#i was just sticking to my bookmarks and not bothering to read anything new

[kulai]

DAY 24: First Date

check this out on twt ! based on ch16 of "between the shadow and the soul" on ao3. ANOTHERR heavy recommendation!

[izzyy-stuff]

AFTER CLOSING HOURS - CHOI YEONJUN

lifeguard!yeonjun x fem!reader

in which your friend and the boy she is seeing decide Choi Yeonjun needs to calm his hormones as soon as possible. And what better way is there to do it then show him a pretty girl who can satisfy all his needs?

wc 3.7k

warnings smut, public sex but no one is around, it happens in the pool, unprotected sex, Yeonjun is lowk a hoe ngl, but also a sweetheart, mention of lifeguard!Taehyun, Jay of enhypen mentioned as an ex, reader is implied to be shorter than yeonjun, oral (f. receiving), cum swallowing, brief nipple play, pet names lmk if I missed anything!

↪ izzy speaks... fun fact: lifeguard!Yeonjun was actually my first idea for a fic after I started writing on tumblr, so it has been sitting in my drafts since June. Somehow, there was just always a different fic I wanted to write at the moment, but thanks to y'all voting for it when I made the poll about what you want me to write next, it's finally seeing the day light 🙌

Yeonjun sat on his chair by the pool, just as he would any other day. With his sunglasses high on his nose and a phone in his hands, he did the same as any other lifeguard: absolutely nothing. 

Of course, some would say that he was neglecting his job, that it would be better to hire someone more responsible, someone serious. But the problem was, anyone else, no matter how accountable or not they were, would behave the same he did. Fortunately for him, the pool was sparsely occupied, leaving Yeonjun with little to do during his shifts. One could say that it was part of his job, sitting by the pool and doing nothing.

And, if, for whatever reason, there did turn out to be someone who wanted to drown in the five-foot-deep swimming pool after all, he was always ready to put his phone aside and jump into the water. 

Yeonjun liked the freedom of his job. Even though, honestly, sitting in a chair for six hours in the burning sun every day could also be tiring and boring. 

So boring he almost quit. 

Almost. 

Because as he ended his shift, switching with another lifeguard, and grabbed his resignation papers, so confident he would put them on his boss’ table, he found a reason to stop right in front of her office and turn around again. 

As his eyes landed on the girl lying on her stomach on her towel near the pool, he realized the pros of his job again. One of them being all the gorgeous girls he could sneak glances at. And sometimes, when he was bored enough, take them to his dressing room. 

 ♡⸝⸝  

“It’s basically law that you go to a pool during summer!” You scoff at your friend, raising an eyebrow in disbelief. “The law actually is that I get to relax in my cozy apartment now that I finally have time for myself,” you state, and without waiting for her answer, you look down at your book again, re-reading the first sentence on the page. 

“Oh, come on! Please! We have to go!” She pleads, making you groan as you place your bookmark between the two pages and slam it shut, before glancing over at her. “Fine, fine, I’ll go if it means you’ll stop bothering me,” you finally accept defeat with a sigh, creating a grin on her face. “I promise you won’t regret it!” 

New things never excite you as much as others. You liked sticking  to your routine and visiting places you’ve already been to. You aren’t sure why, but you’ve always preferred it that way.

But your friends always thought otherwise, bringing you to new restaurants that opened in town, going on trips to places still unfamiliar to all of you, and now, taking you to the swimming pool they opened last year when you weren’t in town. 

“I just don’t understand why we have to go to this pool. You have a pool at your house! Why couldn’t we have gone there?” You ask her for the millionth time, making her groan in annoyance. “Just wait. You’ll understand once we get there,” is all she says before locking her arm with yours, smirking as she leads you towards the swimming pool. 

 ♡⸝⸝  

“There is your reason,” she says proudly, lowering her sunglasses as she watches the lifeguards switch shifts. You glance the same way she does, raising an eyebrow at the black-haired boy before looking at your friend again. “You wanted to go here because of a boy?” 

“Not just any boy! The hottest guy you’ve ever seen!” She exclaims, watching you roll your eyes. “Don’t tell me you don’t find him attractive.” You turn your attention to the male again, examining his features. “Okay, yeah. He’s handsome,” you admit. “But still, that doesn’t mean we should–” 

“His name is Yeonjun,” she interrupts you. “Choi Yeonjun. And I swear you two would look great together.” 

“So this is what it’s about,” you scoff. “You’re unbelievable. Why are you trying to set me up with someone again?” You reach into your bag, bringing out your towel , and wrapping it around yourself  as if it could prove her anything. “I’m happy with how things are now,” you proclaim, well aware of your stubbornness. 

“Oh, come on! You’ve been sex deprived since you broke up with Jay! And trust me, he knows how to fuck,” she assures you, completely serious. “All you have to do is walk confusedly around the kiosks, and he’ll be all yours.” 

You shake your head at her, glancing toward the male again. “Well, your plan couldn’t work even if I wanted to do it, anyway” you state, nodding toward him so she would look the same way. 

He is handsome, you can’t argue with that. And you couldn’t say you would mind getting to know him either, but with his handsomeness came one con. Attractive guys were always too busy. Busy with talking to all the different girls. Busy thinking god knows what of themselves. Even now, you could see him talking to some girl in the pool, a few others surrounding him.

“Oh, hell no. We are going to swim. Right now,” she states, grabbing your hand and basically forcing you out of your chair. “You need to show off.” 

You sigh, throwing your towel back on your bag before following her to the pool, giving up on trying to talk her out of it. You knew you were stubborn, but so was she. And unlike you, she wouldn’t back down until the very end. 

 ♡⸝⸝  

You felt embarrassed. It was pathetic trying to get into his pants like this, but the most embarrassing thing about the whole situation was his stares. You could feel his eyes all over your body. On your legs when you walked out of the pool, on your ass when you walked past him, and on your breast as you put sunscreen on. 

“You have him wrapped around your finger,” your friend laughs, watching the male opposite you on the other side of the swimming pool. You feel your cheeks heating up every time you make eye contact with him, averting your gaze from him immediately. “That’s to not wanting you to set me up with anyone,” you mumble. 

“You’re welcome,” she giggles, looking at the time on her phone. “Alright, my job here is done. The pool closes in twenty minutes. Stay until the end if you want our work to be worth it. Wait until everyone is gone and then go talk to him,” she gives you instructions, and it makes you wonder how many times she has done something like this. There’s especially one question that gets stuck in your head. Was he the one that taught her all of this? 

And trust me, he knows how to fuck. You remember your friend's words, swallowing the lump in your throat as you watch her pack her things. “Wait,” you stop her, hesitating as she turns to you again with a confused look. “Did you…sleep with him before?” You watch her burst into laughter, leaving you confused this time. 

She quickly pulls out her phone, looking for something. “If you are worried about breaking the girls’ code or something like that, relax. This is my lifeguard,” she smiles, proudly showing you a picture on her phone. “Yeonjun is kind of a hoe, though, not going to lie to you. I am not sure who he did sleep with,” she adds. “It was Taehyun’s idea that I could set you two up,” she admits, pointing at the picture on her phone again so you’d know who she is talking about. “He thinks you might be what Yeonjun needs to calm his hormones and finally stick with one girl. And even if you can’t exactly change him, I thought it would be good for you to have a fun night at least.” 

You nod to her, hesitating as you glance at the male again, his eyes still glued to your body. He probably thought he was inconspicuous, too. “This is one of your worst ideas,” you sigh. “But I’ll give it a go. I can’t let your effort go in vain.” 

♡⸝⸝  

“Excuse me, the pool is closing in two minutes,” you look up upon hearing the unfamiliar voice, gulping down to swallow all the stress that brushed over you, before you look around the place, as if you don’t know it is empty by now. “Oh, I’m sorry,” you apologize awkwardly. 

You feel his eyes on your back as you get up to collect your things, biting your bottom lip. Thank god he couldn’t see your face at the moment. “You know, I think the front gate is locked already. So if you wait for me for a bit, you can leave with me through the back,” he says, rubbing the back of his neck and looking around the place, doing his best to hold back and not let his eyes fall on your lower body. 

“Sure,” you nod, the sound of the pool filtration the only thing you heard for a while. “Alright, yeah. You can come with me,” he shook his head, snapping out of his thoughts. “I’m sorry. I’m a bit all over the place today,” he apologized, leading you toward the dressing rooms. 

“More like a bit all over me,” you mumble, a chuckle leaving your lips. You freeze as you watch him stop before you, realizing he can still hear you. “I mean–” 

“If you noticed me, you must have been looking at me too, or am I wrong?” 

“You’re not wrong,” you admit when you notice the hunger in his eyes, looking up at him and trying your best to keep eye contact with him. But honestly, it was hard when his eyes looked like that. At first glance, it felt like innocent boba eyes that you could get lost in, but then you saw the lust, excitement, and arousal behind them, hesitating again. 

A chuckle slips past his lips, making your eyes widen. “You’re cute,” he comments, watching your cheeks turn pink. “What’s your name?” You answer him, doing your best to remain calm as he steps forward. He repeats your name, almost as if trying to see how it sounds on his lips. “I’m Yeonjun.” 

“I know who you are,” you assure him. “A lot of girls seem to know.” 

“I don’t know a lot of girls’ names, though.” You roll your eyes at him, scoffing at how cheesy he sounds. “Don’t you have places to be? I thought you still need to change so we can leave,” you quickly change the topic, knowing you had him where you wanted now. 

“That can wait, don’t you think?” You bite your bottom lip as you gaze him in the eyes again, instinctively nodding. “God and I promised Taehyun I wouldn’t hook up with another girl at work,” he muttered quietly, stepping forward again to get closer to you. You could hear your heart beating faster as you looked at him, regretting your decision immediately. You shouldn’t have listened to your friend. You should have left with her and stayed sex deprived. You should have– 

He interrupts your thoughts by pressing his lips on yours, making your eyes widen. “Was that…okay with you?” He stops, for the first time in a while, finding himself hesitating as he watches you freeze. He never had to question if a girl liked him or what she thought of him. Yet, here he was, rethinking his next moves as if it was the first time he was this close to a girl. 

“Fuck,” you mumble, your hand reaching to the back of his neck and pulling him closer to yourself to kiss him again. “It’s so wrong that your lips taste this good.” He smirks into the kiss, his hand roaming your back while his tongue explores your mouth. It feels weird having his hands all over you, but at the same time, it seems so right. 

“It’s wrong that you’re this gorgeous,” he comments back, his hand sliding under your bottom piece as he grasps your ass, picking you up in one swift movement. You yelp, instinctively wrapping your legs around his waist and your hands around his shoulders. Your eyes shake, mostly from excitement, as you watch him, questioning what is going on in his mind. 

He doesn’t say anything, though. His lips land on yours immediately instead as he walks forward, doing his best not to wobble and make you both fall to the ground as his eyes stay close to enjoy the kiss fully. 

When you pull away to take a moment and breathe, you’re back next to the pool, near his assigned place. “So you don’t plan on changing anymore,” you tease him, unable to hide your smile as you watch his face, scanning his features from up close. His lips are pretty, you notice. Pretty is a suitable word to describe him. “I will gladly take you to the changing room and change with you later, but for now, this will be more fun.” 

You’re not sure how it all happened, but the next thing you know, you’re sitting on the pool’s edge, your legs thrown over Yeonjun’s shoulders while his head is buried in between your thighs. You weren’t sure what to expect when he said it “would be more fun,” but after he had jumped into the water, not caring about getting his hair wet, you knew you were in for a ride. 

You pull on his hair, moaning out as his tongue plays with your clit. “Mhm?” He looks up for a second when you do so, his boba eyes making you melt. “N-nothing,” you shake, biting your bottom lip at the sight. He is no longer just pretty. With his wet hair in front of his eyes and your slick on his lips, he is beyond just that. 

He chuckles, diving between your legs again, this time sucking harder. “You’re so pretty,” he mumbles as he licks your core, looking up at you to see your reaction before his tongue makes its way into your cunt, eating you out like a starved man. 

Yeonjun lets you pull on his hair however you want, unbothered by your actions as his hands squeeze your thighs, keeping you in place as he tongue-fucks you, enjoying himself as much as you do. 

“I’m–” your voice breaks in the middle as he goes back to sucking on your clit, sending you over the edge before you can warn him. “Going to cum,” you breathe out, but by the time, his mouth is already covered with your release. “Tastes so fucking good,” he mumbles, licking his lips. He lets go of your thighs, pulling himself up to reach your lips. “So good, princess,” he praises before kissing you. 

“Alright, come in,” Yeonjun whispers softly, letting his legs hit the bottom of the pool again. His hand reaches towards you, and you gladly accept it. He helps you into the water, his hand slowly tracing from your thigh to your back, coming up until he reaches the strings of your bikini top, pulling it off in one swift motion. 

You grant him one sheepish smile full of nervousness, keeping your eyes on him. You were too scared to look away, internally terrified that if you dared to look away, he would disappear. “Is it okay so far?” He wondered, carefully caressing your waist as if he could read your mind. You nod, biting your bottom lip as your hand reaches his chest, your fingertips just so slightly brushing over his nipples. He groans, trying to keep his moans from escaping. 

His hands repeat your motion, twisting your right nipple in his two fingers while he lowers his head to your left one, leaving wet kisses all over your breast. “Jjun,” you gasp as he sucks on your nipple, throwing your head back. You open your mouth to speak again, but all that you’re able to do at the moment is moan. He makes it impossible for you to think straight, especially after you feel his knee between your legs, pressing against your naked core. 

You wrap your leg around his hips, pulling him closer. Yeonjun looks up at you for a moment, smirking when he notices the need in your eyes, caressing your thigh before he makes you wrap your other leg around him, too, pushing you onto the wall. You can feel his bulge against your cunt, and wish he would have taken down his swim trunks a long time ago. 

“You’re so impatient, sweetheart,” he teases, pressing his lips on yours again. You don’t hesitate and kiss him back, opening your mouth to give him better access. Part of you hates how easily he can get you, but you can’t help it and want all of him as soon as possible. You need him to fill you up, fuck you dumb like you haven’t been in a while. 

“It’s your ‘ngh fault,” you breathe out, grinding on his bulge. Yeonjun bites onto his bottom lip, doing his best to keep quiet. It’s safe to say you drove him crazy. “‘M wait–” his breath shakes, and his eyes shut close. He squeezes your thighs, stopping you so he can take his shorts down. 

It’s a new experience, you must admit. You never fantasized about pool sex, but now that the lifeguard was thrusting his cock into you, somehow managing to hit your g-spot on the first try and driving you crazy, you had a completely different opinion on it. You’ll have to repeat it in the future. 

Yeonjun’s hand is firmly pressed against the cold tiles next to you, his lips all over your neck and collarbone while he fucks your orgasm back into you. You tried to keep it in, wait for him to reach his climax too, and then cum together, but it was impossible to control anything when he was this good. Even though the thought of it disgusted you, you could see he had the experience as his reputation promised. 

“So perfect,” he blabs another praise, sucking onto the skin on your neck. You aren’t sure how many praises left his lips by this point, but you know he hasn’t stopped giving you compliments since he thrust into you for the first time. “Could fuck you forever.” 

You don’t answer anything. Instead, you tug on his hair, stealing a kiss from the lifeguard immediately when he looks up, whining against his lips. You feel him slowing down as his breath gets heavier, making you realize he is about to cum, too. You don’t get the chance to tell him to pull out when he pulls you in for another kiss, but you don’t even mind much, honestly. 

You let him cum inside you, thrust his cum deep into you while listening to his groans and whines, a few more praises leaving his lips before he finally pulls out of you. You whine at the sudden feeling of emptiness, your legs giving up as you fall into his arms, making him chuckle. “You were so good, princess. So good,” he coos, rubbing circles on your back. “You’d tell anyone that,” you mumble, and before you can even realize you said it out loud, he sits you on the edge again, opening your legs and placing himself between them, looking up at you. “I don’t usually talk with the girls I fuck here,” he proclaims, his eyes as sincere as they can be. “Don’t know their names either,” he says, adding your name to prove his point. 

“What are you trying to say?” You ask, your cheeks heating up. He had just fucked you, and yet, it was somehow embarrassing having him stand between your legs while you looked down at him. “I don’t tell anyone that,” he assures you. “Just like I don’t want any girl’s number.” 

Your eyes widen, and you have to avert your gaze from him. “But I am sure you make every guy feel like this,” he rests his chin on your thigh, keeping his eyes on you. “Like what?” You ask, trying not to pay much attention to the fact your cheeks are red. 

“Totally crazy,” Yeonjun proclaims, as if it was obvious. You scoff, thinking he is just making fun of you. But when you glance down at him, he seems as serious as one could be, making you gulp. “You’re the one driving me crazy,” you admit, biting your bottom lip. 

“We can drive each other crazy then,” he suggests softly, finding your hand and taking it into his. His fingers intertwine with yours, and you think you might fall for him right then and there. “I can’t possibly fuck anyone else now that I got a taste of you.” 

You don’t say anything to him, refusing to let him sway you so easily. But when you finally leave the pool and get into his dressing room, his lips are all over your body again, begging you to at least consider calling him again, preferably as soon as possible. “Fine, fine, I’ll think about it. But I probably won’t call you,” you sigh, watching him type his number into your phone. “I am not looking for sex with no attachments.” 

His ears perk up at your statement. This is his chance, he thinks. Chance to finally prove to Taehyun that he can have a serious relationship if he wants to. “Let me take you on a date then,” he offers. 

You sigh again, but the more you think about it, you don’t see a reason why you should reject him. So you nod, sharing your number with him, too, so he can text you later. Part of you knows it might be just a waste of your time. Yeonjun is kind of a hoe, you remember your friend’s words, but it doesn’t shake you. You want to give him a chance.

⋆✶ izzy's tags @beomiracles @seoulzie @adel222 @inkigayocamman @flowzel @love-be0m @virgo-and-libra @hwanghyunjinismybae ✶⋆ want to get notified? Join taglist here!

[asteiioss]

Soft curls

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Fem!reader

Warnings/Content: fluff, no smut, bathing together, mentions of sex (indirectly)

Word Count: 1.2k

A/N: I'm usually inspired to write by songs. And this one was just inspired by "Sweet." Aside from that, I always imagined what it would look like if Spencer came home after a long case, so exhausted after it only to be left at the mercy and help of his lover. So enjoy reading the fantasies I come up with in broad daylight. :)

Spencer came home late that day. Not the usual late, but the late late version where most of the normal people were already getting ready for bed or maybe even asleep aready. The sensor lights turned on as he reached his last flight of stairs, where he was just a few steps away from his home. Taking out his keys, he struggled to git the apartment key in the door, so it made a clacking sound as he missed a few times.

When he finally placed the key in the door, he unlocked it and breathed out heavily, from tiredness and relief that he was finally home after days of handling a very hard case. He was welcomed by the sight of his girlfriend curled up in a blanket on the couch, one of the small pillows supporting her back while she held a book in her hands. She had her hair tied up in a messy bun she probably just picked up with one hand movement. There wasn't much light in the room aside from the small streaks of light that the corner lamp was casting. And that was perfect because the exhausted Dr. Spencer Reid wasn't ready to deal with flashing lights right now.

His girlfriend looked up from her book to see him still standing on the doorway, taking in the sight of her, and she softly smiled at her dear lover. "Hello, handsome. You finally found the way home, huh?"

Spencer didn't say anything. He just smiled and closed the door behind him. Throwing his bag over his head, he just left it on the floor next to the entrance and, with tired steps, came up to his girlfriend. She placed a bookmark in between the pages she was lastly reading and closed her book to leave it aside. Opening the blanket as a come here sign for him, he climbed on top of her, his legs and arms at her sides, before he placed his head on her chest. She threw the blanket over the small of his back before her hands dragged slowly across his entire back with her fingertips, gently scratching him.

"I missed you." He mumbled against her chest, groaning at her hand movement over his shirt. The tension of his muscles slowly evaporated with every new touch.

"I missed you too, honey." She said as she changed the pace of her scratches, moving her hands over his shoulders and down his arms. Spencer didn't waste time before he wrapped his arms around her back to pull her a little closer to him, even though she couldn't physically be closer to him. But it didn't matter. He felt like on cloud nine.

"Can I sleep on you tonight?" He mumbled again, his voice muffled into the fabric of her pajamas, his face buried in her. As he heavily breathed, he didn't hesitate to take in her scent.

She chuckled at his request, making his head jump from the hich of her giggle. He smiled at his forced movement. "Honey, you'll be lucky if I make it half an hour like this. You're heavy." She shifted under him, trying to make herself more comfortable under the pressures of his entire bodyweight. "And, besides, you should go take a shower. Your shirt is sticking to your back, and it will make you feel better." She said as she continued scratching his back up and down, going over his shoulders every couple of times.

"I can't. I'll just be sticky and stinky until tomorrow." He, again, muffled against her chest, not being bothered to raise his head so he could speak more clearly.

She giggled, again making his head jump slightly at the raising and falling of her chest. He smiled at the quiet sounds of her laughter. "Not on my watch, Dr. Reid." She changed the routine of her scratches, moving up his neck and letting her fingers intertwine with his curls. "Your hair could use a wash too." She continued as she played with his hair.

"I really can't. Please don't make me." He protested.

"How about this -" she started, taking a small strand of his hair and putting it behind his ear. "I'll go and prepare a bath for you. That way, you can get cleaned and enjoy a nice, warm, relaxing soak. How does that sound?" She whispered, lowering her head to his so he could heat her better.

Now, this suggestion was worth lifting his head for Spencer. He quickly looked up, his eyes sleepy. Looking at her with one eye open, he smiled. "That sounds good." He nodded. "But under one condition."

She tilted her head, interested in what he was thinking about. "Please, do tell, good sir." She said in a british accent, which made him chuckle.

"You join me."

She pressed her lips together, them slowly moving into a smirk on her face as his words sunk into her. Spencer was a good boy. There was no doubt about that. The nerdy profiler couldn't possibly be anything else. Right? Behind four walls with his lover, he was a new person. Not many people knew. "Fine." She answered shortly and moved forward to reach his lips with hers. Kissing them softly, she could feel the exhaustion in him. "But no funny business, okay? I'm not up for any of that."

"Pinky promise." He raised his pinky finger and let her wrap hers around it.

It didn't take long for her to prepare everything. Warm water filled with bubbles, the bathroom smelled on lavender from the scented candles she lit instead of turning on the light. She prepared a bodywash and shampoo her boyfriend could reach out to easily, and placed a new pair of towels and a bathrobe for the two on the small desk next yo the tub.

After they both took off their clothes, she was the first one to get in. Slowly sinking in her body inch by inch, she sat at the end of the tub, making enough space for him to join her. He sat in front of her, his back facing her, letting himself sink into her embrace.

"You really are tired, huh?" She let her hands fall over his shoulders onto his chest. He mumbled a confirmation as he couldn't hold back his head anymore and just let it fall back onto her.

"Could you wash my hair?" He turned slightly to look into her eyes, making a puppy face.

She smiled as she brushed his cheek with her finger. She lowered herself onto his lips, kissing him. The kiss was tired and sloppy. Lazy from both sides yet full of love. "Okay." She said when she broke the kiss.

Reaching out for the shampoo, she poured it into her hand and brushed her hands together to spread the shampoo easily over his hair. She used her fingers as a brush to go through the damp strands of his curls. Meanwhile, Spencer would let out a groan here and there when he couldn't control the enjoyment of the sensation.

"I love you, you know that, right?" He shifted in the tub to turn around and sit face to face with her. His hair was covered in shampoo that dripped on the sides of his face. She placed her hands on both sides of his neck, her palms drawn up to slowly make circles on his jaw and, in no regular pattern, went over his cheek.

"Is that because I just bathed you, or maybe you need another favor?" She smirked as she looked at his tired face. Pulling him closer, she only touched the tip of her lips with his, not really kissing him all the way. He breathed out, his breath hitting her skin as he was eager to feel her.

"I just love you." His lips caressed hers, and she could feel his desire to just kiss her.

"I love you too." She said and finally kissed him. Again, the lazy and sloppy his was slow and loving. He moved his hands to her hips that were in the soapy water. Pulling her in, she had no choice but to obligate. With the small space they were in, she was forced to sit on his lap so she could be as close as she was to him. Wrapping her legs around his torso, she deepened the kiss, and it instantly became passionate.

Spencer smiled against her lips while holding her lower back so she didn't slip off his lap. "I thought you said no funny business."

Backing away, she looked him with a small smirk on her face. "I did. And I'm sticking to my words. I just wanted to kiss you. I spent over a week without those kisses, and I missed them."

He hummed in satisfaction, but knowing he felt the same way. He began being hungry for her after such a long time they spent apart. But it was routine. His job included that non-warning traveling pretty often. But she was understanding and never really complained to him about his absence, mostly because it was out of his control, and he would always make sure to make up to her.

"Let me whrince this soap off of your head." She reached over to the shower head, and as she turned back to him, he was spreading the shampoo over his short beard. "Is that you, Santa?" She said in a high-pitched voice.

"Ho ho ho." Spencer used his most deep goice he could find and tilted his head from side to with each sound he made. She started laughing, and he followed, going over to kiss her neck, leaving soapy patches on her skin. She turned on the water and sprayed him, forcing him to back up.

"Bad Santa, you didn't get me the bike I wanted as a kid." She continued spraying him with water as he tried to block it with his hand.

"I wonder why." He said after she stopped attacking him. She gasped and chuckled at his words.

[yourdeepestfathoms]

with this unruly heart of mine

in which we all wish our parents reacted the same way as Alcina does when one of her daughters comes out to her

title is from Unruly Hearts from The Prom because it fit

-----------------------------

MERCUTIO

If love be rough with you, be rough with love. Prick love for pricking, and you beat love down. Give me a case to put my visage in. A visor for a visor. What care I What curious eye doth cote deformities? Here are the beetle brows shall blush for me.

Alcina read that line over and over again, but she still had no idea what the hell any of it really meant. She sighed and leaned back into the cushions of her seat. If she kept getting caught up on the literary meaning of every other paragraph then she would never finish this damned book.

She picked up the teacup sitting on the stand beside her chair and took a long sip. The tea was of sweet cinnamon on her tongue. It left a much better taste in her mouth than the rather gross relationship between Romeo and Juliet in this book. If the short amount of time the two knew each other wasn’t bad enough, the age gap made her teeth bare and nose wrinkle in disgust. What the hell was this William Shakespeare guy thinking when he wrote this?

The soft sound of bare feet padding against hardwood brought her back to the surface of complete awareness, her focus shifting away from the book and to the late-night arrival watching nearby.

A certain fly child stood, arm on the doorway. Her hair was shaggy from seemingly just waking up--or maybe she hadn’t slept at all in the first place. Unruly blonde locks were sticking up in various directions around her head, framing her face like an adolescent lion’s mane. The nightgown she wore was a size too big and drowning her thin frame.

The light from the fireplace made her golden-amber eyes look hollow.

“Mother?”

“Yes, dear?”

“May I sit with you?”

“Of course.”

Slower than she’d ever seen her move before, Bela inched her way onto the cushioned chair beside Alcina’s. She pulled her knees up her chest, bare toes poking over the edge of the seat, and Alcina regarded them with a scrunch of her nose.

“What have I told you about going around the castle barefoot?” Alcina chided gently.

Bela didn’t look away from the flickering fire in the fireplace. “I’m sorry, Mother.”

Something was bothering her.

Bela was a rather fickle little thing. Some days, she wanted to tell Alcina everything, every little fact of the new knowledge she had obtained from her books, all the small details of her latest stories or ideas. Other days, she put up walls and gave vague answers to questions prodded into her sensitive skin, curling into herself like a frightened snail afraid of being interrogated. This seemed to be something of the latter, and Alcina made a mental note to tread lightly to avoid upsetting her daughter.

“I don’t understand this at all,” Alcina said, waggling the book in her hands, trying to make small talk with her distressed child. She didn’t want to pry and further put Bela on edge more than she clearly was, but she couldn’t not do something about her bitter mood. What kind of mother would she be if she didn’t at least attempt to help with her kids’ problems?

“I can hardly make heads or tails of anything they’re saying,” she continued, hoping she wasn’t laying it on too thick.

Bela raised her head from her knees slightly. “What book is it?”

“Romeo and Juliet.”

There was a morbid snort. “How coincidental…”

“What?”

“Nothing.” Bela shook her head. “Lemme see. What part are you at?”

Alina pointed out the current line she had reread at least five times over without being able to discern the Shakespearean into modern-day language. Bela, however, looked it over once, scanned the other pieces of dialogue for context, nodded, then explained, “In this scene, Romeo, Mercutio, and Benvolio are sneaking into a party thrown by the Capulets by wearing masks to disguise themselves. Romeo is upset over Juliet and says he isn’t going to dance. Mercutio then teases him over this and turns all of Romeo’s words into gratuitous sexual metaphors to poke fun at him. Mercutio ends up going on this whole rant about Queen Mab of the fairies, who visits people in their dreams until Romeo and Benvolio cut in to get things back on track. Romeo also kinda foreshadows the entire play at one point. See? Right here: ‘I fear too early, for my mind misgives Some consequence yet hanging in the stars Shall bitterly begin his fearful date With this night’s revels, and expire the term Of a despisèd life closed in my breast By some vile forfeit of untimely death.’ I do believe that is hinting at his eventual fate of death.”

Alcina blinked at her for a moment before smiling fondly and rubbing her head. “Such a smart girl,” she cooed. “I could have never gotten that out of this .”

Bela smiled, but then it quickly disappeared, and she leaned back into her chair, curling up and watching the fire once again.

Now Alcina was really concerned. Bela was never one to let go of praise and affection so easily. Usually, she savored it a bit longer before moving onto something else, but here she was, brushing off Alcina’s words and touch as though they were nothing.

Something was very, very wrong.

However, before she had the chance to take the risk and attempt to ask questions, Bela spoke up.

“Have you ever been in love, Mother?”

Surprised, Alcina asked, “And what brought this up?”

Bela shrugged, not making eye contact. She kept looking at the fire as though she wanted to throw herself into it. Her voice was small, so small. “Just curious.”

“I see,” Alcina nodded. She looked up, thinking for a moment as she wracked her brain of the memories of her past life. “I have been in love before. Many times, actually.”

Bela gave her a curious look, finally pulling her gaze from the flames. “Really?”

“Indeed,” Alcina confirmed. “Though, I do believe that just comes with growing up. You gain lovers, you lose lovers. Some were real, some were fantasies I made up. Some lasted a few days, some a few months, some a few years.” She took a sip of her tea again. “None of them really mattered in the end, though. Clearly.” Another sip.

Bela nodded faintly. “Okay.”

“Have you ever been in love?” Alcina decided to ask.

Strangely, Bela went rigid. Her claws clenched around the sides of her calves as she stared forward with pupils that were constricted into pinpricks. Sweat beaded along the golden crown of her head.

“I-I-- umm…”

Alcina furrowed her eyebrows in worry. She closed Romeo and Juliet with a bookmark to mark her page, then set a hand on Bela’s back. Her daughter was trembling.

“Bela?” Alcina said, keeping her voice soothing and low to avoid setting off the poor girl even further. “Is everything alright? You don’t look well.”

“Yes, yes,” Bela answered her, much too quickly for it to be convincing. “I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Before Alcina could prod further, Bela shot up to her feet. She began to chew on one of her claws, flexing her free hand at her side in visible agitation. Pieces of her skin broke off into flies and buzzed around her head madly. She seemed to be dissociating in panic.

“Bela,” Alcina rose to her feet slowly, not wanting to accidentally frighten her daughter. “Bela, what’s wrong? Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Bela said, even when she was so obviously far from fine. Her chest was beginning to heave.

“Darling,” Alcina said, and that seemed to get Bela to crack a bit.

With a tight whimper, Bela shook her head. “Hard-- hard to breathe--”

Instantly, Alcina loosely took Bela by the arms and lowered her to the ground. In the firelight, she could see the pallor of her daughter’s increasing panic as it morphed into a complete attack on her anxiety. Bela grabbed her wrists with her claws dug in for desperate grounding, and Alcina let her, even when it stung her skin. Her comfort was far from important in that moment.

“Alright, honey,” Alcina said. “We’re going to do the thing we’ve been practicing, alright? Do you think you can do it?”

Wordlessly, Bela nodded.

“That’s my strong girl,” Alcina said. “Alright, give me five things you can see.”

“Y-you,” Bela stammered. The words shook when they left her lips. “Your hair’s kinda bushy.”

Alcina rolled her eyes in a good-natured way. “Thank you for pointing that out, Bela.”

Bela’s fight instantly gave in at that and she hunched her shoulders in, looking ashamed. Quick to correct herself, Alcina lifted her chin so they could make eye contact.

“I was only teasing you, honey,” Alcina said. “Keep going.”

Bela nodded. “The fire; it’s really pretty. Your-- your, umm, chair; it looks soft. The book; not the best of Shakespeare’s works. And, ah-- the teacup; it has doves on it.”

“Very good,” Alcina praised. “Four things you can feel.”

“The fire’s-- the fire’s warmth. My heart in-- my heart in my throat. The floor under me; I should have worn socks.”

“I told you,” Alcina cut in playfully.

Bela swallowed thickly. “A-and, umm-- and my anxiety. It’s like a Lycan in my chest.”

Alcina frowned at that but quickly wiped it off her face for now. She stroked Bela’s cheek, gaining a spark of hope when Bela leaned into her hand.

“I feel you, too,” Bela said.

“You only needed to name five, little moth,” Alcina said, bopping her on the nose.

Bela just shrugged.

“But you’re doing so well. Can you give me three things you can hear?”

“My heartbeat in my ears; it sounds like thunder. I don’t like thunder. Umm-- the fire crackling; I like that. And-- and a raven outside. I think that’s Merlin. His cawing is kinda raspier than the other birds’. I think he may have hurt his throat at some point.”

A small smile grew onto Alcina’s lips. She continued caressing Bela’s cheek as she talked to her. “Now two things you can smell.”

“Fear,” Bela said almost instantly. Her nose twitched. “I smell fear.”

Alcina could smell it, too. The thickened dread wafting off of her shaken daughter was acrid, bitter, and unsettling.

“Umm--” Bela’s claws fidgeted, clicking against each other softly. “And your tea. Smells like cinnamon. Cinnamon makes me sneeze.”

“One more. One thing you can taste.”

“Fear.”

“Fear?” Alcina echoed, one eyebrow raised. “Again?”

“Yes.”

“What does fear taste like?”

Bela stared down at her claws, which she splayed open before herself. “It-- it has a slightly dull metallic taste that’s mixed with urea, I think. Sometimes it tastes like popping a bloody, pus-filled blister in your mouth and squeezing every drop out with your teeth and savoring it on your tongue. Sucking the wound clean and swallowing it down.” She clenched her fists. “But it doesn’t get clean. It doesn’t dry out. The blister just keeps oozing and oozing until all the discharge comes pouring out of your mouth, but even then it doesn’t stop. Because you can’t force it all down. You can’t just swallow and think it’s done. That’s not how anxiety works. It keeps coming, even when you thought it was gone, and it leaves behind this awful flavor of bitter bile. It’s acidic, too, you know? It melts your chest and stomach and makes you feel like you’re sinking in your own skin.” She looked up at Alcina, and her eyes were shiny and blank. “I taste fear, Mother.”

There was silence between them for just a moment. Bela wasn’t looking at Alcina anymore; she seemed to think the floor was very interesting at that moment. Alcina was still considering her daughter’s dark words, replaying them over and over again until the subtle taste of sour gall spread across her tongue. She swallowed it down and winced when it drooled over the back of her throat like rancid molasses.

“You did it, baby,” Alcina finally said, smiling despite her worry, despite the flavor of fear in her mouth. “I’m so proud of you.”

Bela just nodded. Though she was no longer having a panic attack, she didn’t seem any less upset. Alcina considered letting it go, especially after just having calmed her down, but if something was bothering her daughter so much that she couldn’t breathe when she thought about it too hard, she knew she couldn’t just leave it be. It could escalate into something much, much worse, and she knew damn well that Bela was willing to go to such extremes, if her explanation of fear and the way she kept looking at the fire wasn’t enough proof of that.

“Now,” Alcina saw Bela tense, but she plunged anyway. “I need you to tell me what’s bothering you so I can help.”

Bela shook her head with a strangled whimper.  “I can’t tell you.”

“Bela, I’m your mother. You can tell me anything.”

“You’ll hate me.”

“I won’t hate you.”

Bela was quiet. Then, slowly, she dragged her gaze up to Alcina. “Really?”

“Really.”

“Do you promise?”

“I promise, Bela. I would never hate you.”

Bela nodded. “Okay.” Her claws clenched into fists against the floorboards, knuckles shaking and turning white. She took several deep breaths before forcing out, “I-- I don’t-- I don’t like people like that. Like how I’m supposed to.”

Silence.

Tears flowed freely from Bela’s eyes and she choked on a sob. Her head hung in shame as her entire body quaked. The poor girl looked terrified, and the sight hit Alcina right in the heart--though she didn’t quite get it.

“Thank you for telling me,” she said.

“No, no-- you don’t understand,” Bela’s breath was coming out thin and raspy again. She sat up straight, claws now knotted in her nightgown, tensing and pulling. “I don’t-- I don’t like people, Mama. The way other people do. The way everyone does. I’ve-- I’ve tried, but--” She cut herself off with a whimper, tears pouring down her cheeks.

“What do you mean?” Alcina asked. Trying to discern Bela’s vague words was like trying to discern Shakespearean. “Do you think you can explain it to me, hun? Like you did with the book and the fear. I want to help you.”

Bela sniffled, then nodded. “I-- I, umm-- I don’t feel anything towards people. Like-- like that. Romantically. And sexually.”

Finally, it dawned on Alcina.

“When I read those cheesy romance books Daniela likes, I don’t get the characters’ feelings at all. Just the thought of being in a relationship like that makes me so uncomfortable and I don’t know why, and that scares me, Mama.” Bela continued, her anguish oozing into every word she spoke. “I don’t like the thought of being tied down to someone like that, but it still feels like something has been stolen from me. That promise of a future with true love and marriage and a fairy tale ending that Daniela always talks about is gone, even though I still want it. Or, at least, I think I want it. I don’t know what I want.” She sniffled, looking miserable. “It’s the same for sexual stuff. When I come to scenes with sex in them in books, it makes my skin feel all weird, like severed hands are crawling all over my body. I get embarrassed and awkward and uneasy, and I don’t understand that, either. It just makes me feel so sick to my stomach.”

There was a pause. Bela was taking several shallow breaths and digging her claws into her legs, so Alcina reached out and took one of her hands, stroking her knuckles with her thumbs.

“Breathe, baby,” Alcina murmured. “Breathe.”

“I’ve-- I’ve tried to force myself to be like everyone else before,” Bela said unexpectedly.

Taken aback, Alcina said, “What?”

Bela swallowed thickly. “With-- with a maiden. You know how I am with them- too nice, too polite. I befriended one of them. We were kinda close. After a while, she started making moves on me. I knew what she wanted for so long, but I kept avoiding it because I was uncomfortable or scared. But then I had this revelation: maybe if I did this with her, I would finally feel something! I would be like everyone else! So I did. With her. And I didn’t like it.”

“Bela…”

“It hurt,” Bela whispered. “Like I was being scraped raw. Or my body was being turned inside out. I felt so sick. Humiliatingly, I started crying during it, but I don’t think she noticed. If she did, she didn’t stop. Not until she was finished. When she was, I threw up after she left. I was so sore.” Alcina squeezed her hand, and she sucked in a sharp breath, “But-- but I had to have liked it! I got, umm--” Her cheeks began to turn red with embarrassment, though Alcina didn’t blame her. Having to explain your sex life to your mother would be awkward for anyone. “I got…wet. And-- and that happens when you’re aroused! So-- so I do like sexual stuff!”

“Oh, sweetie…” Alcina sighed sadly.

Bela hunched her shoulders in. “R-right?”

“Honey, ‘getting wet’ doesn’t always mean you’re aroused,” Alcina said gently. “Simply viewing something erotic, like a naked woman, for example, could trigger this bodily response. It’s also a way for the vagina to lubricate itself to help dull the pain of penetration. You can be in a sexual situation and be wet, but not want to have sex. That’s completely normal and one hundred percent okay.” She lifted her hands to cup Bela’s cheeks. “Wetness is not an acceptable body language for consent. Who were you trying to convince: the maiden or yourself?”

Bela stared at her for a long moment, eyes wide and damp, breath hitched in the back of her throat. Then, she began shaking her head, pulling her hair, and weeping, “No, no-- I wanted it, I wanted it-- I know I did. I’m normal, I’m normal--”

It was truly heartbreaking to see her child in such a way. Bela seemed downright devastated over her own sexuality, to the point where she thought she was disgusting and unnatural for something that was actually completely normal.

Taking her daughter’s hands to keep her from hurting herself, Alcina went to say something, but Bela cut her off, getting to the words first.

“What’s wrong with me?!” Bela cried. “Why-- why am I like this, Mama? Am I broken? Am I heartless? I-- I love you and Cassandra and Daniela! I love Uncle Karl and Uncle Moreau and Auntie Donna and Angie and the Duke! I love reading and animals and writing, but-- but when I-- when I try to-- when it comes to sex and romance, I--” She finally gave up and sobbed.

“Oh, Bela,” Alcina said sadly. “Oh, my poor, sweet girl…” She pulled Bela into her lap and held her close, rocking her back and forth to help comfort her. Her fingers gently ran through Bela’s messy hair. “Shh, shh… You aren’t broken or heartless, sweetheart. This is an okay thing to feel.”

“You-- you don’t think I’m wrong?”

Alcina’s heart twisted at the way Bela looked up at her to say that, her eyes holding so much sadness and pain. She tucked her daughter’s head back under her chin and tightened the embrace.

“Absolutely not. Do you think you are?”

Bela answered in a strangled whimper. Alcina couldn’t help but wonder what put such a thought in her daughter’s brain--though, this was Bela she was dealing with. her anxiety was a wild, bestial thing that made her worry about the most obscene things.

“Did you really think this would change anything?” Alcina asked. “That I could ever possibly love you any less?”

Bela shrugged weakly.

“I-I just…”

That deep shame from before seemed to return and Bela’s head dipped. Alcina felt like she was going to try and pull away, so she tightened the embrace and used one hand to lift the girl’s chin.

“Hey, hey,” Alcina murmured, brushing away fresh tears on Bela’s cheeks. “There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this, sweetie. There’s nothing wrong with you, either. And if anyone says otherwise, tell me. I’ll eviscerate them.”

That got a tiny, watery giggle out of Bela.

“Don’t be embarrassed,” Alcina went on. “Sex and romantic relationships… They aren’t for everyone. And that’s okay. It certainly doesn’t make you broken or heartless.”

“B-but--”

“Hun, look at me. Do I really look like someone who will judge you for being this way?”

Bela shrugged a little. Her little body seemed to have exhausted itself of all its efforts to argue.

Alcina rocked her gently, stroking her hair the way she knew she liked it. “How about I explain something to you, hm?”

Bela looked up at her blearily.

“Your love may not be arousing or romantic, but you want to know what it is like?”

“What?” Bela asked softly.

“Your love is warm and fuzzy, like being wrapped in a blanket during a blizzard. It’s safe and reassuring. Your love is security and shelter. Your love is noticing all the little details, like my bushy hair because it’s late at night or your Uncle Karl’s finger twitching because he’s nervous at the meetings with Mother Miranda but is trying to hide it or Cassandra’s leg bouncing because she’s full of pent up, restless energy. Your love is knowing what makes each of us tick and doing everything in your power to make us feel better when we’re upset. Your love is like the first flower showing up in the snow as winter melts away and the beginning flickers of a tender flame and the gentle fluttering of bird wings.” Alcina let out a soft laugh. “I’m nowhere near as good at details as you are, my darling. But, most importantly, your love is normal and natural and what makes you you. And you shouldn’t have to try and change that for anyone, no matter what.”

Bela stared up at her in silenced awe, tears trickling down her cheeks. Alcina squeezed her reassuringly.

“I want you to know that I’ll always support you, okay?” Alcina said. “I’m always going to be here for you.”

Bela nodded, hiccuping softly. “Thank you, Mama,” she whispered through tiny whimpers. “Thank you. I love you.”

“I love you too, Bela,” Alcina said. She kissed the top of Bela’s head and purred to her softly. “My perfect, perfect girl.”

[walkingdaryls]

the chosen one

pairing: loki x reader

request: hi i was wondering if you could write a fluffy loki imagine where maybe he’s like an ass to everyone but just kinda claims the reader as like his favorite person or something and honestly you don’t even have to stick to that i’d just love a fluffy loki if you could thank you!

warnings: some swearing, very fluffy

(gotta love fluffy loki. the best loki. also, this is a bit long so i’m sorry about that hehe)

The main thing you loved about the Avengers, your lovely teammates, was the fact that each one had something that set them a part from the rest. Bruce’s buzzing brain, Tony’s ego, Nat’s confidence, and so on. You adored every single one of them.

And what they adored about you was that you were always the “empathetic” Avenger. The one who believed in second changes. In never judging a book by its cover. And the one who believed people could genuinely change for the better. Now, everyone else was also fully aware of the fact that you could easily kick anyone’s ass with your powers or wit. Or both at the same time. But your welcoming, trusting personality definitely shined. Most of your teammates loved you for it, even if they teased you endlessly for being the nice one.

But what really threw your team off was the way you allowed Loki onto the team so easily with no doubts. Years after the incident in New York with the God of Mischief, Thor began asking for Loki’s acceptance into the Avengers. He claimed that even under his sarcasm and rolling eyes, he had changed for the better. The whole team was very hesitant, but after tons of psychological evaluations and close screenings, Loki was slowly turned into an Avenger. He’d aided on plenty of missions, proving himself to be good a bit more every time. But the team still wanted to suffocate him to death every once in a while.

Loki didn’t exactly like any of the Avengers, and he felt like none of them liked him either. But a job was a job.

The only exception was you. You’d been the only one throughout his time as an Avenger that never provoked him, or looked at him in a dirty way. Well, it wasn’t like you two even had conversations. You two simply minded your own business around each other. You never trashed him, so he left you alone. Simple as that. You were never one for hating on someone who was trying to change.

It wasn’t until one night after dinner, when Tony provoked an argument with Loki, that you finally had had enough.

“Someone tell me why we let him be an Avenger again. Please?” Tony said after Loki had dramatically left the room.

Clint sighed, “I’ve been saying, he’s too risky after what he did in New York.”

The others chimed in, and even Thor expressed reluctance about his brother. You couldn’t believe your ears. So you suddenly slammed your hands on the table, causing your friends’ head to snap towards you.

“Are you guys fucking kidding me? I wasn’t aware that we were gonna start contemplating kicking people off the team every time we talk back or start a stupid argument.”

Tony crossed his arms, “That’s not what we’re doing. And it is so much more than just the arguments. Loki-“

“No!” You exclaimed, “It isn’t fair to him! It’s not fair at all. How many of us have shitty pasts we’ve moved on from? How many of us have made stupid mistakes that we will probably regret for the rest of our lives? Most likely all of us. But do we give each other horrible looks every time we see each other? No! We forgive each other and ourselves. That’s the thing about us, Tony: we stick together no matter what.”

No one said anything, so you continued, “And I’m fully aware that Loki’s mistakes are probably far worse than anything we’ve ever done, but the message still stands. I mean, how many missions has he helped us on? The amount of close security and psych evaluations he’s been through just to be part of the team? It’s been years, for fucks sake. Yes, he can be a dick to some of you sometimes, but that’s just him. It’s no reason to continue to hate his guts. Do you guys remember the mission France like 5 months ago that almost went wrong? Loki saved my life. I was this close to being killed. If he hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t be here today with you guys. So I think we owe him some thanks. Especially me.”

You were heated by that point. Everyone continued to stay completely silent, so you stood up.

“I-I’m gonna head to bed now. Just wanted to let y’all know you’re being a bit hypocritical,” And you walked away, catching just a ghost of a smile on Nat’s face.

“Jesus, I think she’s heard one too many of Steve’s speeches,” Rhodey muttered, earning a shove from Steve himself.

But what you didn’t know while you walked away, was that Loki had been standing in the other room, hearing every word you’d just said.

—

Over a week passed since your monologue at the dinner table. No one really mentioned anything about it afterwards, which you were really grateful. All you got was a random pat on the back from Steve and him saying, “We’re all proud of you, kiddo.”

You made your way into the kitchen, which was currently being used by most of your team. 9am in the tower’s kitchen on days off were always pretty hectic. Wearing your usual workout outfit, you made your way towards the mug cabinet.

You were the only one on the team that avoided coffee at all costs. Tea was your go-to. The only other person like you in that aspect was Loki. He was the kind of person you’d caught making tea at 2 in the morning when he couldn’t sleep.

As you reached for the mugs, you realized your favorite one - a minnie mouse one you’d bought at Disney World years ago - was nowhere to be seen. You were pretty sure you’d just put it away last night after helping Tony with the dishes.

“Here.”

You turned around to see Loki, still in his forest green silk robe, holding out your well-loved mug in his hand. You could smell your usual green tea steaming out of the mug.

You stood in shock more a moment before snapping out of your thoughts and taking the mug from him carefully.

“Oh, thank you,” You smiled genuinely. You could feel Nat’s gaze on you a few feet away at the waffle-maker. In fact, a few of the team members’ eyes flickered towards your interaction. Loki’s face remained neutral as he went back to making his own cup of tea.

Thor, noticing this, yawned, “Brother, could you please pour me a cup of-“

“No,” Loki walked out of the room with his tea in one hand, and book in the other. Thor’s mouth slightly fell, glancing back from the cup of tea in your hands to Loki. Steve snorted from the stool next to Thor.

What the fuck just happened? You made your way towards the gym a few floors down with confusion on your face. But mostly warmth in your heart.

The next day, Loki had your green tea waiting for you in your favorite mug once again. And you didn’t hesitate to give him your signature smile and a sweet “thank you”, even if you were a bit taken aback.

And he continued to do this for the next few days. Every morning, without fail. Green tea. Minnie Mouse mug.

At this point, Nat definitely became more aware. She pulled you aside after a while with slightly mischief in her eyes.

“Are you two friends?” She asked genuinely.

“Nat, it’s just tea.”

“Yeah, except Loki’s never even bothered to do something like that with the rest of us. Never.”

You shrugged, “He isn’t Satan. He’s capable of nice things.”

Nat chucked, “Not like this. And it’s just with you. He practically begged you have you as a partner during our last mission.”

It was true, although you wouldn’t exactly say ‘beg’. But he had been pretty adamant on having you as his partner for the mission. He’d asked you kindly first before letting Tony know. In the moment, you hadn’t thought much of it. But looking back at it, you now realized how genuine his actions had been. And you two made a hell of a team that day.

“Maybe he heard your speech that other night,” She smirked, walking away before winking at you. You stood there dumbfounded with a slight redness growing in your cheeks.

That afternoon, with your work done for the day, you made your way towards the main living room with your current book in your hands.

Upon entering the room, you should see Loki’s figure on the couch. He was slightly bent over which only meant he was probably reading as well. You hesitated, but made your way over anyways.

“Is it okay if I read here, too?” You asked quietly. Loki glanced up at you, nodding softly.

“Of course.” Was all he said. You gave him a ghost of a smile before plopping down the the other couch a few feet away. His eyes promptly followed you as you turned to the page marked by your bookmark. You began reading calming, posing no threat to him, so he continued his reading too. Loki felt quite at peace with the sun setting, your soft breathing, and his favorite book in his lap. And the best part: the rest of the Avengers were nowhere to be seen.

“What are you reading?” Your voice sounded softly. Loki placed a finger to mark where he last read before glancing up at you. You feared he’d be pissed off for the interruption, so you continued.

“I mean, I’ve seen you carry that book around for a while now. And it’s all worn out...which usually means it’s a good book,” You chuckled.

Loki watched you carefully before smirking, “Indeed. It’s called Pride and Prejudice. I’ve been told it’s a classic amongst mortals. Have you read it?”

Your face suddenly lit up. Your book was suddenly set aside as you leaned forward excitedly. Loki, although he would never admit it out loud, loved the sparkle forming in your glorious eyes.

“Yes!” You said, “Oh, it’s one of my all time favorites. The movie, too.”

Loki quirked an eyebrow, “There’s a movie? Well, I’ll have to watch that once I’m done with reading it.”

“So you like the book?”

“...Yes. I’m about three-quarters done with it. I have to say, it is rather enjoyable.”

You leaned back against the couch, gazing dreamily at the ceiling, “I’m a sucker for those kinds of romance stories. And I like to think I’m quite like Elizabeth Bennet.”

Loki squinted, “I think so, too.” You lifted your head slightly, making eye contact with the raven-haired God. The soft gaze on his face seemed to mean well, so you allowed for your cheeks to grow a light shade of red.

“Well,” You smiled, looking down at your book, “Let’s get back to reading, yeah?”

Loki nodded, but made sure to keep his eyes on your for a few seconds longer before opening to his page once more.

—

Another couple week passed, and Tony decided to call a ‘very urgent team meeting that has nothing to do with actual team stuff’.

You entered the kitchen where the rest of your teammates were sitting or standing around, chattering amongst themselves. Tony was waiting until everyone arrived before sharing what he needed to say. You slid on a stool next to Nat.

Bucky and Bruce showed up a minute or so later, which meant practically everyone was there. You looked around for the only missing person: Loki. But before you could say anything, the familiar God walked in with Tony followed a few feet behind.

“Alright,” Tony clapper his hands, “Glad we’re all here.” He walked into the kitchen where he served himself some liquor before turning to the rest of you. You felt Loki come up behind you, before situating himself right next to you.

You looked up at him, smiling softly, “Hi.”

“Hello,” He spoke extremely lowly, yet his eyes brightened just a bit more. You felt even more tiny compared to him now that you were sitting and him standing.

“So...what’s this meeting for?” Bruce asked.

“Great question,” Tony said, “I have decided that after tireless back-to-back missions these past few days...we all deserve a treat. That’s why I booked a reservation to the fanciest restaurant within a twenty minute drive. It’s at 8, so I want all of us ready to leave by 7:40.”

“God, Tony you know I hate when you plan stuff like this last minute,” Bruce stressed.

Tony shrugged, “It’s not like any of you losers had plans. Now, go get ready. You’ve all got less than two hours.”

You sighed, “The fanciest place in the city? I hope you’re paying.” A few chuckles sounded from your teammates.

“I wasn’t joking,” You looked at Tony.

The genius rolled his eyes, “Obviously I’m paying. Now, go! All of you. Shoo. Jesus, you try to do a nice thing and people still ask questions-“

Everyone groaned, getting up from their spots and leaving to their rooms to get prepared for the big night. You sent Loki a sympathic glance before going to your floor. You knew he hated going out.

So that’s how you ended up wearing your nicest white, tight-fitting dress that ended a few inches above your knee. It had a long, thick golden embellishment traveling from the bottom to your top left shoulder. It was very classy. And paired with golden heels, you truly felt otherworldly.

You, Nat, and Wanda were all up in each other’s bedrooms, trying to decide each other’s hair and makeup. Wanda was especially skilled with eyeshadow looks for some reason. And Nat more with hair. Your two blessings, you called them.

You three joined the rest of the guys in front of tower, all piling in the long, iconic Stark limo. You definitely hadn’t missed the look Loki gave you as you walked past him to get into the vehicle. He didn’t say anything, so neither did you. You just sent him your signature smile.

Champagne was passed around once in the limo with flashing lights. You were squished between Thor and Loki, which wasn’t exactly a complaint. Thor was cracking jokes to you and calling you “my lady” the entire ride. It was a blast, and you hadn’t even arrived yet. Loki on the other hand, stayed quiet as a mouse. He only said “thank you” when you passed him a glass, and that was it.

Upon arriving, your breath was almost taken away at how fancy the restaurant truly was. Tony never disappointed. Your team’s reserved table had each seat labeled with each of your names on paper.

Nobody noticed, but Loki created an illusion to switch you and Bucky’s seats so you’d be sitting next to him.

Loki allowed you to slide into your chair first before sitting down next to you. He immediately reached for the menu. Seeing that there weren’t enough left for you, you silently read over his shoulder. Without saying anything, he slightly lowered the menu to give you a better look.

Hours passed, and the entire table had fallen a bit tipsy. You were stuffed with more than enough raviolis and champagne. You even accidentally hiccuped while trying to tell a story to the rest, but everyone teased you so much for it, you couldn’t even finish what you were going to say. But how could you be mad? You were having the funniest, and most lovely night of your life with your second family. The rest of the restaurant probably hated all of your guts for your loudness and endless laughter, but none of you cared.

“I’ll be back,” Loki had whispered from beside you. You turned your head, watching him walk away towards the restaurant’s balcony doors. You looked back at your team, seeing they were all occupied with themselves, and followed Loki.

Feeling the fresh breeze outside somehow made you and your bloating feel a bit better. You spotted the familiar dark-haired man gazing out at the buzzing city at the edge of the balcony.

You sucked in a breath before speaking, “May I join you?”

He looked back, “Of course.”

It was always of course, you thought.

Your heels clattered lightly on the tile floor as you made your way next to him. You didn’t know if it was the champagne in your system, but you found yourself standing extremely close, touching shoulders with Loki. But he didn’t make any efforts to move away.

“You seemed awfully quiet during dinner. Is everything okay?” You asked.

Loki looked at his hands, “Just not the ‘going out’ type, remember?” You nodded, looking back at the skyline.

“You know, Loki,” you said, “I never properly thanked you for saving my life back in France months ago.”

You’d had a couple slip ups in missions before, but the entire team remembered that traumatic mission in France extremely well. You truly had been on the verge of dying. So close. But Loki had gotten in there and saved your ass. And Loki remembered, too. But it hurt him too much to think back on it. He’d been so close to never seeing your bright smile, or your infectious giggles again.

“Y/N, I-“

The alcohol in your system didn’t stop you from rambling, “I know I’m late, like, months late, but I just wanted you to know. I am so thankful. I literally owe you my life-“

“You don’t owe me anything, Y/N, heavens,” Loki watched you with a concerned gaze.

You blushed, “Well, I needed to get it off my chest. So, thank you Loki.”

“Well, I couldn’t afford losing the only person on this team I can somewhat stand.”

Your eyes flickered to his, seeing him wear an amused smirk on his face.

“I’m-I’m your favorite Avenger?” You teased. The God rolled his eyes.

Your smile was making your cheeks burn, “FYI...you’re my favorite, too. Well, maybe next to Nat.”

Loki let out a small, breathy laugh. You joined in, making him stare at you once more. His stare was so intense, you didn’t know what to do except awkwardly stare back.

Loki wanted more. He yearned to hear your voice again. So that’s why he said the next thing without thinking.

“You look beautiful tonight. Well, every day, of course. I forgot to tell you when you walked of your room a couple of hours ago, so I’m letting you know now.”

You were so thankful it was dark out, for you just knew that the look on your face was embarassing. You couldn’t believe what you were hearing.

“I think you’re beautiful, too,” You blurted. Loki gave you the softest gaze you’ve ever seen, so you couldn’t help but carefully place your hand on of top his.

Loki tenderly lifted your hand before pressing his lips to the tip of your fingers. All you could do was watch, breathless. He set your hand down before grabbing both sides of your face, and pressing another soft kiss, but to your forehead this time.

“That’s why we’re each other’s favorites,” He smiles cheekily at you.

You giggled, resting your head on his shoulder.

“Indeed.”

—

[sleeperswakewriting]

Have you ever read the rivetra fic "in all of the lives we are" on fanfiction net? Because I did and parts of it are canon in my head. What I really want to ask is :can you too please bless us with a canonverse reincarnation fic?

I haven't read it but I bookmarked it to read later! Thank you for the rec, anon! I have a canonverse reincarnation fic that I scrapped when I first got back into writing. I plan on writing one in the future with a lot more depth, but I'll share this draft since I don't plan on going back to this fic in particular. Warning, meh writing ahead 😅

“And then my soul saw you and it kind of went, "Oh, there you are. I've been looking for you.”

— Iain Thomas, I Wrote This For You

Childhood; where threads begin, or were they there all along?

The world is a cruel place, is the mantra Levi murmured to himself over and over again.

Kenny left him when he was 10 and after giving the police the run around, he found himself in a group home for children with disturbed conduct, also known as, the leftovers in the system. The leftovers that even foster care didn’t want to look twice at because everyone in this shitty place was just as fucked up as the last kid.

Mom, why did you have to die and leave me with Uncle Kenny? Did you know he was a gang leader? Or maybe you knew being part of a gang was better than this hellhole.

He wasn’t stupid, he knew his mother was a whore, and if the feds ever found out he was living in a brothel they would’ve taken him in an instant. So maybe it was luck that he had the amount of time with her that he did.

He still remembered how she desperately tried to shield him from her work, locking him in the closet when he was small, and when he got bigger, hiding underneath the bed and saying very sternly Levi, my love, you can’t make a sound or else mommy is going to get in trouble. Remember to cover your ears, just like we practiced.

And then when she died, it didn’t come suddenly. It was coughing in the middle of the night, him begging her to please let him find a doctor and he didn’t care about the consequences, he just wanted them to be together, but his mother shook her head and insisted she would be fine.

She wasn’t, of course, and Kenny both saved and damned him. He learned how to fend for himself, beat men twice his size, and take their wallet while they were recovering from his blows. He learned how to use a knife threaten people, and while his size threw people off, he used that to his advantage.

Even though he didn’t have his knives here, he knew how to fight hand to hand, and he was itching to land a blow to the next kid who tried to steal his dinner. It was his third month into the group home, and he was on his “last warning” as the head said, and next stop was juvie. He didn’t care, his life was at the end of the line and he was only 11.

“Hey, dip shit. Gimme your cookie.” Levi glanced at the boy who suddenly appeared, some new comer who clearly didn’t know his reputation. The boy was older and bigger than him, he guessed around 13 or 14, but he didn’t care. He ignored him and took a stab at the stale meatloaf.

“Did you fucking hear me? I said give me the goddamn cookie.” Levi sighed at the idiocy of this place, he knew what it was like to starve and despite the shit he gave this place, he couldn’t complain about the three (shitty) meals they got a day and the roof over his head. The company was much to be desired and that’s what usually got him into trouble.

“Tch. Go bother someone else, I’m not interested,” he said cooly, and the boy’s face grew red. Levi balled his left fist under the table, ready to throw a punch the minute he got too close to him.

“You little fucker—“ The boy began, but before Levi could take a swing at him, his shirt collar was pulled back by a smirking brown haired boy.

“Hey, hey, Matty, you don’t want to pick on him. Didn’t you hear that he landed Sam in the hospital last month?” Immediately the boy called Matty paled and backed off instantly.

“This little guy did that? Respect, Sam was a piece of shit anyway,” he muttered the last sentence and waved Levi away.

Levi shrugged and returned to his dinner, not paying the newcomer any mind but the boy took it upon himself to sit across from him, grinning. “You’re welcome,” he said, biting into his apple. “The name’s Furlan. You’re Levi, right?”

“Didn’t ask for your help,” Levi quipped, looking up at the eerily jolly boy, narrowing his eyes. “Since you know my reputation, you might not want to stick around.”

Furlan laughed, and Levi a twinge of irritation as he continued talking instead of walking away like everyone else did. “I don’t think you’re that scary, Levi. From what I heard, you don’t start fights, right? I think the guys think you’re an easy target since you’re…Well, don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re really short. Even though everyone’s afraid of you, I think, if they’re like me, they’re really just impressed that someone around here isn’t afraid to fight the bullies.”

Levi didn’t say anything to that, he was just trying to survive into the next fucking day, and didn’t think of himself as some sort of savior. But, if Farlan believed in him, maybe he wasn’t so fucked up as he thought.

He sighed, giving the boy a once over as he knew the step he was about to take. To be vulnerable. To give a shit about someone else for the first time in forever.

“So, what brought you here?” He said, as if he said those words before, the words rolling naturally off of his tongue not from an 11 year old, but someone who’s carried the weight of a lifetime.

And just like that, the threads intertwined again.

ii. Adolescence; where threads cross over but never touch

“First day of senior year, Eld! I have a good feeling about this—we’re going to ace our SATs, get into the same college, and we’re going to see the world!” Petra exclaimed, swinging her backpack as they walked to school. Eld chuckled, and flicked Petra’s forehead.

“See the world, huh? With what money? I don’t remember you applying to jobs with me and Gunther over the summer, and now you’re broke.”

Petra huffed and took a playful swipe at Eld’s shoulder. “You know I was helping my dad with his business over the summer. Oruo can vouch for me, he stopped by a couple times to help us—for free, no less!” Petra smiled, thinking about the laborious, but fruitful summer that her family had thanks to everyone’s hard work. Her dad’s hardware business was small compared to the big box stores, but their customers appreciated the charm and personalized customer care that the Ral’s offered. “He’s really grown up, hasn’t he? In grade school he wouldn’t be caught doing something without recognition, and I don’t even know if he mentioned to you two that he was helping out Fridays and Saturdays.”

“Hmm, yeah I guess you could say that,” Eld mused, shaking his head internally at Petra’s obliviousness. She, along with him, were usually the perceptive ones in their little friend group, but he supposed being childhood friends blinded her to certain things, like Oluo’s long time crush on her. Sure, he flirted with her, but he flirted with everyone, and it wasn’t until their sophomore year of high school that he started wanting to seriously date only Petra, but she took his advances as one of a matured best friend and less as a guy in love with his best friend. Eld wondered how involved he should get, maybe doing Oluo a favor and dropping a few hints to Petra that Oluo was a great guy despite his arrogance, and he has come along way since their freshman year.

But, the blond knew that Petra’s feelings for Oluo would remain as best friends, and after her most recent breakup with some guy who seemed like a short stint for junior prom and as a member of the girl’s soccer team, she couldn’t very well go alone…well, it wasn’t a surprise they parted ways shortly after prom.

She confided in Eld that she wanted to start college fresh and with new opportunities, and she would be damned if she let a guy decide her future. It wasn’t like she was going to turn down a date from a cute guy, but she wanted to be very clear that it wouldn’t be more than a few casual dates. Besides, she said to Eld and Gunther, one hazy summer evening when they were eating ice cream at the county fair, who needs a significant other when they all had each other? They then raucously toasted with their popsicles in the air to their future, wherever it took them, and love be damned!

[thesleepysphinx]

Tokoyami x (fem)Reader - Agoraphobic pt. 1: I love when it rains

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But I love when it rains 'cause I'm agoraphobic

- Corpse Husband

Tokoyami turned the page of his book, letting himself sink further into the couch of the dorm commons. He had been one of the first to rise this Sunday morning and relished in the comfort of making his tea in a silent kitchen. He sipped his tea every other page, content in a slow pace. Every once in a while, he glanced towards the elevator to see if any others were approaching, and when he found no one, he would look to the windows to see if it was time to greet the sunlight. Just as the promise of sunlight was approaching, a drop of rain fell. Then another. Until rain overtook the sun for the day.

Tokoyami smiled fondly at the rain, finding comfort in it and in the fact that it meant it was unlikely he would be asked to leave the dorms that day. He was indeed content to stay alone, at home, with his book and his tea. But the alone part did not last for long, as he heard the doors to the elevator open. Out you walked, still in your pajamas, stretching your arms up over your head as you yawned. Tokoyami watched for a moment, waiting for someone else to follow behind you, but no one ever did. So now, he was alone with one other person. He looked away back to his book, tracing his finger along it to find where he left off.

You noticed Tokoyami once you finished your stretch and yawn. You knew Tokoyami well enough to know he prefers a more silent than chatty company. So, as you passed by the couch he was sitting on, you offered a simple, “Good morning, Tokoyami.” You continued your walk towards the kitchen, not sticking around to pressure him for a response.

“Good morning, (y/n).” He turned the page of his book. He paused to see if you wanted to say anything else, but found you had nothing to say. Tokoyami was appreciative of your silence, but he was never opposed to conversation with you, a luxury he did not have with very many people. After a few seconds of silence, he spoke again. “There should still be some hot water in case you wanted tea.” He didn’t look away from his book as he spoke, almost anxious to look at you. Something deep within him just wanted him to hide.

“Oh, thanks!” you said with a voice too chipper for the early morning. You started to hum as you prepared your preferred tea, a tone much more fitting for the time of day. Tokoyami couldn’t pin-point the exact song, but it had a somber tone, one that he might find himself entranced by. He kept his eyes on his book, but found that every time he read a page, he’d have to reread it again. He was constantly getting lost in the beat of your hum.

Eventually, the hum stopped, and he continued his reading. But in his peripherals, there you were, standing at the window he had been looking out of all morning. You held your tea in both hands as you looked up at the cloudy sky, sipping it here and there. Tokoyami soon noticed that his eyes had moved from his book to you. Why did he find himself looking at you when he was so anxious to just a moment ago?

The moment Tokoyami moved his eyes back to his book, you started to mumble out a song. He couldn’t make out any of the lyrics but recognized that the beat was much faster than the one you were humming earlier. Tokoyami felt like it should have been a total mood shift, but for some reason the mumbling still felt somber. His curiosity was piquing, but his anxiety was fighting to hold him back. But as you kept singing, the mumbles turned into actual words, and Tokoyami made out the words “I love when it rains ‘cause I’m agoraphobic.”

Tokoyami raised his head to face towards you, finally giving in to his curiosity as you began to hum the beat you were before. “What song is that?”

His question made you jump, almost dropping your cup of tea. You caught it, though just barely, and turned to face him. “It’s called 'Agoraphobic', by Corpse Husband. The rain just reminded me of it.” You looked back through the window with a smile, appreciating the rain just as much as Tokoyami did. As you moved your head back towards Tokoyami’s direction, you pulled your phone out of your pajama pocket, navigating over to YouTube. “Here, let me show you!” Again, your voice was very chipper, and Tokoyami’s feathers ruffled a bit as you made your way to sit next to him and show him the music video.

Tokoyami tried to calmly move his bookmark into his book, closing it so he could give his whole attention to the music video. You seemed so excited about it that he would feel bad if he didn’t. As you started the music video, the beat you hummed before played in instrumentals. You hummed along to the video, and Tokoyami had to push down the urge to divert his attention to you rather than the music video. Without everyone else around, he felt somehow drawn to you, and he just couldn’t explain it.

As Tokoyami continued to listen, a deep voice began to sing very quickly, at the rate you had been mumbling before. He could hardly register the lyrics as they came, but he was able to read them as they popped up on the video. He spared a couple of glances in your direction, finding your lips mouthing the lyrics, but you never sang them out loud.

As the song came to a close, repeating the lyric “I’m not okay,” Tokoyami felt a sense of catharsis. He found himself relating heavily to the song, though he had one question.

“If I may, what does ‘agoraphobic’ mean?”

You stopped your mouthing of the lyrics to answer. “It’s a fear of crowds or leaving the house.” Your eyes went soft as you continued. “The artist has to deal with it a lot, that’s why the song has so much feeling to it.” You sipped your tea once again. “It’s just been stuck in my head lately. Sorry if I bothered you.” Your face turned somber as you pocketed your phone and leaned back on the couch, drinking your tea with both hands.

Tokoyami’s feathers ruffled once again at the sudden change in your mood. Why does she look so… sad all of a sudden?

“Not a bother at all.” He sipped his own tea. “In fact, I enjoyed the song. The book was not holding my attention.”

You let out a hum that sounded more like a sigh. You considered for a moment if you should continue the conversation. Does he want to keep talking? I don’t want to make him uncomfortable or anything… But is it rude if I don’t respond? After one more sip of your tea, you came to a decision. “What’s the book?”

It wasn’t until after you asked that Tokoyami realized he had wanted you to. He passed the book to you as he explained, “Pride and Prejudice. It’s an older classic. I’ve been told it’s one of the best novels ever written. Though, I cannot speak to the validity of that claim.” He stuffed his hands in his sweater pockets as you propped the book up against bent legs and analyzed the cover and some pages. You found that he was somewhere around half-way through according to his bookmark.

“I’ve read it, actually. Elizabeth Bennett is a whole mood.” You giggled as you remembered the character. “But it’s hard to get through classic literature.”

Tokoyami nodded in his agreement. “The diction is most definitely a struggle. But I’ve always appreciated the challenge of classic literature.”

The two of you continued your discussion of literature, anxieties fading as time went on. You found yourself enthralled in Tokoyami’s company, and he in yours. Your half drank tea had ended up on the coffee table next to his, both of them going cold. You had kept the book on your lap, forgetting its existence. The tapping of the rain drops outside complemented the conversation, shutting the two of you out from everything else. That was, until the elevator doors opened again, this time to much louder company. Nearly half of the class poured out of the elevator, chatting loudly with each other as they made their way towards the commons. Among them was your best friend, Toru.

It was a wonder that you were able to be such a calm person with a best friend like Toru, the biggest ball of energy. Unlike you, Toru was already dressed for the day in a yellow sweater that fell off her invisible shoulder and a pair of leggings. She jogged her way over to you excitedly chattering too fast for you to know exactly what she was saying.

Tokoyami started to feel like he was intruding. He rose from his seat, grabbing his cup of tea. “Excuse me.” Without waiting for an answer, he moved to the kitchen to wash his cup.

You watched him as he left, sad to have lost him so quickly.

“Hey, (y/n)!” Toru called to you, “When did you become friends with Tokoyami?”

You watched him walk around the crowd of students back towards the elevator. “Today, I guess.”

Toru took his place sitting next to you on the couch. “He’s so quiet and mysterious! What did you even talk about?”

You kept your eyes glued to the elevator, hoping that maybe he’d come back down soon. “Music and literature.” Usually, you’d say more, but your mind was completely occupied.

“That’s, like, completely unspecific.”

You finally gathered the control to look towards Toru’s invisible face. “I showed him the song 'Agoraphobic' and he showed me he was reading Pride and-.” You suddenly looked down to your lap, remembering the book that had made its way there early in the conversation. “Damn, he left so fast that I didn’t even get the chance to give him back his book.” You grabbed the book and rose from your seat. “I’m gonna go give it back, I’ll be back down in a bit. Movie marathon later?”

Toru’s shirt sleeves raised in the air to show her arms were raised in excitement. “You bet! Ojiro said he’d watch too!”

“Kay, I’ll be down in a bit!” You waved back to your friend as you made your way up the stairs, deciding not to wait for the elevator. Besides, this would get your blood pumping. But as you reached the second floor much faster than expected, you felt an anxiety rise within you. What if he just wants to be left alone?

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Hi, yes, I am writing a whole new fic when I haven't updated my last one in eons, but I felt much more motivation with this one. I love me my bird boi. I do intend for this to be a slow burn (maybe a friends to lovers? 👀) so I'm excited for this :) Please harass me if I take forever to update. Seriously. Harass me about it.

Also, all the love to Corpse Husband <3 check out his music if you haven't :)

[yukippe]

wonder what she thinks of me

for @yuekiweek ​ day 3: reunions | word count: 2.3k | read on ao3

“you need to buy your books suki!!” sokka lectures through the phone. last year suki didn’t buy the books for any of her classes and she was fine. she isn’t actually planning on buying books this year either, except now sokka’s roped her into coming to his book club and she can’t lie and say she doesn’t like to watch sokka rant about something dumb while enjoying the baked goods that sokka will have convinced his gran gran and his parents to make for them.

unfortunatley, this means suki has to brave the bookstore during some fancy author signing to try to buy the book sokka’s demanded everyone read for next week. he’s still talking through the phone, though suki’s mostly tuned him out. she’s normally much better at listening to sokka’s rants, but the bookstore is packed with awkward high school students and suki would rather not, at the moment. she slips around a table of overpriced waterbottles and planners and weaves past a random grandpiano over to one of the computers with the bookstore directory. “sokka,” suki asks as she almost trips over a four year old holding a picture book. “why did you have to send me to this bookstore at this time?”

there’s a huff on the other end of the line and suki sighs deeply, “suki, please you should be thankful! they’re running a special discount if you buy a tote bag to go with the book this weekend!!” well. okay, maybe suki collects tote bags and sokka is probably being a good friend. but suki hasn’t been to this store before, having not bothered with buying her textbooks last year and getting anything for fun as an ebook. but sokka believes in the experience of a physical copy or whatever, so tote bags and author signings it is. 

suki puts her phone between her shoulder and ear as she sets her fingers onto the keyboard of the computer directory, “hey, what’s the name of the book again?”

“have you listened to anything i’ve ever said to you?” sokka asks her. suki can picture him in their apartment at his desk, doing something fancy with math as he coaches her through a bookstore, pinching the bridge of his nose out of frustration. suki doesn’t actually need him to tell her the name of the book, she just likes to rile him up sometimes. she types in the title. suki thanks him for his help, asks him if hes found his glasses yet (the same glasses she hid before she left) and hangs up with a smirk.

adaptation by malinda lo. there, young adult section. it’s supposedly sci fi thriller and sokka, though he lacks taste in most things, has always had solid book taste. suki looks around for the sign to section she needs and spots it, tucked behind a tech display and next to the little cafe. suki walks over, eager to grab her book and get out of the shop. she walks through the shelves searching for the author’s with the last name l. malinda lo. there, suki reaches out to pluck the book of the shelf, when the back of her hand brushes against someone else. 

suki steps back, book in hand, to look at the girl next to her. she has brown hair in a pretty updo and really cute heart shaped beaded earrings. she looks familiar, but suki isn’t sure where she recognizes her from. 

“hi,” the other girl says, her voice sounds like a princess. all bells and whistling wind. 

“uh,” suki coughs, smiling crookedly and titling her head. “hi!” 

the other girl giggles at her, but her smile is warm and suki finds herself settling. “i’m yue - so adaptation? what made you interested in it?”

“oh, my friend is hosting a book club and this is this months pick,” suki tells her. maybe she should have done a little more research on the book before she’d shown up. she hadn’t really pictured a bookstore as the spot to meet a cute girl. 

“oh!” yue says, surprised. “i have the same one assigned for my book club. do you want to grab something to drink and let me tell you about it?”

“sure,” suki says, her smile growing even wider. “that sounds great” 

yue winks at her as she grabs the same book of the shelf, “perfect, there’s this bubble tea place a block a way i want to show you.” yue turns on her heel, her hair falling onto her back as yue bounces in her steps. suki checks to make sure her flannel is neat and her docs are tied before hurrying after yue. 

the two of them wait in line one behind the other at the register and yue flips through the display before the register of pins and pens and bookmarks. a rainbow lion turtle eraser set catches suki’s eye and she lifts it up to her face to look at it closer. it’s the type of thing aang would like, so suki puts it on top of her book when she gets to the register. after she picks out the simplest canvas tote bad (most of them have obnoxious book puns katara would make fun of her for months about) and pays, suki finds yue waiting by the door peeling a sticker off of a sticker sheet suki remembers seeing on the display. 

“so,’ yue asks. “where do you want your sticker?”

suki blinks, “what?”

yue waves the - oh it’s a hello kitty sticker with fairy wings. suki blinks at it, “um. cute?” she gets a smile for her efforts and then yue leans in and grabs her wrist, turning suki’s hand around and carefully placing the sticker onto the back of suki’s right hand. 

“so,” yue says, after failing once more to steal a drink of suki’s boba. her mouth is screwed up in a light pout, but it feels teasing. “do you go to ba sing se u?”

only a little while later, they are wandering to nowhere in particular, still holding hands. yue keeps trying to steal a sip of suki’s drink even though when suki ordered yue had made a face at the idea of coffee boba. yue’s own drink is sweet like her. strawberry, reportedly to match yue’s nails which are done up in a neat mimic of the fruit. 

suki nods, squeezing yue’s hand and lifting her drink over her head, too high up for yue to reach, though that doesn’t stop yue from playfully batting at it. neither of them caring about what passerby might think as they wobble on the sidewalk smiling at each other full of silliness. “yeah, i’m majoring in gender and women's studies with a minor in literature and art.”

yue lights up, the way she’s done every time suki’s shared a fact with her. suki’s face feels flushed, yue makes her feel like she’s on her first date ever. “oh wow!” yue says. “i’m majoring in four nations politics with a minor in theology and spiritual studies but i would love to see what your classes must be like. i think i could be a student forever, you know?”

and then yue doesn’t let go of suki’s wrist. instead, she links their fingers together and suki watches their hands held together hang between them. she looks up and smiles at yue, stupidly happy for a moment. and really, suki doesn’t even know for sure if yue is into girls even if yue does seem to be flagging. for now, suki just lets yue tug her down the street as her phone buzzes in her new tote bag with texts from sokka she’ll ignore for now. 

“hm, not really, i think one degree is enough for me. but academics are cute,” suki says, watching as yue swings their hands back and forth as they walk. they’re both absolutely terrible at walking together, suki’s noticed. they can’t seem to walk in a straight line and suki’s almost fallen off the sidewalk twice already. it’s nice. suki’s finding that yue makes her comfortable everywhere. 

“oh?” yue asks, her eyes twinkling. “does that mean you think i’m cute, suki?”

“hmmm,” suki teases out, a trace of laughter in her voice as yue finally manages to dart forward to steal her drink, finally realizing her success would be increased if she let go of suki’s hand. suki doesn’t even mind that much, wow. “well,” suki settles, after a moment of false consideration. “yeah, i think you’re pretty cute.”

yue winks at her, the same way she did in the bookstore, and takes a sip of suki’s bubble tea. then she makes a completely disgusted expression shoving suki’s drink back at her. “suki! that’s so gross, tui and la, how do you drink that?” 

suki can’t help the laugh that spills out of her as yue sticks her tongue out and crosses her eyes, making a fuss that shouldn’t be as sweet as it is. well, suki’s always been a sucker for clowns. suki reaches out and links their hands back together and they both sip at their drink as they seem to stop together at the bus.

they make shy eye contact as a bus comes up to the stop. “so,” yue says. “i’ve got to go, i’m meeting up with a friend. but this was really fun, right?”

suki smiles, “yeah, it was really fun.”

“that’s great! i really liked talking with you!” yue informs her. then, yue leans forward and kisses suki’s cheek before turning around, and her earrings sparkle in the sunlight as she jumps onto the bus right before the bus doors close and it pulls away with the rest of the flow of traffic. suki blinks and watches it go, still feeling the soft touch of yue’s lips on her cheek.

when suki pulls her phone out of her bag to video call sokka he immediately points out the lipstick mark on her cheek and she resolves not to give him any details, no matter how much he pesters her 

-

two weeks later, after bemoaning to ty lee about how she was dumb and completley forgot to ask the cute girl she met at the book store for her number, she sees yue again. at sokka’s book club.

the members of the secret book club hadn’t been a surprise for the most part, consisting of sokka (obviously), aang (one of sokka’s only friends who wasn’t a gay girl), azula, mai, ty lee and suki (the gay girls sokka was friends with). sokka’s parents, hakoda, kya and bato, had baked with sokka all last night and prepared a whole table full of snacks that sokka had made her haul over to their apartment. suki thinks it’s a ridiculous amount of food for their handful of friends, and then she and sokka ate a good section of it before their friends even show up.

mai, sokka and azula are arguing over the finer points of the book already even though the meeting has yet to officially start. sokka and azula, to be fair, have actual opinions that they are fiercly defending from their spots on the floor as mai causes problems on purpose on the couch she and ty lee stole as soon as they stepped through the front door. 

there was only one person that had yet to arrive, and apparently only aang had met her before. azula had raised an eyebrow at the pronoun and asked sokka if he’d made friends with another gay girl. the answer had been yes, and suki who was looking for another chance at talking to a cute gay girl after flopping earlier in the month and failing at getting yue’s number or social media or anything, was looking forward to meeting the newest cute gay girl sokka was friends with. 

sokka had impeccable taste in cute gay girls (besides azula). so really, maybe suki shouldn’t have been so surprised to answer the door when the bell rang to find yue holding a tray of pastries. 

yue stands out in the hallway with its broken light, looking as pretty as the moon in the sky. her face breaks into a smile at the sight of suki, and suki’s sure her expression matches. “suki?!” yue asks. “wow, small world huh?”

suki nods back, her cheeks starting to hurt with how big she was beaming. “so,” suki says. “do you think i could make up for last week and get your number?”

laughter comes from behind suki, and suki knows her friends are probably making fun of them right now, but she’s too interested in yue’s answer to pay any attention. 

yue rolls her eyes, but she doesn’t stop smiling, “of course suki, now do you want to help me bring these in so i can program it into your phone? no excuses not to call me this time.”

“don’t worry,” suki says as she takes the sweets from yue. “i’ll be sure to blow your phone up more than sokka when he’s trying to prove a point.”

she’s rewarded with another kiss to her cheek (and teasing from her friends at another lipstick stain) and yue’s number in her phone saved as yue🌙💖😘. 

yue, through suki’s phone, texts something to herself and suki leans over yue’s shoulder to see what it is. 

omg yue you’re so hot please go out with me <3

suki bumps yue’s shoulder as best as she can with her hands full and raises an eyebrow. “so, yue?” suki asks. “will you go out with me?”

yue giggles, her lipgloss sparkles and suki wonders what it tastes like, “of course, suki.” 

a few seconds later, suki has her question answered and can confidently report that yue’s lipgloss tastes like mango. 

suki passes the tray off to sokka, who was helpfully waiting right behind her with the tried familiar expression of accidentally setting up his exes. then, suki tugs yue into the loveseat, kicking out aang who had been sprawled across it.

book club is much more fun than suki was expecting, though almost all things are improved, suki finds, when she’s hanging out with her friends and eating sweets and practically sitting in the girl she likes lap while yue braids her hair and teases sokka with her. yue winks at her as aang and ty lee stop azula and sokka from getting into a fistfight with mai and sticks another hello kitty sticker onto her cheek. suki leans over and kisses the same spot on yue. fair is fair after all. 

[prophecy-is-inevitable]

How would you imagine each of Michael's Phases would react to finding you asleep, while you waited for him to finish his daily antichrist things and come back home to you? 😇😈 Fluff/Smut? Whatever you find fitting! 🖤

Thank you so much for sending this in! I hope you like what I’ve come up with! I’m not exactly sure where Grunge!Michael fits in, so I did skip that one.

* There’s one little section of smut for flavor. But it’s been a while so I apologize if it’s shit! *

Hawthorne!Michael

The fires were burning low in the academy as Michael made his way through the sleek halls to his bedroom. He knew it was late, and he paused with a wince when his door creaked on its hinges as he pushed it open. Michael peeked his head around the edge of the door to try and find where you were. Soft light from a low-burning candle illuminated your face resting on his pillow, your lashes dusting your cheeks as you slept, and he smiled softly. 

The book you had been reading on advanced magical techniques and incantations had fallen from your hand and laid open on the bed next to you. He carefully picked it up and moved your bookmark--a balck satin neck ribbon from one of his uniforms--to the page you had been reading. Descensum. Of course. Even with his powers growing stronger and his confidence in his ascension as Alpha, he had still asked for your help in making sure he was as prepared as possible. He needed this. He needed to prove himself, and you wanted nothing more to see him succeed. You’d be lying if you said you had been particularly worried about the final task after hearing of the previous failures by others. But Michael wasn’t like the others.

The mattress dipped as he sat on the edge of his bed and stroked the curve of your cheekbone with his thumb. Michael leaned over and pressed a kiss to your temple. He didn’t bother changing. He simply loosened the ribbon at his neck, removed his jacket, and slipped under the covers to pull you close. His arm wrapped around your waist, and he tucked his head against your neck. As powerful as he was, he felt stronger with you wrapped in his arms. 

~~~~~~~~

Sojourn!Michael

He had been lost. Mentally, physically, emotionally. Spiritually even. His father had abandoned him--just like everyone else. Except you. Michael smiled tiredly when he spotted your figure wrapped in a knitted throw blanket on the porch swing. You always waited for him to stumble back home, leaving the porch light lit for him. He was sure he’d find a cold meal still sitting at his spot on the table, too. A lump rose in his throat as he watched the gentle breeze rustle through your hair. You deserved better. You deserved someone strong and confident in their abilities. 

You wrapped the blanket tighter around you in your sleep, resulting in a soft and deep chuckle from your lover. He made his way to you, gently scooped you up in his arms, and opened the door with the slight kick of his shoes. You whimpered softly at the disturbance, but didn’t wake, and buried your face against his neck. The dusting of stubble on his jaw tickled your cheek the closer you snuggled into him. His warmth was a nice contrast to the chilled outdoors, and the heady smell of his skin lulled you back into your slumber.

Michael sat on the sofa with your head in his lap, carding his fingers through your hair, and trying to get the wild beating of his heart under control. He was always like this after a day of “work”. His mind ran at miles a minute with questions and concerns, and his blood rushed through his veins at the restrained panic. The gentle feeling of your chest rising and falling against him helped as he focused on mimicking your steady breaths. Before he knew it, his head was resting against the back of the couch and your breaths had synched in peaceful sleep. No matter how lost he was, he always found his way back home to the one who kept him grounded. To you. He would become the man you deserved, the man that demanded the respect and fear of others, the man that kept you safe.

~~~~~~~~

*Fire&Reign!Michael (Smutty Smut Smut Smut) 

Michael’s gloves creaked as he tightened his fists at the memory of the day’s successful meeting. He’s held the entire room, each person eating out of his palm, as he addressed the Cooperative. They practically held their breaths for him. This was what purpose felt like. It flowed through him stronger than anything he had ever felt. Well...almost. Desire consumed him so quickly and completely when in your presence that he couldn’t stop it even if he wanted to (which he never did). Michael embraced his urges now, and he’d never felt more alive. Just the thought of you waiting in your room for him was stirring his arousal. Pleasure and pride often went hand in hand, after all.

A smirk tugged at his lips as his eyes landed on your form asleep on the sofa. What a beautiful sight to celebrate the end of his glorious day. With an elegant twist of his wrist, the flames in the fireplace burned brighter to light the room. The satin night dress he had given you had ridden up and gave him a tantalizing view. His fingers, still clad in vibrant red leather, trailed lazily over your bare legs, up your exposed thighs, and danced over the silky fabric at your hip. He knelt between your legs, placing one around his waist, and kissed along your neck and collarbone. A practiced swipe relieved you of the lace covering your core, and his fingers quickly slipped along your folds. The sleepy moan from your lips encouraged him further, and his teeth nipped at the sensitive skin on your neck.

“Michael…” The murmur of his name made him chuckle in satisfaction against your skin, and his gloved fingers easily pushed into you when your hips shifted.

“You know I fucking love it when you say my name.” Your eyes fluttered open at the husky whisper. It was even better to wake up to the real thing. Michael was skilled at playing your body. He knew just the right angle to make you arch and writhe against him. Before long, he removed his fingers and pressed the wet digits against your lips. “Come on. You know what to do.” Your lips parted obediently, and you hummed at the taste of your own arousal and warm leather on your tongue.

The long day and earlier thoughts of how exactly he wanted to ravage you when he returned left him impatient. The sound of his belt and zipper made your eyes sparkle in excitement, and you eagerly parted your legs to give him more room to settle against your hips. With one sharp thrust, he seated himself fully inside of you. He groaned into your neck but didn’t pause long before setting a pace driven by sheer carnal need. Michael knew what he wanted, and he was going to chase it with pure abandon. Your hands reached behind you to hold the arm of the sofa, the deep and rapid thrusts of his cock forcing you across the piece of furniture until his hands gripped your hips roughly to hold you in place. The pressure of his fingers on your skin, his teeth on your collarbone, the sound of skin on skin and his groans of pleasure filled you with more sensations than your sleep-addled brain had been prepared for. His face was slick with sweat and your back was starting to stick to the black leather sofa. Gasps and moans fell heavily from the pair of you amidst the erotic symphony echoing in the room.

Your hands reached up into his soft, blond curls and tugged. The action earned you a string of curses and a sharp thrust that perfectly reached the spot inside you that left you seeing stars. Michael did it again upon hearing your gasp and relentlessly targeted your g-spot, even as his hips began to falter. One of your hands remained in his hair while the other ventured downward to drag your nails lightly along his clothed back. A shiver ran through his body, his cock twitching within your trembling walls, and he growled in your ear. The possessive sound coupled with the feeling of him perfectly filling you was the tipping point. You came around him with a cry, your pulsing core drawing him deeper still, and he roughly jerked your hips up to fuck you through your orgasm. He was so close, and your release only drew him closer. Your legs locked behind his back to urge him on, needing to feel him fill you completely. A chorus of moans continued to fall from your lips, each one praising his name, and he buried himself as far as he could before granting your own desires. You moaned in satisfaction as pulse after pulse of his seed filled you, his teeth sinking into your collarbone to muffle his groan as he claimed you as his in every way.

“Today went well, then?” you panted. Your fingers stroked his damp curls from his face as he held himself over you.

“Oh yes.Though I was very much looking forward to the end.”

~~~~~~~~

Outpost!Michael

Michael pinched the bridge of his nose after closing his laptop. More bad news. R&D was having difficulties with virtually every project they needed to accomplish for the Sanctuary to flourish. While the people at Outpost 3 were insignificant and of no concern for the future, he wasn’t alone. He wanted this to work for the both of you. You were his future, and the both of you together were the future of this world. If nothing functioned to help you survive, what kind of future was that? He couldn’t broach the subject of a family with such uncertainty looking ahead.

Michael ran a hand through his hair and sat back in his chair. That was enough for one day. He grabbed his coat off the back of his chair and straightened the shoulder to make sure his immaculate presence reamined. He tucked his laptop under his arm and began climbing the spiral staircase to his rooms. Michael passed a few of the Outpost residents in the hall and remained aloof to their gestures and acknowledgements. Any show of interest would only encourage, and he was more than done with his interviewees for the day. 

The air in your shared room was warm and humid, and he spotted your laptop closed on the table. The door to the bathroom was mostly shut except for an inch that let a sliver of light stream from the room. Thick air carried a familiar smell that made Michael smile--your favorite bath soap. He tossed his coat across a chair in the corner of the bedroom and unbuttoned the cuffs of his sleeves. Michael rolled his shirt up to the elbows and entered the bathroom. It must have been some time since you’d started your bath from how far the candles had burned down. Bubbles still covered the surface of the water, though, some still stuck to the skin of your shoulders and chest as your head rested against the back of the tub. You must have read the emails, too...

Michael knelt beside the tub and swirled his fingers in the water. It was still warm, but he could feel the surface beginning to grow tepid. His powers leached into the water and increased the temperature back to a pleasant heat that released some steam into the air. His long fingers caressed your arm until you woke enough to blink up at him.

“May I join you?” Michael whispered. He rested his head on one arm bent across the edge of the tub while the other continued to raise goosebumps over your skin.

“Of course.”

Michael needed no further invitation. He stripped himself from his formal attire, kicking his cropped pants into the corner and tossing his shoes away. You slide back to give him room to step into the tub and sit in front of you. He moaned softly as he sank into the warm water, his tense muscles slowly beginning to uncoil as the water soothed his stress. Well, the water and the gentle circles your thumbs began to make along his spine and shoulders.

“How did the interviews go today?” you asked quietly.

“About as well as expected. Every one of them believes they deserve to be saved,” he muttered, waving his hands dismissively as if they were talking about something as inconsequential as the weather.

“Do you think they have any idea they won’t be leaving this place?” Your lips danced over his neck and shoulders, and he tipped his head back to rest on your shoulder to look into your eyes. The smirk on his lips said it all.

“Not a fucking clue.” You chuckled together and cupped your hands in the water to wet his hair while his head was still tipped back. He’d grown it out over the last year, giving him the look of maturity that matched his behavior. Everything was smooth and calculated now, from the application of the dramatic scarlet eyeshadow he wore, to his fashion, to each word he used to trigger the responses he needed in interviews. He had grown into his power and wielded it with his beauty as a dazzling weapon.

After sufficiently soaking his hair, you ran your fingers through the long silken strands and used your nails to massage his scalp. Michael sank against you more with a sigh and pressed a kiss to your lips. You happily returned it and pulled away to trail your lips along the tendon of his neck. He reached up to cup your face and bring your lips back to his in a deeper embrace. Perhaps the future was a bit uncertain, but this one aspect would always be clear.

[sparkkeyper]

Whumptober 2020 Day 17: Dirty Secret

Aziraphale is repressed as heck where Heaven and his bosses are concerned, but drunken rambles with Crowley are cathartic.

***

"Aziraphale!"

Aziraphale nearly jumped off the park bench as the archangel clapped him jovially - too hard, always too hard - on the shoulder. "Gabriel!" He had a smile pasted on his face in record time, trying to cover up the shock of his boss' sudden appearance. "What a pleasant surprise! I-I wasn't expecting to hear from you for some time yet."

"Well, looks like your lucky day." God's messenger beamed down at him - it never reached the eyes quite right, must be a defect of the corporation - keeping the principality's shoulder in an iron grip. "It's been a while since we had a good chat, so I thought I'd stop in to give you your next assignment personally."

Aziraphale's face hurt from the smile. "How thoughtful. You're, ah, you're always welcome, of course!" He gestured to the bench beside him but Gabriel remained standing - he didn't even acknowledge the motion - his eyes alighting on the book in the principality's lap.

"Aren't you done that by now? I thought you were reading that...thing...last time I popped in, half a century ago?"

"Oh, this?" Aziraphale closed the pages to show off the cover. "I-It's a new book, actually. Much different than the one I was reading before. That was fiction, this one is an educational work on--"

Gabriel grabbed the book right out of his hand and every muscle in Aziraphale's body tensed up - to keep from doing something stupid, anything stupid, stay still, and don't let him see how stupid you can be if left unchecked too long - as the archangel flipped through the pages. "'A Brief History of Time'. Why would you ever need to know this? You've lived through Time since She began it. You haven't misremembered significant events from history, have you?"

Aziraphale chuckled - too tremulous, too nervous - but Gabriel did not smile back. "No, no of course not! I remember everything perfectly, as She intended." He swallowed. "The book is an introduction to quantum physics: the current science humans have developed in an effort to understand the workings of the universe. Quite a bit of it is wrong, of course, all that silliness about the galaxy being billions of years old, but they try. And they have managed to get some of it right. They've made such a lot of progress in the past few thousands years, for such short-lived individuals it really is remarkable--"

"Why do you need to bother reading this?" Gabriel's expression was blank - not blank, condescending, judging - "You know the workings of the universe, or at least all those that we need to know. The rest She has decided to keep to Herself, and we have no need to understand."

"Of course, of course!" Aziraphale's fingers itched to grab the book but it hadn't been offered back to him yet. He straightened his bowie instead. "But I...I must know how humans think the world works, you see. In order to communicate with them properly. I can't go giving away Heavenly secrets when humans haven't figured them out yet, can I? I've got to keep abreast of what they know and don't know so I can...speak to them on their level, as it were."

"I gotcha." Gabriel tossed the open book back to him, and he fumbled to catch it without scrunching up the pages. No such luck. "They're so bafflingly simple! It must be exhausting for you, having to dumb down every conversation you have with them. Don't know how you do it."

Aziraphale dared to smooth the pages by hand exactly once in Gabriel's presence - don't care too much for material things, don't care too much for the people who make them - and smoothing them by miracle was out of the question. "I manage."

"Excellent. And you can keep managing." The archangel handed over a folded slip of paper with a golden seal. "Next assignment. We'll need you in Algeria next month. Big earthquake planned, you'll have the opportunity to do a lot of Good there."

"I'm...looking forward to it."

"I bet you are. See you at your annual review." And with a shimmer, Gabriel was gone.

Aziraphale tucked the assignment into his pocket and closed his eyes, the only outward reaction he allowed himself to show. Inside he was hollering. Inside he was sagging and baring teeth and kicking up a fuss.

Stop it.

Of course he wasn't doing any of those things because he had control of himself, and after all they were completely uncalled for. Completely. It was just a visit from Gabriel. He had no reason to react in such a way.

It took several minutes of sitting perfectly still on the bench to convince his body of that fact. It was difficult when his heart was racing and his fists were clenched but he managed. He always managed. He had to.

When he opened his eyes to return to his reading at last, he found a small scrap of paper tucked between the pages like a bookmark. It certainly hadn't been there when Gabriel handed - threw - the book back to him. Flipping over the note, he recognized Crowley's untidy scrawl.

Dinner tonight? If I don't bitch to someone about my coworkers I'm gonna explode. -C

Aziraphale did sag this time. Just reading the words was like a weight sliding off his shoulders. He tried very, very hard not to think about that fact. Or the fact that such a note had shown up right after a visit from Gabriel.

He gave himself a moment to exist - revel - in the feeling of relief, then very carefully collected himself and reached into his pocket for a pen. He scribbled a reply on the paper and with a snap, willed it back to wherever it had come from.

Be here by six and not a minute after. - A

***

Dinner was Italian, and delicious. The wine afterwards in the bookshop's back room was equally Italian and equally delicious.

Crowley sprawled across the sofa, one leg up on the back and several bottles in, and ranted about Hastur in a series of increasingly-less-eloquent turns of phrase. Aziraphale leaned heavily over the arm of his own chair, an equal number of bottles in, and agreed emphatically to the insults the demon heaped on his boss. It was relaxing to listen to Crowley ramble. If his unfortunate interactions with his lower downs seemed familiar... Well, best not to think on it. And he didn't have to think on it, not with Crowley. He could sit back and listen and add in a few scornful words against whomever had ruffled Crowley's feathers this decade.

"Not an ounce of doco...decorum between them," the demon was saying. "Not a one. Rude as...rude things. And your higher ups, bet they're just the same. How've they been lately?"

"Oh, you know," Aziraphale waved the question away, steadying himself on the chair as the motion overbalanced him. "Can't complain." It was true, he thought, and giggled a bit at his private drunken joke. He couldn't complain. No matter how much... Well. He couldn't.

"Aw, come on, I gave you all the juicy bits." Crowley hung his head backwards off the arm of the couch to regard the angel upside down. "There's got to be something ol' Gabe does that gets on your nerves. Or Michael! Real stick in the mud, that Michael. Stick in the mud and straight up the arse."

"Oh hush, you." The angel tossed a coaster at him. "They're perfectly stand-up people, as they're supposed to be. Divinely dictated and...and such." The demon, still upside down, pulled a face to let Aziraphale know exactly what he thought of that. "Although, d'you know--" Aziraphale hiccupped, "--Gabriel doesn't even know to clip the...the whatdyoucallits. The thread on the back of new coats that keep the tails closed. The ones you're supposed to clip. Just...walks around with the thread still in like...like someone who doesn't know how to clip things."

Crowley cackled, rolling upright again and contorting on the couch in a manner Aziraphale didn't know was physically possible." Bet he doesn't know to clip the thread holding the tiny pockets closed either."

"He doesn't!" the angel exclaimed with far more delight than was necessary. Something warm and petty and satisfying was settling under his ribs. Threads and pockets were good. Safe. Unsafe thoughts still hovered just beyond the edges of his mind, but he didn't have to look too closely at those when there were safe things like fashion faux-pas he could inject their venom into. "He was telling me just last month how silly humans are to make pockets that are decorar...dectora...just for show, and he used his own coat as an example! I tried to tell him, I said, I said 'Gabriel, you can cut those open you know' or at least I would have said it but I couldn't get a word in edgewise. And he still hasn't figured it out!"

"Point for me!" Crowley stabbed the air like a contestant on a game show. "I came up with those, didju know? Sewing the tiny pockets closed? And I got an archangel with it, so plus one to Hell!"

Aziraphale barked out a laugh that was too loud, too explosive, but heavens did it feel good. "Did you really? Or did you just take credit?"

"Absolutely came up with them." Crowley puffed up his chest with pride. "Annoys loads of people when they wear clothes out for the first time and go to put something in the pocket but find they don't have any scissors. I wrote a whole report on it for Hastur--" he lowered his voice to a hiss and leaned in conspiratorially. "But mostly I just think it's funny." He broke into a drunken giggle and Aziraphale followed. "Pro'lly never read the report anyway, Hastur." The demon tried to pour himself another glass and missed, missed, got it. "Tha's another thing that drives me up the wall, nobody reads the blessed reports half the time!"

The angel groaned in commiseration.

"I spend all that time putting the thing together, crossing the I's, dotting the T's--"

"You don't dot T's," Aziraphale interrupted.

"Dot my T's if I like," Crowley shot back.

"They'd look very silly."

"I'll dot your T's."

"Suppose we'd look silly together at least."

"Damn straight." Crowley paused. "What was I taking about?"

"T's," the angel supplied helpfully.

"Reports! Right, nobody reading the fu- You spend all that time on them and nobody appreciates the work!"

"Aggravating," agreed Aziraphale sourly, because of course it wasn't against any rules to repeat someone else's whinging back to them.

"Exasperating!"

"Infuriating!"

"And you know what else is infuriating?" Crowley put both feet up on the coffee table and stretched. "They had me Downstairs doing paperwork all last month and Ligur comes by while I'm trying to cross reference soul contracts and just snatches the ledger away while I'm working."

"The nerve!" Aziraphale snorted disdainfully, taking a long pull from the wine.

"I know! Had so many ways I wanted to react I couldn't choose!" Crowley gestured to him, and if Aziraphale had been a touch more sober he might have caught a glint in the demon's eye. "What would you do, angel?"

"What?"

"You. Imagine you're in Hell, doing paperwork and minding your own blessed business, making sure all the T's are dotted, and Ligur comes up out of nowhere and snatches your book away! What do you do to him?"

"I should like to snatch it right back!" Aziraphale slapped the cushion next to him. "And then give him a good whack with it! Serves him right!"

"Aye! Serves 'im right!" Crowley echoed in fierce delight, lunging forward to clang his glass against the angel's in a sloppy toast.

And when the wine wore off several hours later, Aziraphale would admit to himself that he felt so much better.

***

*The book is 'A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes" by Stephen Hawking

**The 2003 earthquake in Algeria killed ~2200 people. Gabriel is an asshole.

[simons-calling-the-127-squad]

A Sight for Sore Eyes-Lucas

Credit to the original owners of the images.

Warning: Bullying and Violence

Soulmate Au: you are unable to the color of your soulmate's eyes until you meet them.

This story takes place in the junior year of high school.

You heard him sigh before answering, "Yeah, come grab it."

You went to his room and grabbed it from his hand, "Thanks bubby you're the best."

"Yeah, yeah I know. You need to find yours instead of always using mine though."

"I will. Eventually." You laughed.

You went back to your room and finished getting ready, after you got done you had to wait for all your brothers. Your parents didn't trust you walking to school alone. They also didn't trust your siblings or you to drive even though you all had your permit. You had three brothers. Two of them were older and twins and one that was younger. You didn't mind though all of you loved each other, even if you got on each other's nerves.

As your older brother, Oakland, finally walked out of the room you mumbled, "And they say women take longer than men to get ready."

Percy and your younger brother, Wolf, laughed right next to you.

"Hey, I don't wanna hear it. It takes a while to get this perfection ready," he said dramatically flipping his hair.

You rolled your eyes and started walking out of your house saying bye to your parents. Your brothers and yourself started walking to school. All of you made jokes with each other. You ended up seeing a bluebird and got distracted though.

"Guys, look at the bird," you said pointing at it, "That's a pretty blue."

"Blue? I see only brown," Oakland said.

"It's both brown and blue," Wolf and Percy spoke up.

"Well we can't see both colors because we haven't found our soulmates yet," you said sticking out your tongue.

Right after you said that a boy purposely bumped into you, "Watch it, nerd."

You felt your anger rise but you left him alone and just glared at him. Your brothers yelled at him to watch where he was going next time, he just ignored them though.

"It's fine," you said through clenched teeth.

"He needs to stop doing that. Someone needs to put him in his place," Percy said, clenching his fist.

"Perce it's okay, y'all taught me how to fight remember?" You said.

"You’re not gonna fight him unless he messes with any of us or if he throws the first punch though," Oakland said, getting a little irritated at both your brother and you.

"Let's just get in the school," Wolf spoke up.

"Agreed," The three of you said simultaneously.

You all went into the school, talking. Wolf spotted your crush, Lucas, and started teasing you about it. You told him to shut up and walked him to his class while Oakland went with his friends and Percy went with his soulmate, Alicia.

When you got to Wolf's class you hugged him, "Try to have a good day Wolfy."

"Don't call me that," he glared at you, " And I will. You try to too. Don't get into a fight please."

You laughed, "I won't try to."

You walked into your class and sat at the back. You pulled out your earbuds and started to listen to music and read, hoping no one would bother you. You didn't really feel like talking to anyone today, not even Y/B/F. You felt a presence sit next to you. You glanced at the shoes to see that it was, in fact, Y/B/F. You liked to just listen to music and read so you got good at sensing people and telling who it is by their shoes. You took out one of your earbuds and slowly put your bookmark in your book.

When you looked up you saw that Y/B/F was looking at you expectantly, "Yes?"

"I heard that Jaxon ran into you again." She raised her eyebrow expecting you to say something.

"Yeah, so?"

"You have to stop letting him do that stuff. Have your brothers take care of him, do something!" She practically shouted.

"Shhh, quit being so loud. Like Oakland said it's fine until he either messes with any of my brothers or throws the first punch."

"Then what are you gonna do? Take the beating. He's like ten times bigger than you."

"If it comes down to it you'll see. Now I'm gonna continue to read," you said, already putting your earbud back in and starting to read.

Eventually, everyone came into the classroom and you had to put your book up and your earbuds away. You sat there through the whole class taking notes and doing the work that was assigned. In no time you got done with the work and went back to reading. You could sense that something bad was going to happen that day but didn't know what or when. Finally, the bell had rang and you put everything up. You waited for Y/B/F and went to your next class with her.

---

The bell for lunch finally rang and you and Y/B/F were out of the classroom as fast as it had. Jaxon was in that class, he sat next to you and would never stop bothering you unless one of his friends, like Lucas, told him to stop. You could never stand Jaxon even when you were little. It got worse as the years went on though. You grabbed your lunch and went to the table that your brothers were sitting at, except, Wolf was missing. Y/B/F had come and sat down after you had.

"Where's Wolf?" You asked, concern evident in your voice. Both of your brothers shrugged. You looked around the room and noticed that Jaxon wasn't there either. Immediately you felt panic rise. You hurriedly stood up ignoring your brothers and Y/B/F asking what's wrong. You walked out being really quiet to see if you could hear anything. You didn't even realize that they had followed you out of the cafeteria. You walked down the hall and turned the corner to see Jaxon had Wolf by the collar of his shirt, pinned against the lockers.

You rushed forward saying, "What in the devil's balls are you doing Jaxon?!"

Wolf looked over surprised and then relieved to see you. Jaxon didn't even look your way. Instead, he shoved Wolf even more and said something low enough that you couldn't hear. He reeled back to punch Wolf. You rushed forward getting in between them and catching his fist, he had let Wolf out of his hold and stared at you furious that you had stopped him.

"I wouldn't have done that if I was you, nerd," he snapped.

"What are you gonna do hit me?" You asked, sarcastically, rolling your eyes. After you said that he pulled his hand out of your grip and went to hit you. You ducked, making him hit the lockers behind you. You grabbed him and pinned him against the lockers.

"You shouldn't have messed with my brother," you said through gritted teeth. You kneed him in the gut. He would've doubled over if it wasn't for your hold on him. You pulled your fist back and punched him in the jaw. People gasped around you. You let him fall to the ground after and backed up. He got up right after though. You stood in your fighting stance knowing what was gonna happen. He went to punch you again, you blocked it though. You kicked him in the side, he grunted in pain. You heard Wolf in the background yelling at you to stop. You got distracted momentarily because of it. It was perfect for him to land a punch on your jaw. You tasted blood, he had busted your lip. This made you even madder. You kicked him in the stomach, making him double over. That was what you wanted. You grabbed his head and kneed him in it.

It took him a second to recover until he tackled you on the ground, your head bouncing off the floor. This barely fazed you though, it happened every time your brothers sparred with you. You grabbed his head and slammed it on your own. You flipped both of you, now you were on top of him. You reeled back and hit him two more times, in the face before you got up. He rolled and spit some blood out.

"Never mess with my family again," you said, glaring at him, "Do you understand?"

He grunted out a yes. You had broken one of his ribs, you knew that because you heard and felt it snap. You walked over to Wolf satisfied with his answer. "Are you okay?" You asked, checking his face for any bruises or scratches.

"I'm fine, he didn't hurt me," he reassured you, "Mom is gonna kill you for getting in a fight."

You laughed, "As long as you're okay I don't care."

Y/B/F looked at you shocked, "Wh-How- I don't understand," she sputtered out.

"I have three brothers. We all spar sometimes and they teach me new fighting tactics." You shrugged acting like it was no big deal. "Now, I'm hungry, let's go eat."

The blood taste had thankfully gone away when you sat down to eat. The rest of the day went by smoothly and Jaxon had to go to the hospital. Everyone looked at you a bit differently after the fight. You weren't the quiet shy bookworm in the back of the class anymore, even though you still were, but instead, everyone just saw you as the only person that had taken down the big "bad" Jaxon.

---

The next few days nothing really interesting had happened. The principals nor any teachers had asked you about the fight at all. Apparently, Jaxon had told the nurse that he fell down some stairs. Jaxon had missed a few days because of the fight.

"Y/N, stop staring at Lucas," Y/B/F had said. You must have zoned out.

"I wasn't," you tried defending.

"Uh-huh," She said, obviously not believing you.

"Look I may have a crush on him but it's never gonna happen. He's a jock, I'm a bookworm. I also took down his friend." You explained to her.

"Okay."

The bell finally rang. Everyone left the classroom except for Lucas, Y/B/F, and you. Y/B/F came up behind you, after you grabbed your stuff, and pushed you into Lucas, "GET SOME" she had yelled.

She ran out of the classroom. Both you and Lucas blushed. You looked up, right as the awkwardness had settled, into his eyes. The eye contact was so awkward, not to mention you were still in his arms, but when you looked into his eyes you saw a color that you had never seen before. You saw the color brown for the very first time in your life and it was beautiful to you.

"Ummm," he had said.

"Oh, right," you said remembering that you were in his arms. You stood up and didn't say anything. Silence had fallen over you. Neither of you knew what to say. You were embarrassed and could feel the awkwardness in the silence. "I gotta go," you finally said, rushing out of the room.

You caught up to Y/B/F in the next class and smacked her arm. She just laughed. "Soooo?" She asked, dragging out the o part.

"So what?" You asked, irritated.

"So how'd it go?" She asked.

"Embarrassing and awkward," you replied.

"Are you guys soulmates?" She asked, trying to get straight to the point.

You sighed, "Yeah, yeah we are."

"That's great!" She practically yelled.

You shushed her. You grabbed your earbuds and your book. You couldn't believe that she had done that.

---

That night you had told your brothers about what had happened. They all laughed saying that she did you a favor, which she did but it was still how she did it that bothered you.

The next few days you had avoided Lucas and you thought he was doing the same to you. You both hadn't talked to each other or even looked in each other's direction. This went on for about a month. Today though Y/B/F missed school. You were pretty mad at her for it. You were walking down the hall with your earbuds in, music and books were the best to you. They transported you to a different place, in a way. You weren’t really paying attention until you bumped into someone.

“I’m sorry!” You apologized, hurriedly. When you looked up you saw that it was Lucas. It looked like he tried talking to you, so you took out an earbud, “What?”

“I said don’t worry about it. At least it’s you bumping into me.” He laughed, you blushed. Even though you tried telling yourself that he wasn’t your soulmate, that maybe your eyes had made a mistake, you still couldn’t get over your crush on him.

“I thought you tried avoiding me,” you blurted out, right after you said that you put your hand over your mouth. He looked confused at first then laughed.

“I did at first,” you knew it, you felt your heart start breaking, “I didn’t want to make the second time talking so embarrassing and awkward like the first time.”

“Apparently, that won't stop it from being at least embarrassing,” at that both of you laughed.

“We gotta get to class. Wouldn’t want the bookworm to be late, do we?” You laughed at that.

“Shut up,” you laughed. He ended up walking you to class. You both talked the whole way there, of course you got some odd looks since he was popular and you weren’t. You found out some things that you didn’t know about him and he found out a few things about you too. One thing you found out was that he works out every morning and evening. That would explain why he was so good at sports. After class ended you met up with your brothers and Alicia. Surprisingly though Lucas was standing with them.

“What’s going on over here?” You asked, suspiciously, looking between Lucas and your brothers.

“Well, he is your soulmate and we’re your brothers,” Percy said, you gave him a confused look.

“Every older brother needs to meet their younger siblings soulmate,” Oakland finished, your eyes widened catching on.

“Please, don’t give him the brother talk,” you begged. Everyone laughed.

“They found me and wanted to get to know me. Since we are soulmates,” Lucas reassured, your heart fluttered at hearing him call you his soulmate, it was going to take a while to get used to.

---

The next day was Friday thankfully. No one knew that you and Lucas were soulmates except for his friend, WinWin, and obviously your brothers, Y/B/F, and Alicia. The only thing people knew was that you and him were becoming friends which was weird. Both of you would get rude comments from people about it until you glared at them. No one forgot the time when you beat Jaxon in the fight. After school Lucas went to your house and hung out. He always brightened up everyone's mood even if they had a bad day.

Lucas’ phone started ringing. He looked to see who was calling and picked it up after, “Hello? Okay. That sounds good. See you when you get back. I love you too mom. Bye.” He hung up at the end.

“What was that about?” You asked, genuinely curious.

“My mom just wanted to call and say that her and my dad would be out of town for a few weeks.” He informed you.

"Okay," you replied, his parents would go on business trips leaving him alone for weeks.

"Maybe I could stay here for a few days," he joked.

You chuckled a little. Even though your parents were strict you knew they liked him enough to let him stay for a day or two. "We can ask them if you want."

"I doubt they'd let me stay." He said, putting his arm around you.

You scoffed, "We may not be officially dating but they like you enough to let you stay. I have no doubt about that."

"Speaking about that, Y/N will you officially be mine?" He looked down at you smiling.

You looked up, "Really?"

"Really."

"Then yes!" You answered excitedly. He chuckled at the reaction that you gave. It was one of the first times that he saw you excited about something that wasn't in a book.

He continued to stare at you and you stared back. Slowly he started to lean down to kiss you. Both of your eyes closed as he was getting closer. Your lips brushed against together, then someone barged into your room making both of you jump apart.

"What do you want Wolf?" You asked, a bit irritated.

"To tell you both that dinner is ready," he said, he walked out of your room right after he said it. You rolled your eyes getting up with Lucas. You both walked into the dining room holding hands. You looked at each other and smiled.

"We're officially together," you announced with a big smile.

"About time," Oakland commented. You stuck out your tongue at him, while Lucas just chuckled.

---

The next day Lucas and you went on an actual date. You both had a blast. Your parents had let him stay the night and the next few. Lucas gave you his hoodie on Monday morning. When you walked into school everyone was shocked to see you in his hoodie and holding his hand. The second you walked into the school everyone stared so Lucas faced you towards him. He leaned down and slowly started kissing you in front of everyone. When you broke apart your face went bright red and you buried your face into him. He chuckled at your actions.

The next few years went the same way. People never messed with you again. Lucas and you were happy together and in the time that you graduated, high school both Oakland and Wolf found their soulmates. Percy and Alicia got married. Life was going well for everyone.

-😝

[golbrocklovely]

the chosen daughter // colby brock - chapter thirteen

A/N: this is probs one of the longest chapters i’ve ever written, which is also why it took me a while to write. anything with a lot of dialogue takes a bit for me to write out, so i want to say sorry about the wait. however, hopefully the length makes up for it. thank you to everyone that has sent me such positive reviews about my writing and this story. it means a lot to me. have a good one yall, and enjoy this next chapter :)

story description

taglist: @far-to-many-bands , @idfk-tbh-oops , @muted-mayham , @ughwhyislifesohard , @justtanerd , @ashyoungxblood ,  @cmburgos

trigger warning: cursing, angst

word count: 2848

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I wiped the bar down, trying to busy myself. There hadn't been a new customer in over an hour, and Vampiro was closing soon, so most likely there wouldn't be anyone else.

"Why is it so slow tonight?" I noted, turning my head to Ronnie.

"Bloody is having ‘Blood Fest’: all drinks are half priced.” She responded.

I hummed. “See, why don't we do something like that?”

“Would you rather deal with tourists or our regulars?” Ronnie deadpanned.

I sighed. “Good point.”

I glanced down at the end of the bar. A man had been sitting there for hours, staring at his barely sipped drink. His dark haired covered his striking blue eyes. His leather jacket rested next to him on the bar. He breathed deeply, his eyes never leaving the stirring of his straw.

He looked sad, almost defeated.

I slowly made my way over, cleaning up things along the way. When I stood in front of him finally, his eyes stayed down.

"Excuse me, sir? Are you okay?" I asked softly.

He lifted his head, noticing me. I felt a chill run up my spine, his eyes piercing mine.

I cleared my throat. “You... look sad. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“Do I not look okay?” His voice was deep, matching his dark expression.

“Well, you ordered that a couple hours ago and haven't drank any of it. You also haven't left your seat since you got here. Most people don't do that.” I explained, my hands resting on the bar.

“I could just be a loner.” He mentioned.

I shrugged. “That's true. But you just don't look... okay, with being alone. If that makes any sense.”

“I've been a loner for a long time. Longer than you have been alive.” His fangs glinted in the bar’s lighting.

He's a vampire... great.

I huffed, turning to leave. “Sorry, I didn't mean to bother you.”

“No, miss. It's... alright.” He stuck his hand out, trying to stop me. “I didn't mean to be so snippy with you. I haven't been in a good mood all day.”

I questioned, facing him again. “Why's that?”

“Do you really want to know?” He raised an eyebrow.

“I have nothing better to do. Lay it on me.” I admitted, half-smiling.

“I don't really know how to explain it. It's a complicated situation I'm in. But... have you ever wanted something so badly?” He confessed.

I agreed. “Yeah, of course.”

“And I'm not talking about something that's insanely hard to get, but something that's in front of you. You already feel like you have it, but you just need the confirmation that it's yours.” He confided, his hand wrapping around his drink.

I nodded my head, my thoughts drifting to Colby for a moment.

He continued. “You just want it. There's nothing else you have ever wanted more than this, but...”

“It's just out of reach. And every time you get closer to it, it gets farther away.” I finished, exhaling wistfully.

“Yeah...” He trailed off, looking down.

I chuckled. “It sucks.”

He smirked. “That it does.”

The man removed his straw, finally taking a swig of his drink. His shoulders relaxed for a moment, his gaze landing on me once more.

“You know... your eyes, they look so familiar to me.” He stared deeply.

“Oh really? Does that line work often for you? Is that how you get all the humans?” I joked, cleaning a glass.

“No. I don't need a pick-up line. If I wanted you, I'd already have you.” He remarked, sucking his teeth, “My powers can be very... persuasive.”

Suddenly, I felt the air shift around me, another shiver running up my back. I swallowed, my eyes falling away from his for the first time.

I hadn't even realized someone new came into the bar until I heard a voice next to us. "Brother, are you done antagonizing the bartender?"

I whipped my head to the stranger's voice. The man stood in the shadows of the bar light, making it hard to pick out his features. He stared at the man I was talking to.

The man stood up, rolling his eyes. "What makes you think I'm antagonizing her?"

"Because that's who you are." The stranger replied.

The man shook his head, downing the rest of his drink. He slid his jacket on, pulling out his wallet.

“Y-you already paid.” I stuttered.

“I know. This is for you, princess.” He placed a $100 bill down, “Thanks for the talk.”

He nodded his head at me and left quickly with the stranger.

I grabbed his glass, dumping it into the sink nearby. I slowly picked up his tip, staring at the purple line running through the bill.

Ronnie rushed up to me, gasping quietly. “Holy shit! You are splitting that with me.”

“70/30.” I offered.

“Good enough for me.” She snickered.

~ \/ \/ ~

"...And that's how I almost got arrested at a Queen concert." Tara concluded, smirking mischievously.

“Wow, that is so crazy that you got to see them live.” I commented.

Tara disclosed. “Every big band that has existed... I've been to their concerts.”

“Holy shit, that's awesome.” I marveled.

“You should have seen me at a One Direction concert a couple years ago.” Tara patted my shoulder.

Kat teased. “I'm surprised Harry doesn't have a restraining order against you.”

We burst into laughter, calming down a minute later. After the weird night I had yesterday, hanging out with Tara and Kat was a nice change of pace. I never really had girl friends like this.

Or really any friends for that matter.

“Oooh, Kat. Weren't you telling me you were working on a new spell the other day?” Tara pointed, changing the subject.

Kat nodded, looking down at the floor. “Yeah I was. It's nothing major, but it's kinda cool.”

“Show us then. Besides, any form of magic in general is so dope.” I spoke.

“Okay. I need to grab my plant from the kitchen.” Kat turned to me. “Jade, could you run into my room and grab my spell book. It's gonna be on my bed.”

“Sure thing.” I jumped up and walked over to Kat's room, stepping inside quickly.

I glanced at her bed, seeing an aged leather-bound book. I grabbed it softly by the tie holding it closed, turning to leave. The book suddenly dropped to the floor, the tie coming undone in my hand. I bent down, grasping the book. My eyes drifted to the bookcase that was in front of me. I gasped suddenly, dropping the book once more.

On a shelf was another leather-bound book. It’s title: Xiomara.

What the fuck…?

“Jade! Did you find it?” Kat called.

“Uh-uh yeah! Coming.” I stammered, grabbing the spell book hastily and running out of her room.

She knew about Xiomara before my dreams...

“What took you so long?” Kat inquired, looking up at me.

I sat down, handing the spell book to Kat. “Umm, nothing. I was just noticing all the books you have Kat. There's a lot.”

“Yeah, I got my own little library going on in my room.” Kat smiled.

“I can tell.” I retorted, biting my tongue.

Tara squinted her eyes at me, then turning to Kat. “Okay... so what's the spell you've been working on?”

“Let me show you.”

Kat placed the plant in front of her. It's brown color and wilted posture made it look even smaller in the large pot. Kat flipped opened her spell book to a bookmarked page. She glanced over it quickly, turning to the plant. Tara and I peeked at each other before staring back at Kat. She slowly raised her hand over the plant, mumbling a spell quietly to herself. A blueish light manifested from her hand, raining down on the plant. The brown melted away into a healthy green, the petals undecayed, a beautiful pink flower sprouted from the stem. More flowers began to blossom from the soil, growing as tall as the original plant.

“Holy shit Kat. That's amazing.” Tara whispered in awe.

Kat beamed. “Thank you. I've been working on this for a bit. It's nothing major but-”

I cut her off, studying the light from her hand. “Hell yes, it is! This is so cool.”

“Thanks.” Kat gazed at me sweetly.

Her eyes slowly drifted down towards my necklace; she became transfixed. Her hazel eyes grew more intense, the color illuminating from her hand changing from the bright blue to a deep crimson.

“Kat? You okay?” Tara puzzled.

She didn't budge, her eyes narrowing even more at my necklace. The plant burst into flames suddenly, Kat's eyes not faltering.

Tara and I gasped. “Kat, snap out of it!”

I covered my necklace with my hand, and her gaze finally broke. She ripped her hand away, noticing the fire underneath. Tara grabbed her water and dumped it on the plant, the fire burning out immediately. The only remnant left was the smoke and the sizzling of the petals.

“What the fuck was that?” Tara exclaimed quietly.

Kat sputtered. “I-I don't know.”

“Have you ever done that before?” I queried.

She shook her head. “No.”

“Why did you get like that? What were you staring at?” Tara speculated, sitting up.

“My nec-” I began.

Kat interrupted. “Nothing. I, uh, just got lost in thought for a moment. That's… another spell I've been trying to work on. I didn't think it would work.”

“Well, maybe next time, stick to bringing plants to life, not burning them.” Tara sassed, grabbing her bag.

“Yeah, I'll remember that.” Kat fretted, her eyes falling to the plant.

“How about to lighten the mood, I do some tarot card readings?” Tara grinned, pulling her deck out.

“Sure, as long as your cards don't catch on fire.” I taunted, shrugging.

“No guarantees. So, who wants to go first?” She dared.

“I will.” Kat answered, lifting her head.

“Okay, Kat. Shuffle the deck.” Tara stated.

Kat grabbed the cards from Tara's hands, shuffling them quickly. Tara's eyes landed on the deck, her purple aura appearing around the cards.

“Wait, how are you able to do a reading on Kat? She's a vampire.” I asked, confused.

“Well... I'm an elder. Most vampires don't know that I am, minus Kat and the rest of XPLR obviously.” Tara informed, glancing at me.

“When were you turned?” I questioned.

“In 1645.” She recalled.

My eyes widened. “Fuck. So that makes you…?”

“374. Plus the 19 years I lived before being turned. So I'm-” Tara started.

I interjected. “393 years old.”

She batted her eyelashes at me jokingly. “Don't I look so youthful?”

“Wait a minute, does that mean every elder can use their powers on vampires?” I suggested.

Tara revealed. “And humans. I don't usually use my powers on vamps, mostly because I don't want them to know I'm an elder.”

“Why is that?” I doubted.

“It's a long story. Trust me.” Tara scoffed.

“Okay, I'm done shuffling.” Kat chimed in, handing the deck to Tara.

“Perfect.” Tara pulled three cards off the top of the deck.

I addressed. “Wait, two of the cards are upside down.”

“That means I read the reversal of the card.” Tara described.

I blinked. “I'm gonna pretend I know what that means.”

“Every card has an upright and a reversal. The reversal, in real simple turns, is the opposite of the what the card means when it is in the upright position.” Tara clarified.

Kat requested. “What do they mean then?”

Tara pointed to the first card. “Well, your first card is 'the lovers', which as it says is about you and your boy toy Sam. Everything seems to be going okay for you...”

“But?” Kat guessed.

“But, there seems to be some jealousy or insecurities standing in your way. Why is that?” Tara accused, cocking her head to the side.

“How do you know that's true?” Kat hissed, crossing her arms.

“Because your next card, 'the queen of wands', is reversed. So, why are you jealous?” Tara repeated.

Kat exhaled. “I saw... on his phone, when he was showing me something, a girl’s name popping up.”

“Oh shit. Who?” I urged.

“Some girl named Maddie.” Kat pouted.

Tara closed her eyes abruptly, her aura appearing around her promptly. Kat and I stared at her; eyebrows raised.

“Maddie... is... his sister.” Tara deciphered.

I mumbled. “Sam has a sister?”

“Yes. Back home, in Kansas.” Tara claimed.

“How do you know this?” Kat puzzled.

Tara opened her eyes for a second, only to roll them at Kat. “The spirits. Duh.”

“Shut up.” Kat quipped.

“They tell me he misses her a lot. They had... really strict parents growing up. Sam wasn't even able to leave his house when vampires were announced to the world. But he saved up all of his money and when he left home, his family cut him off.” Tara expounded, her aura growing stronger.

“He's hasn't talked to them…” Kat uttered, staring off.

“Besides Maddie, no. They don't want to know how he's doing because he disobeyed them.” Tara ended, her aura disappearing and her eyes opening slowly.

“So, you were jealous of his sister?” I smirked at Kat.

“How was I supposed to know?! He hasn't told me that yet.” Kat shouted, grinning.

“Well, now you can go ask him, and stop being jealous of Maddie.” I giggled, lightly smacking her arm.

“That's not the only thing she's jealous of.” Tara declared.

“What?” Kat groaned.

She pointed to the final card. “Your last card is 'the seven of swords' reversed. I think there is something on your mind that you want to confess to. Something about one of us in this room...”

“Really? Do I have to?” Kat whined, her shoulders slumping.

Tara shook her head. “No, but it would be cathartic.”

Kat sighed deeply. “Fine then. I'm jealous... of you, Jade.”

“What? Why?” I blurted out.

“Sam talks about you a lot, and I know at one point I was concerned that you and him were...” Kat’s voice fell off.

“Together?! Oh my God, no.” I laughed.

Tara reasoned. “Yeah, I highly doubt Colby would like that.”

I objected. “Me and Colby aren't together.”

Kat broke in. “Nonetheless, I was jealous of Jade at first.”

“Sam sees her like a sister. He's projecting his feelings of missing his actual sister onto Jade because he feels protective of her.” Tara divulged.

“Did the spirits tell you that?” Kat jeered amusingly.

“No. But I am very good at context clues.” Tara sassed. “Let's read you, Jade.”

I reminded. “I don't think it's gonna work. The last time you tried to ask the spirits about me, you got no answer.”

“Good point,” Tara remembered. “Why don't I ask them about Colby and you then?”

I squeaked. “Me and Colby-”

She cut me short. “Aren't a thing, I know. But maybe we can see why that is the case? Or at least ask about your possible relationship?”

“Can you even do a reading for someone that isn't here?” I doubted.

Tara glared. “I'm almost 400 years old, I would hope so.”

She began to shuffle the deck, her aura appearing around the cards through her hands as she continued her motions. She closed her eyes tightly, quietly humming to herself. Finally, she stopped, pick the three cards off the top. “Okay, so your first card, ‘the magician’, is telling you to take a chance with Colby. It's showing there will be success in your love life right now, but you have to take the first step towards it.”

“That's fun.” Kat praised.

Tara flipped over the next card. “Ohh, this is a good one. So ‘the knight of cups’, when talking about your love life, means romance and flirtation. Meaning-”

Kat cooed. “You and Colby are gonna get together! Aww!”

I blushed, covering my face. “Oh my God, stop it you two.”

“She's right though. I see the two of you getting closer, finally opening up to each other in a romantic way. But make sure to take it slow and not fall headfirst into it.” Tara warned.

“Okay... what about my last card?” I sang.

Tara smiled, grabbing it and flipping it over. She dropped the card instantaneously, a small gasp leaving her lips.

“What? What is it?” I gazed down at the card.

“That's... not good.” She muttered.

“What? What's ‘the tower’ card mean?” Kat requested, picking it up.

“It means... breakup. But...” Tara hushed.

“But what?” I gulped.

“I'm not getting that reading. Well, I mean, not fully.” She explained.

“What are you saying?” Kat asked.

Tara trembled. “I feel like, what this card is telling me, is that you and Colby aren't really gonna break up, but something is gonna come between the two of you. Something... dark.”

“What does that mean?” I murmured cautiously.

“I don't know. But something is gonna come and ruin, possibly end, what you guys have.” Tara insisted. “But it feels deeper than just a break up. It feels like...”

“Like a what, Tara?” I barked.

She whimpered. “A death.”

<< CHAPTER 12 || CHAPTER 14 >>

[jenroses]

Dear Good Omens Fandom *

*And others.

It’s time to talk about footnotes.

Okay, so there are a number of different ways to augment text in a print book to provide more information. When expanding on an idea, on a page, one often puts a footnote to a SHORT paragraph that appears on the same page. In digital versions, all the footnotes are often at the back of the text and linked to via some variant of a hyperlink. 

Functionally, in a print book, most people will read the paragraph or sentence the footnote is in, drop their glance to the bottom of the page, and look up again. Grade: B+, perfectly serviceable.

Functionally, in a properly coded digital document such as an Ebook or web page, one clicks the footnote symbol or number, reads, and then either clicks it again or hits the back button to get back to where they were. Grade: C-, if you exit on the bookmark you may never get back to where you started, if you hit a back button, the document may reload if your browser is being techy, but if it is coded right, you probably can usually get back to where you need to be. 

If it is not coded properly or at all, F-, not functional, will not read.

When providing references or receipts, one uses references, often a numerical list or alphabetical list at the back of the book, chapter or article. The point is that if someone wants more information, they can get it. In a nonfiction article, this works well. 

You provide your reference in whatever style is appropriate to the publication, people can find what they need, the document is rarely long enough to care about flipping back and forth. Online, even easier. People can click through, open in a new window, whatever.  Grade for nonfiction: A+. Provides extra information in an accessible way. 

Grade for fiction... eh. Just use an appendix in a print book, author’s note, end note, whatever. Footnotes for receipts pull me out of the story. Grade: B- (or C+)

And online? Use an end note or chapter note. You rarely need to provide links in the text in fiction, just use an end note and say, “By the way, if you were wondering about such and such, here’s where it came from and what it’s about.” Easy peasy, flow is fine. Grade: A

So in a fandom which grew up with a fully footnoted actual physical book such as Good Omens? The temptation is to stick with the original for style, but please, my darlings, I beg you, do not do this. YES, you can absolutely provide snarky asides, quips and expanded information. You can do it without interrupting yourself mid sentence. 

But it will be more functional in a digital environment, ESPECIALLY for people who use “whole work” viewing rather than chapters, people who download for reading later, and people who are visually impaired who need screen readers... if you use another method.* You do not have to send people on a wild goose chase to find footnotes, which many will simply give up on and ignore, and in which case, why did you bother? *It works like this. Put an asterisk in where you want your aside. Finish your paragraph. Break your paragraph. Add another asterisk and italicize your text. Voila.

Using this alternate method has multiple benefits. Your quip, witticism, background note or digression does not interrupt the flow of the writing. People read the footnote just about precisely where they need to. They do not get lost. They don’t have to follow links. Screen readers are 100% fluent with this method. And it copies from Google Docs to AO3 (if you use rich text paste and not html) seamlessly with nothing getting lost in the transition. 

The eye sees the asterisk,* scans down for another asterisk, finds it, reads, and scans back up a very short distance. 

*Like this.

Since pagination doesn’t happen in AO3 or google docs or websites or screen readers set on “scroll”... you simply do not have one of the components required for proper footnoting. Footnotes go at the foot of the page. And a 100,000 word fanfic doesn’t have pages. It has chapters.

And that’s a problem on Archive of Our Own. You see, people tend to upload one chapter at a time. Footnotes are often numbered within chapters starting from 1. But if you do that, and someone has loaded your entire story, the minute they get to chapter 2, those careful footnote links you crafted bounce them up to chapter 1′s footnotes. 

The Asterisk method completely avoids that. It removes the coding stage. It removes all bouncing around. It works no matter how people load your work. And that, mes anges,* is functional. And it looks fine. It’s intuitive. And it doesn’t make me want to throw my phone out of the window of a moving car because we’re out of cell range** and I’m having to follow hundreds of footnotes back and forth and I couldn’t load the whole document because the footnotes wouldn’t work that way and now I can’t get the next chapter of your fucking amazing writing.

*my angels, French **true story, happened today Nov. 24, 2019. The wanting. I didn’t actually do it because I’m a goddamn grownup.

Grade for using the asterisk method? Five huge sighs of relief, and an A+ from every single person who uses a screen reader or can just about manage a scroll but can’t deal with finding the back button in the dark for whatever reason*.

*rheumatoid arthritis, stiff hands, lotsa lying down reading here.    

The show did not have footnotes. It had occasional voiceovers. It’s okay to adapt your technique to the needs of the technology. 

Bless everyone who has painstakingly gone through and linked to footnotes and back again. I know you worked really hard on it. Please stop doing it. This method is so much easier. 

If you want to see how this works in a full fic, I happen to have one here. Mitzvah

End note

There is no real correlation between the quality of the story and the quality of the footnote method. I see a wide variety of methods in many stories throughout the fandom. You’re not wrong per se, if you don’t do it my way. But you’re doing more work than you need to, and wasting time you could be doing literally anything else. This is probably best taken as a “going forward” recommendation, because no one, literally no one expects you to go back and redo hundreds of footnotes. 

If you reread your own work, and you have a lot of footnotes, it is wise to read it on multiple devices and in multiple ways. Does it make sense without footnotes? Some people will never look at a single one. If someone tries to use the footnotes, do they work in subsequent chapters if they’re not in chapter by chapter mode? If someone just reads in order, text first, footnotes last, are they going to have any idea what the footnotes are referring to? I have done literally all of these things in different fics in the fandom.  

[ellstersmash]

Three: Sixteen

Fandom: Dragon Age

Pairing: Solas x f!Lavellan (Modern!AU)

Rating: overall E for Explicit | this chapter T for Teen

|Previous Chapter| |Next Chapter| |Read on AO3|

--

Athi moves the rearview mirror a fraction of an inch. Returns it to its original position, then back. Tough to tell if her discomfort is due to a misjudged angle or the fact that it’s been more than a year since she’s driven anything other than her bike. Not as if she could have let him drive, though. Not in his current state.

“Take this to Saelac,” Solas murmurs. 

He has his eyes shut, but his thumb is still softly stroking hers the way it has been since she pulled onto the freeway. She expected him to pass out right away, but then this city’s policy on roadwork seems to be: Not if we can help it. Every street is scarred with what must be two decades’ worth of springtime patches, and if he couldn’t sleep through a little bit of air turbulence, he sure won’t manage it here.

“How was your week?” he asks, words quiet and slurring together. Enunciation is hard work.

So she tells him about the bar. About the missing, well, everything, and the cleaning list, and Tali’s prediction that Seggrit will be getting more involved with the day-to-day operations, and how for all that she gripes about it, his absence is what makes her job mostly tolerable. Solas nods where more or less appropriate, sometimes smiling sleepily at her tale from the passenger seat.

She tells him about the houseplant she bought. Remembers she forgot to water it today. Yesterday, too. Fuck.

And she tells him about Sera. About their argument and Dagna moving in, and how odd that will be. How sudden it all is, and maybe destined to be a disaster but worth a try, right? She gets the sudden urge to retreat. Three steps at least away from this talk of people moving in together, of possible futures that they’re far too brand new to traverse, even in conversation, even unrelated to either of them entirely. And maybe he feels it too, because he perks up only to fixate on the rally. Asks her when and where and what's it for and who's in charge and whether or not they got a permit and has the audacity to frown when she admits she won’t be there.

"How unfortunate," he says.

Athi groans."Not you, too."

"Excuse me?"

"Sera already gave me shit about it, so if that's your angle I don't want to hear it."

"I did not intend to ‘give you shit,’ no. I was hoping to invite myself along."

"Really?"

"Yes, it is a worthy cause. I had no idea Sera was such an advocate for social reform."

“Then you don’t know her very well.”

“Clearly I have misjudged her.”

“Why are you interested?”

“Why would I not be?”

She tries not to twist that into an accusation. "You just don't strike me as that kind of guy."

"The kind who cares, or the kind who takes action?"

Eyes on the road, it’s impossible to tell if he’s as offended as he sounds. She shrugs. "Both? Seems like you'd rather dig up the past than fix the future."

“Perhaps you have misjudged me, for I do not see the two as mutually exclusive. Take this next exit, then left at the light.”

The change in subject is a welcome one, but she needs her hand to downshift. Squeezes his before she lets go. Not an apology, not for that, but a no hard feelings. His house is only a few blocks away from here, but that’s as much as she remembers because the streets in this section are laid out in a grid and the corners are basically identical.

“Third one down, take a right.”

The yellow house with the overgrown garden jogs her memory. The plants are sad and brittle and dying now and the last time she passed it was early spring, so the perennials had not yet bloomed and the rest was only partially planted. But it must be a sight to behold in the throes of summer. The colorful pinwheels and kitschy glass butterflies sticking up from the withering stalks imply a love of whimsy, and there’s a small white bench surrounded by unlit lanterns under a nearby tree. She hopes she gets to sit there one day. Hopes the neighbors are friendly.

He has her park in his driveway, nose to the garage and she wonders if he’s filled it with more piles and boxes of dusty books or if he just doesn’t want to bother with the door.

Solas points out the house key for her, then grabs his luggage. Once she realizes the lock is upside-down and gets it open, she flicks the front hall lights on and it’s jarring. The house has that hush which places sometimes get after a prolonged vacancy—an absence of sound to soak up and spit out, and the jingle of his keys in her hand and the scrape of his suitcase on the doorframe are too loud. Like it forgot it was ever lived in. 

But nothing else has changed. Not the clutter in the office. Not the cobweb high in the corner. Not even the slight skew of the painting hanging in the living room. Maybe if they’d made these plans before he had left, he’d have tidied up . . . or maybe not. She doesn’t know him well enough to guess.

“If you do not mind, I have been looking forward to a shower all day,” he says and leans his bag against the wall. Starts down the hall toward the kitchen, then stops so abruptly she nearly runs into him.

“I haven’t kissed you yet,” he says, half epiphany, half confession.

Athi threads her arms around him, pleased to discover the tension between them is gone. “I’m very aware.”

His gaze rests on her lips and he blinks slow, as if the effort to open them again is monumental. When he lowers his face to kiss her it is terribly gentle and maybe it’s not on purpose. Maybe it’s just because he’s tired, but it makes her melt. 

Without a reason not to, her hands wander. Slide over the row of tiny gray buttons on his shirt, push the boundaries of his collar. They graze along his throat and through the short dark hair on his scalp, barely there but for the way it catches on her fingerprints. She presses closer before they part, her dazed and him borderline delirious.

“Ok, go shower,” she urges him. “And don’t doze off in there. I’ll have to make fun of you.”

“After that? It is unlikely I’ll be able to sleep at all.” But his dopey grin belies the truth. “Though if you are concerned for my well-being, you are more than welcome to join me.”

Gods, she never sees it coming. He slides straight from stumbling and sleep-deprived to smooth insinuation like it’s his default setting and she wants to say yes. But she knows better. 

“See, that sounds sexy right up until you’re trying to get to sleep with my hair dripping cold water all over the both of us. Besides, I have some snooping to do.” Teasing, of course. She doesn’t care where he keeps his linens or what lies hidden under his socks.

“By all means, peek anywhere you like. Except the attic, which is strictly off-limits.”

Her eyes light up. “Why, what’s in the attic?”

But he only laughs and heads up the stairs. Pauses halfway up and calls down, “Do you need anything?”

Right on cue.

“I’m good,” she assures him. “Go.”

A sharp squeak is followed by the rush of water through old pipes as she skims the shit on his refrigerator. A coupon for an oil change and receipt from an art supply store. Nothing interesting in the least. His magnets are a confused but equally unenlightening collection of local restaurants’ takeout info and unused metal clips.

A few books sit on the island. Sundered: The Scientific Renaissance of Post-Veil Thedas; The Fade: Fact or Fiction?; and An Exhaustive Documentation of Suspected Elvhen Artifacts Destroyed in the Divine Age. She lifts the cover of the top one, flips pages until she comes to a black business card serving as a makeshift bookmark, scans a few lines:

After their own dark period, the Qunari appear to have focused their collective efforts toward adjusting to these new laws of nature. Extensive, detailed records show rapid technological advancement through experimentation and invention, much of which laid the foundation for generations’ worth of progress. Indeed, many modern conveniences can be traced back to their early successes.

Not exactly light reading. Though pretty typical for him, she suspects. What unsettles her is not the books or the boring refrigerator door. It’s the fact that in all of these rooms—the entryway, the study, the kitchen, the living room—all these living spaces, there are no pictures. Not of anyone. His home is steeped in history, but not his own. She's good at being alone, but at least when she inevitably uproots she takes the memories with her. He has nothing. No drawer full of snapshots to match hers, like some sort of trail to prove his existence.

Maybe they’re just very different people. Maybe he doesn’t feel the need to prove anything. Maybe he isn’t the type to take pictures. Or to keep them. Maybe his memories are painful. Maybe they were lost in some tragic accident that hasn’t come up in conversation yet.

Or maybe she’s reading into stuff she shouldn’t be. Again.

At the top of the stairs are two doors and two doorways. Bathroom’s straight ahead, shower still running. Next to that is a closed door, presumably the attic. The leftmost room is closed as well, but unlocked; there's nothing inside but a few file cabinets. The door to the right hangs open, revealing another bedroom. It is small and tidy with minimal furniture: a dresser and a full-length mirror, and a large bed flush with the corner, the thick crimson comforter slightly rumpled near the pillows on one side as if slept in, then hastily remade. A singular nightstand bears a simple swing-arm lamp.

She hunts through his dresser until she finds his T-shirts. Picks a white one with a logo on it from the middle, between freshly-washed and never-been-used. Not beloved—in case he cares—but not the crisp got-it-for-free-and-couldn’t-throw-it-out kind either. Sheds her clothes that smell like beer and citrus and bitters, all but her underwear and leaves them folded neatly on top of the dresser. Then she pulls on his shirt and knocks on the bathroom door frame.

“It’s open,” he yells, and she rolls her eyes. “Extra toothbrushes are in the lower right drawer, and the toothpaste is behind the mirror.”

“Uh huh,” she answers, but is beginning to regret turning down his offer. The shower curtain is nothing but a clear liner and with no door to keep it in, the steam does blessedly little to conceal his form. There’s still time; for more than a moment she contemplates stripping back down and slipping in, but then he shuts off the water and stretches a dripping arm out for his towel so she goes for the toothbrush instead.

By the time he emerges with that same towel wrapped around his hips, she’s finished and gives his reflection an appreciative glance.

He returns it and tugs on her sleeve. “The Lothering Museum of History will be thrilled to have your endorsement.”

“Why am I not surprised that you don’t have a real shower curtain?”

“This curtain is perfectly sufficient.”

“Hey.” Athi raises her hands and follows him into the bedroom. “Not complaining.”

She also doesn’t complain about the precious seconds between him losing the towel and gaining a pair of pajama pants. He’s fit. Cut, not bulky. Studying old stuff and reading books and attending conferences can’t possibly be a direct line to muscle definition and she wonders what he does to work out. If they could do it together. He doesn’t strike her as a runner, but he might enjoy climbing.

Solas interrupts her plans with a brief kiss, trades the overhead light for the bedside one. Four in the morning is hardly late by her standards, but she can tell as his head hits the pillow that he feels it. He tucks her hair behind her ear and smiles, sleepy and sideways.

“Thank you for coming over.”

Athi turns her head and kisses his fingers and whispers, “Thank you for getting naked.”

She’ll be the funny one forever if it means his nose will always crinkle like that.

“I am sorry that I am not—”

“No.” She presses a thumb to his lips to cut short his apology. “That’s not what I’m here for. Really enjoyed the view, though.”

His face is shadowed by the same light shining in her eyes, but the expression he wears is warm. He hits the switch and the room goes dark. She scoots in closer. Tangles their legs. Wriggles until she’s comfortable. It doesn’t take long, like a sign, or a nod from the universe.

We just fit.

Solas is asleep before she’s even ready to try. There are freckles scattered across his shoulders, constellations to trace while she waits. Tries to match his languid breathing. Thinks about where his pictures went. Almost there, then hits the last and loudest stop on her train of thought’s meandering track, and she’s jolted awake.

The bookmark. The business card. The cleaning and packing up. The answer has been stuffed into the back pocket of her least-favorite jeans for weeks.

Seggrit is selling the fucking bar.

--

She wakes up alone. Sprawled out in sheets that smell like him but without the him they belong to. Adjusting, she stares into the middle distance and listens to a faraway set of sounds—the fridge opens, then shuts, the clink of dishes and creak of the floor.

Seggrit is selling the bar. She has no idea what to do with that news except to tell Tali, have her check the books to confirm. They’ve been behind by at least a month for as long as Athi’s worked there, usually more, and if he’s really going to get rid of the place he’ll have had to catch up.

She rolls out of bed, digs her toes into the carpet. It could be nine or noon or later for all she knows. The sun here is strange, and there’s no clock in this room to tell her so she goes searching for one downstairs.

A mosaic-faced antique by the sliding door claims it’s noon.

“Good morning,” Solas says from the kitchen.

She mumbles something resembling words. Seven more steps and she hugs him from behind and they fit so well and his heart is beating fast and he stops whisking eggs to stand there with her all quiet and it’s not morning anymore and he should have stayed in bed and she needs to text Tali and—

“I want coffee,” she whines. Doesn’t mean to whine, but there it is. What if he doesn’t have any? What if he’s one of those people that doesn’t keep coffee in their house?

She might cry.

“There is a bag in the cupboard at the end there, next to the mugs. I was going to make it for you, but—”

“Say no more.”

Gods, she’s glad he didn’t. No one makes it strong enough, and he’s too cute to disappoint so she would have had to drink it anyway. Pretend that pisswater was fine.

Cupboard on the end, right where he said. She slides it off the shelf and can’t help but flutter as she examines the packaging. It’s the same as the ones she bought—or tried to buy then he bought for her—at the coffee shop last year. Or maybe he just asked for “something strong” at the shop and this happened to be what they gave him, but regardless, he thought of her and that feels good all on its own. Her butterflies settle as she opens the bag, breathes in deep. Pours a generous pile into a fresh filter and fills the reservoir with water.

“Roast date on this is yesterday. Did you really leave me sleeping alone in your house?” she teases and pushes the button to start the brew cycle. “What if I had woken up and you were gone?”

“I did consider that possibility, but weighed against the certainty of the alternative, it seemed the wisest course of action.” He arches an eyebrow. “Was I wrong?”

“No.” Athi revisits the cupboard to shuffle through his assortment of mismatched mugs. “And thank you.”

“My pleasure.”

She selects one of the mugs, a pleasantly rounded stoneware dip-painted in orange and teal and gray. Her unofficial favorite. There is a newspaper, folded twice, laying on the counter between a plate covered in foil and two clean ones. Solas is reading rather than cooking. Maybe he’s fine with rubbery eggs, but she’s not so she leaves her mug to watch the coffee brew, plucks the spatula from his hand, takes over.

“Seggrit’s selling the bar,” she blurts out as she gently stirs, then scoops a heaping golden spoonful onto each plate. “I think.”

To his credit, Solas looks up from the article he’s so engrossed in. “Really?”

She nods.

“How do we feel about that?”

She shrugs.

“Perhaps you should buy it,” he says and moves his plate and his paper to the island. Yanks open the silverware drawer and hands her a fork. “You wanted to put your name on something, right?”

She snorts. “Didn’t mean literally.”

They eat breakfast right there in the kitchen. Hip to hip, or as close as she can get. Sausage from under the foil and rich maple syrup and toast and almost-perfect scrambled eggs and coffee he bought and didn’t make just for her.

Not a bad morning, truth be told.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Solas asks out of nowhere.

“Hmm?”

He is watching her intently and it occurs to her that she’s been grinning at empty space this whole time.

“Oh,” she says, “it’s nothing,” but her face won’t cooperate and Solas doesn’t buy it.

“It must be quite a pleasant piece of nothing to warrant such a smile. Are you sure it’s not something?” His voice drops low and he leans closer. “Perhaps even something you want to share with me?”

“They say 'bits' here, by the way. ‘Two bits for your thoughts.’ Just so you know.”

“Fascinating.” He doesn’t even pretend to sound sincere.

Oh, she wants to be brave. She makes him work a little harder for it. Keeps it locked up tight until he says please, then she scrunches her nose up where the honesty tickles, and spills even though it’s scary.

“I just . . . it’s nice waking up with you, and”—damn her burning cheeks—“I could get used to it. That’s all.”

Meeting his eyes afterward is a rush. Risk and reward all wrapped up in one because he is beaming right back at her.

“Funny. I was thinking the exact same thing.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes.”

Fuck it. Athi polishes off her coffee. Slides her plate away and faces him fully. Fills her chest with air and bravado. “So what do you want?”

He looks at her quizzically.

“Yeah, context. Before we kissed—at my place, like for real—you asked what I wanted. I said I wanted you, which, I mean, I’ve wanted you since . . . ” She wants to say since the beginning but that’s so fucking cheesy. “Gods, since the coffee shop, I think. But when I asked what I meant to you, you deflected.”

Solas pauses. His gaze drifts, then snaps back. “You are right. I apologize.”

“Also not an answer.”

A full minute, or maybe an hour, passes as he percolates. She can almost see him directing his thoughts this way and that, organizing a response that shouldn’t be this complicated while her own mind skitters from one unsavory possibility to the next. 

“Should’ve sent my questions in ahead of time,” she jokes.

A brief, self-deprecating chuckle as he folds his fingers around hers. “In all fairness, your answer to the same question was efficient, but also vague. Is it so wrong of me to consider my own more carefully?”

“Got me there.”

“I was not trying to win. This conversation is an important one, and I feel it must be approached with both candor and subtlety.”

Candor and subtlety? Athi sighs. New tactic. “Listen, did you avoid the question on purpose?” 

She takes a steady breath—

“No.”

—and lets it out. “Well then, to be honest, I was kind of hoping we could make out at some point today so . . . how about we put the heavy conversation on hold, just for now, and I return the favor and make this easy for you?”

Solas’ smile is indulgent, if a bit weary. “That would be fine.”

“Good. Ok.” She leans her chin on one hand. “Do you want to be with me?”

“Yes, very much.”

“Like, not just sleeping over and having breakfast, even though we’re obviously really good at that. The whole deal.”

He smirks. “Yes.”

“Only me?”

“Yes.”

Athi claps her hands together. “Good! Excellent response time,” she says, satisfied. Stacks their dishes while she speaks. “Anything else to add?”

“That’s it? That is all you want to know?” A mixture of relief and disappointment is plain on his face.

“Ha! Cute. No, see, I want to hear that elaborate answer of yours, I do. I want to know absolutely every single thought you’ve had about me since day one. Also why you stopped coming to the bar”—she starts counting off on her fingers—“and how long you’ve felt this way, what you and Bull get up to at your secret little club meetings, about a zillion other things . . . But as I said,” and she shrugs, “I have plans.”

“I stopped coming to the bar because I already felt this way. Not”—he gestures between them—“exactly this way, of course, but the first stirrings of it. I had been alone a long time, and it frightened me. Next question.”

“Hold on. Same question. You’ve liked me that long?”

“Yes, though I find it hard to believe that you, of all people, did not notice. If anything, I have been too demonstrative of my feelings this past year. Given the circumstances, that is.”

“Too demonstra— Seriously?” Athi is at a loss. Frozen mid-bewildered-flailing, mouth agape like he’s just grown another pair of eyes right in front of her. “Maybe I, of all people, didn’t notice because we spent all that time together and you never said shit, and then—and then!— you invited me over to ask for dating advice which kind of cancelled out any prior feelings you may have demonstrated. I mean, what the fuck?”

“Ah, that’s right.” Solas sighs heavily. “I suppose we may as well sort this out now.”

“Yeah,” she hisses. “Let’s.” She props one elbow on the counter, rests her chin on her fist. Waits for an explanation.

“Athi,” and he scratches his jaw. “I do not know exactly how you remember that conversation going, but the subject of my inquiry—the woman I mentioned meeting—was you.”

Three beats to process, then: “What!?”

He winces—fair, it was piercing—and he half-hides his face in his hands before continuing. “I was attempting to casually express my interest and it did not occur to me that you’d misunderstood my meaning until recently. At the time, I assumed that you were simply not as interested as I had allowed myself to believe and therefore left before the situation became uncomfortable.”

“Well, I did do that.”

“Then, while I was away, I became convinced that a misunderstanding was possible if not probable, so I resolved to try again once I returned.”

“Oh no . . . ” she trails off and grimaces, and Solas just nods.

Such a mess, and for no fucking reason. They stand there in a dazed silence for a while, looking at anything but each other. Finally, Athi peeks over and Solas has his head hanging low like a puppy shamed for eating from the garbage. It’s so sad and so stupid and she can’t keep from laughing. First a little, then a lot, then he’s laughing right along with her.

“So you’re telling me,” she wheezes out between giggles. “We could have been banging for no less than six months already?”

“I’m afraid so.”

She’s swept away by another wave of laughter. When it finally subsides, she’s left with aching cheeks and tears in her eyes.

“Come on,” she says and grabs his hand, squeezes it tight, pulls him toward the stairs.

“What? Where are we going?”

“To make up for lost time.”

[castielsshield]

Noise

Title: Noise (Leave A Message Part 2)

Pairing: Female OC/Sam Winchester

Synopsis: After losing Jess, Sam continues to leave messages on her phone as a coping mechanism. Unbeknownst to Sam, that number has been adopted by another person.

Word Count: 1,696

Warnings: None

Part 1 || Part 3 || Masterpost

— • —

From that day forward, I continued getting voicemails from the stranger. I learned about him from the simple conversations he had with himself. Most of the time, the messages contained nothing but the man on the other end crying and apologizing to the woman named Jess. Every once in a while, details about his life seeped through.

    I learned that he had been going to college at Stanford, and he had dreams of becoming a lawyer with a family. The girl he was leaving messages to was his first love. The guy he mentioned in the first message, Dean, was his brother. They were working together to find their missing father.

     It went on like that for months. The messages began at the beginning of December. Now, it’s the beginning of May. Now, the voicemails started to change.

     My phone rang in the middle of the night, two in the morning, to be exact. I knew it wasn’t my father calling me; he wasn’t out on business at that time. ‘It must be Mystery Boy,’ I thought to myself, groggy from waking up without warning. Looking at my phone, I saw 'Mystery Boy' typed across the front of the screen, confirming my theory.

     Letting the phone ring until the mystery man reached my voicemail, I rolled over to turn on my lamp. Pulling out my chapter book, I began reading as the guy left a message to Jess on my phone.

     Around five minutes later, my phone notified me that I had a new voicemail with a now-familiar ping. I placed my bookmark in the dip between the pages and picked up my phone. I opened the phone, not bothering to look at what the screen said, and started the voicemail.

    Instead of meeting the usual sound of light crying as I had expected, the man spoke in a normal voice. Though it seemed to be his casual voice, there was still something there. A sadness that filled his words, impossible not to notice.

     “Hey, Jessica. As you might know, today’s my birthday. I’m finally 23. It’s also been exactly six months since Yellow-Eyes killed you.” The voice paused for a moment as the man on the other end let out a tiny, miserable laugh. “Life has a bit of a messed up sense of humor, doesn’t it? We finally got a call from Dad. He told us to stop looking for him, but I know Dean. He’s not going to stop looking until we find him.”

     He stopped talking again, letting the statement hang in the air as he thought of what to say next. “On the brighter side of things, Dean and I are getting along pretty well. We’ve been pranking each other a lot.” He let out another laugh, but this time it was genuine. “We went to a bar not too long ago. When he was in the bathroom, I put superglue on the side of his beer. He never saw it coming. I'm pretty sure I've started a pranking war between us.”

     I smiled at the last part. ‘I’m glad he’s finally finding happiness after what happened to his girlfriend. I hope it stays that way for him.’

     “I miss you, Jess. I miss you so damn much. I haven’t gotten used to you being gone. I’m getting used to not getting phone calls from you. I’m getting used to not being able to smell your perfume on my clothes that you liked to wear on lazy days. But I’ll never get used to you being gone.” His voice grew sad again as he got lost in old memories of him and his deceased girlfriend. “I was going to ask you to marry me, you know. It would’ve been amazing to be able to call you my wife. I wanted to ask you as soon as I heard about my interview at the law school. I would have, but I couldn’t find a ring that was special enough to give to you.” He let out a deep sigh that made me feel as though the place where my heart should be was just an empty cavity.

     “I’m sorry. I have to go, Jess. Dean found another case a couple of days out from here. We’re going to pack up and head out. I’ll talk to you later, babe. I love you.”

     The voicemail ended with a beep, and I clicked save. ‘He was going to ask the woman to marry him. He wanted to have a life with her, but whatever killed Jessica snatched those dreams away from him. He mentioned something about a case. What are they, detectives? And what the hell is Yellow-Eyes?’

     I shook my head at myself and sighed. I turned my lamp off and pulled the blanket up to my neck, resting my head on the pillow. I tried pushing those thoughts to the back of my mind, but my brain was already too active to fall back asleep. I turned my lamp back on and went to sit at my desk.

     I sat down and pulled out one of my many sketchbooks. I leaned back in my chair, looking at the stars behind the glass of my bedroom window. Realizing I hadn’t looked at the stars in ages, I decided I wanted to get a better look at them. I grabbed a couple of things I would need to make a good drawing, my jacket, and my phone. Then, I slipped out of my room, careful to make as little noise as possible. I made my way to the back door, trying to stay completely silent.

     I was a few feet away from the door when I stepped on a creaky floorboard. It let out a groan from my weight, and I froze in place. I winced, praying that my dad’s snores were too loud for him to hear over. I held my breath, straining my ears to hear any noise that might be coming from my dad’s room.

     After a moment, I could make out the faint snores of my sleeping father. I let out a sigh of relief and crept forward, finally making it to the wooden back door. I unlocked the door and opened it enough so that I could slip out into the quiet May night. 

     I made my way over to the ladder attached to the side of the house and climbed onto the roof using one hand. Once I had made it to the middle of the roof. I sat down and placed my stuff next to me, taking special care to make sure my pens and pencils didn’t roll off the edge.

     I leaned backward, resting my back on the hard shingles of the roof, putting my hands by my sides. Tilting my head back as a breeze came by, the cool air gliding across my skin, I stared up at the sky. My eyes searched the dark void, trying to identify the different constellations.

     Our house, which is more like a big cabin, is far away from everything, resting in the middle of a massive piece of land. Because of that, there wasn’t a lot of light pollution to block out the bright stars of the night.

     As I looked up at the stars, taking in their ancient light, I realized that they weren’t the colors I thought they were. They weren’t white and yellow like I had always believed. Instead, they were blue and orange and red. ‘I know what I’m going to draw.’

     I sat up, picking up my sketchbook, and opening it to the next blank page. I began by coloring the entire background in a deep navy blue blended with black making it look like the night sky. Then, I used my white gel pen to create a pattern of stars that resembled a woman standing in a fire.

     With my lightest touch and a white colored pencil, I created faint lines connecting the stars. Together, they formed the silhouette of a woman standing among flames. It wasn't easy to see the white lines, but you could still make out what the image was.

     To top it off, I used my other colored pencils to shade in the color of the stars. The ones that made up the fire were yellow, orange, and red, while the ones shaded light blue created the woman's form.

     When I finally set my blue pencil down, my back and neck were sore from hunching over, but I completed the artwork. I packed up my supplies, taking a last look at my newest piece of art before closing my sketchbook.

     Leaning back against the roof, I looked up at the stars once more. Folding my hands behind my head, I imagined I could see the burning woman on the inky background of the night sky. The thought of something I created shining in the black-and-blue abyss for everyone to see was enough to make me smile.

     Lost in the peaceful moment, I could feel a tide of emotion building inside of me—love, happiness, calmness, peace. 

     The feeling shattered in an instant as the snap of a stick echoed from the woods.

     I sucked in a breath, my head snapping towards the direction of the sound. I squinted and strained my eyes, trying to make out what had caused the noise. Through the whole process, I was mentally cursing myself for not bringing my knife.

     Sitting stock-still, I waited for another moment to see if anything would happen. When nothing did, I gathered my things in my arms and made my way back down the ladder.

     Easing open the door, I was unable to lose my feeling of apprehension. I shook my head at myself. ‘It’s nothing, Ash. You’re being stupid. It’s the forest. It was an animal, nothing more.’

     But the moon was cold. The pale light bathing the earth no longer granted the feeling of safety it held earlier. The forest that had once offered a safe place was laughing at me, taunting me. I felt as though I was being watched. Watched by something that took everything safe and calming about my home away from me.

[yellsatyouinrogerwaters]

End Of The Night - Rick Wright

 A/N: I'm sorry it took so long, I took a little break.

L E N G T H: 1,582 words W A R N I N G: Nothing really. I N S P I R A T I O N: End of the Night - The Doors

Y O U R    P O V

 The phone rang, causing me to wake from my slumber. I groaned from the sudden noise and lifted myself from my bed, trudging my way to the phone. Pulling the receiver out of its slot, I press the receiver's speaker on my ear. 

"Hello..?," I mumbled.

"[y/n]? Did I wake you up? I'm so sorry if I did,"

"Its fine, Rick. No worries." 

"Alright. Anyways, would you like to come with the band and me on a trip to the forest for a few days? Possible a week for that matter," he asked with his gentle tone. Tittering, I nodded. 

"I'll tag along, I'll bring tons of snacks and essentials," I grinned and let out a little humming laugh. 

"Alrighty! We'll all meet at the studio at 3 and head on to the forests."

"Okay, see you soon," I hung up the phone and dashed up the stairs. I opened the handles on my closet doors and walked into it. Digging through sections of the closet, I found a camping backpack that I kept since I was younger just in case I wanted to go camping again, but this time as an adult. Grabbing it, I opened it up and found some memorabilia, then set it down on a shelf across from me.

 After an hour, my bag was finally packed with everything I needed. Before walking downstairs with the bag, I grabbed my towel. Once downstairs, I plopped the bag down on one of the cushions of the couch and paced to my bathroom. 

After a few minutes, I came out of the shower and changed into comfortable, but casual clothing. As I walked back to the living room again, I dried hair and turned on the T.V. to see if anything was interesting. After a few minutes, I found a Hollywood drama that I couldn't take my eyes off. 

T I M E  S K I P 

R I C K ' S   P O V 

 I arrived quite early at the studio and sat outside on the steps. Taking a deep breath and sigh, I took a book out of a small pile that I packed and slid my finger done the pages, letting the book open up by itself. I began to read and felt the activation of my imagination. 

About 30 minutes go by and I was already one third into the book,

"Hey, Rick!" A voice called, I looked up and saw that it was Nick. I placed my bookmark into its new spot in the book and shut the book, 

"Hello, Nick."

"What'd you pack for the trip?" Nick asked. 

"Not much actually. Just some food, a journal, books, and of course a tent," I elaborated.

It didn't take long until David and Roger arrived. We all stuffed our stuff into the back of the van that's owned by our manager. He would let us borrow it whenever we needed it. 

I gazed down at my wrist and saw what time it was, 3:16. I sighed to myself and fiddled with my fingers. 

 "Rick, is [y/n] coming? We have to get on the road soon before it gets dark," David explained. 

"She's running a bit late, I kno-". The sound of panting became audible and nearby, it caught my ear. I faced the opposite way from the band and traipsed my way over to the gate. Peaking my head slightly over the gate, I saw [y/n] running towards the gate. I swung the door open for her to come in. Once she made it in, she gasped for air with her head facing the ground and her hands on her knees; I took out a canteen from my bag and handed it to her. 

"[y/n], were you running the entire trip here?" she flung her head back and nodded as she drunk from the canteen. Once finished, she handed it back to me and I rubbed her back as she began to struggled less and less with her breathing. 

"Are you okay now?", I asked. 

"Yes, thank you for the refreshment," she showed me a grateful smile. Nick clapped his hand, grabbing the attention of all of us, "Alright, now that we're all here, it's time to get on the road, I'll drive this time." 

"Let me get your bag, [y/n]" I said and got behind her and, in one fluid motion, slid off her bag and placed it with the other bags. 

We all got into the car; Nick in the driver's seat with David seated next to him, Roger having the middle row section to himself, and [y/n] and I in the last row chatting about whatever came to our heads. 

Nick started up the engine and got out of the parking lot in a matter of seconds and we were on way to the forest. 

T I M E  S K I P 

 Nick parked the van right outside of the campsite and turned off the engine. We all filed out of the car and got our stuff out. Heading off to the entrance station, we all looked at our surroundings and soaked up the beauty of it, but I focused most of my gaze on [y/n]. She turned her head and made slight eye contact with me, causing her to display her pearly whites at me. I smiled back and tucked back a strand of my hair, 

"How do you feel about this trip?"

"I'm excited, I finally get to read some books that I haven't been able to read and be outside, which doesn't happen as often as I want it to," she explained. I paid attention to every detail I could, the way she talked, her body language, anything really.  

Arriving at the campsite, we set our things down and set up. I opened the bag that carried the tent and let everything spill out. Spreading everything into its layout and grabbing the tiny hammer that came with the tent, I hammered down each peg deep enough for the tent to be held up steadily. Once I was finished, the tent stood up tall.

"Holy crap, Rick. Where did you get that giant tent?" 

"My father gave it to me, I never thought I would use it, yet here we are," I let out a chuckle. 

"Hmm.." [y/n] said, stepping closer to the tent, "seems like it could fit a whole family." We all laughed, but I developed a faint blush on my cheeks when [y/n] said 'family.'

 Y O U R   P O V 

 The sky began to darken as the sun slowly went to sleep. We all gathered in a circle and put a battery-operated lantern in the center, it shone enough to go beyond the circumference of the circle we've made. 

"Are we telling horror stories?" Roger chuckled. 

"No, we're singing songs and  doing "What am I supposed to do, grab two sticks and beat the ground with them?" Nick questioned.

"That doesn't sound bad actually," I laughed and patted Nick on the back. 

David picked up his acoustic guitar and began to strum the strings. 

"What are we supposed to sing about?" Rick asked.

"Anything," David reassured. Rick cleared his throat and began to sing. It was quite rare for Rick, let alone speak. We were are speechless and wonder-struck. David was slowly strumming slowly but softly, Rick's gentle tone merged perfectly with David's playing. 

"If the sun refused to shine"

"I would still be loving you"

"When mountains crumble to the sea"

"There will still be you and me."

We realized that it was Thank You by Led Zeppelin. Once Rick finished, we all clapped immensely, making him feel a bit shy.  

After hours of singing, joking, and telling stories, we decided to take a little break and each go to our respected tents. I sat in my tent and read The Shining by Stephen King. Being intrigued by the book, I kept my eyes focused on the pages and blocked out my surroundings until I heard a voice, 

"[y/n]," I turned my head to the direction of where the voice was coming from. Slowly getting up, I set my book down on its pages and made my way to the sealing of the tent, unzipping it. Behind the sealing was Rick. He looked a bit worried, 

"Oh, hey Rick. What's up?" I asked in a concerned tone.

"May I come in?" I responded with a nod and he walked with caution. We both walked and sat adjacent to each other. 

"Alright, Rick, what brings you here today?" I joked, chortling. 

"I wanted to open up about something that has been bothering me for a while now," he pinched the bridge of his nose. 

"Okay, what is it? I promise I would judge you," I reassured him. He took a deep breath and let out a sigh. He looked at his hands and fidgeted with them as he mustered the confidence to say his confession.

"I.. I think I've fallen for you and when I sang that song... it was for you" I smiled a little and nodded my head at him. 

"I've fallen for you too, Rick." 

He grinned at me and I hugged him tightly. He wrapped his arms around me and whispered in my ear, "I love you, [y/n]." 

Without leaving his embrace, I placed my lips on his and kissed him with all the love I could give.

"I love you too, Rick."