes that were definitely too big for you, your hair had been pulled up in a messy bun, but at least you were no longer soaking wet because of the rain. The kitchen smelled even more of coffee than the living room did, inviting you to get inside and take a seat at the table where the Professor was working. The last thing you wanted to do was to disturb him. But as soon as you sat down, he looked up from the laptop, laying his eyes on you, that soft smile that showed the little wrinkles around his eyes made its way on his face, making you blush for no particular reason. “How are you feeling?”

“Better, thank you.” You smiled, lowering your gaze on the table, while you started fidgeting with your hands.

“Would you like a cup of coffee?”

“I actually prefer tea”

“Black?”

“Yes, please”

“Coming” He winked, going immediately to the stove to prepare you tea. It amazed you how different he looked there, at home, where no one could see him, where he simply was Gwilym, the nice guy next door with an adorable puppy and amazing taste in books. “I’m working on an article.” He said breaking the silence. “I write for an online newspaper. I take care of the literature section. I review new books, I write about recently deceased authors, but this kind of article I’m working on right now is by far my favourite: I have to work on a theme, analyse it through different works, authors, countries, genres.”

“And what is the theme of this article in particular?” You asked, being sincerely curious.

“Don John. You know, the famous Spanish womanizer.” He turned around, arms crossed in front of his chest. “I started by analysing the first drama ever written about him, then I compared it to the Romantic version. Then, I talked about Mozart’s and Byron’s plays and Kierkegaard’s theory of the three phases of life.” He explained with a proud grin on his lips, until he got unexpectedly cut off.

“Did you consider writing about Wilde’s Dorian Gray as modern Don John?” You asked, tilting your head to the side, laying your cheek on the palm of your hand.

He looked at you speechless. “No, I did not…” You had surprised him, positively surprised him.

“Well, you see, they are more alike than one would ever imagine: they both care about appearance more than everything, they like to seduce people – here’s the first difference, Dorian seduces not only women, but also men. Then, for example, look at the characters and the object: Sybil is Doña Ines, Sybil’s brother is Don Gonzalo, the picture is the statue. Easy.” He was amazed by the girl in front of him and her knowledge. “Why modern, you might ask. Well, you see, when the story was first written, it was set in Seville, Spain, one of the most glorious reigns of those times. When Wilde wrote The Picture of Dorian Gray, England was the most powerful country in the world and geographically the centre of the world. Don John used to go out drinking, Dorian is known for using drugs, such as opium.” You kept rambling on for several minutes, stopping only to thank the man for the tea.

When you finished presenting your theory, Gwilym remained silent for a couple more moments, still astonished by your intelligence. “You know Spanish literature too?”

“And Anglo-American, German, Italian, Scandinavian and a little French and Russian.” You replied, right before taking a sip of your no-longer-too-hot tea.

“You will never stop to surprise me, won’t you?”

You giggled, hiding your now rosy cheeks behind the mug, not really knowing what to answer. “You can use my idea, if you want.”

He sat down across from you, setting his mug down on the table right on a small pile of papers. That’s why there's stains pretty much on each paper on his house. “You should write for a blog or a magazine yourself.” His voice was gentle, just as his smile.

“Oh no, writing articles isn’t my thing. I’m more into poetry and novels.” You shook your head, crossing your legs on the chair. “But, I’m serious, use it. If your readers find it interesting, all you need to do is thank me.” You giggled, putting down the mug on the table.

But, at that point, the article was long forgotten, the laptop went on standby mode. “Are you staying over for dinner?”

The next day you woke up at the sound of your alarm going off. You reached for the phone, without finding it. It must have fallen from the nightstand or something, or at least that was what you thought. When you finally managed to open your eyes, the view of a room you had never seen before appeared in front of you, leaving you perplexed. You finally found her phone, which was on the nightstand, charging. A just not your nightstand. It was only when you read Rose’s text messages that it all hit you.

[9:47 pm] Honey, I’m so sorry if I didn’t answer. I was still working. Hope you’re fine.

[9:48 pm] Oh, I see, you’re with Prof Charming.

[10:14 pm] Yes, your keys are home. I’ll leave the spare one under the mat outside the door.

[6:45 am] You’re not home? Are you already out or did you sleep at your teacher house?

[7:01 am] I’m actually a little worried. Text me asap, so I know that you’re okay.

You unlocked you phone and immediately responded Rose’s messages. Yes, you had spent the night there, but you didn’t recall falling asleep in that bed. That was extremely confusing. At that point you got up, taking your phone with her and walking outside of the room, following the scent of black tea and coffee coming from the kitchen, finally finding the tall man, who was standing in front of the stove, waiting for the coffee to be ready, printed papers in his hands. You just walked in, looking at him and greeting him, waiting for him to realize you were actually there. And when he finally raised his eyes from the papers to meet your gaze, a soft smile formed on his lips. “Good morning.” His voice was still a little raspy, he had probably just woke up himself. “Did you sleep well? I made you tea, and here you have toasts with jam or butter, granola, cookies, fruit. Take whatever you want.”

You sat down at the table, still looking at him, hoping he would say something that could remind you how you ended up waking up in his bed. Like, did you drink so much that now you couldn’t even remember doing it? Did you have sex? What happened?!

“Last night you were watching TV and you fell asleep on the couch” He said, as if he could read your mind. “So I picked you up, took you to my room and let you sleep in my bed, while I slept on the couch instead.”

You looked at him in silence for a second, waiting to finish chewing the cookie you had started to eat. “You didn’t have to. You could have woken me up and driven me home, or even just let me sleep on the couch.”

“That’s okay, don’t worry.” He smiled in that gentle way, like he always did, that kind of smile that reassures you, makes you feel comfortable. “Do you need me to drive you to your place so that you can change before going to University?”

“Yes, but you could just drop me off there and then I could take the bus, you don’t need to wait for me.”

“I insist.” His voice was soft, soothing, in a way. He had only known you for less than a day and he was already so caring and thoughtful. And the was weird for you because never in your experience someone did that just because they wanted to. Back in high school, people always wanted something in exchange. They treated you kindly and then they wanted you to do their homework; they invited you to parties, and then they wanted you to vote for them; they invited you over to their place to study together, and then they wanted to have sex. “Come on, I’m just trying to be nice. After all, we’re going to work together now.”

You didn’t let him go on for a lot more. You trusted him, even though you weren’t sure why. In his eyes you see that something that ha led you to accept his ride the day before. You trusted him, and that was the reason why you eventually gave in. And there you were, twenty minutes later, in front of your apartment, finally opening the door and letting the man in. “I’m really sorry for the mess.” You giggled, immediately running towards your flatmate’s room to close the door – it looked like a bomb had exploded inside that room, there were clothes all over the floor, open books on the bed and shoes on the desk, nothing was where it should have been. Luckily, the rest of the house wasn’t that bad, still a mess, but it could have definitely been worse. The living room wasn’t that big, the couch took up most of the space, all of her books were still inside those big cardboard boxes, only a couple of notebooks were lying on the coffee table with some other papers, most of them covered in tea and mug stains. Your room, on the other hand, had a reason for it to be a mess: it was still a work in progress, there were still boxes out, you hadn’t put all the books on the shelves nor all the clothes inside the closet, but that was just because you would usually have something else to do in the afternoon or in your spare time instead of tidying up.

“You can wait here, on the couch” You smiled, right before vanishing inside your bathroom. It didn’t take you long and fifteen minutes later you had showered and were now wearing some dark wash mom jeans, a loose navy blue turtleneck with white stripes, a cream coloured long cardigan and white sneakers. As simple as it could be. You put on some lip balm and walked out of the bathroom, picking up your bag and going back to the living room. There you immediately met those blue eyes that almost sent shivers down your spine, before going back to what they were looking at before. There was something about that man, something that you couldn’t yet understand but that still made you want to spend time with him as if he was a simple friend.

“Your poems are breath-taking. I didn’t expect you to be this good.” He commented, his eyes still on an open notebook. “I mean, I imagined you were probably really good, but I didn’t think you were this good.” When you finally realised what he was holding in his hands, you let you bag fall to ground with a big thud, before running towards him, taking the notebook from his hands and closing it immediately. He looked puzzled, why should someone this good hide her talent? “I’m really sorry, I found it there, on the coffee table. It was open, and I peeked. It’s impressive what you can do.”

“I never show my poems to anyone.” You whispered, hiding the notebook behind your back.

“I don’t get it? Why not share it with the word? Those are wonderful.” His voice was soft, sincere, his eyes tried to meet yours, which were now looking at your shoes.

“I don’t… I don’t think people would actually like them.”

He looked at you in silence for a while, before crossing his arms in front of his chest. “The Romantics, am I right? Those are the poets you look up to. Keats is probably your favourite.”

“Yes”

“Well, that explains a lot.” And you knew exactly what he meant by that, so you just kept your eyes low, trying to hide the peachy colour of your cheeks. “We should get going.” Said the man after taking a quick glance at his watch.

[paradisobound]

I Want It, I Got It: Chapter 24

Summary: Phil Lester was a worker for the BBC in London. Working in the advertising department, he was content being alongside his friend and fellow coworker PJ during every shift. However, the BBC is temporarily being used as a film set for a new movie staring Hollywood ‘It’ star, Daniel Howell. Being stuck as an extra on the set, Phil finds it’s hard to ignore the famous star. And maybe, just maybe, Dan finds it hard to ignore Phil as well.

Word Count: 2.1k (this chapter)

Warnings: Occasional swearing

Rating: Explicit

Updates will be every Sunday around 1pm EST

**MASTERLIST | READ ON AO3 | WATTPAD**

Dan arrives to London just as everything is beginning to settle around them. Phil has never felt so grateful to have everything put behind him so he was able to move on and begin to live his normal life again. He never thought he would ever miss his average life of going to work, coming home to Spike, finishing his assignments, and posting YouTube videos. 

He’s already posted two of them, not the ones he promised before. But he filmed two news ones and posted them. They didn’t get as popular as his video with Dan, but looking at his twitter and his subscriber count said otherwise as he already has passed 2 million subscribers. 

He feels a bit more overwhelmed now. A bit more cautious about how he shows himself to everyone. Phil feels the need to cover himself when he goes on the Tube or order out food to his flat instead of go and get it. He’s even began asking PJ and Sophie and Martyn to come to his flat instead of him going to theirs. 

But hopefully now, with Dan here, everything will feel a bit more settled once again like it had in LA. 

Dan arrived really late in the night and he took a personal driver to Phil’s flat. When they were sure no one was looking at them or for them, Dan jumped out the car and ran inside Phil’s flat with his face covered. His driver brought his luggage to the door and Phil brought them inside. 

Now, just a few hours later, Dan was curled up on his bed, sleeping in the clothes he came here in. Phil was rolled on his side and smiling at him. Even though he knew Dan was stressed, he made it pretty clear when he fell onto his bed just soon as he arrived and asked for Spike to cuddle, in his sleeping form, he looked peaceful once again. 

Spike was currently the warm body laying between them, causing Phil to not actually cuddle Dan like he intended. Spike didn’t seem to keen on moving either. When Phil tried to nudge him down the bed a bit, Spike just growled and refused to move so Phil left him. 

It was nearly 4am and Phil could feel his eyelids beginning to droop a bit. He knew he had work in the morning but that didn’t matter anymore because ehe knew when he got back, he’d have Dan waiting for him. His premiere is this weekend and he needs to go a few fittings for his tux before then, but he says he has that covered so Phil doesn’t worry. 

Phil shuts his eyes and rolls a little bit closer. Spike huffs in annoyance and sprawls out a bit more, his stubby legs kicking Phil in the stomach. Phil chuckles to himself and relaxes, willing himself to sleep now that Dan was snoring softly next to him. 

***

“My manager told me this was a bad move.” 

Dan’s sitting on Phil’s bed, eating the bowl of cereal that Phil had made for him. Phil offered to make him scrambled eggs but Dan said he needed sugar so Phil gave him Frosties instead. He was trying to get ready for work, but Dan was making it difficult. He had asked to shower first so Phil let him and then he waltzed back into the room completely naked and sat down on Phil’s bed with just a towel covering his waist now. 

“What was a bad move?” Phil asked, running his hands through his freshly dried hair, putting gel into it to push it into his quiff. 

“Staying at your flat.” Dan says, bringing up a spoonful to his mouth. 

“Why was it a bad move?” 

Dan swallows and sets his bowl down on Phil’s bedside table. “Marianne said that it’s gonna end badly if the paparazzi figure out where I am. It’ll look bad if they discover I’m staying at your flat.” 

“But you should be allowed to stay where you want to?” Phil says, opening up his closet doors and grabbing his jean jacket from its hanger. 

“And I am.” Dan countered. “But we’ll just have to be careful.” 

Phil nods and begins to speak just as his phone alarm goes off and tells him that he has just 5 minutes before he has to leave for work. He lets out a sigh and turns off the alarm. He turns to Dan and walks over to the bed, leaning down to give him a kiss. 

Dan reciprocates with no hesitation. It’s just a quick peck, much different from the kisses they shared when Dan first arrived. Phil pulls away and then walks over to the door, ready to leave. “I have to get going.” 

“That’s fine.” Dan says. “I have an appointment with my designer for my tux in a few hours so I need to get ready too.” 

“I should be back around like four.” Phil says, bending down on his way out to pet Spike who was sitting on the floor. “Do you want me to pick up food when I’m out for dinner?” 

“You can.” Dan says, stepping out of the room with his half-ate bowl of cereal. “I’m up for anything.” 

Phil flashes him a smile and moves to kiss him one more time. After a few shared kisses, he determined he was going to be late if he didn’t get going so he grabbed his backpack and left. 

As Phil walked to the tube station, he had to admit that he felt like he was cloud 9 right now. But even more than that, it also felt like he and Dan were acting like a proper couple who lived together. He got Dan a spare key to his flat so he could come and go as he pleased. He also trusts Dan with full control over everything inside the flat and Spike as well. 

Spike has already grown really fond of Dan which Phil is so happy about. He knew Spike was a loveable little guy and that he loved every person he met, but he was still nervous about having Dan being in the flat. But Spike was completely fine with Dan and Phil is even a bit jealous since Spike seems to want to spend all of the time with Dan when he is around. 

At the BBC, PJ was already at his desk when he walked in and Gemma was sitting with him, a chair pulled up to the side. They were talking close to each other, almost like gossiping, and as soon as Phil sat down his backpack and unzipped it, they both peaked their heads up at him. 

Phil felt a bit weird about it, but he didn’t question it. If PJ and Gemma were having a private conversation, he wasn’t one to butt in and try and figure out what they were talking about. However, the way that they kept looking at him every so often gave him the uneasy, sinking feeling that they were talking about him. 

Eventually, PJ caved and looked up and spoke up to him. “Did Dan get in alright?” He asked. 

Phil looked up from his laptop and nodded. “Yeah, he got in sometime last night.” He answers. 

“That’s good! Glad he wasn’t bombarded or anything at the airport.” PJ says, leaning back in his chair and Gemma following suit in hers. 

“What are you really wanting to ask, Peej?” Phil asked. “I know you want to ask something.” 

PJ shook his head. “Oh, no. I actually don’t have anything I really want to say other than I just hope that you guys can have your privacy.” 

“Me too.” Phil finds himself saying as he swallows the knot in his throat. 

“You two deserve it.” Gemma chimes in. “I know I wasn’t the easiest person to talk to when you first came back to work after your first rendezvous with Dan but…you two deserve happiness and you two deserve to have your privacy like anyone else.” 

Phil was actually really flushed to hear that. Gemma was right when she said that she hadn’t been the easiest to be around but that was completely true. Phil called it jealousy that he was growing closer to Dan and she still had a crush on him. But there were days when he’d walk into the office and she would leave and not say a word to him. Other days, she would ask him about what Dan smelled like―Phil always said warm, which was weird, but Phil understood in a weird way. 

Gemma had began to open up to him again the last week or so and Phil was okay with grateful for that because even though they were never more than just co-workers, he didn’t like the idea of someone close to him being upset that he was dating Dan. 

They eventually all ended up in a conversation about their new projects that they were working on and Phil mentioned how he posted a new video to his YouTube channel. Both Gemma and PJ seemed interested in that so he spent a good portion of their morning showing them his video and promoting his channel to them. 

For lunch, they all went out to get lunch together at the closest Costa and then they brought it back to the office and continued their conversations. Phil ended up telling PJ and Gemma about how Dan had his big movie premiere in a few nights and it worried him because this was Dan’s first official step into the spotlight since their paparazzi problems. 

By the end of their shifts, they all clocked out and left and went their own ways for the night. Phil told PJ he would let him know if Dan was down for dinner one night with him and Sophie. 

On the way back to his flat, Dan had texted him and told him he was running a bit behind at his designers studio for his fitting and he might be a couple hours later than normal getting back. Phil didn’t mind so he got back to the flat and began to prepare a dinner with some of the food he had in his fridge. 

With Spike running around his feet, he eventually ended up with some pasta dish with pre-packaged sauce that he warmed up in a pot. But he put all of it together and when Dan got back to his flat, his hoodie up and his sunglasses on, Phil couldn’t miss the smile on his face when he smelled the food. 

“Did you cook?” Dan asked, shucking off his backpack onto Phil’s couch and unzipping his hoodie, shrugging it off as well. He stepped up to the kitchen and grabbed one of the plates that Phil had prepared. “You didn’t have to do this.” 

“I wanted to.” Phil says. “I never cooked enough on my own and now I have you here so I thought this is as good of a time as any.” 

Dan walked over to him and kissed him on the cheek, his lips pressing firmly on his skin. “Thank you.” Dan whispers. “I’ve never had a boyfriend cook me dinner before.” 

“Never?” 

Dan shook his head. “Gonna be honest, Phil. I’ve never had a boyfriend care about me as much as you do and at times, it throws me off but most of the time, I love it so much.” 

Phil puts his arm around Dan’s waist and pulls him close, pressing a kiss to his lips. When they separated, they made their way to his breakfast bar and sat down and ate their dinner. When they were done, Phil took care of the dishes by rinsing them off in the sink and then leaving for tomorrow. 

He was feeling a bit tired. It probably had to do with the fact that he didn’t sleep well the night before. He stayed up waiting for Dan and then once Dan was here, he was too busy looking at him to want to shut his eyes and not see him anymore. 

Dan seemed tired too. As they were resting on the couch, Dan had begun to fall asleep so Phil settled back and let Dan fall asleep on his chest under a blanket that was wrapped around them. Spike laid on the end of the couch, curled up and sleeping as well. 

Phil had the anime that they were watching playing softly in the background and his eyes were beginning to shut too when his phone went off on the side of the couch and jolted him up. Dan groaned a bit in his sleep but then pressed further onto Phil’s chest and snuggled back down. Phil looked at the message and he read it was from his brother. 

Martyn: Did you know about this? 

Phil opens up the message with the image attached and it’s a screenshot taken from Dan’s Instagram story that said it was posted 13 hours ago. It was a photo of Dan with Spike, clearly laying in Phil’s bed, with the caption “My new snuggle buddy”.