#i really should pull myself together and start writing instead of playing | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

thelov3lybookworm · 1 year ago

Text

Nothing Like I Do

Summary: Y/n and Azriel have been friends for centuries now, having run away together during his escape from his father's house. She had been his neighbour's daughter, whose father wasn't much better. They had talked and met on various occasions before, having understood each others pain.

As she returned from the last mission that Cassian had given her in the stead of Rhys, she had decided that she was going to confess her feelings for the Shadowsinger. But when she returns, she realises that even though he has moved on from Mor, he isn't without someone. As she tries to navigate her way to telling him of her feelings, she wonders if she's risking her friendship with him.

A/n: I really like how this came out, feedback is always appreciated. Also, this is my first time writing Y/n instead of a name, so let me know if theres some need of correction.

And the lines written in blue are the lyrics which made me want to write this. I've honestly been waiting to write this since the song came out, but as i was writing you deserve better, I wanted to wait. And the lyrics aren't in chronological order, just placed where convenient.

•○🌑○•

As she flew over the glittering Sidra and the colourful lights lighting the shops, Y/n took a deep breath in an attempt to settle her nerves. She'd be returning home after almost a decade and she'd finally be meeting her friends.

She was half Illyrian just like Rhys, her father being the one with the wings. He and her mother had wed when his father had arranged a marriage for them.

As she landed on one of the balconies of the House of Wind and vanished her wings away, the nervousness came back with a vengeance. Walking in, she heard noises coming from a nearby sitting room. She smiled. They hadn't changed one bit, being as noisy as ever.

Y/n knew that the High Lord had found his mate, and that, after the war, the they had been blessed with a son. Other than that, she knew nothing about what had happened during the time she had been away.

Her heart beating in her ears, she slowly pushed the door open, poking her head in. Rhys was already staring at her, having known someone had entered the shield around the house. But this, he hadn't expected.

"Hello." Y/n squeaked, before clearing her throat and entering fully.

Hit me like a shot in the heart

Never should have played you so hard

Guess I played myself, that's my fault

Azriel was out of his chair and tackling her in a hug before she could blink. The breath was knocked out of her from the force of his body colliding with hers. It took her a moment to wrap her arms around him as well, mindful of his wings. She smiled at the ceiling.

She had missed this.

When he finally pulled away, grinning, she was yet again pulled into another hug, this time by a laughing Cassian. She nearly lost her footing. When he let go, Rhys smiled at her, giving her a far more gentler hug than his brothers.

As she finished hugging him, her eyes found that of Mor's, shooting an instant spike of self consciousness through her.

As always, Mor was dressed immaculately, with her hair done as if she was attending some celebration. While Y/n looked just out of a battle. In her fighting leathers, her hair almost completely out of the loose braid hanging down her back.

And all of that reminded her of the fact that the male she had always been in love with was in love with Mor.

Hit me like a poisonous dart

You wеre trouble right from the start

Should havе ran, I guess it's my fault

Her spirits were already down as Rhys introduced her to the new additions to the family. She excused herself, saying she wanted to take a bath, but before she left, Y/n crouched in front of Feyre and baby Nyx, who was trying to grab a piece of her hair.

As he babbled at her, she babbled right back, making him exclaim in happiness, trying to jump around on his mother's lap. When he started making grabby hands at her, she was shocked because as far as she knew, it takes quite some time for babies to get used to strangers, let alone pick them up.

She stared helplessly at Nyx. Sure, she was good with kids, but only when she wasn't holding them, never really having held a baby. The one time she did, everything went wrong.

She stared at her new baby brother with wide eyes, before looking up at her mother. "Can I hold him?"

"Yes Y/n." Her mother instructed her how to sit on the bed,placing the little bundle in her lap. Little Y/n couldn't look away, her jaw open in awe.

"He's so small." Y/n mumbled when the door flew open, loudly crashing against the wall, making her jump, jostling her brother in the process. She turned to look at who it was, the colour draining from her face.

Her father.

He looked furious. He had wanted her to stay away from the little boy, and when she had begged to know why, he had hit her. She still didn't understand why her father had wanted that. She also didn't understand why he hated her so much. Maybe it was because she asked too many questions? Whatever the reason, he didn't like her and had told her she was to stay away.

In her haste to get off the bed, she forgot, for a moment, that a baby was in her lap. Before he could get hurt, though, both her parents were there, her mother cradling the baby to her chest, trying to get Y/n behind her. It didn't help as Y/n's father had already grabbed hold of her arm, dragging her out of the bedroom and the main door, out in the cold. When she realised where he was taking her, she started crying and screaming, begging to be forgiven this one time.

It was obviously useless. Later on she would wonder why she even bothered, but at the moment, she would have done anything to be spared from the darkness.

She was dragged into the neighboring house, where a man was staring at her in disgust. She didn't hear anything that the two Illyrians talked about, the sobbing mess that she was. Then as suddenly as her father had stopped, he began dragging her towards the stairs leading down, before she was shoved into the dungeon and the door was slammed shut, leaving her in the darkness.

It was quite some time before she could breath without hiccups, finally quieting down.

A small body settled next to hers. "What happened this time?"

Y/n said nothing for some time, wondering how just wanting to hold her brother for some time could incense her father so.

"I was holding baby brother. He didn't want me to."

She couldn't see him, but she knew he nodded.

He was her only friend, Azriel. She was often times put here with him, both their fathers being friends and taking some sick pleasure in torturing the small children, locking them up in dark places. This wasn't the first time her father had done this. The sad part was that, as far as she could remember, this had been happening forever.

Y/n felt Azriel tugging her closer, hugging her close as they tried to go to sleep on the cold and hard ground. He was her only comfortin times as this, and he will be the only one, for quite some time.

Now, after centuries, she understood why he hated her. She was a female. No other reason. And the reason he didn't want her near her brother was because he didn't want her tainting him. Atleast, that's what he said when she and Azriel had gone near there for a mission.

Y/n took a deep breath, shaking those dark thoughts away and focusing on the happy baby in front of her. She won't let those memories ruin this happy moment.

She gently picked him up, looking to Feyre for guidance. As she stood with Nyx, her eyes connected with hazel ones, full of understanding. And when Azriel smiled, it didn't seem so bad.

Sometime later in the evening, after Y/n had already changed and freshen up, she found herself sitting next to the Shadowsinger with Nyx again in her lap, shaking and waving a stuffed bat toy.

As the night wore on, Y/n found her mind wandeing to her decision to confess her feelings to the Spymaster, and how she could do it. But then, soon enough she realised, with a burst of excitement, that Azriel had already moved on from his crush on Mor.

That happiness didn't last long as she realised that the subject of those longing glances and lingering touches had been changed to the middle Archeron sister, sitting on the other side of him.

I don't even know how to think

'Cause now she got your heart, so I feel stupid, foolish

'Fraid I'm losin' everything I thought I couldn't

My whole world is fallin' apart

And she couldn't help but wonder, would she again be too late?

•○🌑○•

As she stared at them from her place on rhe first floor balcony of the River House, Y/n couldn't help the ugly feeling of jealousy that reared its head. She didn't want to feel that way, especially as the person who held her heart looked so happy.

Azriel was standing behind Elain, who was tending to a few plants in her beautiful garden.

Azriel's head swivelled towards her, his mouth open as if he had looked up mid-sentence. He smiled at her before turning back to Elain.

"You should talk to him." Nesta murmured from behind her, making Y/n jump. While she was busy wallowing in self pity and jealousy, Nesta had somehow snuck up on her.

The two of them had become fast friends, finding they had similar interests. Especially those novels. And despite Y/n not telling Nesta about her feelings towards the Spymaster, Nesta had found out.

"I don't know what to say." Her voice wavered with barely controlled emotions.

Nesta leaned against the railing next to her. "I know. But try atleast. If possible, before the party tonight. If all goes well, you can have fun with him. If not... we can find someone for you tonight. Probably try to make him jealous."

It had been two weeks since Y/n had returned, and tonight was the party Rhys had decided to host in honour of her return.

Y/n nodded. It was time. To move on with him, or without. She couldn't waste her life trying to squeeze herself into other peoples lives, hoping someone would give her some affection.

•○🌑○•

Y/n bit her lip, wondering how to approach the topic. But no elaborate words found her, especially with the Shadowsinger's full attention on her.

Don't you go fallin' in love

Trust me, she's not the one

She won't ever love you like I do

Hold you like I do, know you like I do

There was no soft and subtle way to approach this, so she jumped right in.

"Do you like Elain?"

He blinked, taken aback. "Of course I like her. I like you too." There was something in his eyes that Y/n couldn't decipher as he said the last part.

"No like– like lovers kind of like. Are you interested in her?"

His eyes shuttered as soon as he heard the question. "That's none of your business."

"Oh? And since when did the two of us have different–"

"We're both grown up now, Y/n. You have your personal matters, I have mine. Don't snoop in my life. You are a friend. Act like a friend."

Y/n couldn't help but gape at him, wondering what the hell had gone wrong between them to make him so mad at her. It was a few moments before she could speak again. And when she did, she wished she hadn't.

"Forget her Azriel. Don't go falling in love with her. Trust me she's not the one. She'll never–" Y/nstopped herself from speaking, know if she continued speaking, she won't stop and confess, and then end up most probably rejected.

"She'll never what Y/n?" He stepped closer, so close that she could feel his breath, his voice dropping dangerously. When she said nothing, he continued. "And if she's not the one, who is?" Again, there was that thing in his eyes that she couldn't understand. He searched her eyes before stepping back, shaking his head. "Don't try to control my life Y/n. It doesn't suit you."

Tears brimmed in her eyes as she watched him step out of the room she had pulled him into. Just a few moments later, Nesta poked her head in, as if she had been waiting here all this time.

"Let's get you dressed and make him regret." She murmured, tugging Y/n out of the room.

•○🌑○•

Y/n swallowed her nerves as best as she could as she stepped into the ball room, her eyes trying to find the Spymaster without her permission. But before she could see him, Nesta called out to her.

The night fared on without any issues, accept for the fact that she still hadn't found the Spymaster, good at hiding that he was. Sometime ago, a fae male had asked her to dance with him, which she was forced to accept after feeling Nesta and Mor's glares on her.

"Looks like it's time to change partners." A deep voice from behind Y/n said, sending shivers down her spine. The male glanced up, packing a little before making his exit. Finally, she turned to look at her friend, understanding why the male looked scared. Azriel looked like he was ready to do someone's head off. Or probably chew it off. His wings were slightly flared behind him in a show of power and possession, his signature scowl on his face, making him look all the more scary.

Y/n frowned at him, pissed that he had yelled at her just a few hours ago and then had the audacity to scare people away from her.

"What?" He asked after he had tugged her closer and begun swaying, still staring after the male.

"What's your problem?"

He glanced at her before again his eyes began tracking the male. "You didn't know him. He could've been a secret murderer."

Y/n gaped at him. "And what if he was? You had no right to scare him away."

"I'm just looking out for you. Were you interested in him?"

"That's none of your business." She parroted his earlier words, but he didn't seem to notice.

Don't you go falling in love

'Cause I'ma break that shit up

I won't let her love you like I do

Touch you like I do, nothing like I do

Nothing like I do

"He's not the one, trust me." Finally, he looked down at her.

Y/n had to take a deep breath to stop herself from screaming in frustration. "Don't snoop in my life, Azriel. You're friend, act like one."

A muscle ticked in his jaw as she pulled her hand away from his and stepped back. "Don't try to control my life. Doesn't suit you." Y/n whirled, her dress swishing around her legs as she walked away with barley restrained anger.

She walked out into the balcony nearest to her, leaning against it, taking deep gulps of the fresh night air.

Some time had passed before she felt Azriel's presence behing her and she sighed.

He silently came to stand beside her. It was quite a few moments before he cleared his throat. "I– I'm sorry. I was being an asshole. But did you see him? The way he was looking at you– it made me want to rip his head off him. I'm sorry."

He was looking at her now, but she stared straight ahead. When she didn't say anything for a long time, he continued. "What– what were you going to say, when we talked before the party? She'll never what?"

"It doesn't matter."

"It matters to me."

"She'll never love you... like I do." She needed to know, Y/n decided. If he rejected her, she could atleast have no regrets when moving on.

He started laughing, and she squeezed her eyes shut. "No way. You don't love me. You don't, do you?"

She pushed back from the railing, turning away fro him. "If you don't want me –which I know you don't– atleast don't invalidate my feelings by laughing–"

"Who said i don't? Hmm?" He caught her wrist, tugging a frozen Y/n back, flush against him. "I love you too, you dumb female. Have been in love for almost my whole life now."

"But– but you loved Mor–" She sputtered, turning her head to look at him.

"That was me trying to accept the fact that an amazing female like you would never want a bastard like me."

"You're mad if you thought that. Why would you even think that!" She turned to look at him fully, her wrist still clasped in his hand. He just smiled and shrugged, staring at her intently. "You're such an idiot."

"But–" He said after a moments hesitation, "I'm your idiot now?"

She grinned, the tension bleeding from her shoulders as she buried her face in the place connecting his neck and shoulder, his arms instantly going around her waist.

"You're my idiot now."

Little did they know then, that soon they'll realise he was her mate too.

•○🌑○•

404 notes · View notes

naomiwritesbooks · 6 months ago

Text

How to get better at writing dialogue

1. USE TAGS SPARINGLY!

Tags are often at the end of a dialogue and can be seen as; she said, she shouted, he grumbled, or they muttered. Now, there is nothing wrong with tags; the problem comes with using them too often. When I first started writing, I would use a tag for every little bit of dialogue. This can become repetitive for your reader, a sign that you're a beginner at writing.

2. USE DESCRIPTION

Instead of using she said, in every instance, use a description after the dialogue referring to the character speaking. For example,

Instead of:

“I already told you I didn't move your damned wallet,” I said.

TRY:

“I already told you I didn't move your damned wallet.” My face screwed up as I walked away. I can't believe he would accuse me. Was he not my best friend before her?

So instead of using a tag, try using an action after dialogue and only using tags to make a point. For example, if someone is whispering or grumbling, or if you absolutely have to.

2.DON’T LET CHARACTERS SAY WHAT THEY WANT!

Its very important not to let your characters say exactly what their thinking; at least not at first. What makes dialogue interesting is when characters don't say exactly what their thinking. For instance at the beginning of a romance novel you might not want your main character to admit she hates her boyfriend and is cheating on him, because in reality we don’t always say what we want or do what we should. That's what makes dialogue interesting.

FOR EXAMPLE

INSTEAD OF:

He leaned in to kiss my cheek, and I couldn't help but pull away. “Tommy, this isn't working. Let's break up.”

His eyebrows came together before he laughed bitterly. “Why, because you're cheating on me with the football captain? I saw his jersey under your bed this morning.”

TRY:

He leaned in to kiss my cheek, and I couldn't help but pull away. “Tommy, this isn't working–” I sighed, cutting myself off.

His eyebrows came together with a thick line between them. It was written all over his face; he knew what I was talking about. “What isn't working?” he works his mouth slowly.

“This… whatever,” I motioned between us. “This is…”

His eyebrows came together. “You're breaking up with me,” he says not so much as a question but a statement. He laughed bitterly. “That's rich.”

It takes everything within me not to yell. “Do you think this is funny?”

“Yeah,” he scoffs, shaking his head. “It's not funny. Its because of him isn't it?”

My heart drops to my stomach. There's no way he knows. “W-who?”

“You really want to play dumb right now? Why is his Jersey under your bed?”

Every bone in me goes cold, and my mind shortcuts like a cable with spilled water on it. I try to form a sentence but fail. “Whose jersey?”

“You know whose jersey, Star,” he bites out.

As a reader, you can see that it's more enjoyable when characters don't say exactly what they want. It's a poor example, but imagine that prior to this argument in the story, Tommy notices Star has been Distant and does not mention it, and Star has been playing the perfect girlfriend when she's been secretly cheating. See how that tension has been bubbling because they're both not saying what they want? That's gold.

Hopefully, this will help with your writing. These are just a few things I've picked up on!

#creative writing #writerscommunity #writing #writing struggles #writing tips #writing process #writing dialogue

55 notes · View notes

quillfulwhimsyverse · 10 months ago

Text

The Act of Faking

Word count: 7,2k

Summary: George is not talking to Fred, and the only way Fred thinks this can be salvageable, is by faking a relationship with you. Or when you hear his request - faking him having feelings for you.

Warnings: Angst towards the end.

A/N: I am literally going to kill myself. I had a plan for this to be the perfect slowed paced slow burn, were relationship builds slowly and beautifully but then I just ran out of ideas and this is what happened. And to remind you - English is not my first language so most of the times I just stared at the page trying to come up with different descriptions rather than using the ones everybody knows by heart. So I am sorry. Please enjoy.

P.S I am very sad that I found out about the "5 Acts of Play " stature at the end of writing this one-shot. I could've used it to make the story more interesting. But oh fucking well… _______________________________

One thing that everybody in Hogwarts knew, - the Weasley twins were always together. One never went anywhere without another. They also never had any serious arguments, only slight disagreements that seemed to be forgotten pretty soon after.

That was why you currently frowned looking at the door. Fred came into the Great Hall looking tired, confused and disappointed to say the least. You closed your book, your interest peaking. He only looked like that when he'd gotten himself into detention that overlaps with Quidditch practice.

‘So what happened to you?’ you asked as Fred moved to sit in front of you at the Gryffindor table. He looked really upset. ‘Prank gone wrong?’

‘No, I wish tho.’ He sighed. ‘It’s George. I haven’t had a single conversation with him for what seems like days.’

‘You never fight.’ you mentioned, as Fred was taking a gulp of juice from your glass.

"We haven’t gotten into a fight, Y/N, he just dumbly avoids me. When I try to talk to him, he mumbles something about guilt trips and at the next moment he’s gone.’ He started fidgeting with his wand.

‘How come? Why would he “guilt trip”?’

“Well our dear best friend, Geroge,” Fred mumbled irritably, for a moment you thought he might snap, “had gotten himself a girlfriend, bet you didn’t know that, right?” you only nodded. “Well apparently nobody knew, including me.”

“Yeah…” you bit your lip. “I still don’t see what the problem is.”

“I will tell you what the problem is… The problem is that I accidentally caught him snogging Angelina off in the Quidditch pitch.” You looked at him trying not to show too much emotion. “That wanker wanted to keep it a secret, because he thought I might get hurt.”

“Well, I kinda understand why he kept it a secret.” You waited for his reaction, but he only looked at you blankly, waiting for you to continue. “Weren’t you, like, in love with her a couple of years ago?”

“Yeah, so?” he shook his head. “ I was, that’s the point, Y/N. Was. I am not. Not anymore. I wouldn’t care if they got married tomorrow.” He rested his head in his hands, slowly massaging his forehead.

“Have you told him this?”

“Yeah… Like a dozen bloody times. He doesn’t believe me, though. Says “I am only saying this to make him feel better.” How many times, do ya reckon, I would have to repeat this to make him believe it?”

“Hmmm..” you thought for a second. “Just give him a bit of time, maybe that will solve something?” you suggested.

“Just give him time…” he repeated your words to you. “How do you assume I should do that? With the Christmas holiday upcoming? Although, I think he would rather spend the whole time with the gnomes instead of me in the same room.”

You stayed silent for a moment. Now that you have thought about it, you haven’t seen George for a couple of days too.

“But.” Fred lifted his eyebrows and took a deep breath.” I have a little plan.” He quickly reached for his bag and pulled a letter out of it. “ This morning I got a letter from my mother, about my bad behavior in class and yada yada yada, but she did mention inviting you to stay over during holidays. And this, dear Y/N, sparked a thought in me.”

You shifted uncomfortably on the bench.

“You and I,” he pointed towards you and then towards himself. “We are going to fake being in a relationship. Over your stay at The Burrow.”

“Fred.” you snapped quickly. “You’re crazy.”

“Why? I mean, it’s a good plan. Angelina will be going home during holidays, and George will be forced to be with his family instead, and we’re going to pull a little show for him, just enough, so he would drop this stupid avoidance game he is playing.”

You frowned at your best friend.

“You have a perfect opportunity to talk to him during the holidays and you want to spend it playing a pretend game?” you ask him as he nods. “Yeah, well there is a slight problem in your plan. We have never ever acted romantically towards each other, and George isn’t so stupid, he won’t believe it. He spent so much time with both of us together, so he will notice that there’s just no spark, or whatever.”

“That is exactly where you are going to help me,” he stated. “Your mother is muggle, right? You mentioned once that she is really into those romantic books muggle people read? What do you call them? Noveelies?”

“Novels, Fred.”

“Yeah, whatever, not the point. You said you were into them when you were younger. So what I’m trying to say is that you will help me put this act together, so it looks convincing.”

You look agape at him.

“You’ve thought this through, haven’t you?”

“I had too much time on my hands with my brother successfully avoiding me, I’ve even opened the Transfiguration book a couple of times out of boredom. Closed it pretty soon after, it was even more boring than doing absolutely nothing.”

“Still, Fred, no. It’s your whole family that will notice this as well and I don’t want to lie to Molly. And anyways, how would explain the sudden break up after the Holidays. And… Oh my god… Ron and Ginny will literally tease me to death. This is a really stupid plan, Fred, no one is going to believe it anyway. Just think of something else, I dunno, talk to Angie and make her help you out or something.”

“How am I supposed to talk to Angelina when she is almost always with George nowadays? I knew you would think the plan is stupid, but look - you are my best friend, right? I know you inside out, it would be much easier to pretend we’re in love.”

You look skeptically at him. You wanted to help him, you really did, but this plan was bound to fail one way or another. You very well knew how he flirts and acts with other girls, the last thing you wanted - to accidentally fall for him for his stupid act.

“No.” You started packing your book into your bag, not looking at him.

“Then at least let me act as if I had fallen for you, you won’t have to do anything, just help me out to put the act together, so it looks convincing enough for George, c’mon, Y/N, you know I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.” You let your eyelids fall a little more over your eyes while he speaks. “It’s either this or I am going to do something even more stupid.”

You let your head lull back.

“Alright.” you sight. “But.” You quickly state. “Embarrass me, Weasley, and you will have two people not talking to you.” He rolls his eyes and then determinedly looks at you.

“Okay, so how am I supposed to pull this off?” You look at him in frustration. “What? I need step by step guidance.”

“I am gonna tell you this once. You miss it, I won’t repeat it. It is extremely stupid and why do I even… Aren’t you like a huge flirt and tease? Why would I need to teach you how…” He gave you a warning look and you shut yourself up real quick. “Oh, for Merlin's sake, okay.”

He nodded. You gave yourself a moment to think it through, and he let you, keeping everything he wanted to say to himself.

“Because this will be coming from literally nowhere, you must be really subtle at first.” He opened his mouth to say something but you interrupted him. “ I know, you don’t know how to be subtle, so just gaze at me from time to time during the dinner or whenever you’ll be sure George notices.”

“So all I have to do is just look at you from time to time?”

“No, you muppet. I called it a gaze for a reason. You know? Staring at someone you find admiring?” He slightly shook his head, his ginger hair falling over his brown eyes. “Or just someone you find unbelievably pretty?” He still looked at you a bit dumbfounded. “Fred, you do it when you think about Quidditch and pranks.” He smirked, red tinting his cheeks.

“Okay, loverrr…” you deliberately said the last word as slowly as possible, teasing him intentionally, hoping he might have a change of heart and call this plan off. “We will call this “Act Number One.” In case you fail convincing George with this one, we will move on to the “Act Number Two.” Where you will seek close proximity.” He wiggles his eyebrows. “Step over the line with this one, Fred, and I will hex you.”

He raises his hand into the air. “Whatever you’ll say, Ma’am.”

“You will have to be subtle with this too. Otherwise it will just be whatever you do here, in Hogwarts on a daily basis. Try to sit next to me when the dinner is ready, try and fix my hair slightly or something, you will figure it out as you go.Then there is gonna be “Act Number Three”, I believe, you will need no assistance on this one - teasing. No comment on this one. I think this should do the job.” You look at him blankly, something about this makes you irritated and anxious.

“And what if after all of this, he still won’t be on no speaking terms with me?”

“Then an actor's career won't be suitable for you.”

Act Nr. 1

Your stay at The Burrow began shortly after the plan was devised. You had urged Fred to attempt a conversation with George before enacting the plan, and in the presence of Molly and Arthur, all appeared well between the brothers, they even shared a joke about Ron’s owl Gigwidgeon. However, once left alone, their relationship reverted to its former state. And you knew that it was a matter of hours before Freds attempt at Act One.

And indeed, your prediction proved accurate. The scene unfolded during dinner, just as you had anticipated. While engaged in conversation with Ginny, who sat to your right, Arthur kindly addressed you, prompting you to look left, up at him.

“Y/N, Fred shared the fact that your mother is a muggle,” you nodded looking at him. “How fascinating.” Arthur remarked, his eyes sparkling with curiosity. “I recently got a hold on this little thing..” he reached for his jacket pocket and pulled out a cigarette. “What exactly is this?” He held it with the tips of his thumb and forefinger as if it was a little wand. “I’ve seen it ignite flames. Is it some sort of muggle magic wand, huh?”

You couldn't help but giggle at Arthur's question, but your attention soon shifted to Molly, who cast her husband a warning glance. Unbeknownst to you, Fred's focus shifted to you, a slight smirk playing on his lips as he observed the interaction.

“Not quite, Mr. Weasley,” you replied with a smile. “It's called a cigarette. It contains an addictive substance called nicotine, which people often smoke to alleviate stress or tension.”

“Really, Dad,” Bill interjected with a laugh, “Mum will be reaching for one of those every time you mention something from the Muggle world at the dinner table.”

Suddenly, Fred erupted into laughter, his eyes dancing with amusement as he directed his gaze towards you. “Well, would you look at that,” he exclaimed, drawing the attention of everyone at the table, yet his eyes were locked on you. “Our dear Y/N, the epitome of innocence, enlightening our dear old Dad about the vices of the Muggle realm.”

You shook slightly, your eyes widening a bit. What was he doing? But he only laughed at your widened eyes, the mischievous glint in his eyes indicating that he was teasing you, trying to uplift the mood at the table.

As the Weasleys' laughter filled the room, you felt a warmth spread through you, despite the slight embarrassment of being the center of attention.

Ginny shot Fred a knowing look, her lips curling into a smirk. "Looks like someone's enjoying themselves a bit too much," she teased, earning another round of laughter from the group.

Fred caught your confused look as you were about to mouth him to watch what he’s doing, but he only winked at you.

After the dinner you jumped quickly on your legs to help Molly. When you went to roll up your sleeves to wash the dishes, Molly quickly stopped you with a light touch and smiled kindly. “Honey, the magic will take care of that, go ahead and rest on the couch with everybody.” She rushed you to the living room.

You turned back to look at the rest of the family: Arthur was explaining to Bill about some corruption that involved the Ministry of Magic and Gringotts Wizarding Bank; Ron and George were playing the wizards chess on the floor and by the look on George's face - Ron was winning. Ginny picked up a plate of cookies, murmuring that these were Percy’s favorite, so she had to offer some of him, so he wouldn’t starve himself to death with whatever he was doing as an exemplary Head Boy; and Fred seemed nowhere to be found.

You turned back to Molly. “My mother always said that magic was too precious to use it on simple daily tasks, that could simply be managed by humans.” She smiled gently at you and her eyes lifted a bit from your eyes.

At that exact moment you felt a heavy chins presence on your right shoulder. You turned your head towards it to see Fred's untidy red hair that was brushing your cheek slightly.

"Fred," you greeted softly, turning your head to meet his gaze.

His brown eyes sparkled with mischief as he grinned down at you.

"Hey there," he whispered, his voice low and intimate despite the bustling room around you.

A sense of ease washed over you in his company, a feeling you'd grown accustomed to over the years of friendship.

"Thought I'd join the party," he quipped, his breath warm against your ear.

“Go rest, you two,” Molly interrupted, “while I go and see where to lay you, Y/N. I hope you sharing a room with Ginny would be alright.”

“It’s perfectly fine. Thank you, Molly.”

Fred feigned a dramatic sigh, before nudging you gently towards the living room.

“You are not following the plan, Fred, you ran over all of the acts in one day.” you scolded him, but he laughed loudly.

“Y/N, darling, when was I ever following the rules?”

Act Nr. 2

For a couple of days, the plan appeared to be on hold. The Weasley children found themselves occupied with various tasks around The Burrow, and you willingly lent a hand wherever needed.

Whether it was assisting Molly with preparing meals in the bustling kitchen, helping Arthur mend a fence in the ramshackle backyard, or joining Ron and Ginny in tending to the garden, you immersed yourself in the daily rhythm of life at The Burrow. Once or twice you caught Fred gazing at you while he took a little break to drink some water or just to catch a breath.

However after the evening to a hold on the house and everybody seemed to be resting, gathered in the cozy living room of The Burrow, Fred subtly initiated Act Nr. 2 of the plan. With George engrossed in a conversation with Ron about Quidditch tactics, Fred seized the opportunity to position himself strategically closer to you on the worn-out couch.

With a casual yet deliberate movement, he shifted slightly, allowing his arm to brush against yours. You glanced at him, raising an eyebrow in silent amusement at his subtle maneuver. His response was a barely perceptible smirk, a silent acknowledgment of his progress in the plan.

Every now and then, he would lean in slightly, as if to share a secret or a whispered joke, his breath tickling your ear. Each time, you couldn't help but smile at his playful antics, a silent agreement between you to maintain the facade of blossoming feelings.

Just then, George's voice cut through the jovial atmosphere, interrupting the conversation about Quidditch tactics. "Oi, Fred," he called out, his tone tinged with a hint of mischief. "You're looking a bit too comfortable there, mate. Planning on falling asleep, are you?"

Fred's smirk widened, as if he had anticipated this exchange beforehand. He shot a playful glance at George, his eyes sparkling with mischief. "Can't blame a bloke for seeking a bit of comfort, can you?" he retorted, his tone light-hearted.

George chuckled, shaking his head in mock disapproval. "Well, just don't go drooling on her shoulder, mate," he teased, earning a round of laughter from the others in the room.

You couldn't help but join in the laughter, though you felt a slight flush creeping up your cheeks at the playful banter. Fred's proximity and the teasing exchange sent a pleasant warmth coursing through you, despite the teasing scrutiny of the Weasley twins.

Although, ironically, as the evening wore on, the warmth of the fire and the gentle hum of conversation lulled you into a comfortable state of relaxation. Despite your best efforts to stay alert and engaged in the lively discussion, the cozy ambiance of The Burrow proved too inviting, and you found your eyelids growing heavy.

Unbeknownst to you, Fred noticed the subtle droop of your head as you began to nod off, a small smile playing on his lips at the sight. He leaned closer, discreetly adjusting his position to offer you more support, ensuring you were comfortable.

Meanwhile, George shot Fred a knowing grin, his eyes twinkling with amusement as he observed your gradual descent into sleep. "Looks like someone's had a long day," he remarked sotto voce, his tone filled with gentle jest.

Fred nodded in agreement, his gaze softening as he watched you drift off into slumber, a sense of warmth and protectiveness washing over him. He couldn't help but feel a surge of affection for you, his best friend, as he silently vowed to ensure you rested undisturbed for the remainder of the evening.

That was how Act Number two acted out.

Act Nr. 3?

You were seated on the kitchen table, a steaming cup of coffee cradled in your hands, lost in thought as you gazed out the window. You sent Molly off from the kitchen.

Outside, Molly stood with her hands on her hips, a hint of exasperation evident in her flushed face. Before her, Ginny, George and Bill exchanged mischievous grins, their laughter ringing out like bells in the crisp winter air.

“Are you two crazy? No scarves, no hats on. You are going to get sick.” She urged her children to get back in and dress properly for the weather.

In a moment of playful rebellion, George scooped up a handful of snow and molded it into a perfectly packed snowball. With a mischievous twinkle in his eye, he took aim and let it fly, intending to playfully tease his mother.

But fate had other plans.

In a twist of irony, just as Molly turned to face her son, the snowball found its mark, striking her squarely in the face with an unexpected impact. Time froze for a moment, the air thick with disbelief, before erupting into uproarious laughter, Molly's angry face told them enough and they all turned to get back inside.

“Had a good night's sleep, Y/n?” George's voice rang out as he entered through the door, his laughter trailing behind him like a mischievous echo. He shook his hair, sending a flurry of snow cascading onto the floor, much to Molly's disapproval.

Your cheeks flushed slightly as you slid off from the table, reaching for the teapot and mugs to distract yourself. "Alright," you murmured, your voice barely above a whisper, though your embarrassment spoke volumes.

"Only alright? I thought Fred tucked you in quite nicely." George's laughter filled the room, rich and hearty, as he winked at you. His playful jab struck a nerve, eliciting a mixture of amusement and discomfort. You turned away, feeling the weight of his teasing words lingering in the air, stirring up a whirlwind of emotions within you.

As soon as they all settled down to enjoy a cup of tea, you seized the opportunity to slip away, making a beeline for Fred's whereabouts. But as you ascended up the stairs, he was going down, so you practically ran into each other.

"Oh, good," you exhaled, relief flooding through you at the sight of him. "I was looking for you."

Fred's smirk widened as he halted on the step above you, closing the distance between you almost imperceptibly. "Slept well?" he inquired, his tone laced with amusement.

Your brow furrowed slightly as you struggled to articulate your thoughts, the urgency to convey your concerns before the family downstairs didn’t get any ideas as to why you were standing on the stairs a moment too long. "Yeah, look," you began, your words tumbling out in a rush. "Why won’t you give this plan a little break? You seem to be talking again with George, and with the plan advancing at this pace, soon enough everybody will be asking about the relationship that doesn't exist."

"Darling, breathe," Fred intervened, his hands gently finding purchase on your shoulders as he chuckled. "You only fell asleep on me, so what? You’ve done this a million times in the common room, what’s the difference? But if you want to give it a breather, it’s fine too," he reassured, his expression softening with understanding.

However, instead of finding solace in his words, you recoiled slightly, evading his touch as you took a step back. His hands fell away from your shoulders, hanging awkwardly in the space between you as you sidestepped past him, eager to retreat to the safety of Ginny and your shared bedroom.

Fred's brow furrowed in concern as he watched you retreat, a pang of unease tugging at his heart. He hadn't anticipated that his attempt to reassure you would only seem to exacerbate your anxiety. For a fleeting moment, he considered reaching out to you again, wanting to offer further comfort, but he held back, sensing that you needed space.

Meanwhile, you hurriedly made your way to the bedroom you shared with Ginny, seeking refuge from the whirlwind of emotions that had been stirred up by your encounter with Fred. Once inside the familiar space, you sat on your bed burying your face in your hands, closing your eyes briefly as you attempted to steady your breathing.

You have indeed fallen asleep on each of the twins at least ten twenty times during your years at Hogwarts. And not once has the teasing afterwards bother you, but something about today sent you reeling. You were blushing madly and wished that that would stop. Maybe the whole plan you helped to build, was turning against you, and each, and every time Fred paid attention to you, finally started playing with your head.

You promised yourself to be a little more careful after that.

Act Nr. 4 - the improvised part.

The same night, you were roused from sleep by a gentle hand shaking your shoulder.

“Hey, Y/N, you up?” Fred's voice, soft and filled with excitement, whispered through the darkness as he continued to shake you awake.

You groaned in annoyance, feeling disoriented from being pulled out of sleep. “What is it?” you muttered, your voice tinged with irritation.

“Remember that star we told you about? The one me and George discovered last summer?” Fred's tone was eager, like a child on Christmas morning, and you realized where this was headed.

“Yeah,” you replied, still half-asleep and struggling to grasp why he was waking you up in the middle of the night for a star.

“Well, come on. I found it again,” he urged, his excitement palpable even in the dim light of the room.

You hesitated, feeling reluctant to leave the warmth of your bed for a star. “Why would you wake me up for a star, Fred? It's just a star,” you grumbled, rubbing the sleep from your eyes.

But Fred was undeterred, his enthusiasm contagious as he handed you a pair of special goggles and gently grasped your wrist, guiding you outside into the chilly night air.

“Put these on and look straight up from where you're standing,” he instructed, his grip firm yet gentle as he positioned you in the right spot.

With a sigh, you relented, slipping the enchanted goggles over your eyes and following Fred's guidance. As you gazed upward, your breath caught in your throat at the sight before you.

The darkness of the night sky was transformed into a mesmerizing display of swirling colors, reminiscent of oil puddles reflecting light from muggle cars. It reminded you of the evening sky as the sun finally starts to set, bringing out the most vivid colors. The bright colors danced and twirled around in the star and all around it, creating an ethereal display that seemed to defy explanation. Shades of deep indigo melted into vibrant hues of sapphire and emerald, while streaks of crimson and gold streaked across the dark sky.

“Pretty, ain’t it?” asked Fred while you watched the view in silence. You took the goggles off and looked up again, seeing only small, little stars shining above you. “Well the other ones do not look that extraordinary, but somehow that one does. And it comes up like three or four times a year. It’s a miracle it came up over your stay here.”

You turned to look at him. “It's really beautiful, Fred. I’m glad you woke me up.”

He gently stroked your arms to make you a little bit warmer as you continued to shake due to the cold of the winter's night.

When Fred retrieved back into his room, he smiled like a dumbass. When you got back inside you asked him if he had named that star and with a gentle smile he asked you to come up with a name for it.

“Where have you been?” Apparently George wasn’t asleep when Fred got back, and curiosity won over George.

“Out.”

“You showed her the star, didn’t you?” George chuckled slightly when his brother removed his clothing and fell backwards into his bed. “I noticed it appeared again yesterday.”

“I might have done that, yes.” Fred admitted with a sheepish grin.

George laughed. “Told her what you named it?”

“No, that would’ve been a bit embarrassing.”

George laughed loudly but then quickly stopped, before waking the whole house up. “You're hopeless, man. But I am happy for you.”

Fred quickly turned his head to look at his brother, even though through the dark he could only make out his silhouette. “So? Are you back on speaking terms with me?”

“Yeah, mate,” George chuckled, “I realized I was being dumb.”

Fred was happy. He genuinely was, but something about coming back to terms with his brother stopped him from feeling completely pleased with the situation.

Act Nr. 5

Act 5 unfolded on a brisk afternoon a couple of days later. The sun was casting long shadows across the snow-dusted grounds of The Burrow. The Weasleys were involved in their own activities. You specifically were interested in another bewitched muggle artifact Arthur promptly told you about, then he went on reading the letter from the Ministry again, completely forgetting about telling you anything afterwards. So you sat at the kitchen table, engrossed in a book. As you finally coughed up to where you left off, Fred entered the room with a lopsided grin.

"Hey, Y/N," he greeted, his voice warm and inviting.

You glanced up from your book, offering him a small smile in return. "Hey, Fred. What's up?"

"I was thinking," he began, his tone casual yet tinged with excitement, "why don't we take a walk outside? It's a perfect day for it."

Your eyebrows furrowed slightly in confusion. "A walk? Now?"

Fred nodded eagerly. "Yeah, come on. It'll be fun. We can explore the woods behind The Burrow. I heard there's a hidden clearing with the most amazing view."

Despite your initial skepticism, you found yourself unable to resist Fred's infectious enthusiasm. With a shrug, you closed your book and rose from the table. "Alright, why not? Lead the way."

As you ventured into the woods together, Fred regaled you with stories and anecdotes, his laughter echoing through the trees. With each step, you felt yourself relaxing in his company.

Eventually, you reached the hidden clearing Fred had mentioned, and you couldn't help but gasp in awe at the breathtaking view before you. The sun dipped low on the horizon, casting a golden hue over the landscape, while a gentle breeze whispered through the trees.

"It's beautiful," you murmured, your eyes scanning the scenery.

Fred grinned, his gaze fixed on you. "Not as beautiful as you," he replied softly.

You froze, your heart skipping a beat at his words. But before you could respond, George's voice rang out from behind you.

"Hey, lovebirds!" he called, his tone teasing. "What are you two up to?"

Your confusion turned to disappointment as you realized that Fred's affectionate words were likely just another one of his improvised acts. With a forced smile, you turned to face your friend, masking your disappointment behind a facade of nonchalance.

"Just enjoying the view," you replied, your voice lacking its usual warmth.”Care to join?”

As George joined you in the clearing, the moment between you and Fred faded into the background, leaving you grappling with the lingering sting of disappointment and confusion.

As the days passed quickly in The Burrow, the atmosphere seemed to settle into a familiar rhythm, apart from that, the twins seemed to get back into their close relationship, which made you extremely happy.

Once or twice Fred would act out your made up plan and gaze at you during the day at dinner or whenever you were near each other. You, of course, didn’t expect anything more than that, understanding that now the two brothers were back to their old selves and your interactions with Fred were purely out of keeping the act just for George. But that did not change the fact that the shift happened within you. You spend more and more time thinking how everything will play out in the end when you get back to Hogwarts. How you will be sitting there, in the common room, pretending not to notice how Fred flirts with other girls and then returns to you to boast about it. This held a tight grip over your heart, making your chest feel heavy.

There you were, sitting on the couch, watching Ron make the wrong move and lose his bishop in the process, Ginny bobbing her head happily whilst laying on the ground.

“George just now told me that you don’t know how to play chess,” Fred sat down next to you, accidentally knocking several chess figures of the ground.

“OIII!” Ron shouted. “Watch what you’re doing.”

“Sorry, mate.” Fred laughed and dramatically reached for the queen on the ground and put it back on board in the wrong spot. “Y/N?”

“Hmm?” You turned to him, shifting back from your thoughts to reality.

Fred raised his eyebrow and laughed. “What were you thinking so deeply about? Me?” he teased and you felt his hand reach for your own. As he tried to intervene your fingers together you quickly pulled your arm away from him and stood up. No matter how angry this made you, you tried not to give it away. You felt sickened to your stomach. The action was small. But for some reason it was enough for you. This went too far, the act he was doing and suddenly there was no going back, everything went from too early to too late to stop this stupid lie, and the only thing you dreaded for - happened. It was your own fault, you agreed to this.

“Just remembered, I haven’t reached out for my parents for a while now,” you mumbled and left the room to actually write to your parents and ask if you could get back home from The Burrow earlier than planned.

The Finale

You were folding your clothes and putting them back in your trunk, while Ginny watched you from her bed.

“Did they really ask you to go back home?” She asked once again in disbelief. You nodded. “They always let you stay as long as you want.”

“Yeah, I guess something happened back home.” You lied without looking back up at her.

“Did you tell Fred? That you’re going back home?” She sat up, while you stopped packing and thought for a moment whether you should tell her the truth. “You haven’t,” she said, quite shocked. “Why? The boy’s going to go mad.”

“I really don’t think so,” you mumbled.

“But he will tho,” spoke George standing in between the door, his arms crossed on his chest, he looked disappointed.

You paused, feeling the weight of George's words sinking in. Despite your efforts to convince yourself otherwise, deep down, you knew he was right. Fred would indeed be affected by your departure, you were his best friend, nevertheless.

Ginny shot her twin a sympathetic glance before turning back to you. "He's right, you know. Fred may not show it, but he'll definitely be upset."

You sighed, feeling a pang of guilt gnawing at your conscience. "I know," you admitted reluctantly. "But I need to sort things out back home."

“No, you don’t.” Said George again firmly. He looked quite mad now. “Considering the fact that it was you, who asked your parents to go back home early, not the other way around.”

“Uhmm… How do you?...” You stammered, caught off guard by George's accusation. His words hung in the air, heavy with accusation and disbelief.

Ginny's expression softened, her eyes filled with concern as she glanced between you and George. "George, calm down," she interjected gently, trying to diffuse the tension that crackled in the room.

But George remained undeterred, his gaze fixed firmly on you. "How do I know?" he repeated, his voice low and intense. "Because you accidentally used the quill we use for pranks. It creates two messages as it writes, one to your recipient, second to its owner, and that would be me and Fred, only I got the hold of the message first.”

You hid your face in your hands, embarrassed.

“Then,” George continued, “I assumed Fred had done something stupid once again and pressed him until he told me everything, And when I say everything, I mean it. Merlin's beard, Y/N, I thought Fred was daft, but turns out this friendship with us made you daft too.”

“Ummmm?” Ginny interrupted. “Mind to elaborate a little bit?”

Ginny's interruption brought a momentary pause to the tense atmosphere in the room. George sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair as he struggled to find the right words.

"Well," he began, glancing at you briefly before continuing, "apparently our dear Y/N here concocted a plan to get Fred and me talking again. She thought we needed a little nudge to mend our relationship, so she came up with this whole scheme of them faking a relationship."

Ginny's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You did what?" she exclaimed, turning to you with a mixture of disbelief and curiosity.

“First of all,” you raised your finger angrily at George, “ it wasn’t my idea, Fred came up with it. Secondly, it wasn’t a fake relationship,” you said angrily, “it was for you to believe he had feelings for me so you would drop your stupid not talking to Fred phase, because you thought he was still in love with your girlfriend. So in the end, who is to blame?” you asked him.

Ginny looked from you to George. She was sitting dumbfounded, and if it wasn’t for the angry looks on your and George's faces, she would’ve started laughing.

“Okay, it was stupid, I agree with you,” George mumbled. “But you're as thick as it gets, Y/N.”

“Why am I the thick one?”

“Because you actually thought Fred would fake having feelings for you,” these words from George stung like a slap in the face, the truth of them hitting you harder than you anticipated. You felt a surge of embarrassment and hurt wash over you, realizing how naively you had fallen for Fred's act. It was a bitter pill to swallow. Even Ginny’s mouth fell open.

“George…” she murmured silently.

“What? Wasn’t he like in love with her for a couple of years?” He said angrily. “And then you,” he pointed towards you, “went on and let him continue this charade and now because you can’t take it anymore, you’re leaving. Of course this is going to upset him.”

You tried to say something, you really tried, but words just did not form inside your head.

Thank the spirits, cause it was Ginny who spoke after. “No, George, wait. I don’t think she knew.”

You met Ginny's eyes, grateful for her unwavering support in this moment of turmoil.

“I… I didn’t know,” you finally managed to utter, your voice barely above a whisper, but each word weighed heavy with sincerity. “I didn’t realize... I thought...” Your voice trailed off, the words catching in your throat as you struggled to articulate the whirlwind of emotions that churned within you. “I genuinely thought that he was doing it for you. I was leaving because I didn’t want to…” the words died out from your mouth and you didn’t finish your sentence.

“I didn’t want to end up hurt afterwards. I assumed he only saw me as his best friend and the act would die out eventually when we got back to Hogwarts.”

The snort from George interrupted the silence that followed after your sentence. “You and Fred must be two of the dumbest people I know. Y/N, he named a star after you, you were more than his best friend for a while now.”

“Oi, mate, not nice to throw me under the bus like that,” Fred quipped, entering the room with a lopsided grin.

You turned to him, quite in shock.

“And I think this is our cue to leave,” said Ginny gently, sending a wink to you and grabbing George by his forearm to lead him out of the room.

“Complete idiots,” George managed to yell whilst leaving.

Fred chuckled, stepping closer to you. "Ignore him, love. He's just jealous because he hasn't named a star after anyone yet."

“I am extremely confused, Fred.”

Fred's grin softened into a gentle smile as he reached out to take your hand in his and intervene your fingers together. He smiled as you let him. "I know, Y/N. It's been a bit of a mess, hasn't it?"

You nodded, still trying to process everything that had unfolded.

"I promise to explain everything properly," Fred reassured you, his eyes earnest and sincere.

Fred took a deep breath, gathering his thoughts before he began to explain. "Okay, so... I know this whole situation might seem incredibly confusing, but there are a few things you need to know." He paused, searching your eyes for any sign of understanding before continuing.

"Firstly, yes, I did come up with the plan to pretend to have feelings for you, but it wasn't just to mend things between George and me. It was also because..." He hesitated, his expression turning earnest. "Well, because I actually thought I might kill two birds with one stone.”

Confusion flickered across your face as you processed his words. "What do you mean?" you asked, your voice barely above a whisper.

Fred took a deep breath, steeling himself before he continued. "I mean, yes, the initial idea was to help George and me patch things up by making him think I had feelings for you. But... it was also a way for me to... explore my own feelings for you."

Your breath caught in your throat as his words sank in. "You mean... you actually do have feelings for me?" you asked, your voice barely audible.

Fred nodded, his gaze unwavering as he met your eyes. "Yeah, I do. I've liked you for a while now, Y/N. I just didn't know how to tell you."

Emotions swirled inside you, a mixture of disbelief, confusion, and a flicker of hope. "But... why didn't you just tell me?" you asked, your voice trembling with emotion.

Fred sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I was scared, Y/N. Before our friendship even began, you seemed to be annoyed everytime I approached you. I am not even going to mention the looks you gave me when I tried to flirt with you. Then I dropped it, I thought you weren’t interested and it proved me right, cause quickly after you joined our trio. (A/N: We can not forget our Lee.)”

“I thought you saw me as one of these girls you always flirt with, I thought you were being a tease for your own entertainment.”

Fred's expression softened as he listened to your words, a tinge of regret coloring his features. "Y/N, I understand why you might have thought that. And I'm sorry if I ever gave you that impression.”

“But why did George think you were still into Angelina?”

“Because before you came into the picture I kinda liked her. And we got along pretty well, I just did not realize at the time she was being extra friendly with me, cause she liked George. Then you came along and my feelings changed. I mentioned them to George once or twice and then dropped it. Didn’t want to annoy him, didn’t want to hear him tease me when you joined our friend group. When he fell for Angelina, he must’ve overthought everything. But he kinda put everything together after I returned to our room after I showed you your star.” He raised his free hand and gently tucked your stray strand of hair over your ear, and then pressed his hand over your cheek, to which you leaned in.

“Pretty soon after you arrived, you fell asleep on me, literally in front of everybody,” you closed your eyes in embarrassment as he spoke, he started softly caressing your cheek, “I thought you finally started to catch on, but you asked me to put the plan on hold, and I genuinely got scared I was pushing you away with the way I acted.”

“I am so sorry for not catching on sooner, for avoiding you…” you tried to explain yourself, but Fred interrupted you.

Fred shook his head, his expression tender. "No apologies necessary, Y/N. You did what I asked you. I hope you will now understand that everything was sincere.”

You closed your eyes again and as lovingly as possible said, “And I hope you will understand that I sincerely fell for you.”

He laughed as he leaned in closer, “I got that while you were having a little chit chat with my brother, otherwise it would’ve been me who stayed over with the gnomes.” He looked deeply into your eyes as if asking if it was alright, you slightly nodded, so he closed that little space that was left between you and kissed you.

#fred weasly x reader #fred weasley x you #fake relationship #slow burn #harry potter #fred weasley imagine #fred weasley one-shot #fred x reader #fred

115 notes · View notes

it-happened-one-fic · 7 months ago

Text

Dancing with Visions - It Isn't Unusual - Charleston - Venti

Author Notes: I forgot how difficult it was to write the Charleston and writing it with Venti (a character I have written very little with) made this doubly hard. But that's what I get for randomizing the matches between characters and dances. I wrote this fic will listening to the song "It's Not Unusual" by Tom Jones. The performance in this fic was inspired by a couple Charleston by Sondre and Tanya, viewable here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmY_QNOFvRY. Just like the rest of this series, reader is female. I hope you enjoy!

If you would like to read more of this series, the fics can be found here: Dancing with Visions Masterlist.

Type: Female reader/ dance/ fluff/ platonic or romantic/ sfw

Word Count: 1036

Realistically speaking, I should have known something was going to happen when Venti, of all people, sat down next to me on a bench despite the festival that surrounded us. Because, for Venti, festivals were important. He could make a lot of easy money, get people to buy him drinks, and have a generally good time without anyone to really scold him about his alcohol intake. Because, bluntly put, a festival in Mondstadt always meant alcohol.

So for Venti, who could be argued to be the man of the hour, to abandon the festivities and instead sit with me on the sidelines was odd.

Even more so, though, I really should have known better than to accept his excuse that it wasn’t unusual for him to sit with ‘someone as dear as you’ as him flirting and taking a break from the celebrations.

I did, however, recognize my mistake for what it was when Venti’s hand crept over and across the bench to where mine rested. But that was far too late for my realization, though, considering I was barely able to even look down at where his fingers toyed with mine before I was being yanked up to a standing pose.

“Venti,” Despite his behavior, I found myself chuckling out his name as he looked at me with bright eyes.

“Come on, a day like this is made for music and dancing. Not for sitting off to the side all by your lonesome,” He pulled me further away from my now-abandoned seat and closer to the dancing people.

I grinned at him, tilting my head at the flirtatious young man, “Then shouldn’t you be playing music?”

At my words, he grinned and shook his head, bowing at the waist as he gestured off towards the side at Six-fingered José, “A gentleman such as myself knows when to let others have their moment in the spotlight.”

I snorted at his words but shook my head. Surrendering easily to the grinning young man, “Alright, one quick dance.”

He looked all but diabolically pleased with himself as he twirled me lightly so that I was facing him, with my back to the crowd of dancers, as he interlocked our hands, “How does the Charleston sound, my lovely lady?”

I rolled my eyes but didn’t really complain as I laughed at him, “Figures you’d like a dance as fast as that one.”

He wiggled his eyebrows, causing me to laugh as he started to sway with the music, “Is that a yes?”

I nodded in lieu of responding, only lagging slightly behind him as he started dancing before I was matching his kicking motions perfectly. Grinning despite myself as we shifted around, trading off on who leaned backwards as our feet hit the ground in time to the upbeat rhythm of the music around us.

I could hear others laughing around us, and some even started clapping, making room for us as we danced. Matching the festive atmosphere perfectly as Venti’s sparkling, laughter-filled eyes continued to hold mine.

He pulled me towards him, and I laughed as we collided before I leaned back, letting him whirl me in a rapid spin before I was lowered once more so that I was in a limbo-esque position.

He tugged me back up with a carefree laugh, twirling me so that our bodies were parallel to one another with our arms extended across each other’s backs so that our hands could stay locked together.

Our footsteps clicking against the cobblestone path melded with the applause that clapped along to the beat of the song as we continued to dance. Spinning around so that we were facing each other and trading off on which side our arms were locked as we kept up our kicklike footsteps.

I was laughing out loud right now, knowing perfectly well that I’d lost to both Venti and the festival’s atmosphere of joy. Which was precisely what the bard had wanted.

Because that was just the way Venti was. Always pushing me to relax and join in on his playful actions, even if I was usually more likely to sit off to the side and watch others’ celebrations.

I suppose that when it came right down to it, he simply couldn’t help himself.

He spun me out as the song ended, keeping a hold of my hand as he turned and walked with me away from the crowd of dancers who kept on going without us.

“There. One dance, as promised,” I smiled at him, half out of breath from both having laughed quite so much and the raw amount of energy I’d just exerted.

He grinned back at me, tugging a flower out of one of the bouquets that filled the streets and holding out to me as if he were a magician who’d just whisked the blossom out of thin air.

I glanced smilingly at the Cecilia bloom before accepting it, causing his smile to only widen, “And I do thank my lady.”

I laughed slightly, shaking my head fondly and sitting back down on the bench before blinking in surprise as the bard sat down next to me, “You aren’t going to rejoin the festivities?”

I leaned towards him almost worriedly, but he only shook his head. That usual smile of his on his face as he leaned towards me as if he were mirroring my motions, “I told you, it isn’t unusual for me to want to spend time with someone as dear as you.”

I blinked at him, twirling the flower in my fingers lightly as I held his wide-eyed gaze, “It is when there’s booze to be had that you aren’t going after.”

He pressed a hand to his chest, looking at me with a faux hurt expression, “If I leave you, you won’t be protected, and someone else will come by to make you dance with them!”

I hummed in response, not believing him in the slightest but opting to stay silent as I looked back out at the crowd. A slight smile on my face as I leaned relaxedly against Venti.

After all, it wasn’t unusual for me to be pleased that he was staying with me rather than leaving.

If you would like to read more:

28 notes · View notes

sometimes-love-is-enough · 8 months ago

Text

Syzygy: Some Closing Thoughts

I'm writing this at 8pm on my backyard porch, under the wavering light of a distant full moon. Hello, moon! Please don't kidnap me. I just wanted to hang out with you for a while as I collect my final thoughts. It's a pretty cloudy night tonight, so it's not properly visible, which I suppose is the cloud cover shielding me from a terrible lunar fate. It gives a deliciously hazy atmosphere for the absolute essay I'm about to write.

Apparently, the Farmer's Almanac says that tonight's full moon is a 'Pink Moon', which sounds like it'd be a very pleasant viewing experience. I imagine pastel frangipanis spontaneously sprouting all over the moon's surface, covering every inch of its rocks and crags until the soft pink glow is visible from all the way down here on Earth. Unfortunately it's not named 'Pink Moon' because of that; there's some American environmental factors, etc.

I think it's kind of charming that there's a list of names for every possible full moon, as if the moon's putting on different masks or incarnations every time it tilts just enough that we can see its full face. I'm looking at a list of them now instead of writing these final notes like I probably should. The names are so delightful. Strawberry Moon. Sturgeon Moon. Apparently last month's full moon was Worm Moon. WORM MOON. I could go on. I won't. Let's talk about Syzygy instead.

Syzygy is... Man, where do I even start with this? Let's try the beginning. I started writing Syzygy in February of 2021, after ruminating on it for probably a few months before that, as I often do. That's three years ago, so my memories of the reasons why are a bit fuzzy, but I think I did it for two reasons: one, a desire to have a long-form meaty slowburn fic for a beloved rarepair in the tag so other people could enjoy it, and two, a fascination with the idea of fractured identity, what it means to be a Side without a Centre. The whole thing with the alternate-history steampunk swapped-around Earth came about naturally from that.

Except that's actually kind of a lie, because that's not the beginning, this began in 2020, when I wrote a pitch for a local station that was accepting radio play submissions (rejected, of course) featuring a hardboiled noir detective in a starlit city whose latest client was a tiny shiny girl asking him to solve her father's murder. And that's also a lie, because I think it really began when I tried to write an original novel in high school where the protagonist's name was Avery Allen, because I liked the way the name tripped off my lips.

My stories are always built on each other, especially stories I never get to write. They all recycle into each other in a weird blend of concepts and characters. 2021 was when I sat down and told myself I was going to write the Thomceit time loop fic, and I dove into it with aplomb. I can't recall the exact timeline of events, but at some point I underwent some truly gnarly health problems that left me unable to use my hands for extended periods of time, and so the fic that was meant to be for a Big Bang ended up... Just sitting in a folder for a while. But me and my beta managed to pull it the fuck together, and after adding some extra bits and pieces (the cutaways were a LAST MINUTE ADDITION even though I think they're some of my favorite bits in the whole thing) I started putting it all up.

Okay, there we go, that's enough of an abridged history of this thing. Let's just say: I never expected as many people to like it as it turned out, I thought that it would be a niche little fic for a rarepair, and I was honestly pretty content with that. So it was delightful to see so many people getting so into it, I have enjoyed the FUCK out of all of your comments and theories and predictions. It's been delightful when people predicted a plot point correctly, and honestly even more delightful when they predicted incorrectly. I've had such a blast.

As for the writing... Suffice to say I have many notebooks full of notes and thoughts, more than one spreadsheet to keep track of time loops and lore, and a semi-complete list of all of Virgil's tarot cards, which one day I'll probably polish and share properly, because I think the concept is neat. But that's kind of how it always goes with my writing.

Naming every inspiration for this would take forever and I'd still miss a few, but I'll just throw out a key few ones, because I gotta:

17776: What Will Football Look Like In The Future, because when I first read it I got the wrong idea and thought that Juice (Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer) was short for Betelgeuse (the star), and that sparked a whole thing about living stars in my brain. Also, just the general way that the worldbuilding and absurdity is handled in that world, it scratches my brain just right.

Welcome To Night Vale. I don't think I need to explain this one.

Madeleine L'Engle's writing, particularly A Wind In The Door, particularly-particularly the bit of it where Proginoskes explains why, precisely, he has to remember and Name every star in the universe. Fucking beautiful book.

A particular Untamed/Mo Dao Zu Shi fic I read years ago and haven't been able to track down again, which also features two people stuck in a time loop who are initially unaware that they're in it together AND dying at the same time. I believe they also meet on a bus? The details are fuzzy. The worldbuilding and descriptions of that fic were so stunning to me, it had me unable to read anything for a solid few weeks, it is definitely a superior work to mine in every respect. If anyone finds it, let me know, I don't think I finished reading it and want to know how it ends.

An unpublished fic that I had the privilege to read while it was being written, that changed my brain chemistry re: the Sides unknowingly existing without Thomas. The Flowerwall Cafe originally hails from this one, too, graciously borrowed and greatly beloved.

Both Ghibli films in general AND Dianna Wynne Jones books in general, and obviously the intersection between the two, Howl's Moving Castle, which is fascinating in how both mediums handle the setting.

The Doctor Who audio drama Scherzo, which is a wild ride, and there's a major plot point revolving around the two main characters holding hands and fusing gruesomely into each other - and another involving an in-story fairy tale.

There was no huge inspiration for the clockwork city and weird steampunk carriages, apart from (perhaps) Fallen London. Certainly, the idea of a background organization that wants to kill the sun, who also happens to be a sentient being, is cribbed from the Liberation of Night.

Syzygy also happens to be packed full of many obscure references to... like... personal projects of mine, some published and some unpublished, as well as a lot of my friends and co-writers, and some really REALLY niche stuff that only I will ever properly understand. I buried a lot of myself into this story, is what I'm saying. Juice hails from a completely different project (a TTRPG with my friends, of which she is a beloved and cherished NPC), the in-universe author for Avery Allen (and Mallory Wynn too) are named for a fictional TV author I created when the writing discord was making a nonexistent fandom, Logan's dumpling recipe is my favorite recipe of all time.

I have an apartment ghost, too. I talk to it regularly.

Final thank-yous, because I want to post this very very soon, I've been typing for too long and the mosquitoes are starting to get to me. Thank you to:

Everyone on the TSS writing server who listened to me complain while I was writing it the first time round, and has subsequently listened to me complain while editing it these past two years. So many people in there are responsible for little bits and pieces - phrasings, words, nicknames, jokes - and I couldn't begin to name everyone who helped.

Saphira and the rest of the people who are currently working on making a full-cast audio drama out of this fic (???) (???!!!!??) (!!!!). It is SO baffling to me that it's happening, I'm in complete disbelief whenever we talk about it or I see the script or I get asked logistics questions, I'm terrified and thrilled to see how it turns out, what the fuck! The very existence of that project has ended up influencing a few things about this fic's endgame, too.

Everyone who's commented extensively, commented entire academic analyses, commented numbered lists, commented laconically, left a single emoji in the comments, left kudos, bookmarked it, sent me asks on Tumblr, given me thumbs-ups on Discord, or even just silently read the fic without interacting at all. Your witness brings my words to existence. Love you love you love you.

And Len, who lives in my brain and my body and my heart and my throat, and who is honestly singlehandedly responsible for dragging this fic out of the depths of Google Docs and into the arms of AO3. They've already said I don't need to thank them, but come on, I totally do. Len is the best beta, and puts up with all sorts of deranged nonsense from me, because I have an unhinged writing process where I don't think about anything before I put it down on the page, and I use way too many connecting-dashes and not enough semicolons. Kisses kisses kisses. Thanks for doing this with me, and I can't wait to do it again.

Myself. I managed to write this and I managed to finish it. That makes me a pretty cool person, all things considered. I'm glad I did this.

What next? I've got to rest. Well, I need to get some things done... and then rest. I've been juggling a hellish amount of projects for a while now, and now Syzygy's finally cleared from my plate, I'm going to try to let the others get cleared too so I can take some time and be less stressed. The Locked Tomb AU will be ongoing, as I get through final edits of chapters, so keep an eye out for that - if you're interested in a fic that's rather less starry and shiny, but very much Thomceit and death themes, check it out - and then....... Well, whatever comes next, whenever I have the energy to do it. I adore writing in this fandom. I'll be back with something weird soon enough.

Ad astra, baby! It's been a blast.

- Min (2024)

#Syzygy #author's note

37 notes · View notes

leftoverenvy · 11 months ago

Text

Tastes Like Sugar (ch. 29)

Summary: India Mae, or Indi, is a music major, struggling to pay bills, tuition, work, and make good grades. Emily Prentiss is a BAU profiler, as well as a DC socialite thanks to her huge family fortune. The two enter into a mutually beneficial arrangement: Emily will pay for Indi's school if Indi accompanies Emily to her social functions for a few months, posing as her girlfriend. As weeks go by, the lines between their arrangement and their true feelings start to blur. But money can't buy love, right?

Pairing: India Mae Banks x Emily Prentiss; OC x Emily Prentiss

Warnings: smut; sugar baby relationships; age gap (16 years - but all over 18)

Word Count: 2.8 k

Read on Wattpad | Ao3 | Previous Chapters

Taglist: @ssa-sapphic 🧸; @5raysofsunshine 🌮; @reidselle 🦭; @swiftfiles 🐝💚; @gaelic-symphony 🎻 ; @sadgirlml 🌻💌; @hotchs-bitch 🦆 ; @multiverse-mxdness ; @madelineleong ; @scorpsik 🎨 ; @heidss

A/n: Wow, I am so so sorry that it's been so long since an update. I've finally found my joy in writing again. If you're still following this story, I cannot tell you how much your patience and loyalty means to me. Enjoy <3

Chapter 29 - Wayward

My summer with Emily was like a dream. She had only been gone on two cases, spending more regular hours in the office. We didn't comment on her unusually light case load for fear it would jinx it. I loved the time we were able to spend together with a more normal schedule. I enjoyed twisting myself around her while we watched movies on the couch. I relished the way she made me feel as she watched me play the piano. I yearned for the way she touched me every night.

Even though she had been gone for a case in Alaska for the last week, I still counted it a blessing to have had so many weeks uninterrupted by calls away. "Hi angel!" I startled, jumping halfway off the couch.

Once I had caught my breath, I smiled widely and responded, "Emily!" She flopped down next to me on the couch, pulling me in for a proper kiss. "Missed you," I mumbled between kisses. Once our frenzy had slowed down, I whispered against her neck, "I have something for you."

"That's funny, me too!" She whipped out a keychain with a photo of the Northern Lights in it.

I chuckled, sitting up to grab it and examine it more closely. "This is actually very pretty, Em. I thought these were supposed to be cheesy."

"I thought the Alaskan landscape deserved better. It was gorgeous up there; I wish you could have seen it."

"Thank you, babe. I love it." She kissed my cheek, tugging me closer.

"Now," she started, "What's this about a present for me?" I smiled bashfully, suddenly nervous to play the song I had finished for her. "I thought I was supposed to bring you presents."

"I didn't say it was a present. It's not a big deal. Just a lil something."

"Mmhm," she hummed skeptically, her eyes narrowing. "Show me." Something in Emily's glittering eyes told me she was excited by the prospect of receiving a gift. When was the last time someone had gotten her something that she really wanted?

I reluctantly left her arms and stood up. Butterflies swarmed my stomach, nerves overtaking me. This was a bad idea. I should have recorded her song and let her listen to it on her own. I felt like the biggest idiot on the planet – she was going to hate this.

"I've uh," I nervously sat down at the bench, "Been composing this summer." I had worked all summer on this composition when Emily was out of the house.

"I know, baby. You've done some really great pieces."

"Yeah, well." I swallowed thickly. I tried to think of what to say next. I thought you deserved one to show you how much I love you. Instead, I whispered, "This one's called 'Emily's Song.'" Before she could say anything, I started playing.

As soon as I pressed down on the keys, my hands knew what to do. I didn't need to think about it, muscle memory controlled my fingers. I felt myself start to tear up playing, knowing just how much love I had woven into this song. I wished I was brave enough to tell her. Embarrassed by how emotional I was, I begged my eyes to suck the tears back in, certain Emily would be appreciative but not emotional.

As I started the last part of the song, I knew that I would never love anyone like I loved Emily Prentiss. But the thought terrified me. I was only twenty-two – what did I know about love? And how could she feel even a fraction of what I felt for her?

When the final notes of the song rang through the air, I couldn't bring myself to look at Emily, far too embarrassed. I heard her sniff and then push herself off the couch. Another beat passed and I felt her arms wrap around my shoulder. "That was perfect, Indi. Thank you." She pressed a kiss to my temple, her lips lingering longer than usual. "I mean it, angel. No one's ever written a song for me before. It was absolutely beautiful."

Her lips trailed down the side of my face, lingering at the corner of my mouth and until I turned my head to kiss her back. She deepened the kiss and trailed her hands down my body to show me how much she liked the song.

- - -

Emily and I fell back into our morning routine as if we hadn't broken it during the summer. I made us breakfast as she packed her go bag for work. We ate in silence, as she read on her iPad. Breaking the quiet, she asked, "Are you ready for your first day back?"

"I guess," I responded morosely. "I liked our summer together. I liked being able to focus on music and you. No math or English essays to worry about." Emily chuckled at that, moving her dishes to the sink.

"At least you have a good first recital piece ready."

Puzzled, I asked, "Which one?"

"My song," she said, beaming with pride.

I narrowed my eyes with uncertainty. "You really think it's good enough for recital?"

"Yes I do," she affirmed. And her voice was so confident, it left no room for objection. "This will be your best semester yet!" she said positively.

"But how can I be expected to do homework when you're home if your case load keeps up like this?"

"Are you pushing for me to go away on a case?" she asked with a smirk.

"Absolutely not!" I protested. "I'm just saying, it will be hard to concentrate knowing you're home."

"We'll manage, angel." She kissed me on the forehead and moved to holster her gun to her hip. My heart skipped a beat staring at her; she made everything look sexy. "I'm off to work now. I'll text you if I'm called away." She leaned down to kiss me briefly. "I want to hear all about how your first day goes! I'll call you if I'm away, or I'll see you tonight."

"Bye, Em." When the door to the garage closed softly behind her, I sighed. I wanted to get to campus early so I could get a good seat in class. I quickly did our dishes, grabbed my backpack, and hurried out the door.

But life had a funny way of balancing itself out. I had had the best summer of my life and was already disappointed to have to go back to classes, just to receive the worst welcome back to school present: my car broke down. I called Emily in tears, worried that I was going to start the semester off on the wrong foot with my first professor.

I dialed Emily's number with shaky hands, feeling the passing cars shake mine as they zoomed past me on the highway. I wasn't sure how Emily understood me through my hiccups and tears when I told her I was stuck on the shoulder of the highway.

"Shhh. Calm down, baby. It's going to be okay, I'll make all the arrangements. As soon as we're off the phone, I'll call a tow company to come get it and take it to the shop." I breathed a heavy sigh of relief, tears abating, thankful, as always, for Emily.

She continued, "In the meantime, baby, just drive the Lexus – the keys are by the door." I felt my heart rate elevate at the thought. "Or, if you'd prefer, you can Uber over to Quantico and pick up the Jag." Pick up the Jag. She said it so casually, as if driving one of her very expensive cars did not cause me extreme anxiety.

"No I do not want to "pick up the Jag!" Emily, what if I crash your car?!" I felt my face go hot at the thought, palms starting to sweat in anxiety. "You love all of these cars and they're so expensive and I'm not on your insurance!" I rushed out.

"Breathe Indi! It's just a car. And you don't have one right now. Please, take whatever car you want. Or Uber everywhere – I'll put more money in your account for it. Is that what you'd prefer?"

"No!" I nearly shouted. I took another deep breath, trying to keep in perspective that this wasn't Emily's fault and she was just trying to help. "I-" I exhaled into the phone. "I'm sorry," I deflated, "It wasn't fair to blow up at you like that. I appreciate you letting me drive the Lexus."

Sensing the storm was over, Emily said, "I'm only sorry I can't see you drive it." I could almost hear the smirk in her voice. "I'm certain you'd look damn sexy in that car."

I chuckled and swiped at the remaining tears, embarrassed I had cried so much in front of Emily. "We'll see if you still say that when I ding your Lexus," I half joked.

"Like I said," her tone more serious, "It's just a car, angel." I paused, unsure what else to say. Her voice was calming though – she calmed me. "Look, I've gotta run. I promise I'll send a tow truck, but Uber home and grab the Lexus so you aren't late for class, okay?"

"Okay," I said softly, tears welling back up in my eyes.

"I'll call you later with an update."

"Bye…" And the line went dead.

- - -

Throughout my first class, my thoughts fixated on my car and how I was going to pay for everything. Even though Emily had been paying for most everything the last few months, I wasn't sure I'd be able to afford whatever the mechanic's bill was going to be.

As my thoughts contemplated every little thing that could go wrong with my car, I missed everything my professor said. I was immensely thankful the first day was always spent going over the syllabus. I'd just have to make sure to read that thoroughly later tonight.

Over the lunch hour, Emily called. "Car's toast and probably not worth fixing." So much for easing into it, I thought. I sighed deeply. Of course life would throw this at me. Things with Emily were just too good for everything else to be going right.

"Okay…" I sighed. I mentally calculated how long I could go without a car while I built my savings up again. I also braced myself for having a conversation with Emily later about asking to go back to work; that battle wouldn't be won easily. But how else was I supposed to take on a car payment?

"I'll see you tonight, okay baby? I'm going to make sure to come home early."

- - -

Later that evening, once classes had finished, I arrived home. I was excited by the prospect of Emily coming home early, and I eagerly awaited the garage door opening to see if her car was in the garage. Once the door had raised fully, I counted three cars in the garage…except, whose car is that? In my spot, where my car should have been, was parked a shiny, new Audi. Panic swelled inside of me. I didn't want to rush to conclusions, but Emily didn't drive Audis. In fact, I had told her it was my dream car. But surely she wouldn't have irrationally bought me a car without thinking about it first.

Not seeing the Jag parked in her spot, I quickly dialed her number as I walked through the door. "Do you like it?!" she asked excitedly.

"So I'm not crazy?" I spit out, trying to control my rising temper. "You did buy me a car?"

"Yes! Do you like it?" she repeated.

"Emily…" I said in warning.

"Don't make this a big deal, India. I swear to god, don't. This isn't a big deal."

Her flippant tone fanned the flames of my anger. "It's a car, Emily. An expensive one at that." Suddenly, Emily's cavalier attitude on spending rubbed me the wrong way. I had never cared what anyone did with their money; it was theirs to do with as they pleased. But to hear firsthand how dismissive she was about such a purchase enraged me. Especially because she was wasting her money on me.

How could she not understand this? She threw money around like it was nothing. It made me feel like shit, like I was worthless. How could I ever repay someone who gave me everything? How could I ever be enough for her? I had nothing. I was nothing.

She sighed into the phone. "Can we talk about this when I get home?"

Clipped, I responded, "Great." And I hung up. Immediately, I knew I shouldn't have done that. No matter how badly she angered me, she didn't deserve to be disrespected.

I paced the living room waiting for Emily, counting out each step until I lost track. I tried to match my breathing to each tick of the clock on the wall. For forty-three minutes, I tried to calm down, anxious about our impending argument.

But no amount of mental preparation would have helped, because as soon as Emily walked through the door, we started fighting about the car.

"I don't see what the big deal is, Indi. It's a car for fuck's sake." I winced at her cursing during an argument.

"But that's exactly it, Emily! You can't understand why this is a big deal for me."

"Do you not like the car? Is that what it is? We can exchange it for any kind that you want," she offered.

"It's too much! And it wasn't part of the deal!" I shouted at her.

Shock flooded her face and she froze. Softly, almost hurt, she asked, "Do you seriously still consider this just an arrangement?" She spit the last word out as if it left a sour taste in her mouth. "You can stand there and really tell me that you still just see me as an ATM?"

"I NEVER saw you as an ATM, Emily. Of course this is more than being your sugar baby." It still didn't sit right. Rocks settled in my stomach. How could I ever get her to understand?

"Then what? You think just because I love you that should mean my support should just stop" - she snapped her fingers - "like that?"

Our argument entirely forgotten, "You love me?" I whispered, aching at the thought of her taking it back, but sick at the thought of her really meaning it. I wouldn't allow myself to believe she meant it.

"I-" She blew out a puff of air. "Yeah." Time stopped. My breathing, my thoughts – they all stopped. "I love you, Indi. I am so in love with you."

And for a split second, I almost accepted the car. But accepting this huge gift almost felt like I would be solidifying our original arrangement. I couldn't sort it out anymore. I was overwhelmed by it all. By how much I needed Emily. By how this had turned into something so different than the life I had pictured for myself. I didn't know who I was anymore; I had lost myself in a game of make believe.

Emily couldn't want me forever like I wanted her. Too soon she would realize that I could give her nothing in return. Only then, it would be too late for me. I would be too far gone, too far entrenched in the India Emily wanted me to be, the real Indi never to be seen again.

My eyes went huge at the thought. Who had I let Emily turn me into? Who had I become during this arrangement? And how had I lost myself so quickly? Suddenly, I couldn't breathe. This mansion felt like a collapsing, cardboard box. Emily's affection, once a warm, safe blanket around me, now felt like a noose.

Shaking my head, I turned and ran upstairs. When I came back down, bag packed, Emily hadn't moved an inch.

I needed distance from this life – from Emily – so I could find Indi again. But who was I without Emily? It had only been six months, and already I had no idea what life would be without her. I had pretended to be what I thought Emily wanted for so long that I forgot who I was. It didn't matter, though. Because if anything was certain it was that I could never be enough for Emily. She deserved so much more than the little I could give her.

I drove quickly back into the city, to Penelope, to my real life. I knocked on the door to what used to be my home praying Penelope was there to greet me. When she opened the door, tears flooded down my face. As I walked through the door, Pen's arms around me, I couldn't help but feel unsettled. I didn't feel at home here anymore. If I didn't fit into my old life, or into Emily's, where did I belong?

Continue to next chapter

#🌬 fics #tastes like sugar #emily prentiss #emily prentiss x oc #emily prentiss fanfiction #emily prentiss smut #criminal minds #criminal minds fanfiction #criminal minds au #wlw writing #Emily Prentiss x poc!oc

40 notes · View notes

pythoness94 · 5 months ago

Note

I love your commentary on the fanon perception of the party

so id love to ask how you'd think the different members would *actually* react to will coming out to them

also thank you for acknowledging byler fights AREN'T one-sided. they're both love struck teens that say dumb things sometimes and thats perfectly fine

I know! It's a thing that's been bugging me because as i'm writing my fic. ( a react fic with the characters watching the show.) I'm forced to watch scenes upwards of 10 times or more while writing, i've rewatched episodes almost everyday, skipping around back and forth to write the characters reactions. By doing this, I have been able to go "WTF IS DUSTIN DOING IN THIS FIC BRO???". Since i've seen the show probably more then I should have and more often than average it's a lot easier to piece canon from fanon when canon is etched into your brain. I'm able to acknowledge every character's faults because I see it and have to write it down into my story, analyzing how each character would react to each situation. I am, of course, not perfect because i am VERY fond of Mike since see myself in him so i'm more sympathetic to him and i'm trying to be better about that.

However, instead of just seeing them as (this is the worst cases i've seen, mostly in 2020 fanfics.) Mike's a dick,( He's a teen boy who's been getting in terrible situations since he was 14, and trying to process that while realizing he's gay and thinking that he's leading El on. He's scared so he's snapping at the hand that feeds him, not being a dick for no reason. ) Will's a sad gay baby, (He's the same as Mike, 14 and trying to process his trauma, except he was a lot more of it. His best friend is wigging tf out over his girlfriend and distancing himself from him, making Will feel even more alone and worried so he's trying his best to save his relationship by sacrificing himself for Mike's relationship. not realizing that's the EXACT opposite of what Mike needs. He's not JUST sad, he's scared, he's scared of things being taken from him, so he's giving them away first.)

Max is mean, (She just lost her fucking brother, she is trying to grapple with the fact that she doesn't really feel all that bad about losing him. That's what is making her snap. Billy was horrible to her, but she was his brother so she should feel bad, that's her thought process and Vecna is preying upon that. Trying to make her feel like a terrible person infecting everyone around her, so Max is pushing everyone away, making herself look terrible and mean so that way they leave her alone to rot as she thinks she should. She's not mean, she's scared.) Lucas is dumb but strong, ( he played basketball in one season guys. He's strong but he's also a nerd. He's loyal, he's funny, he WANTS to protect the people around him. That's what Lucas is, a protector, he wants to keep his party safe and is trying to be strong for them. Trying to keep everyone together and in his sight. He will lose his shit if ONE more person gets taken from him. He's scared not dumb.)

Dustin is funny, (He's a kid who has lost many things, he's trying to cope with the things happening around him. he thinks Dart is his fault, he knows he should have told the party from the start but instead he lied, and it caused a bunch of pain for his party. He refuses to make that mistake again. However, he knows his party is struggling and he doesn't want to add onto that, so he laughs and jokes, trying to keep the mood up despite how he's panicking. Losing Eddie is going to terrify Dustin. he's going to be quieter and more thoughtful. I know that when Mike inevitably pulls his self-sacrifice bullshit, he does in every season to some extent. Dustin is going to flip his shit, seeing Eddie dying, and refusing to let Mike pull that. Especially since he was there for the quarry, he's going to be protective of Mike, not only because he doesn't want to lose him and knows Mike would GLADY pitch himself in front of a Demogorgon if he saw fit. But because Mike knew Eddie to, he was as close with Eddie has Dustin was and he wants to talk about that with him. He wants to keep Eddie's memory alive, and he can't do it alone. He's not just funny, he's terrified.) El is incapable outside of her superpowers. (This is regarding her knowledge to the outside world, but we're past season 1 guys, she knows how the world works, just not all of it. She won't be asking what things are every five seconds, mostly she'll just SUCK at picking up social cues. She wants to be her own person, she'll do her best to learn this stuff alone as time goes on, trying to advance individually to be on equal grounds with her party. She doesn't want to have to rely on people, she wants to be the person people rely on and not just for her powers. She's not incapable, she's not just 'superman.' she's her own person who is scared of people not seeing her as such.)

One thing i've noticed is that everyone in the party is scared, everyone is scared of something. That something is giving Vecna a chance to prey on every one of them. Making them more scared, so, instead of pushing each other away, they are uniting. They saw how going solo worked out for Max and they refuse to let that happen again. So, keeping all this in mind, how would the party react to Will coming out? Not one of them would be disgusted by Will, confused? Yes, disgusted? no. They have all been the weirdos they have always been the weirdos. The party knows that each of them have something about them that makes them "different" and being gay has always been that for Will even when the party didn't know it to be true.

We all know how Mike would react. A bit shocked at first but accepting, (this is if Mike is straight.) he pushed Troy over in season one for calling Will a fairy, he would NOT be homophobic. That man was besties with Eddie along with Dustin, he embraces that kinda stuff even if he's scared by it. If he was gay (because being fr he is.) he would also be hopeful. He would stop distancing himself so much so he can try to be there for Will.

Max would be chill with it. She is Californian and ,coming from a fellow Californian, it has always been way more liberal than any other state. especially Indiana. Cali is more open to change than most other places and even in the 80's it was less homophobic than Indiana. So Max, being from there, she would be more exposed to it and less shocked. She would be supportive of Will, and if told of his crush, would be the ONLY person to go "Oh really? Mike?" and it would be joking. she would totally try to set them up. (Remember season 3 with the magazines, I like to think she would try to do something similar for Will and Mike.) although she would be a bit worried about El after figuring out their...situation, she would be on board with it after they broke up.

Dustin would be curious, he would be like. "Wait...you're gay?" Not connecting all the dots until he looks back on it and goes. "Ohhhh, that explains why you thought Phoebe cates wasn't hot!" he'd be supportive but wanting to look deeper into it, taking a second to process y'know?

Lucas would be on it immediately, I get the feeling he already knew. He would be like, "Yeah, that makes sense." Since he knew Mike and Will the longest i'm sure he already had it figured out. Lucas is literally just waiting for Mike to get is shit together. He would be supportive and tease Will about his crush on Mike until they got together and them he would tease the both of them.

Finally El, she wouldn't understand Homophobia (this is one of those social cue things I was talking about.) however, I think two things could happen. A being I don't think she would really KNOW that boys can like Boys and Girls can like Girls, so she would be like. "Wait...that can happen?" and then she would need it explained to her. Will would be extremely nervous, because El is Mike's girlfriend but while I think El would be a bit sad if she knew Mike had a crush on Will she would understand that you can't really change that. Also that she doesn't deserve to treated like that and should have someone who loves her. The second thing I could see happening is El going. "So? i like boys too??" and needing Homophobia explained to her, to which she goes. "That's fucking stupid. Mouth breather behavior honestly." and being supportive of Will.

Thank you for the ask by the way! I really wanted to talk about this and I hope you enjoy it!

8 notes · View notes

landwriter · 2 years ago

Note

Throwing vague Hobrinthian inspiration your way. You'd write them so deliciously.

Thank you!! Back in January I wrote 8K of them - I think it's honestly my favourite thing I've written or close to it <3 Just Like Love. The Corinthian comes across Hob in a hotel bar after he's stood up in 1989. Things don't go as planned.

Here's an excerpt from the continuation of that 'verse:

---

Hob Gadling isn’t his boyfriend. Hob is better. He’s a soldier, a hunter, a haunted man, and it makes every grain of the Corinthian sing to know that one of the ghosts rattling around in there is him. Of course it is. He’s memorable. Doesn’t change how good it feels, though, to have been followed across the Atlantic by something almost as hungry as him.

Hob is holding a plastic bag, and the Corinthian can smell the meat from here.

“Fresh from Lancashire,” he says, all fucking casual-like.

The Corinthian walks over, hooks a finger into the bag and pulls it open to see what it is. Black pudding, he thinks. He’s standing close to Hob, close enough to feel how Hob notices it, how his pulse quickens a little. He still smells like airports. He thinks Hob will wrap an arm around him, pull him in. Kiss him filthy right here in his kitchen. Hob doesn’t do anything but let him inspect his gift. He looks up, and pretends he’s disappointed about the offering instead. He should be.

“I’m not a fucking reptile in a terrarium. You don’t need to buy me crickets.”

“Well. Thought this was more on the mice side of the scale.” And then his face does that hideous English thing, where he’s obviously hurt but smiles and pretends he isn’t, which isn’t half as fun when it’s just his feelings. “But you don’t have to-” he starts, all fake cheer, and the Corinthian grits his eyeteeth.

“Stop making that face,” he says, and snatches the bag away. Sees too late Hob smiling a little, and realizes he was playing at being injured, just to get him to come closer. He sets it on the counter, and feels Hob close right up behind him. There’s warm breath on the back of his neck for a moment before Hob speaks.

“You sure? Maybe it’s a bit like feeding wild foxes. Shouldn’t do that.”

The Corinthian turns and uses his height to bully Hob against the fridge, presses him there, then murmurs into Hob’s ear, threatening, just the way he likes. “You think I’ll forget how to feed myself?”

Hob is already hard against his thigh and he tilts his head up, to kiss the side of his neck. His heart is thumping so steady and strong the Corinthian wonders if he’s got a bigger heart working in there, one to power all his hunger. A horse heart, crushed into his ribcage.

“Maybe I’d like it if you forgot,” Hob says. “Maybe I’d like to spoil you. Maybe I’d like you to try eating out of my hand. See if you don’t like it better, to be fed by another.” He says it flirtatiously, covering up the tenderness there with hunger, because he knows the Corinthian’s mother tongue. But he hears the tenderness in it still, and it ripples over his instincts like a different kind of threat. A different kind of snare. Still wire-sharp. He knows he’d draw blood if he struggled in it, even if Hob would let him go the moment he really did. That’s why he stills, he figures. That’s why he goes all limp, submissive.

Hob feels it. Hob knows exactly what he’s done, and he runs a soft hand over the back of his neck, like he’s tamed him. The Corinthian finally twitches away roughly.

“Kinky.” He grabs the forgotten sausage and starts slicing it to be fried. And Hob just laughs, like it was the joke they were making together all along.

---

Twenty minutes later, he’s kneeling on the floor, still wearing his apron that says #1 Grill Dad, and Hob is feeding a cut-up piece of fried black pudding to him. It’s overcooked. They’d gotten distracted. He licks a stripe across Hob’s palm and feels the small muscles twitch under his tongue. Hob’s hand withdraws, and comes back a moment later to stroke the back of his head, dull nails scraping invisible tracks along him. It feels good. He hates it, he thinks.

He leans forward, and nuzzles against Hob’s crotch. The denim chafes his cheeks. Hob groans and ruts into him, his idle hand on his head turned greedy, knotting into his hair. Hob pulls him off, and he looks up, mouth hanging open.

“You going to bite it off if I let you?” he asks.

“Will it grow back?”

Hob sucks in air through his teeth and pretends like he’s considering it too. “You want to take the chance and find out that it doesn’t?”

“Nah,” he says, and Hob laughs and unbuttons his jeans.

---

He blames it on being fucked stupid for the first time in weeks. He blames it on being dark in the room. He blames it on Hob wrapped around him from behind, possessive. “You’d really care for me, huh?”

Hob scoffs, then seems to realize he’s not fucking around. His hand comes around and finds the Corinthian’s throat, and he strokes a line along where his pulse should be. “Yeah. Yeah, ‘course I would.”

“You can’t save me, Hob,” he says.

Hob huffs a laugh against his shoulder blades. “Well, then you won’t mind me trying, will you?”

#asks #the sandman #cob!#the corinthian #hob gadling #realizing one of my favourite corinthian headcanons is that he falls faster and harder than even hob #gets it from his maker yanno #wip excerpts #my writing #just like love #hobrinthian #(but really cob)

138 notes · View notes

hotwaterandmilk · 2 years ago

Text

I started writing this last week, then my tonsillitis floored me so @bunnymajo beat me with her own post on the topic (it's v. good, check it out!!), but I still wanted to share a few of my thoughts about why y'all should consider picking up the Discotek release of the Kaitou Saint Tail anime series on blu-ray.

I'll be honest, Kaitou Saint Tail wasn't my favourite magical girl series growing up in the mid-90s, I found myself far more drawn to Sailor Moon, Wedding Peach, and Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne (in that order). However, as I've grown older and re-watched the anime series a couple of times, I've grown to appreciate a lot about it that perhaps I didn't so much when I was young and had a million anime series vying for my attention.

The anime

If you've never seen the Kaitou Saint Tail anime, Haneoka Meimi is regular teenage student by day who rights wrongs by night as the thief Saint Tail. How does she know about what bad things have gone down in the local community? Why her BFF (Mimori Seira) is a nun-in-training, of course! So when Seira hears about things being stolen etc. she relays this information to Meimi so she can set things right.

Complicating the situation is Asuka Daiki, the son of a local detective who notably failed to catch a previous phantom thief (hmm!). Asuka Jr. wants to stop Saint Tail no matter what and luckily the local mayor is cool with giving him the status required to do so. Meimi slowly finds herself torn between how she feels about Asuka Jr. (whom she bickers with but ultimately cares about) and how Asuka Jr. feels about the thief Saint Tail.

So obviously if you like magical girl-type series and you're keen on a cute lil tween romance with some wacky kids' show thieving then you're going to be keen to watch (or read, the manga is adorable) the series no matter what. If you're on the fence, here are a couple of things I found to be stand-outs in Kaitou Saint Tail that you might like about it too.

Saint Tail = Seira & Meimi

Saint Tail the thief is really a team of two people. You've got Seira who gathers all the intel & helps plan, then you've got Meimi who acts as the muscle and executes the scheme. If you removed either of them you wouldn't have the legendary phantom thief everyone talks about in the series. Seira is never magical herself, she goes between God/Meimi/the community to help save "lost lambs" but her role is vital and Meimi's feats as Saint Tail are truly part of a team effort.

I've honestly always loved this about the series, that Seira isn't some friend kept in the dark nor is she another magical thief to team up with, she's got her own unique role to play that utilises her skills just as much as Meimi's role relies on her talents too. Together they are a phantom bigger than any one tween girl could ever be.

Meimi is physically adept

There's room for all types of magical girls in the genre imho and these days we've seen lots of magical girls who can land a solid punch as well as those better suited to intellectual challenges. However, in the mid-90s at a time when Tsukino Usagi and Hanasaki Momoko said it was OK to be clumsy and not great at athletics, Meimi said it was just as OK to be athletic and have excellent fine motor skills.

One thing I didn't note in my above summary of the series is that while Meimi does a whole lot of VISUALLY magical girl things like transform in the anime, she doesn't actually have any supernatural abilities. Meimi is instead adept at stage magic thanks to her father's profession and she plays a lot of tricks to get the job done (while following in her mother's footsteps as well). Meimi can't punch a bad guy through a wall like a Precure, but her strength allows her to frequently save other characters or pull herself out of tricky situations.

Asuka Jr. provides a great contrast

While Asuka Jr. can ride a bike pretty fast he's not that physically strong, which is a contrast to a lot of love interests in the genre who are tough enough to give the heroine enough time to finish the job (Tuxedo Kamen and Limone, for example). Asuka Jr. is more of an intellectual who despite managing to figure out a lot of what's going on with Saint Tail's capers, can never seem to get pin her down (and yeah yeah we know Meimi looks like Saint Tail but this is a cartoon for kids, being in on that while Asuka Jr. goes mad trying to find Saint Tail is part of the overall charm of the thing imho).

I think a decent chunk of what I like about Asuka Jr. as a male lead in Kaitou Saint Tail is that he's not some older, mysterious guy who helps solve problems; Asuka Jr. is a brat who causes most of Meimi's problems and because of his clueless youth he's also quite oblivious to her burgeoning romantic feelings for him. But I love that? They both feel like they're young kids challenging each other on an equal playing field.

While Asuka. Jr doesn't necessarily disagree with Saint Tail's objectives (to right wrongs), he doesn't support her methods (stealing is baaaaaad) and he's following his own moral code which is perhaps a little more conventional than hers. Meimi and Asuka jr. certainly bicker, but they have a lot in common that becomes apparent over time and their differences do indeed prove to be complementary to each other's in the long run.

The stakes are fairly low

Wait, isn't this a bad thing? Shouldn't the stakes be super high in order for us to care about the series? No, I don't think every magical girl series needs to have high stakes to leave an impact or be meaningful. I love that Kaitou Saint Tail isn't about a potentially world-ending event or magical abilities that could change reality as we know it. Heck, there's an episode where the entire goal of Saint Tail's elaborate scheme is to get back a notebook that a classmate gave to her crush accidentally before he can read it.

In that sense, it harkens back to a lot of older majokko shows that, while having some supernatural gifts for the heroine that Meimi doesn't technically have, still chose to focus on the lead solving personal problems or issues in the local community rather than fighting to save the planet.

This isn't to say there are no stakes at all or anything. Meimi's greatest problem lies in her diverging identities and the fact that, as ostensibly a criminal to those not helped by her talents, Saint Tail being unmasked would ruin her life. I know they're not huge stakes compared to galactic evils, but Saint Tail being an outlaw and the way the persona is both a blessing & curse to Meimi certainly is present throughout the series.

Kaitou Saint Tail's stakes might not be as high as those in Nurse Angel Ririka SOS, Tokyo Mew Mew, or any number of Precure seasons, but there's definitely a place for that in the genre and if you'd like something a little more laid back (that's still plenty of fun & with twists and turns a plenty, mind you) then this series might be worth checking out.

The anime doesn't overstay its welcome

The Kaitou Saint Tail anime is a fairly tight production that deftly balances fun filler (remember when we were allowed to have filler eps???) with more emotional story touch points and doesn't feel at all drawn out, which was certainly an issue even for some of my favourite series of the period. While I wouldn't say the anime is perfect or anything, it really doesn't have any majorly weak arcs or huge dips in quality overall.

Kaitou Saint Tail has lovely music (I'm partial to the first OP/ED combo myself), some great 90s animators at work (Abe Junko, Ishino Satoshi, Kadonosono Megumi & Gotou Keiji, Watanabe Nobuhiro, Ochi Kazuhiro, Motohashi Hideyuki, etc.), and a cast of talented seiyuu (Sakurai Tomo as Meimi and Inoue Kikuko as Seira being the stand outs).

While there are some changes to the source material and a lot of the cute, whispy beauty of Tachikawa Megumi's original artwork is lost on screen, the animated version of Kaitou Saint Tail is worth picking up not just to support the release of magical girl titles in the US market, but because it is a solid little series that I know I always appreciate spending some time with.

Anyway those are my rambling thoughts on the series. It won't be for everyone, but if you're interested in magical girl classics then you might want to check out the upcoming US release from Discotek on blu-ray.

#kaitou saint tail #saint tail #magical girls #magical girl anime #ramblings #long post #i could ramble about light christian motifs or how cute meimi's parents are #but you get the picture #fun series #the remasters look gorgeous #it's a classic for a reason #etc.#very tired #sorry for any typos etc #obviously not everyone can afford to preorder the bds #even if they are interested #however if you do have the money and want to support the title #i think you're getting decent bang for your buck

120 notes · View notes

jake-g-lockley · 2 years ago

Note

Okay, but like imagine....clubbing/dancing with jake Lockley in a place where there is both desi and Latin American music playing. You teach each other the popular moves from your region, and Jake near suffers a stroke when nagada nagada starts playing, and you literally scream and pull out your best bhangra moves.

Please tell me if you would like to write on this because I already have made an entire Spotify playlist of the desi portion of the dance mix.

I AM HYPERVENTILATINGGG HELP

Also, Akka, I love you.

Dilliwaali Wifey (Jake Lockley x desi!reader)

Masterlist | Playlist

A/N: for my beautiful friend @pakhiya who has patiently waited months for me to write this :") ilysm and I hope you like this. It was challenging but so fun to write this!!

Warnings: Jake's filthy mouth ™️ (I had to, I love it), alcohol (drink safely yall)

Word count: 2.8 k

☾ .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

“¡Amor! I told you not to pre-drink before we leave!” Jake gasped, snatching the tequila bottle away from your grasp.

“Baby, just one shot pleaseee…” you plead, throwing your arms around his midriff as he lifts the bottle away from you.

You knew that your husband was doing this for your own good and you loved him very much for doing so but you really liked tequila. On a daily basis, you are relatively shy and soft-spoken and reserved but when the alcohol hits your system, you have no shame and go absolutely nuts.

You and Jake loved to dance, it was one of your favorite past times together and the both of you would often collapse into each other's arms from exhaustion from the amount of dancing that you did. You would dance with him while the both of you cooked and cleaned and especially when a silly song comes on the radio or TV.

During your wedding, your parents had warned you not to bust a move in the heavy lehenga in front of your conservative relatives, but you couldn’t resist it. Not dancing at an Indian wedding? Absolutely atrocious idea. Not being able to dance at the celebration of your life? Even worse. You remember pulling Jake up with you to the dance stage and dancing till your legs gave way.

Recently, the both of you started to teach each other your favorite dance moves, just at random intervals of the day, which according to your neighbors was number two on the list of reasons why they filed a noise complaint.

“Jaan, I promise I will not make a fool of myself.” You say reaching up to get the bottle.

“Cariño, you’re my fool and I love seeing you make a fool of yourself but sometimes you get a little out of control, you know?” Jake grimaces slightly, stretching his arm higher to get out of your reach.

To say your husband gets slightly jealous is an understatement. Your mind flashes back to the time when you stood up on the bar table and started dancing for everyone, earning wolf whistles and absurd shouts that your drunk state couldn’t comprehend.

Jake had dragged you off the table and slung you over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes, carrying you away, shouting at the onlookers. Let's just say that you and husband are now no longer welcomed in that establishment.

“Fine, one shot, that's all, then you’re going slow on the drinks there alright?”

Now, what Jake should have done is poured out the shot for you and hid the bottle from your stupid ass. But instead, he hands you the bottle and walks into the bathroom to change. You grin at your chance and decide it was time to mess around with your husband. You pour a shot, lick the salt, down it and suck on the lime. When Jake didn’t appear, you cautiously poured another shot and repeated the steps again, eyeing the door. You sucked on the lime as you placed the bottle back and washed the shot glass.

“Ready to go?” You felt Jake’s lips on the base of your neck as he turned you around to face him. You stare at him, lime still in your mouth and he leans in and grabs the lime with his teeth, dropping it in the trash can beside you. You raise an eyebrow and you find your lips curling into a smirk.

Mhmm, what else does that mouth do, huh?

“Stop, or else date night is going to take a very different turn, amor.” Jake mirrored your smirk, putting on his newsboy cap and you rolled your eyes, grabbing his hand and your heels.

☾ .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Jake watches as you open the window of the cab and let your fingers be grazed by the wind, your legs draped over his thighs. You weren’t afraid to let the wind catch your hair, blowing your curls around your face as you blissfully smell the London air. Your lips twisted in an enchanted smile as you tipped your head back.

Jake can’t help but admire you, his wife, his everything. Your love had arrived unannounced to him, like an uninvited guest to his troubled heart. He was glad you decided to stay, to shower him with all you had and he feared that his place would get taken by someone else, someone more worthy than he ever would be.

But that fear drove him to love you more, to cherish every moment you ever had with him with more fervor. With that, he would do anything and everything for you, knowing that you revolved around his little chaotic world.

By the time you and Jake had arrived at the club, you could feel the alcohol numbing your senses. Jake had yet to notice the sudden change as he led you through the doors that open up to a dance floor. You stared in awe at the size of the floor before you and turned to grin at Jake who was already looking at you with a smile on his face.

Jake pulled you towards the bar and ordered as you watched people dance. The atmosphere was exhilarating and you could feel your body wanting to move with the music as its bass courses through you. You close your eyes and let the music envelope you, swaying slightly with its rhythm, your brain voiding all the sounds of people around you.

~ Becky G - Mayores~

“Can I have this dance, senorita?” Jake’s voice cuts through your bliss and he is in front of you, offering his hand.

You raised your hand, flashing the ring that Jake had slipped onto your finger a few years ago.

“Taken unfortunately,” you frowned, playfully.

“I wonder who the lucky bastard is. Nevertheless, I bet I could do better. Care to let me try?” Jake’s lips quirked into a smile, and you feigned hesitation slightly before taking his hand, letting him lead you to the dance floor.

Once you both were at the center, Jake spins you around and you twirl away from him but he catches your hand before you could get too far away. He pulls you towards him and you spin into his chest. Jake smirked as you kicked your leg up and let your back dip back with his supporting arm. You snap back up and search Jake’s eyes and all you see is mischief.

“Oh I can assure you that you’ll find what you’re looking for if you stare a little longer, princessa.” he leaned in and whispered, leaving tingles on your ear.

Before you could retort, he repeats the spin when you grab his opposite hand, twirling you away from him. Pulling you close again, Jake hooks his right arm under your back and left arm, picking you up and swirling you around, a move that the both of you perfected after watching a movie. A crowd starts building around you and Jake and cheers erupt around the dance floor with the move that Jake and you just pulled.

Loca

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

Loca

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

“You are slightly insufferable, mystery man.” you huffed, trying to catch your breath after that move.

“Do you not like the way that I talk, dance, or hold you, hermosa? I bet your man couldn’t give you the same.” Jake steadied the both of you and grips your hips, dragging you flush against him.

“I - baby!” you squeal as he cuts you off by rapidly twirling you around. “I love it. That's why I’m saying that this would not work out.” you breathed once he steadied you once more.

Jake turns you around and you grind into him as he guides your hips to the rhythm of the music with his body, his arms and your arms crossed in front of you. As the music starts to dip to its end, you turn and Jake dips you down again, running his hand up your thigh and pulling you back.

Suddenly, you were interrupted by a sharp ring and Jake groaned, slipping his hand into his pocket to pull out his phone, glaring at it.

That was one thing about dancing with Jake, you’d almost forget that he is THE Moon Knight. You dreaded the sound of his phone, always knowing that your husband would be off to somewhere, doing something entirely dangerous. He was looking at you now, brown doe eyes big and you forced a small smile.

“I gotta go take this, mi alma, give me five.” Jake said, giving you a kiss as you nod.

Adjusting was the only way you could keep up with Jake Lockley. He always promised that he’d be back, never said goodbye and so far, he has never failed to keep the promise. You try not to think about what would happen if he ever decided to break that promise but you trusted him enough to make things work.

You watch him walk quickly to the exit before making your way past a bunch of overeager dancers to the DJ’s booth where they were taking song requests.

“Hello there, desi girl!” exclaimed the DJ in an instant before you could say anything.

You squinted and leaned closer to the DJ trying to observe his features.

“Oh wow you’re desi too!” you shouted over the loud music with a huge grin on your face.

“Yes ma’am, born and raised! The name is Jay. My boyfriend owns this club! How could I help you tonight?”

Quickly, you had pushed your previous request aside and gave him a list of songs that you wanted to surprise Jake with. The DJ listed every single one of the songs down, grinning from ear to ear.

“Amazing taste! Here with anyone special today?”

“Yea! My husband. I wanted to surprise him.” you said excitedly, smiling happily at the new friend you just made.

“Well, nice meeting you, hope you enjoy your night! Your tunes will be played shortly.” Jay shouts, sending a friendly wink your way.

Your heart is warm as you make your way to the bar, glancing around for any sign of your vigilante husband. When the coast was clear, you pulled a tiny wad of cash out of your bra and signal for the bartender.

“Tequila! Sat!” you giggle at the Good Doctor reference you made and waited for your shot.

After three shots of your favorite poison, you heard the blaring of the first song on your list. You smile as a group of nearby girls squeal and run to the dancefloor. One of the girls noticed you and dragged you by the arm into their gaggle.

~Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani - Dilliwaali Girlfriend~

You sang at the top of your lungs as you and the other girls acted out the famous scene from Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani.

Tere liye hi to signal tod taad ke

Aaya dilli wali girlfriend chhod chhaad ke

Ho tere liye hi to signal tod taad ke

Aaya dilli wali girlfriend chhod chhaad ke

Clearly the girls around you knew the choreography too as all of you matched your dance moves to the lyrics of the song. As the song speeds up, you swung your hips harder and shimmied your chest to the beat. There were claps and hoots from everyone around you and your dance group grew larger by the second.

You found yourself laughing and dancing with one of the girls as your arms fly around rhythmically. Your eyes suddenly caught a man staring at you from across the dancefloor and you knew you were in trouble when you saw the smirk curled onto his lips.

Jake watched with dark eyes and a knowing smile as you danced theatrically to your favorite song in the middle of the dance floor. He knew that you had been sneaking drinks with the way your arms and legs moved in sync. The man could read body language like it was an open book and the way your face lit up was a telltale sign that you had been drinking a little more than you should have.

Fortunately for you, Jake had a major weakness, and when you used it against him, it rendered him completely useless. You lowered your head and looked at him through your lashes, winking before throwing your head back in a laugh. It's a move that definitely got him to his knees and friendly anger surged through him as he shook his head.

The song changed and you beckoned Jake towards you with your index finger. You gulped as your husband walked towards you like a predator that was threatening to pounce. For a man who never fails to buy you flowers every Sunday, he sure looked scary.

~Jalebi Baby - Tesher~

He surprised you slightly by kissing your forehead and smiling at you. You looked up at him questioningly and he just shrugged.

“What? I married a stubborn woman. Ain’t nothing I can do about that, because I love that about you.” he said, cupping your face and sliding a hand onto your waist.

“Besides, I just want you to be safe, amor. I also know how to solve this issue, you know, for at least nine months and a little more.” he said smirking.

“Nine months? That's weirdly specif-'' you thought as Jake led you closer to the center of the dancefloor.

oh-

That son of a bitch.

Everybody tryna figure out your recipe

I'm just tryna get a piece, baby

I know that you wanna get crazy, crazy

Shawty, take it slow then cheti, cheti

Ban ja tu meri, Jalebi Baby (Ayy)

Grabbing your hips, your brain swam and you swooned as Jake pulled you closer to him till your back was flush against his chest. He slotted his face in your neck and you brought your hand up to run it through his curls and pulled his cap off, putting it on your head instead as Jake busied himself with moving the both of you to the rhythm of the music.

Jake spun you around and you gasped, placing your hand onto the cap to keep it from flying away. He pulls you close and bumps your shoulder as you nod understanding his little motion. The both of you burst into your best bhangra moves, something you had taught him when the both of you first heard this song.

I know the things, the things that you like

Your arms are out and above your head, thumbs and index fingers pressed together as you and Jake hop to the beat of the music, the classic dhamaal move, switching to the simple tap step, bedi and coming back to the dhamaal as the music drops.

Jake grabs your hand again as the second verse starts mouthing the words as you laugh and dance freestyle with him, and at that moment, it was just you, him and the music. The rest of the club had disappeared around you and all you could see was the stars in your husband's eyes and feel his energy emitting through your soul.

I know the things, the things that you like

You smile at Jake as he lifts you up and kisses you, and you know then that you’d give anything to feel this feeling over and over again.

Translations:

Amor: Love (Spanish)

Jaan: Sweetheart (Hindi)

Cariño: Sweetheart (Spanish)

Senorita: Miss (Spanish)

Princessa: Princess (Spanish)

Mi alma: My soul (Spanish)

Bhangra: Bhangra is a type of traditional folk dance of Punjab, originating in the Sialkot area of Punjab, Pakistan. It is done in the season of harvesting. According to Manuel, bhangra is especially associated with the vernal Vaisakhi festival

Dhamaal: Bhangra move where you hop from one foot to the other with your arms above and in front of you

Bedi: Bhangra move where you skip from one foot to the other while your arms move in a circular movement from beside you to in front of you (horizontally)

Tagging (random cuz me dunno): @cherryesskisses @hot-mess-express1 @mintpurplemnm @my-secret-shame-but-fanfiction @pakhiya @romanarose @swiggy-needs-mental-help @brekkers-desigirl

127 notes · View notes

duskwoodgirl4life · 1 year ago

Text

A/N here is my Christmas oneshot I've been learning to take my time when it comes to writing. Hope you all enjoy reading this as much as I have loved writing it.

I wasn't going to put up decorations this year but Jessy and Lilly convinced me to put them up. They came round to help me get everything looking christmasy but it's not a happy Christmas not for me it isn't. Things just aren't the same without Jake; he's been gone now for almost 4 months. In that time he's contacted me maybe 10 times and that's when he's been able to. I miss him so much his stupid job took him away from me. Why did he have to take up a job with the FBI? Sure it wasn't too bad in the beginning but now that he's been gone this long with barely any contact. My heart feels like it's breaking. I keep thinking he's going to walk through the front door any moment.

Every time my phone rings or a message comes through my heart feels like it's skipping a million beats. I think I have started to get used to the disappointment of it not being Jake. When I spoke to him he kept telling me this is his last job working away and that he will be back in duskwood. Duskwood police offered him a job after he gets back from where he is. He wasn't even allowed to tell me where he was going. I hate the FBI and I hate Jake for leaving me this long.

I don't even want to put up these stupid decorations, I just want to rip them all down and throw them away. Right now I feel so bitter and angry my heart feels like it's broken and can't be put back together. I try my hardest to put on a brave face around the others. I really can't handle Dan telling me he told me so because if I hear him say it I might just punch him. I do my best to snap out of my mood and pretend I am happy as far as the others are concerned nothing is wrong.

I feel like I am full of so much hate after everything that's happened, this was going to be our first Christmas together as a couple he promised he would be here. Instead I have to wake up in an empty bed on Christmas day. He should be there next to me. I'm so lost in my own thoughts I don't see Jessy standing next to me. I feel her hand on my shoulder. I could never hide anything from her. She always knows when something is wrong.

I turn to look at her and I can see that she knows something is wrong, “it’s okay to be angry and upset, I know how much you miss him” Jessy always knows how I'm feeling without having to say it. “This is not how it's supposed to be, he's supposed to be here helping put up decorations and drinking hot chocolate with marshmallows” Jessy smiles warmly at me and pulls me in for a tight hug. “I know one thing this Christmas you are not going to be alone, you have me and the others. We will make it as special as possible”

Jessy is starting to make me feel a little better and I want to be able to at least have a good Christmas this year. “You know what your right Jessy, I want to be able to have a good Christmas. Why don't we play doodle friends? but this time we draw on the white board from Jake's office” Jessy smiles and runs off into Jake's office to get his white board. I pour myself a glass of wine and wait for Jessy to get back. Everyone gathered around Dan insisted on going first; he likes to think he's some sort of picasso.

“Right silence genius at work” I couldn't help but laugh at Dan's comment he starts to draw hoping that it's going to be better than the cigar/skull he drew last time. He starts drawing a face, adding way too much detail, finally he adds a pair of earrings. Everyone is shouting out guesses and getting it all wrong. I suddenly realized what it is that Dan's going on about. “I've got it, it's earrings” everyone is shouting at Dan for his stupid drawing of course he's arguing back.

We carry on playing for a few more hours then everyone leaves “are you sure you don't want me to stay over MC?” I smile and hug Jessy. Her heart is in the right place. “It's okay Jessy I'll be fine, I will be seeing you all tomorrow anyway at Cleos” right now I just want to have time for myself and Jessy understands that. “Okay MC if you change your mind just text me and I'll be right over” I hug Jessy once more before saying goodbye. “I will Jessy, see you all tomorrow morning”

Everyone has left. It's so quiet without them all here. The silence just fills the room, I keep myself busy and tidy up and put all the rubbish in the bin. Once I've finished I sit down on the sofa with a glass of whisky and I put the TV on for some background noise.

The next morning I wake up another day alone without Jake, I drag myself out of bed and go shower. A big part of me wants to go back to bed and not leave the house but I'm not going to do that. After showering and getting myself into something that isn't an oversized hoodie and sweats I put on a new dress I bought for Christmas. This was the dress I was going to surprise Jake with but that is going to have to wait.

Once I've got ready I grab my jacket and keys and head out to Cleos, she's been working so hard on this Christmas dinner. After parking up outside Cleo's I knock on the door and get greeted by a very happy Cleo. “MC!! It's so good to see you, you look amazing in that dress come in” I walk into Cleo's apartment and everything looks amazing. Everyone is already here Dan and Thomas are arguing over what Christmas music to put on. Richy is helping Jessy set the table and Lilly and Jessy are in the kitchen helping Cleo cook dinner.

After dinner we sit around the fire and play games. Everyone is having such an amazing time. For the first in what feels like a lifetime ago I am laughing. It's like I've just put all my problems and worries to one side. “Does anyone want another drink?” Everyone puts their hand up. “I'll give you a hand MC” Jessy and I are in the kitchen making the drinks. I look up out of the window and it's started to snow. It's coming down thick and fast covering the grown in a white blanket of snow.

I sit back down with the others and there is a knock at the door, “I'll get it in already up” Jessy gots to open the door she seemed way too eager to go out a shack the thought away. I hear Jessy open the door but I can't make out who she's talking to.

“Hi, she's in the living room with the others. She's gonna be so happy to see you” I hear someone call out my name and I just freeze. I feel like my heart has stopped beating. I turn around and my eyes go wide and my mouth drops open. “Merry Christmas MC I've missed you so much” at this point tears start to fall from my eyes I pull myself up and run into Jake's arms. “Omg Jake!! I've missed you so much, I can't believe you are really here. How did you know where I was?” Jake's ocean blue eyes are looking back at me and I see that beautiful smile spread across his face. “Jessy told me, I text her yesterday and ask where you would be I wanted to surprise you”

More tears just fall from my eyes. I am so lost for words I just put my arms around Jake and hold onto him. He pulls me away slightly and smiles. He lifts my chin up with his fingers and kisses me softly on the lips. I feel myself just melt into his body as he kisses me. It feels like our first kiss all over again. Everything I have ever wanted is right here in front of me kissing me on the lips. I feel like all my sadness and worries have just been washed away; it's like they don't even exist anymore. The love I have for Jake is so strong I feel like my heart is complete.

“MC I want you to know that I am never being away from you again, my work with the FBI has now come to an end.” Just when I thought the smile on my face couldn't get any bigger I'm smiling so much that my face is starting to ache but I don't care I'm so happy. “Just hearing you say that Jake makes me so happy” everything that has felt like it has been missing in my life is now complete. I am the happiest I have ever been. “There is one more thing MC, it's something I've been waiting to ask you” my mind starts to run away with itself trying to figure out what Jake is on about. “MC, will you marry me?” I watch as Jake gets down on one knee, holding a small ring box in his hand. “Yes Jake, yes I will marry you” Jake slides the ring onto my finger and we both share a kiss.

What started out as what was going to be an awful Christmas has now turned out to be the best day of my life. I am with the man of my dreams and I have my closest friends right by my side.

#duskwood #everbyte game #duskwood jake #duskwood hacker #iamjake #duskwood jake x mc #i love you jake #jake x mc #he loves me #i love you #a not so lonely Christmas #together again #love is love #christmas #oneshot

17 notes · View notes

dianaisnice · 4 months ago

Text

Demonic betrayal (Yandere Demon X Reader)

I was comfortably in bed reading an exciting book. The peace was however destroyed by my twenty-two-year-old sister, Georgie, who flung the door open with full force. I flinched in shock and gave my little sister an angry look. "Can't you knock?" I hissed at her, annoyed. I had been busy all day and I wanted to have a little time for myself before I went to bed. But of course my sister had to burst into my room at that very moment.

She pulled her head in a little bitt to the side so that her black hair covered her face. "I'm sorry. Next time I'll knock. Can you come with me to Adrian's grave tomorrow? I'd like to bring him new flowers," she told me the reason why she had invaded my privacy without permission. Adrian was her boyfriend, who had died in a car accident a few months ago. They were together for over five years and by chance I heard that Adrian wanted to propose to my sister at a romantic dinner, which unfortunately was no longer possible. If it had happened, they would have my blessing.

"Of course I'll go with you. What time did you have in mind?" I asked her. I needed to know what time Georgie was going to the grave. I'm currently looking for work because I quit my previous job. Before that I lived a two-hour drive from here, in my birthplace and hometown. I didn't really want to leave there, I had a great job and a big apartment there. I was also in a relationship before Adrian's death, but I ended it because I didn't want to be in a long-distance relationship. At first it was hard for me to accept the breakup, but the pain subsided over time. There were times when my ex's number appeared on my display. I didn't have the heart to delete his number or even block him.

"Tomorrow after breakfast would be good," she said quietly. She threw her tousled hair over her shoulders and looked at me sadly. Her eyes were red-rimmed and glassy. Her nose was red from sniffling and crying. She must have been crying all day again while I was busy writing applications after applications. When I realized this, I immediately felt guilty because I hadn't heard anything of it, but had preferred to put earplugs in my ears and listen to music at the loudest volume. I was overcome with shame. As an older sister, I had failed completely.

"For me, that's fine. Afterwards we have to go shopping. The fridge needs to be filled again," I told her my thoughts. I couldn't bear to look at her for long, so I looked away and played with my blanket instead. "Yeah, OK, I wish you a good night," she said quietly and left my room without waiting for a reply. "I wish you a good night too," I murmured in the same tone as my sister. In truth, I knew that my sister would be awake all night again. She doesn't cry as much as she did at the beginning, but the tears still come in many situations. Some things remind her of Adrian. Sometimes she wants to be comforted at night and sometimes she locks her door at night. On the nights when she couldn't sleep and her door was open, I lay down next to her in silence and let her cry on my shoulder.

Sighing, I put my book on my bedside table, turned off the reading lamp and lay down. With my face to the open door, I racked my brains about how I could help my sister better. To be honest, I was starting to run out of ideas. I was considering whether I should seek professional help. Lena can't drown in her grief forever.

Even if it sounds cruel, life goes on without Aiden. And who knows, maybe she'll fall in love with another lovely man. With these thoughts I fall asleep.

The next morning I woke up without a problem. I sat up straight and looked around my room. The noise didn't come from my room. Grumbling, I threw the blanket aside and got up from the bed, slightly sluggish. I padded to it on bare feet and tore the window wide open. Fresh air immediately flowed in on the early summer day and a bird chirped happily on a branch in front of me. The bird looked me in the eye for a short time and then flew away. Smiling, I watched the bird fly away into the next tree. A cold gust of wind hit my face. Autumn replaced summer a few weeks ago. When I looked up at the sky, I saw dark clouds gathering. It looked like rain. Maybe it will storm.

I quickly went back to my bed and made it neat before grabbing some fresh clothes and disappearing into the bathroom one door away. First I did my morning business before I got into the shower and let the warm water flow over me. It felt so good to shower early in the morning. You feel more awake and fresh afterwards. I shaved straight away in the shower because I didn't feel like to it yasterday. I didn't like the fact that my hair grew back so quickly. And unfortunately I was unlucky that the hairs were dark. Because of this I had to reach for the razor several times a week.

I put on my underwear immediately after drying my body. Then I put on my dark brown turtleneck sweater, black socks and dark blue jeans. After getting dressed, I grabbed my toothbrush and reached for the toothpaste. I looked in the mirror as I brushed my teeth. The sight in the mirror shocked me a little. I had slight dark circles under my eyes and I looked a little pale. Not surprising when I'm busy looking for a job and when I'm looking after Georgie. Then I blow-dried my (H/C) hair and brushed it through thoroughly before tying my hair back. Then I applied mascara to my eyelashes.

The first thing I did in my room was to close the window. I took out my jewelry box from the drawer of my nightstand. I put my gold earrings in my earlobe and put my gold watch on my right wrist. I got both of these a week before Adrian died.

In the kitchen I met Georgie, who was holding her cup of coffee in her hands and staring absently into space. "Morning," I greeted her as soon as I set foot in the kitchen. "Morning," I heard Georgie mumble. I went straight to the pot of freshly brewed coffee. I took a cup from the cupboard above and poured myself a half-full cup. The smell of fresh coffee immediately filled my nose. Sighing, I put my cup next to Georgie's and sat down next to her. I took a sip of the hot drink and at the same time looked over at Georgie out of the corner of my eye. "Would you like some scrambled eggs? I'll make some right away," I told her. I took another sip before leaving it on the table and getting up from the chair and walking to the fridge. When I looked in the fridge, I grimaced at random. It looked pretty empty. We really need to fill the fridge today.

"Yes, of course. I want to leave as soon as possible,” Georgie said, speaking a little louder. I knew then that she was feeling a little better than last night. I slept so soundly today that I didn’t notice anything going on around me. I didn’t know whether Georgie had cried last night or hadn’t slept a wink. I bit my lip.

After I took out the eggs, butter and the pan, I turned on the stove and put the pan on. While I had to wait for the stove to heat up, I sat down next to Georgie again and pushed my cup towards me. "Did you sleep better today?" I asked her when she made no attempt to talk to me, so instead I picked up the lead and started a conversation. Georgie drew indistinct patterns on the surface of the table with her index finger. Before I got up again, I took another sip of my coffee and walked over to the stove. With the wooden spoon in my hand, I started cooking, humming.

My sister still hadn't answered me, so I turned my head in her direction and started speaking: "The neighbor told me yesterday that a new shop opened near the cemetery a few days ago. Apparently the shop owner is a witch. The neighbor is pretty sure she worships the devil because she had a petagram tattooed on her neck. She was supposed to have babbled something about how they brought her cat back to the living from the afterlife…” I laughed at the thought that there was supposedly a dead cat running around the area and causing trouble. I can't imagine the animal being anything other than a zombie. The scratching on the table stopped for a moment before Georgie continued.

"As if there's some kind of magic here," I grumbled and scooped the contents of the pan onto two plates. I sat down next to my sister and started eating. My coffee had gone cold by now, but I still didn't want to throw it away. It would just be a waste not to drink it. Besides, I really need it to wake up properly. "Thank you," Georgie said quietly, poking at the eggs with her fork. I watched her silently as she ate, taking bites. Under my stern gaze, she had no choice but to stuff the food into her mouth and choke it down. I'm definitely not going to let her leave the apartment without eating.

"You can't know that for sure. I do think there are some things we can't explain," my sister replied, taking another bite of her meal. A satisfied smile graced my lips with every success my sister said one more word. "Last night, the news said that a very large wolf was spotted in the woods in the neighboring village and that scratch marks and torn, bloody clothing belonging to a missing woman were found," she added after a short break from eating. I looked at her questioningly at the news. "What does it have to do with magic?" I asked her. I pushed my empty plate and cup away from me and looked patiently at my sister with curious eyes to see what answer she had. I had no idea what she was trying to tell me with her statement. "Besides, I think it was a wolf, but a bear. Wolves don't get that big and they certainly don't attack people," I told her my concerns about all of this.

I stood up and collected our dishes and put them in the sink. After visiting the cemetery, I'll wash them and put them away. "It certainly wasn't a bear, because they haven't been seen in this region for many years. I think it was more likely that it was a werewolf. You know, like the wolves from Twilight," I heard my sister say behind me. I almost cut myself with a knife when she said it. When my surprise had passed, I tilted my head back and laughed. "You don't believe that yourself. You don't know how ridiculous that sounds," I snorted and held my stomach, laughing. I started to hurt from laughing so much.

"You can laugh at me. But you'll see that I'm right," she replied immediately and disappeared into her room. "We'll meet in the hallway in half an hour," I called after her before I heard her door slam. I looked in her direction for a short while and left the kitchen to return to my own room. There I dug my handbag out of my closet and hung it over the bedpost so that I could pack a few things more easily. In any case, I put my wallet in my pocket. A tissue and a small umbrella are a must. Chewing gum for in between, hand cream and of course my keys. My cell phone goes in my jacket pocket. I looked at myself in the mirror one last time. Satisfied with how I looked, I nodded at my reflection and was about to turn my back to the mirror. But I stopped abruptly because I saw a figure scurry past behind me. No idea what it could be. I was hoping it was just my imagination.

I turned around very slowly. I was afraid of what might await me. With every heartbeat my heart pounded against my chest. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the shadow disappear into my wardrobe. With small steps and on silent soles I crept towards my wardrobe. I kept an eye on it the whole time, in case the figure changed its mind and attacked me suddenly. It took a lot of effort to put one foot after the other. My legs felt like lead. I stopped right in front of it and put my shaking hand on the knob. I didn't open it. My eyes wandered restlessly back and forth. From one moment to the next the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. My instinct told me to leave the wardrobe alone and get out of there. In horror films, following your curiosity never ends well. Most of the time you were killed by the monster behind the door.

I took deep breaths through my nose before gathering my courage and opening the door with a swing. I kept my eyes closed the whole time because I didn't want to look my murderer in the eye, no matter who it was. My last thoughts should only be about my loved ones. And I'm afraid of dying.

When the door was open, I waited outside for a few minutes. My eyes were shut so tightly that they hurt. The silence in the room was oppressive. Never in my life has time seemed so long.

For a long time nothing happened and no unusual noises came from the closet, so I hesitantly opened my eyes. First I peeked through my eyelashes and opened my eyes as soon as I couldn't see any sign of a person, animal or anything else. Phew. I didn't even notice that I had held my breath out of tension. Now I bravely pushed the clothes that were hanging up apart with both hands. Half to the left and half to the right.

My eyes wandered restlessly back and forth. I took a close look at the corners and the darkest parts of the closet. "Thank God I only imagined it," I murmured and closed the closet, shaking my head. I left my hand on the handle and stared at it, lost in thought. Absolutely nothing was going through my head.

"(V/N), are you coming? I'm ready to go," my sister called up to me. I wasn't prepared for that, because I flinched and my heart jolted. Startled, I put a hand on my chest and sighed. Because of the tension from earlier, I wasn't paying full attention. "Yes, I'll be right there," I replied in the same tone. I quickly rushed to my bag and swung it over my shoulder. When I got to the door, I turned to the closet. Satisfied that there was nothing unusual there, I grumbled and smiled and closed the door behind me. She had thrown a thin coat over herself. It was buttoned from top to bottom. She didn't wear a hat, but instead wore pink earmuffs. The corners of my mouth twitched at the sight of her. Georgie had usually worn black or dark clothes since Adrian's. So I was very surprised to see her in something colorful. At least a step in the right direction. An improvement.

The door was wide open behind her and a cold wind had crept into our house. It was spreading throughout the entire hallway. "So little patience, sis?" I giggled to myself and followed my sister outside. The incident from before was as good as forgotten. I locked the door after we left. Although the neighborhood was considered safe, we still didn't want to invite thieves into our house. In the cold, the windows weren't open during the day, but we opened them now and again to air the house.

Outside we were greeted by a strong gust of wind. The cold practically slapped you in the face. The cemetery was not far from the house, so we set off on foot. On the way there, Georgie will buy a bouquet of flowers for her deceased friend. "I want to visit Adrian's grave as soon as possible. It's been a long time since the last time," she told me, explaining the reason for her impatience. I glanced at her sideways because what she told me didn't make sense. She had only been at the grave yesterday. No more than twelve hours had passed. I won't say a word about her statement. I had no intention of hurting my younger sister's feelings. The difficult times were far from over.

"Don't forget that we still have to go shopping after the visit. Our fridge is pretty empty and could use some refilling," I told Georgie. "I was thinking of making chicken soup tonight," I continued as we turned the next corner into the shopping street. There were all kinds of shops on the street. From grocery stores to electronics stores. Our first stop was the flower shop next to the jeweler, which had only recently opened.

Georgie pulled her coat tighter around herself and put her shaking hands in her coat pocket. I don't know if it was because of the cold or because of something else. She doesn't deserve to suffer like that. I would have loved to take away her pain, but unfortunately I couldn't. "For me. I just want to buy the flowers and go visit Adrian's grave. I don't want to do anything else right now," she said coldly. Hurt by the cold shoulder she had just shown me, I winced. Sometimes her feelings change from one moment to the next.

"Of course we'll go to the flower shop first and then straight to Adrian's grave," I tried to calm her down with my words. To reinforce my words, I put my hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently.

The people around us took no notice of us, but went about their daily lives. Since the fall break had just started, there were a lot of people out and about. Tomorrow is Halloween, so some children and young people are dressed up and causing mischief at the market. Every now and then you could see masks of monsters or murderers from well-known films like Scream or Friday 13th. I actually didn't like horror films, but my ex-boyfriend at the time insisted that I watch some with him. In my opinion, the worst films were those with demons. There are no worse creatures than these. If I ever meet one, I'll run for my legs and disappear immediately.

As soon as we left the market behind us, the way to the flower shop was not far. We still had a good hundred meters to go. A cold wind blew in our faces. I immediately got goosebumps and lifted up the collar of my coat to save myself at least a little protection from the bitter cold. I think it's about time to get the winter coat out of the attic and exchange it for the coat.

The vibration of my phone in my pocket made me jump because it happened out of nowhere. I was firmly convinced that I had switched it to silent last night because I kept getting texts from my ex. Sighing, I fished the phone out of my pocket and swiped the screen with slightly stiff fingers. I wanted to know who the person was and what they had written to me. Rolling my eyes, I realized that it was none other than my ex-boyfriend. Ever since I left him, he had been trying to contact me nonstop. Before I left him and moved in with my sister, I had a great time with him. I was happy in the relationship.

Please come back (Y/N). I miss you so much.

The message he wrote me gave me a little pang of pain. I don't like to admit it, but I miss him too. After the hospital where my sister ended up after the shock of Adrian's death called me, I told my ex. I told him that I wanted to move closer to her. Not alone, but with him by my side... But he refused and said that his life is here and not a three-hour drive from here. Shortly afterwards, I gave him an ultimatum. It was either me or his work. You can see how he had made his decision. That same evening, I packed my things and, streaming with tears, got into my car and set off to see my sister. On the way to her, I kept stopping and crying my eyes out in silence in the car.

It took me a while to answer because my heart told me that I should call him right now and apologize for forcing an important decision on him. But another part of me didn't owe me anything and didn't want to know anything about him. My head tells me every time I think about him that he deserves it because he left me alone with my problem.

I'm not coming back. My life is here now.

At the exact moment I pressed send, my sister stopped immediately. Surprised, I looked up from my screen and looked around. We had reached our destination. Without waiting for me, my sister entered the shop and waited for me with the door open. "Are you coming, (Y/N)? We don't have long before it starts to rain," she pointed out the lousy, disgusting weather. What I would give for a warm summer day.

"I'm coming," I replied grumbling and put my phone away with a sigh. One last time, I allowed my thoughts and shared memories of my ex to wander through my head before I locked it in the furthest corner of my being. Today, I wanted to concentrate exclusively on my grieving sister.

I looked around the shop curiously. Lots of flowers and plants were either in pots or vases. Beautiful arrangements were either hanging on the walls or lying on the tables. My sister, however, went straight to the bouquets and stood with her index finger on her chin. Her eyes wandered deliberately from one bouquet to the next. She skipped the bouquets of roses. At least her eyes didn't stay on them for long like they did with the others. Since I had nothing to do with flowers, I ran over to the garden decorations and looked at them instead. Stone statues of Buddha, angels made of marble, pots made of brass and many other objects made of all kinds of materials and shapes. I was amazed at what this shop had to offer. From the outside, the shop didn't look that big. Don't let appearances fool you.

Not far from here, there was a large vase of sunflowers in a corner. For some reason, it started to wobble dangerously, for no reason at all. So much so that water was spilling over the edge and a small puddle was forming on the floor around the vase. I looked around the compartment in fear, but there was no one else to be seen. Large plants and decorations obscured my view of my sister or the salesperson. I couldn't see anything other than myself and my sister when I entered. It was probably because it was quite early.

For the second time that day, I stood there frozen in fear. My legs wouldn't move from the spot despite my instinct to flee. It wasn't just because the vase was moving as if by magic, but because a black shadow had formed behind the vase and glowing red eyes were staring at me from there. At least I imagined they were eyes.

"(Y/N), I'm done. Let's go," I heard my sister say not far from me. When she didn't get a response from me, she had to look for me in the maze of plants and garden decorations because I could hear her footsteps behind me. I, on the other hand, didn't take a single step. I was shaking like a leaf and my skin was as dry as the Sahara dust. Even though I couldn't see myself at the moment, I'm sure I'm as white as a ghost. "(Y/N)?" Georgie's voice could be heard behind me. She then put her hand on my shoulder, which she shook vigorously when she once again got no answer from me. Her face moved into my field of vision and covered the vase, which had stopped shaking since Georgie appeared, but the strange figure was still visible. "What's wrong?" she wanted to know.

Before she got an answer from me, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I didn't want her to see the panic in my eyes and I didn't want to worry her. I was glad that Georgie's face was in front of me. The proximity of my sister and the sight of her calmed me down immensely. After a while I realized that I still owed her an answer. When the strength returned to my body, I raised my arm and pointed with my index finger behind Georgie's shoulder. "There was something behind the vase over there," was my only answer to the question she asked. Georgie could certainly read the shock on her face. Normally not many things can throw me off track or even scare me. But since this morning, I have been startled again and again by something. From the cupboard to the wobbling vase with the shadow behind it. I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't the last time.

Georgie followed my outstretched arm, which pointed in the direction of the vase. In order to follow my index finger, she had to turn around first, which she did immediately. With the bouquet full of irises and daisies in her arms, she turned around and looked carefully at the vase. She even took a few steps towards it and to the side. This meant that I could also see the vase.

"There's nothing to see," she said after a while of silence. Surprised and confused by her statement, I was able to move my limbs again. Before I knew it, I was standing next to my younger sister and also looking at the vase. I wanted to reassure myself that the black shadow with the red eyes was no longer there. Blinking, I realized that Georgie was right. In fact, there was no longer any sign of the figure. Should I be relieved or should I fear that I had just imagined the whole thing? "How can that be? Have I gone mad?" I murmured quietly and shook my head violently. I turned my back to the vase. I was so embarrassed to have been afraid of my imagination. "Let’s go“ I added sheepishly. Annoyed at my own stupidity, I bit my lower lip and scratched the back of my neck in embarrassment.

"Oky," Georgie dragged out the word unnecessarily. She pressed the bouquet of flowers close to her chest and marched towards the exit. I followed her outside in silence. The clouds above us have thickened. I could see the threatening black clouds on the horizon. It won't be long before it starts to storm and pours down like buckets. I estimate that the clouds will be above us within an hour.

"We have to hurry," I advised her and picked up the pace. My sister matched my quick steps. Before we reach the cemetery, we have to leave two blocks behind us. "What perfect weather for a cemetery visit," was my comment. As we walked, I looked around the area, because we fell silent on the way. I quickly realized that Georgie needs peace and quiet. I don't want to disturb her thoughts. And especially not when her emotions are going crazy. One moment she was in a good mood and the next she was sad, or angry. I was never angry with her for that. Everyone processed the grief differently.

Before I knew it, we had reached our destination. There were only a few parking spaces in front of the cemetery, some of which were already occupied. As I entered the cemetery, the iron gate squeaked unpleasantly in my ears.

An elderly couple was just getting out of a car. The woman had a beautiful bouquet of flowers in her right hand. In the other she held a walking stick. Her husband gently grabbed her forearm and helped her walk. Her steps were small and she walked very slowly. Despite everything, she did not want to hand the bouquet over to her husband for a single moment. The woman and the man strolled past us and nodded gratefully at us because we were patiently standing at the iron gate and holding it open for them. We returned the gesture just as politely.

Georgie sighed with relief when she finally arrived at her friend's grave. In the vase by the grave was already a bouquet of blue flowers whose name I didn't know. The heads of the flowers were already hanging down and they looked a bit dry. As my sister said this morning, she was there a few days ago. In her case, it was usually exactly two days ago.

While she was exchanging the bouquets, I watched her silently. Tears kept flowing down her cheeks, which were red from the cold. Silent. Not a sound came from her lips. I didn't say a word either, because I didn't know what to say. There was nothing I could say to her. Healing would only come in years. "(Y/N)", I heard Georgie whisper my name after a few minutes. She was kneeling in front of the grave and wiping the engraving on the gravestone. "Yes?" I replied curiously. I wiped a tangled strand of hair behind my ear. "Have you ever wondered if it is possible to revive a loved one?" she asked unexpectedly. I raised my eyebrows. "I have never asked myself that question. But I am sure that it is not scientifically possible," I answered her question honestly. How did she come up with that question?

My sister's shoulders sank in disappointment at my answer. Her hair was ruffled by a sudden gust of wind. My hair was no better. "Maybe you are right," she said, still with her back to me. Maybe? Should I worry about her? I decided not to.

I looked around the cemetery because I couldn't find anything better to do. My sister was busy picking up the fallen leaves from the trees on the grave and throwing them into a pile next to the grave.

Not far from here I spotted a woman dressed in black who was also looking over at us curiously. Our eyes met. She came over to me as if I had invited her with my eyes. I quickly lowered my gaze and shifted from one foot to the other. I hoped fervently that she wasn't coming over to us, but was walking past us or even going in a different direction. Unfortunately, my hopes were dashed because I heard footsteps coming towards us above the leaves. I was just about to tell my sister about the woman's appearance.

The footsteps made my sister prick up her ears. The footsteps above the leaves were hard to miss. My sister stood upright again and turned towards the spring. A short time later, I leaned over Georgie's ear and whispered in her ear: "Do you know why she's coming in our direction?" She shrugged both shoulders without question. It seemed strange to me that someone was coming straight towards us. Nevertheless, I hope that she walks past us or even goes in a different direction. Unfortunately, we were not lucky in that regard, because she stopped in front of us with a smile and a wave.

"Good morning, Georgie. I see you're back today. It's nice that you're still visiting your love despite his death. You can practically feel how much you still love him," she started talking. She hadn't even looked at me for a second. I was ignored coldly. As if I were air. Annoyed, I gritted my teeth and stuffed my hands into my jacket pocket. It's not that I have anything against her. But you can at least say hello to me. Out of politeness, at least. The stranger took another step towards Georgie and put a hand on her shoulder and leaned towards her ear like I had before and whispered, not exactly quietly: "I urgently need to talk to you. You know with the -" Before she could continue, she stopped my sister by quickly putting a hand on her arm and looking at her intently. Even a blind person could understand the hint.

For me that was the cue to leave the two of them alone. "I'll leave you alone for a little while so you can talk," I said, my voice getting quieter and quieter. I turned my back on the two women and put a few meters between us. Since I didn't know where to go, I randomly walked to various gravestones and looked at the inscriptions, information, and photos if there were any. This cemetery wasn't as big as the one in our hometown, but there was still something eerie about it. It was in the middle of a forest, so the sun couldn't shine properly on some of the gravestones. And every now and then I saw overgrown gravestones that were a few years old and no longer cared for. The cemetery must look creepy in the dark. No amount of horses could get me here at night.

I had left a few meters behind me and was so busy reading the dedications of family and friends on the gravestones that I didn't notice. I hadn't noticed that I was wandering deeper and deeper into the forest cemetery, so that when I looked around I couldn't see a soul. I was alone with the dead. On top of that, it was getting dark. Not because it was late, but because dark clouds were increasingly blocking out the sun.

A cold, strong wind was blowing through the trees and making the branches sway dangerously. Crows had gathered on some branches and were staring at me with their black, button eyes. I shivered because their gazes seemed to pierce me. They watched my every step very closely as soon as I set off on the way back. No matter how fast my feet carried me, I always heard the birds' wings beating and felt their piercing gazes on my back. I didn't feel comfortable. For this reason, I picked up the pace. "Stupid creatures," I muttered and made my way to the gravel path, which I found after a while despite the overcast sun. Apparently I underestimated the birds' ability to hear because they all suddenly flew towards me, screeching. They pecked at me with their beaks and you shouldn't ignore their wing beats either. I had to endure both at my own risk.

Screaming and waving my arms, I tried to get rid of the annoying animals. Their claws grabbed at my hair and clothes. Luckily, thanks to the cold autumn day, I was wearing thick clothing. Otherwise I would have been overlooked by the bloody scratch. "Leave me alone!" I screamed and tried to run away from the birds. There were at least twenty crows that hooked on me and followed me like a shadow.

I couldn't get rid of them quickly, so I tried running in zigzags. When that didn't work right away, I ran as fast as I could and barged into a monumental tomb in the shape of a building, which to my surprise was wide open. I pushed the heavy doors shut as quickly as I could. Now it was dark except for a small window. I fished my phone out of my pocket and turned on the flashlight app. Even inside the stone buildings, I could hear the crows screeching outside. I'm one hundred percent sure that I'm going to be stuck here for a while. Hopefully it won't be long, because I don't want to keep Georgie waiting for long... although I just remembered that I can call her. So I unlocked my phone and dialed my sister's number, but it didn't work because I had no signal in here. "Damn," I cursed quietly and ran my hand through my hair in annoyance. I kicked a pillar that stood in the middle of the building.

"You don't have to get angry right away," I heard a male voice saying not far from me. The shock of my life spread through me. My heart stopped for a moment and I flinched so violently that my cell phone fell to the floor with the display and made an unpleasant noise. It sounded as if the screen had shattered. Unfortunately for me, the flashlight also stopped working, so I was now stuck here with a strange man. On top of that, I didn't know why anyone was in here.

My mood sank to rock bottom when my cell phone broke. I just rolled my eyes at the man's statement. "I'm sorry I'm not in a good mood. Today is not my day," I snapped at the stranger. I don't care what he thinks of me. I'll never see him again anyway. So why should I care about the man's opinion?

I couldn't tell what the man looked like, because I didn't have much light except for my pocket lamp. Very little light came in through the window. The sun wasn't much help today, because I could hear the first rain of the day pattering against the window pane.

"The day isn't over yet. You should never count your chickens before they're done. A lot can still happen," he replied. He apparently had a lighter or matches with him, because he used them to light some candles that were scattered around. Still, it was strange that all the candles lit up at the same time. Thanks to the light, I could finally see the man. Unfortunately, I couldn't see much except his face. But one thing was certain. He was very good-looking with his black hair hidden under a hood. He was wearing a hoodie, also black. I assumed he had brown eyes, although they seemed to glow red in the light. He probably has brown eyes in normal light.

"That's true. I just hope my streak of bad luck is over soon," my voice had become calmer now. There was something lulling about his voice. You immediately feel calmer and somehow it draws you in. "The crows seem to have something against me because they just stormed at me," I explained the reason for my appearance. I slid to the floor with my back against the wall. Even through my coat I could feel the cold of the stone beneath me. I picked up my broken cell phone from the floor and looked over at the man. "What's your excuse?" I asked him. Even though I didn't like admitting it, I wanted to hear his reason. Maybe one of his relatives is buried here and he wanted to visit the grave and enjoy the peace in here until I showed up and disturbed his solitude. My body was turned towards him. I definitely didn't want to sit with my back to a strange man. He could attack me out of nowhere and I wouldn't be able to be there. There was nothing inside here that I could defend myself with. The only option would be the door to the tomb.

The man was already sitting on the ground when I appeared. He had pulled one leg up to his chest and was leaning his elbow on his knee and was looking at me intensely. My body shuddered. I put it down to the cold and the creepy atmosphere in here. "I wanted to meet a certain person here," he revealed without hesitation. The expression on his face looked as if he wanted to explain something to me that I couldn't interpret. With a smile, he flashed his white teeth. His canines were slightly longer and tapered. That was nothing unusual. I once heard that it can often be seen in people.

I looked at him in disbelief and twisted my face slightly at the thought of what he could do with this girl. Not a very nice thought. "Not a particularly nice place to have a date," I replied tonelessly. I slid away from him as far as I could until I hit the stone wall. Now cold air was creeping out from every direction imaginable. The stones also emitted cold. Ever since I arrived here, goosebumps had stuck to my body, as if my body wanted to warn me of an impending danger that I did not understand. "She doesn't want to meet you here?" I teased him. I gave him the same smile as he had before, only my teeth were not as sharp as his.

From outside I heard the birds stop, because hundreds of wing beats could not be ignored even here. They left with a croak. Hopefully Georgie will find me again quickly or at least get help to look for me. Should I dare to take a look outside? I slowly got up from the ground and put my hands in my jacket pocket to check if my phone was still there. Unfortunately, I had left my bag at Georgie's grave. I took out my phone and wanted to light up the screen by touching it with my finger, but it didn't work. Then I remembered that I had dropped the phone earlier. "Could I borrow your phone for a minute? My screen is broken and I want to call my sister," I asked him for help. I know it wasn't my place to ask him for a favor, since I wasn't exactly nice to him earlier.

"I don't have one with me. How about I shove my tongue down your throat instead?" he purred as he stood up and took a step toward me. His eyes seemed to glow in the candlelight and his sharp teeth flashed briefly. Suddenly the aura around him changed. It went dark. All the candles flickered in unison with my racing heart.

I grimaced, disgusted by his words. "Are you crazy or what? I've only known you for a few minutes and you're asking me to make out with you?" I snapped at him. I clenched my hands into fists. If he tries to attack me, I'm ready to defend myself. Not a moment later, I jumped to the door. At that moment, I didn't care if thousands of crows were waiting for me. I just wanted to get away from the weirdo. I closed my hand around the door handle and tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge. So I tried to push against it with all my strength. Unfortunately, it didn't work either. "Damn it! Why won't you open the damn door?" I cursed loudly. Behind me I heard the boy, whose name I still didn't know, approaching. With every step he took, my heart rate increased. Behind my ears I heard the rushing of my blood. "(Y/N), why do you want to leave me when I can finally hold you in my arms?" he whispered. I could hear that he was smiling from his tone.

"Stay away from me!" I growled at him, angry and afraid at the same time. I didn't dare look over my shoulder in his direction. But I could still feel his gaze on me. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. In panic, I shook the door handle. "Help! Is nobody there?! I need help!" I screamed in panic.

"I don't have one with me. How about I shove my tongue down your throat instead?" he purred as he stood up and took a step towards me. His eyes seemed to glow in the candlelight and his sharp teeth flashed briefly. Suddenly the aura around him changed. It went dark. All the candles flickered in unison with my racing heart.

The madman came to stand behind me so that I could feel his breath on my neck. A shiver came over me. Now tears came into my eyes and I had to bite my lower lip so that I didn't start crying. I knew that it wouldn't get me very far.

An animalistic growl sounded behind me. It didn't sound like that of a human, but more like that of a wild animal. An animal that stalks its prey and wants to tear it down with a loud growl. "Nobody. Absolutely nobody will take you away from me," he hissed against my neck. At his proximity, I flinched and squeezed my eyelids as tightly as I could. My lower lip trembled dangerously. Please, God. Please. Let the door open. I don't want to end up dead in the cemetery. Not like that.

As if the almighty Lord had heard my prayer, the gate was opened. Not by me or the madman, but from outside. Relief washed over me as soon as I looked into my sister's surprised face. "What are you doing in there?" she asked me with wide eyes. Her hair looked disheveled and she was breathing heavily, as if she had been looking for me for hours. Over her shoulder I could see that the sun was just about to set. Without my phone I completely lost track of time. "Crows followed me here for some unknown reason and then there's this crazy guy in there," I explained to her briefly.

Before my sister could follow me in here, I put a hand on her chest and pushed her back a little roughly. Away from the building. Just away. Preferably very, very far away from here. "Don't go in there, Georgie. Otherwise you'll end up like me and be trapped in there for a while. And there's a madman there" I began to describe the events of the last few hours. I rolled my eyes at the thought of the madman. Why was I wasting a second tot hink about him?

A short time after my explanation, she looked over my shoulder into the building. She raised her eyebrows and let her eyes wander around the room. Not long after, skepticism crept into her eyes. "Did you get enough oxygen in there? There's no one in there," she said, pointing with her index finger. In disbelief, I jerked my head back to see if she had been mistaken. Like my sister before, I looked around searching for the stranger. A shiver ran through me when I realized that he had actually disappeared. Goosebumps covered my whole body as all the candles were blown out at the same time. Hopefully from the draft that came through the door. "Georgie, I swear there really was someone in there with me! He was crazy!" I swore that I had told her the truth. I wasn't imagining it! Or was I?

I didn't want to stay here a minute longer, so I grabbed my sister by the hand and pulled her with me. "Let's get out of here. I don't want to stay any longer," I told her how I felt. To be honest, I didn't really know which direction we had to go, which is why I stopped after a hundred meters and asked my sister for directions. Of course she wanted to know why I didn't take out my phone and open Google Maps. I explained and showed her that my phone was broken. After my explanation, she took over and led us out of the cemetery.

On the way back to the exit of the cemetery, I felt eyes on us the whole time. But every time I looked around, there was no one to be seen. It was getting dark and most of the visitors had already visited their loved ones who had passed away.

As soon as we left the cemetery behind us, I stretched myself up with a smile. "We've finally left hell behind us," I sighed contentedly. I straightened my clothes and ran my hand through my hair. I wanted to have at least a little control over it. "(Y/N), I don't want to go shopping. Can we please go home quickly? I have to do something urgently," Georgie asked me as a favor. I nodded in agreement. Because of my experience today, I really didn't have the nerve to spend the last few hours of the evening shopping. And I couldn't say no to my little sister. "Then we'll just go shopping first thing tomorrow morning. Let's see what we still have. Then we'll have scrambled eggs tonight," I decided on our dinner tonight.

It took us about half an hour to get home. Each of us disappeared into our own room. I got clean clothes from the closet and disappeared into the bathroom to take a shower. I did just that. As soon as I dried myself off and combed my hair, I put on sweatpants and a t-shirt. Back in my room, I opened my window to let in some fresh air. Outside, the sun had already set and a strong wind was blowing through the trees. Because of thick clouds, no stars could be seen and the moon was also not visible. Now I was sure that it was going to rain today.

I went down to the kitchen and found my Georgie at the table. She had a steaming cup in front of her and another one was in front of it. I sat down on the chair opposite her and leaned against the back of the chair. I wanted to rest for a moment before I started cooking. "I made you some tea. Drink it while it's still warm," my sister said. I smiled gratefully at my little sister. "Thank you," I thanked her as I closed my hands around the cup. I enjoyed the pleasant warmth that emanated from the tea.

"What did the woman want from you earlier?" I wanted to know what my sister had to discuss with the woman at the cemetery. I can't really imagine that it was anything important. I looked outside. On the way home, I kept asking myself this question. I couldn't get it out of my head.

My sister bit her lower lip and looked anywhere but not in my direction. "She did me a favor," she replied briefly. Skeptical about her statement, I raised an eyebrow. Should I believe her or not? Normally I could always believe my sister. She has never lied to me. Well, until now anyway. I don't know whether I should probe her brief answer or not. After a while I decided against it, but a thousand other questions were on my lips. Instead of filling her stomach with questions, I took a big sip of my tea. For some reason, my sister was watching me very closely.

"You know, (Y/N). I will do ANYTHING to get Adrian back. No matter what or who I have to sacrifice for it," my sister continued. When she said what she had said just now, she looked me in the eyes. Her gaze was so determined and serious that I shuddered. I couldn't hold my sister's intense gaze for long, so I preferred to look into my cup while I drank the rest in one go. Luckily, the tea was no longer hot, but lukewarm, so I didn't burn my tongue. I hadn't noticed it before, but the tea tasted different than usual. It had a bitter aftertaste.

A flash of lightning lit up the kitchen for a few seconds, followed by a loud clap of thunder. "Georgie, I know how much you miss Adrian, but you can't bring him back from the dead," I replied, yawning. From one moment to the next, I was overcome by tiredness. My head grew heavier by the second and I let go of the cup in my hand. The sound of the crockery breaking sounded dull in my ears. But I could hear my little sister's voice very clearly: "I will bring Adrian back. Even if I have to sacrifice you for it, dear sister." Then everything went black behind my eyelids.

A vague murmuring brought me out of my unconsciousness. I opened my eyes with a groan because I could feel severe pain behind my eyes. I wanted to grab my pounding head, but I couldn't because something was stopping me. Still sluggish from the dreamless sleep, I looked to see what was preventing my arms from moving. To my horror, I realized that my arms and legs were tied up. I was confused as to when this could have happened. The last thing I remembered was drinking the tea my sister had made... Even if I have to sacrifice you for it, dear sister. Oh no! No, no, no! Please let it be my imagination!

I ignored my pain and tugged at my bonds instead. Little by little, my eyes got used to the darkness that reigned in the room. I don't even know where exactly I am. It could be anywhere else. I let my eyes wander, looking for my sister. I immediately spotted her in a circle of candles around her. I felt fear, terror, and horror at that moment. She was sitting in the middle of a pentagram. Flickering hearts were placed on each point of the star. Next to my sister I saw a body lying in a sheet covered with a sheet. From there I could see a badly decaying hand. When I made this discovery I noticed the stench. Why did my sister have a corpse with her?

"Georgie?" I croaked. I coughed because my throat was dry. My sister's murmuring stopped at my voice. She turned her head in my direction and looked at me with a very big smile. Goosebumps spread across my arms as I saw a shadow next to my sister. At first it was misshapen, but the more seconds passed, the more it took shape. First the legs and lower body were formed, and then the arms. Then came the upper body, which certainly belonged to a man with broad shoulders. Then the creature got a head. Horns sat on the shadow creature's head. The worst part was not watching it turn into a human-like being, but rather that it had red, sparkling eyes that looked at me with a devilish grin. Even in the darkness you could see the sharp teeth. To make matters worse, it was slowly coming towards me. Whimpering, I tugged at my bonds and rocked the chair back and forth, causing it to tip over on its side.

At that moment, I thought my heart would burst out of my chest in fear as soon as I saw the creature's feet standing in front of me. Inside, I was dying of fear and I wanted to squeeze my eyes shut. But fear paralyzed me.

Tears ran from my eyes and dripped to the floor. Sobbing, I had to watch as my sister fell back into her summoning. Pale skin grabbed the back of my chair and lifted it upright again. "Where are you going in such a hurry, love?" a voice trilled cheerfully in my ear. For some reason, it sounded familiar. As if I had heard it just a short time ago. After a few seconds of thinking, I realized. It was the stranger in the cemetery. I looked up at him with wide eyes. There were indeed horns on his head. His eyes not only looked red, they were red.

Courage rose in me. "I'm not your love! And who the hell, or rather what the hell are you?" I snapped at him. I finally wanted to know who or what I was dealing with. He stroked my cheeks with the back of his hand. The icy touch made me jerk my head to the side. I definitely didn't want to be touched by him!

"Don't be so shy, (Y/N). You'll learn to accept my touches soon enough,"

he whispered and tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. Then he continued speaking: "To satisfy your curiosity, I'll answer a few questions for you. Not without a price, of course." He laughed darkly at the last sentence. Since I didn't know how to react, I looked in my sister's direction. My gaze was filled with pleas for help, which my sister ignored.

I was roughly grabbed by the chin and turned towards him. While he spoke, he held my chin firmly in his grip. "I am known by the name Amon. But you, my dearest bride, may call me husband," he purred, his eyes greedily fixed on my mouth. He also had to run his thumb over my lower lip. "W-what? I'm not married to you! When did that happen?" I screamed in his face. I tried to bite him, but of course luck was not on my side. "Oh, of course we are, LOVE. From the moment you rescued me from my prison in the mirror a few months ago," he began to explain. To my annoyance, he had to emphasize the word 'love' letter by letter.

When he mentioned it, I had to dig deep into my memory to come to a conclusion. I sat there for at least half a second until it suddenly dawned on me. Before Adrian's accident, I found a covered mirror in the attic. At the time, I went upstairs because I heard strange noises and assumed it was vermin. And since it was moving behind the covered mirror, I thought the vermin had hidden behind it. But as soon as I uncovered the mirror behind it, I couldn't see anything behind it and went back downstairs. A few days later, Adrian had his fatal accident.

I gasped in disbelief as one thing dawned on me. "A-Are you responsible for Adrian's accident?" I stuttered. Shocked, I put my hand over my mouth. I hadn't even noticed that my hands and legs had been freed from the restraints. "You don't need an answer from me for that, do you?" he whispered in my ear. "Why do you think I caused the accident? Of course, only so that your sister would have a reason to lure you here. I wanted you here and not to see you in the arms of the worthless person you call your friend. Every night I put ideas for an incantation into your sister's ear. Like every incantation, a wish has to make a sacrifice. The sacrifice of your dear sister, my love, was you," he continued, whispering in my ear.

I pushed him away with all my strength and staggered over to my sister. The anesthetic made me quite unsteady on my feet. Sobbing, I fell to my knees in front of my sister. I tried to ignore the corpse as best I could. The stench made it difficult.

The ritual or summoning could not be stopped despite my presence. With shaking hands, I took my sister's face in my hands. It hurt me deeply that my only sister had betrayed me to a demon. She put her boyfriend before her own blood relative, her sister. "Did you hear what the demon said? He caused Adrian's accident. Let's get out of here while we still can," I tried to persuade her.

Before I could realize it, I was thrown to the ground. For a moment I saw Georgie's raised hands. My own sister pulled me away from her. As if I were a pesky insect that had to be gotten rid of.

Shocked by her rejection, I saw her face twisted with anger. She pointed her finger at me. "No. You are to blame for his death. Only you! If only you hadn't freed him, Adrian would still be alive," she screamed at me. The desperation and sadness in her voice was unmistakable. At the end she sobbed and hid her tearful face behind her hands. Tears ran silently down my cheeks. Betrayal. Betrayal, betrayal. "I want him back," she sobbed uncontrollably. So much sadness and anger were packed into her crying fit. I just realized something. My sister lost herself after Adrian's death. She cried much more about the loss of her friend than about the betrayal of me.

"You did too," Amon interrupted our conversation. He had placed his cold hands on my shoulders. I didn't dare make a wrong move. I was too afraid of the consequences. As we know, demons are not known for their empathy and understanding.

We both looked at him for different reasons. I out of fear and Georgie out of hope.

At his cue, Adrian's body rose. It could only be him. The paint fell off of him. Inwardly, I was already preparing myself for the terrible sight of his decomposing corpse. Surely he could be compared to a zombie. So it wasn't like that. He looked exactly the same as he did in the last hours before his fatal car accident. As if nothing had ever happened.

Very slowly he turned his head towards us. His eyes were still slightly sad. "G-Georgie?" he cracked. His voice was rough. Without thinking too much, my sister threw herself around his neck. "I missed you so much," I heard my sister whisper very quietly.

The pressure on my shoulders grew stronger. He started to pull me away from the two of them. "Now that you've got your wish, I'll get my part of the deal. My bride," I heard Amon speak behind me.

"Since I've answered three of your questions, let's start our wedding night right away. And in hell the nights are very, very long," he purred in a lust-soaked voice. One of his cold hands wandered from my ankles up my legs, so that he came dangerously close to my intimate area.

I tried with all my might to free myself by throwing my upper body forward, but to no avail. "Please Georgie. Please don't do this to me. Not to your own sister!” I sobbed and tried to cling to every object that came my way.

My sister took her face away from Adrian and watched as Amon pulled me behind him into the darkest corner. “I'll keep my part of the deal. You can have her,” she stated coldly. I've never seen her so emotionless before. “She's yours,” was the last thing I heard from her.

#yandere #creature #betrayal #fantasy #sisters #xreader #reader #demon

3 notes · View notes

starry-eyed-extraterrestrial · 10 months ago

Text

A little fic that I wrote under the cut, I'm strictly posting this to prove to myself that not everything has to be perfect when it comes to my writing. Vince/Mick implied (kinda) and cursing warning.

“Dude, what the hell happened to your hair?”

Mick is broken from his restful state by the grating voice of Vince Neil.

He'd been minding his own business after their first show together in years. The red, white and crue tour looked like it was going to do well if the sold out venues suggested anything and he was feeling pretty good about everything they've accomplished thus far so he decided that a bit of a victory nap (read: pass out) on the couch of the dressing room would be fine, so he nodded off a bit.

He then processes what Vince said.

“What?” He replies dumbly, confused.

“What is going on with your hair?” Vince repeats while pointing his finger towards his own hairline to imply to Mick to look at his own hairline there.

“What do you mean?” Mick raises a brow, reaching for his hat only to realise that his hat wasn't on his head anymore.

He scans the floor frantically to find it laying strewn on the ground about seven inches away.

Vince laughs, amused by Mick's panic.

“Um, do you mind getting my hat for me?” Mick asks, too embarrassed to remember to be grumpy about being woken.

Vince picks it up but holds the top hat hostage with the advantage of standing and not having a crippling bone disease.

“Not until you tell me what's up with your hair, you try something different and it didn't work?” Vince chuckles, holding the hat close to his chest playfully.

Mick sighs wearily, looks like he wouldn't be getting that victory nap after all.

“What the hell are you talking about Neil?” Mick asks,annoyed that this conversation wasn't getting him any closer to going back to sleep.

“The colour man”

“What colour?” Mick is genuinely confused as to what his singer is on about, he's starting to think that Vince is asking him something completely different in reality but because of just waking up his tired brain was just interpreting this conversation very weirdly.

“The ginger”

Mick pulls a face before realisation sets in.

Fuck, his roots were starting to grow out.

He guesses that he just hadn't noticed because he's always wearing hat's…and he's not really a fan of looking at himself in the mirror.

“Oh yeah, I'm due a touch up, my roots are probably just growing out is all” Mick says holding his hand out expectantly for Vince to hand over his hat.

Vince doesn't budge.

“No fucking way dude, there is no way that you've been a ginger this whole time and I didn't know.”

“Well believe it” Mick leans forward making grabbing motions towards his hat. Instead of Vince giving him his hat he sits down next to Mick on the couch, still keeping the hat from Mick's reach.

“Abso-fucking-lutely not, there is no way.” Vince says unconvinced and obviously in the mood to bust Mick's balls, which Mick doesn't appreciate.

He should have expected this kind of behaviour from the blond, he'd known him for over twenty years so he knew something minerly inconvenient like this would happen, it's always something with not just Vince but with all the guys.

No matter how sober or ‘good’ they got their innate need for chaos would never truly disappear, but that's one of the reasons Mick loved the band so much.

It was never boring.

What he didn't expect Vince to do was reach a free hand out and thread his fingers though the thin faded hair on his scalp.

Mick's first instinct is to tense, a sudden violent flashback of when Nikki had ripped out a chunk of his hair flashes in his mind. And he knows it's irrational and a completely different decade at this point and a whole different person to Nikki (and hell even Nikki himself was quite pleasant as of late) so he tries to play off the illogical spasm as surprise.

He's not quick enough apparently as Vince takes notice almost immediately.Vince is the master of body language after all.

“Sorry man” the playful edge wanes a bit, as his movements become subtly more gentle. When his hand is comfortably seated he starts scratching.

And Mick is absolute putty in his hands, the gentle unintentional scalp massage he's getting while Vince playfully checks if his hair is real makes his brain short circuit for a moment. He's not used to somebody touching his hair like this.

Embarrassingly enough Mick finds himself nodding off again, his exhaustion from the show, his nap being interrupted and now the intentional scalp massage all elements to why he suddenly thought that falling asleep sounded great.

He leans back to how he was lying down (sitting down) before and for a second he's almost gone again.

Then he hears a snort and a chuckle that snaps him out of it.

“Ya like that Mickey~” Vince teases and pulls his hand away. Mick feels his face turn bright red.

“Fuck off Neil, go bother one of the other guys.” Mick says,trying to hide embarrassment with anger.

Vince gets up but not before winking at him.

“Ya know what I think I will, Nikki owes me twenty bucks.”

“How come?” Mick asks embarrassment, momentarily forgotten.

Vince answers while making his way to the door out of the dressing room. “I bet him about twenty years ago that you were soulless and now that I know your a ginger, my theories fucking confirmed”

Mick gives Vince a deadpan look, too end all deadpan looks, and if looks could kill, Vince would be dead where he stood.

Vince just laughs and he's out the door without another word.

It's only when Mick is comfortably settled again that he realises that Vince took his hat with him.

#my writing #wrote this in like half an hour so it's probably no good #like i didn't even proofread #I'll probs delete this out of pure shame later lol #hope this makes any sense at all

8 notes · View notes

alpydk · 10 months ago

Text

AstarionxTav - Choices

Going to say now, this is very angsty. Probably some SA trauma triggers in there, but I'm honestly not sure how to use them so go in at your own awareness. Any tips and feedback are welcome as I'm really enjoying writing and would love to improve. I'll be honest a lot of this has come from me recently finishing the Astarion romance path and wishing it could have been dealt with differently. Especially from act 2 onwards.

Summary - Tav's reflection on their relationship with Astarion. Can Tav face their own trauma and allow themself to say no?

Ao3 link here

Not really. But I know it’s not what you want to hear. I know this dance all too well. The jokes, the deflection, the flirting. The use of your body to get what you want. And what is it you want this time? Company? A release? Protection from the horrors to come? I wish you’d just be honest with me, but then I know the weakness that comes with asking for help. So I won’t push you. I won’t question your actions. I’ll just nod and lose myself in you. Offer you my role in the games we will play. Both of us, a million realms away.

We will continue to travel together. I’ll offer myself to you most nights. A little blood, a small tug at your hair. A warmth we both long for but are too scared to ask for. We’ll play our parts and drip-feed our pasts. You’ll watch as I grow close to another but you won’t say a thing. You’ll lie awake at night wondering what I’m saying to him, thinking of my body pressed against his, but you won’t speak to me about it. You’ll continue to flirt, ask me about your looks, lie to me with love. But you’ll never be honest. And we will continue to dance, our bodies entwined, but our minds distant.

“If you bite me.” Her words are toxic. I feel my skin crawl. My shoulders tense and years of anger flush my cheeks. I look at you wondering what will you do. Will you submit like you used to? Like I do with you? The word no, never being able to be uttered for fear of what would happen. For fear of disappointing the other person, for fear of not being good enough, for fear of punishment. And yet right now you’re braver than me, you say no to her. No. That one little word that need not be explained. I look at you almost in shock and see the drow’s eyes on me. If you can say no, then maybe I can too.

That evening I approach you. My mind is a whirl. I know our pasts are so different and yet it seems so similar. You say you want to talk and for once I feel my defences drop. No more flirting, no more lies, you’re honest, and you confess. Easy, instinctive… I know. And I was wrong to let you use me. I should have said no from the start, I should have- Fall for you. More lies? I want us to be something real. I’m not sure but I can’t say no. I want you to be happy. I want at least one of us to heal, so I ignore my no again. I let my mind wander and tell you I care, I speak the words you want to hear hoping maybe I can believe them one day because I know that you need me. You pull me in and kiss me deeply. You need to be in control. You need to feel safe and make the choices.

We no longer lie together like we used to. Your trauma is so deep and you tell me of how you chose not to remember all the times when you gave your body away. And I respect your choice. I don’t force you. I let you kiss me and I let you say the things you do. You continue to call me beautiful in the same way you did when we met, each time my stomach turning that little bit more. You can say no, but I won’t. I’ll meet those twins and I won’t force you, instead, I’ll lose myself in them, just like I used to with you. My body being abused so my mind can rest.

You’re finally free. After all those centuries you’re free of him. Free to do what you want to do. And what you want is me. If only you had ever asked me about my past, had respected me, the way I had you. Maybe this would have played out differently. Maybe I wouldn’t keep making the same mistakes. You feel safe and seen and yet I am invisible. I say the words you want to hear. Always what you want. And in that graveyard, you take me again, just like you want to. And yet this time only one of us is a million realms away. The next morning you give me your thanks. You tell me I’m your partner, your equal. You tell me I saved you and I simply stand and smile. I’m happy for you. Happy that you are free, that you are slowly healing. And yet the kisses never change. I’m always at your mercy. Always worried you’ll discover my lie and I’ll hurt you more than anyone else ever could.

We complete our adventure and I say we could continue together and for the first time, you genuinely ask me what I want. Do I want this? I don’t. I consider saying no but I know what will come. You’ll shout, you’ll tell me about all you sacrificed, you’ll blame me and then you’ll leave. Leaving me not with relief or feeling of understanding, but with more guilt, more self-hatred. And so again I say yes. Always saying yes.

#baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #bg3 astarion #astarion #astarion x tav #bg3 fanfiction #fanfic #trauma #doing this as i cant write anything intimate it seems

9 notes · View notes

blackhakumen · 4 months ago

Text

Mini Fanfic #1227: The ReBirth of a Rockin' Icon!~

3:15 p.m. Secret Future Foundation Headquarters: Capsule Pods Room...........

Hajime: (Walks into the Room with Fuyuhiko as he Writes Something on his Mini Notepad) Alright. We've finally managed set the defensive up and ready, with the help of our resident powerhouses.

Akane/Nekomaru: (Happily Walking by, Chanting) Power-Houses Power-Houses Power-Houses POWER-HOUSES YEEEEEAAAAAAH!~

Gundham: (Follows Behind the Duo Along with Sonia) Let the raise of the Three Powerhouses of Pandemonium COMMENCE! FUWAHAHAHAHAAAA!

Sonia: (Happily Applauds her Prince of Darkness) Very remarkable group name indeed, my dear~

Fuyuhiko: (Rolls his Eyes a Bit) The noisist powerhouses is more fitting........

Hajime: (Softly Glares at Fuyu) Be nice. ('Yawn') You missed Gundham and Nekomaru just as much as the rest of us here, no used in denying it......

Fuyuhiko: (Raises an Eyebrow at Hajime) Just like how you should be missing your bed by now. Did you get any sleep last night?

Hajime: I have. (Rubs the Back of of his Head Back and Forth While Turning his Head Away a Bit) Two....to three hours of it......

Fuyuhiko: That's not nearly enough sleep time.

Hajime: ('Sighs in Defeat') I know.......Work and preparation kept getting in the way of that. I'll get an actual, proper one as soon as we get everything situated in here.

Fuyuhiko: I'll believe it when I take you back to your room and see it.

Hajime: ('Sigh') Come on, man, you really don't think I can take of myself?

Fuyuhiko: I know you can. Just want to making sure you don't end up passing out on the cold, metal floor. 'Less you want Sonia to take you instead.

Hajime: (Grimaces at the Thought) No thanks. I really don't want my ear to be pulled again today.....

Fuyuhiko: (Simply Nodded in Agreement) You and me both.

The duo then turn their attention towards the capsule pods right in front.

After the long, emotional driven trial against Junko has reached it's conclusion, our five remaining survivors ventured through acient ruins of Jabberwalk Island and discovered a room where the rest of their classmates placed inside their individual pods, in comatose states.

So far, the awakening process has been going along rather smoothly, with Gundham and Nekomaru, who is now a full fledged human again, being the first ones to leave out of their pods, with no signs of despair within either of their psyches. The gang can only hope it would be he same for everyone else, Mikan and Nagito especially.

Hajime: (Starts Nodding at the Pods in Fronyt of Him) Everything seems to be going smoothly so far, that's nice. (Suddenly Notices Something) Oh, look! (Points Fuyuhiko to Ibuki's Capsule) Ibuki's about to wake up soon.

Fuyuhiko: (Looks Down at the Percentage Number of her Capsule that reads 95%) Looks like it. (Rolls his Eyes Again) Sure can't wait to hear some of her obviously loud music again.....

Hajime: (Chuckles Lightly) Yeah. We might actually be able to blow the roof off the venue this time around.

Fuyuhiko: Probab- Wait. (Turns to Hajime With a Raised Eyebrow in Confusion) We?

Hajime: Ibuki and me. We formed a band together in the past. I'm the drummer.

Fuyuhiko: You can play drum?

Hajime: Ehhh... Kinda? She really hasn't taught me much besides hitting them really hard with the sticks. (Chuckles Lightly) I remember all the band practices she would always beg me to joined. We sounded terrible in every session, but hardly bothered any of us considering all the fun we had. (Smiles Softly at Ibuki Sleeping inside her Pod) I always had a good time when I'm with her.

Fuyuhiko: (Forms a Teasing Smirk) Well, look at you being all happy and shit~ You're having feelings for her already?~

Hajime: Ye- (Eyes Widened Before Blushing) What? (Quickly Turns Back to Fuyuhiko) N-No, of course not! I was just....Reminiscing on the times we had is all. Besides, there's a lot of things to do right now before I could get into any of that romance stuff.

Fuyuhiko: (Simply Nodded in Agreement) Fair. But it wouldn't hurt to give it a shot afterwards. You deserve a little happiness in your life after all the fucked up shit you've been through.

Hajime: WE deserve every bit of happiness we can get, you especially. I know how much you've missed her these days.........

Fuyuhiko looks over to Peko's pod with it's percentage reads 69. Even in her comatose state, she looks truly at peace, even more so than she ever was her whole life. As happy and relief for him to see his childhood friend and love interest safe and sound this entire, the Ultimate Baby Gangster still couldn't help but feel terrible and guilty for everything that led up to her original demise.

Fuyuhiko: ('Sigh') There never been a time or day where I haven't think about her. But she can wake up whenever she's ready- (Turns Back to Hajime with a More Genuine Look on his Face) I'll be right here by her side, to greet her when she does.

Hajime: (Gives his Friend a Soft Smile) And we'll by your side as well. Just in case you need us.

Fuyuhiko: Thanks, man.

Pod: Loading Process Complete For Ibuki Mioda's Pod

Fuyuhiko: (Turns Back to Ibuki's Capsule) About time.

Hajime: (Quickly Stops Fuyuhiko From Taking Another Step Closer to the Pod) Hang on a sec, Fuyu. Let's be cautious about this. Despair can still be at large. There's no telling what will happen when she wakes up.

Fuyuhiko: (Sighs While Giving Hajime a Single Nod of Agreement) Right. In that case- (Takes his Phone Out From his Pants Pocket) I'll put everyone else on speed dial if anything insane does happen here.

Hajime: (Simply Nodded as Well) Good. Now, let's step back a bit.

As ordered, Fuyuhiko takes a few steps back along with Hajime as the door of Ibuki's pod begins to automatically opens in it's own pace. As it's widened upwards, the Ultimate Musician finally begins to rise and awake from her slumber, right on cue.

The duo position themselves a little as they watch Ibuki slowly gets herself up from the capsule seat she's been laying on, takes a very, very deep breath and..........

Ibuki: GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD OM NOM NOM NOM MORNIIIIIIIIIIINGGGG!!!!!!~

Hajime: (Taken Aback and a Tad bit Flabbergasted by Ibuki's Sudden, Loud Yelling) ........uh......

Ibuki: (Does a Little Dance as She Starts to Sing) I-Buki Mio-Da!~ Put it all together and what do you get?~ Ibukiiiii Mioda!~ (Puts on a Cutesy Looking Smile on her Face While Making a Peace Sign in Front of her)

Fuyuhiko: (Makes a Deadpinned Look on his Face While Putting his Phone Back in his Pocket) Yep. That's Ibuki alright.

Hajime: ('Sighs in Relief') That's a relief........

Ibuki: (Let's Out a Loud Gasps as She Set her Eyes on.....) HAJI!~ (Happily Runs Over to Hajime and Hugs Him Very Lovingly) It's been so long since I've seen that cool face of yours! Hiii!~

Hajime: (Chuckles Lightly While Blushing) Good to see you too, Ibuki.

Fuyuhiko: (Smirls at Hajime) Nice to see you happy there, Haji~

Hajime: (Gives Fuyuhiko a Deadpinned Look) Shut up, man.

Ibuki: (Looks Down at Fuyuhiko) Hiya, Short Stuff!~ Long time, no see~

Fuyuhiko: Likewise. Also, don't ever call me that- (Suddenly Felt Ibuki's Hand Patting his Head) Hey!

Ibuki: So, I see you've grown a few inches these days. Have you been drinking your milk?~

Fuyuhiko: (Angrily Swipes Ibuki's Hand Off of His Head) Will you quit that!? (Crosses his Arms While Turning Away) ........... I ocassionally drink low fat milk a d-Ah!

Ibuki: (Happily Hugs and Picks Fuyuhiko Up While Twirling Him Around a Bit) You drink your milk!~

Fuyuhiko: (Comically Glares at Ibuki) Get the fuck off me!!

Hajime: (Smirks at Fuyuhiko) Come now, Short Stuff. No need to make a huge fuss about it.

Fuyuhiko: (Flips Hajime Off) Piss off.

Ibuki: Now, now, boys. (Finally Puts Fuyuhiko Down) There's no need to fight now that Ibuki's backl to rock n' roll!~

Ibuki inhale her breath to ready herself to sing only for Hajime to quickly cover her mouth with his hand, in the neck of time.

Hajime: H-How about we do that some other time? We got to get you situated and up to speed first. How are you feeling right now- YEOUCH! (Suddenly Felt Ibuki's Teeth Bitting his Palm Before Quickly Removing his Hand From her Lips) Ibuki!

Ibuki: (Giggles Apologetic) Sorry, Haji. Ibuki couldn't resist. Buuut to answer your undying question: Ibuki is a-okay!~ A little light headed at the moment, it's nothing she can't handle. (Uses her Finger to Tap on her Cheek While Thinking) Althoooough, there are a couple of memories circling around Ibuki's inner noggin right now.

Fuyuhiko: How much do you remember exactly?

Ibuki: (Smiles Brightly) A bunch of cool stuff! (Points at Fuyuhiko) Like how you became a pirate, my rockin' performance at the Titty Typhoon, the Despair Di-

Her sentence was cut off abruptly as Ibuki's eyes begins to widens in silence at the ongoing memory. The Despair Disease.........She remembers she was one of the few that had it at one point, it completely changed her into something not even she could recognize.

She then remembers the night when she was taken in the hospital room, only to then, mysteriously walk out, one night, and walked all the way back to the Titty Typhoon .......and meeting her unfortunate demise in the process.

Two of her more closer friends, Hiyoko and Mikan, were also in the memories as well, but it was too blurry for the rockstar to mentally see clearly due to overwhelming thoughts going through her mind right now

What had gotten over me that night?

How could I let someone or....someTHING bring me to my final curtain call?......

...........And why........

......uki...........buki..........Hey.......Ibuki!

Ibuki: (Gets Startled as She Finally Comes Back to Reality) Ah!- Uh...Yeah?

Hajime: (Frowns Worryingly at Ibuki) Are you okay?

Ibuki: Oh! Uhh...(Puts on a Bit of an Awkward Smile on her Face) Yeah, yeah. I'm cool, I'm hip. Just thinking about those......Gosh darn memories! From the hospital, all the way to.....(Slowly Starts to Frown).....the......Titty.....Typhoon........

Fuyuhiko: They're hitting you like a truck, isn't it?

Ibuki: ('Sighs Heavily in Defeat') More like speeding bullet train......That was so weird and scary.........I hate it.

Hajime: ('Sigh') So do we. (Looks Down at the Ground, a bit Somberly) To tis day, I regretted not being quick enough to save you that night. We're really sorry.....

Ibuki: (Gently Places her Hands onto Hajime's Face and Have it Facing Hers) Hajime, no. Don't apologize. You guys did everything you could to do so, right? None of you have anything to apologize for at all.

Fuyuhiko: You really think so?

Ibuki: (Nodded at Fuyuhiko) I know so. Besides, if anyone who should be apologizing it's me for worrying you and causing you all this trouble to begin with.

Fuyuhiko: Hey, come on, you weren't yourself that night. You know now, right?

Ibuki: Yeah, but.....(Turns Away) I still feel bad about it.

Hajime: (Places his Hands on Top of Ibuki's) Don't be. That's all in the past, you have a second chance at life now. (Gently Grabs her Hands and Slowly Lowers it Down in the Middle) And we promise to keep you and everyone else in our class safe from here on out and if there's anything that's been bothering you, please don't hesitate to come to me for help.

Fuyuhiko: Or me and the others either. (Gives Ibuki a Reassuring Smirk on his Face) We got your back this time, Mioda.

Ibuki: (Heart Begins to Melt in Pure Happiness as Tears Starts to Build Up in her Eyes) You guuuuuys....('Sniff') (Pulls Both Hajime and Fuyuhiko into a Tight, Loving Hug) THANK YOOOOOOOOOOOOU!~

Hajime: (Winces a Bit in Pain Along with Fuyuhiko) No....problem, Ibuki......

Fuyuhiko: How the hell are you this strong!?

Ibuki: Hm. I dunno. I guess Ibuki's determination to see her friends again has boosted up my strength somehow. Plus, I reallllly do miss you guys and-

Fuyuhiko: (Rolls his Eyes) Yeah, yeah. Feeling's mutual or what have you. But you know- (Forms a Teasing Smirk on his Face) Your drummer boy here been missing you like crazy these days.

Hajime: (Glares at Fuyuhiko) Dude!

Ibuki: ('GASPS') Hajii~ I miss you like crazy too!~ (Starts Kissing on Hajime Cheek)

Hajime: (Starts Blushing Up from his Bandmate's Affections) ..........C-Cool.

Ibuki: (Looks Back at the Pod She Was In) So that's where half of our classmates been sleeping at that whole time, huh?

Hajime: Yep, just like we found you. The speed of the percentages may vary at time- ('YAWN') So, it's gonna take a while for any of them to fully wake up in there.

Ibuki: (Gently Rubs Hajime's Head) Haji, are you getting sleepy on Ibuki?~

Hajime: (SIghs Before Rubbing one of His Eyes) Kinda? Been working all day that I haven't really gotten the chance to sleep today honestly.

Fuyuhiko: (Whispers into Ibuki's Ear) And when he does sleep, it only lasted about 2-3 hours.

Hajime: Fuyu!

Ibuki: (Let's Out Another Gasp Before Pouting at her Precious Drummer) Well, that won't do at all! Everyone deserves a longer sleep schedule, especially cool, smart guys like you, Hajime! (Wraps Hajime's Arm Around Her's) Is there's a bedroom in this joint, Short Stuff?

Fuyuhiko: (Points at the Doorway) It's a in a few rooms back. I'll show you guys around. (Walks Out of the Room)

Ibuki: (Somply Nodded to her Fellow Classmate) Thank you. (Follows Behind Fuyuhiko Along with her Drummer Next to her) Come, Haji. Our bed awaits us.

Hajime: But what about everyone else? Don't you wanna see them first?

Ibuki: We'll see them in due time. Right now it's urgent that Ibuki gives her precious the sleep and cuddles he oh so deserves!~

Hajime: You're not gonna take "no" for an answer no matter what I say, aren't you?

Ibuki: Yeppity Yep-Yep!~

Hajime: ('Sighs in Defeat') Thought so. Good to have you back, partner.

Ibuki: (Lays the Side of her Head Next to Hajime's Shoulder) Likewise~

@on-2

#danganronpa goodbye despair #hajime hinata #fuyuhiko kuzuryu #ibuki mioda #akane owari #sonia nevermind #nekomaru nidai #gundham tanaka #reuion #pure friendship #lots of fluff #lots of angst #hurt/comfort #takes place after the story of goodbye despair and during the future arc #hajime x ibuki #peko (mentioned)#edited

6 notes · View notes