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ladyantiheroine · 2 years

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Maybe I Just Like Seeing You Smile

Characters: Julian Kaye, Lizzy Fandom: American Gigolo Rating: R for language, graphic sexual content, smut Word Count: 7,713 Prompt: Julian and Lizzy have chemistry and I’m here to resolve it.

Read it on my AO3 at @afterhourscafe:

Chapter 1: Late Fees

Lizzy gave the door one last knock.

“Julian,” she said. “I know you’re in there. I saw you come home.”

She’d been standing outside his door for several minutes. She’d caught a glimpse of him coming up the steps half an hour ago. Based on the way he carried himself, quickly fumbling for his keys in his pocket, he was trying to slip inside before she saw him. But she saw him, and she knew he was late on his payment.

Finally, she heard footsteps on the other side and the knob turned. The door swung open to reveal Julian’s uncharacteristically bashful face.

Lizzy felt a little spark in her chest. Julian had been living in her complex for a while, but she still felt an electric kick every time she saw him. He was a handsome man, the kind of sharp handsome that almost hurt to look at. Raven hair, a strong Roman nose, and brown eyes that reminded Lizzy of a baby deer.

Julian gave her a small smile. Perfect white teeth.

“Heeeey, Lizzy,” he said. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Lizzy crossed her arms and gave him a look.

“Don’t play dumb with me, Julian,” she said. “You know why I’m here. Your rent for this month was due two and a half weeks ago. I’ve already been generous with the late fees, but I’m starting to get impatient. This isn’t a homeless shelter or a charity house. You’re not the only one who needs money.”

Julian was quiet for a second. Lizzy could see his thoughts rushing through his head, scrabbling for an explanation. She had heard plenty of excuses from previous tenets, none of them very convincing. She waited for which he would choose.

Instead, Julian held open the door.

“Could you come in for a sec?” he asked.

Lizzy raised an eyebrow but obliged. She stepped in through the door and Julian shut it behind her. He turned to face her.

“Listen,” he said. “I have the money. Well, I will. Tonight.”

“Tonight?” Lizzy asked. “What’s tonight?”

“I’m…getting paid tonight,” he said. He ran his tongue along his lip, a gesture that made Lizzy stare at his mouth just a little too long. “Listen, Lizzy, I know I’ve been bad on this. But I promise, I swear on my life, if you can wait until tomorrow morning, I’ll have it for you. Everything I owe you, plus late fees.”

Lizzy sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Julian…” she said. “I’m not accepting any more excuses. I might have to—”

“I’ve been getting back on my feet the last few weeks,” he said.

Lizzy looked at him.

“What do you mean?”

Julian bit his bottom lip.

“I’ve had a…change in employment, recently,” he said.

Lizzy couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“Change in employment?” she said.

Julian shoved his thumbs into his pockets and shrugged.

“I’m not a dishwasher anymore,” he said.

“You just told me you’d have the money for me tomorrow. And now you’re telling me you don’t even have a job anymore?”

“I do have a job,” Julian assured her. “I’m just not a dishwasher.”

“Then what are you now?”

Julian didn’t answer her. A long silence stretched between them while he looked at the floor. Lizzy narrowed her eyes.

“Julian,” she said. “How are you paying your rent?”

He pursed his lips and looked at her.

“I’m…” he said. He sighed and scratched the back of his head. “I’m back in the business, Lizzy.”

It took her a moment to remember. But then she recalled the article in the paper, the conversation they had right as he was moving in.

“Julian,” she said. “I told you, you can’t be doing that business in my building.”

“I know,” he said. “And I’m not doing it in your building. I have a strict rule with my clients. They decide the location. I never tell them my address so they can’t bring me back here. I either see them at their place or a hotel.” Julian lifted his hands in surrender. “You can ask the neighbors, put a camera by my door. I swear to god Lizzy, I’ve never brought anyone around here.”

Lizzy looked at him for a long moment. She had seen him come and go from his apartment. True, she’d never seen him with anyone. And on top of that, the walls of this building were paper thin. She lived right above him and heard every noise he made. The sound of his occasional snoring. The creak of his bed. Him turning on facets and moving pots in the kitchen. The sound of water and faint humming while he was in the shower…

Lizzy quickly shook the thoughts from her head.

“You said you weren’t doing that anymore,” she said.

“I know,” Julian said. “But…with everything that’s happened…” He trailed off for a moment. “I don’t know what else to do. I don’t want to be a dishwasher forever.” He pursed his lips. “So, I thought I’d go back to doing the one thing I know I’m good at. Something that will pay way better than working in that kitchen ever will.”

Lizzy thought back on the last two months. She heard everything about the mess that was Julian Kaye’s life. The Strattons, their kidnapped son, two murders. It was the kind of stuff Lizzy only knew from movies and shows. To think it was all happening with the strange new man living right below her.

She had to admit, she felt bad for him. But still, she had her own bills to pay and she didn’t need trouble knocking on her door.

Julian looked at her with begging, pleading eyes.

“Please, Lizzy,” he said. “I know I’m behind on payments. But I’ve got another gig tonight. It’s at a hotel on the other side of town. It’s my first real big one. It’ll be enough to pay off all my missing payments and anything else you need from me. Just give me until tomorrow morning, I promise. And if I don’t have it, you can evict me on the spot.”

Lizzy gave Julian a long look.

“Are you staying over with her?” Lizzy asked.

“Hm?”

“Are you spending the night with your client? At the hotel.”

Julian shook his head.

“No,” he said. “This one wants it quick and dirty.” He couldn’t resist a small quirk in the corner of his lips. “I’ll be home right as it’s getting dark.”

Lizzy nodded.

“Get the money to me tonight when you come back,” she said. “And you’re off the hook.”

Julian released a sigh of relief.

“Thank you, Lizzy,” he said. “You’re a saint.”

“I want it in cash,” she said. “Bring it right to my door.”

Julian gave her a small smile.

“Will do.”

He held open the door for her as she stepped out. Lizzy could feel his eyes watching her until she was out of sight. She heard his apartment door shut and she made her way upstairs to her place.

Julian Kaye was a strange man. From the moment he stumbled in front of her porch, too impeccably dressed to be homeless, she knew he was unusual. And that was before the shit show that was the last few months, with the murder and the cops and all the other trouble that circled Julian like a bloodhound.

And of course, there was the elephant in the room: His profession. The world’s oldest, in fact.

Lizzy had to admit, he was definitely attractive enough to be a hooker. From day one Lizzy found herself staring just a little too long at his face, his broad shoulders. The way her ears drank the sound of his deep, husky voice. The curious way her eyes lingered on the buttons of his shirt, imagining what she’d discover if she just plucked a few down…

Lizzy quickly shook the image from her head as she unlocked her apartment door. Landladies lusting after their tenets was questionable at best. Besides, now was not a time for such wandering thoughts. Devilishly handsome or not, Julian still had rent to pay.

Chapter 2: Pay Up Front

Julian came back right when he said he would. Right as the sky was turning a deep evening blue, Lizzy heard footsteps coming up the front steps of her building. She sat up from the couch where she was watching TV and sauntered over to the door. She opened her door just in time to see Julian.

He smiled at her and held up a crisp white envelope.

“Two months rent in cash,” he said. “Presented in the finest envelope for her ladyship.”

Lizzy gave him a look, though she had to resist smirking. She swiped the envelope from his hands and tore it open. Inside was a considerable wad of one-hundred-dollar bills. She counted each of them. All his late rent, every last cent.

Lizzy looked up at him.

“Okay,” she said. She slid the wad back into the envelope and stuffed it under her arm. “You’re off the hook.”

Julian grinned.

“Pleasure doing business,” he said.

“But you better not be late next time. Now that you’re getting paid better, I don’t want to see any more late payments.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Lizzy stepped back into her apartment and started to close the door. But then she was stopped by a strong hand clasping the top. Julian stood in the gap in the door.

“Not so fast,” Julian said. “You mind if we talk for a second?”

In truth, Lizzy did mind. But she found that letting people speak usually made them leave faster, so she decided to hear him out. She leaned against the door frame.

“Okay?” she said. “Talk about what?”

Julian shoved his hands in his pockets. He was definitely dressed for an evening out. A nice dark suit and tie. But the first thing Lizzy noticed was a bright spot of red on his neck. The undeniable smear of red lipstick.

Julian leaned forward to glance into her apartment.

“Do you mind if I ask what you’re doing in here?” he asked.

Lizzy paused. Why would he care?”

“Watching TV,” she said.

“What’cha watching?”

“Haven’t decided yet.” Lizzy gave him a look. “Is that what you wanted to talk about? You want to watch TV with me?”

Julian shook his head.

“No,” he said. “The opposite, actually. I wanted to know if you had any plans for the evening.” Something crossed his eyes. “Since you don’t even know what to watch on Netflix, I’m assuming you’re not exactly busy.”

He was right there. Lizzy shrugged.

“I like my me time,” she said.

“Yeah, I get that,” Julian said. He leaned forward on his feet. “But I was wondering if instead, you’d like to get a drink with me.”

Lizzy looked at him for a moment.

“You mean…like a date?”

Julian chuckled and dipped his hands into his pockets.

“Doesn’t have to be,” he said. “But…I’d definitely prefer it that way.”

Lizzy narrowed her eyes and gave him a look. This man was fresh from a rent-paying job, still smeared with lipstick and smelling of a woman’s perfume. Was this his attempt to apologize for the late rent?

“You’ve already paid your debt, Julian,” she said. “You don’t need to do anything else for me.”

Julian’s face dropped.

“It’s not about the rent,” he said. “It’s about how it’s Los Angeles on a Friday and it would be sinful for someone like yourself to stay in.”

Lizzy looked at Julian for a long second.

“Have you been drinking tonight?” she asked.

Julian barked out a laugh and shook his head.

“No, I haven’t,” he said. “I had one glass of champagne at the lady’s hotel room, but that’s it. I like being as close to sober as I can on the job.” There was a slight gleam in his eye. “Helps me focus on the task at hand.”

Lizzy felt a strange heat rush to her face. She rolled his offer around in her head. She was still suspicious if this wasn’t just a build-up to another job for him. Maybe he thought if he could lower her defenses, he could get some cash out of her.

Then again, the idea of spending another Friday night bored at home didn’t appeal to her much either. Plus, who turns down a free drink?

“Give me a minute to get dressed,” she said. She glanced down at her baggy t-shirt and long pajama bottoms. “I’ll be ready in thirty minutes or so.”

Julian smiled.

“I’ll be ready when you are,” he said.

Julian turned and started making his way toward the stairs.

“Julian,” Lizzy said.

He immediately paused and turned.

“Yeah?” he said.

Lizzy tapped her neck with one finger.

“Wash that before we leave,” she said.

Julian gave her a confused look then turned to look at his reflection in the window glass. He pressed his fingers over the lipstick stain.

“Oh,” he said. He looked at her, a gleam in his eye. “My bad.”

Lizzy watched Julian disappear down the stairs before returning inside, a strange warmth sitting in her stomach.

Chapter 3: Drinks For Two

Once she was dressed, Lizzy stood in front of the mirror. She didn’t go out very much. Not as much as she used to. The only evening wear she had left was a small black dress and some matching heels. The last time she wore them was at the gallery visit. The one she neglected to show up to because of, ironically enough, Julian.

She spun around and looked at her reflection. It had been a long time since she went on a date with anyone. Not since her ex and, well, that didn’t exactly work out. It felt like she had to retrain herself on how to dress and act for these kinds of things.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. Julian was perfectly punctual. Lizzy felt nervous all of sudden. She and Julain had become decent friends since he arrived. They’d gone out to lunch, walked along the beach, hung out like friends did. But this was a date, and for some reason that left Lizzy with a titter in her stomach.

She approached the door and found Julian waiting for her when she opened it. He’d changed into a new suit. Black blazer, red shirt, black tie. Notably, the red lipstick stain was gone and Lizzy could smell the woman’s perfume replaced with an oaky musk.

“You clean up nice,” Lizzy said.

Julian chuckled, his eyes draping her up and down.

“Not as well as you,” he said. He offered her his arm. “Shall we?”

Lizzy grinned and took his arm. In minutes they were breezing down the highway towards a bar that, according to Julian, ha adjust opened the week before. A jazzy-looking place that called itself The Golden Hearth. Julian parked the car up front and sauntered around to the other side to hold open the door for her.

“After you, my lady,” Julian said with a dramatic sweep of his arm.

Lizzy chuckled and rolled her eyes.

“None of that,” she said. “You sound like Batman’s butler.”

“Alfred Pennyworth?”

“That his name?”

“Yep. Read a lot of comics as a kid.”

Lizzy took Julian’s arm and he guided her inside. He got a seat for both of them at the bar and a bartender in a waistcoat greeted them.

“Welcome to The Golden Hearth,” he said. “What can I get you two?”

Julian turned to Lizzy for her answer.

“I’ll just have a jack and coke,” she said.

Julain turned to the bartender.

“Two jack and cokes, please,” he said.

The bartender nodded and went off to prepare their drink. A few minutes later he returned with their glasses. Julian took his and held it up.

“To Liz,” he said. “The world’s most patient and generous landlady.”

Lizzy smirked and lifted her glass.

“To Julian,” she said. “Lord have mercy on his soul, because I won’t.”

Julian chuckled and they clinked their glasses together. Lizzy took a long sip from her drink. It tasted as expensive as the rest of this place looked.

Julian, apparently having mind-reading powers, set his drink down.

“I’m paying tonight,” he said. “Don’t worry about it.”

Lizzy nodded and took a longer sip of her drink. The whiskey started to take its effect quickly, enough for her to ask her next question.

“How much do you get paid?” she asked.

Julian looked at her and set his drink down.

“Man, Lizzy,” he said. “Ever heard the saying, ‘never ask a man his salary or a woman her—'” He stopped when he saw her face. “It depends on the client. I charge differently depending on time, location, whether or not I’m spending the night.” He shrugged. “I’m nothing if not negotiable.” He gave her a grin. “Why do you ask?”

Lizzy shrugged.

“No reason, really,” she said.

The two of them were quiet for a moment.

“Be honest with me, Lizzy,” Julian said. “Does what I do…bother you?”

Lizzy sipped her drink and then set it down.

“Does what bother me?”

“What I do to pay my rent.”

She thought about it for a moment, then shrugged.

“Not really,” she said. “I’ve met people who’ve done worse things to pay rent.” She leaned in closer to me. “I once had an old tenet who got arrested for cooking crystal meth in his room. The police showed up. Whole commotion.”

“Damn,” Julian said.

“As long as you don’t bring the cops around to my building, I won’t complain.”

“I can promise you that will not happen. I’m done with seeing the police for quite a while now.”

Julian took another look sip from his whiskey. All around them, people were drinking and chattering without a care. And yet, Lizzy and Julian’s little corner of the bar felt snug and private.

“Lizzy,” Julian said. “I have a confession to make.”

Lizzy lifted her eyes to his.

“Hm?” she said.

Julian pursed his lips.

“I lied,” he said. “About rent. Kind of.”

Lizzy raised an eyebrow.

“What do you you ‘kind of lied’ about rent?” she asked.

“Well, maybe not outright lied, but…I miscommunicated the situation.” He straightened in his seat. “I’ve had the rent money ready for a while. Pretty much since the investigation ended.”

“So…you could’ve paid me this whole time,” Lizzy said. “And you didn’t because…”

Then, uncharacteristically, Julian blushed. It was such a strange thing to see on the face of a man who normally had such shameless bravado that it nearly threw Lizzy off.

“I…” Julian started. “I’ve been wanting to ask you out for a while. But I’ve been chickening out. I needed a reason for you to come knocking on my door. Give myself a reason to…treat you to something.”

“And you thought making me come after your late rent was the best way to do that?”

Julian bit his lip.

“I’ve had better thought-out plans,” he said. “I haven’t asked a girl out since high school. And most clients come to me first. I’m…actually kind of a novice at this normal dating thing.”

Julian’s face was red as cherries. It was cute. But there was a question sitting on Lizzy’s tongue.

Lizzy pursed her lips and nodded. There was a question sitting on her tongue, one who hesitated to ask.

“And what about that blonde Stratton woman?” she asked. “Her name was…Michelle, I think?”

Julian didn’t answer for a second. He pursed his lips and released a small, sad sigh.

“Michelle and I…didn’t exactly work out,” he said. He took a long sip from his glass. “I spoke with her after…everything started to sizzle down.”

Somewhere on the other side of the bar, a lounge singer’s voice breezed over the crowd. Along with the smoky, jazz tune from a saxophone and piano.

“I realized that Michelle and I were just weight holding each other back,” Julian continued. “We both concluded that whatever was between us fizzled out. And having a kid together didn’t exactly change that.” He shrugged. “She’s staying with her husband. And they’re going to raise Colin together.”

Julian twirled his wine glasses absentmindedly. Lizzy could tell his mind was playing memories that hurt to watch and something sunk in her chest.

“I’m sorry, Julian,” Lizzy said.

“Don’t be,” he said. He sighed and lifted his eyes back to hers. “Honestly, it feels like a relief. Like I’ve had weights tied to my ankles and now I can walk free without them. I’m sure Michelle feels the same way about me.” He took a sip of his wine. “It’s sad, but…a part of me always knew it would end eventually. I’m just happy to get some closure. Put a nice, solid period at the end of that sentence.”

Lizzy crossed her arms and gazed down at her empty plate.

“So, now what?” she asked.

She looked at Julian, who was drumming his knuckles on the table. Lizzy never noticed what lovely hands he had.

“Well, that’s kind of why I’m here,” Julian said. “Michelle is in the past now. And lately, I’ve been thinking about what’s next.”

He pushed his glass aside, crossed his arms, and leaned forward.

“I’m starting over,” he said. “And for the last few days, I’ve been thinking about what to do next. Been thinking about who I’ve got left.” He pursed his lips. “And I realized, now that the storm has passed…I’ve just been thinking about you a lot.”

“Me?” Lizzy said.

He looked at her like it was a strange question.

“Well…yeah,” he said. “You’ve been my friend since I came into town. You didn’t judge me when you…learned what I do.” He shrugged and took another sip of his drink. The glass was empty now except for chunks of half-melted ice. “I like talking to you. I like hanging out with you. Whenever I think back on the last few months, all the chaos that’s been going on…the only happy moments I can really think of are the ones between us two.”

Lizzy’s mind flickered over all the time that had passed since Julian Kaye moved into her building. Smoking on the front porch. Getting ice cream by the beach. Taking long walks through town talking about whatever weighed on their minds.

“I told you at the precinct that you may be the best friend I have,” Julian said. “And I think I mean that even more now. A lot has happened. I don’t have many people left in my circle.” He gave her a look. “I hope I can still include you.”

Lizzy pursed her lips and swirled the ice around in her glass.

“Of course, I am, Julian,” she said.

Julian cocked his head. “But…?”

“I consider you a friend,” Lizzy said. She brought her eyes to his again. “But I’m not really the type to go on dates with friends. And I suspect you may be the same.”

A strange pink flush crossed Julian’s face and he dropped his eyes.

“You got me there,” he said with a grin.

Lizzy took a long sip of her drink. The coke sparkled on her tongue and the bittersweet taste of whiskey filled her mouth. She could feel it already taking its effect. She felt lighter, like a feather on the breeze, the kind of dangerous lightness that made you start talking without meaning to.

“Julian,” Lizzy said. “If it means anything, I think you may be my best friend too.” She shrugged. “I don’t exactly get out much. Most of my friends…they’ve got their own lives. I’ll admit, I like having you around.”

Julian smiled, but there was something in his eyes.

“But…?” he repeated.

Lizzy sighed. She lifted her glass to her lips to take another sip but realized hers was out too. No more whiskey to make this easier.

“I’m not easy to love,” she said. She set her glass down. “I told you, I’ve been married twice, divorced twice. I told you my ex-husband owned the building before me, right?”

“Yeah, you did,” Julian said. “And I know both those guys must have been pretty dense to walk away from a woman like you.”

Julian leaned forward and moved his hand across the bar counter to her. He gently laced his fingers with hers. Lizzy was suddenly met with strange ease, and not the kind coming from the alcohol.

“I’m not afraid of baggage, Lizzy,” he told her. “I’m the king of baggage. I’m not afraid of anyone else’s.”

Lizzy smirked.

“You do have experience with trouble.”

“And trust me, you’re the least troublesome person I’ve met.”

Lizzy looked down at their hands together. Julian had lovely hands. Long, slender fingers and warm flesh. She met his eyes.

“You really think I’m the kind of woman someone ‘starts over’ with?” he asked.

Julian held her gaze, his eyes intense in a way that shook her a little.

“Yeah,” he said. “I do.”

Lizzy looked at him for a moment. She chuckled and dropped her eyes.

“You’re good at flattery, Julian,” she said.

“I’m not flattering you,” he said.

“So then what are you buttering me up for?”

“I’m doing no such thing.”

“Then what’s all this for?”

Julian shrugged. “Maybe I just like seeing you smile.”

Lizzy stared at him as he turned to the bartender.

“Excuse me,” he said. “Can we order from the dessert menu at the bar?”

“Sure thing, sir,” the bartender said. “What do you want?”

“Two strawberry sundaes, please.”

The bartender nodded and went off to get their orders. Lizzy turned and looked at Julian.

“What’s this for?” she asked.

Julian gave her a small, naughty grin.

“Strawberry is favorite, right?” he said. “You told me after you picked me up from the precinct. When you and I got ice cream cones at the beach.”

It took Lizzy a second to remember, but slowly she recalled sitting at a picnic table in the sane scooping ice cream with a plastic spoon. Julian had told her all the mayhem that had been happening to him. She told him he shouldn’t trust anyone in this town.

And then he said, “I trust you, Lizzy.”

The memory made her feel oddly warm. She’d almost forgotten about that part of the conversation entirely. But not Julian.

The waiter brought them two small sundaes in glass cups. Scoops of pink strawberry ice cream with a nice chocolate drizzle and cherries on top.

“Looks delicious,” Lizzy said.

“Tastes better,” Julian said.

He plucked the cherry from atop his sundae and dropped it on his tongue. Lizzy watched his lips curl around the cherry and snap it from its stem. He chewed with his mouth closed, his lips and tongue moving slowly to savor the taste. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed.

His eyes flickered to her.

“Something wrong?” he asked.

Lizzy snapped from her thoughts.

“No,” she said. “Nothing’s wrong. Why?”

“You haven’t touched your sundae. And you’re staring at me.”

Lizzy looked at her ice cream, which was already starting to melt a little. She picked up her spoon and scooped herself a bite. She released a moan before she could stop herself.

“That’s some damn good ice cream,” she said.

“I’m glad you like it,” Julian said. He moved his hand closer. “Mind if I steal your cherry?”

He held her eyes for a second.

“Sure,” Lizzy said. “Go ahead.”

Julian plucked the cherry from her bowl and she watched him chew and swallow it.

Chapter 4: Come A Little Closer

The two made it back to the complex sometime around ten. They were both undeniably exhausted from the day, but Julian didn’t seem ready to part ways just yet.

“It’s not that late,” Julian said. “My door’s open if you want to hang out a little longer.”

Lizzy smirked. She’d dated enough to know what he was doing. It was a guy’s polite way of inviting you to sex back at his place. And there was still a buzz of whiskey sparkling through her, enough that she might accept the indulgence.

“Only because I’m too tired to go upstairs to my room,” she said.

Julian held open the door for her and Lizzy stepped inside. He must have been expecting, or at least hoping, she’d come by because Julian’s apartment was meticulously clean in a way she wasn’t used to seeing in single men’s homes.

Julian shut the door behind them.

“Want something to drink?” he asked. “Doesn’t have to be alcohol, just like…some water or something? Actually, I just restocked some soda in the fridge—”

“Julian,” Lizzy said.

He paused and looked at her.

“Yeah?” he said.

Lizzy crossed her arms and pursed her lips.

“What was tonight about?” she asked.

Julian looked confused.

“What do you mean?”

“Is this to make up for the late payments? Is this an I-owe-you for later if you’re late again?”

“Lizzy, what the hell are you talking about?”

“Why did you ask me out tonight?”

“Because I like you, Lizzy. I wanted to spend time with you.”

“Julian, this kind of sweet talk might work for your clients, it’s not gonna work with me.”

“Sweet talk?” Julian crossed his arms. “What the hell are you talking about? I already told you, Lizzy, this has nothing to do with rent or money or anything.” His gaze softened. “You think I’m trying to get something out of you?”

Lizzy shrugged.

“You’re a gigolo,” she said. “Isn’t that what you do?”

Julian looked at her for a long while. He dropped his face into his hands and sound coughed from his throat. Lizzy saw a hint of a smile on his face.

“Are you…” she said. She put her hands on her hips. “Are you laughing at me?”

“Yeah, I am actually,” Julian said. He looked her right in the eye. “I’m laughing because it’s so sad.”

“What’s so sad?”

“It’s sad that you really think the only reason I’d want to go out with you is that I’m trying to get money or favors or anything from you other than your company.” He stepped closer to her. “It’s offensive. You think so lowly of me. But even worse, you think so lowly of yourself. Smart, funny, beautiful woman like yourself thinks a guy needs an ulterior motive.”

He stood so close to her that Lizzy could feel his breath on her lips, feel his body heat just under that tailored suit. It sent something skittering in her chest and down in her stomach.

Julian gently placed his hands on her hips and pulled her close. He lifted his hand to push a stray strand of hair from her face.

“Lizzy,” he said to her. “I make love to women for a living. If I want to have a nice time with a beautiful woman, I can at any time. And make some pretty good money doing it too.”

He leaned in closer to her, whispering to her like he was telling her a secret. This close, Lizzy could notice all the smaller details about him. The dark prickle of his shaven face. The crisp scent of his cologne. His minty breath warmed the space between their lips.

“Are you bringing me here just to brag?” Lizzy asked.

Julian shook his head.

“No,” he said. “I’m telling you this to say that I do this all the time as my job.” He lifted his hands to cup her face. “So when I tell you that I’m here because I want to be when I tell you I want nothing in return, I want you to know that I mean it.”

There was something in his face and voice that stirred something in Lizzy. His usual bravado, his humor, his cocky air, they were gone. Now she was looking into the face of a man here to convince her of something true.

“You asked me if I’d ever been in a real relationship,” Julian said. His thumb absently stroked her cheek. “The truth is, I have twice before. One with a girl who killed herself. Another with a woman who was never meant to be mine. All of it had only brought me trouble.”

He rubbed his hands along her arms. His hands were coarse and rough but warm, like well-used leather.

“I want to try something real, Lizzy,” he said. “No more transactions. No more sparks that die out. No more tragic endings. I want to love someone properly for once. And I’d like to do it with you. If you’ll have me.”

For a brief moment, Lizzy wondered if this was all in her head. It was a dream. Or the alcohol. But neither of them was asleep and neither of them had that much to drink. Her eyes wandered over Julian, his ruggedly handsome face that now looked more painfully sincere than she’d ever seen it before. She remember the first day she met him, how strange yet oddly lonely she seemed. Kind of like her.

“I know this is quick and sudden,” Julian kept talking. “And I don’t want you to feel any pressure—“

He was interrupted when Lizzy pressed her lips to his. Julian immediately sunk into her touch and lifted his hand to cradle the back of her head. Lizzy could still taste the whisky on his lips and she groaned.

Julian reached down and lifted Lizzy from the floor. She wrapped her legs around his waist and carried her towards the bed. He lowered her gently onto her back and pressed his lips deeper into hers.

“There’s…” Lizzy tried to collect her words through the heated haze. “Do you have any…”

Julian gave her a grin.

“I’ve got some protection in the drawer,” he said. A gleam crossed his eyes. “But…I don’t think we’ll need it.”

Lizzy snapped to focus and lifted her head.

“Are you…?”

Julian lifted a hand.

“I don’t mean like that,” he said

He reached a hand under her skirt and slowly peeled down her underwear.

“I told you, Lizzy,” he said. “I wanna prove to you how serious I am about you. “ He tossed her underwear on the floor. “And to prove it, I want to show you the full treatment.” He trailed his tongue along his lips. “I wanna treat you the way a woman like you should be treated.”

The realization came to Lizzy slowly and all the heat rushed down her body. Julian stripped off his blazer and then unfurled his knot from its tie. He reached for his throat and unplucked the top button of his shirt. Lizzy watched his hands work down, unbuttoning his shirt to reveal a perfectly toned torso and an assortment of tattoos. He let his shirt fall from his shoulders onto the floor and Lizzy’s hands tingled to touch him.

He pressed his lips to hers, and then slowly started kissing down. Her cheek, her neck, her collar, down between her heaving breasts until he was at her lap.

Julian moved down the bed until his knees were on the floor at the end. He spread Lizzy's thighs apart, her skirt sliding down so her pussy was exposed. Julian looked down between her legs and Lizzy swore she saw a hint of drool on his lips.

He ran his fingers along her thighs. His eyes met hers.

“Let me do this for you, Lizzy,” he said. He leaned down and planted a kiss right below her knee. He lifted his eyes to hers. “Let me do for you what I do best.”

Lizzy looked at him for a long moment. Even now, a part of her wanted to believe this was all another act. A show he put on for clients to milk money or favors from them. But she also recalled all the times she and Julian smoked on the front porch, or walked along the beach. If he wanted a favor for her, he would have by now.

And a deeper part of herself simply wanted to believe he meant it.

She dropped her head back on the pillow.

“Then do what you do best,” she said.

Julian nodded, then put his lip right below her knee again. He slowly kissed down her inner thighs, licking and caressing her flesh with his mouth. It turned Lizzy on so much that he let out a shuddering moan.

Julian chuckled into her skin.

“You like that?” he mumbled. “Does that feel good?”

It did feel good. It sent a hot shiver across Lizzy’s body as Julian’s mouth moved further down her leg. If that’s how just his kiss felt, she could only imagine—

She sucked in a breath as Julian plunged his tongue inside her.

“Fuck,” she moaned.

She reached a hand down and gripped his hair in her fingers. Julian gripped her thighs in each of his hands to hold her in place. His tongue was long and velvety and caressed right over her sweet spot with expert precision.

“Fuck,” Lizzy moaned, gripping his hair tighter. “Fuck, Julian…”

The painful tug in his hair did little to dissuade him. If anything, it only seemed to spur Julian on further as he buried his head between her legs. He wasn’t just tasting her. He was savoring her. There was a low moan in his throat as she filled up his mouth.

“Baby…” Lizzy mumbled. “Baby, I…”

Her hips bucked against his mouth. Damn, he was good at this. She couldn’t remember the last time a man did this for her. Either because it had been a long time, or because whoever did it last was nowhere near Julian Kaye’s skill level. His tongue knew exactly where to go, pleasuring her like a well-oiled fuck machine.

Several minutes passed and he didn’t waver. He never slowed down, never came up for air. He just kept going, and going and going…

“Julian,” Lizzy moaned. She could feel it. It was rising, swelling inside her. Julian must have sensed it, because he plunged his tongue deeper, licking more ferociously and moaning deep in his husky throat.

Lizzy’s hands fisted the bedsheets as pleasure ripped through her. At this point, she didn’t care if the neighbors heard them anymore. She moaned louder and louder as her body surrendered to a meltingly hot climax.

Once the heat drained out of her, Julian straightened up. His lips were shiny wet and he wiped them dry with the back of his hand. He gave her an impish smile.

“You taste fantastic,” he said.

Lizzy parted her lips to speak but her brain still felt like soup. Her eyes fluttered shut as Julian crawled back into bed with her and pulled her close to his chest.

The room was dark and warm as Lizzy drifted asleep in Julian’s arms.

Chapter 5: Morning After

A streak of sunlight spilled through the window blinds and Lizzy’s eyes fluttered open. The warmth from the sun draped across her, leaving her feeling soft and light as a feather.

Then, the quiet was interrupted by a hot, sizzling sound. The smell of something greasy filled her nose.

Lizzy sat up in bed and looked towards the kitchen area. The sight almost made her burst out laughing. Julian was standing by the stove, his back to her, wearing nothing but his black boxers and a blue chef’s apron. He heard her stir and glanced over his shoulder at her.

“Morning, sleeping beauty,” he said. “You like bacon and eggs?”

Lizzy stared at him for a moment then rubbed her eyes. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up.

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

“Long enough to get started on breakfast,” he said.

Lizzy found her dress and underwear on the floor next to the bed. She stepped back into them before sauntering over and watched Julian use a spatula to move the sizzling bacon onto a plate next to some scrambled eggs.

“Insert, ‘how do you like your eggs in the morning’ joke here,” Julian said with a smirk.

Lizzy gave him a look but she could feel a small smile sprouting on her face.

“I like mine with coffee,” she said.

Julian pushed the plate of bacon and eggs towards her then opened the upper cabinet to grab a mug. Lizzy sat t the table and ate her eggs and bacon. All the while she watched Julian prepare her a cup of joe.

“Cream and sugar?” he asked.

“Yes, cream, and two sugars.”

Lizzy watched Julian grab two Splendas and a bottle of creamer. She found herself staring at his fingers, tearing open the packets and stirring the coffee with a spoon. He brought the steaming mug over to her.

“Thanks,” Lizzy said.

She took the mug and sipped it. Damn, that was a good cup of coffee.

“Are you eating?” she asked him.

“Already had a bite or two while you were asleep,” he said.

When she was finished, Julian grabbed her plate, fork, and mug for her and set the dishes in the sink. Lizzy stood up and before she could move Julian was behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pressing kisses into her neck.

“Last night was fun,” he whispered into her skin.

Lizzy’s body suddenly felt lighter, warmer.

“Yeah,” she said. “It was.”

Lizzy’s eyes fluttered close and she leaned her back against Julian’s chest. The sun streaked through the windows and the whole room felt warm. Julian moved his mouth to the other side of her neck and kissed her there.

“I can still taste you from last night,” he whispered. “I’ve had eggs and coffee, and I still can’t wash the taste of you out.” His hand smoothed down her stomach. “I don’t think I want to get it out.”

The tip of his finger met the seam of her dress. Lizzy’s body was already starting to alight and flushing heat between her legs. Julian, ever the expert on female anatomy, must have sensed it in her.

“You mind if I…” he said, curling his fingers on her dress seam.

Lizzy felt like her mind and body were slowly melting.

“Yeah,” she mumbled. “Go ahead.”

Julian slowly lifted the short skirt of her dress. Lizzy felt a shiver when his hands trailed over her underwear until he found the seam. Wasting no time, he slid his fingers down under the fabric and inside her.

Lizzy sucked in a breath. She lifted an arm and reached back to grip Julian’s hair.

“Julian,” she breathed.

Julian used his free arm to clasp Lizzy’s waist. Her pressed his fingers deeper inside her and massaged her clit. The sensations sent waves of sharp pleasure rushing up Lizzy’s body. Julian kissed and licked along her neck.

“You’re so tense, Lizzy,” Julian mumbled. “Relax…let me take care of you..”

His voice was so sweet, a contrast to the rough pound of his fingers inside her pussy. Lizzy’s weight shifted onto him, her legs buckling beneath her, but Julian kept her upright. Lizzy tipped her head back onto his shoulder and moaned with each delicious curl of his fingers.

“I love the sounds you make,” Julian murmured in her ear. “I want to see how many ways I can make you come.”

He pushed deeper inside her and Lizzy felt it rising inside her. She moaned louder and she gripped Julian’s hair tighter. Julian could sense her body bracing and he gently pressed his teeth to her neck.

“Julian,” Lizzy moaned.

“Come on, baby, don’t resist it,” he whispered. “Let it come to you.”

The pleasure raced through Lizzy with the force of a drug. It rose inside her until nothing else in the world existed but Julain Kaye’s fingers pleasuring her pussy. By the time it slowly drained out of her, her brain and body felt like soup.

Then, just as Lizzy thought she could stand on her own two feet again, Julian suddenly dipped down and picked her up. Lizzy yelped as lifted her bridal style into his arms. She giggled as he carried her over to the bed and gently set her down.

“I’m declaring this a day off,” Julian said. “Neither of us are working today.”

Lizzy grinned and raised an eyebrow.

“Is that so?” she said.

Julian nodded and then snuggled on top of her.

“I’m not letting you leave this bed,” he mumbled into her neck. “You’re going to stay here and let me take care of you for the next twenty-four hours.”

Lizzy wrapped her arms around Julian’s neck and pulled him close. They were quiet for several minutes as Julian mindlessly kissed her along her neck.

“You still owe me an apology,” Lizzy said. “For lying about the rent thing.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Julian said. “I’m sorry. I just…needed to find a way to avoid chickening out.”

He kissed the top of her breast, then slowly worked down until his head was on her lap.

“I just thought you were trying to use sex to pay your late rent,” Lizzy said.

Julian paused and looked up at her.

“Am I using sex to pay my rent?” he said. He nuzzled his head on top of her thighs. “Or am I using late rent as an excuse to get close to you?”

Lizzy lifted her head and looked down at him.

“I’d never try to maliciously deceive you, Lizzy,” Julian continued. “But…when an opportunity comes knocking…”

He gave her an impish smile. Lizzy almost wanted to slap that smile off his face, but given Julian’s proclivities, he’d probably be into that.

She gave him a sharp grin and trailed her nails along the back of his head.

“You’re a naughty little thing, Julian Kaye,” she said.

Julian grinned and gently ran his fingers along her tender flesh.

“Yeah, I am,” he sighed into her skin. “But I can be good for you.” He lifted his gaze to hers. “If you’ll have me.”

Julian was looking at her with those brown, golden retriever eyes. Lizzy grinned and pet her hands through his hair.

“You might have yourself a deal,” she said.

Read it on my AO3 at @afterhourscafe:

#american gigolo #julian kaye #lizzy #Julian x Lizzy #jon bernthal #yolonda ross #showtime #fanfiction #fanfic #ao3fic #ao3

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thedivinefish · 1 month

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TGIWednesday: What the leak are you talking about?

TGIWednesday News 📰

In Florida our summers are something you just endure. 🌡️ Never had an issue with the water bill before. I cringed when I watched my little girlfriend spray the hose in the air while the birds flew through the mist. Sure enough, it nearly doubled! I called the lovely folks at the water company that said they would re-read the meter. 🚰 The man came out, glanced at the meter and left a tag on our front door that the meter was moving and concluded that we had a leak. Thank God for video cameras everywhere 📷 because we could see how fast he haphazardly decided that. I spoke with a fast talking know-it-all at the utility that said, "You probably have a leak somewhere for it to do that." We checked every toilet, sink and shower - all of which were bone dry. I went out to check the meter myself and chuckled when I had to dust off the cover just to even read any numbers at all!!! 🔢 Wowza, what a joke! Will I be raising cane again tomorrow? Of course. 😒 When dealing with relationships with folks like these you have to document things like you're registering for a patent, remain calm and persistent! At some point it is no longer about the money, but about principle! Join us this month for our monthly Zoom as we clear off the dust, cobwebs and regret of your relationships! Oh and some of you have reported issues with paying and scheduling sessions. Calendly, Stripe, PayPal and Shopify are the systems we use and all are ultra-reliable companies with zero down time disruption issues in the last 3 months.We ask that you check ALL your email addresses and spam folders for confirmations - and also please try your transactions from multiple devices and browsers that can do the trick and get you there faster. We all know it's Mercury Retrograde and that's a possibility too. The most IT help I can give you is to shut everything down and reboot your phone, laptop or tablet and try again, and if all else fails please write in to [email protected].

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Call #4 Theme: Relationship Clearings: Past/Present/Future We're basically house plants requiring air and water just with more complicated feelings and relationships! Even if you consider yourself a loner type, human beings are all about relationships, family and we're part of the fishing tribe. Often relationships from our family and loved ones from our past haunt us and negatively affect our current ones, so it is vital to clear and recalibrate ourselves.

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS: After registration, Submit your Top 3 words/statements in the format below by Wed. the 28th to [email protected] Be kind to our editors: please KEEP IT BRIEF :)

1) Clearing out past relationships ie: Release me from past relationships and their negative, lingering, traumatic effects that haunt me like:______ (poor treatment from mom or dad, siblings, teacher, authorities, friends - including abuse, mistreatment, injustice, betrayal, gaslighting, and narcissism)

2) Clearing out present relationships ie: Release me from the ill effects of ______ (a horrible/unfair boss, fair weather friends, a cheating spouse, children who are acting out, parents' disappointment, relationship burdens, addictions)

3) Clearing the energy of future relationships ie: Release me from the fear of/or help me create ___ (I'll never find great love, that I'll get hurt by love, future pain of losing loved ones/a child, create a greater relationship with money, with nature, create a space for humans to live in harmony and care for the planet and future generations.)

During this call #4, we'll clear relationships off all kinds ...and if your relationship with family, children, pets, work/job/career and your past are flawless, that is wonderful! Please write to me, I'd love to hear about that too. For the rest of us you'll want to join our gathering and let's co-create some profound changes together!

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Thank you for fitting me in earlier this week! It was probably one of the best calls I’ve had with you (but of course they're all great!) Will update you as the magic happens:) Thank you - Megan / Florida

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Your name will be added to a special VIP Prayer list where Jimmy will use his intelligent computer software, src4you which runs 24/7, to delete the negative and increase the strength of the positive creating a higher probability of favorable outcomes for you. Looking for a new job? Going through a court proceeding? Upcoming surgery scheduled for you or a loved one? Need help selling or buying a property? Troubled times in your relationship? These are just some of the life at the crossroads events that are ideal for My Daily Prayer program.

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divinefishingtips · 1 month

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TGIWednesday: What the leak are you talking about?

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365dailyaffirmations · 1 month

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TGIWednesday: What the leak are you talking about?

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Fish Food 😇📣

The Daily Bread To Feed The Fish

Tell the Fish - 365 Daily Inspirations and Affirmations - by Jimmy Mack Own this e-book so that you can read inspiration every day!

The Fish Market 🎧⬇️

💸 The Prosperity Collection 🧘 The Body, Mind and Spirit Collection 🙂 The Improve Your Life Collection 💻 Access 50+ Videos in the Zoom Replay Collection

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advancedthetapractitioner · 1 month

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TGIWednesday: What the leak are you talking about?

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FREE Live Appearances 🎙️

Watch and listen to hundreds of Radio Show replays for FREE here in the archives from the Jimmy Mack Healing Radio show.

https://thejimmymackhealingshow.com/

From the Fish Box 📧

**Can't See The Full Email? Click Here to View Online**

Fish Food 😇📣

The Daily Bread To Feed The Fish

Tell the Fish - 365 Daily Inspirations and Affirmations - by Jimmy Mack Own this e-book so that you can read inspiration every day!

The Fish Market 🎧⬇️

💸 The Prosperity Collection 🧘 The Body, Mind and Spirit Collection 🙂 The Improve Your Life Collection 💻 Access 50+ Videos in the Zoom Replay Collection

Receive 24/7 Prayers from Jimmy🙏

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jodilin65 · 31 years

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SATURDAY, MAY 29, 1993 I would’ve been going to L.A. tomorrow, but now it’s the 7th of June, so I’ve been told. If I don’t make it there, I’ll want to kill Scott.

He says he’s paying $200 of my rent this month and I worry about if he means it. He also says he’s gonna give me a canceled check to send to Sprint for proof that he paid $35.

I’m not saying Scott deliberately sets out to lie about stuff he’s gonna do and that he’s not busy, but he procrastinates big time.

Two months ago I sent US West a check for $88 and it’s never been cashed. I’ll have to call them about it as well as a few days of credit for when I was crossed. I also must take the phone bill I just got to the office for them to deduct the transfer fee from my rent. I haven’t gotten an electric bill yet.

Work’s been much better this week. I have about $180 in cash on me. Next week I’m working Tuesday-Thursday from 9:00 PM - 1:00 AM.

Tom’s been driving me to and from work, but Mandy took me home tonight. Tom says he can bring me to and from work tomorrow night.

FRIDAY, MAY 28, 1993 I made $86 at work tonight which was great. It sure beat last week which was so dead.

I spoke to Tammy who said she blasted Dad for the letter he wrote me. She once again went through both of our feelings. She wishes they were divorced too.

Then, Scott came over earlier and said to take a ride with him to see why he’s been so busy. We rode in a very nice mercury sable. One of his cars from Michigan. He’s having all his cars sent here. I saw them all lined up at some dealership that’s trying to sell them for him. Believe it or not, it made me wish I could afford the car and didn’t have this phobia I have with driving. I drove around the parking lot, for the first time in nearly two years, then to the grocery store, then here. I felt a little shaky but it was fun. How would I ever learn to feel comfortable enough to relax and concentrate on everything around me? Scott says everyone feels like that and it’s cuz I haven’t driven enough. Maybe 20 times since I was 19. Scott says a minivan would be perfect for someone as short as me.

THURSDAY, MAY 27, 1993 I expect to be awake for a while longer, so I’ll write. I don’t want to get backed up either.

Tomorrow I’ll mail out that letter to Bob. The one saying how Kim’s thinking of moving here. I’ve written several letters.

Scott came over earlier so naturally, the phone had to ring twice. Once with Fran, then with Andy.

Andy transferred to a closer Denny’s.

While Scott was here I played him some tapes. One of Andy, Fran and me talking to the crisis center.

I made $66 at work tonight. Amazing, huh?

Today I’ve been keeping journals for 5 years and 7 months.

Some DJ Andy spoke to wants a copy of my edits. Last night Andy and I spoke to Johnny at a local radio station and he thought they were cool. DJs are cool people to talk to. I even ended up on the radio saying, “So Johnny, when the heck are you going to be giving away courtside Sun’s tickets?” like he asked me to.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 26, 1993 I am on the phone right now with Andy and believe it or not, we’re calling machines. We’re only calling each machine once and leaving edits on them since it’s too easy to get caught.

I am very tired right now due to the sun, but I’ll do some writing another time.

Later…

I am sitting here wondering how the hell I’m gonna fall asleep. So, instead of trying to figure out that one, I figured I’d write.

Monday I slept from 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM. Scott knocked at 8:30 PM. He’s been working on one of his cars for the last two days.

Steve called me to ask if I’d heard from Celeste. She and her son’s missing and her mom called him. She could be with anyone knowing how she is. Scott said she was with Joe. She’s like Teresa. They can never leave the men who beat them.

Before I fell asleep yesterday morning, I called Kim. We spoke for half an hour. She’s very annoyed with Bob’s obsession with her. We’re gonna play a joke on him. I’m sending a very threatening fuck off message from a “Brian R” to her and she’s gonna mail it to him. I disguised my handwriting.

I’m also gonna tell him in a letter how she’s thinking of moving out here. Then, she’ll write to me saying that. I’ll send this letter to Bob. Bob will freak with total panic.

Late last night Tom and I went to the Jacuzzi. Then, he came over here where once again I made him hot chocolate and played him tapes. He said he’ll show me how to create edits on his computer digitally sometime. He said you can control the pitch and do all sorts of things.

Later I’ll write all about the DJ that Andy and I spoke to and about my being on the radio.

MONDAY, MAY 24, 1993 I’m still wide awake as I feared I’d be.

I spoke to Tammy earlier. We both agreed that it’d be a waste of time to try to “set things straight” with my parents. Yes, it hurts that we can’t get along. What person wouldn’t want to get along with their parents? However, I’m not gonna keep on running around in circles with them. I’m not at fault or deserving of Mom’s bullshit. I’ll miss not telling them all about the good things going on, but it’s not worth it anymore.

I hope Scott doesn’t knock till 2:00 or 3:00.

Last night Tom and I went to the Jacuzzi. After, I invited him here. I had coffee and he had hot chocolate. I showed him the photo albums, drawings, and journals and played him some tapes.

SUNDAY, MAY 23, 1993 Well, I am in a great mood. Far better than I was last week. It’s so nice to know that I’ve had so few bad days or so-so days since I’ve been here. For 26½ years it was 90% miserable. Here, it’s been 98% fantastic.

I didn’t count, but I made $80 or $90 tonight. I have $97 in cash on me in bills and lots of change.

Scott stopped in for an hour or so. It was great to see him. We’re getting together Monday.

I still can’t find Kindy’s number, so I hope she calls me.

I like Sasha, but she can be annoying. She knows Scott and I are good friends and that I hardly see him, but she hogs his attention.

Till 11:00 it was dead. I said to Scott I was afraid I’d end up evicted if the club didn’t pick up or if no positive results came out of L.A. He laughed and said, “No you’re not. I’ve got tons of money coming in next month.”

We’re gonna discuss it Monday. And he also says he’ll put the ceiling fan up then. We’ll see.

I still do have an excellent feeling about L.A. Also, believe it or not, I feel a little lust in the cards too, but why the hell I do, who knows? I’m sure it won’t be with Marcella, but I sure wish it. While I’m still young I wish to hell I could have a little more fun here and there.

There’s a new dancer named Ashley at work who’s pretty, but I guess she’s straight.

The phone company fixed the lines today.

Tomorrow if I don’t get together with Kindy, and I highly doubt it, I’ll call Lorna. I’d like to meet her and see if she’ll buy my answering machine.

I sold Sammy a costume.

I think I’ll also decorate the wall stuff and type some letters. I love this apartment It’s so quiet so far. The guy below me is so quiet and I hear fewer kids. I have a few more things to write about later.

Later…

Can you believe I’m still fucking up?! This pisses me off! My schedule’s been doing well since I had that flu and cold. It’s been fine for 3 months so why it’s so hard to fall asleep now beats me.

At 6:30 yesterday evening, Tom came over and attached the sleeper to the couch. He also listened to some edits and one of the Crisis Center calls where Andy and I would play the abandoned teen siblings and I’d do my crazy act, speaking senseless, disjointed sentences.

Tom took me to work and back. He’s on vacation for two weeks. While he’s still here he can bring me to and from work. I’ll still see him and be friends with him after he moves, though. He’s gonna have a 2-bedroom house with a pool. Lucky him.

He’s a cool guy. He’s so the “married with children” type. So very mature and calm. He’s 35, but he appears a bit older. Completely opposite of me, yet never tries to change me or anyone else. Never the type to make prank phone calls, mail funny letters, swear so much or be so blunt. He is very honest, though, and can handle listening to edits and stuff like that.

Earlier I was going through all my journals and highlighting the entry dates. I’d begun doing this right before I moved to Crystal Creek. I’ve finished 1-30, but I know I have bits and pieces of 31-37 done.

Gotta dust, vacuum and run through the bathroom and kitchen a bit. I really want to keep up on this place. Don’t want to let it slide. Every two weeks is when I shall go through it. Once every 2-3 months I’ll be really thorough. No half-assing it.

Why do I feel such a strong vibe for lust? Knowing and going by my track record, I should have a year or so to go.

Now, I’m going to try really hard to fall asleep. I definitely can feel my eyelids becoming quite heavy, so bye for now.

Later…

Right now I am sitting on my patio. It is very very warm out still. A slight breeze went by, but only for a second. I wish it was windier more often. I can’t wait till we have more of those awesome thunder and lightning storms we usually have this time of year. The sound of the creek and waterfalls down below me is so peaceful. God, what beauty I live in!

I’m writing on the table I bought for $10 off that maintenance guy who was fired and moved. I have the patio light on. Thankfully, I have a patio light. I can see perfectly well.

I slept till 7:00! I was beat, but I hope I haven’t fucked my schedule up. I still haven’t done my walls either. I am doing laundry now. I’ll watch two movies I taped and do some letter writing, too.

I spoke to Andy for about 45 minutes, then went to the Jacuzzi. He’s watching TV now.

I have an appointment tomorrow at 9 AM with DES. I want to see if Tom can do me a huge favor. Of course, he can’t call them and say I can’t be up that early cuz I work. I want him to say I transferred apartments, I’m very sick now and don’t have current bills and rent receipts which is true. I’ll call them real soon and see if I can do a phone interview or mail the stuff they need.

While I was at the Jacuzzi I found a really nice lighter and it’s full, too.

I’ll have to look at the apartment map to see where Lorna’s apartment is. I’ll call her first, though, one of these days soon. I want to sell her my answering machine. I’m wary of her otherwise. I smell Ellie in her.

Tomorrow’s the day, a year ago that I left the NHA project. I was in Natchaug for two weeks. I’ve been through so much and accomplished so much since.

Scott says tomorrow he’s putting up the ceiling fan in the bedroom. I’ll believe it when I see it. I hate to say that, but it’s true. Right now, though, I’m gonna throw my clothes into the dryer and watch TV.

Later…

I’m about to watch the movie I taped. One of them. This one’s called, In the Line of Duty - Ambush in Waco. It’s all about that crazy cult leader in Texas. This video has had it. It sounds as if it were underwater. Tim Daly, the guy playing David Koresh, looks exactly like the real David Koresh.

SATURDAY, MAY 22, 1993 Still no sign of Scott. This is really pissing me the fuck off. Where the fuck is he? What the fuck’s going on with L.A., the rent, and all the other stuff!? Mark at work said to let him know when and if I find out I’m going to L.A. Is the dream over, just when I was as sure as the fact that I’m short with waist-length hair? Was this all one big fat fucking joke? Is God gonna punish me for this first whole year in all my life of happiness? Why is there always a price to pay for happiness? I’m certainly not saying I’m miserable, but am I to pay any dues? Dues for being happy? Is this cuz of my get-together with Julia?

Later I have stuff to write about Marcella (a dancer I like), money, costumes, Kindy, etc.

Later…

What the hell, I don’t have anything else better to do right now, other than to write.

Meagan says Marcella just moved in with her boyfriend. Great. But who knows just how happy she really is? Who knows if she’s gay? Sasha and I still sense she could be. She (Sasha) had agreed a few days ago to approach Marcella and tell her about me. Just as we were coming in, Marcella was on her way out. Sasha never said a word to her. She told me to just go up and talk to her or to leave her a note. She said she didn’t seem to be the type to freak out and take a shit fit if she was straight or not interested. Well, I’m not as brave as she is. Not after the Maliheh incident and many others. It’s not that I’m afraid of verbal rejection. I’m so used to it. I don’t want to have to work with her and maybe blush with a bit of embarrassment when I see her. Or have her tell the whole world and be snotty to me. It’s not that I care who knows I’m gay. It’s her running around saying, “that girl had the nerve to hit on me and I rejected her, ha, ha, ha!”

I envy those who see what they want and almost always get it.

Later…

Meagan says Marcella’s going to Florida for two weeks, but that if I wanted to write a note, she’d give it to her.

If she were bi and looking for a woman here and there, I’m sure God wouldn’t let me get that lucky. Don’t get me wrong, Ann Marie and Julia were no settlements. However, there’s a difference between, someone who’ll “pass,” versus someone who makes you think - wow! I want her big time!

Steve was telling me that he’s got another regular who’s a definite butch. However, she’s very nice, he says, with a great personality. He said she said that I must have the same problem she does cuz there are not too many feminine ones out there and that’s what she goes for. As I said, this comes as no surprise to me. Butches like fems and fems like butches. I did tell Steve he could give her my number to maybe be friends. When he picked me up after work, he said he gave it to her and she was thrilled. If she’s ugly, so-so, or on the masculine side, then yeah, I bet she’s thrilled. She’ll definitely call too, and come over. I bet I’ll have no trouble getting her over here being the butch Steve says she is.

Kindy gave me her number to call her Sunday and I lost it!

Later…

Yes! I’m psyched! When I got home I couldn’t get messages cuz of the repairs they’re doing till just now. Scott actually left a message! He said he was out cold asleep till 5 PM yesterday. His message was left at 10 PM. He said to call when I get up and that he can move Andy on the 2nd of June and not the 1st.

I made over $100 at work and this idiot blew $30 on a gorgeous black lace jacket. Also, a 1-piece black and pink combo shorts/tank top. It zips right up the front. It fits perfectly.

Andy gave Velma that $15 for that straightening iron, so he now only owes me $135.

I can’t wait till he gets over his cold. I want to show him my new stuff.

I also tipped Pete $10, Kevin the doorman $3, then there was the $7 house tip and $37 for groceries. Oh, I also gave Steve $7 for waiting so patiently while I shopped.

The cashier gave me 2 out of the 4 packs of cigarettes I got for free for my being “cute.”

Later…

This is quite ridiculous. I must go to sleep within half an hour. Due to it being Sat., I’ll put my earplug in to be on the safe side and set the alarm for 2:00. If I get only 5 hours of sleep, oh well. I need to be getting up earlier.

I called Tammy and she’s gonna talk to Dad. She offered to. I didn’t ask. I said ok, but these people are in their 60s. They aren’t gonna change now. Tammy feels the same way about both of them.

I’m gonna try to sell Sammy and Meagan each a costume for $10. I’m gonna also try to sell Lorna my answering machine for $15.

Well, I’m gonna go hit the sack. I want to be awake between 2:00 and 3:00 so I can talk to Scott.

FRIDAY, MAY 21, 1993 My Second Crystal Creek Apartment…

Well, I just paged Steve.

I got a letter from Dad today that half upset me, half pissed me off. You know, I’m really sick of their shit, his and Ma’s.

Later…

I have a half-hour left and boy do I hope I make money tonight.

As far as my folks are concerned, why is it ok for them to insult me? It’s ok for them to speak their minds, but I can’t. I never said anyone was perfect, I’m just tired of being called a liar and all their other BS. I have no respect for my father when he sides with Mom like this, but they can’t take it, so tough! I never wanted our relationship to end, but I can’t deal with Mom’s shit in between everything else. Even Andy said it makes him want to call and bitch them out.

Still no response from Scott. A simple call from a payphone won’t kill him.

I left a note on the guy’s door downstairs. I said I tried knocking to introduce myself and got no answer. I left a note saying I work late, will try to be quiet. Let me know if my music’s too loud and don’t worry if he wants to blast his.

In other news, I’ve got to call DES (food stamps) to see if I can mail the stuff they need.

I called US West and they say the problem with the crossed lines will be fixed tomorrow. I am to call back around the 29th when my bill’s printed for a credit of two days. Lorna and I are still crossed today. We spoke earlier. She told me all about last night and of course, I played dumb. She may buy my answering machine from me.

0 notes

shop-korea · 6 months

Text

AMAZON - FIRST - SPRING - SALE

GET - TOMORROW CHEAPER BUT

GET - TOMORROW - JUST $2 OFF

$7.99 - MOST - BEAUTIFUL - 2 ME

MAGNIFYING - PARTIALLY - BLIND

LED - LIGHTS - INSIDE BLUE TARP

MEDIUM SIZE - 3.5 INCH LENGTH

GORGEOUS - LOVE - LIGHTS - YES

WHEN PUTTING - MAKE UP NIGHT

ANOTHER - COLOR - SOONER

GET - TODAY - ORDER - WITHIN

2 HRS - FREE - HUB LOCKER - 2

SHEA WHITNEY - LAST - VIDEO

TODAY - 2P - 6P - MIAMI - FL - 2

BATTERY - CYAN - COLOR

$8.38 - BECOMES - $14.99

UNLIKE - LOVE - BATTERY WINE

RED - I - ALSO - LOVE - DARK - 2

COLORS - AMAZON - 1ST SPRING

SALE UNTIL - TOMORROW

MONDAY - 25 MARCH 2024

FASTER - WITH - MY - BOOST YES

INFINITE - MOBILE - DATA

MOBILE - HOTSPOT - TETHERING

NO ID - FROM - AMAZON - PRIME

BOOST INFINITE - POWERED - BY

T - MOBILE - ADDED - U CAN

USE - LAPTOP - TABLET - $10

MORE - GB - 35 - TO - 50 GB

$10 - FR - $25 - MIAMI - FL

TOTAL $45.59 - MONTHLY

ONCE - U - RECEIVE - BILL

CAN - PAY - IN - ADVANCE

CVS - EXTRACARE+ - CAN

NOT - PAY - IN - ADVANCE

$5 - MONTHLY - CVS - YES

200 BISCAYNE BLVD - 24/7

GET - $10 - DISCOUNT - EA

MONTH - COMBINE - WITH

COUPON - ALSO - THEIR

MEDS - 50% - OFF ALSO

SO - WITH - $5 MONTHLY

U - GET - $5 - OFF - THEY

HAVE - TOURIST CLOTHES

DRESSES - COTTON CHINA

INDIA - $14.99 - AND MORE

MIAMI - PRODUCTS - ALSO

EXIT - FREE - UPPER LOOP

COLLEGE - BAYSIDE

TURN L - LEFT - SUBWAY

SANDWICHES - THEN - R

PASS - ROSS - DRESS - 4

LESS - R SIDE - CORNER

CVS - PHARMACY - WITH

CAPITAL ONE - FREE

360 CHECKING

DEPOSIT - CASH - THERE

DEPOSIT - 3 ATMS

CAPITAL ONE - CAFE - AT

BRICKELL - SO - COOL - 2

INTEREST - 0.10% - ALSO

NO - MINIMUM - NO FEE

MONTHLY - WONDERFUL

DEPOSITING - CASH

ATM - FREE - WALGREEN

CVS - (7 - ELEVEN) ALSO

FIFTH - THIRD - BANK

FORT MYERS FL

LEE COUNTY - OUR ATM

$5 - ALWAYS - NOT - YES

WORKING - EVEN - WITH

HP - LAPTOP - DESKTOP

COULDN'T - ACCESS

MY - SOCIAL - SECURITY

MISERABLE - EXISTENCE

SMALL - POP - CITIES FL

FLORIDA - ALSO DEADLY

ASSAULT - WHEN - 'MARRY

MY - HUSBAND' - PARK MIN

YOUNG - HE - HIT - FIRST

CLASS - FLIGHT - ATTENDANT

FEMALE WITH HIS - PAMPLET

PAPER - HIT - KOREAN - GIRL's

HEAD - SEVERAL - TIMES WHY

DID - KOREA AIR - ALLOW THAT

MANY - FLIGHT - ATTENDANTS

REQUIRED - THEIR - OWN

THE - EMIRATES - NO ONE

SELF - DEFENCE - MOVES

SELF - DEFENCE TRAINING

IF - THEIR - CUSTOMERS

TRY - 2 - TOUCH - THEM

THEY - DO - DEFENCE 2

BODY - PARALIZE - ANY

LESBIAN - OR MARRIED

MEN - ESPECIALLY HOW

2 - PARALIZE - DRUNKS 2

KOREA AIR - SHOCKING

SHE - ENDURED - THIS

CALLED - 'ASSAULT' - BUT

MIAMI - POLICE CALLS IT

'GET - USED - 2 - IT - MA'M

AS - 18 AND OLDER DON'T

GO - OUT - PER - HAITI BLK

MEN - WOMEN - MIAMI FL

THEY - MURDER - WOMEN

KIDS - JANUARY's - AS THE

SPOUSES - PARENTS - AND

SIBLINGS - MURDER THEM

CHRISTMAS - DAY - HAITI

MURDERS - MORE - THAN

1,000 - KIDS - EVERY YEAR

MISOGYNY - KIDS - HATE

ENJOYED - BY - BLK MALE

WOMEN - MIAMI - POLICE

ALLIED - UNIVERSAL - YES

SECURITY - HATRED - OF

WOMEN MAJOR FLORIDA

14TH - NO - STATE - CAN

DEPRIVE - PERSON - OF

LIFE - CAN'T - KILL - US

SOUTH - KOREA - DEFINES

MALE - JERK - HITTING THE

FLIGHT - ATTENDANT - GIRL

ON - THE - HEAD - WITH

PAPER PAMPHLET - AS

ASSAULT - CORRECT AS

ONLY - WHEN - HE - HIT

MALE FLIGHT MEMBER

REMOVED - FR - FLIGHT

2 MALE UNIFORMED KR

KOREA - AIR

NO - DEFENCE TRAIN'G

I'M - NOT SURPRISED KR

THE - EMIRATES

WORLD - NO 1 - MIA TOO

MIAMI - INTERNATIONAL

AIRPORT - 'FLORIDA' - FL

1 note · View note

redwing2000 · 1 year

Text

Sorry that I have whole week no new works. Whole Aug maybe just has Kiana reward only as this is end of Aug already…

This week is so busy for these things. Phone and Ram

Phone issue. As you see I use very outdated phone. It's no problem to me. As I don't use app. I don't need online at street too. But 2G services is terminated at end of Sep. You may said just cancel it or change the card to 3G / 4G is ok.

For prevent trouble. I just use my passed away mother phone number instead. This card sign up by my brother. Which is move to England already.

Either you change card or cancel this card. You need ask him to do that. Yea. This is the problem. He let me do everything for him. This almost wasted me whole week already.

Realtime here https://discord.com/channels/500692948497858570/674290382884044840/1144141998274658364

And… I also need to go bank to change all my contact number in this case. This is another day wasted.

this is the final summary. 1) A store customer service ask you call customer service 2) customer service ask you call another customer service 1 * 510 3) another customer service 1 * 510 ask you cal another of another customer service 1 # 21 4) another of another customer service ask you should call the owner. Tell him call them directly.

And this is business side heaven.

If this is insurance payment. If you don't pay. Terminate your insurance right now. If this is some fee. If you don't pay. We would assume you want our service. Keep the service until they give you Demand Letter for the arrears.

My crazy dad see me busy. So he give me more job make me more busy. I don't know how but I tutor 2 or 3 apps to him.

OK… That Friday already. You think everything is done? Right. This time PC betray me. Remember the last month. I change my PC. And Ram has problem (Happy Ram Ramble)

That "Kirito" Ram die soon I guess.

Let me said my ram as last 2 num ID 15 16 are fine. 19 are sub 20 is the Kirito

Now I guess my old PC is down maybe not board problem………. maybe that is RAM problem. Aww…. Properly not. I remember I testing plugging ram too actually.

I don't know the modern ram has so many error. But you still can run Windows. PC can boot liked it has no problem. But it wouldn't blue screen and shut down your PC or don't let your PC boot.

After you restart. You can play game for hours without problem again.

I discover the problem is the browser stop too often only. And the AI can't run seems something stop it loads. KKS HF patch can't installed.

Then Memtest. WOW.

20 ram has many errors. And after I update my BIOS. It become around 10000 errors even when it boot in 2133 mHz. So I guess this ram is no hope already. I need to ask warranty tomorrow. This maybe 2 more days wasted.

Real Time here https://discord.com/channels/500692948497858570/674290382884044840/1145157714377441341

It supposed to be checking 3600mHz memtest now. But it would waste whole day as once check need 5-6 hours. So I stopped it. I do that check when I sleep.

19 sub because. 19 can run smooth and has 0 error in 2133mHz. But when switch to 3600mHz. It usually make PC can't boot. It looks liked 15 16 hasn't this problem. Everytime 3600mHz can't boot > plug out 19 then it runs. That looks liked 19 has early issue liked 20. But currently 19 has no error during memTest ( 1.1hours in 3600mHz memtest already ; resume the full test tonight)

If you ask me why I'm so focus on 3600mHz. Becasue this ram is supposed to be 3600mHz. It's fine if it can smooth run in 3333mHz. Actually 20 RAM run smooth at 3333mHz at July and Aug. But today it's… too many errors. That make you think if keep using this ram would destory the PC.

先說抱歉，這個8月很大機會只有KIANA這作品而已。現在都已經8月末…

這周我完全沒時間工作，主要的是給電話和RAM問題纏繞。

先說電話，如你看到我用的電話是超老的。你問為什麼不轉？因為沒必要，我總是在家工作，平時出街都不需要上網。APP遊戲我亦不玩的。手機對我來說只是… 一些認證時必須才要保留而已。如果銀行連電話都不用，我就我最後的手機號碼都可以丟。

然後這種舊機2G服務在9月末就完結。你可以轉卡和取消這個服務。我是有2個手機號碼，另1個是亡母的號碼。我是打算用那個作日後的認證用算了。

問題來了，轉卡和取消都要本人。而登記人是我老哥 (已移民英國)。然後所有東西都推在我身上了，這下的工作差不多沒了1星期了。

實況在此 https://discord.com/channels/500692948497858570/674290382884044840/1144141998274658364

基本上就是華人最愛的踢皮球遊戲。那個CS就是在說

1 你在門市的CS叫你找CS聯絡 2 CS又叫你到另一個CS聯絡 3 另一個CS聯絡再叫你找另一個另一個CS聯絡 4 另一個另一個CS終於說你可以怎麼樣

然後隔天再打去

另一個另一個CS又說你要用EMAIL 來解約。

WOW

最後一提，因為另一個另一個CS要求要交到10月2日。所以我又要去門市。然後門市CS就是一句。

CS"這些事你要找CS聯絡"

你不就是CS了，怎麼我找完CS又叫我找CS聯絡。你們究竟有什麼用的？

其實還有一個問題是

如果這是保險單，你斷一個月交費立即和你中斷保單但一般收費，你斷一個月? 我自動幫你續期，續到3-4個月然後一次過出律師信要求賠償 :)

真的是商家天堂

我的瘋父親襯火打劫。明知我忙就添亂，我從來都不用APP，你要我裝你的中國APP？我連你的手機怎麼打字都不會…

好吧，星期五我以為可以安心坐下工作。PC來個大背刺。還記得上一個我換PC和RAM的問題嗎？

那條「桐人」RAM快掛了

這次我用ID(最後2位數)來說比較好 15 16是沒問題的 19 很可疑 20 就是「桐人」

或者我的舊PC不是底版問題，也可能是RAM了不過我有印象當時我有抽插過RAM…

我現在才知道現代的RAM死亡時，你的PC還可以用它的。WINDOW就好像什麼事都沒有正常啟動。並不會藍畫面，忽然閃退或連PC都開不動。

然後你有程式問題時，你只要RESTART又好像什麼事都沒有。

我是最近常看到BROWSER不自然沒RAM，AI開不到，KKS PATCH裝都不給你裝才知道是RAM有問題。

然後MEMTEST… WOW

20的ERROR又再來，然後我更新一下BIOS。20的ERROR接近上萬，即使用回2133mHz都是如此。我想這RAM沒救了，明天我還要打電話問保用問題，這應該又2天了。

實況在此 https://discord.com/channels/500692948497858570/674290382884044840/1145157714377441341

原定現在是在作3600mHz memtest，但1回memtest要花5-6小時。我還是把它改在我睡覺時才慢慢查。

19可疑是因為。19跑2133mHz是0 error。然而每回轉3600mHz，PC就很難啟動。每回很難啟動，都剛好拔掉19就能解決。這其實看起來和20的初期狀況很似，上月我不就說20很桐人，就只有它1條時才可以開機。而3600mHz memtest 1.1小時，19是沒問題的。不知道19有沒有事。

而且保用我也不知道是不是19 20要一拚給，畢竟19 20是同一盒RAM。

如果你問我為什麼那麼執著3600mHz。畢竟買了的RAM是3600mHz，正常人也不會用2133mHz來跑。如果你不去弄XMP，你買RAM時其實揀最低mHz的就行。一來便宜，二來高mHz的全都是要靠XMP / DOCP來推，如果你買了RAM一直都沒在BIOS改XMP / DOCP。你的RAM很大機會就是跑2133mHz。DDR5的原廠速度我就沒查過是多少了。

== 29 Aug Updated ==

19 20 RAM is traded. Now my PC can run 64GB ram in 3600mHz without error. So... if you a ram can't run the promoted speed. This ram properly going to dead...

I look back the history. The 20 ram is dead within a month ; properly 19 is going with it too as... it can't boot PC well in 3600mHz. It keeps can't boot and need to replug it till it can boot PC.

...

And the Phone issue not done yet.

#blog

0 notes

endlynshortstories · 1 year

Text

The Harwell's Secret

In the town of Ecley, a ship, The Halwell, had been docked for the last 30 years. No matter how hard people tried. The wheel didn't turn, the anchor could not be wound up no matter how many men pulled, and the sails stayed up as if they had been glued in place.

Most assumed it was cursed because its history was a dark one. It had been owned by a fearful pirate crew. For thirteen years, the crew sailed unopposed until that fateful day. The crew attempted to board an abandoned boat when they found it was simply bait to catch them. They ran as fast as they could but had made a wrong move, and with their backs to a mountain and three Navy ships bearing down on them, they knew they had been cornered.

At first, they had been captured, left in the brig of their ship as the Navy sailed the ship to the closest port town. They tried to break out a few times, but the ones who did were killed. With only half the crew left, they decided not to die anywhere but on their ship. With one final battle, on the night the ship had been docked in Ecley, they were all killed. All of them refused to give up till either their enemies were dead, or they were.

Since they couldn't move the ship, The Navy left it docked, offering the town a small amount to take up the dock, which the city happily accepted. It was only supposed to last for a few weeks, but then the original owner appeared.

He had proof that the pirates had stolen the Halwell from him, and so he took over the dock fees paying to keep it in place for all this time. But not anymore. The owner had run out of money to pay for it, so the town was planning to scrap it tomorrow.

But Salcaro couldn't let that happen. It was beat up and run down, but he still thought it was beautiful. He had talked to the owner and had raised the money over time, enough to buy the ship for himself. He didn't know what to do with it, but he couldn't let it die.

There were only a few problems left with the ship; His promise to the old owner, "If you manage to set sail…", he didn't know how to care for her, and he was the only member of his crew. The last two issues would take care of themselves.

~*~*~*~

Even from Salcaro's untrained eye it was obvious there was a lot of work that needed to be done. He had spent most of his money buying the Halwell but had some leftovers for some supplies. He decided to work on the ship’s deck first. He was only a beginner, so if he made a mistake there it wouldn't cause her problems while sailing.

He bought what he thought was most important and carried them to the ship himself. Since the Halwell still couldn't sail, Salcaro was lucky the docks let him work there with no problem.

While he was cutting the wood to replace a hole he saw on the deck, someone walked up to him.

“Captain... Captain... Captain…" he was too busy sawing to notice her at first, "Shipowner...Shipowner…” After a while, he thought she was trying to get someone else's attention, "Hey You!” she banged on the box between them.

He looked up suddenly when she did that, putting the saw down before standing up and brushing himself off “sorry, how may I help you?”

She gave him a bright smile, “could you do me a favor and sell me your ship for half price?”

His eyes went wide, “no way.“

She pouted at him for a moment. “I don't have that much money. Do you think you can manage with only 1/4 off?” she looked at him up through her lashes, fluttering them slightly.

He took a step away from her. “I think you misunderstood. I can't sell this ship. Like at all,” he shook his head rapidly.

“Come on, big guy. Little old me needs this.”

He crossed his arms. “I'm sorry I spent all my life savings on this ship." She opened her mouth to say something but he cut her off "It's too beautiful to part with.” when she just stared at him, he felt a bit bad for his tone, "sorry."

The two just watched each other for a moment before she nodded and sat on the box she had originally hit “that works even better. So what are we going to do with her Captain?”

He sighed, looking up at the ship. “I haven't thought about it yet... Wait, we?”

She smiled at him brightly, “I was just thinking since it's just the two of us, maybe merchants? I'm great at sales.” she gave him a wink.

He quickly waved his arms out in front of himself. She was going too fast for him, “wait, stop, weren't you just trying to buy it from me?”

She nodded her head, “that was because I thought you were some rando who bought her for a quick buck. Not that you cared about her too.” she looked up at the ship, “she might be beautiful to you, but she is important to me.”

“We need to sail away from here,” he said, looking through an eyeglass made of cardboard.

“And where are we sailing to?” the girl said with a laugh, quickly moving the wheel a little to the left. The two always snuck out at night once a week, imagining they were pirates sailing the sea.

“They’re catching up to us.” he said, looking at her with a big smile.

“Then pull down the sails, we need them more open to go faster,” she said, pointing at them. He nodded his head and ran to the deck pulling on the rope, both imagining as if the sails were being unfurled. After that, he ran back up and looked behind her.

“We did it.” he laughed before turning around and pulling her into a hug. She sighed and leaned against him.

“Oh,” His remark seemed to bring her out of whatever daydream she was having.

She turned to smile at him again, “I have some very important moments on the Halwell with a very important person.”

He frowned “wait, she's been blocked from the public for years."

She laughed, “you can't tell me you never snuck on her to imagine you were sailing her.”

“No!” that made her laugh harder.

“Well anyway, I’m Chesura. It will be good to work with you.” she held out her hand to him.

He sighed and accepted her handshake, “I’m Salcaro. Let’s work well together.”

~*~*~

With Chesura’s money, they hired some carpenters to repair the big damage in the hull. They had the carpenters focus on getting her sailing. It took them two weeks, and while there was still slight damage to it, they were now ready to sail.

Salcaro had just been walking back home from watching over the carpenters to make sure they didn't mess up when someone stepped his way and pointed at him. "Hey, you!"

Salcaro blinked at them. At least this one had been more forward about getting his attention, unlike Chesura. "Yes?" Salcaro might not be the most observant but he couldn’t mistake this one.

"When you set sail I want to be on that ship." The person said with an upright and proper position. Even though he was facing Salcaro, his eyes were looking at the sea.

He slammed the door as he walked into the house. The slam brought his parents to the main room, "why are my classes set up like that?" He shouted.

"It was the best classes we could find."

"Why did you pick them. I was excited to pick my own."

His dad crossed his arms "we knew you would pick the wrong ones."

"You can't choose my life for me."

"It's for the best," his mother said with a sigh, "we want to set you for life."

"Set me for life! With how rich you two are, I could take my money and leave with no financial problems."

"And what would you do?"

That made him falter, "well...I…"

"Oh are you thinking of following that stupid dream of yours" his mother shook her head "no one makes money from writing. You'll be better off if you listen to what we say."

"But-"

"But nothing." His father interrupted. "You're too young to know what you truly want. Once you finish your classes, you can give that writing" the last word coming out as a sound of disgust "and see how worthless it is. But we don't want you wasting this precious time to set up your life."

He couldn't fight against his parents no matter how much he wanted to. "You promise."

His father blinked at him, "what?"

"You promise once I finish my classes, I can go off and try being a writer, and you two won't complain."

His parents chuckled "fine. At least then you'll have a proper job when that dream fails."

"Fine" Salcaro's words made the man flinch. He looked back at Salcaro, his posture easing a little. Salcaro needed more crew than just him and Chesura anyways. "So, what ship work can you do?"

"You expect me to work?" he crossed his arms and managed to stand even a little bit straighter.

Salcaro frowned, "of course. We have so few people on the ship we would need it."

"Not happening. I'm much too important to work. You're lucky I'm willing to pay my way onto the ship."

Salcaro’s frown grew. They did need that money as Chesura’s was running low with all the work the ship needed. The two weren't sure they could buy the rest of the supplies. "If that is the case, why don't you just pay to go on a passenger ship?"

He waved Salcaro's suggestion away "I've been on those before. They have planned routes they must take. It doesn't allow you to see the world."

Salcaro sighed, "I can't make this decision on my own. Meet me tomorrow in front of the ship to talk to Chesura."

The man nodded and walked off without saying another word.

The morning came faster than Salcaro wanted, but he got up bright and early to spend another day watching the ship get repaired. He was the first one there like always, but he didn't mind, he liked the silence.

Eventually, Chesura ran up to him, and he explained the situation to her. "So he wants freedom?"

Salcaro nods "that seems to be his reason for choosing us rather than passenger ships."

Chesura frowned "he would be a pain to watch over, but we kind of need that money."

"That's what I thought." He said, looking back at the town to see if anyone was coming yet. He was eager to have the Halwell fixed as soon as possible.

"Would you be okay with him joining us?"

Salcaro thought about it for a moment, "we were planning to make a short trip to test her after the repairs. We could bring him along for that and then just leave him behind if we can't stand him."

Chesura laughed "Oh, that's a good idea. Alright, when he gets here, let me do the talking. Need to get as much money as possible out of him."

Salcaro sighed but nodded. Slightly worried about what person he had accepted as his first mate.

It wasn't until midday when the man eventually arrived, introducing himself as Bolirin. Salcaro introduced him to Chesura, who was more than happy to have a long conversation with him. Salcaro could see all her flirting from where he sat. And with the amount Bolirin agreed on, he knew it had worked.

~*~*~*~

With the money from Bolirin, they were able to get a bunch of supplies to sell at their destination as well as enough food for all three of them for their planned short trip. It wasn't going to be long, only a few days since they wanted to make sure it could sail before planning anything longer.

They were walking up to her as they talked, "we bought everything, but we don't even know if it can sail." Salcaro muttered.

"The carpenters told us it would," Chesura said.

"No, I mean. When she was first docked here after…" she nodded, he didn't really need to say it. "Nothing moved. Not the wheel, the sails, or the anchor."

Chesura frowned, "well, some things changed."

"Why do you say that?"

"The wheel moved when I used to play on the ship. We never went further than turning it, but if that moves, maybe everything else will?"

Salcaro sighed "I guess." As the two walked by the ship's bow Chesura noticed someone replacing a few pieces of wood close to the top of the hull. They had fashioned a seat out of another piece of wood and seemed to be humming to themselves.

Chesura watched them for a moment longer before commenting, "did one of the carpenters come back to do more work?"

“no?”

“Then who is that?” she pointed to the person they just passed and Salcaro frowned before walking back over.

Salcaro had to shout to get heard over the sound of the hammering “who are you!”

The person jumped and almost hit their finger before turning to see the two and smiling. “Oh hey, cap." They waved at the pair. "Sorry it's so early I was just so excited.” They smiled brightly.

“What? Who are you?” he crossed his arms, having to glare up at them.

“Oh, sorry, I'm Danoy”

“And what do you think you're doing?”

“fixing the ship, I know the others did most of the work, but you can't just leave these holes.” both just watched them swing for a moment “look, Captain, I can't let you work on this masterpiece. You might wreck it.”

They heard the door slam as their father entered the house. They watched from their room as their dad sat at the kitchen table and put his head in his hands.

"Daddy?" They shouted as they jumped off their bed and ran over to him.

Their dad gave them a tired smile as he held his arms out for Danoy to run into. "How was today?"

"It was good. I had a lot of fun. How about yours? Was yours a lot of fun?"

Their father sighed and hugged them tighter, "it's much better now that I got this great hug."

Danoy giggled before pulling away "what happened?"

Their father stood up and moved to the kitchen window. From it, you could see the dock, he pointed to the Halwell. "You see that ship."

"Yep"

"It's slowly getting destroyed, and no one seems to care. I've been asking the dock owners to let me care for it but just keep getting turned away."

"You'll fix it," Danoy said, bouncing in his arms.

Their father smiled, "if I won't maybe, you will someday."

Danoy's smile only grew, "we'll work on it together."

“and you're a master?” Salcaro's shout seemed to bring Danoy back to reality.

They looked at their hammer that was old and worn, “well no…" the grip on their hammer tightened, "but I have more knowledge than you.”

“But I can't pay you,” Salcaro muttered.

“A little bit of a bummer but that's fine, just take me with you. I can't let this be destroyed.” they patted the Halwell lightly, avoiding the hole they had been fixing.

Figuring he couldn't really argue, Salcaro nodded his head. Danoy smiled before turning back to their work, going back to humming almost right away.

“That is the third person to love the ship. I wonder if they're more,” Chesura said as they headed to the ramp onto the ship. Today they had to load their supplies on since it was delivered early in the morning.

“Obviously, you aren't the only ones to grow up with that ship sitting pretty at the dock.” They both turned to see a man walking out between the boxes with a clipboard in hand.

“Who are you?” Salcaro muttered, not even surprised another person was there.

“Maromu. I assume Danoy asked to come along with you?” both nodded. “I thought so. I have arranged for extra food to arrive later today. Paid for by me, looking over what you bought previously, it should be enough for whatever journey you are planning."

“and who are you?”

"The name is Maromu. I already said that.”

"...and do you also love that ship?” Chesura asked, looking him over quickly.

“ No matter where Danoy goes, so do I.”

When Maromu left the building with his certificate, Danoy was waiting for him with a smile. "You did it." Immediately Danoy pulled him into a hug.

Maromu sighed and sank into it, making sure not to crush the certificate. "Wouldn't have without your support."

Danoy laughed, "what are you talking about? It's all thanks to that big brain." They kissed him on the top of the head, and Maromu laughed.

After enjoying the hug for a bit, the two broke apart before heading to a spot Danoy had prepared for a celebration picnic.

The two were eating and enjoying the sunset when Danoy spoke up again. "So where are you planning to go?"

Maromu looked at them, "what are you talking about?"

Danoy sighed and leaned back, "well, your skills would be wasted if you stay here."

"So that means I need to leave town?"

Danoy turned to smile at Maromu, "the world needs you."

"Don't you love me anymore?"

Danoy's eyes went wide, "of course, I still love you. Why would you ask that?"

Maromu nodded, "so then I won't be going anywhere."

Danoy's eyes went wide, "what!"

"I'm going to stay with you."

"Why?" Danoy looked down at the dock where the Halwell was, "I can't even leave because of my promise to my father. Why tie yourself down to me."

Maromu leaned over and grabbed Danoy's hand, "because I love you." He gave them a smile.

Salcaro frowned, "you'll leave town because Danoy decided to sail with us?" Maromu loosened his grip on his clipboard where he had been looking.

Maromu looked at him carefully, "I loved them enough to stay. Leaving isn't any harder. I don't want to be away from them." He had a small smile as they looked off to where Danoy was working before looking back at Salcaro.

Salcaro looked over at Chesura who was frowning "alright. We'll go plan out where stuff is going to go okay?"

Maromu nodded and went back to his clipboard while Salcaro led Chesura into the ship. "You okay?"

Chesura sighed, "I'll be fine. He left a few years ago now. And hey, I might see him while we travel." She gave a smile, but he could tell it didn't reach her eyes.

"Why did he leave?"

Chesura leaned against the wall, "His talents would be wasted here. Just...he didn't take me."

"I'm sorry," Salcaro muttered, touching her shoulder lightly.

Chesura gave him a small smile, but it was better than the one before. "What are you sorry about? You didn't do anything." Her smile grew even bigger. "If we do meet him, I just have to make him beg for forgiveness for leaving me." Salcaro sighed. For the guys' sake, he hoped they wouldn't meet up.

~*~*~

It was finally the day before they would take their first voyage. The last thing they needed to do was clean the rooms of the old crew. No one was looking forward to it, having avoided them as much as possible with the repairs. They had demanded the carpenters leave those walls alone, as well as not to enter those rooms.

Salcaro was there first, like always. He sat on a box looking at the Halwell, waiting for the others to arrive. They had agreed to do this together.

“I see you got your crew together.” Salcaro looked over his shoulder to see Alraslo standing there, leaning on his cane.

“Yeah,” Salcaro said slowly, standing up from the box and turning fully towards him. He knew what was coming but didn’t want to hear it.

“And you're going out on your first voyage tomorrow?”

“Yeah,” Salcaro shook his head. Maybe he could convey his feelings without saying them.

“And you remember your promise when I let you buy the ship?”

That made him pause, he didn’t really want to answer that one, “yeah.”

Alrasio glared at him, “What was it?”

“When we set sail, you want to come along but…” Salcaro tried, but Alraslo interrupted him with a laugh.

“Don't want the old guy to spoil the fun? Don't worry, you'll barely notice me.”

“No that isn't it-”

“If you're going back on your deal-” Alraslo took a step forward, the clack of his cane sounding extra loud.

He took a step back, almost falling off the dock, “it's too dangerous.”

“I've been on the seas before, lad, unlike your crew. If anyone knows the dangers, it's me” he said with a frown.

“I know, but if you died because of me-”

“Do any of you know how to navigate?”

Salcaro frowned, "I learn some-"

"Enough for a small voyage for sure, but what about once you take longer ones? Once you're fully out on the ocean, you can't just follow coastlines."

"Well...I can learn."

"From who?" Alraslo watched him carefully. When Salcaro said nothing he nodded. “I thought so. I have sailed with a few tough Crews. You need me if you don't want to die.”

Salcaro sighed. Alraslo had him there. He only had one chance left, "only if the crew agrees."

"What?"

"I can't accept you if the crew doesn't agree."

Alraslo took a step forward "you going back on your word?"

Salcaro wanted to step back, but doing so would send him into the water. "I made that deal thinking it would just be me and some hired people. Now that I have people that chose to be on the crew they get to choose who they sail with." Salcaro bit his lip. Alraslo might be old, but that didn't mean he was weak. The two stared at each other for a while before Alraslo sighed.

"Fine, if your crew doesn't agree, I'll figure out a way to change our deal." Alraslo muttered. Salcaro sighed and went back to pacing in front of the ramp to the ship, trying to figure out how he would explain it to the crew.

Chesura was the first to arrive that morning. She practically skipped up to Salcaro, "here first as always." She said with a smile before noticing Alraslo, "who are you?"

Before Salcaro could say anything Alraslo spoke up "I'm the ship’s navigator" he said with his head held high.

"If the crew agrees," Salcaro said quickly. He didn't want Chesura to think she didn't have a choice. Chesura shrugged before moving to sit on the end of the dock, eager for the others to arrive. Salcaro went back to his pacing.

Danoy and Maromu arrived together walking up to the three holding hands. However, Danoy was pulling Maromu, who had a small smile. That smile fell when he noticed Alraslo, "who's that?" He waved at Alraslo with his free hand.

"The ship's navigator," Alraslo and Chesura said together, Chesura not even bothering to turn towards them.

"Only if the crew is okay with him." Salcaro muttered. Maromu looked at him, then to Danoy, who was staring at the ship.

Maromu rolled his eyes and pulled Danoy out of the way as they waited for their last crew member. Whispering to them to fill them in on what they probably didn’t hear.

When Bolirin arrived, he looked among the crew members he had already met, having met Maromu and Danoy when he came to check when they were leaving, when his eyes landed on the only one he didn't know. "Who-"

"The ship's navigator" everyone but Salcaro and Alraslo interrupted him. Alraslo smirked at Salcaro. who didn't even bother repeating himself. Everyone had decided it seemed.

With the crew all assembled, they made their way onto the boat and to the section that held the rooms. The boat had obviously been specially made as there wasn't a captain's quarters. Instead, there were a bunch of rooms all the same size. Each door had a different letter carved into it.

Before anyone could move, Alraslo walked over the door with an N on it, entering without another word and closing the door. "Why does he get to pick first?" Bolirin muttered.

"Because he used to own this ship. If he didn't sell it to Salcaro, none of us would be here." Chesura said, looking at the doors. "Looks like the pirates labeled them. Want to follow that?"

"I doubt there is an accountant," Maromu muttered.

"And it might be too far from mine," Danoy said, squeezing Maromu's hand tighter.

"I don't have a job," Bolirin said, looking along the rooms.

Chesura sighed. She pushed Salcaro to the door marked with a C which was the first room on the left, and to the right of the room Alraslo entered. She then stood in front of the door with an F which was the first one on the right side. "We'll take these two. You three pick wherever you feel fits best."

Bolirin went off to pick the one next to Chesura, this door marked with an M, but Danoy raised his free hand, "what if one room isn't big enough? Could I take a wall down between the two of them?"

Chesura looked over to Salcaro, who shrugged, "as long as it doesn't affect the ship, it should be fine." Danoy nodded and moved to pick the room to the left of the one Alraslo entered, marked with an Ca, with Maromu picking the one next to it, marked with a Ch. However, they all knew the two wouldn't have separate rooms for long.

Salcaro entered his new room and looked around. The room was musty and covered in dust, but there were still things left by the previous captain. He looked around the room and found a small chest hidden in one of the corners. He wiped it off carefully before opening it to see it was half empty. With the same amount of care, he took everything that belonged to the past Captain and placed it into the chest. Once he was done, he closed it again and put it back where he found it, placing a cloth over it.

Once that was done, he was more willing to go through and throw out everything else. While the furniture like the bed frame and desk could stay, everything else was gone. They had enough leftover from Bolirin's money to pay for a new mattress for everyone, and that would be done later today.

With the rooms now picked and set up, their plans to set sail on their small voyage were all ready. They met again the next morning and started sailing.

It wasn't easy with all of them new to their new jobs, but they slowly were figuring it out. Since Maromu had nothing to do while sailing, he agreed to be the crew chef and spent the first day cleaning the kitchen area. They also found a job for Bolirin when Danoy was sitting on some boxes on the deck holding a cloth to a cut in their arm.

Bolirin walked up to them with a frown, "what did you do?" He had spent a lot of time looking around the full ship their first day, and this was the first time most of them had seen him above deck that day.

Danoy smiled at him. "Oh, I just cut myself while removing wood from our room. Don't worry about it, it will be fine…" he removed the cloth to see the wound was still bleeding and replaced it "...soon."

Bolirin's frown only deepened "wait here."

"I wasn't planni-" but before Danoy could even finish, Bolirin was walking away, heading to the room area. He was only gone for a little while, but when he came back, he had a bag. "What is-"

"Let me see it." Danoy nodded and held out their arm for Bolirin to look at the wound. Bolirin pulled out supplies from his bag and started to clean it. Once he was done, he wrapped it before packing his bag away.

Chesura came over to watch Bolirin while he worked. Once he was done, she pointed to the bag "why do you have that?"

Bolirin frowned, "my parents forced me to learn medicine." He looked at the bag "despite wanting to, it seems I brought it with me."

Chesura smiled brightly, "that's it. You can be the ship's medic."

Bolirin crossed his arms "why would I need to work? I paid to be on this ship."

Chesura nodded "yes, that was for a one-way trip to our destination."

"One way? The amount I spent could have paid for ten people on a passenger ship."

Chesura frowned, "well, of course ours was more expensive. We have to protect you, and this is a historical ship." She rubbed the railing for a moment before turning with a smile, "but if you become the ship's medic, you don't have to pay anymore." Bolirin was silent and she fluttered her eyelashes at him "please?" Bolirin blushed but nodded slowly. Chesura cheered, Danoy joining in even though they didn't know fully what was going on.

The first trip was slow going but went smoothly. The crew was small, but then so was the ship, and when it got really hard for them to handle, Chesura could convince Bolirin to help out.

The few holes that needed to be fixed were found by Bolirin's wandering Danoy taking care of them right away. When they weren't fixing the ship, they spent their time in the kitchen bothering Maromu to try and get little tastes before they all ate. To make up for it, Maromu made them do part of the cleaning.

They got to the new town and sold their stuff right away. Chesura had a strong handle on sales, and with Maromu keeping track of their numbers, they were able to make a little extra when supplies were low. They planned out their next trip and bought the supplies. The profit was split between the entire crew. Bolirin hadn't been expecting to get money as well but was happily surprised to receive some.

~*~*~*~

Salcaro laid down for the night. The long voyage had been going well so far. Everyone was getting along and slowly learning how to do their jobs. And the ship was still going strong, all the repairs holding out even as they got into the deep ocean.

They had been sailing for a week so far and had no other ships or land in sight. They had anchored the ship, and most of them were sleeping besides Alraslo, who had announced he would keep watch. No amount of arguing from the crew could dissuade him.

It seemed like only a moment of closing his eyes before Salcaro felt a cold hand wrap around his arm and fling him from the bed. He crashed into the wall with a cry of pain, when he opened his eyes he saw a ghost standing over his bed.

The ghost was strong-looking but had tattered clothes. The thing that stood out most to Salcaro was that it wore a big hat. In all of his research, the only one allowed to wear one on the ship was the captain.

The captain floated towards him with a glare. "What?" Was all Salcaro could get out before the captain grabbed the back of his shirt and started to drag him from the room.

Once they made it onto the deck, he was thrown into a pile of the others as ghosts surrounded them on all sides. "Salcaro!" Chesura shouted as he tried to orientate himself.

Thanks to the full moon, it was very bright. All the ghosts seemed to shine because of it. He looked to see most of his crew now behind him. He noticed a girl he didn't recognize in the group but was more relieved to see Alraslo wasn't there. Salcaro was slightly glad that whatever was going to happen to them, Alraslo would be safe from it.

"Why are you on my ship?" The Captain asked, floating a little above the ring of ghosts looking down at the group with a glare.

The fear Salcaro felt surrounded as his crew was, made him forget for a moment why they were even there, "I...I bought this ship. So it's mine."

The captain's glare seemed to get even sharper, "you didn't buy it from me." The captain started to float towards the wheel of the ship "now what to do with you all?"

Salcaro heard the sound of the anchor being raised and watched as the captain turned the wheel sharply left. Salcaro’s eyes went wide "wait!" He said, reaching out with his hand. It passed through the ghost standing in front of him, and he was surprised by the sudden cold.

Captain turned to him "you dare to-"

But Salcaro cut him off "if you go that way the ship will crash."

"What?"

"There are some rocks that are just under the water. We avoided them today. You probably hate us, but I can't let you kill this ship. It's too beautiful."

The captain was silent but Salcaro breathed a sigh of relief when he turned the wheel all the way to the right. There hadn't been any hidden rocks that way. Though he gasped when the captain spoke again, "you may live. The others die."

"No!" Before Salcaro could do anything, the ghost in front of him grabbed his stretched-out arm and threw him towards the rooms. He turned to face the group but could do nothing as he watched his crew separated.

Chesura had now taken the position he was in, placing herself in front of the crew with her arms outstretched. It didn't do much good for her when two ghosts just grabbed both her arms, practically lifting her off her feet with how tall they were compared to her, to pull her towards the side of the deck.

The unknown girl stood to the left of the group. When the ghost was heading towards her, she curled into herself, covering her head with her hands. One ghost grabbed both her arms to drag her to the side, she planted her feet, but the ghost just pulled her harder.

Danoy and Maromu we're to the right, holding onto each other tightly, two ghosts walking towards them. A ghost grabbed each of them and tried to pull them apart. Slowly they were pulled from each other but kept hold of each other's hand. The ghost eventually gave up and just pushed Maromu into Danoy, sending them both into the railing. Danoy hugged Maromu close once again, putting his head into their chest. The two ghosts stepped closer to them.

As each person was pulled from the group, Bolirin moved back, allowing a wall of three ghosts to separate him from the others. He kept walking backward until his back hit the mass. He looked up at it as if surprised it was there before quickly grabbing one of the ropes tied to it. The three ghosts that had walked up to him reached out for him.

Somehow in all of the confusion, the clacking of Alraslo's cane was louder than anything for Salcaro. Salcaro's attention was pulled from the crew when he realized the clacking was getting louder and from behind him. He turned to tell him to get out of here, but it died on his lips when he saw Alraslo.

He was slowly walking down the hall, his jaw set, the feeling of bloodlust rolling off of him. Salcaro didn't know what would happen when he reached the deck but didn't want to be around for it. He scooted back, but once he felt cold he stopped knowing a ghost was behind him.

As soon as he stepped onto the deck though, everything seemed to go quiet. The ghosts all turned to look at Alraslo and seemed to freeze. He looked around the deck, slowly giving each ghost a once over with a glare. He noticed the ship was sailing and turned to the wheel, his mouth open to say something. When he saw the captain was the one steering, another word seemed to ripe out of him. "Kanibon?"

In all of his research about the pirates that owned this ship 30 years ago, Salcaro never found a single name, descriptions of what they looked like and habits they had were easy. There had been a few journals printed a few years after their death. But even in those, every single name had been scratched out. Salcaro had assumed it was to erase them from history. But with how Kanibon flinched, it was obvious that was his own.

Kanibon let go of the wheel and floated down in front of Alraslo, looking him over. Alraslo seemed to stand a bit straighter under the watchful eye. "Alraslo? You survived."

Alraslo nodded quickly, “thanks to your sacrifice.” he quickly glared at Kanibon, “not that I wanted to be pushed off the boat when you all were captured,” he muttered.

Kanibon shook his head then frowned at him, “you should have lived a happy and long life then.”

Alraslo sighed and moved to the edge of the deck. Where he went, ghosts parted, “I did. I spent years watching over her,” he said as he rubbed the railing. “as I worked on the dock helping soldiers and sailors alike.”

“Then why are you here?” Kanibon muttered.

Alraslo was silent for a moment looking out over the ocean, “after floating for a while I washed up in a small town. While healing up from almost drowning, I heard about what happened to all of you and the ship. Right then, I decided if she sailed again, I would be on her. I got to town and forged papers to claim you stole her from me. Got a job so I could keep her docked safely.”

“But you sold her?” Kanibon said.

Alraslo nodded, “I was being fired and heard them talking about scraping her to pay off my debts.” he chuckled before turning to look Salcaro in the eyes. “You have the same look as Kanibon did when you looked at the Halwell," He looked at the railing again. "Until you came along, I didn't know what to do. I couldn't let her be scrapped, but I couldn't care for her myself either."

Kanibon nodded his head "yes, that one I approved of."

Alraslo chuckled before looking at the rest of the group still held by the ghosts. No one had moved since the two started talking. When his eyes landed on the unknown girl, he smiled. As he walked over to her, the ghosts parted once again. When he was in front of her, he looked at the ghost holding her and she was let go. Alraslo patted her head, her shaking subsided a little.

He turned back to everyone. When he did she hid behind him grabbing onto his shirt tightly. He looked Kanibon in the eyes. "Could you approve them for me? They may not be up to your level, but they're good kids and are willing to learn."

Kanibon watched him for a moment before nodding, he looked among the ghost and crew. “If Alraslo gives his approval, then we can't argue." With that, all the crew were let go, Chesura stumbling when she landed. "Since our work is done we'll leave."

"Wait!" everyone turned to look at Salcaro. He shifted for a moment before taking a breath, "can you come out often?"

Kanibon pointed to the moon overhead. "We have more power when the moon is full. Which is why we attacked you tonight. We can't touch people besides when the full moon is out but can touch objects and interact with them every night but the new moon." Kanibon looked around to see his ghost crew moving to their favorite spots and the Salcaro’s crew watching them carefully "why?"

"I was hoping you all could teach us. We're all new at this, as Alraslo said."

"What!" If anyone hadn't been watching, Chesura's shout would have drawn their attention. "They tried to kill us and you want them to teach us."

Salcaro patted her shoulder lightly, "They know more than us. Any help wouldn't be a bad thing."

Before Chesura could reply, Kanibon spoke up " and why haven't you let Alraslo teach you?"

"They won't let me, Captain. They think I should relax while we're on the ship, and I hate it. How am I supposed to relax when I see them making beginner mistakes?"

Salcaro turned towards him, "I just don't want you to overwork yourself."

Alraslo shook his head "teaching a bunch of newbies ain't going to overwork me," he waved to the girl who was still hiding behind him, "I've been teaching this one just fine."

Salcaro frowned "I've been wondering who that was."

Alraslo smiled "yeah, I found her in my room the day we cleaned the rooms out."

"what!" This time Chesura shout was directed at Alraslo.

Alraslo sighed as he stepped onto the ship, the familiar sway under his feet was something he could never forget. Once the group got to the rooms, he moved quickly, he wouldn't let someone else take the room given to him by Kanibon. He heard them talking behind him but ignored it as he closed the door.

Once he was inside, he sighed once again. His eyes swept the room only to find a girl standing in the darker part of the room. He frowned. "Who are you?"

"I-i'm sorry." She muttered.

When she didn't say anymore, Alraslo took a step closer to her. She took one back. "What are you doing here?"

"I...I thought this room would be safe to hide in. I hadn't heard they had a navigator, so I didn't think anyone would pick this room."

"The rest of the crew didn't know about me till this morning." He wanted to move closer to her but knew she would only move more into the corner. He instead decided to sit on the bed. "We aren't leaving until tomorrow."

She nodded her head quickly, "I know. But I didn't know when tomorrow. So I felt sneaking on today would be my safest bet." She fidgeted for a moment "i-i can sneak off tonight. The rest of the crew won't even know I was here." She looked down at her feet.

Alraslo frowned "why did you sneak on anyways?" When she didn't say anything, he got up and moved closer to her. She tried to move back but bumped into the wall and started to shake. Once he was in striking distance, his grip on his cane tightened. He could see the bruise that was forming on her cheek as well as the black eye that had been hidden by the darkness of the corner. He didn't know who had done that to her but assumed there was more.

She closed her eyes tight when he stood right in front of her and flinched when he placed his hand on her head. When all he did was rub it, she looked up at him carefully. "I don't know who you're running from, but I'll help you get away."

"Really?" She whispered.

He nodded, "it will be easier for you to hide on the ship with us working together anyways." She watched him for a moment before tears streamed down her cheeks, and she pulled him into a tight hug. He rubbed her back as she let out all the tears she had.

Kanibon nodded his head, "ah, a stowaway like you."

Alraslo chuckled, "that's why I convinced her to stay after the short trip. If I just wanted to get her away from whatever, I would have set her up in the town we were just at." He looked back at her to see she wasn't shaking anymore "you should come out and introduce yourself."

She moved from behind him but kept a hold on his arm. "I'm Saycalin. I've been learning how to navigate and deal with the sails." She looked at Alraslo quickly, then back at the group "I'm sorry I stowed away on your ship."

Maromu frowned "but we haven't been low on food even though we've been feeding an extra mouth," since he was making the food, he knew exactly how much they used.

Alraslo shook his head "I've just been giving her half my food. That's why I have been eating in my room."

"then you should have just told me about her instead of going hungry!" Maromu shouted. Danoy pulled him into a hug, and Maromu sighed, "do we even have enough food for her on this trip?" He muttered.

Alraslo nodded "oh yeah, I bought double of what you suggested. I was trying to figure out some way to tell you all, but I was waiting till we were fully on the sea since you all didn't seem like you were the type to kill stowaways."

Everyone frowned at the notion, and Saycalin shifted, "sorry for the trouble." She brought her hand up to bite at her thumb.

Salcaro shook his head, "we needed more hands to help sail anyways."

~*~

With the ghost pirates now teaching the merchant crew, they learned how to run the Halwell faster than ever. It was weird for the crew at first. They would be tying a rope down when suddenly a whispered “not like that.” would come from nowhere. The whispered voice would then inform them how to tie it right.

Most of the crew couldn't always tell which ghost they were talking to but knew where specific ghosts spent their time. Like Kanibon who stayed near the wheel, and Cholaven, the pirates' lookout. She never left the crow's nest, not even on the night they had first attacked.

The exceptions to this were Alraslo, who had known them long enough to recognize their voice even as a whisper. The other was Bolirin. After they met the ghosts, he took whatever chance he could to talk to them since he didn't work unless people were hurt, which gave him a lot of chances.

He spent the days talking to them and writing down their stories or information they wanted him to. His room had a slowly growing pile of filled books. When he wasn't talking to them he found any secrets the pirates told him about and showed them to the crew.

Saycalin was slowly getting used to the crew too. The first few days, she spend any time not around Alraslo in the crow's nest. Which is how the crew found out about Cholaven. The two seemed to hit it off thanks to similar situations. Saycalin informed the crew that after Bolirin wrote down Cholaven's story, she had demanded only Saycalin was allowed up there. The crew, seeing the after-effects of whatever she had left behind, agreed.

After a few weeks, she stopped cowering every time they yelled or flinching when they raised their hand. She was still doing it every once in a while, but it got less and less with time. The crew assumed it was the time away from them and in the company of Cholaven that helped the most.

After the one attack, most of the trip was uneventful. They even made more money than they were expecting. Some bought supplies, like Bolirin bought more empty books, or Saycalin who bought a wide-brimmed hat to keep herself from getting burned.

The rest of the crew saved their money having most of what they needed though they all pooled their money together to get better food to cook. Maromu complained at first, but when Chesura offered to help, he agreed.

They spent a week in town slowly selling off their stock and trying to figure out what to buy to sell at their next destination. Salcaro and Chesura entered a jewelry store to see if there was anything worth it when they heard a gasp. They turned to the man standing at the counter, and Chesura frowned.

"Chesura, is that you? What are you doing out of Ecley?"

Salcaro looked him over. He didn't look that impressive. Chesura looked up to the roof as if counting something. Since she wasn't going to say anything Salcaro spoke up instead. "Do you know her?"

"Do I know her? Of course I do. I'm Lugarow."

That name meant nothing to Salcaro. Chesura didn't talk much about her past. She turned to look at Lugarow with a big smile. "I'm sorry it's been so long I forgot who you were till you said your name."

He frowned, "how could you forget? We were childhood friends." That made it click for Salcaro who this was. He took a step back not wanting to get in her way.

"Yes, but it's been so long." She leaned on the counter he was standing behind. "Actually mentioning our childhood, I'm sailing on the Halwell you know?"

"Yeah right."

"No, it's the truth. Isn't it captain?"

Salcaro blinked, being suddenly brought into the conversation. "Yep, I bought it from the old owner."

Lugarow seemed to straighten at that. "Prove it."

Chesura frowned and looked over at Salcaro, "can I bring him on the ship? Once he sees it, he'll know it's the real thing."

Salcaro shrugged, "I don't see why not."

"Great," she turned to look back at Lugarow, "come by tonight, okay? We're busy till then." He nodded and the two left the building.

"What are you planning?"

Chesura gave him a smile but it didn't reassure him, "what do you mean?"

"No one but us is going to be on the ship tonight." They took shifts to keep the ship safe, the rest slept at an inn.

"Don't worry about it. Also don't come back to the ship right after dinner okay?"

Salcaro sighed as he nodded his head watching as Chesura ran off with a wave heading in the direction of the docks.

~*~*~

Lugarow stood in front of the ramp leading up to the Halwell. He couldn't believe it was really here, that it was really sailing. "Chesura?" He called out.

"In here," a soft voice said from the ship. He could tell it was a women's voice but nothing else.

"Chesura? Is that you?" He started to walk up the ramp and onto the Halwell. Since he had been allowed by the captain he wasn't worried about getting into trouble. When his feet reached the deck, he was only met by silence.

He looked around, and old memories of playing with Chesura came back to him. He gave a small smile as he looked down the hall or rooms, remembering hide and seek they used to play, even if there were only two of them.

He started to walk towards them when the wheel creaking drew his attention. Instead, he walked over to it and looked out at the boat in front of him, a little lost in his memories.

He grabbed the wheel lightly and was about to turn it when a voice spoke up, "what are you doing on my ship." He looked to his right to say something but the words never came as he saw Kanibon floating there glaring at him.

"I….I….I have permission." He said but let go of the wheel, taking a step away from Kanibon.

Kanibon followed, "and when did I give permission?"

"The captain….the captain gave me permission." He said quickly, doing his best to slowly move back down to the deck. But with every step he took, Kanibon floated closer.

"I'm the captain." He growled. Once he hit the deck Lugarow moved a bit quicker to try and get off the ship. He took a moment to look in front of him only to find another imposing ghost blocking the ramp.

"I must have got the wrong ship." He said, backing away from the new ghost. He moved closer to the rooms knowing there were places he might be able to hide. "If you want I can leave now if you would ju-"

Kanibon interrupts him with a laugh, "no one leaves once they step aboard." Now two ghosts were heading towards him. He took a step back when suddenly a bunch of hands grabbed him from behind. He gasped and tried to pull away, but they held tight.

Suddenly he heard someone running up the ramp. Once she stepped on deck, he could breathe a sigh of relief as Chesura stood there breathing hard. "Chesura, save me." He shouted, drawing her attention to him and the ghosts' attention to her.

She glared at him, "why did you walk on the ship without me."

He frowned, was this really the time "you said you would prove it."

"I would have, but we need to ask before letting anyone on." She waved at the ghosts between them.

Kanibon stood between them, "so you were the one that broke the rule." It was a statement, not a question.

"No. He di-"

Kanibon interrupted her, "you know the rules. Either you let us have him or give yourself up for him."

"What but-"

"Chesura, please." She looked at him for a moment, then back to Kanibon who took a step closer.

With a quick shake of her head and a quiet, "I'm sorry." She ran down the ramp again, leaving him to the cold hands that gripped him.

He watched her retreating back with mouth open before he was suddenly pulled back farther and farther down the hall, farther and farther from the light. He fought against the cold hands that grabbed him when suddenly he was free. He ran down the hall and almost fully crashed into the mass, thinking it would take longer than ever to reach it. He looked to his right to see the city and his freedom and ran, not even bothering to look around as he moved. His feet hit the solid ground, and he only ran faster, trying to get away from that haunted ship as fast as he could.

Chesura burst out laughing as she watched Lugarow run from the dock. With how he was acting, she doubted he even knew she was standing right there with Salcaro.

Salcaro frowned up at the ship, "how did you convince them to do that?"

"These guys love scaring people. Plus, they get a new story to tell Alraslo." She said between her laughter. She was laughing so hard her stomach was starting to hurt.

He looked down at her as they started to die down, "Feel better?"

She sighed as she wiped a tear from her eye. "I felt better a while ago. This was just a bonus."

"Oh?"

She nodded as they walked up the ramp, "I realized that it wasn't him that made those moments so wonderful. But the offer of freedom the Halwell had. He just got that freedom before me." She said with a shrug.

Salcaro nodded, "but now you have even more freedom than him."

She chuckled, "yeah I win in the end" she pumped her fists into the air and Salcaro laughed. The two walked up the ramp to the cheers of the pirates.

~*~*~

They left that town behind with rumors that their ship was haunted. Since it didn't affect sales and was true, they didn't bother correcting it. Though Chesura did her best to avoid Lugarow the rest of the time they were in town. But with him avoiding the docks, it was easy enough.

They had set sail easily with all that they had learned. They had sailed for a few days when they were met with trouble.

Saycalin was the first one to alert them that a ship was coming towards them. Salcaro ordered the Halwell to be stopped since it still looked like a pirate ship, and he didn't want to cause a problem.

The ship came closer and closer until the people were able to come aboard, having both ships side by side. The people that came across were not fellow merchants, sailors, or officers but pirates.

The crew were surrounded pretty quickly; the only one escaping capture was Salcaro, who was still hidden in the crow's nest. "Not a bad catch today. A bunch of newbies we can take their ship and supplies from." Salcaro wanted to speak up, but with the swords pointed at his crew he couldn't bring himself to.

"Now, you'll be getting off my ship." The pirate growled as he moved the sword closer to Salcaro who stood his ground. He couldn't just let the ship be taken.

"This is my ship, not yours." Kanibon's voice floated around them.

The head pirate looked around "who's there?" Before anyone could say anything, the cannons on the Halwell went off, blasting holes into the pirate ship. Head pirate looked at his crew "I thought you collected all of them "

"They did." The head pirate looked up to see Kanibon floating above him. Kanibon was more see-through than at night but still visible thanks to tonight being a full moon.

"What!" The head pirate brought his sword up to stab into Kanibon who just looked at it.

"You can't affect me, but I can still affect you." Kanibon said as he swung at the pirate's arm.

The pirate cried out as he dropped the sword. "What did you do to me!" He glared at Kanibon as he clutched his arm.

Kanibon shrugged, "I've only numbed it. But you don't want me to hit the other one, or you won't be able to swim back to shore." The head pirate took a step back. "Crew?" Suddenly the deck was filled with ghost pirates. "Throw the intruders off our ship." Salcaro’s crew braced themselves, besides Alraslo, and we're surprised when the ghosts didn't even touch them, going after only the pirates. They might have been becoming friends with them slowly but we're still worried the pirates would change their minds at any moment. Even Bolirin who had been talking to them a lot.

Salcaro blinked at Kanibon "oh I thought you were going to throw us off too."

Kanibon frowned, "why would we do that?"

"We don't know if you would change your mind. And take back the ship as yours." He muttered. They had talked about it once or twice on the night of the new moon when they knew the pirates couldn't hear.

"you're part of the crew," Kanibon said, crossing his arms. "The part that moves the ship anyways"

Alraslo laughed "aw Kanibon I didn't think you'd come to like them that fast."

Kanibon didn't say anything while the crew looked at Alraslo "he does?"

Alraslo nodded, "he only lets people join the crew if he likes you. Otherwise, you're just helping hands."

Kanibon turned to Salcaro to change the subject. "You shouldn't have stopped the boat." Now that the pirates had been thrown off, the other ghosts were disappearing again. The crew went back to work, though they could still hear the Halwell's cannons going off.

Salcaro frowned, "what?"

"When you see another boat you should just keep moving."

"But the ship still looks like a pirate ship. I didn't want them to think we were pirates."

"That would be helpful to you. Other merchant crews would avoid you, and the navy would ask you to stop. Pirates are the only ones to attack other pirates."

"Oh." Kanibon nodded knowing his point was made. He looked out over the deck as the Halwell started to sail again with a small smile before disappearing. Salcaro stepped up to the wheel and knew he probably had the same look.

#ghost pirates #short story #original story #lgbt+

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monsterywriting · 3 years

Text

Thenerius pt 5

part 1

masterlist

word count: 5.5k

Kissing Thenerius was by and large exactly as you imagined - every sensation you envisioned brought to life and expanded upon in reality. The tips of your fingers felt every dip and indentation of his features, the faintest hint of the growing bristles of a beard, pausing at the apex of Thenerius’ cheek, the raised skin of an old knick tangible. The scent of the oil still clung to his skin, softening his skin enough that his lips weren’t so rough against your own, normally chapped between the sea air and his more recent work in the cold.

To your surprise, however, Thenerius stiffened at first contact, almost flinching away at your already light touch in what you could only assume was surprise at your sudden forwardness. But, the tiefling was quick on the uptake, just as soon reciprocating and pushing up against you with enthusiasm.

Thenerius was much gentler than you imagined, not making any further move than what you initiated. To a point you appreciated his consideration, but you soon grew frustrated at the apparent wall you were up against. You hadn’t been looking for a battle, but you had been prepared for your competing wills to spur things forward - for Thenerius’ overwhelming hunger to threaten to engulf you, for your own discovered appetite to not allow yourself to be consumed.

You had seen the interaction as throwing away the voice of reason in your mind, any and all inhibitions gone, but it seemed that Thenerius was more mature than you had originally believed.

You were only vaguely aware of the mug slipping from your hand, already nearly crawling on top of Thenerius when it slid off the cot entirely and thudded loudly on the floor. Thenerius froze, pulling away slightly, leaving you to follow his line of sight over your shoulder and to the hallway.

“We shouldn’t,” he said in a hushed whisper, a desperate whine escaping you before you could stop yourself.

You craved more - momentarily considered suggesting you moved your tryst to the barn, or even the inn at this point, before realizing that was ridiculous. The thought was just juvenile enough to cut through your disappointment with a ray of amusement, you nervous demeanors more befitting a pair of teens bumbling through their first time rather than two experienced adults.

You leaned forward, panic flooding Thenerius’ eyes as he held up a palm to stop your approach even as his eyes flicked down to your lips in longing.

“Relax. I’m getting your cup,” you snorted, rolling the mug towards you and lifting it as proof before bending down to grab your own cup and rising to walk to the kitchen.

From the counter you could feel Thenerius’ gaze on your back even without turning, rinsing the cups in what little water was left in the large basin after the day. When you finally did chance a glance over your shoulder, the tiefling appeared deep in thoughts his gaze never wavering from you but not quite registering that you were watching him back.

Your lightheartedness, the tenderness of the moment shared slowly faded, replaced with uncertainty as you took in his unseeing expression. Uncertainty clouded your mind, unsure if it was the curvature of his mouth or the particular slope of his eyebrow that unsettled you, but you were still reminded of the fact that you were an outsider to his thoughts, privy only to whatever he decided to share with you.

You knew the reality of his profession, what he had to do, but you didn’t truly understand. You couldn’t imagine Thenerius as a ruthless pirate - what expression was on his face as stared down his enemies. You caught what was likely a fraction when

You also knew all the stories - the old burn on the bottom right corner of his mouth, the result of a pistol misfire during a duel, its companion a small circular scar on his left shoulder where the bullet went through. You didn’t know about the lashes on his back, your mind reminded you, and his answer as to their origin had been vague.

He presented himself as an open book, and he was good at it, too. He played the role of the earnest, lovestruck fool - an amiable, chatty, harmless man. You couldn’t reconcile the man that had been staying with you for the past week with the pirate captain who plunder or, Tova, kill.

But, tonight wasn’t for accusations, reality. You were content for now to let the moment be what it was, let everything else be set aside for the time being.

You pushed yourself off the counter, stopping in front of Thenerius, his full attention on you, some deeper emotion swimming underneath the softness with which he stared at you. Your hand found his, linking fingers and eyes sliding closed. You breathed in the scent of the oils once again, reveling in the moment for a few seconds longer…

When you reopened your eyes, Thenerius was fidgeting, his anticipation growing tenfold as you rose on your tiptoes, getting ever closer to his lips.

“I’m going to bed,” you whispered, pressing a chaste kiss against Thenerius’ lips and squeezing his hand one last time before brushing past him. Despite your conviction, a lingering doubt buzzed around your head like a pesky insect, always circling back after you’ve swatted it away.

Still, you bid Thenerius one last quiet good night, keeping your eyes strictly forward as you walked to the room, lest you never fall asleep.

You rose long before the sun, surprised when your eyes suddenly snapped open into the dark, not having expected to actually fall asleep with how abuzz with excitement your mind had been what felt like just moments before, the dreamless sleep doing little to abate the residual glee you felt.

After quietly changing into your day clothes, layered for the cold, you made for the door. Before you opened it, however, your hand brushed against the fur coat. You had forgotten to hide it away before your mother saw it, but if she had she made no comment about it, which surprised you.

Hesitating before grabbing it, you snaked your arms into the sleeves and went out into the main room.

The entire cottage was dead silent as you stepped out, still warm from the oven burning overnight - you realized Thenerius must have added more wood at some point during the night.

After closing the door as quietly as you could behind yourself, you began the long trek to the door, tiptoeing across the floorboards in the dark with the precision of someone who had spent years of practice figuring out which were the loud ones.

You moved slowly, not wanting to wake Thenerius, certain he wouldn’t be getting up at all today, feeling as though he’d been on the hood-end of a stampeding herd once he rose on the second straight day of being sore.

Still, as you approached the approximate location of the cot, you were tempted to peek over, curious as to what the pirate’s expression was like in the peaceful, suspended state of sleep.

You resisted, steeping forward in the dark and almost immediately colliding with the cot, unable to catch yourself before you fell forward.

After a moment of utter mortification at your clumsiness before your hands made contact with the cot and you realized it was empty, your hands only touching the fabric underneath, still warm. Squinting, you could make out the folded blanket at the foot of it.

Only now did you realize the silence you had been operating under should have been sign enough that Thenerius wasn’t even inside the cottage, your turtle’s pace all for nothing.

You rose back to your fee, striding to the door in record time. Thenerius rising must have been what woke you.

The moment you cracked the door open, the wind cut straight through you, a cold snap dropping the temperature several degrees and dissipating any heat that accumulated from the sun’s rays the day before in the pale light of the moon.

Gritting your teeth, you made a mad dash for the barn, grateful for the protection the coat provided, no matter how minor. You hated the cold, reminded every winter and it was infinitely worse in Alfore than the capital, where at least it never got cold enough to snow.

As soon as you made it, you flung the door open and closed behind you. The barn wasn’t significantly warmer than outside, but it was a marked improvement as its four walls at least provided some protection from the wind.

As you ventured further inside, the warm glow of an already-lit lamp confirmed your suspicions, finding Thenerius standing in Horse’s stall. The animal was surprisingly docile, allowing Thenerius to throw a blanket over his back without so much as a nip - jealousy flared within you for a moment before you realized his mouth was working on some treat. Of course he wouldn’t behave so early without some sort of bribe, usually annoyed if you roused him too earl.

Not wanting to interrupt, you stayed back, watching as Thenerius walked into the next stall brush in hand, his eyes meeting yours for a moment before he set to work brushing down his own horse.

“You should rest today,” you said, leaning on the opposite wall. It felt strange, to be speaking so casually after… what happened. Just the memory of the night before had your face heating up.

“There’s a lot to get done today,” Thenerius replied, the declaration undercut by the visible wince he made when stooping down to reach his horse’s leg.

It was entirely possible the awkwardness you felt was just you, your own self-consciousness making every interaction out to be more than it was, but surely it wasn’t normal to say nothing after such a large development in your relationship. Something must have shifted, changed as a result of what happened to mark the before and after.

“And it will all still be here tomorrow,” you pointed out, looking away only to notice the stall with the goats was empty to your left.

“It’s what we agreed to,” Thenerius retorted, “I work and get to stay.”

“And pay,” you correct absentmindedly, pushing off the wall to walk across the walkway to peer inside the pen, “Did you let all the goats out?”

“And pay,” Thenerius added dutifully, stopping to watch you walk away, “Yes, why?”

You let out a sigh, your annoyance not directed towards Thenerius, as he didn’t know any better, but resignation that what you were about to do was not going to be fun.

“The kids we castrated and their mothers needed to stay indoors until they’re healed,” you informed him, allowing a minute to let the mistake sink in as Thenerius stared wide-eyed at you, “We’ll have to go out there and bring them back inside.”

“I’ll go get them,” he said immediately, setting down the brush on the shelf in between the stalls and heading to the door.

“Trust me, it’s a two person job,” you said, scrambling to grab a hanging rope and catch up, “The kids should follow but the mothers will not want to go in now that they’re grazing.”

“What if we got them hay?” Thenerius asked.

“Then they’ll all be fighting for it,” you said grimly.

After an hour of fumbling around in the dark chasing goats that had the tactical and spatial advantage, you were close to giving up and going back into the warmth of the cottage. The only thing that drove you to make ‘one more try’ and then two and three was the cost of losing the two goats if they up and died on you - losing the money you already put in on them and what you would have made from selling them. They weren’t even big enough to make the processing worth the nearly nonexistent meat you’d get in return if they did.

You managed to grab one of the two fairly quickly, able to use the element of surprise to catch her unawares, looping the rope around her neck with a knot and pulling her back to the barn with her fighting you every step of the way. Her kid took a minute to realize she was not any of the goats surrounding him, bleating after you. When you returned outside from ushering the pair back into the stall, Thenerius was struggling to even get close to the herd, the rest figuring out they were being picked off and closing ranks from the danger you presented.

“Come on, she shouldn’t be able to get away from the middle,” you said, moving on side to steer the group backwards. Thenerius got on the other side, both of your arms outstretched to ensure no one tried to run in between the two of you.

With some luck and a lot of patience, you and Thenerius were able to finally back the herd against the fence and you were able to pounce, grabbing her horns before she could try to run with the rest, throwing the loop over her head.

The moment Thenerius ushered the last goat into the stall, you slammed the door shut behind it, the two of you collapsing against the wall, breathless and in desperate need of a break after the amount of running around you had to do so early in the morning.

Your fingers were still numb from the cold, slowly thawing as you breathed onto them and stuck them under the collar of your coat against your throat.

Noticing your shivering, Thenerius reached over, taking your hands in his and rubbing them for warmth.

“I apologize for causing more trouble,” Thenerius sighed, averting his eyes and appearing to be mentally berating himself.

You laughed, unable to help yourself despite Thenerius’ genuine shame over the situation. His hold on your hands loosened slightly, and you snaked one hand from his grasp to rest on his cheek, the other squeezing his fingers in reassurance until you could compose yourself enough to speak.

It took you a moment, but once you could, you immediately assured the tiefling, “I knew you weren’t an expert goat farmer when I asked for your help.”

You succeeded in getting a chuckle from Thenerius - even if it was more of a dry scoff than any humor from your jab, but you could see his shoulders relax. The corners of his lips curled upwards, and you wanted very badly to close the distance between Thenerius and you, the desire so strong and so sudden it hurt when you didn’t immediately move.

“Can I…” Thenerius trailed off, eyes boring into yours.

“At least get some rest until sunrise,” you said, bringing both hands to your sides to climb back to your feet, “I can do the morning chores for you.”

Perhaps you were right; things were definitely different from before, the tension nearly unbearable between you.

“I still have the rest of the list to get through,” Thenerius answered, clearing his throat as he also stood.

You frowned, but conceded, knowing you wouldn’t be able to convince the tiefling otherwise and didn’t trust yourself to not give in to baser desires. The day was for productivity, not distractions.

“I’ll put some coffee on,” you said, leaving before Thenerius could say anything to convince you to stay.

When you returned to the house, the inside was freezing. You raced to the kitchen, grabbing wood and throwing four into the stove before you realized the fire had gone out completely.

Once you relit the stove, you had no idea what to do with yourself. It was still too early to wake the chickens, and there was nothing for you to do in the barn. Still, as you looked around, you realized you could at least tidy up the house. It was long overdue, often the last thing you thought about after work and the animals. Even the barn was in better shape at this point.

It took you until mid-morning to finish - taking breaks in between to do the morning chores - but you finally dusted every exposed surface with a rag, organized the kitchen and swept the entire main room.

Your mother had risen at some point and was nearly finished breakfast, also making the coffee. You weren’t particularly hungry, deciding to go out and finish the rabbit fence instead. When you went out to call Thenerius, however, you found him doing the fence already, the posts already in place in the ground.

“Breakfast is ready,” you said, eying the sheets of chickenwire already propped up against the wall.

“I’m almost done here,” he said once he noticed you standing there in awe of how much was already done, having planned to take at least a couple days to get the project finished.

After Thenerius left to eat, you wandered around the barn looking for something - anything - to do. When you entered the barn, the stalls were already cleaned, rabbits and goats quietly eating hay, even the wood scraps and pasteurizer had been put away.

The rest of the morning passed much the same, punctuated with frustration every time you searched for something to do only to find Thenerius already on it, or doing something in your way.

Taking care of everything had always seemed an uphill battle for you, an impossible task to be placed on a single person’s shoulders… and here Thenerius was, annoyingly efficient at it where you could only get the bare minimum done after two years. His focus was solely on his work, only sparing you the occasional glance when he passed by while you felt you couldn’t keep your eyes off him, handsome to you even if he was bundled up underneath multiple layers, including his wolfskin.

Rather than enjoy the fact that the greatest source of your anxiety was being resolved after a few short days of dedication, you instead felt a bit lost having genuinely nothing to do.

Without anything to preoccupy your mind, you could only think about the night before - and why Thenerius had yet to bring it up. You had been planning out the morning conversation you thought to be inevitable all night, dreaded it, even. You had expected Thenerius to seek you out, make assumptions as to the nature of your relationship or at least demand an explanation. Yet Thenerius went along his way as though nothing had happened just a few hours prior. Worst of all, you could feel yourself going crazy at the memory, your emotions running rampant rather than going silently in the night as you believed they would, worsened by the fact that Thenerius was by all accounts unfazed.

“I’m going to the inn in the afternoon,” you found yourself telling Thenerius, his smile falling as you spoke but he didn’t argue.

You hadn’t exactly thought the idea through; if you had, you would have reconsidered doing nothing, or going hunting - even if there was nothing to catch - or literally anything else besides try and convince Thistle to let you back early. Still, now that you had opened your mouth you were too embarrassed to back out and could only hope you would succeed in convincing Thistle to let you stay.

At noon, you took off the fur coat before going out to the pasture to get Horse and get him saddled up, raising your hand at Thenerius on the cottage roof as you rode past.

“No.”

You had yet to even finish stepping over the threshold of the tavern entrance when the familiar flat intonation of your boss’ annoyed voice rang out from the bar, the preemptive answer to a question not yet posed. He hadn’t even bothered looking up at you when he said it, a testament to how well he knew you - or perhaps the reason the tavern was currently empty.

After a brief pause at the blunt refusal, you recovered and continued the trek inside to meet your godfather.

“You don’t even know why I’m here,” you retorted as nonchalantly as you could manage, sliding into one of the stools at the bar across from your godfather, “I could just be here to visit.”

Mr. Thistle clicked his tongue, shooting you an unimpressed glare but did turn to look at you straight in the eye. It was a good sign, his final verdict undecided in your mind so long as he was willing to listen.

“I do know you still have five more days before you’re due to come back,” Thistle shot back, “and I’ve known you since you were in diapers, child. Now go back home.”

You let out a long breath from your nose, loud and annoyed but ultimately you pressed on with the flippant attitude, “Then you know I wouldn’t come to you if I wasn’t desperate. I’ll go crazy if I’m stuck on the farm another day. I’ll even do inn duty at this point.”

Thistle stared you down, but you knew there was no true venom in his harsh words or glare. Still, it was true that he knew you well; well enough to know when you had anything to hide - and you definitely had something significant to hide. Thistle could not under any circumstance find out about the pirate living in your home - and was currently alone with your sickly mother. Tova, there was no explanation in the world that could make the situation sound reasonable. You had to remain strong, an impenetrable fortress that couldn’t be read.

The longer the silence stretched, the more nervous you grew. When your godfather finally spoke, however, you were at a complete loss.

“How much money do you need now?” He asked, throwing down his rag and crossing his arms.

You blinked, eyebrows furrowing in confusion for a moment before realizing what conclusion Thistle came to. It took your mind a moment to catch up with his, and you realized the conclusion he had drawn was that your problems were purely financial. It was a reasonable conclusion to come to; you were in fact always short on money, and had been in dire straits just a few short days ago. It was infinitely more realistic than leaping to the conclusion that you had a pirate back home paying you twenty gold a month to work on your farm at least until the warmer months. You realized Thistle likely didn’t even know Thenerius had stayed behind, probably assuming he left with the rest of his crew.

When you remained silent, Thistle sighed, repeating his question and pointing his finger at you, “you inherited your stubbornness from your parents.”

“I’m not taking your money, old man,” you snapped immediately, already knowing where the conversation would inevitably go if you allowed it, “and I’m not taking the inn over for you so don’t even bring that up.”

“Then what does it matter if you take the money?” Thistle snapped.

“It’s your retirement money,” you shot back, “and don’t give away money you don’t have.”

The topic of money had come up when you first returned home to stay with your mother. Her treatment and the farm had burned through your paltry savings within a few months, to the point you debated returning to your old job and simply sending the money to Thistle. It was then he approached you with the offer of paying for everything. You had been certain at the time your circumstances were temporary, sure a cure would be found for your mother sooner rather than later and the loan - even if he tried to convince you there was no need to pay him back - would be unnecessary.

That was when Thistle first told you the history of The Deep. You parents had been the founders, Thistle working as a bartender at the time. After your father had gone he had taken over temporarily, but without her partner and having a child to raise, your mother’s leave became permanent. Since then, Thistle kept the business alive for you to eventually take over - having no desire to run an inn.

Eventually, your desperation grew and you made Thistle a counteroffer - working for him to earn money. You initially started as an accountant of sorts, organizing the records before eventually moving to customer service for the extra money.

“Fine,” Thistle finally conceded after giving up on the stare down, “but you’re on office duty.”

You withheld the grimace that threatened to reveal itself, half tempted to return home at just the thought of the amount of work office duty entailed. The dreaded task was monumental, the deadly combination of housework, paperwork and math.

The Deep’s records were a mess - less so than when you first arrived and put things in order, but it had gone now for several months. You thought back to the last time you saw Thistle’s office, shuddering.

“Deal,” you sighed, certain the assignment was punishment but still stopping before you trudged to the back office, “thank you.”

You sat in Thistle’s chair, cramped in the limited space behind the desk and feeling all the more claustrophobic with the walls of books on your every side. The ledgers were an idea you implemented, creating something of an archive in a small corner of the storage room for the paperwork you transcribed in the leather-bound books. The only clerical nightmare greater than this you could think of was Dr. Inderpahl’s entire clinic.

Still, as you started sorting through the paperwork to find where to start - assuming every looseleaf had yet to be added to the appropriate book - you felt a bit of nostalgia.

It reminded you of your work in the archives, though things tended to be busier back then. Even though no one was allowed to talk, there was plenty of background noise from the hundreds of people walking, writing and handling books. The great library had been more like a bustling mini metropolis in the lower levels.

Once you began filling out the new ledgers, you truly felt yourself fall back on the feeling of being a transcriber again. Getting up to set all the completed ledgers out of your workspace reminded you of re-shelving transcribed books, the sound of your pen scratching against the paper reminded you of the hundreds of others that once joined it in a symphony.

It was tedious work, ensuring every number and date you copied down matched the original record exactly, but you found it infinitely preferable to dealing with customers - especially as they were usually drunk. You found it easy to fall into the rhythm of the work, engrossed with what was on the paper and whichever ledger happened to be in front of you - payments, inventory, payroll.

You had no idea how much time passed within the windowless closet, but you were forced to finally take a break when the pain in your back from being hunched over without moving grew unbearable. You leaned back in your chair, back popping as you finally shifted from the same position you’d been in after what felt like hours, but your range of motion was severely limited by the wall your chair was pressed back against.

The office was too small for you to try and stretch your legs, but you also didn’t want to disrupt your workflow by going outside, so you opted to simply stand for a few minutes before getting back to work.

The moment your mind was idle, your thoughts wandered to Thenerius, and with it, your own self-consciousness reared its head with a vengeance. He had made no attempt to go any further with you last night. Perhaps the lengthy conversation of Paloma stirred up some latent emotion within him. Or his feelings for you had been resolved with the kiss, maybe it had been a disappointment for him.

It was a ridiculous train of thought. If anything, you should have been rejoicing over the fact that that Thenerius seemed disinterested now. Nothing about your respective circumstances had fundamentally changed; it was entirely possible that Thenerius had accepted that fact, and yet you were now struggling to do the same. You knew it was unfair of you to resent him for that. You turned him down, you chastised yourself, though the rational though only furthered your annoyance.

Unable to bear the suddenly shrinking closet any longer, you grabbed the stack of filled ledgers and attempted to maneuver yourself out from behind the desk. You were slowed down by your knee knocking into the desk top at full force, however, very nearly dropping everything.

You swung the office door open and emerged from the dark lair in a souring mood, your knee throbbing and a headache forming from the sudden difference in light.

Making your way to the storage room, you filed away the books. The shelves were exactly as you had left them, a layer of dust covering everything as though to drive home the point that Thistle had yet to actually file anything after you told him your system. Once you were done, rather than return to the office, however, you walked straight past the door and into the tavern area.

Lenora now stood behind the bar when you entered, saying nothing when you walked up to the bar, simply pushing her cup of ale to you over the counter.

As though the universe itself was working specifically against you, just as you were lifting the cup to your mouth the tavern entrance was opened, forcing you to lower it back onto the counter. The warmth built up by the fire was ushered out by the frigid air, the flames wavering under the strong gust of wind that accompanied the open door. You walked towards the door, ready to greet the new arrivals when you finally caught sight of them, your smile dying as soon as you saw the group of soldiers walking in.

It was a bad idea to make enemies with the army, but you could feel your annoyance shifting rapidly to anger at their intrusion, knowing they weren’t there to patronize the tavern at all.

“You two,” the officer in front approached the bar, clearly referring to you and Lenora, the only two people in the entire room, “Have there been any pirates through here?”

It was a brazen question, the kind made only by someone either too green to understand how money worked around here or who didn’t really care about the answer.

‘It’s winter,“ you deadpanned, an effective enough non-answer that the officer merely rolled his eyes rather than get offended before motioning for another soldier to hand you a stack of posters.

You took them, not needing to look down to know they were wanted signs, or that you would likely recognize more than a few faces on it.

“There’s been a recent sighting in Alfore of a particular individual. Hard to miss. A purple tiefling,” he continued, sounding bored as he tapped the top page, “Fugitive from the south. King handed down the sentence himself; highest reward’s for the captain.”

“Haven’t seen anyone,” you said, dropping the posters on the counter behind you after a cursory flip through before turning back to face the officer.

He turned around, taking in the empty tavern before turning back to look down his nose to the counter and finally back to you, “I can see that… you still have hang the posters up.”

You nodded, motioning for Lenora to add them to the wall with the other posters, some old enough to be so faded it was impossible to tell whose face was displayed nor how much their life was worth. The new posters were just a few of the many also required to be put up, hardly noticeable once Lenora moved on to hanging the next one; not that any of the usual customers paid attention to the wall by the door - other than admiring their own features.

“Anything else?” You asked.

The soldiers didn’t stick around long after that - their kind stuck to the cities and you had no doubt the Deep’s remote location left them desperate to return to civilization.

As soon as the thunder of hooves faded, you immediately made for the wall, scanning the faces until you found one with a familiar tiefling printed on it. Your eyes quickly scanned the page, finding the charges listed. Piracy, treason, murder - all stock accusations - but your stomach sank as you found a particular note at the bottom. Wanted for the sinking of the Dumirian royal vessel Calusia and the murders of her one hundred passengers and crew off the coast of Urait.

The date wasn’t recent, but… you quickly did the math, the time of the sinking approximately seven months before Thenerius arrived in Alfore, with at least six months for the voyage…

“It’s probably a coincidence,” Lenora said nervously from over your shoulder, apparently arriving at the same conclusion as you, “They’re always looking for pirates…”

You said nothing, stalking off to the other side of the bar counter before announcing, “I’m going back to work.”

#exophilia #reader insert #monster boyfriend #tiefling

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bts-teaspoonff · 4 years

Text

Fangirl pt. 3

Genre: Romance, Slow Burn, Idol A/U

Pairing: BTS OT7 x reader

Rating: PG

Summary: Y/N, being a huge fangirl, finally got her chance to work alongside her favorite idol group as a backup dancer. She gets to know each member personally and realizes that her feelings may be more than fangirl-idol attraction.

Word Count: 5.6K

Taglist: @nochujeonjk @i-like-puppy-mg @miyochan @satotakeru14

PARTS: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | .... masterlist

So far, your week of waiting for the company’s response was uneventful to say the least. You exchanged contacts with some of the dancers and they have all been very friendly with everyone. You were busy with work at the gym and at the dance studio so that made you take off your mind from the backup dancer job at least for a while.

During those days that you were waiting, you took double shifts in the gym and twice the amount of classes in the dance studio. You wanted to push yourself just to ease your nerves. Also, you need to pay this month’s rent alone since your roommate and best friend is out on vacation.

Lisa, your bestfriend. She’s been with you ever since college. Both of you only started living together when your brother moved out but she used to always live near you. When she moved in with you, she would always leave to travel somewhere for at least a month then come back to you. That was now your routine with Lisa. She loves travelling so much that she promised to fulfill her bucketlist as soon as both of you graduated. Her family is pretty well-off and she manages this online clothing shop to finance her trips. You and Lisa constantly video call each other almost every day. Sometimes, you would even answer each other’s call even when you’re in the shower. Of course, you already informed her about your pending job in Big Hit. She almost exploded from happiness when she got the news. She was hiking that time and it almost gave you a heart attack when you saw her jumping from happiness near the ledge. You could say that she’s your #1 fan and you are hers too.

The day came when you received the email. You were eating your breakfast at that time, taking a big bite of your omelet sandwich. You choked on your glass of water as you read the email saying “Congratulations. You are now formally a part of Big Hit’s Dance Team.” You read the other contents of the email as you generously drink water once more. You are soon to be expected to start two days from now. You can’t contain your excitement as you feel your face beaming with happiness. You could just dance your ass off right now from joy. You walked to your room with a sandwich still in your mouth as you reach for your speakers. You blasted Anpanman by BTS on full volume and pranced around the room. You also took your RJ and Koya plushies, hugged it and twirled around. You buried yourself under big Chimmy, Tata, Cooky, Mang and Shooky plushies on your couch.

You nervously entered the Big Hit building once more and went straight to the practice room. You made sure not to order a big glass of coffee this time, even though it’s very tempting. You just made a small cup of coffee at home, a routine that greatly relaxed you. You enter the room with one hand tightly gripping the strap of your cross body bag. You saw familiar faces and was grinning from ear to ear. It turns out that everyone was accepted and no one was left behind. A few of them ran to you, hugged you and then pushed you to join some of them sitting on the floor.

The dance directors and choreographers gathered all of you to discuss the plans for the dance team. Everyone was then assigned to different artists to solely focus on their performances. They started calling out the names of the dancers and the artists who they will be working with. Our main dance director started with TXT and you were not on the dancer’s list. You silently chant each of the boys’ names one by one, as if you were having a ritual on your own, until the dance director mentioned BTS. Your ears were on full concentration mode as he calls the names of the dancers one by one. As if on cue as you were continuing to chant the boys’ name and imagining your name being called, you heard your name slip from the dance director’s lips. You really tried your best to not shout and celebrate. You feel like you won the lottery at this point from your chain of good luck lately.

Each dance team then went on to different practice rooms. You, along with other male and female backup dancers, were present in another practice room as your dance choreographer started informing everyone that BTS is planning an online concert months from now. Everyone will be performing a lot of new numbers, including new dance breaks that will be mainly composed of you with the other female backup dancers.

For the first week, everyone started the dance practices without the boys yet. Everyone would spend hours being taught group performances by different choreographers. Two of which are old songs from their old albums and two were from their latest album. At first, you struggled to keep up with the other dancers but all of them were nice in helping one another when one has a hard time with performing the steps. You also made friends with the male backup dancers especially those who were close to your age. All of you were quick to get acquainted with each other and that made work very fun. You would always be light on your feet when coming to work since you’re glad you could make new friends who share the same passion. Everyone was so nice to you too since you’re the youngest out of the female backup dancers but there are also two male dancers younger than you.

You were also excited for your new work since you would get to see Jiyong almost every day. When one of you are free, you would always eat together. Your heart is filled with happiness right now. Your mind is now at a place where you’re just sitting on cloud 9.

Your body couldn’t really handle three jobs at the same time so you chose to quit teaching dance classes at the dance studio. You informed the dance studio owner about your new job to which she congratulated you non-stop. She knows how much of a big fangirl you are to BTS so she couldn’t be more proud of you. She then proceeded to convince you that no one better than you should handle the BTS dance classes. She made good points that convinced you to stay but only if you handle selected classes that works around your schedule. Luckily, she agreed and gave you at least one class a month. You couldn’t really argue with her since she pays you generously per class that you teach.

You retained your work in the gym since your shifts works around your work in Big Hit. You could handle your new work schedule and you really need to earn money for the apartment fees and your BTS merchandises. You also informed the gym owner about your new day job and he congratulated you non-stop as well. He nicely let you adjust your shift to better work around your new schedule.

So far, everything is going into place. Your new job, new acquaintances at work, quality time with your brother, and Lisa will be returning soon from her trip. You could just sit down and inhale all the good air that’s surrounding you lately. You’re scared that given this amount of good luck around you will be soon replaced by strings of bad luck, but of course you’re highly hoping that will not happen.

You went home late one night from a hectic shift at the gym. One of your clients arrived late for her schedule but still came, coinciding with the timeslot for your other client. You still accommodated the two of them and went back and forth for them during their sessions. You had to be the one to close the gym that night also. You ate like there’s no tomorrow that night since you were so tired from dance practices and the sessions at the gym. You just went to sleep right after dinner, slamming yourself into the bed and into the sheets.

You didn’t wake up from your alarm the next morning. Good thing that you had already wash your hair last night so you just fashioned a bucket hat and hurriedly fix yourself before you went out in a rush to try to arrive on time for your dance practices. You arrived at the lobby entrance just in the nick of time with a few minutes to spare, rushed to the elevator and tried to catch your breath while you wait for the lift to arrive on the right floor. You hurriedly ran out the elevator and to the hallway when you heard your phone ping. You took out your phone in your pocket while rushing in the hallway. You saw Lisa’s name at the top of your notification screen but chose to read it later and kept your phone in your hands.

You were approaching a corner in the hallway so you decreased your pace but was still slightly running. As you were about to take a turn, your head bumped into something soft but obviously firm that was moving towards your direction. You were slightly pushed back but somebody’s hand caught your arms as you were about to fall backwards. You soon realized that your head bumped into someone’s chest, somebody who’s very tall. You look up and saw Namjoon. I really got to stop meeting the boys by bumping into them like this. Your mouth fall to the floor in shock and embarrassment.

His hands were big and his arms were tan and toned. He still excludes this gentle giant aura, the same way you pictured him every time you see him on social media and on the pictures in your phone. He still has his hands around your arms as you try to help yourself back up from almost falling to the ground. As if you could feel fire on your arms around his touch and time stood still. Both of you apologized to each other at the same time. You both chuckled as you withdraw your hands from each other. As you were about to introduce yourself, you noticed that your phone was on the floor and under his foot. He also soon notices this as you try to bend down to reach for your phone.

You took the phone under his foot and checked it. You stared at your phone screen and was shocked to see the screen cracked. You saw Namjoon looking at your phone as you check but quickly hid it realizing that your wallpaper was all of the members of BTS. You wouldn’t want to embarrass yourself more by letting him know that your lock screen and home screen are photos of them. Unfortunately, Namjoon has already noticed the crack on your phone screen even before you hid the phone away from his eyes.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that I stepped on your phone.” Namjoon panicked at the sight of the cracked phone screen.

“No, it’s okay. It’s my fault also for not being careful.” You assure him but he clearly looks worried about the cracked phone. “Nice to meet you. I’m y/n. One of the new backup dancers assigned to BTS. I’m looking forward to working with you.” I bowed.

“Nice to meet you and looking forward to working with you as well.” He bowed as well. “I’m really sorry about your phone. Can I do something about it?”

“Honestly, it’s okay. It’s just a small crack.” No it’s not entirely okay because the crack almost encompasses the whole screen. It’s my fault anyways so he doesn’t have to feel bad about it. You don’t want to burden him about your phone. “Also, I’m sorry but I’m really in a rush for practice. See you around. Nice to meet you again.” You bowed and rushed towards the practice room.

“Wait.” Namjoon raises his hands while looking at you, rushing away from him. Although he was truly worried about your phone, he actually caught a glimpse of your lock screen. It amuses him to remember you trying to hide the phone from him. Of course he knows that their fans would have the members as their wallpapers but usually their staff wouldn’t really have the boys’ face plastered on their belongings.

You are still in disbelief that you met Namjoon. Your heart is still in disarray as you try to replay the scene in your mind. His hands are big and he’s so tall. His chest is so toned that even though your head bumped into him for a split second, you could almost remember the ridges of his chest.

…..

“Shit.” Namjoon exclaims as he slumps back on the couch of Hoseok’s studio with four other members in the room. Jimin, Taehyung, Hoseok and Jungkook all turn their heads as their leader enters the studio.

“What got you in a dump, hyung?” Jungkook asks in concern.

“I stepped on a phone and destroyed the screen.” Namjoon puts his hands on his face. He’s wondering how he can mend the cracked screen situation with you. Your face suddenly appeared at the back of his mind and honestly, a part of him find you adorable and beautiful. The way how your fringe falls perfectly on your forehead and on your long lashes. You were a little pale but still, he got a long look at your face and still finds you attractive. He never got interested with female staff members but there was something about you that piqued the leader’s attention.

“Whose phone?” Hoseok, seated in his chair in front of his equipments, turns his chair to face all the other members.

“One of our female backup dancers.” Namjoon groans out loud in frustration, breaking him from his daydream.

“How did you even step on her phone?” Jimin asks his leader, seated on the far corner of the couch beside Taehyung.

“I saved her from falling then I didn’t realize her phone was under my foot.” Namjoon sits straight up, shaking his head.

“You never disappoint, hyung.” Jimin laughs while reaching for Namjoon’s shoulder to pat it. Taehyung sits back to give access to Jimin’s hand to reach Namjoon.

“Give her one of our extra Samsung phones. I think we still have some of those. Go ask the staff.” Taehyung suggests.

“You really are the God of Destruction.” Hoseok chuckles at his good friend.

“I’m so embarrassed. I just want to bury my face right there and then.” Namjoon pouts in frustration.

“I think I can help you ease your frustration.” Hoseok turns his chair around back to his monitor. He pressed a few buttons and music started playing through the speakers. “How is it?” Hoseok plays the song that Namjoon, Taehyung and himself are working hard on. He glanced behind to look at Namjoon’s face. Namjoon stood up and walked to Hoseok’s chair.

…..

I am so tired. I think I’m pushing myself too far this time. You still have a few weeks before Lisa returns so you doubled your shift in the gym. You could really use the extra pay since you spent your extra savings on a few BTS merchandise and on repair fees for the air conditioner at home. The double shifts will only last until this week so you have no problem with it.

You came into the practice room, still groggy from lack of sleep. You glanced at the huge mirror across the room and saw your pale face and poor complexion. Gosh, you have never looked this bad since finals week in college. You tend to forget to take care of yourself when overworking or fatigued. You took a sip from the cup of iced Americano on your hands and sat on the floor with the other dancers.

A few minutes after, the choreographer came in and soon follows the 7 ethereal beautiful boys. They bowed one by one as they enter the room and thanked us for our hard work. You try to fix any unruly strands of hair on your sweaty forehead and straightened your back.

Namjoon entered the room first, greeting all the dancers with a smile. The leader exuding off a charismatic aura as he leads the group in the room. Jimin and Hoseok soon followed, both of them hand in hand giggling and skipping but released their hold on each other and laughed out loud after a few steps inside. The two main dancers eager to meet the dance team. Taehyung and Jungkook silently followed their hyungs, strutting like models with their hands in their pockets. I saw the maknae sporting a man bun that compliments his face and almost making him look like a Greek God, especially with how his tight black long sleeve shirt faintly gives a silhouette of his sculptured chest and back. Taehyung’s disheveled curly do accentuates his bear-like cuteness but still gives off a masculine appeal. Lastly, the two oldest entered the room greeting the dancers. Yoongi entered first with Jin’s hands on his other member’s back. The two of them silently entered the room, ensuring that they greet all of us first before joining the other members at the side.

Your eyes scanned the members one by one as the choreographer informs everyone about the dance practice for today. As you were admiring the amazing view in front of you that was gracing you this morning, your gaze met with Yoongi’s. He then slightly put his head down while looking at you. You couldn’t really paint his expression right now but you dare to say that he looks bothered. Like a puppy that chewed his toy and is being scolded by his owner. He then turns his head away to talk to the other boys when he saw you openly reading his face.

You were so confused at Yoongi’s bothered expression when you caught him looking at you. You don’t remember bumping into him or meeting him today. Yet, his aura today is a lot softer than the day you met. For your first and second (may I say terrible) encounters, he would always look so irritated or pissed at you specifically. I mean who wouldn’t, you’re crazy clumsy ass kept on bumping into him.

Everybody’s in their respective blocking and is set to practice once more. The moment the music started, your heart kept doing somersaults. This is the moment you’ve been waiting for. You are now dancing with the 7 boys. The pinnacle of your fangirl chronicles. You could never imagine that someday you will share the same stage as them. You truly respect them for their art and passion so you give your all even on their first full dance practice with the dance team. Of course, Jimin and Hoseok doesn’t disappoint. The two energetic boys that came skipping inside the room just moments ago became two dancing machines. You couldn’t stop smiling that you could feel your face could tear off. Your fatigue went away as you savor this moment. Nothing matters right now, only this moment.

The music stopped. All took a minute before polishing the dance moves on a specific part of the song. One female backup dancer nudged you on the waist, giggling. “You happy?” She was one of your good friend on the dance team. She knows that you’re a big fangirl of BTS and how ecstatic you are about your new occupation.

“Dream come true but I’m still so far off from being perfect. I need to be at my best to be deserving of sharing the same stage with them.” You whispered to her while giggling. She pats my head in adoration and you looked at her.

“Don’t be too hard on yourself. You’re doing a good job.” You smiled back at her. Soon you heard the choreographer call out everyone to gather to start practicing again.

Two hours were spent in the practice room, dancing nonstop. Slowly, you could feel your fatigue catching up to you but you refuse to take a break. You could see everyone’s passion and hard work so you don’t think you deserve to take a breather. Everyone was giving their all from the boys and girls on the dance team, the 7 BTS members and even with the choreographers. A longer break was given after the two hour mark. All of the other dancers walked straight to their bags to get their water bottles. The 7 boys also went to the water dispenser at the corner of the room near the door to take a sip of water as they catch their breath. You walked towards the door, excusing yourself out to use the restroom. You saw Namjoon and Yoongi noticing you as their eyes follow you before I opened the door.

You took a few steps away from the dance practice room and was stopped in your tracks when you heard a familiar voice calling your name. “Hey!” you turned around and saw Jiyong walking through the hallway in the same direction as you.

“Hey. What’s up?” Jiyong walks up to you with a smile on his face.

“I’m on my way to the recording studio.” He turns his head and caught his eyes on the dance practice room. “Are you guys practicing right now?”

“We are on a break as of the moment.” You wiped your sweat off your forehead. “Who knew that even dance practices was this intense?” You saw Jiyong examining your face and he lifts up his hand to land on your cheek.

“Your complexion’s not good. Are you eating well?” You froze in place. Is my complexion really that bad? Actually, if I remember correctly, I only ate crackers this morning and haven’t got a chance to drink water since I was rushing to go to work.

“Oh. Jiyong-nim.” You and Jiyong quickly looked towards the practice room door when you saw Namjoon, Yoongi, Jimin, and Jungkook about to go out of the room. They saw Jiyong caress your cheek and their faces are painted with bashful expressions. They immediately thought that you might be in a relationship with Jiyong. “You guys know each other?” Namjoon asks your brother.

Jiyong quickly placed his arms on your shoulder and around your neck. He laughed as he rubbed your head. “What do you think?” He placed his hand under your chin to lift up your head straight to present to the boys. The four of them puzzled by your brother’s question and took them a few seconds before it registered to them that you and Jiyong are twins. You totally forgot that Jiyong mentioned that he was good friends with the boys. I want to hide right now.

“No wonder why she looks familiar. She reminds me of you, hyung.” Jimin exclaimed.

“You’re twins?” Yoongi asks Jiyong. Your brother nods his head while giving his boxy smile.

“Identical, in fact.” Jiyong proudly stated as he further rubbed my head, making a mess out of my hair.

“That’s amazing, Hyung. I didn’t know you had a twin.” Jungkook exclaims as well, in fascination. You were just quiet in your brother’s arm. He released his hands around you and you stood up straight. Taehyung and Jin noticed the commotion of the four boys and also peeked out the door. Jimin informs the two boys and you saw Jin opening his mouth in astonishment, releasing a loud gasp in his tiny comedic voice.

“Take care of my sister. If one of you mistreats her, I’ll give you a hard time in the studio booth.” Jiyong jokingly teases the boys.

“You know I’m older than you right?” You quickly hit him on the shoulder as the boys laugh.

“By two minutes.” He looks at you and laughed. He glanced back to the other boys. “Anyways, she’s a big fa…” You pinch his waist to stop him from talking. He cries out in pain but at least that stopped his mouth from rambling.

“Excuse my brother. He likes to tease me a lot.”

“Well, I have to go to the studio booth as well. If you’ll excuse me.” Jiyong finally excuses himself out. He walks away and left you out in the hallway with the 7 boys just standing outside the practice room. A short silence from all of you filled the hallway before they resumed from walking out of the practice room.

“I have to excuse myself too.” You bowed, turned around and continued walking away.

“Wait.” You heard Yoongi call out as his footsteps catch up to you. Not long, he caught up and stopped in front of you. He scratched the back of his head with his head down. “I owe you an apology.”

Yoongi was uneasy at the thought that he disrespected you twice at the expense of his mood that day. The last thing he wants is to never get the chance to apologize to you. He couldn’t really concentrate on the dance practice today as he could see you avoiding him. Whenever he would try to take the chance to apologize to you during breaks, you would always be around the other dancers.

“Apology? For what?” you froze in place out of shock and wonder from yoongi’s statement. You stare at the man in front of you with his head slightly down. The air between the two of you was so still.

“The day we met… I am aware that I was not at my best self and it turned out I was rude to you. Even if I was having a bad day, there’s no excuse for my lack of respect.” He lifts his head up and looked straight in your eyes. As much as you appreciate his apology, you couldn’t really respond to him as you realized that one of your idols is just an arm’s reach away. Never have you imagined that someone you just watch over and over again from the small screen of your phone would be humbling himself before you to apologize. You don’t really know how to handle the situation.

“It’s okay. It’s my fault as well. I guess I have to learn not to be as clumsy anymore.” You laughed as you placed your hands on your nape. His face slowly lit up and the air between both of you started getting lighter. “Here I thought you’re actually disliking the idea of working with me. You were wearing this irritated expression whenever our eyes would meet during practice.”

Yoongi got beet-red thinking that’s how he comes off to you when he was actually irritated by the fact that he can’t get a chance to talk to you alone. “No. I was just…. trying to find a chance to apologize to you.” You smiled so sweetly at the thought of occupying yoongi’s mind during practice and even made him worry on how we would approach you. Yoongi notices the change in your expression and his heart skipped a beat. There’s something so adorable with the way you smiled that caught Yoongi’s attention. He took a good look at you and realized that you were actually good looking despite being so sweaty from practice.

“I would like to begin again.” You held out your hand to Yoongi. He looks at your hand and back to you. “I’m y/n. It’s an honor to work with you. Let’s do our best to show everyone the best performances we could give.” You flashed a smile so big that made Yoongi pleased as well. Your passion to give your best performance fascinated him.

He shook your hand and his heart skipped another beat. A smile like that fits you so well. You almost remind him of Hoseok. Someone who embodies sunshine. Also, he admits that you really look beautiful. Not that he wants to compare you to the other female dancers but he can admit that you’re the most attractive out of all of them. He had his eyes on you the whole morning and was amazed by how you transform into a dancing machine when music starts.

…..

You just concluded your last session with a client at the gym. Despite having a chance to go home early, you kindly offered to the gym owner that you would stay until closing time. You asked permission to use the small studio in the gym. He gladly allowed you and you were ecstatic to finally have a space where you could freely practice. Back at home, the apartment that you share with Lisa is just the adequate space for living, but not so much to consider it as a space to practice. You own a floor length mirror but it’s beside your bed. Your arms and legs have bumped your bed so many times that you could almost file a physical abuse case against the innocent piece of furniture. The small studio in the gym may not be as big as the practice room in Big Hit but it has enough space for you to fly and dance around. Plus, there’s a huge mirror on the entire wall. You’re actually fortunate to have the studio by yourself.

As you start practicing the dance numbers inside the small studio, the gym owner quietly manned the reception area in your place. Only a handful of customers are now currently using the gym and usually at this time of night, influx of customers is at bare minimum. Suddenly, someone enters the gym and walks to the reception area. The gym owner turns his head towards the door.

“Hyung!” The gym owner was surprised by the sudden visit of his friend. He shoots up from his seat to welcome the person who just came through the door.

“Jungkook! What are you doing here?” Jungkook appeared in front of the gym owner wearing his huge black hoodie and a black cap to hide his face. The gym owner walks around the reception table and hugs Jungkook.

“I just tried a new route to run and I remembered your gym was along the way so I thought to pop in and say hello.” Jungkook hugged his friend tightly. They continued to chat as Jungkook quickly noticed the music that was coming from inside the gym. The gym owner also noticed Jungkook looking towards the direction of the sound.

“That’s coming from the studio… which reminds me, one of my employee just got in as your backup dancer. She’s so dedicated and diligent that she spends her extra time to practice here after her shift.” The gym owner offered to usher Jungkook towards the small studio. Jungkook was intrigued and fascinated that one of their backup dancer works at the same place as his close friend. The music gets loud as they get near the studio and he gets a glimpse of somebody dancing eagerly to one of the songs that they were just practicing to this morning. They look just outside the door and Jungkook’s eyes were glued to you as you dance.

He recognizes you immediately and was captivated by how you were working so hard this late at night. He noticed that you weren’t wearing the usual baggy cargo pants that you love to wear for dance practices. You were wearing tight gym leggings and a dri-fit shirt. Nevertheless, you still exude charm and power when you dance to their songs. Jungkook admits to himself that the sight of you in tights dancing to their powerful songs charmed him.

He opened the door and you were late to notice the sound of the creaking door. You were surprised to see Jungkook’s reflection behind you as you strut to the music. Jungkook jumps in surprise when you gasped out loud at his presence and you ran for the speakers.

“Noona, I didn’t mean to surprise you.” You bent down to stop the music. Quickly, you stood up and turned to face him. Jungkook was still walking towards you. He removed his cap and ran his hand through his hair. He was sweating a bit but still, the sight of him sweating makes him look like he’s sparkling. You wondered why in the world is he inside the same studio as you are now. “Hyung’s my friend and I happened to be in the same area so I dropped by. I didn’t expect Noona was working here.”

You peeked towards the door and the gym owner was smiling and waving his hand. He must’ve been the one who informed Jungkook that you were practicing here, you thought. Your attention came back to Jungkook. You admired how handsome Jungkook looks right now despite being barefaced. “May I help you with something?”

“Do you want to practice together? I mean if only you’re comfortable with it.” He offered. Suddenly, you felt like everything slowed down and the two of you remained. You want to slap your face in disbelief that Jungkook actually offered to practice with you. Jungkook slowly walk towards you and you react by stepping backwards.

“I’m having a hard time learning a specific part in the choreo so I may not be the ideal practice partner… for you right now.” You feel as though the space between the two of you has shrunk. Jungkook smirks at the sight of you slightly panicking as he steps closer. Jungkook has been eyeing you ever since the first practice session with them this morning. He saw how his hyungs, Namjoon and Suga, kept on looking at your direction. He discovered that you were the same girl that they were talking about. You were the one whose phone was destroyed by Namjoon, who caught the attention of Jimin and Jhope during the evaluation, and who constantly occupies Suga’s mind about when to apologize to you. You piqued his attention with the way you had these encounters with his hyungs. He also noticed your charm whenever you execute the intricate choreograph during practice, just as Jhope and Jimin describes. He’s determined to have this chance to dance with you.

“I’m sure I want to practice with you.”

Next part: 4

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bothcreativitybois · 3 years

Text

The Mayors Sweet Treat Chapter 5

Wordcount: 2430

Ship: Intruality

TWs: Food, dog, swearing, sexual references, spicy thoughts (not smutty)

Chapters: 1 2 3 4

Taglist: @crazydemigod666 @star-crossed-shipper @idont-freaking-know @someoneiwasnt @seraphiie @the-sympathetic-villain @cute-and-angsty-princess @lonelymuffin @bloodymari-0666 @im-an-anxious-wreck @newtnotfound @fantasticallytired @obsessive-fallen-angel

“You’re good!” Patton shouted as Remus backed into the narrow driveway next to the bakery. His truck was filled with paints, tools, hardware supplies and a very happy looking dog. Janus stood by watching to make sure Remus didn’t hit anything. When The truck was backed in enough Remus killed the engine and jumped out, Patton rushed up to the tray of the truck and began petting the dog. Cain happily soaked up the love, Remus began hauling items out of the truck. “Who are you baby? You’re adorable!” Patton cooed, Remus smiled and Janus rolled his eyes.

“His name is Cain.” Remus said and grunted as he pulled out a metal tool box. “If you scratch his chin he’ll never leave you alone.”

“He also eats my food and doesn’t pay rent so I wouldn’t mind that.” Janus added. Cain jumped out of the truck and Patton knelt down to scratch his chin as instructed. Cain put up his head and closed his eyes.

“Oh you’re so cute! I love you!” Patton continued, Remus couldn’t stop watching him. The little dimples in his cheeks, how much love was in his eyes when he looked at Cain, Remus wondered what it would be like to have Patton look at him like that. His mind raced back to the thoughts he had a few days ago.

“Damn, you’re so cute.” Patton whispered as he bit his lip. Remus was on top of Patton and his hair perfectly fell around Patton’s face, creating a tunnel for just the two of them. Remus lent down and pressed his forehead against Patton’s, both men closing their eyes. Remus’ breath caught in his throat which caused him to let out a small noise. “I lo-.”

Remus was brought back with a pinch to his ribs.

“Ow, what the fuck?” Remus exclaimed as he swatted away Janus’ hand. These thoughts were getting out of hand. Yes they were fun but very distracting and uncontrollable.

“Roman told me to do it if you got distracted.” Janus shrugged and walked away with a crate of spray paints. Patton felt guilty for not doing anything, he joined Remus at the back of the truck.

“What can I do?” Patton asked. Remus looked around a moment, not sure how much Patton could carry.

“Uh, can you get that ladder for Janus?” Remus replied. “Only if you can.” Remus worried. Patton smiled smugly. He leant forward and dragged the ladder out, easily carrying it with one hand. He walked past Remus just as Janus walked back over.

“I carry ten kilo bags of flour two at a time.” Patton looked back and flashed a smile. “Don’t worry about me, honey.” Patton walked away and Remus followed half stammering some apologies.

Jan: Just talk to him ffs he looks incapable of hurting you

Virgil sat on the kitchen counter while Patton ran around grabbing ingredients, Janus and Remus were working in the other room. Virgil balanced a phone between his shoulder and ear, hold music played loudly from it.

“What are they saying?” Patton whispered. Virgil put up a finger as a signal to wait.

“That makes no sense, you would’ve known the location before taking the order. If it was too remote you shouldn’t have taken the order in the first place.” The voice began again but it wasn’t long before Virgil interrupted. “No, I understand but you should have contacted him, or at the least gave him an answer instead of bouncing him between numbers. Will we be getting a refund?” Virgil swung his legs off the table as the voice spoke more, Patton began dropping ingredients into a mixer. “That isn’t how it works, your contract said you’d deliver th-” Virgil was cut off by the voice followed with a disconnect sound. He threw down his phone and pressed his hands to his face. He took a deep breath and ran his hands through his hair.

“They don’t have my sign do they?” Patton asked sadly. Remus walked over to the kitchen entrance to listen in.

“No they have it, but they won’t deliver to such a remote location. It’s at a warehouse in the city. They’ll refund the delivery fee but you have to pick up the sign yourself.” Virgil explained. Patton put down the top of the mixer and clicked it on before turning to Virgil.

“How? My car is tiny!” Patton panicked, Remus quickly moved to him and put a hand on his shoulder as comfort.

“It’s alright.” Remus soothed. “I’ll go get it for you tomorrow.” Patton felt guilty. All these people were so quick to help him but he had nothing to give in return.

“No I need you for the picnic.” Patton reminded him. Remus had influence and in his own way always knew what he was doing, that made Patton feel comfortable. The confidence he exuded was…

“I’ll go get it now then.” Remus suggested. He took out some keys and spun them around his finger. “Virge, message me the address.” Remus liked long drives, they helped him think. And with everything that was happening, the thoughts he was having, he could use some time to think. Patton looked around, seeing who he would be left alone with. He didn’t have a problem with making friends usually but two people he’d just met?

“I can’t ask you to do that, Remus.” Patton said, hoping Remus would catch the hint. Unfortunately he didn’t.

“It’s all good, just watch Cain for me until I’m back. He doesn’t like long drives.” Remus informed as he walked out the door. The elderly cattle dog padded up to Patton and leant on his leg, his innocent puppy eyes were very different to his owner's devilish gleam. Patton wanted to scratch him but needed to check his batter.

Quite a few minutes of awkward silence went by. Patton tasted his batter and added some more tweaks, Janus used a thick lead pencil to sketch a drawing to paint over and Virgil did… something on his phone. Janus looked into the kitchen, Virgil looked awkwardly across at Patton. He sighed. Virgil wasn’t the biggest fan of new people and Patton clearly was caught off guard with Remus’ dramatic exit. Janus pulled out his phone and texted Virgil.

Virgie: hnnngg social anxiety

Jan: Just ask if he needs help!

“How much business can a sign company have?” Virgil complained, Patton laughed across the room. Finally the hold music halted and Patton heard a voice drone through the phone. “Hello, I am calling on behalf of Froggy And Doggy Bakery. We ordered a sign last year and it still hasn’t arrived.” Virgil said in a professional voice. The person on the other end typed some stuff then told him something. Patton put down the eggs he had in his hands and rushed in front of Virgil.

Virgil looked over at Janus who nodded gently in response, Virgil took a deep breath.

“Patton?” Virgil said across the room. Patton looked up from mixing some flavours through the batter. “Is there… can I help?” Virgil mumbled. Patton wasn’t surprised anymore, he began thinking maybe all the tall men in this town had an agenda to kill him with favours. He giggled and pointed to a few aprons on a hook.

“Grab one and come over here.” Patton smiled. Virgil walked to the hook and pulled off a pink apron, he tied it up and joined Patton at the mixer. Patton pulled out a toothpick and dipped it in the mixture before thrusting it to Virgil. “Try this.” Virgil took the stick and licked off the batter. The delicate and fluffy batter had a strong punch of lemon and vanilla. The flavours tingled the back of Virgil’s jaw.

“That’s nice but maybe a little… strong.” Virgil shared. Patton laughed and took back the toothpick to throw away.

“The flavour will dilute after baking, it has to be strong or you won’t taste it.” Patton clarified. He threw the toothpick into the sink and rummaged in a draw, pulling out some dainty white mini cupcake papers and a large patty cake tray. “Can you put one paper in each tray? I have to take out the meringues." Patton looked across the room to see Janus had abandoned the drawing and was in the kitchen entrance. Patton walked across to the oven and pulled out a tray of cute pastel pink meringues shaped like flat roses. Virgil began dropping the papers into the tray. The large tray probably had two dozen holes, each no bigger than an inch in diameter. Janus leant down to pet Cain while the others worked. Patton used a spatula to scrape off the sweet treats and place them in a plastic container. Janus watched Patton's hands, how smoothly he scraped off a meringue with one thrust and gently laid it on top of the others in the container. It looked effortless yet Janus was sure if he tried he'd snap at least half of them in two. Patton noticed Janus staring from the corner of his eye, he tried his best to stay calm and focus. Meringues were small and light, which means they're easy to crush. He was thankful he had Virgil to take care of the patty cake papers so he could focus and take his time. Patton placed the last meringue in the container and looked up in time to see Virgil place the last paper.

He’s really nice albeit a little dry and blunt.

"Thanks. I'll put in the batter to make sure they all have the right amount." Patton thanked. Virgil nodded and looked up at Janus, he smiled smugly.

“Wrist is tired, needed a break.” Janus opposed in a friendly tone. “Also couldn’t miss you wearing that cute pink apron.” Janus chuckled as he turned around his phone to show a picture of Virgil in the apron holding the small cake papers, Patton also stifled a laugh. Virgil took off the apron and hung it back up.

“Send that to anyone and I’ll add another 10 hours to your community service.” Virgil warned.

“Too late.” Janus smirked. “Officer Honeycutt loves seeing her recovered little delinquent.”

“Well we can’t all be teenagers graffitiing forever.” Virgil shot back. Patton looked up.

“Who is Officer Honeycutt?” Patton asked, both boys looked over like they had forgotten he was there.

“My mother.” Janus said as he put away his phone. “Don’t worry, she doesn’t give anyone trouble. Most she’ll do ya for is drunk and disorderly but you don’t seem that type.” Virgil and Janus laughed, but it felt friendly. Not like laughing at Patton but joking with him. He laughed too.

“And Virgil does?” Patton joked, both men laughed again and shared a look.

“You’d be surprised what he used to get up too.” Janus eluded. Virgil hit him in the shoulder and picked up his bag. Patton’s nerves had disappeared, he wasn’t sure when but they were gone.

“I’m going to get myself a coffee and take Cain out for a bathroom break.” Virgil announced before turning to point at Janus. “Play nice.” Janus smirked.

“How nice exactly?” Janus asked mischievously. Virgil gave him a serious stare, Janus put up his hands in surrender. “Alright!” He surrendered. Virgil left with Cain and suddenly Patton was alone with Janus. He had no problem with Janus but out of all the friends Patton had met he seemed the most critical. Or more accurately, most straightforward with his judgement. Patton began scooping batter into the papers with two metal spoons. Janus entered the kitchen and sat on a counter, closely watching. Patton was a man in chains, facing the judge and waiting for his sentence. Remus’ voice echoed through his head.

Patton tried his best to focus. Everything would be fine.

“What makes you think Remus is so sexy?” Janus said suddenly and plainly. Patton dropped the spoons in shock and batter splattered over a few of the papers. His face burned a furious red. Patton looked back at Janus who was unfazed. “Is it his moustache?”

“Shouldn’t you be drawing?” Virgil teased as Patton gathered more items.

“That- I don’t-” Patton tried as he shakily recovered the spoons. His head raced. He didn’t think of Remus like that… did he? Even if he did he was too busy to make a move. And with everything that happened with his last partner he wasn’t sure if he was ready to move on. He attempted to gather all his thoughts into a sentence. “I don’t have time to think of Remus like that and he doesn’t think of me that way either so what’s the point?” He hoped that answer was good enough. He cleared his mind and went back to scooping batter.

“Funny, most people don’t answer when I ask them stuff like that.” Janus remarked. “They usually tell me not to ask stuff like that or refuse to answer.” Janus laughed slightly.

“I’m sure you mean well.” Patton answered. “Maybe you’re trying to protect Remus, maybe you’re trying to get to know my taste, or maybe you’re just curious. But I don’t think you’re asking for malicious intent.” Patton turned around and gave Janus a reassuring smile, he looked away.

“And how do you know that?” Janus pressed. Patton put down the spoons and picked up the tray of batter.

“You don’t seem that type.” Patton repeated with a wink. He adjusted the heat on the oven and slid in the tray all the while Janus watched him in thought.

“What if you did have the time?” Janus asked abruptly. “To think of Remus.” Patton took a moment. He brought up thoughts of Remus, thoughts where he wasn’t worried about the bakery or his mother. He smiled as he ran the scenarios through his head.

“Yeah, maybe something could happen.” Patton admitted. “But like I said, I’m pretty sure Remus doesn’t think of me that way.” He didn’t even know if Remus was into guys. He’d made the mistake of assuming that before, it didn’t turn out well.

“Interesting.” Janus muttered as he walked back to the wall he was sketching on. “Remus isn’t easy to deal with sometimes. He’s loud, will do his best to annoy you and is unpredictable. But he seems to have taken a liking to you, so here’s a little advice: set up your boundaries or he’ll tear right through you.” Janus’ advice seemed bittersweet but it did get Patton thinking.

Remus seemed gentle with him so far, was that good or bad?

#the mayor's sweet treat #sanders sides small town au #roman took over #intruality au #sanders sides #sanders sides au #sanders sides fic #sanders sides fanfiction #ts remus #remus sanders #ts patton #patton sanders #ts janus #janus sanders #ts virgil #virgil sanders #food tw #dog tw #intruality

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djadins · 3 years

Text

jate’kara | the mandalorian x f!reader — part one

After your ship had been damaged beyond even your abilities, you find yourself stuck on Nevarro doing menial repair work. That is, until a shiny man and his little green child interrupt your day to day.

warnings: canon-typical violence

rating: T

word count: 2k

a/n: this popped into my head and I had to get it out. I have definitely taken some creative liberties with the razor crest so bear w it and I know nothing about fixing things or mechanics so I did my best :) set sometime after season 1

You carefully wiped your brow with the back of your forearm. Your hands were covered in filth, your face too, but you weren’t willing to add to the mix already caked atop your head.

One leg flung over the side of the speeder, you brought the engine you had been working on for the past hour to life. It purred beautifully underneath you and you quickly shut it off. Easy work, you thought to yourself. If only it paid better.

You were so lost in your own thoughts that at first you didn’t feel the tugging on your right pant leg. It wasn’t until you tried to move away from the speeder that you felt a tiny anchor holding you back.

A sharp inhale filled your breast as you looked down at the little green creature who was peering back up at you. He had your pant leg firmly grasped in his little hands. His head cocked to the side, a small whimper escaping his mouth. He let go of your jumpsuit and reached up with grabby hands.

You grabbed the wet rag you had kept on the back of the speeder and quickly wiped your hands off. You reached down and grasped the curious little creature. He seemed to coo at your touch.

A green palm went up towards your cheek. His hand was a lot warmer than you had anticipated. “Well hello to you too, little guy,” you chuckled. He cooed in response.

“Where are your parents? Are you hungry?” you spun around, grabbing a cracker out of the supply you had in your bag. The little green thing was quick to reach out and take it, but after the first bite he dropped it on the ground and stuck his tongue out. You laughed, your chest shaking the both of you.

“How about this?” this time you handed him a piece of jerky. He quickly gobbled it down, causing you to giggle again. You fed him more and more, until your entire stash was almost out.

“You’re gonna bleed my dry, buddy!”

The barrel of a blaster pressed up against your lower back stopped your laugh dead in its tracks. You stiffened, biting your lower lip. The little gremlin cooed in your arms.

“Drop the kid,” came a modulated voice from behind.

“O.. okay..” you stuttered, slowly reaching down to put the kid on the ground. He went running to the person behind you, almost tripping on his long taupe cloak. You straightened back out, keeping your arms up on the way.

“Who are you, how’d you get into the Crest?”

You gave the stranger your name. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about,” you answered honestly.

“Turn around.”

Hands still up towards your head, you slowly did a 180. In front of you was a tall Mandalorian in a polished beskar suit. He held the kid in one arm and a blaster pointed at you in the other.

“My ship,” he emphasized. He pointed his blaster at your tools spread out around the speeder. “You break in?”

“What?! No!” At your enthusiastic defense of yourself, your arms dropped back down. You pointed at him. “Look here buddy,” you turned around and waved your arm at the speeder. “I have been fixing this hunk of junk for one of the locals. I just finished up when your kid came over to me. He seemed hungry so I gave him a snack, that’s it.” Your arms were waving furiously as you spoke.

The Mandalorian cocked his head to the side as he studied you. “You’re gonna bleed me dry buddy,” he repeated your words under his breath. The Mandalorian reholstered his weapon and nodded at you. “My... apologies.”

You shook your head and muttered to yourself, starting to pack your tools up. You didn’t know the Mandalorian was still watching you from behind, which caused you to jump when he started to speak.

“You repair things,” he stated, his modulated voice ringing out.

You turned around, sure that a dumbfounded look was plastered on your face. Your first thought was how has this idiot survived this long, but you quickly brushed it aside.

“Uh... ya,” was your intelligent response.

“My ship could use a looking at. I’ll pay double your fee, considering the kid ate your food.”

As your brows scrunched together, your mouth dropped open. You swallowed hard. Part of you wanted to yell at him for what had just transpired. The other part, the more rational one, remembered that you were marooned here until you had some serious credits in hand.

“...Okay,” you finally agreed. He only nodded in acknowledgement and begun making his way out of town with the kid. You grabbed your bags and followed behind him. His ship wasn’t far outside of town, only a 5 minute walk past the main gate.

“Ahh, a Razor Crest,” you put the pieces together. “Surprised it’s survived this long,” you said mostly to yourself.

You busied yourself for the rest of the afternoon with the small things that the Mandalorian pointed out needed fixing. You almost felt guilty, you could do these repairs in your sleep and they definitely weren’t worth double your rate. The little green one followed you around for most of the work, sometimes taking a tool or two in his little grabby hands. The Mandalorian busied himself with supplies and other odds and ends inside the ship.

Nevarro’s lone sun was just touching the ground when you finished up. You made your way up the ramp into the Crest, where you found the Mandalorian sitting with the child on a supply crate. He nodded at you as you entered and you returned it.

He motioned to a crate next to him. There was a plate of food sitting on it. “Please, eat,” he offered.

You hesitated. Opening your mouth to say something, your stomach instead took its place with a low rumble. You smiled as you bit your bottom lip. “I guess I could eat,” you conceded.

Cross-legged, you sat at the floor in front of the crate. The Mandalorian offered a wet rag for your hands and you shot him a silent thank you. You watched him out of the corner of your eye as you ate, feeding the small green alien in his lap.

“Does he have a name?” you finally spoke up.

The Mandalorian hesitated. “No.”

You wanted to ask but you didn’t pry. You continued to eat your food in silence until the plate was emptied. When you stood up from your seat you cleared your throat.

He did the same, setting the child down atop the crate with the rest of the food. The child continued to feed himself behind his caretaker’s back while the Mandalorian reached for a small velvet black pouch. He offered it to you.

You took the pouch in your hands, fingering the credits inside. It felt heavier than you expected.

“I think you may have overpaid,” you admitted, guilt creeping in.

The Mandalorian shook his head. “I have a proposition for you,” he admitted. His voice was unwavering, monotone through the modulator. Your stomach tightened up and you straightened your posture.

“I would like to hire your... services.”

Your brow furrowed. “My services?”

The Mandalorian nodded once. “With my line of work, my ship can sometimes take... a beating.”

“Like the scorch marks on the hull plating?” you questioned, a little too bold.

The Mandalorian nodded again. “And the kid. He likes you. Need someone to watch over him when I’m gone.”

You chewed on your bottom lip as you looked behind him at the kid. You shifted your gaze back at Mando. “How much?”

The Mandalorian shifted his weight from his right leg to his left. “Twenty percent plus room and board.”

“You only have one bed,” you shot back, mouth working faster than your brain. Your cheeks heated up to a bright red.

The Mandalorian hummed. “Consider it yours, if you’ll take the job.”

You started chewing your bottom lip again, the taste of iron seeping through your mouth. “I could probably... rig up another bed along there,” you pointed along the wall where some crates were stacked.

He looked over to where you were pointing and nodded. “Does that mean you accept?” he questioned, his voice low and almost crackling through the modulator.

You took a deep breath it and shakily let it out. “Yes.”

A cooing sound came from the crates beside you. The kid was making grabby motions towards you again. You rubbed him gently on the head, pulling lightly at one of his ears.

“Feel free to use the shower, the kid will want to sleep with you in the cot,” the Mandalorian looked down at his green friend. “We leave tomorrow at midday.”

“Thanks, Mando,” you responded after a moment of silence had passed.

He nodded without another word and made his way silently up to the cockpit. You were surprised a man in that much armor could be so quiet. The only sounds he made was the soft clunk of his boots when the bottoms connected with the ladder rungs.

You grabbed the kid and punched the button to open the door to the sleeping quarters. “Get settled, I got a day’s worth of grease to scrub off me.”

*****

When you woke, you were surprised that the little gremlin’s snores didn’t wake you up in the middle of the night. My goodness, how can something so little be so loud? You stretched your body out as quietly as possible as not to wake him. He was sleeping sound in the hammock Mando must have built for him above your head. Thank god he didn’t roll off it in sometime in the night.

You crept out of the cot and stood up on your tippy toes, this time stretching out as full as possible. You had a tendency to curl up in your sleep from your old ship’s sleeping situation but it seemed as if you weren’t going to have that problem on the Crest. There was plenty of room in the cot, you and the kid could have slept in the bed together with a few feet still in between you. Guess you were just used to sleeping in a ball.

You grabbed the last of your food from your bag and started eating as you made your way around the ships cargo hold. When you found a piece of fabric that would do nicely you began to get to work.

It took you under an hour, and you hoped you got the measurements right but nonetheless you started to put the fabric sling around your body. You put both hands in at the opening at your stomach and pushed out as much as you could. Sturdy. Should do the trick.

You crept back over to the cot and carefully grabbed the kid from his cradle. You slowly set him in the opening of the sling. Perfect.

His snores were quieted and you attributed it to his upright positioning, you hoped. You wanted him to sleep a little longer while you grabbed a few things you needed before the journey.

“Clever.”

You inhaled sharply and bit your lip. It took everything in your power not to yelp. “Mando, you scared the bantha fodder out of me!” you whispered harshly.

You could have swore you heard a chuckle coming out of the silver helmet now standing in front of you. He nodded his head towards you. “The carrier. It’s clever.”

Your cheeks turned a bright red as you looked down at the kid, luckily still asleep against your chest. “Thanks.”

He walked over to you. “Going into town?”

You nodded up at him. “Just need to grab a few things before we leave.”

“I’ll join you.”

You said nothing in response, simply grabbing your bag that had previously carried all of your belongings. You had dumped it and sorted it out in an empty crate before going to bed last night.

Mando lowered the ramp and you walked down with him trailing not far behind you.

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