#i think i just need to stop going to [main shopping street] even though theres convenient stores there and find somewhere else

[poptod]

Pretty, Little Doll (Merriel Shelton x Reader)

Description: Merriel makes friends with the pretty little doll serving ice cream.

Notes: jus thinking about ice cream. implied female reader, but this.. is too much. theres just too much here. youve been warned. edit: wait no u havent. the warning is that theres suggestive themes and such WC: 2.3k

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After working long hours in the broiling sun of the south, what felt best down his parched throat was a beer––a bar where many of his friends and coworkers drank at, and the waitresses wore low-cut dresses with short hems and long stockings. That sight went down wonderfully with several drinks, but what drew his attention today was a newly opened shop.

There was no sign, but the large, pristine windows gave a good view of the inside. Clean, white walls with several tables and chairs to the left, and a counter to order at on the right. Behind it stood you, dressed to the nines in ruffles and bows as you opened up the shop, displaying buckets of ice cream.

Merriel grinned. Lopsided and toothy, and he jogged inside, sweat and dirt still trailing down his skin and clothes. With his shirt slung over his bare shoulder, he met your eye and his cocky smile returned as his chin tilted high.

"Afternoon," he drawled as he approached the counter, barely grazing over the different flavors before returning to you.

"Good afternoon," you said in a much quieter voice, though you did mimic his smile, just more politely. "How may I help you?"

"You new here?" He asked, gesturing generally to the shop.

"Oh, yes," you said. "My grandmother always wanted an ice cream parlor, so.. I thought I could help her."

"That's awful sweet of ya," he said as he leant on the counter, tilting ever closer to you. "This ice cream sweet as you, boo?"

Your mouth fell open, eyes widening as you did a double take. For a moment you were at a loss for words, but you quickly attempted to stammer out a response, a blush burning your face.

"Well, um, we have, uh, strawberry, and um.. chocolate, vanilla, cherry, and uh, banana. And bourbon."

"Bourbon?" He said, a single brow kinked upwards.

"It's my grandma's favorite," you said with a sheepish chuckle.

"Damn, girl. Grandma knows how to have fun," he laughed.

"Would you like to try it?"

Only if I can lick it off you, he thought, his attention drifting to the soft skin of your neck. The thought of it melting down and pooling in your clavicle. While usually he didn't bother to censor himself for anyone, you seemed a little fainthearted. His chances with you would probably be ruined after one too-strange comment.

"Sure," was what he said instead. "Long as it's cold I don't care."

"I understand that. I moved here recently and it's certainly something to try and adapt to the heat," you rambled as you stuck a tiny plastic spoon in the bourbon ice cream, giving him the single bite. "Are you a local?"

"Been here long's I remember," he said, taking the spoon. "What time do ya get off today?"

"Oh, um," you fixed the ruffles on your collar, "I won't be finished till late. We're not all set up yet."

"If y' need some help, I'd be happy to offer my expertise. I do a hell of a lot a' nailin' things ta the wall."

You stared at him again, once more losing your words. He hadn't quite meant what he said, but the fluster he left you in had him grinning, humored by the connotation you'd incorrectly understood.

"That – that'd be very nice of you," you said, wringing your hands. "I don't want to bother you. You look.. busy."

He didn't miss how your eyes raked up his body, from his wrinkled, dusty pants up his bare waist and chest still gleaming with the sweat of morning work. His jaw could cut hearts and he knew that very well; accented it whenever he could as he cocked his chin upwards, watching carefully as your breath froze.

"I won't be busy tonight. How 'bout this." He walked up right to the counter, pressing his hips into the edge of it. "I come after I finish up ma' own job, and I'll give ya' a hand. Don't even gotta pay me."

"Really? But –"

"Don't worry 'bout it. 'S nothin' for a pretty doll like you."

"At least let me get you a cone? It's hot out today," you offered, reaching for the largest waffle cones you had.

The guys wouldn't really take well to him eating ice cream instead of drinking, but he figured they'd eat their words when they saw you.

"Won't say no to that."

As much as he wanted to boast about you, how pretty and sweet you were and how he so easily slid his way into your life, he didn't want his friends finding your shop and vandalizing it with their own dirty boots and flirtatious looks. Only he could do that.

In the evening he returned as promised, having walked from his house on the outskirts of town to your shop on the main street. The build, decorum, and location of the shop screamed rich family to him. No one in his state would be able to afford a business on main street, much less fully renovated and repainted. He could ask you, he decided, about your family, your grandmother, and of course you.

Inside, you were closing up the tubs of ice cream, hauling them out of the display case and into a back storage room. He knocked before he entered, earning a muffled 'come in!' from you.

Before either of you could speak, both the buckets in your arms began to slip, and he ran round to the other side of the counter to help. He took one from you to ease the load.

"Careful, cher," he said, grabbing another bucket in his other arm. "Don't wanna break yaself."

"Thank you," you said, mostly ignoring his comment. "My grandma is in the other room, so just, um.. be polite and proper."

Fat fuckin' chance, he thought in his head, but fortunately did not say aloud as he followed you.

The door swung open into a freezer room, where an old lady stood in the corner, covered head to toe in coats as she stirred.

"I keep telling you to let me do that," you sighed, setting down your container before rushing to her side.

"I can do it quite well myself. I'm not useless, you know," your grandmother said, staring you down with a glare. You hesitated, gauging her carefully, before you relented with another exasperated sigh.

"Fine, alright," you said quietly. "I'll go work on hanging up all the paintings and such."

"Thank you, dear."

You motioned to him as you passed by, pushing open the door and heading out of the freezer. He once again followed you, watching your ass with a grin you never saw.

"We need to hang up these," you said as you brought him to one of the circular tables, each of which carried a small pile of paintings, license plates, or tin posters.

"You got a ladder?" He asked, glancing to the high walls.

"Yes sir," you said, sorting through the different posters. He quirked a brow, intrigued by the possibility of that nickname.

"I neva did get ya name," he said as he leant on one of the tables.

"(Y/N). What's yours?"

"Pretty name for a pretty doll," he half sung, the same, one-sided smile stretched lazily across his face. "My name's Merriel."

"Also a pretty name," you said, picking the largest poster to start with. A pin-up girl in a sailor's suit. "Our ladder isn't all that steady. Will you hold it for me?"

He opened his mouth to offer himself up, but with one look to the ruffled skirt you wore, he shut himself up.

"'Course," was what he said instead.

Everything was a bit of a game––one you were unwittingly a part of, and one where you played your role rather well. A sweet, unassuming little thing, essentially a toy for him, accepting his help and letting him in. He hated to act the predator, but when it came to you he couldn't help it.

That was how he saw it. Hunting you down and taking you for his own at the end of a long chase. However, to any outsider, it appeared in a much simpler way; a young man doing anything for someone he'd developed a crush on. That was how it truly was, though the innocence of his crush was abruptly stripped away as he held the ladder, staring shamelessly up your skirt.

"Merriel?"

"Huh?" He said, broken out of his dreamy trance.

"I said could you hand me another nail," you said, pointing towards the package of nails with your hammer.

"Oh. You sure ya ain't gonna fall if I leave?" He asked with a grin. You chuckled, shaking your head.

"I'll be alright."

"If you say so, boo."

After a little while he supposed he ought to offer some more help than holding a rickety ladder, and took your place at the top with a hammer in his hand and nails in his mouth. As promised, his experience with nailing things to the wall (nails specifically, not women) made him much faster than you, and the entirety of the wall behind the counter was covered within fifty minutes.

"Thank you for your help, again," you said as you put away the hammer and nails.

"My pleasure," he said, the image of your thighs still fresh in his mind. "If y' ever need help.. I'm happy t' to be of service."

"Well, thank you. Come stop by again soon. On the house," you said as he left, peeking your head out the door and giggling.

"You know I'm stoppin' by again, get two things done in one trip. Some'in sweet for th' eyes and the tongue," he laughed, watching your face light up with a blush.

And it ain't just the ice cream, he thought.

Over the course of the coming summer, he left drinking for the evening, and instead visited your shop over his lunch break. You insisted on giving his cones for free considering he continued to help you out, but he usually found ways to sneak you the money anyway. You were not, as he assumed earlier, a very rich family.

His favorite activity, which he found rather early on, was to sit outside on burning hot days, his shirt draped over the back of his chair as he ate. Through the pristine glass, he spied you watching him often.

You couldn't help it either. Most of your life was spent in your family cabin, cutting you off from many teen and early adulthood experiences. People flirting with you was a lot to deal with, especially when it came from someone as pretty as him, the smooth dips and ripples of his lean muscles shining with sweat and dirt from his construction site.

His tongue. Ever since he made that comment on that first evening you met, you hadn't been able to get it out of your mind. How it rolled and drawled between his puffy lips drawn backwards with his teeth, in a very specific method you'd pinned down to 'the Tongue Thing'.

Your heated, embarrassed blush only worsened as ice cream dripped down his fingers from the heat, cleaned up by a sharp and precise tongue. You could hardly breathe watching him like that, but as he caught your eye you turned quickly away.

His bravado had clearly earned a huge boost from catching you mid-drool, prevalent in his step as he waltzed back into your store. You hardly met his eye, pretending to clean up the counter, but that didn't stop him. He walked right up to you, leaning down with his elbows on the stone, forcing you to stop and look at him, which you did with incredible reluctance.

"You been watchin' me, cher?" He asked, close enough to see his reflection in your wide eyes.

"No," you said quietly.

"A' think you're lyin'," he said, leaning in closer yet. "Betta' not do that. Could land you in some trouble."

You raised your brows.

"Are you threatening me?"

"Not with anythin' ya can't take," he said as he raked his eyes purposefully slow down your body. When you appeared to be at a loss for words, he said, "I'll ask ya again. Were you watching me?"

"... and if I don't answer?" You tested carefully.

"Well then, I think there's too much space between us," he said, grinning cockily as he jumped the counter, crowding you suddenly.

You drew in a sharp breath, backing up as he continued to step forwards till he pinned you to the wall with his hips.

"Tell the truth, baby." he drawled, carefully setting his hands on your hips and pulling you in. Something hard poked you.

"I – I wasn't staring, I –"

He half-grinded into you, pressing you tighter against the wall as his hands drew upwards, resting at your waist.

"Such a pretty thing," he mumbled beneath his breath, watching your stumbling reaction closely.

By pinning you with his hips, he had free roam to move his hands, one of which toyed with the hem of your skirt. It was wrong, certainly, and it was also illegal since you were in plain view of main street, but he lost control the minute his fingertips brushed the soft, supple skin of your thigh.

Your breathing hastened, hips yearning for something, though you didn't know what. When the rough skin of his fingers suddenly brushed inbetween your thighs your hands shot up to steady yourself on Merriel's shoulders. He laughed, running a finger through your lips, finding you already soaked and not wearing underwear. Instantly his laugh faded, devolving into a long, needy moan as his hips once more pushed up into you.

"Th – there's someone – someone coming," you said, eyes darting to the front door.

Immediately he was off you, stepping to the side as you straightened yourself out. You walked forward with shaky legs, which he most definitely noticed, and took the mother and son's orders as usual. When you finished you glanced to him, your heart stopping at the sight of him licking your slick from his fingers.

"I guess your ice cream is as sweet as you, boo," he murmured in your ear, giving you no chance to react before rushing back out to return to his construction job.

[artxyra]

post hawkmoth gabriel is outed as hawkmoth and no one except mari knows adrien is chat mari gows to batboys and one day adrien comes to visit her and the batboys think that adrien is here to get revenge on mari but imagine their shock when mari squeals and jumps into his arms and hugs him like theres no tomorrow (this isnt my idea but i wanted to see your take on it)

Note: So lack of motivation is a bitch and I’m surprised that writing and rewriting this fic worked. Hopefully, this stands up to your expectations.  

“Breaking news, Adrien Agreste, the former head model of Gabriel Agreste Fashion, was seen walking down the streets of Gotham, New Jersey late last night. Tune in later for more Gotham gossip…” The volume slowly becomes muted leaving the person holding the remote sitting in silence.

Soon a series of noises, such as items hitting the floor, a body struggling to move fills the room ambiance sound. It wasn’t long before a phone’s ring tone goes off. More rustling is heard. The music stops, then there was a pause.

“Yeah, I just watched the news. So, what’s the plan. I already have Barb on speed dial.” A male’s voice states into the phone. This is Richard “Dick” Grayson on the four-way call with his brothers.

“Demon Spawn’s in charge of keeping, Pixie, busy. She cannot know that he’s in town.” Jason states before hearing his younger brother tsking at such an easy request. Of course, he could keep his fiancée busy in the meantime.

“Of course, I can keep my beloved busy, you imbeciles.” Damian scoffs at his brothers. In fact, his beloved was most likely in her studio right now working on a commission.

“Good, good, keep her away from any source of news. We all know how Gotham Gossip works. The rest of you meet me at WE and we’ll figure out a way to get Agreste out of here.” Tim explains to which everyone mumbles their agreements and slowly hang up on one another.

“What was all that about?” Kori asks coming out of the bedroom, rubbing her eyes.

“Oh, you know, the same old same old.” Dick smiles at his wife who raises an eyebrow but shrugs instead and goes into the kitchen.

“Ready for some more gossip Gotham! Former son of the Parisian terrorist was found shopping at Coccinelle de Pixie storefront that was recently vandalized not long after with the words ‘Traitor’ spread painted in black across the window…”

Timothy Drake sat in his executive chair nursing a new cup of steaming coffee. Gotham’s Gossip playing on a radio that he soon turned off and shakes his head. All the more evidence to place Adrien Agreste behind bars just like Paris did his father. For years, everyone thought Adrien was in cahoots with his father in terrorizing Paris, Adrien made no statement and he stayed away from the media.

“Mr. Drake, your brothers are here.” His assistant announces through the coms. Tim quickly replies knowing that his brothers are seconds away from breaking down his office doors.

“You heard the latest gossip?” Jason practically demands. Tim could feel the anger rolling off his predecessors. “Of course, you did, you wouldn’t be listening if you hadn’t. I swear if Gordon doesn’t find the culprit, I will.” Jason slams his fist against the wooden desk, to which Tim simply takes a sip of his coffee and stare directly at his brothers.

Tim would never say it aloud, but he was surprised to see Damian especially after he was given the job of keeping the person that claim as their sister busy for the evening.

“I don’t care what methods you use Todd, as long as the person—��� Cough, Agreste, cough, “is behind bars and locked up with the worst of the worst.” Damian gave his brother the answer he needs.

“Back to the issue at hand.” Tim sets his cup down. “Babs sent me Agreste’s itinerary from his hotel location to any phone history. So far, we have gathered he is in contact with someone under the name Buginette, unfortunately, that number is tied to a burner. They are making plans that seem on the verge of making Bean suffer.”

“Great, we have our main suspect and we can’t even call his accomplice,” Jason growls, he hates feeling helpless but that only has so much time before Adrien could make his attempt.

“I wouldn’t say that; Dick you’ll be tailing Agreste, from his GPS location, he should be passing by WE any minute now. Use this and the GG, as we all know she’s in for the latest scoop.” Tim hands Dick a device with a beeping red dot moving. Dick examines the devices before placing them in his pockets.

“We have until eight o’clock tonight to detain him. This Buginette and he plans on meeting at an unknown location. We will intercept them either both or right on.” Tim then takes another sip giving his siblings time to process any information that he just gave.

“Just in, GCPD found a bunch of dead ladybugs in front of the Chordate Hotel, the hotel that Adrien Agreste is rumored to be staying at. Is this retribution to the future Mrs. Wayne as we all know how much she loves ladybugs…?” The broadcaster’s voice carries over the car’s radio.

Damian Wayne could help but tighten his hands around the steering wheel. Someone was after this fiancée and he felt helpless about it. Marinette doesn’t deserve any of this. She has too much to worry about with the wedding and her growing fashion empire.

He pulls up in front of their shared apartment and immediate parks into his parking space.

“Angel, I’m home.” He calls out tossing his keys into the decorative bowl that on the end table next to the front door.

“In the back room.” A female’s voice calls back. Damian smiles practically visualizing the smile on his fiancée’s face.

Walking past a series of boxes, Damian makes it to the back room. Marinette is kneeling next to a mannequin, hand sowing the lace fabric into place. Damian couldn’t help but watch her work in awe. They have known each other for years and even today her working still amazes him.

“Are we still going over to Bruce’s tonight?” Marinette asks looking up briefly to acknowledge her fiancé and give him a smile. Damian was quick to answer her with a yes to which she nods and turns her attention back to the gown. “I should be done in an hour. I also have a couple of stops to make before we head over. Or do you wanna carpool with your brothers while I drive?”

Ding, ding. Damian knows that the messages coming through are from his brothers. “I’ll be fine; getting a ride with Grayson.” He answers before grabbing his phone and unlocking it to view the messages.

“Dami…Dami…” Damian turns away from his phone to stare into the blue eyes of his fiancée. “I thought I lost you there for a minute; you didn’t respond when I had asked whether you’re going out tonight for patrol?”

“Tt, I am going on patrol with the others tonight. Doing a run before and after dinner.” He answers hoping that she doesn’t question it. Marinette narrows her eyes before shrugging and continuing with her sowing.

Quickly getting changes, it wasn’t long before Damian receives a message from Dick stating that he’s out in front. Damian gives Marinette a goodbye kiss and exits out of the apartment.

“Wha’sup Gotham. Tonight’s segment is saucy. With Adrien Agreste out in the public, the batbros are out and about. I swear I just some red outside the studio window. Now onto the sauce—”

“Are you seriously listening to the crap with the mask on?” Robin questions Red Robin, who waves his in his defense. “Should the target get here by now?” He looks over the building to view the streets.

Behind the two vigilantes, Nightwing and Red Hood appear on the rooftop.

“Agreste should be arriving in five according to his GPS location.” Nightwing states and a ringing sound goes through their coms.

“Nightwing is right. Though is it for certain that Mr. Agreste is the person behind the attacks against Miss Marinette?” Agent A’s voice rings through the coms. The four brothers look to one another all being on the same wavelength. They all think that Adrien Agreste is behind the attacks. There was no other reason to explain it. He arrives in Gotham and then there are attacks against Mari through her storefront and favorite animal/insect.

“We’re sure, Agent A,” Tim responds as the device on this wrist beeps. At the same time, a rental car pulls up across the building and parks. Adrien Agreste gets out of the car and straightens out his collar.

“Target is in place. All we’re missing is this Buginette person and we’ll move in.” Red Hood pulls out an AK-47 and position it to lock on Adrien. He wasn’t going to kill the blonde male, maybe just skim a little off the top or scare him shitless.

Down below, Adrien pulls out his phone and calls someone. Immediate the batbros knew that he is talking to this Buginette person, it’s not because Red Robin has the recording playing as well.

About five minutes later, a familiar dark car pulls up. Robin looks at the car in suspicion. This car was the same model that he has and shares with Marinette from time to time. From the corner of his eye, he could see Red Hood etching his finger closer to the trigger.

Adrien runs over to the car shouting “Buginette” happily to the person inside.

The car door opens and immediately they hear a gunshot. The door closes and Adrien jumps back. Red Hood side-eyes his brothers as Robin silently hopes that he is wrong for once.

This “Buginette” person finally gets out of the car to reveal a Marinette Dupain-Cheng, who was no doubly staring in their direction.

“Well shit.” Red Hood groans just as the rest of the family facepalm or are into much of a shock to do anything.

“Hold on for a second, Adrien,” Marinette states holding out her hand as her other hand goes to grab her phone.

On the rooftop, Red Hood’s phone was going off. None of them wanted to answer it. In fact, there were certain that they didn’t want to answer. Instead of taking it like a man, the brother quickly gathers their items and disappear off the roof.

“Do I even want to know, what’s going on, Buggy?”

“No, Kitten, you don’t wanna know.” Marinette huffs and places her phone back in her purse. “I have an hour to hour to kill before I dinner and you and I have a lot to catch up on.” Marinette wraps her hands around Adrien’s shoulder, who smiles sheepishly at the dark-haired woman. “I hear that you and—”

“Mari!” Adrien interrupts blushing a deep red to which Marinette laughs and opens the door to the building.

An hour later, Adrien stands behind Marinette, who was on a warpath knocking against the large doors to Wayne Manor. They could hear furniture moving, people yelping, and a cough. Alfred stands at the with a greeting smile like no other, though Adrien could sense the double meaning.

“Good evening, Alfred, how are you?” Marinette greets with that sickly-sweet smile; Adrien knows all too well. Marinette never the one to keep the deadly appearance apart of her getup but she knows how to use her best aspects for the worst.

“Good evening, Miss Marinette and you is your guest?”

“Oh, silly me, this is my brother in everything but blood, Adrien Dupain-Cheng.” Marinette gestures for Adrien to follow. She places her jacket and purse down and examines the room. Of course, the couch was being used as a blockage.

“Ooh…boys?” Marinette sings walking past the couch, setting each and everyone right side up.

In the dining room, the four men all look to one another scared to utter a single sound. They did not want to deal with Marinette, especially Jason.

“Whose bright idea was it to allow Hood to shoot at Adrien?” Marinette’s voice echoes throughout the manor’s first floor. Bruce, who was sitting at the head of the table raises an eyebrow at his sons. He wasn’t in the bat cave when they returned but they returned as quickly as they left.

Dick mouths “you don’t want to know” to his father figure and begins to sweat bullets. “Whatever happens, tell Kor’i and Mar’i that I love them.” The oldest adopted Wayne states as Marinette makes her way to the archway leading into the room.

“You don’t need to worry about that Dickie.” Marinette smiles, “I’m after Jason.” At the mention of his name, Jason darts out of his seat and through the window. Alfred and Adrien watch the scene play out in two different emotions. Adrien was curious while Alfred was just done with everything.

“I’ll place the order for a new window sir. Is any hungry for dinner?” No one answer to afraid to make them the next target to Marinette’s anger.

“Dinner sounds nice, Alfred.” Marinette smiles sending more chills down the remaining three batbros. “So, everyone, meet Adrien, my brother. Apparently, someone tried to kill him this evening, should I know something about that.”

“I’m more concerned as to why you were using a burner phone to contact Agreste.” Damian murmurs to which Marinette heard him and was immediately behind her fiancé.

Lowering herself to make sure her lips were closer to his ear, she whispers, “Why would it matter, Demon?” She leans back and gestures for Adrien to take a seat. “Adrien here was in hiding from the press and it was my idea from the start.”

Damian chokes on air, the feeling of death forever lingering. He knew there was a reason why he loves Marinette, and this was one of them.

“Is it safe to come in?” Jason’s head pops up only to get greeted by a Batarang. “Got still not safe, you know what I’ll just go eat out.” Everyone turns to Marinette, who was still showcasing her sickly-sweet smile.

“Anyone want to join him?” She asks taking the empty seat next to Damian, who was spatting himself down making sure he had no weapon on his being that she can reach.

“No, we’re all good here, um, Adrien tell us about yourself?” Tim ends the harsh silence quickly and for once he was actually awake.

Adrien smiles and begins to talk about his latest adventure.

Moments later, Alfred returns with dinner solidifying tonight’s adventure.

Much, much later…

Damian and his brothers came out of their stupor of last night’s event. “Wait then who was vandalizing Mari’s store and image?” Tim asks before pressing a cup of coffee to his lips.

Before any of them to grab their devices to hunt down the real culprit, Marinette walks into the living room. “It was an old employee of mine. He only did it because someone—by the name of Lie-la—offer him some big money. He never received it so he came clean.”

Marinette then picks up the keys from the decorative bowl and leaves her place.

The three older brothers turn to their youngest, “You better not divorce her.” They all state at the same time. Damian only nods, agreeing with his brothers for once in his life.

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[foreverthesickestkidz]

I’ll put a summary here L8er

One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten

warnings: cursing, murder, torture, mentions the words domestic abuse & rape

masterlist | guidelines | lullaby m.list

August was an unusually stressful month for you, given your circumstances. Moving away from home, back to Eclipse University, into your small, lonesome apartment was not all that exciting. Starting your last year of law school wasn’t exciting either. A new year meant two new semesters full of tough courses, a paid internship, and the dreaded Bar exam at the end of it all. Stress was eating at you all summer as you tried to prepare yourself for this last year of schooling before fully entering the real world. The one thing you always looked forward to when coming back to this little college town though, was seeing Bambam.

“Y/n! Long time, no see!” Bambam, your beloved best friend, practically screamed the second he laid eyes on you entering his department store.

You giggled, accepting the bear hug he was pulling you into. “Hey B, I missed you so much!” As you pulled away you noticed him look you up and down and shake his head.

“Damn, girl. Did you get hit by a bus this summer? You look like hell,” he raised an eyebrow. You lightly smacked his shoulder and laughed.

“No! It’s just been really stressful lately. And I literally just moved all my stuff back into my apartment, okay!”

Bambam noticed another customer enter the store then, looking over your shoulder rather than at you.

“I wasn’t too sure if you’d be here actually, B. I was gonna call and make sure before I walked all the way here, but I decided to make it a surprise,” You explained, moving to the side so he could walk past, following close behind.

Bambam never let an opportunity to make a customer glamourous pass, not even for his best friend he hasn’t seen in months.

“Oh yeah, I just got back actually. I hosted a fashion show in Milan last week, but I’ll be here for another month maybe,” He explained as he reached the young lady browsing the racks of his expensive, well designed blouses. He turned away from you to greet her, so you decided to leave him be, and just call after he closed the shop for the day. After giving a small wave to Bambam as you walked out the shop, mouthing a ‘I’ll call around 7’ as to not interrupt the client, you wandered back into the streets of Eclipse. The August sun was strong, and you noted the nice weather as you passed by the other shops and restaurants of Downtown. Bambam’s shop was only about a fifteen minute walk from your apartment, but in the heat, it seemed like ages. So, you decided to stop at a little ice cream parlor before heading all the way back into campus.

Kim’s Ice Cream was practically empty. Upon walking in you noticed two things immediately, the first was that they didn’t serve chocolate ice cream, the second was the only other customer present in the building. He sat in the corner with a half melted milkshake in front of him, watching something intently out the window. So, curiosity got the best of you and after settling for the next best ice cream flavor (second to chocolate), you wandered over to his table.

He seemed to notice you immediately, which wasn’t that abnormal since you were the only other customer there. But, he looked up and cocked his head to the side, almost like a questioning puppy.

Smiling, you greeted him, “Hey, is this seat taken?”

He furrowed his eyebrows, and shook his head. “No, no. Please,” He motioned towards the empty seat across from him, and finally returned the smile.

“I’m Y/n. I just happened to notice you watching something outside,” you nervously laughed, “Curiosity sort of urged me over here to ask what it was.” Upon finishing your sentence, you ate a spoonful of ice cream. He looked up and made complete eye contact with you for the first time. His eyes were full of focus, and deep with thought.

With a lazy grin he licked his lips and answered. “Curiosity killed the cat, you know.”

With a nod and a soft smile you quickly replied “But the cat knew the truth.”

He raised an eyebrow and shook his head with a laugh. “I was watching the birds. I’ve always found them so intriguing,” He glanced outside once again, and looked back with a darker twist in his large pupils. You always noticed the smallest things about people, and the eyes ahead of you were certainly the eyes of someone hurting.

“I’m Mark” he stuck his hand out for you to shake. Calloused fingers and bruised knuckles engulfed your smaller hand.

****

Several hours after the introduction, you found yourself laying in bed wide awake. While finishing unpacking you grew tired, but somehow you can’t seem to fall asleep.

With a frustrated sigh, you reached to the nightstand to pick up your phone and check the time. Seeing 4 unread texts from Bambam, you decided to read and respond, it wasn’t like you were going to get any sleep anyway.

-Sorry you had to leave earlier I had to glam that bitch

-Hey idk if youve seen the news but theres some scary shit happening in eclipse rn, you should be careful ok?

-? y/n

-Y/N!!!

You shook your head and rubbed your eyes. The last text was only sent five minutes ago, maybe Bambam was still awake. You decided to turn the news on before calling him.

“Residents of Eclipse please be extra cautious! Breaking News reports a string of murders throughout the town, focused around Eclipse University’s campus. We’re reminding all citizens to lock your doors, and remain calm. We all need to stick together at this time.”

Your eyes grew wide as you flung the blanket from your form and ran to your front door. Locking the deadbolt, you immediately FaceTimed Bambam.

“Bambam! What the hell is happening?” You almost yelled through the phone.

“Shh shh, calm down. It’s okay, you’re okay,” he comforted you with a soft tone. Bambam always knew when your anxiety flared up, and stayed gentle with you to help you calm down. He stayed on the phone until he knew you were alright.

“Just remember to be careful, y/n.” He whispered after a while, and you finally managed to fall asleep.

Bambam huffed as he hung up the phone. The truth was that he was terrified. He knew he would be alright, he owned a few guns and he was away from Eclipse for weeks at a time anyway. But, he also knew you didn’t live the same life as him. You didn’t own any weapons, you were stuck here, and you trusted far too easily. The murders sent shivers down Bambam’s spine and his head started to ache at the thought of his best friend in danger. Worried hands typed vigorously on his phone as he dialed the phone number of the one person he hated most. He knew that despite his hatred, this person would be the only one close enough to you that Bambam trusted to ensure your safety when he left.

“Bambam? What the fuck do you want? It’s three in the fucking morn-“ Jackson’s voice was husky and rough after being awoken.

“Shut the fuck up and listen.” Bambam was already annoyed with the boy on the other line.

Jackson scoffed and rolled his eyes, despite Bambam not being able to see.

“Have you seen the news?” Bambam ran a hand through his hair and walked out onto the balcony.

“Yeah, if you’re calling to accuse me of any shit I won’t hesitate to block you.” Jackson’s defensive tone was enough to piss Bambam off.

“I’m not accusing you of anything. You might think you’re tough shit but you’re no killer. I’m calling about y/n”

Jackson’s ears perked up at hearing your name.

“Y/n? What about her? Is she okay?” His voice suddenly grew softer.

“She’s fine. But, I’m worried about her. You know how she is, and I’m not sure how I can make sure she’s safe when I leave Eclipse,” Bambam sighed. “That’s why I called. Me, you and Yugyeom don’t get along, but I know you both care for her as much as I do.” A slight breeze caused him to shiver.

Bambam heard rustling on the other end of the line.

Jackson pulled his shirt on and tied his shoelaces.

“When are you leaving?”

Bambam looked out over the silent town, and shook his head to himself.

“Soon,”

Jackson grabbed his keys and reached for the doorknob.

“She’s in good hands, Bambam.”

The line went dead as Bambam leaned his head back, eyes closing.

“She damn well better be. She’s all I’ve got in this world.” He whispered softly to the wind.

Jackson pulled the door of his Corvette open and slipped inside. The curfew didn’t let up for another hour, but he needed to see Yugyeom. His best friend needed to know what Bambam called about, and he wasn’t sure how Yugyeom would react to the prospect of seeing you again. Shifting gears, he sped away in the direction of Downtown.

Yugyeom opted to move to Eclipse permanently after his first semester of law school. His home life wasn’t ideal, and he was happier here than there. His little house on the corner of Main Street and Downtown boulevard was perfect for him. He was in a deep sleep when he awoke to the sound of constant banging on his door. Groaning and reaching for the 9mm pistol in his nightstand, he pushed himself up and rubbed his eyes. He opened the front door to be met with the worried eyes of his best friend.

“Fucking hell, bro. I thought you were a murderer or something!” Yugyeom furrowed his eyebrows as he let Jackson in.

“Funny you mention that…” Jackson rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “I just got off the phone with Bambam.”

***

Mark held the printed photograph up next to the sorry male in front of him. The picture matched the guy perfectly, and with a dark chuckle he licked his lips.

“I knew I’d find you.”

The man roughly jerked against the belt that secured him to the chair. Flailing helplessly to try to break away, screaming into the duct tape secured on his mouth.

“Stop trying to break away. Nobody will help you.” Mark cocked his head to the side, grinning at his prey. The man’s muffled screams began again. Mark pulled up a chair and sat in front of him. The only light came from an exposed lightbulb hanging from the ceiling above them. The lighting created a halo above the bloodied man. How ironic.

“I have some questions for you, before I have some fun, so you just nod or shake your head in response. And if you lie, you’re gonna regret it.” He held up a knife in one hand, and a gun in the other.

“This is how this is gonna work, I’m going to ask a question, you will truthfully answer me. If you cooperate, I’ll use this,” he held up the gun, pulling the slide back, “if you don’t cooperate, I’ll use this,” he held the knife up again, skillfully spinning them through his fingers. The man’s eyes widened in fear.

Mark’s eyes gleamed with excitement.

“First question! Have you ever seen this girl?” He held up another printed photo of a smiling young woman. The man vigorously shook his head.

“You fucking LIAR!” Mark screamed the last word. He rolled his eyes and stood from his chair.

“You lied straight away! Nobody ever lies from the first question!” He laughed out, and ripped the duct tape from the man’s mouth.

“Now, count backwards from 100 in sets of 3,” Mark pressed the knife against the bottom of the man’s pinky finger.

“Fucking count!” Mark screamed in his face. He began counting as Mark sawed away at his fingers. Blood dripped down the armrest of the chair and onto the rotting carpet. Mark was in euphoria. The red color was glittering under the harsh lighting and the smell made his grin a little wider.

Many hours into Mark’s fun he grew bored and decided it was time for judgement. The man was on the very brink of passing out anyway, and the smell of blood started to give Mark a headache.

“Alright, man. I’m done.” Mark huffed out. The man looked almost relieved. ”I hereby render you guilty of domestic abuse, and the rape of Yang Jimin. I sentence you to death.” Mark smirked at the man’s appearance, and inability to speak after having his tongue ripped out. He untied the man and laid him out on the floor. He began softly singing, “Lay thee down now and rest, may thy slumber be blessed lay thee down now and rest, may thy slumber be blessed,” he pulled the gun from his pocket and pressed the barrel to the man’s forehead. “Lullaby and goodnight, thy mother's delight, bright angels beside my darling abide,” He pulled the trigger, blood splattering over his face and clothes. Humming the song again, he brought the knife to the dead man’s stomach. After etching the word “goodnight” in scratchy rough lettering, Mark shook his head.

“Justice is served,” he chuckled and pulled matches from his pocket. Picking up the gasoline in the corner, he walked around the tiny raggedy house, lighting his cigarette with a match before pitching it behind him, walking away and disappearing into the night.

***

Morning light drifted through your blinds when your alarm rang. You blinked your eyes open and yawned before turning the annoying noise off. Stretching, you got up and got ready for the day. You only had one class, but after you had to report to your first day of interning with Eclipse’s best attorney, Lee Kwang, who also happened to be your professor. Upon walking to your car, you never expected to see the familiar black Jeep parked next to your little blue Corolla.

“Kim Yugyeom. It’s been a while,” you smiled halfheartedly to the owner of said Jeep.

“We need to talk.” He seemed on edge, but you figured it was because the last night you spoke in person was a night everyone involved wished to forget.

You unlocked your car and opened the back door, dropping your backpack in the seat. “There’s not much to talk about.” You looked anywhere but at him.

“I talked to Bambam last night,” he leaned his back against the door, arms crossed.

The realization hit you a second later.

“No. Absolutely not. I don’t need anyone’s protection. I’m a grown woman.” You seethed at the thought that these boys saw you as someone so weak.

“It’s not about that, y/n. We just care about you,” he tried to reason with you.

“Who cares about me? Because you and Jackson are the last people who act like they care about me.” You shook your head to stop tears from falling. Slipping into your car, you pulled away from the parking lot.

***

Mark’s eyes met yours the second you walked into the law firm. He waved and smiled as you walked towards him.

“Hey! I never thought I’d see you here!” You beamed at the boy you met yesterday.

“Yeah, small world. I was just on my way out, but before I go, I just, I forgot to ask back at the ice cream shop,” he blushed a little and scratched the back of his head. “Can I maybe, get your number?”

Your face flushed red, yet you smiled widely.

“Yeah! Of course!” You reached for a pen and scribbled numbers onto a sticky note.

“Thanks, I’ll call you later!” He smiled as he walked away.

You took a deep breath and knocked on Professor Lee’s door, not noticing the way Mark looked back at you as he left the building.

[magallanica]

sugar rush

in which the paladins make a quick stop at earth, lotor tries hot chocolate, and keith gets a long overdue gay awakening.

written for keitorsecretsanta

a/n: hello @parslynne, i’m your secret santa, i hope you like this fic!! i tried to fit in the stuff on your wishlist, but i think it turned out more gen than shippy, sorry >_<

happy holidays! 

—

earth, lotor thinks, is a very small planet. it’s a wonder how the empire hasn’t crushed it yet, given how behind it is in terms of technology development, if the paladins’ amazement at galra machinery is anything to go by. he is wise enough to keep these thoughts to himself though, as they are briefed on a new mission in the main bridge.

the instructions are simple — mingle with the population, gather intel, find out if the leaders are willing to form an alliance, and maybe plant a few surveillance drones around if the opportunity arises.

“well,” pidge scoffs, and lotor does not need to look to know that she is pushing her spectacles up the bridge of her nose, “alliance talks might take a while, unless the united states has a new president.” lance and hunk both make a face at this, “and they’ll have to contact and discuss this with the leaders of all the other countries as well, so i think we’ll have plenty of time to mingle!” she smiles with barely-concealed glee.

“you are not run by a single government?” he finds himself asking, and gets treated to an extensive lecture on earth’s politics, not that lotor minds, of course. he’ll need all the help he can get to manage an empire that refuses to acknowledge him as its leader. the conversation soon derails to other things, like supplies and clothing. the paladins are scandalised when they realise that lotor’s idea of casual wear is simply just his flight suit, but with less armor.

“that’s it,” lance decides, “we’re going shopping.”

—

shopping, lotor thinks, is probably more trouble than it’s worth. they make it to the mall relatively unscathed, save the occasional stares and questions about his ‘cosplay’ that confuse him to no end. his ears are natural, thank you very much. so is his skin, and — “why do they think i’m wearing a wig?” he frowns, as lance makes a very valiant effort to not, in his own words ‘lose his shit’. lotor still doesn’t know what excrement has to do with laughing, but he chalks it up as one of those ‘earthling’ things that he will perhaps never comprehend. even keith, the former red paladin, looks amused at his plight, lips twitching in amusement as lotor ducks away from yet another round of staring passers-by.

“here,” pidge hands him a small, flat compact, filled with some sort of peach-coloured powder. lotor prods at it curiously. “use this. it’ll help you mask the colour of your skin,” she explains.

now this, he understands. while it has been relatively well-established that he is an ally of the coalition (although many of them are not too happy about it, if the wary, borderline hostile, glances shot at him say anything), his appearance would only serve to garner them attention, and that was the least of the things they wanted to deal with right now.

(he does not know how old the paladins are in galra years, but he does know that most of them are still children, thrust into the middle of a conflict none of them should have been involved in. this break would be good for them.)

they are dressed in what appears to be casual earthen attire — terribly unsuitable for combat, but then again, lotor supposes, there is no need for that at the moment. lotor is handed a large top, something hunk calls a ‘sweater’. he tugs it on, examining the stitching with visible curiosity. it is much unlike the form-fitting fabric used to make their combat suits, or the sturdier fabric of their armor.

the weather on earth, he soon realises, is a lot more unpredictable than on any other planet he’s visited — and he’s been alive for hundreds of decaphoebs. the wind today, in particular, is terribly strong, and he winces as his hair whips around his face, obstructing his vision as he follows the group down the city streets. pidge, lance and hunk take the lead easily, with the green paladin chattering excitedly about finally getting some “good fucking food”. lotor fails to see how… intercourse, of all things, is related to food. it must be another one of their earthling things, he decides, pulling his hair up into a much more manageable ponytail.

—

keith likes to think that he is a good person. he pays his (figurative) taxes, eats his alien veggies, does his best on missions… so what on earth did he do to deserve two years of repressed teenage hormones slamming into him like a freight truck when he watches lotor sweep his hair back into a tight ponytail. he swallows, feeling like it’s suddenly much too hot in his coat, despite the chilly winds buffeting them every few steps.

(and then, the memory of their only interaction replays in his head. specifically, the exact moment keith had tackled lotor to the ground in order to save him from getting caught up in an explosion. even more specifically — of how they had been pressed together for those few seconds, and how the way his heart had sped up might not be entirely because of the situation they were in.)   

oh, he thinks, with growing dread, oh no.

is this some sort of delayed galra puberty thing? he wonders, and makes a note to ask krolia about it later. he’s dealt with enough human puberty shit, and he sure as hell doesn’t want to deal with galra puberty, if it’s even a thing.

they make a stop at a cafe to grab some hot chocolate. “we’ll go on ahead first — there’s no hot topic here, sorry keith,” lance snickers, throwing an arm over hunk as they head back out into the cold, while pidge eyes him, and then lotor, calculatively, like he’s a gadget she’s trying to tinker with. keith does not like that look. not one bit. he resolves to keep a close eye on her, just in case.

he turns his attention to his companion. aside from the tips of his ears, lotor looks like a perfectly regular human. he eyes the cup of hot chocolate in front of him with undisguised curiosity, blowing cautiously at it before taking an experimental sip. then he takes another. and another, looking absolutely starstruck. oh no, keith thinks, that’s cute.

lotor continues to sip at his hot chocolate, completely unaware that keith is probably, in pidge terms — astral projecting, as they drink. with nothing else to do, they make stilted conversation, and it is only when keith asks a tentative question about galran customs that the ice between them is broken completely. lotor comes to life before him, his eyes practically sparkling as he speaks of social norms and etiquette — less bloodthirsty things that the galra were known for. it’s terribly endearing, keith realises.

there is something different about talking to lotor, now that they’re on the same side of the war. questions spill out faster than his filter can stop them, and he finds himself listening avidly as tales of his galra ancestors fill the space between them.

all in all, their trip back to earth has been fruitful, he thinks, as they’re walking back to their lodgings together, their shoulders occasionally brushing against each other as lotor leans down to tell keith about the galra equivalent of something on the streets.

(unseen by them, pidge chances a glance back, and smiles.)

—

[valhallamercury]

bassist | boh rhap!john deacon x female!reader

Summary: Ever since you’ve met John, you’ve happily thrown yourself down the rabbit hole of falling in love with him. And honestly, how could you resist? He was kind, sweet, and not to mention handsome. Now the only problem: getting to go on a date with  A/N: The requested part two of secretary, so make sure you read that before reading this! This was so much fun to write, tell me if you’d guys would like a part three! :) Warnings: none, except that this is unedited.  Tag list: @lizgarxo @josephhmazzello @tv-saved-the-teenage-girl Word count: 1,994

After your first encounter with the dark-haired man, you had practically thrown yourself into a pit labeled “in love with John Richard Deacon.” Could anyone blame you though? Every time John came in with his friends to record their album, he always made sure to stop by and talk to you. He would tell you about the album and the boys, and you would tell him about how work was going and your pride and joy, which was your cat named Fleur. On bad days, he would make you smile. On some days, he brought you flowers, on others he brought you tea with compliments written on the cup. You dreamed of the day John would ask you out, and each day you would be let down when he didn’t. But you wouldn’t give up.

You sat at the front desk, organizing papers for Mr. Foster that needed to be done before noon. You checked the clock again. 10:34. You’ve got this, Y/N, why are you even worrying about it? You know you’ll have these done in 10 minutes, You thought to yourself. You knew the real reason behind your stress, though you wouldn’t admit it. You hadn’t seen John’s sunshine face in three days, making you worry that you had said something to upset him. A tap tap tap against your desk made your thoughts end. 

You looked up, seeing a familiar smiling face. You’re little sunshine was back. 

“John!” You exclaimed happily, his fond smile becoming contagious against your lips. “I haven’t seen you in a while, I was starting to worry something had happened.” You admitted, resting your head against the palm of your hand. Y/N, your papers, a voice in the back of your head nagged. You decided to ignore it. 

“No, no, I’m perfectly fine. Really. We’ve just been so busy with the album, haven’t had much time to chat.” He explained shyly, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. 

“Well, I’m glad to see your pretty face again. I’ve missed our little talks.” You smiled fondly at John, seeing his face light up to a bright pink color. It was a fun little game you liked to play: see how many times you could get John to blush. It definitely wasn’t one-sided though, for there were many occasions where Mr. Deacon had made your face go hot. 

“I’ve missed them too.” John returned your smile, leaning his elbows against your desk as he conversed with you. You could tell something was off though; he looked as though he was trying to tell you something, but just couldn’t find the words. Finally, he spoke again. 

“Hey, Y/N, I was wondering, what time do you get off?”

Your heart skipped a beat. Was this finally your moment?

“I’m actually off tomorrow.” You replied, trying to remain ‘nonchalant sounding’ but you could tell that it hadn’t been too convincing. 

“Well, what a coincidence! The boys and I have a day off tomorrow as well from pumping out songs for the album,” His signature dorky smile and pink cheeks returned, “I was wondering... well, I was wondering since we’re both conveniently off, if maybe you’d like to hang out tomorrow. Like, well, a date.” 

It took all the strength in you not to jump up and down in excitement in that very moment. But, you controlled yourself. That didn’t stop the big smile stretching across your face though.

“I would love to go on a date with you tomorrow, Deaky.” You cooed. He grinned, a soft chuckle escaping through his lips. 

“Great! Great.” He coughed, trying to calm his enthusiasm. “There’s this great tea shop I know that we can meet at,” He began, pulling a sticky note from your desk and writing down the address of the shop. He handed it to you, a bright smile across his features. You happily took the sticky note, folding it up and putting it in your jacket pocket. 

“I’ll meet you there around 10-ish?” You asked, practically bubbling over with excitement. He nodded quickly, checking the time on his watch.

“I must be going, but I guess, I guess I’ll see you around?” He guessed giddily, slowly backing up as he walked backwards down the hall. You nodded, giving him a small wave. 

“See you tomorrow, Deaks.” 

He grinned, turning around completely as he ran down the hall. You watched him run, seeing him pump his fist up in delight. You saw his three friends come out from behind some furniture of the main lobby, congratulating him. You giggled behind your hand before looking back down at your paperwork once more. 

☆━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☆

Tap, tap, tap, tap

You blended your base in with your fingers, making sure everything was smooth and even across your face. Even in the most stressful of times, doing makeup had always calmed your nerves. However, you couldn’t stop the butterflies fluttering across your stomach or the way your face would heat up at the thought of John and the date that was in less than an hour.

You tapped a soft powder across your face, setting the base. You smudged a shimmery eyeshadow across the lids of your eyes, brushed mascara through your top and bottom lashes, and ran a clear mascara through your brows to hold them down. You applied a thick clear gloss across your lips, swiping some off your skin when you went a bit over the lines. 

Now the only problem you were faced with: what to wear. Everything you tried on just seemed to either be too much or not enough. You finally decided on denim overalls that were embroidered with elegant pink flowers, a long-sleeved pink and red striped shirt, and red Chuck Taylor All Stars.

“How do I look?” You turned, looking at your cat Fleur, who laid sprawled out across the bed. She lifted her head up, letting out a soft meow, before laying back down. You took that as a sign of approval. 

You only had fifteen minutes or so to get to the tea shop, so you decided to head out early. 

You made your way through the bustling streets of Britain, before finally stopping in front of the quaint little shop. With five minutes to spare, might you add. 

You looked around before spotting John’s familiar long locks. The man had his head in a book, tapping his finger along to the beat of some song as he read. You smiled a bit to yourself, shaking his head. You walked over, standing in front of his booth. 

“Is this seat taken?” You asked playfully. John looked up at you, a fond look appearing across his face. 

“It’s all yours.” He joked back, making you giggle. You sat down across from him, crossing your ankles out of habit. Your Gran had made sure that you always remembered to cross your ankles, not your legs. That was the proper way to do it, you could practically hear her remark. 

“This place is lovely, the scenery is so quaint and cute.” You remarked, smiling as you looked around. The shop was decorated like some sort of Woodstock-esque design. There were posters of the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and many more artists. It had flowers of all sorts of varieties hanging from pots and vases across the store, giving it a lovely dash of color in all the right places. The room smelled of different variations of tea, all of which smelled exceptional. 

“Well, I remembered you telling me so much about how much you loved tea and flowers, so I thought this might be a good place to go.” He said softly, looking back at you shyly through his lashes. You felt your face heat up. No one you had ever been with had been this considerate. 

“You’re sweet, Johnny.” You smiled, resting your hand on your chin as you looked at the flower vase in front of you. “They really should switch the dandelions with those pink asters. The pink would compliment the goldenrods better.” You said, looking at the flowers in front of you. John raised his brows, but his smile never leaving.

“You really know your stuff, huh?”

You looked down at your feet for a moment, letting out a chuckle. “I guess you could say that. I’ve been wanting to be a florist since I was young because my Gran was a florist. She taught me all about different flowers and the way things would compliment each other and all sorts of things. My parents didn’t really think I should become a florist, they said there was no money in it and that people don’t buy flowers anymore.” You shrugged, looking back up at the dark-haired man who had been listening intently. “Besides, if I had been a florist, I would’ve never met you.” 

He smiled at you warmly, glancing at the vase. “Well, I think you should go for it. There’s no shame in trying.” He appealed, looking at you with his soft brown eyes that made you melt. “You’d be perfect at it. You have a cat named Fleur, for God’s sake.” He teased, a playful grin tugging at his lips. You giggled, rolling your eyes playfully and gently tapping his foot with your own. 

“Do not make fun of my cat, Deacon.” You scolded jokingly, a laugh escaping from the two of you. Once the laughter settled down, it was your turn to listen intently. “Well, since you know everything about me, why don’t you tell me things about you?” You asked, arching one of your brows. 

He raised a brow in return, his chin resting on the palm of his hand. “Well, what would you like to know?” 

You tapped your chin, thinking for a moment. “Favorite color? Favorite music artist? Hell, you haven’t even told me what instrument you play in your band.” 

“Well, my favorite color is black. Favorite musical artist? Probably Hendrix or the Beatles. And I play bass.” He spoke softly, looking into your eyes as he spoke. 

“That’s all?” You said as you looked at him, gently tapping his foot with your own. “C’mon, Deaks, there’s gotta be more to you than long hair and a pretty face.” 

His cheeks turned pink, tapping your foot with his in return. “Pretty face, huh?” He blushed, your feet now in an all right war with each other. “I was born August 19th,  1951. I have a band with my best mates, Freddie, Brian, and Roger. I like electronics. I love soul and funk music. I love to tinker. Doesn’t really matter with what, but I’m always fiddling with something around the studio. I also know that I’m on a date with the girl of my dreams and talking to her makes me nervous and giddy at the same time.” 

You felt your face heat up, you knew immediately you were giving the man heart-eyes. “You truly are wonderful, Deaky.” You smiled, reaching over and timidly placing your hand over his. He smiled, interlocking your fingers as he returned your fond gaze. 

You turned to face the window, seeing the rain pour down against the window. You took a deep breath, turning back to John with a sad gaze. “I should be going soon, before the rain gets any worse.” 

John frowned, glancing outside. “I’m not letting you walk home in the storm. It’s too awful.” He began, glancing down at your interlocked hands, before looking at you once more. His cheeks had turned an even deeper shade of pink. “My place isn’t far, if you’d like to stay there for the night. Only if you’d like though. Otherwise I could surely walk you home.” He added quickly, looking down at your hands. 

You smiled a bit at him, reaching over with your free hand and grabbing his other. He looked up at you, and you gave him a loving look. “What are we waiting for, Deaks? Let’s go.” 

[ohkvothe]

Everyone knows that there are a lot of locations in London where Harry Potter was filmed (or set), most famously perhaps Platform 9 and 3/4 at King’s Cross Station. But there are actually a lot of film locations in London that you can visit. I have never seen a complete overview of all of them (and how to get there), so here is a walking tour guide for all the film locations you can see in London!

Overview:

Stops: Lambeth Bridge (1). Westminister Bridge (2). Scotland Place (3). Piccadilly Circus (4). Leicester Square Station (5). Australian High Commission (6). Millenium Bridge (7). Stoney Street, Borough Market (8). Leadenhall Market (9). Claremont Square (10). [King’s Cross Station] (11).

Detailed Walk Description:

You’ll be starting off at Lambeth Bridge. In POA, this is the bridge where the Knight Bus drives between the two double decker busses. Additionally, the side of the bridge is shown in the first film (the sort of London opening shot).

Photo of Lambeth Bridge.

Lambeth Bridge in the third Harry Potter film.

This is the view of Lambeth Bridge, today, from a bit further west along the river. Obviously the shot used in Philosopher’s Stone is from further up, but I don’t think there is a way to get into any of the houses along the river.

This is the shot from the first Harry Potter film.

The next stop is Westminister Bridge. Just walk along the river (on the south side), until you get to the next bridge (generally super crowded). You can see the Houses of Parliament across the river (and the currently veiled Elisabeth Tower – fun fact, Big Ben is actually the name of the largest bell inside the tower, not the tower itself). In OOTP, Harry and the Order of the Phoenix members fly under the bridge and along the Houses of Parliament (other sights shown in the flight are Tower Bridge, the HMS Belfast and the City of London and Canary Wharf skylines).

The next stop is Scotland Place in Whitehall. Walk across Westminister Bridge and turn right to walk towards Trafalgar Square. If you’re interested you can enter Westminister Underground Station – you’ll recognize it from the OOTP film. It’s the station Mr Weasley and Harry enter on their way to the Ministry of Magic.

Westiminister Underground Station.

Scene from Harry Potter 5.

Scotland Place today (there’s an arch over the street on the right in the film which is not actually there (the one the phone box is placed underneath). Also there’s massive construction going on at the moment!

Shot from the films.

Before you reach Trafalgar Square (you can already see it in the distance), turn right into Scotland Place. This street was used both in the Order of the Phoenix and the Deathly Hallows movies. In OOTP, the phone box Mr Weasley and Harry use is placed here, and in DH it’s the place where Ron looks around the corner when he, Harry and Hermione are planning to infiltrate the ministry. Somewhere in the area you can also find the place where the entry to the Ministry of Magic was located in DH (i.e. the toilets). However, they don’t actually exist and were just put up for the film in the middle of the street. I don’t know where exactly that scene was filmed, but if you walk around the area you may find it (I think it’s closer to Westminister Abbey).

Scotland Place today (I literally waited for about 15 min because a massive truck was parking right in front of the corner).

Scene from the film.

If you exit the street again and continue walking you’ll reach Trafalgar Square (with the very noticeable Nelson’s Column in the middle). Walk left (past the Canadian Embassy) and then turn right, until you reach Piccadilly Circus. The place was used to film the scene in DH after Ron, Harry and Hermione escape from the death eaters at Bill and Fleur’s wedding (and almost get run over by a red bus). Piccadilly circus got an entire makeover in the years since the film but the GAP is still there!

Taken from Shaftesbury Avenue (Northeast side of Piccadilly Circus).

The next stop is a sort of hazy one, but I thought I’d include it anyway:

The gate between Patisserie Valerie and no. 12 was used as the entry to the Leaky Cauldron in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Walk towards Leicester Square Station. When you’re in front of the station, walk north on Charing Cross Road. In the beginning of the Half-Blood Prince the camera follows the road up from Trafalgar Square (or rather follows the flying deatheater shadow) and then, just after Leicester Square station, ‘enters’ the Leaky Cauldron and Diagon Alley where the deatheaters kidnap Ollivander. This location of this entry is just behind Leicester Square Station, in Great Newport Street (right).

Australia House (or the Australian High Commission).

Walking on, through Convent Garden and towards Strand, a bit behind Waterloo Bridge you’ll reach Australia House (or rather the Australian High Commission). The scenes inside Gringotts were filmed in this house, but sadly, you can’t enter. Some people have told me that you can talk to the security guards, and if they’re having a nice day they will sometimes let you have a peak inside. I’ve never tried this but you’re welcome to try!

The next stop is the Millenium Bridge. To get the best view you can cross the river using Blackfriar’s Bridge (especially great if you’re an Infernal Devices fan and need a short cry) and walk along the river on the south side (which is a lovely walk, too). After a while, the Tate Gallery is on your right, and you can step onto Millenium Bridge and get a lovely view of St Paul’s on the other side of the river. There are two non-HP things I can recommend here: The Tate Gallery is free to enter, and they have a great viewing platform on the 10th floor! Also, an artist has drawn tiny images on chewing gums on the Millenium Bridge that you don’t notice, but some of them are super detailed and look really nice. Also, the Globe Theatre is right next to the bridge (if you’re interested, you can get 5 pound standing tickets for almost all shows).

Scene from HP6.

Shot of the bridge from the south side.

Stay on the south side of the river and walk further east. The next stop is Stoney Street at the Borough Market. Under the bridge over Stoney Street was the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron in the third (and only the third) Harry Potter film (where the Knight Bus bumps the car and triggers the alarm). In the scene in Harry’s room in the Leaky Cauldron you can also see the Southwalk Cathedral and the railway bridge from the window (I don’t know where you can get the exact shot from though). The Borough Market is a great place to have lunch, if you’re feeling hungry. Just around the corner is The George, one of the oldest and loveliest pubs in London!

This must be the darkest shot from the entire film!

The bridge today – during the day, it’s probably going to be super crowded, but if you really want to see the spot you can come back in the evening when the market’s gone.

For the next stop, you can either walk (about 20-30 min), or you can take a bus. We’re crossing the river again (using London Bridge) and walk towards Leadenhall Market (I know it says Old Spitalfield Markets on the map SORRY). This is a really lovely market where two scenes in the first Harry Potter films were shot. Firstly, the scene of Harry and Hagrid walking towards the Leaky Cauldron, and the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron itself. The first shot is in front of shop no. 39 in the Lime Street Passage, the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron is in the Bulls Head Passage.

Shot from the first Harry Potter Film.

Lime Street Passage.

Scene from the film.

The entrance to the Leaky Cauldron today.

To get to the next location I’d recommend to take the tube (although you can also walk, but it’ll take you about 40 minutes). Walk to Moorgate Station and take a north-bound Northern line to Angel Station. From the station, it’s a five-minute walk to Claremont Square. This is the place where the outside of Grimmauld Place No. 12 was filmed. The row of houses is opposite a small park, and you’ll notice a small gate at the end of the street. That’s the gate through which Moody, Harry, Tonks and the others exit the park after their flight across London.

Scene from the 5th film.

Claremont Square, with the park on the right.

We’re getting to the last stop of this tour. Walking along the street, you turn right and then left, and walk down towards King’s Cross Station. The station is right next to St Pancreas Station, and I read somewhere that J. K. Rowling actually thought about St Pancreas Station while writing the Harry Potter books, because she confused the two. Because St Pancreas station is gorgeous and King’s Cross is a bit meh, outer shots of St Pancreas were used in all Harry Potter films whenever King’s Cross station is shown (most noticeably in the second film, when the Weasley’s Ford Anglia circles the tower).

Shot from the second film.

St Pancreas today (do you notice that it’s getting dark? This tour took so long!)

Enter King’s Cross Station. If you enter through the main entrance, you can walk past the big info screens and look right. There you’ll find an “Official” Platform 9 and 3/4 with massive queues and an official fan shop, where you can have your picture taken with half a trolley in the wall and a Platform 9 and 3/4 sign. The actual scene in the movie was filmed at the barriers between platform 4 and 5. Officially, you can’t get there without a ticket, but there’s a sort of back entrance: If you’re standing in front of the fan shop, turn around. You’ll see escalators going up to the second level. Go up, and at the top of the escalators turn left and walk across the bridge. You’ll cross ticket barriers that are usually open, and you can walk on and take the stairs or elevators down to the the platform.

Scene from the film.

Platform 4 in King’s Cross Station.

And that’s the end of the walking tour. I’ve tried my best to mention all the film locations in London that are accessible, and I hope you enjoyed the little look into Harry Potter’s London. Feel free to send in any locations I missed, and I hope your feet are still in one piece! 🙂

London Harry Potter Tour Everyone knows that there are a lot of locations in London where Harry Potter was filmed (or set), most famously perhaps Platform 9 and 3/4 at King's Cross Station.

[jordyjensen]

Some shit that either might be going down or i’m mad. Either way i’m creeped and intrigued at the same time.

Since at least 2013 I’ve been experiencing visitations by an entity known as the hatman.(The hatman is an entity known to cause night terrors and sleep paralysis, To me he appears as a tall man in a cloak and a stetson style hat. 

He is blacker than anything it’s like looking at a black hole. he has no features that I can see, just darkness that light cannot seem to penetrate). Most of the visitations consisted of repeated nightmares of the same locations, but where the conversations would be different. It would I would either be in what to me felt like a run down hospital, or an underground carpark, hospital stairwell kind of setting. Or in a dismal academia type of setting. It always felt dreary and uninviting. Like I just had to find my way out of there. Aware somehow, in the back of my mind- that the hat man was watching and waiting to corner me. And when he did, He would talk. I would hear him/feel his words in my head and my bones, But he never physically spoke. I could understand him but it never makes sense and I can never remember what it is he actually said. Its weird. There is this overwhelming sense of dread. Like nothing I’ve ever felt or encountered. Then theres the sleep paralysis. 

 I ignored itto begin with, As I had- at that moment in time been going through some turmoil in my life (abusive partner, drug addiction)- But he didn’t stop when I left that relationship, and it didn’t stop during subsequent ones either, It didn’t stop when I stopped drug use. Infact- it intensified, and people around me were starting to experience things too. Especially those people who at first had told me ‘’it’s all in your head’’  and ‘’Don’t worry, it’s not real- it’s just the drugs’’. They started seeing it too, I would see it while I was awake sometimes. That was the worst because I couldn’t just put it down to tiredness or being a nightmare anymore.  However, For the last I’d say about 3 years- His ‘’visits’’ have lessened. and in their place is another one (Or even the same one, but this time choosing to appear differently- I have no idea if it’s the same entity or another one...all I know is they don’t seem to be around at the same time- hence the conclusion they might possibly be the same entity). Anyway-

The second entity I am about to tell you about now, began making appearances around 3 years ago, Like the first entity- it started with unpleasant reoccurring dreams.

In the very first appearance I can remember- It seemed very early morning, around dawn, the sky was grey- and I became aware of a tapping at the door, I answered the door to find nothing, So puzzled- I stepped out onto the top step. Our house is situated on a hill and overlooking fields and valleys. It is a really pretty view from the front of the house. Anyway, Standing in the drive at the bottom of the stairs is a man. He’s dirty, dishevelled and the easiest way to describe his appearance is wild, birdlike. Almost native american in the way he’s decoraed with feathers and whatnot, But he has feathers growing out of his flesh. In the dream I asked him something along the lines of who are you? can I help you with something? I don’t remember anything he said, but I do remember him suddenly grabbing a hold of me and  taking off into the sky, like literally jumping on the spot but instead of coming back down, continuing up into the sky, the speed and air made my eyes sting and water and my stomach was feeling like it was about to fall out of my arse. Then for some reason were standing on a pylon, just overlooking the scenery for miles.  I remember nothing of what we talked about. I do remember asking his name and he brushed it off but I felt strognly it was connected to the letter ‘’M’’.  of course I brushed this of as a bizzaro dream and in honesty, was just happy to have a less scary dream than the ones i was used to with the hat man!. 

Now this is where things get odd, I notice when I wake up there is a big crow making a right racket outside the bedroom window. and it’s windy as FUCK.  Pretty soon I begin to notice lots of odd things, crows and ravens turning up all the time whether it be on tv, in magazines, books,  In these dreams Nothing particularly awful seemed to happen, it was more a sense of uncertainty or worry, The best way to describe this feeling is to think of being in this scenario: You’re a very anxious person, very socially awkward and you don’t have many friends or family, the only person you really see or talk to is your spouse, you have agoraphobia as a result of the social anxiety so don’t go out much...However, You find yourself in a nice quaint little seaside town- granted it’s the middle of winter, pissing it down with rain and always near dark. You struggle up a long, steep hill to a run down hotel/bar- everyone in there seems to look at you as if they know you and all of them beckoning you to join them and drink with them, but you become aware of your spouses sudden absence, S/he has everything, the house-keys, the money ect ect, and quite frankly you are like a frightened child w/o them....You are trying desperately to think where they might have gotten to, you rush around hoping to see them or someone you recognise but everyone is in your way or trying to engage you in conversation. Imagine that kind of feeling.

Anyway in the dreams, There is often a backdrop of said seafront, stormy seas, rocks, There is a narrow walk way leading down at the side where the sea goes off into sort of a stream down a hill, Just off the main promenade/road where all the little tea rooms and gift shops are located.

The hotel is OLLLLLD and completely in need of refurbishment, it’s falling apart, dirty brown net curtains that were obviously once white or cream, The rooms have peeling wallpaper, ancient furniture, they look like they were decorated in the 60′s but never maintained. 

The streets are very narrow and the buildings are tall, old-fashioned English seaside style buildings (in the dreams, Not where I live-there is  no sea or sand around my gaff) Also- I haven’t mentioned this, as not sure if it’s important/relevant to the happenings since I’ve read other peoples similar accounts and they are living allll over the globe, but just in case it has any relevance I live in England, Yorkshire if you want to be  really precise)

In the first dreams, I would become aware of a crow or raven that would always be near by, it would always be crowing. In later dreams, it would be that I would feel compelled to open up one of the dirty, sash windows and there would be a crow perched directly on the opposite building on the window ledge, an it would always fly straight towards my window, sometimes I would hasten to close it before the bird can get in and it will peck and scratch at he glass all the while crowing it’s head off, In others i would be amused by the bird coming over and it would get inside the window, where it would fly around madly and fly at me (obviously this would always shit me the fuck up in the dream enough to actually wake me up in the real world)  

In Later dreams, he appears like the dishevelled man from the first dream, sitting down in chairs in what appears to be a crap little pub, the kind that you find in the arse end of nowhere (where its only usual customers are people similar in looks and personality to  Claude Greengrass off heartbeat and Shadrach off emmerdale) Its like he would be wanting me to join him but i’d always feel a sense of No man what the hell? You scare the living fuck out of me for no reason and then offer me a drink? No mate- think i’ll pass’’.  I would always immediatly wake up from these dreams, to find in reality, the big crow ever present outside, ever shouting away to himself day or night, rain,shine,snow or gale (though mostly gale i’ve noticed) (Over the last 3 years I’ve started to recognize and become familiar with this particular crows call and recognize it over other crows) It’s always super windy too, like gail force windy when that crow is about. Wether it be summer or winter. Midnight or lunchtime. 

Then by chance I heard mention of the valravn. And that then led me on to Malphas. I have the really strong pull towards the name Malphas. I think this could potentially be the (or at least one of) the entities I’m dealing with.

I don’t know why, I can’t think of a reason for it to be him as I’ve certainly not invoked any demons (at least not knowingly) Or even tried to. I’m not the sort of person who would have balls enough to go messing with things I don’t understand completely). 

I’ve today discovered other people who have had similar accounts of Malphas (and the hatman) and it is for these reasons I am somewhat open to the idea that these might not just be dreams. This shit might have actually gotten real. 

Recently Malphas has been pretty relentless, And the most recent dream was the most disturbing one yet. In this dream he appears, beckoning to me as usual, with a friendly ‘’It’s ok, i’m your friend’’ look. But getting closer I become aware he is surrounded by a massive group of crows/ravens all of them seemed to be attached to him at the waist by black cords that seemed to be made of a similar black matter that the hatman appears to be made of like a black,shadow like matter. The birds were flapping wildly to escape their bonds, screaming a hellish murder. all the while Malphas seemed to be loving every moment of it. I woke up again, to the crow outside screaming as per, with gale force winds rattling through the house. 

At this point i’m wondering what the deal is, what I’ve done to both anger this guy and cause him to relentlessly stalk my waking and sleeping lives.

Why did he even get involved in the first place? 

I might get answers in later days, or I might just get sicker until I die and my soul is claimed to an eternity of terror and torment. Who the fuck knows? Not fucking me!. 

[seokjins]

i absolutely wanna hear ur au that sounds so good??? hello?"

i was thinking

seokjin’s rise to fame has been quick and a sort of boring story. he was cast as a child actor and had a popular career even before he hit puberty, and then he grew up and got even more attractive than he’d been as a kid and studios everywhere couldn’t get enough of him

the celebrity alienation is something he’s experienced his whole life, and he doesn’t really know much else. he does a lot of fan meeting type events and he goes out and interacts w the public and he’s gifted a lot of stuff and hefty paychecks but other than that he doens’t really have a lot of friends

he’s very familiar w taehyung though, a rising rookie actor who kind of fell into his lap during a project that all the gossip rags said would ruin him for good (he’s always been a blockbuster face, if you will), but it’s just an indie film that he read, out of all the scripts he gets sent through his agent, and so lonely that he really felt he needed more people to see it 

it’s not arrogant for him to think that way because seokjin knows that once he signs to a project, it’ll blow up regardless of how unknown the director is or how obscure and non-mainstream the plot is about 

he thinks it’s refreshing to not be the main character for a while; he’s just some really sad, really lonely person that taehyung’s character meets and they end up discussing a lot about stars and life and things like death no longer scaring him

seokjin doesn’t care about being known, not really. he’s never wanted the fame or the money, just wanted to do something that he loves a lot but eventually can’t find enjoyment in anymore

he has a minor panic attack about this, so he keeps his schedule packed so full that he doesn’t have time off to think about it and his inevitable downfall when he’s 60 and realizes he hasn’t really lived his life since so much of it has been kept strict because of his career as a child actor 

he sees taehyung for a while during filming, and then again at the premier 

someone takes a photo of seokjin coming in from his flight and makes a comment about how Sad he looks, and it goes viral and it’s plastered all over newspapers when OP originally meant to draw attention to the fact that it’s the media themselves that make him so miserable

i guess he and taehyung start dating, after a long time of tae trying to convince him to loosen up and think about things other than his career. things don’t really work out bc their schedules never line up but they’re still good friends anyway

then seokjin runs into hoseok on the street: hoseok who smiles easily, who runs his bakery in the quiet part of town and barely has anything for himself but treats his regulars to a cup of coffee and some pastries, who likes to dance and doesn’t know who seokjin is 

he doesn’t ask for autographs or photos or anything and seokjin ends up going to his bakery to read over scripts and stuff like that … just people watching to get inspiration on how to play his next characters and stuff 

it’s nice, being around someone who’s just happy like that. hoseok has a lot of friends that come in at weird times of day – like namjoon, who’s a professor at seoul national and is too smart for anyone’s good but also spills lemonade all over himself the second tme seokjin’s there 

or jungkook who’s about to graduate and he’s going for music and seokjin sees this…this sort of life in his eyes that he hasn’t had for a long time and calls him over and gets all his information and says that he’ll go talk to some pd’s he knows. 

this place is his own bubble where he gets to see others live their lives and not have to worry about makeup or hair or picking a suit that will make him another internet sensation and trend #1 on melOn search again 

eventually he and hoseok start dating …

by now hope knows who he is because of his friends lol so he’s a little embarrassed to show off his humble lifestyle to seokjin, prince of korea, but seokjin doesn’t care and loves staying in the apartment above his shop all the time

hoseok has all sorts of things in his rooms. polaroids, photos, birthday cards from five yrs ago that still make him laugh so he keeps it up on the wall. things that make him feel human and alive and like he has family 

hope teaches him how to live life the way he should’ve before. he takes jin out clubbing, and then drinking at jimin’s house (jimin lives with namjoon lives with jungkook and NJ’s messy but quiet and when jimin and JK throw parties they throw parties and seokjin finally gets the high school house party experience for the first time in his life) 

and they go shopping for stuff . in the grocery stores and seokjin finally picks up cooking again in the nice kitchen downstairs where theres so much space to move around 

and seokjin doesn’t really know how to show his appreciation except by buying hobi expensive things and trying to take him out to dinner but instead ending up on the rooftop stargazing or something dumb like that 

they finish off a whole bottle of red wine together when it’s a bad day for both of them, and hoseok never says anything when jin has to leave for weeks or even months at a time for his job, just hugs him when he comes back because he loves him and he’s just supporting him in the way he’d support any of his other friends 

i guess they’d just be soft. i didn’t think too far ahead but i want jin to finally learn how to let go and stop working for a couple years so he can live with his boyfriend and eventually maybe propose and get hitched and elope instead of putting a big wedding together, etc 

seokjin gets adopted by hobi’s friend group and when he introduces taehyung to the rest of them it all goes downhill really fast (especially for yoongi lol) and jungkook’s career is off to a great start and yea

i jus want everyone to be happy

[robronsecretsanta]

Christmas AU Fanfic

to @sleepysuggles, love from your secret santa

Christmas comes around again, another year of wasting money on overpriced gift sets and stocking up on tubs of chocolates.

This year is a little extra for Aaron. This year he gets to spend it with his sister. She’s only been around for a few months, but they hit it off instantly. She’d had a rough year and Aaron wanted to make sure she had the best end to the year she could have.

She made out she wasn’t bothered, told him not to waste his money on her, told him she wouldn’t be able to get him anything back.

Aaron didn’t want anything from her though, told her as such. Told her she was the best present he could have asked for, making her cringe and Aaron wink with a laugh.

Aaron said she could choose what she wanted, which had peeked her mood.

“I want Starbucks, too,” Liv grinned.

Aaron just grabbed her into a headlock and ruffled her hair. “Whatever you want.”

He felt immense proud as he watched her smiling and running up the stairs to grab her coat.

It felt good to see her have a genuine smile on her face for the first time in all the time he had known her.

Aaron knew she wanted to enjoy Christmas again, she wanted that excitement back. She wanted family.

Aaron made a promise to himself that he would make sure she had a Christmas to remember.

~

Town was as busy as Aaron had expected it to be. He was growing tired of having to push passed people, and the queues were ridiculously long. But Liv was getting into it, she was open with what she liked and didn’t, wanted to make sure nothing was too much for Aaron, and it wasn’t.

Liv carried all the bags, Aaron laughing at her groaning because Aaron said he was paying, therefore he would be staying hands free.

“Lets go for that Starbucks,” Aaron nodded over the street the coffee shop.

Liv seemed relieved, she really didn’t fancy carrying these bags for much longer.

~

They order two fudge hot chocolates and luckily find themselves a table to sit at.

Aaron watches Liv as she blows into the hot liquid in her mug, a smile creeping onto his face.

She looks up at him through her lashes, “don’t be weird.”

Aaron just laughs, “don’t know what you are on about.”

Liv raises a eyebrow, “you keep staring at me.” She takes a sip of her drink, “it’s freaking me out.”

Aaron just shrugs, unapologetically. “It’s just nice to see you happy.”

She smiles slightly, an awkward flush of red growing on her cheeks. “Thanks,” she chews the inside of her cheek. “For all this. For everything.”

“You’re my baby sister,” Aaron’s leans into her. “I’d do anything for you ya muppet.”

Liv’s smile is broad and and it’s infectious, makes Aaron smile just as wide.

“Can I get you guys anything else?” The guy from behind the counter comes up to them, not seeming to notice he’s interrupted a tender moment between them.

“Hm, no. We are good for now thanks.” Aaron looks up at the tall, blond guy with a friendly smile.

Aaron’s not one for... looking. But he can’t help but look now.

Aaron’s not been with anyone since Liv came into his life. It’s never bothered him that he isn’t settled with anyone yet and it still doesn’t.

Liv’s his main priority now and it’ll remain that way for the near future.

He’s still standing there though and Aaron’s still looking up at him, his hands around his mug holding on tighter as he feels something bubble up in his chest.

Aaron’s not really good at gaydars, but this guy is definitely lingering longer than is necessary.

It’s Liv who breaks the tension by clearing her throat.

The guy turns to look at her, a warm smile lifting. “No problem, if you need me I’ll be just-“ the guy points to behind the counter.

Aaron’s surprised by how shy he seems, his body language comes across differently. The way he eyed him up left nothing to be desired.

“Thanks,” Aaron can’t help but watch him as he walks away.

Liv’s smirking a ridiculous amount and Aaron scrunches his napkin up and throws it at her. “Shut up,” Aaron shifts in his seat, a fuzzy feeling in his belly.

“Could he make it any more obvious that he fancied you,” Liv laughs at Aaron’s frown. “He was practically drooling.”

Aaron rolls his eyes, “he was just doing his job. No biggie.”

“Oh come on,” Liv looks over at the guy who is still finding the time to look over at them even though theres a queue building. “He’s really not playing it cool, he can’t keep his eyes off you.”

Aaron let’s himself turn to take a look, and she’s right, he’s looking over at them. The guy locks eyes with Aaron and his smile seems a lot more confident now. Like he’s got what he was looking for.

The sign that Aaron’s interested?

Not that he is. He’s not interested in him or anyone else for that matter. He lets Liv know as such. “I don’t care. Let him, doesn’t mean he’s going to get anywhere.”

“Is that why you turned into a tomato the minute you looked at each other?” Liv’s shaking her head. “You were so obvious.”

Damn.

“Come on, lets go.” Aaron can’t deny it. He can still feel eyes on him and the clothes on his back become tight on him, his skin burning up.

Liv just rolls her eyes, but doesn’t say anything else. This time Aaron takes the bags, let’s Liv go on ahead and then Aaron’s stopped in his tracks by the guy.

He has a folded piece of paper in his hand and he’s placing it into Aaron’s pocket. “Call me,” he says with hopefulness.

Aaron thinks he definitely will not be calling him. He just clears his throat and diverts his eyes away before leaving.

He doesn’t know why, but he finds himself turning to take another look. Wants him to still be watching...and he is.

The guy makes a phone sign with his hand, a more confident smile on his lips and Aaron lets himself smile back. A tease.

Aaron’s never been more fickle in his life. He knows he probably will be calling him.

~

Aaron and Liv spends Christmas with the rest of the Dingles. Liv’s settles in quickly, become part of the family without question.

They’ve had a great day, Liv spends time with Belle as Aaron finds himself stumbling outside. He’s had a few to drink and he sits down before he falls down.

It been a week since he got the guys number from the cafe. He wanted to phone sooner, but didn’t want to take anything away from Liv. He wanted to make sure his full attention was on her.

He’s still got his number in his coat and he turns the flashlight on on his phone so he can see the digits written on the paper.

‘Robert

07777466551’

Robert. He plays with the name on his tongue and finds it comes out naturally. It seems to make him more attractive to him.

He grabs his phone out of his pocket and decides to go for it. Hopes that Robert remembers who he is.

Aaron folds the piece of paper up again and presses it to his lips, begins to regret phoning him when all he gets is constant ringing.

He’s about to give up, but then Robert’s voice comes through the phone. “Hello?”

He sighs with relief before thinking of what to say. “Hey, it’s Aaron. I mean, it’s the guy from the cafe the other week... you gave me your number and-“

“Aaron,” Robert says effortlessly. Seeming to play with his name just as Aaron had done minutes earlier. “I thought you’d never call.”

“Yeah, sorry. Just- just  busy you know. With Christmas.”

“You sound drunk,” Aaron can sense the smirk on his lips. “You had a good day?”

“Yeah I have,” Aaron looks back into where the rest of his family are and he can hear them all laughing. It makes him sigh happily before focusing back on the guy on the phone. “What about you?”

“Well, it’s just improved one hundred percent by you calling me,” Robert says cheerfully. “So my gaydar was right then?”

“What?” Aaron laughs, relaxing back into the bench and finding himself wrapped up in Robert’s soft voice.

“You’re gay or-“

“Yeah, I’m gay mate.” Aaron says freely. “And you?”

“Bisexual,” Robert says back just as confidently. Aaron can hear Robert swallow, his nerves seeming to take a hold of him again. “You can say no, there’s obviously no pressure but I just wondered if you’d like to meet up for a drink?”

Aaron can’t help but bite at his bottom lip, a smile spreading across his face. “Only if you do me another fudge hot chocolate.”

Robert chuckles slightly, “it’s on me.”

There’s a comfortable silence before Aaron speaks. “Ok, so when?”

“Monday?” Robert replies, maybe a little bit too eagerly. “I mean, if you’re free.” He tries to play it cool.

Aaron just grins, “Monday sounds good.”

“Great,” Robert says as laid back as he possibly can. “I’ll see you, then. Oh and Aaron?”

“Yeah?”

“Merry Christmas.”

Aaron feels a lot more drunk on just cheap lager as he wishes Robert a Merry Christmas, too.

~

He said he wasn’t interested in being with anyone and that still stands. He does want to meet up with Robert, though.

He’s still young, he’s entitled to a little fun.

But he speaks to Liv first. Doesn’t want her to think everything he’s said was a lie.

“I’m not your mum,” Liv rolled her eyes. “You can see whoever you want. As long as I don’t see any touchy feely business I don’t really care.”

“There won’t be any of that. I’m just going for a drink,” Aaron puts her mind at rest even though he knows she’s only teasing.

“Go and have some fun, Aaron. It’s about time.”

~

Aaron knew Robert was still working until 14:00, but he goes early. He hopes Robert doesn’t realise it’s because he wants to see him early or anything.

He’s allowed a coffee on his own, isn’t he?

Robert’s cleaning one of the tables and Aaron can’t help but laugh a little. He’s wearing a elf jumper with little reindeer ears on and that stupid smile of Aaron’s spreads when he’s normally thinking of him when he’s alone. But he’s not alone now, so he clears his throat to make himself known and he tries to relax his smile.

Robert looks happy to see him, a little appreciative look up and down and Robert sways into him. “You’re early.”

Aaron shrugs, “I’m allowed a drink on my own first, aren’t I?” He looks down at Robert’s jumper and Robert folds his arms across his chest, somewhat embarrassed. “I thought Christmas was over.”

Robert rolls his eyes but there’s a softness to it, “12 days of Christmas an all that.” Robert walks around to the counter, Aaron following. “There’s spare around the back if you want to join in.”

“No thanks,” they share a look and Aaron shyly looks away and up at the menu. “I’ll just have the same as last time please.”

Aaron gets his wallet out ready to pay, but Robert doesn’t allow it. Aaron’s not one for ‘being bought,’ he likes to pay his way but he seems he won’t get anywhere with Robert so he decides to let him have this one.

“I’ll bring it over to you,” Robert makes a start on his drink and Aaron sits.

He pretends to spend the rest of his waiting time on his phone. He sends Liv a quick text and then spends the rest of his time looking over at Robert through his lashes.

He’s got beautiful eyes. An ever better smile.

His hair looks good enough to run his hands through. When he bends over his thighs and arse look thick and Aaron decides then is the time to look away.

He’s practically undressing the guy and imagining all sorts.

He tells himself to control himself, but the stirring inside of him doesn’t die out even when he stops staring at him.

He’s got it bad.

~

When Robert finally finishes he’s changed into a shirt and a leather jacket and Aaron can’t believe how different he seems. There’s a cockiness about him, a swagger.

That same glow rests behind his eyes though and that same lopsided grin sits on his face whenever he sees Aaron.

He sits facing Aaron, his elbows on the table. “It’s good to see you again,” he says quietly.

“You saw me about ten minutes ago,” Aaron laughs easily, finding himself leaning in closer.

“You know what I mean,” Robert raises his eyebrows. “You got a smart mouth, I like that.”

Aaron bites his lip, Robert’s watching him and Aaron doesn’t seem to know what to say anymore.

“Lets get out of here,” Robert stands to his feet quickly.

“I thought we were having a coffee?” Aaron asked, but got to his feet.

Robert just shakes his head. “I’m sick of coffee. Come on.”

~

They go ice skating. Aaron wanting to turn away the minute they arrive at the rink but Robert’s having none of it, guessing Aaron’s shoe size and passing him a pair of skates.

“I’m shit too. Don’t worry,” Robert steps on to the ice first, turning to see Aaron not moving.

“I hate you,” Aaron says lightly making Robert laugh and come back closer to Aaron.

“Already? It normally takes people a few weeks to come to that conclusion.” Robert’s offering out his hand, “come on.”

“Was this just an excuse to hold my hand?” Aaron licks his lips and looks up at Robert, smiles forming and Aaron doesn’t wait for an answer. He bats Robert’s hand away and steps onto the ice not giving in and he holds onto the sides like his life depends on it.

Robert’s surprisingly good on the ice for a lanky guy. He glides across the ice easily.

Aaron huffs as he watches him. He’s still holding onto the sides, but he moves his legs gingerly.

Robert skates up to him and he winks. “You decided to move then.”

“I didn’t realise you were Christopher Dean.”

Aaron knows he’s only joking around, but he feels stupid. It’s meant to be a bit of fun and instead Aaron’s mood has dropped. “Sorry,” he says sighing.

“It’s fine,” Robert leans in closer. “We can do something else if you’d like?”

Aaron frowns, shakes his head. “No. Lets stay here,” he looks down at Robert’s hands. “You’re gonna have to hold my hand though.”

Robert grins and lifts his hand up for Aaron to take. Aaron takes his hand and Robert pulls him along slowly with him.

Aaron falls down a couple of times, but Robert’s right there to pick him up. And he can’t be sure, but he thinks Robert falls down a few times to make him feel better about himself.

~

Night falls and they head to the taxi rank. “Thanks for tonight, I really enjoyed it.” Aaron’s had the best night he’s head in ages despite the little tantrum he’d had at the start.

“Good,” Robert shoved his hands into his jacket to block out the cold. “We should do it again.”

“Really?” Aaron’s not sure why he feels so surprised at the the thought of Robert wanting to see him again.

Robert nods, “yeah, of course.”

A taxi pulls up and Robert opens the back door for Aaron. “I’ll call you,” Robert shuts the door once Aaron’s inside.

“You’d better,” Robert replies to himself, regretting instantly not pressing a kiss to Aaron’s lips, something he’s been craving since the second he saw him.

There’s always next time, he wouldn’t mull over it for too long.

~

It’s the morning after and Aaron’s first thought is Robert. Probably sounds ridiculous and needy, but last night he was himself. He didn’t have to worry about anything or anyone else, he was having him time and it felt good.

He said he’d phone him, but he doesn’t dare to phone him yet. He checks his phone - no messages.

Aaron doesn’t read into it. After all, Robert was the one who wanted to see him again.

He makes breakfast for himself and Liv soon follows.

Yawning, she pours herself a glass of juice. She looks around The Mill. “On your own then?” She asks over her glass.

“Yeah, I told you it wasn’t a big deal.”

“It didn’t go well then?” Liv sits down.

“I’m seeing him again actually,” Aaron replies rather smugly.

“You do like him then?” Liv smiles, loves that she is right.

“Be quiet, Olivia.” Aaron plates his food and heads upstairs to the sound of his sister making ‘eww’ noises.

He can’t help but fondly smile to himself.

~

Aaron doesn’t have to worry about coming across needy because Robert’s the one who phones him.

Aaron’s in the scrapyard, his feet up on the table and he’s glad he’s alone. He answers after it rings a few times, “alright?”

“Hey. I knew you said you’d phone but I got bored of waiting.”

So not just him, then? He grins to himself, “it’s only 10:00 o’clock.”

“Like I said, I got bored. So how does food round at mine sound tonight?”

Liv.

“Hmm, the thing is I don’t fancy leaving my sister on her own. Last night she was round at a friends, so it wasn’t too bad.”

There’s silence and Aaron thinks Robert’s going to tell him to forget it. But he’s surprised, “alright, well, she could join us? I wouldn’t want to cramp her style or anything, but I make a mean pizza if she’s up for it.”

Aaron’s speechless for a moment. Wasn’t expecting this and he quickly clears his throat. “You mean a frozen pizza, yeah?” Aaron jokes.

Robert laughs, “you got me. So what do you say?”

“I’ll speak to her,” Aaron beamed. Saying bye and getting up to wait for Liv to come back home from school.

~

“No way am I sitting through you two perving over each other,” Liv pulled a face at the idea of her joining them for food.

“It’s not like that,” Aaron rolled his eyes. “Just come along. It was nice of him to invite you. Plus you’ll get a night off from my bad cooking.”

Liv thought on it no longer, that seeming to make up her mind for her. “Fine, I’ll come.”

~

With Robert forwarding his address, Aaron arrives with Liv. Robert’s place is a small apartment, something Aaron had already expected Robert would live in.

He knocks and Robert’s opening the door before Aaron can even bring his arm back down. Robert’s greeting them with a smile that makes Aaron’s body just want to lean into him. There’s something about him that makes Aaron feel instantly safe.

Liv starts to look around the place, lifting up pictures and pulling out books from the small book shelf. “Liv, stop it.” Aaron pulls a ‘what the hell are you doing’ face.

“Just trying to figure out what kind of bloke my brother is dating,” Liv shrugs, a playful smile on her face.

Robert just laughs, handing Aaron over a beer and Liv juice.

“We aren’t dating,” Aaron puffs out his cheeks. “Stop showing me up, you are worse than my mum.”

“It’s alright,” Robert sits next to Aaron on the sofa. “Nice to know you’ve got someone who cares about you.”

“Someone who likes to interfere more like.”

Liv holds her hands up. “Fine, I’ll stop.” She looks at Robert. “You’d best not hurt him though, he proper likes you.”

Aaron’s eyes widen in horror, but Robert just looks at him with a warming smile. “Good. Cause I proper like him, too.”

~

They have food and dessert together. Every now and again Robert’s foot coming over to touch Aaron’s ankle and it’s near enough impossible for Aaron not to react.

Liv gets a notification through on her phone, something about Dan and Phil uploading a video and she wanders off back into the living area to watch, leaving Aaron and Robert alone.

“I’ll come and help you with the dishes,” Aaron follows Robert into the kitchen.

It comes out of nowhere, Robert’s arms come up around Aaron’s waist and he’s been spun around up against the counter.

Aaron struggles to catch his breath for a second, his hands coming up to Robert’s chest to steady him.

“Did Liv mean what she said?” Aaron frowns a little, “about you liking me?” Robert clarifies.

Aaron let’s his fingers bend against Robert’s chest, a light stroke and Robert’s mouth slacks open a little at the action. “What do you think?” Aaron looks up through his lashes, a giddiness to his heart as Robert pulls at his waist to feel him closer.

“I think I want to kiss you now,” Robert’s breath ghosts over Aaron’s face and he nods. He wants that, too.

“What are you waiting for?”

That stupid smirk of Robert’s makes an appearance before leaning in and closing the gap between them.

They don’t rush, they breathe each other in, pull at each other. Robert’s tongue maps over Aaron’s, a moan escaping him and Robert loses it. His hands come up to his neck, he tilts his head and takes all he can from Aaron.

They could have stayed like that forever if it wasn’t for Liv coming in and telling them to get a room.

Robert secretly winked at Aaron. He would definitely be getting them a room.

~

A year later and Christmas is different again. This year it’s spent with Liv and Robert.

It wasn’t long before Robert was coming round every weekend and then every weekend turned into every other night and that turned into Aaron clearing out draws for some of Robert’s stuff.

Then Robert was moving in officially. He gave up his whole life to start a new one with Aaron. It was kind of surreal, Aaron’s insecurities coming to a head a few times. Was it too soon? Would it ruin his new formed relationship with Liv?

He had no need to worry. Robert and Liv had hit it off well. Robert helped Liv with her homework, would sit up late with her when she couldn’t sleep for whatever reason. He would cook for them, Robert was like a god send to Liv.

Christmas Day was here, Robert waking up in the mistletoe boxers that Aaron had bought him early for a laugh and Aaron had ended up being mortified when Robert had said he actually liked them.

They had spent the day together, just the three of them. Stuffed up on turkey and the rest. They’d watched Elf and Home Alone before Liv headed off to see Gabby.

Alone, Robert was tipsy and a ever so in love. He wanted to tell Aaron. Didn’t want to wait any longer, he’d known for so long that Aaron was the one for him.

Aaron caught him watching him and kicked at his leg, “want a photo?”

“Nah, the real thing is better,” Robert replies playfully.

Even now, Robert had it in him to make Aaron blush. Robert loved every second of it.

Getting to his feet, Robert pulled Aaron up and pressed himself up against Aaron. “Thanks for today.”

Aaron shrugged with a downwards smile, “didn’t do anything.”

“You made it perfect,” Robert lays a chaste kiss to his lips.

Aaron hides his face into the crook of Robert’s neck, “you’re so cheesy sometimes.”

Robert smiles against his hair and rubs a hand up and down his back, “hows this for cheesy,” Robert lifts Aaron’s head up with a finger under his chin and just looks at him for ages before lowering his forehead to Aaron’s. “I’m in love with you.”

Aaron’s speechless, a warm was circulates his body and he can’t help but flash a massive grin up at Robert. His pulse quickens as he pulls Robert into a deep kiss. “I’m in love with you, too.” Aaron sighs gently against Robert’s lips.

It’s the best Christmas present either of them could have wished for.