#i would just like for spring to finally arrive please i need sunshine or i will perish :((

[strawbebbiesart]

waiting for spring to arrive 🌿🌸

(based on work by  george tyebcho)

[thebunnybabyblog]

7th year (18yr old) Snape and his girlfirend smut please ❤️

In the soft grass (fluff/smut 18+)

Thank you so much for my first anon ask!! I was so happy to write this one! To me i totally think teen Severus is a shy guy. Fumbling hands but still there to hold yours when needed! I wanted to give him a first time that is filled with sunshine and laughter instead of keeping him in a dark dungeon like I would for adult Severus. He deserves a sweet first time and I hope that’s what I gave him! Anyway smut under the cut! Thank you again!!

Severus and reader are both 18!

Spring was in full swing and the halls that were usually buzzing with chatter and hurried feet rushing to classes now echoed as you made your way through them alone. This break was just like the many others before it, quiet. Holidays were never much to be celebrated since your arrival to Hogwarts those many years ago so you always opted to spend them here just to have some time for yourself. A time to feel as if you had free reign to explore and drift around without the chance of bumping into someone you knew. Though there was one person you never minded bumping into, Severus.

Most people around you had a weird and often false view of him so you were always met with bitterness when he would be brought up in conversation, but you knew it was all a lie. After the incident in fifth year with James Potter you couldn’t hide in the shadows anymore. Being a Hufflepuff made it difficult to be friendly with Slytherins because you felt as if you were worlds apart and honestly you were afraid that all the rumors would be true about him; but, seeing him in the air helpless and exposed something in you snapped. Ever since that day you never left his side.

At first he was not totally welcome to the idea of some random Hufflepuff following him around, part of you thought that he thought this was all some big joke and he'd end up as the punchline in the end. You knew that wasn’t the case and you tried your best to ease any worries and after fifth year ended and sixth started up you were still there waiting for him. He knew he at least had you to look out for in the crowded halls, someone to run to when the world got too dark. Now in your seventh year the love you had for him bubbled up and out your ears.

After fifth year Severus started staying back at Hogwarts over breaks, as his life at home wasn’t much easier back there either. You were honestly happy he started staying even if you knew the reason why wasn’t a pleasant thought. It would make tears peek their heads when it would fill your mind but it made it just that more important to make these breaks special.

Skipping along the halls you made your way to different spots you knew he could be hiding out at. Not that he was hiding from you but he was still a person who valued their alone time, and you respected that, but, you were getting bored. It made it a little fun game of hide and seek he didn’t know he was playing. You started with the usual places like the great hall and the library but you are met with empty rooms. After a while of normal search you started to look in the more hidden places around Hogwarts, your search still comes up empty.

“Ok sev where the hell did you run off too?” you say to yourself trying not to get annoyed but your legs were starting to get tired. You decide to make your way outside and have a look around the grounds and you finally see him laying out near the far side of the lake far from the castle's view . You didn’t notice at first but as you were running up to him you saw the book he had been reading sprawled open in the grass. You slowed yourself as you realized he had dozed off under the warm sun. A smile spread across your face as you looked down to his peaceful face. You slowly crept up beside him and sat down on the soft grass below.

The scowl that always seemed permanently plastered on his face was gone and he looked as if he was finally enjoying some sleep for once. He always complained about his lack of sleep and the nightmares that plagued his mind at night, so even though you were bored you wouldn’t dream of waking him up now. You weren’t bored now anyway as all you needed was to be in his presence. You laid back and looked up to the clouds as you listened to his breathing in your ear.

It was a perfect spring day, one of those days early into spring that's unusually warm and makes you crave summer just around the corner. You watched the clouds shift in and out of different images and watched birds play in the air. You had been laid there lost in thought for around 20 minutes when his breath became flustered beside you. Not wanting to startle him awake you slowly moved your head to look up to him only to be met with the most devious sight. Still fast asleep his chest heaved up and down, the scowl had returned to his face but it was different than normal. His pale cheeks were now flushed pink and his eyes were winced closed tightly. As your eyes moved down his body you couldn’t help but notice him straining tightly in his pants.

Embarrassed, your sight shot back up to the blue skies above you. You felt like your body had turned to stone as you were afraid any movement would wake him. You couldn’t lie seeing him like this was driving you crazy. There was no doubting you were absolutely in love with him but you had never managed to exactly tell him that. It wasn’t like it wasn’t blatantly obvious to everyone else, but Severus wasn’t exactly a master at people as he was about potions and spells.

Your heart beat fast as the thoughts of what he could be dreaming about that put him in such a... state. He was a guy who was hard to read so even after a few years of friendship you still didn’t know a whole bunch about him. You couldn’t help but feel a twinge of sadness when the thought of Lily being the reason behind it. You hated the way it made you jealous but it did, even though they haven’t spoken since fifth year it still was something you thought about more often than you'd like.

“Y/n...” Severus breathed out.

Your eyes moved without command, straining to look over without moving your body. You froze a moment to see if he was still asleep or he was waking up and had just noticed you. You were only met with more labored breathing and a soft moan that was hummed into the air. He was definitely still asleep and your heart was beating through you chest at the thought you were what he was dreaming about.

Something in you snapped when you heard your name slip through his lips once more. Like your body was possessed you shifted to your side so you could lay facing him as you propped your head up on your hand. Your elbow dug into the cool grass below as you gazed down to his sleeping face.

His sharp features looked as if they were carved out of ivory. Black hair sprawled out around his face like spilled ink. It was hard to believe that people looked at him and were able to think anything other than that he looked like a fallen angel from heaven. He was filled with so much mystery and it always intrigued you and right now your name rolling off his tongue intrigued you the most.

You watched his chest rise and fall as his breathing became more uneven. He stirred in his slumber and his body moved and now was facing you. Your face practically hovered over his and you couldn’t help but blush looking down at him. You would do anything to just lean down and kiss his soft lips that seemed to beg for the warmth of another.

Without thinking you began to lower your face to his and your lips grazed ever so gently across his. Just enough to feel him there but too shy to put your all into it. Even though you were as gentle as possible his brow furrowed and his eyes fluttered half open blinking a few times to regain his sight.

He looked up to your face not quite sure who he was looking at first as the sun was now directly behind your head but as he regained his conscious brain he was quick to see it was you who now towered over him. A blush spread across his cheeks as you smiled down to him.

“Good morning sleepyhead.” You chuckled down to him. “Oh y/n… how long have you been here?” He questioned as he shuffled to try and hide what was screaming for attention between his legs. “Oh a good while actually” you cooed down to him “you seemed like you were having such a great dream I didn’t want to disturb your restful slumber.” You could tell that Severus knew he was caught as you were not one to be able to hide when you knew something you probably shouldn’t.

“So what were ya dreaming about?” You questioned as innocently as you could. “Oh nothing.” He coughed out turning his head to look down at the grass he was now fiddling with between his fingers. “Hmm, it didn't seem like nothing but I guess if you don’t wanna tell me.” You replied, shocked with your boldness. He just seemed so shy and cute all of a sudden not quite knowing how to react to the situation.

You didn’t want to push him if he was uncomfortable so you sat up and supported yourself with both arms as you leaned and looked out to the lake. Severus was shy and normally you would like to poke him for it but you had never seen him aroused before and were afraid of how he’d react if you made a bold assumption.

“It’s so beautiful out here today,” you said to relieve the tension “spring is just filled with so much life. I feel so connected to the world around me. Like even the ground under me is alive and I’m alive with it.” Your fingers rubbed into the grass below as you took a deep breath in and looked up to the sky above.

Unbeknownst to you all Severus could even notice was you. He watched in awe as you glowed in a warm halo of sunshine, hair flowing freely in the light breeze. He always thought to himself how when you entered a room you filled it with the warmth of the summer sun but he was the chill of a winter's night. He imagined how if he touched you he would melt away instantly.

He looked down at your bare arm and his eyes traveled down and rested on your hand petting the grass close to his hand. His fingers inched closer at a snail's pace desperately aching for any form of physical touch. Just when he didn’t think you’d ever make contact, your fingers caressed the top of his longest fingers.

You both jumped a bit from the sudden contact, you turned your head to look down at him and saw his big black eyes looking up at you with so much neediness behind them. His cheeks blushed pink as he slightly invaded his fingers more into yours. Your fingers moved aside to allow his to mingle with yours and soon you were both intertwined.

Now that you were connected you felt more comfortable to ask the question that was already answered again. “Sev, what were you dreaming about?” You spoke just above a whisper. He looked away in embarrassment and muttered out, “well… you of course.”

“Of course” you screamed in your head. Like it was blatantly obvious and clear, as if he had hinted it many times before. You knew he liked you more than him just tolerating you but you never dreamed he would see you more than just a friend. “Of course?” Is all you could respond.

He just sighed and looked back up to you, a lock of hair falling into his line of view. Without thinking your free hand reached over and gently began to tuck it behind his ear, he pushed his cheek into your touch and fluttered his eyes closed. He savored in your soft touch and warmth. You couldn’t help but leave your hand atop his cheek and look down at this touch starved boy below you.

You’ve waited for a sign for so long that he was ready for you. Ready for you to give him all of your love, a way to sneak to a spot in his heart. You brushed his sharp cheekbone with your thumb slowly and lowered your face to his. You could feel each other's breaths on your skin as you breathed each other in. The smell of deep forests and herbs filled your nose and spring meadows and citrus filled his.

You don’t quite know if it was you that filled the gap between your lips or if it was him but before you knew it your lips were pressed down on his. The kiss was full of shy innocence but also overwhelming need and desire. His face was still cradled in your touch and your fingertips skimmed through his hair lightly as you deepened your kiss.

Without breaking contact you leaned yourself down to where you were now laying flat in the grass and he was positioned above you slightly. He broke the kiss to look at you sprawled out under him. Your cheeks flushed pink and lips plump and wet. You looked up with half open eyes and said,

“You know, I’ve been waiting for you to kiss me for ages now.” You chuckled at the shocked expression he wore. His hair had fallen back in his face so again you reached up and pushed it behind his left ear. “I love your hair but I love it more when I can get a clear view of your face. You are so handsome, Severus.” You whispered up to him with a smile.

He moaned into your touch as he heard your words escape your mouth. Without words he moved his way back down to your lips and melted into you. You could tell he was nervous but he was so needy. It felt as if he was trying to remember every single second that passed by, remember just exactly how your lips felt against his. Your right hand wandered through his hair as your left found itself gripping his arm that was holding him up slightly.

Your shyness had officially left the building by this point, you had waited so long for this and you were already past the point of no return so you crept your knee between his legs and pressed into him. He took a sharp breath in as you made contact with the ache behind his trousers. You smiled into his lips as he pushed himself forward into you more.

Slowly you rocked under him allowing a bit of friction to his member. A moan passed his lips and it shocked him. His eyes bolted open only to be met with yours looking back at him with hearts in your eyes. You pulled away from him and said “Sevvie, will you be my boyfriend?” Your question would have even shocked you if you weren’t so drunk with love.

He looked down at you in shock and awe. His face became even more flushed than it already was before. He gulped and you watched his prominent Adam’s apple move along his throat. For a moment you were afraid that his answer was no as he just stayed there looking down at you. You began to get flushed by the silence and blushed hard.

You opened your mouth to backtrack and tell him to forget you said anything but his forehead pressed against yours, “Of course you silly girl, I’ve wanted you ever since you came rushing up to me in fifth year.” You giggled at his response as you savored the warmth that filled your heart. His hair brushed against your face and it tickled as it slipped down your cheeks.

You looked lovingly into each other's eyes, the fresh spring breeze causing his hair to flutter in the wind. You looked up to him in awe, someone with such a damaged past but still filled with so much light and softness. Even if you were the only one who could see it, it didn’t matter, you knew it was there and was real, it didn't matter if others couldn’t seem to see it.

Slowly he brought his head down to yours and your lips met once more. You made out in the grass as the world seemed to stop around you both. Full of love and passion you both explored each other's bodies as your lips furiously fought with one another. Your knee still pressed into him; he slightly rocked himself against you.

You could tell he was nervous as he was touching you because everytime he seemed he was going to touch your chest his hand retreated in hesitation. After the fourth time of feeling his fingertips brush against the wire of your bra, you grabbed his hand and steadied him before he could make his retreat.

“It’s ok Severus, I want you to touch me.” You said as you broke away from your kiss. Eyes wide he looked down at your form, your flushed face, eyes full of drunken love, messy hair sprawled out around you like your aura was spilling out of you.

He couldn’t believe this Hufflepuff, that is so full of love and light, could look like this because of him. He couldn’t help but feel like this was a dream he was inevitably going to wake up from. You could tell he was becoming flustered and didn’t know how to process what was happening, so you took the lead.

You let go of his hand and smiled up at him as you slowly began to unbutton your blouse. He watched you as you slowly slipped the buttons from each hole until your top had fully fallen open on both sides, exposing the simple bra underneath. You had never done this before but you knew that you were ready and wanted it more than anything.

His hand trembled in yours as you grasped it again and gently placed it upon your breast. His eyes shot back up to your face and looked as if he needed confirmation once more. You met his worried eyes with a tender expression, “Severus, I promise it’s ok. I want you more than anything.” Your tender words filled his ears and he looked as if he were about to cry.

His lips came crashing back down to yours as his large hand began to knead into you. You couldn’t help but to moan into his mouth as he unknowingly tweaked your nipple between the fabric. His lips moved down to your neck and kissed a path from your ear to collarbone. Your arms wrapped around his broad shoulders, hands resting on his sharp shoulder blades.

You giggled out as his hair tickled against your bare skin. You could feel him smile against you. Oh how you wished he’d smiled more. He lit up more than just a room when he did, he lit up your heart more than anything. You giggled more to keep him smiling against you in his kisses and started to rolled around playfully in the grass.

Eventually in your roll in the grass you ended up on top of him. You were both laughing that you both momentarily forgot about your shirt open in front of him. Preached atop his lap you glowed like a goddess in the sunlight that was now on its course to start setting. The once blue skies now started to shift into soft oranges and pinks as the clouds shifted like cream in a sherbet sky.

You looked down to him with his raven hair a mess with a few blades of bright green grass planted in it from your tumble around. His face flushed with laughter and love he looked up to you with his nighttime eyes. His large crooked nose and plump just kissed lips begged to be kissed again. You just loved looking at him, he was like looking into space itself. So mysterious but breathtaking all at the same time.

It was in this moment you would give all of yourself to him, right here and right now. You had always held out hope he would be your first and right here alone by the lake under dreamsicle sky’s was the perfect time to do it. Without breaking eye contact you slowly slide your shirt down your shoulders and onto the ground below.

He watched in awe desperately trying to remain eye contact as your hands slid behind your back and unclasped your bra. The bra soon found its friend on the ground next to you both. There you were half exposed to your best friend both unable to move. His eyes scanned your body trying to memorize every single curve and detail.

Slowly his hands reached back to you and the tips of his finger grazed your skin. It sent shivers down your spine the way his cool skin touched your heated chest. You found yourself moving against his groin as his hands pressed in deeper. Soon his fingers found your nipples and he hesitantly took them into his grasp. Softly bringing them both between his fingers and rolling.

You moaned above him and your hands found a place on his chest. You quickly found his buttons and began to work your way down his chest. He chuckled at your shaky hands as they maneuvered down him. “You seem more excited than me all of a sudden.” He laughed up to you.

Seeing he was able to regain some of his sarcasm, you replied back “hmm I don’t think that’s possible.” And rolled your hips against his clothed member sharply and he let out a breathy moan as his head faced up to the sky. A devilish smile met your lips and you began to trace the marks on his ivory chest. Every ridge and scar was touched with love as you moved across his chest.

You were filled with so much lust looking at him react to your touch. Every furrow of his brow or twitch of his cock between your legs. You slid back enough to expose the waist of his pants. Fingers grazed his belt and found the metal buckle and undid it from his waist. Slowly bringing your fingertip to the button you suddenly found your steady hands shaking.

Severus noticed your sudden hesitations and placed his hands atop yours and just like you had done for him before said “y/n, it’s ok I want you to touch me.” You looked back up to him to see a soft smile gracing his usually stone face and you felt at ease. You undid his pants and slide both them and his underwear down releasing him from his prison.

He slapped hard against his stomach. You could tell his dream and your romp in the grass had really done a number on him already. His tip was blushed more than his cheeks and it leaked precum. He moaned under his breath as it hit his stomach. Now propped up on his elbows he looked at you as you sat there looking down at him.

You had never seen one like this up close. You had seen them before but only from stupid boys at parties drunk whipping them out at their friends, but never hard begging for attention, your attention. You couldn’t hide your wide eyes and blushed face looking down at him. His hand found your cheek and brought you back to his lips.

His kiss was tender and sweet, losing yourself in the moment your hand found itself gripping the base. He sucked in sharp, afraid you hurt him you pulled away from his lips. “Sev i… I’m sorry, did I do it wrong?!” You asked, before your hand could release him his hand held it in place. “Gods no, please y/n don’t stop please.”

His almost begging tone sent you into overdrive and your hand started moving on its own. You watched his head fall back and his face tighten as your hand moved up and down his length, spreading precum with each pump. His moans were deep in his throat. You had only pumped around 20 times when his hand made its way back to yours.

“I… if you don’t stop now I’ll cum. I want to touch you first before that.” He said shyly. You blushed at his words and stopped your hand. He leaned you back down in the grass and kissed your lips. “Is it ok if I take off your umm panties?” He asked not making eye contact this time. You shook your head nervously but full of excitement.

His fingers walked their way under your skirt and curled around the waist of your panties. He slowly slipped them down your legs and onto the pile of discarded clothes. Your skirt was pushed up around your stomach and he looked down to your fully exposed body. You swore you heard a whimper escape his lips as he soaked you in.

He looked back up to you with wanting eyes and you nodded back at him as permission. His finger found your wet folds and glided between them. You shivered once again to his touch and let out a small whine. This left hand met yours and you interlocked fingers as his right found your clit and made circles into you.

Your moans now had a mind of their own and freely slipped from you. Your sounds were driving him wild as his cock began to twitch on its own. His middle finger stopped its circles and found your entrance. Slowly dipping it past the gate he entered you. Your hips bucked into his hand as he began to move it in and out.

Soon you were a moaning mess under him as he started to pick up pace. Your enthusiastic moans gave him a sudden confidence boost as he began to stop second guessing every action he made. He brought another finger to your entrance and slowly slipped it in with the other. Your eyes winced together at the sudden change but were quickly reverted back to the flushed state you were in before.

“S…Severus, y..your fingers feel so g…good.” You choked out. He moaned to your words of encouragement. His hand became wet from your juices eagerly flowing out of you and into his palm. “P…please put it in me. I…I’m ready I need it.” You begged up to him.

His fingers halted and he looked back up to your face in amazement. “Are you sure y/n? I don’t want you to feel like you have to.” He said half expecting you to tell him “actually you’re right I’d rather die!” But you needed him more than anything else, you were so full of love for him that it was boiling over like an unattended potion. “Please.” Was all you were able to say.

He moved to now be directly in front of you and started to line himself up to you. “Before I umm do it y/n, I just want to tell you that I’ve never done this before so please tell me if I uh do anything wrong.” He said looking down ashamed. “Sevvie” you spoke softly “I haven’t done it either but there is no one on this earth I’d want to do it with more than you. You just wanting to be with me is enough.”

Leaning down to your lips he kissed you deeply in response. While not breaking the kiss he pushed into you slowly. Your tight pussy screamed as it stretched around his thick length despite to adjust to him. He held you tightly trying to comfort you through the pain but also trying not to cum right then and there.

He was all the way in and stopped to give you both a moment to compose yourself. “Gods y/n you’re so tight.” He gritted through his teeth. A whimper escaped you as his words met your ear. Arms holding him tight, you rolled your hips telling him he could move once again. Without hesitation his hips began to work and started to slide in and out of you.

You moaned into his shoulder as he picked up his pace above you. With each thrust he grunted low in his throat. Your pussy clenched hard around him and invited him in as deep as he could go. His fingers made their way back down to your clit and started rubbing circles into you. The faster his cock moved inside you the faster and sloppier his fingers became.

You could tell he was trying to keep it all together but as you looked up to him his once pale face looked as if he had just run 20 miles non stop. He couldn’t hold back his moans and they melted into yours. The once quiet lake was now filled with young love. “Sev please don’t stop.” You begged as you could now feel the heat rising up in your stomach.

This was nothing you had ever felt before. Of course you had done it alone in your bed at night most likely thinking of Severus above you just like this but this was something you never expected. You were fuller than your fingers had ever made you feel before and his big fingers against your clit working circles into you was about to tip you over the edge.

“C…lose sev!” You yelled out has his hips slapped hard against you. His lips found your neck and he sucked into your sensitive skin. You let out a scream as you came undone under him. Your hips push hard into his as you met his thrusts. The way you pulsed around him sent him over the edge and he bit into your neck as he filled you with his warmth.

Slowly his hips came to a halt as he rode out his orgasms inside you. You both lay there taking in the bliss of the moment. You looked up to the sky as your hands worked their way into his hair. Slowly petting and twisting his strands around your finger.

You couldn't believe that it had finally happened, better than you could have ever even hoped for. Tears couldn’t help but leave your eyes, when he pulled away from your embrace he noticed those tears. “Oh gods did I go too hard?! Are you ok? I’m so sorry! I… I didn’t mean too!” He sputtered out fast.

Laughter escaped your lips as you watched the frantic Severus above you. “You’re so stupid sometimes” you said to him “I’m not crying because I'm sad I’m crying because I’ve never been this happy!” You hand caressed his cheek, he smiled into your touch. “You silly girl, you scared me for a second.” He laughed in embarrassment.

He slipped out of you slowly and watched as his mess slid out of you. He couldn’t help his cock from twinging at the sight. You just looked so beautiful there all flushed for him and him alone. You both found your clothes and laid looking out to the sunset now casting colors across the lake.

“Do you wanna share a cigarette?” He asked you. You giggled at his plain words as if he wasn’t just deep in your guts only a moment ago. “Yeah I’d love to.” He reached into his pocket and pulled a pack out. Anytime Severus was outside his cigarettes were never far behind. He lit it with his wand and took a drag.

Smoke filled the air above you as he passed it over and into your hand. You brought it to your lips and let it fill your lungs, as you exhaled you asked “so how did that compare to the dream?” He chuckled at your question and said “well it’s nothing compared to that so I’d give it a solid 9/10 since it was still with you.” You both stayed there a while as you watched the world change around you filled with love and belonging.

[foundtherightwords]

The Dark that You Lit

Pairing: Hellcheer (College AU), Blind!Eddie

Summary: After months of dating, Chrissy is finally comfortable enough around Eddie to take the next step in their relationship, but can she let go of her fears to become truly intimate with him?

Warnings: non-explicit sex, loss of virginity

Word count: 7.5k

A/N: This was written for Day 5 of 2024 Hellcheer Halloween Week, with the prompts "first time" and "run". The title is taken from Snow Patrol's "Talking About Hope", and I took some inspiration from the poem, "First Poem for You", by Kim Addonizio as well. I gave Eddie's tattoos new meanings to fit this version of his character better. We never got an explanation for them in canon anyway, so I figured it would be OK.

Sequel to This Is the Sound of Your Voice, but can be read as a standalone.

It's my first time (ha!) writing such a detailed sex scene (not graphic, but more detailed than my usual), so please let me know what you think!

The rain started the moment they stepped out of the train station. Spring came early that year, and this was a warm, friendly rain, big, fat drops that fell on pavements and rooftops with a cheerful sound. Still, Chrissy was annoyed.

"Shit," she mumbled under her breath. "I know we should've brought an umbrella."

Behind her, Eddie gasped in mock consternation. "Is that a swear word I just heard from you, Miss Cunningham?!"

She grinned. "That's your bad influence rubbing off on me, I guess."

They had just been to Jackson Park to see the cherry blossoms—well, to see them in Chrissy's case, and in Eddie's case, to enjoy the sunshine and the petals drifting over his face whenever there was a breeze. In the five months since they started dating, it had never ceased to amaze Chrissy that Eddie always found his own way to experience things, things she'd thought one would need to see to fully appreciate. Eddie never let his blindness stop him from reveling in beauty. It was what she liked most about him. 

"How about this?" she said. "You wait here, and I'll run to the dorm and get an umbrella, and come back for you."

"You don't have to go through such trouble for me." Eddie shrugged out of his leather jacket and draped it over her head, before motioning to her with his cane. "Come on."

"But you'll get soaked," she protested.

"A little rain never hurts anyone," Eddie said and started walking down the street, seemingly unaware of the rain splattering over his hair and shoulders.

Shaking her head, Chrissy lifted the bag containing the remnants of their picnic lunch to her shoulder and ran after him. She may admire Eddie's love for life, but sometimes he had no survival instinct.

"Fold up your cane," she told him, holding the leather jacket over her head with one hand and grabbing his elbow with the other, "and let's try to outrun this, or you'll catch a cold. I don't want to spend the entire spring break nursing you."

"I wouldn't mind that." A teasing smile lifted the corner Eddie's mouth, but he did as she said.

And so, hand in hand, they ran down the street, keeping to the awnings when they could, dodging between umbrellas and people with newspapers and briefcases over their heads, giggling when they splashed across a puddle. Chrissy had to admit it was rather liberating, almost exciting, to feel rain falling on your skin, especially when you know that there is a warm and dry room waiting for you at the end of it.

Still, for all their hurry, they were dripping wet by the time they arrived at the dorm. The woman at the front desk peered at them disapprovingly over her glasses, as Chrissy signed Eddie in.

"You know that an overnight guest may stay no more than three nights," she told Chrissy.

"Yes, I know. Thank you!" Chrissy pushed the sign-in sheet back and quickly led Eddie away, hoping he hadn't heard. They hadn't discussed the possibility of him staying overnight. The plan was that they were going to hang out for the rest of the afternoon and maybe get some dinner before Eddie went back to his apartment. As they had done plenty of times before.

Some people would say that five months of dating was definitely long enough to spend a night together, but somehow Chrissy and Eddie never managed to find the time. Between their studies—Chrissy was applying for nursing school, and Eddie was getting his teacher certificate—and their jobs, they were lucky if they saw each other a couple of times a week. Chrissy had taken to walking from her lecture halls in the West Campus of UIC all the way to the English department in the East Campus, so she could see Eddie between classes and have lunch with him. And there were always people around as well—her roommate, Nancy, and his roommates. Eddie lived with his bandmates, and although they were perfectly lovely, Chrissy couldn't think of anything more dampening to romance than having three guys hang around like three enthusiastic puppies.

Admittedly, some of their failure to spend a night together was of Chrissy's own making. She always had some excuses ready—she had an early class the next morning, she had to work the late shift, she couldn't sleep unless it was in her own bed. She and Eddie had never talked about sex, and Eddie never pressured her into anything, never questioned her hesitation, but a barb of shame always pricked at Chrissy's insides whenever she thought about it. The truth was that she was afraid. Not of the sex itself, but rather of what it would mean for her and Eddie. She was afraid of taking the plunge, of committing to such permanence. And afraid of disappointing and being disappointed as well. She had only had one boyfriend before and no experience further than some kissing and cuddling, while Eddie had mentioned a few ex-girlfriends. Besides, he was in a band. Not a hugely popular band, but they played in local bars, and Chrissy had seen the way some of the women in the crowd looked at Eddie. Rather than making her jealous, such looks only made her more insecure. No doubt he was used to casual hook-ups.

But during Christmas break, she had missed him so much that some of those fears had faded considerably. Three long weeks without seeing Eddie, and if she wanted to talk to him, she had to drive into town to call him from a payphone, because she didn't trust her mother to not listen in. Her mother would throw a fit if she knew Chrissy was seeing someone like Eddie. The fact that he was attending UIC on a scholarship wouldn't mean anything to her mother. She would only see that he was blind, that his childhood home was in a trailer park in a small, inconsequential town, and that his mom was dead and his dad was out of the picture. None of those things bothered Chrissy, but she wanted to protect Eddie and herself, and if that meant keeping their relationship a secret for now, then so be it.

And when they came back from Christmas break, when she jumped into Eddie's arms and he dropped his cane to lift her into the air, Chrissy had decided it was time to take the plunge.

Of course, deciding to take the plunge and actually doing it are two different things. Even though she no longer made excuses for herself, the usual problems still stood. It wasn't until now, during spring break, that they had some time for themselves. Nancy had gone home, and Chrissy told her parents she was staying to study, which wasn't entirely a lie—she had to get her grades up if she wanted to get into nursing school that fall. Her other plan she told no one, not even Eddie.

To be fair, calling it a "plan" would be an overstatement, because her plan didn't extend further than inviting him back to her dorm room and asking him to teach her how to play D&D. This was no ruse either—she had wanted to learn for a while, since Eddie was so passionate about it. In preparation, she had bought a set of dice and borrowed a player's handbook. Eddie also brought his special set of tactile dice, with raised dots—Chrissy's Valentine's Day present for him, for which she had had to scour several hobby stores—and his Braille notes of past campaigns. Now he stood at the doorway to her room with his binder in his arms, looking a little lost, almost in awe even.

"So this is your room," he said.

"Yes."

"What does it look like?"

"Oh, just a standard dorm room." She took his hand and guided him through the room, keeping her pace slow and steady so he could count his steps, which Eddie told her was how he familiarized himself with new surroundings. "Here's the closet, here's the door to the bathroom, there's Nancy's desk and bed, and here's mine." She didn't mention that Nancy's side of the room was straight out of a Sears catalog, not a piece of paper or a pencil out of place, while her side of the room always looked like it had just been hit by a hurricane. She quickly straightened up the textbooks on her desk, cleared away the dirty plates to make space for Eddie to put his things down, and bustled about turning on the radiator and looking for towels.

"We need to get you out of those wet clothes," she said and winced as soon as those words came out of her mouth. They were so corny, so obvious an innuendo, which she didn't mean at all. "I'll find you something to wear while they dry," she added and winced again at how awkward she sounded.

She had nothing Eddie could wear except for her bathrobe. As she handed it to him, Eddie suddenly looked shy. "No peeking, OK?"

"I'll be in the bathroom," Chrissy said, trying to bite back a grin.

Despite that promise, she couldn't help a backward glance. Eddie was peeling off his wet T-shirt, and she caught a glimpse of his back, slim and wiry, lean muscles rippling under the skin that hinted at a lissome strength. Then he started to unbutton his jeans, and Chrissy turned away, cheeks burning up with a heat to rival that of the radiator. She beat a quick retreat into the bathroom, afraid that her blush was so vivid that even Eddie could sense it.

When she emerged a minute later, clad in a baggy UIC sweatshirt and an old pair of shorts, Eddie had wrapped himself in her bathrobe. His discarded T-shirt and jeans would have flustered Chrissy and sent her scurrying back to the bathroom, had it not been for the sight of his gangly limbs poking out from the pink, fluffy robe, which made her burst out laughing.

Unfazed by her laughter, Eddie struck a pose, like he was a supermodel on the latest haute couture runway. "How do I look?" he asked.

"Quite cute, actually," said Chrissy, picking up his clothes and putting them on the radiator to dry.

Eddie pouted. "Just cute?"

"OK, you look ravishing," she said. There were still some cherry blossom petals stuck in his hair. She plucked them away. "These pink petals go very well with the robe." And because he was still pouting, and because she could never look at his lips long enough without wanting to kiss him, she did just that.

When they first started dating, Chrissy had often had to tell Eddie she was about to kiss him, so he wouldn't be caught off-guard. Now, they were comfortable enough with each other and he could sense her well enough that she no longer had to, but she still liked to touch his face first, to let him know.   

The moment she put a finger to his lips, Eddie smiled in anticipation. As their lips touched, he embraced her in the way she liked, with one hand on the small of her back and the other caressing her face, as if it wasn't enough to just kiss her with his mouth, he must feel her with his entire being as well. The kiss went from sweet to hungry, and Chrissy could feel her body rising to his touch, straining against the fabric of her sweatshirt, seeking relief, while heat pooled between her legs. It scared her. It wasn't the first time she felt this way when Eddie kissed her—in fact, she always felt that way whenever he kissed her—but this was the first time that she planned to do something about it, and it scared her. They were moving too fast. She wasn't ready yet.

Gathering all her willpower, she broke off the kiss and took a step back. "Sit down," she told Eddie. "I'll dry your hair." She thought he looked slightly deflated, but he sat down on the floor and crossed his long, boyish legs without protest. He'd kept his boxers on, she saw to her relief.

Sitting above him on the bed, she toweled his hair before blow-drying it, gently running her fingers through the long strands to loosen them. Eddie closed his eyes and arched his neck under her hand like a cat, and Chrissy had to fight the urge to kiss him again.

"Do you want to get started on the D&D now?" she asked, putting the dryer away.

He put his head back, his curls, now dry and fluffy, spreading over her lap. "No," he said languidly. "I'm too comfortable to move. I've melted into the floor. You're going to have to scoop me up."

Seeing his face turned up at her like that, Chrissy's willpower cracked. But she didn't succumb to temptation just yet. Leaning down, she only gave his nose a little peck. It would have to be enough for now. But clearly that wasn't enough for Eddie, because he grabbed her and pulled her, amidst protesting squeals and giggles, off the bed and to the floor with him, where he sought her lips again and again, until Chrissy was out of breath from kisses and laughter.

Their tussle had pulled the robe open across Eddie's chest, showing a couple of tattoos. Chrissy knew he had tattoos, but she had only seen two of them—the flock of bats, "because they're blind", as Eddie had once told her, hovering around his elbow, and the demonic puppet on the inside of his forearm, for "Master of Puppets", the first song he and his band had played together. These she had never seen before.  

"What are these on your chest?" she asked, extending a hand toward the tattoos, only to pull back at the last second. She realized this was the first time she'd ever seen Eddie with his shirt off, and blushed again.

"My tats?" He pulled the robe down a bit to show her more clearly and pointed to one of the tattoos, the one lower down, a decaying skull or a demon with a blood-speckled mouth, Chrissy couldn't tell. "This is Eddie," he explained. "He's the Iron Maiden mascot. The guys convinced me to get it, so I thought, why not? My favorite band, and my namesake too. It's fitting."

"What about this one?" she asked, pointing to the one closer to his collarbone, a spider with spindly legs.

"It's a Kaua'i cave wolf spider. They live inside volcanic caves in Hawaii, so they're born without eyes."

Chrissy was quiet, thinking about how much Eddie was shaped by his blindness, and yet how much he refused to let it define him. She reached out, lightly brushed the tattoos with her fingertips. Eddie's breath caught the moment her fingers touched his chest, and she could feel his pulse hammering just beneath his skin. Somehow, it calmed her, knowing that he was also nervous. She was sure that if she kissed him now, he would welcome it.

Which was precisely why she didn't kiss him. Instead, she asked, "Do you have any other tattoos?"

"Just this one." He pulled his right arm out of the robe and showed her his bicep, where a half-dragon, half-bird creature writhed and brandished its claws. "It's a wyvern. A D&D monster."

"Let me guess," said Chrissy, tracing the undulations of the creature's body. "Looking at it can turn you blind?"

Eddie laughed. "No. I just like it."

He lifted her hand from his arm and started dropping little kisses on her fingers, one by one. Trying to ignore the fluttering in the pit of her stomach and lower down, Chrissy asked, "Who did all these for you?"

"Friends, anyone who can draw and wield a tattoo needle, really. I described what I wanted, and they did it."

"But how would you know that they would tattoo the right thing?"

Eddie shrugged, pulling the robe back up. "You gotta trust the person whose hands you're putting yourself into, and let go."

Those words seemed to speak to Chrissy's heart. Can I trust your hands? she wondered. Can I let go?

"Why did you get them?" she asked.

Eddie gave her a gentle smile. "Even though I can't see them, is that what you mean?"

She had been meaning to ask him that for a while, ever since she first saw his tattoos, but she was afraid that it would come off rude and nosy. Now that Eddie had put it so bluntly, she admitted, "... Well, yes."

"I know they're there. I think they're cool. And, not to sound like a dick, but I think tattoos are mostly for other people to look at anyway."

"How so?"

"Think about the person with wings tattooed on their back, for example, or a girl with a rose on her ankle. How often do they see those?"

"But why mark your skin in such a permanent way? Aren't you afraid you're going to change your mind?"

"Not really." Eddie shook his head. "This"—he tapped his temple—"is much more permanent."

She wondered what he meant. But before she could ask, something else he'd said caught her attention.

"How would you even know that a girl has a rose on her ankle?" she asked suspiciously. "That sounds oddly specific."

Eddie's dimples made a sudden appearance on his cheeks, then vanished again. "Is that jealousy I hear in your voice, Miss Cunningham?"

When he teased her like that, Chrissy could never stay annoyed for long. "Maybe," she said, a corner of her mouth quirking up.

"I'm not a total dork, you know," Eddie said. "I may be blind, but I still play guitar in a band. Some girls think it's cool."

His tone was jokey, but his words went through Chrissy like a shard of ice, turning her insides numb. It was exactly what she was afraid of, and to hear Eddie joke about it only worsened her fear.

Eddie must have noticed that she had gone silent, because his cocky grin disappeared and he squeezed her hand. "Chrissy?" he said, concern in his voice. "What's wrong? I was just kidding. It's not like girls are throwing themselves at me or anything."

Chrissy tried to pull herself together. Her insecurities were her problem, not Eddie's. "No, I know, it's fine," she managed to say. "It doesn't matter. It's just—"

"What?"

She might as well come clean now. "Well, when I was dating Jason, he insisted that we waited until marriage," she said.

It took a moment for this to sink in for Eddie. When it did, he only let out a soft "Oh", almost inaudible, like a breath.

"At least you have some experience," Chrissy said, her voice muted. "I have none." She turned away from him and put her forehead on her drawn-up knees.

Eddie was quiet for a long time. Then his hand felt about her back, her shoulder, and her head, until he found her chin and lifted it. "Chrissy," he said. There was no longer any trace of jokiness in his voice. "I don't mind any of that. We can wait until marriage too. If that's what you want."

Relief and affection flooded Chrissy's heart. How could she have ever doubted him? She put his hand to her cheek, so he could feel her smiling. "Is that a proposal?" she asked.

A faint blush colored Eddie's face. "Oh—I don't—I mean..."

"Relax, Eddie. I'm teasing you."

She kept his hand on her cheek, feeling the warmth against her skin, looking at his large brown eyes that saw nothing yet still took in everything, at his lips so ready to smile and to kiss, watching his face that bore no judgment, no irritation, only tender with affection for her. And she made up her mind.

The only question was how to tell Eddie what she wanted. They were touching each other, he was practically naked, and she didn't know what to do. For a confused moment, Chrissy tried to remember girls' nights in high school, when she and her friends used to giggle together about boys, but she had always blushed and laughed nervously when the talk turned dirty. She just didn't have it in her to be a seductress. 

"I meant what I said though," Eddie was saying. "I'm not asking you to do anything—"

She nodded. "I know you're not—"

"—we don't have to do anything—"

"—I know, it's just—"

"—not until you're ready—"

"—but I am ready!" she blurted out.

Eddie's mouth went slack.

"... What?" he asked blankly.

Chrissy took a deep breath. "That's what I've been trying to tell you," she said. "I don't want to wait."

Turning her face, she trailed her lips across his hand, kissing his palm and knuckles, before pulling him close and sealing her mouth over his. Eddie's hand moved from her cheek to behind her ear, fingers winding through her hair, pressing her to him, while his lips moved between hers, soft and delicious. She could feel her body relax under that kiss, tension draining out of her like snow melting in the spring rain. Why hadn't she done this? Why waste her time worrying, when she could have simply kissed him and let things run their natural courses?

When she slipped a hand under the bathrobe and touched him, her palm scorching against his cool skin, it was Eddie who pulled away this time. "Are we doing this now?" he whispered.

Oh no. Had she completely misread him? Was he not interested—now or—or—ever?

"What's wrong?" she asked, without letting go of his hand. It suddenly occurred to her as to why Eddie was hesitating. "I have condoms here if you don't," she said.

"I'm not worried about—" Eddie stopped, an eyebrow raised quizzically. "Why do you have condoms anyway?"

"I bought some after we started going out. Just in case." She didn't tell him that it had actually been Nancy who advised her to do so. "Why, do you have some too?"

Eddie's impish grin flashed across his face. "Yeah. I bought them after we started going out too. You know, just in case."

Laughing, Chrissy leaned over to pick up from where they left off, but Eddie gently took her wrists to hold her back. "Wait," he said. "There's something I have to tell you."

Something in the way he said it made her grow cold again. "What is it?"

Holding her hands in his lap, Eddie bent down until his face was buried in her palms. "I lied," he said. Chrissy's heart dropped, and she clutched at Eddie, silently screaming at him to continue. "When I said I'm not that experienced," he explained, "I meant I'm not experienced at all."

In her confusion, she didn't understand what he was saying at first. Then it dawned on her. "What, you haven't—" With his head still in her hands and his hair tickling the inside of her wrists, he shook his head. "I thought you dated before?"

"I've gone out with a couple of girls, yes," Eddie said, his voice muffled. "I just went out with them. That's all."

"But—you know what to do, right?" she asked.

He lifted his head. Under his hair, she could see his face, all crimson, sheepish, miserable, a schoolboy having to confess his crimes. "In theory, yes," he said. "In practice? Only with myself."

"Eddie!" She swatted at his arm, but the tension was broken, thanks to his bad joke.

His dimples dipped and rose again. "Sorry. TMI."

"Those girls don't know what they're missing, do they?" she said, matching his playful tone.

"Oh, there have been opportunities. But I couldn't. I don't know why—it feels wrong, doing it with someone who's only interested because she thinks I'm this bad boy rocker or whatever, as opposed to..." He trailed off.

"As opposed to what?"

"I don't know. Maybe I was saving myself too."

"For marriage?"

"For you."

A part of Chrissy melted at that, but her insecurities were rearing their ugly Hydra-like heads again. This meant she would be his first too. She hadn't thought about that. What if she was no good? What if they were no good together?

Eddie squeezed her hand again. "Look, I'm really sorry, OK? I'm sorry for not coming clean with you sooner. If it made you feel any better, I'm pretty sure the cashier at Walgreens thought I was buying the condoms on a dare, so..."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"When we first started going out, I was kind of—terrified of you, a little."

"Me?" Chrissy asked, incredulous. If only he knew how nervous she'd been on their first date...

"I mean, you were the most popular girl at your school, you were a cheerleader—"

Chrissy shook her head, impatient. "'Were' is the key word here, Eddie. I'm not that person anymore. And even if I was, there's nothing to be afraid of."

"I know. I just thought I'd be no good for you. I didn't want you to know that I am a total dork after all."

Chrissy supposed she should be angry with him for lying—or at least for exaggerating and omitting the truth—but any annoyance she had with him faded away at that. For all his bluster and confidence, he was just like her, full of fear and self-doubt. Perhaps that was why they were drawn to each other, why she felt so safe around him.

"You are a dork," she said. "But I forgive you."

A smile broke across Eddie's face, small and unsure, like the spring sun coming out after heavy rain. "So you don't mind?" he asked.

"Of course not." She put a hand on Eddie's cheek, cradling and caressing his jaw. "We can show each other. I mean... if you want to."

"I always want to."

Those words opened the floodgate that Chrissy had been keeping locked inside her. Lunging at Eddie, she kissed him with abandon, her mouth and body and heart open, hungry for him. She pulled him stumbling to his feet, so they could get into bed. Eddie yanked impatiently at the hem of her sweatshirt, and she broke off the kiss just long enough to pull it over her head and toss it aside.

The moment the sweatshirt hit the floor and cold air hit her bare skin, Chrissy paused. She looked at Eddie, his face clouded with desire, his chest heaving with anticipation, his lips, plump and red from kissing—those lips, always those lips, they were going to be the death of her—and she had to fight a wild urge to laugh, because he was still wearing her pink fluffy bathrobe.

But this was too important, too meaningful a moment for laughter.

Gently tugging at the belt of the robe, she undid it and let it fall from his shoulders. They stood facing each other, the air between them humming with desire. Eddie extended a tentative hand toward her, and Chrissy met him halfway, catching his wrist and placing his hand on her. They had been frantic a minute ago; now they moved slowly, with great care, as if afraid that any sudden move may cause the other to dissolve into the air like soap bubbles.

Eddie had once told her about something in D&D called the Theater of the Mind, which he used a lot in his campaigns because it didn't rely on visuals. Now, he was touching her, gentle fingers skimming over her skin like he was building a version of herself in his own Theater of the Mind. Chrissy wondered what she looked like to him. Her face he had known well, but this would be the first time he touched her body.

Chrissy had always hated her body. As Eddie's hands moved, she could only think of what was wrong with it. His hands lightly stroked her shoulders, which were never elegant enough for the dresses her mother wanted her to wear. They brushed along her arms, which were never strong enough or graceful enough to lift the pompoms into the air. They circled her waist, which was never slim enough, and glided over her stomach, which was never flat enough, before coming to rest on the underside of her breasts, which were never big enough.

"Can I—?" Eddie asked, fingers fluttering over her chest.

"Yes." She took a step forward, pressing herself into his palms. His hand closed over her breast, one side and then the other, before letting go again.

"You have nice breasts." He sounded almost reverent.

"They're kind of small."

"No. They're perfect."

He took her breasts in his palms again, and the way his thumbs and fingers grazed them sent such liquid fire through her that she thought she would burst into tears or into flames, just from his touch alone. This was enough. She was enough.

He continued to touch her until the fire was too much for her to bear. The dreamy, almost wary touches forgotten, she put one of his hands on the waistband of her shorts, and together, they pulled until both the shorts and her underwear slid down her legs, and she could kick them away. His boxers followed. The back of her knees hit the edge of the bed. She fell backward into it, drawing Eddie down with her. He slipped a hand between her legs, almost by accident, yet even that brief touch was enough to fan the fire inside her higher.

"Kiss me," she whispered.

And he did. But this was no lingering kiss like the ones they'd had before. Eddie pulled at her mouth in gasping, grasping little kisses, as if he couldn't trust himself—or her—to stay long enough. She didn't know where to put her hands and where to direct his hand, wanting to feel him everywhere, on her, in her, all at once.

"The condom?" he reminded her.

Chrissy reached into a drawer in her bedside table, drew out the package, and handed one to Eddie with a nervous giggle. He fumbled with it, before settling himself between her thighs again. "You ready?" he asked.

"Mm-hmm." She didn't trust herself to say anything else.

His first thrust brought reality crashing back, as sharp and glaring as the pain that shot up inside her. She gasped, from shock as much as from pain, and Eddie immediately stopped.

"What is it?" he asked, voice tinged with panic. "Did I hurt you?"

"No," she managed to say, through gritted teeth. "Just give me a sec."

"Do you want me to stop?"

"No." She shifted her hips, trying to find a more comfortable position, to get used to the alien feeling inside her.

Eddie lifted himself up on his elbows to ease the pressure on her. With one hand, he caressed her face, trying to find evidence of her discomfort.

"I'm all right," she said, without feeling it. "I think I'm ready now."

Eddie started moving inside her, each thrust accompanied by a quivering breath. The pain dulled to soreness, and Chrissy lay still, afraid any movement would bring it back. Some vague pleasantness started to form at the edge of the pain, but before she could grab it, Eddie gave a shudder and collapsed on top of her, where he lay gasping quietly, and it was gone.

So that was their first time. Was this how it was always going to be? Where had they gone wrong? Chrissy wanted to push Eddie away so she could draw a deep breath, so she could curl up within herself and die, but she couldn't move. The pain in her body turned into the pain in her heart, and a void opened up inside her, where Eddie had just been a minute ago, and widened until she was nothing but a hollowed-out husk. She couldn't even cry.

Eddie edged away and moved to lie next to her. "I'm sorry," he said. "It was no good for you, wasn't it?" When she didn't answer, he said, in a small voice, "Is this a bad time to tell you that I love you?"

Chrissy turned to look at him in the dimming light. His hands were drifting toward her but not quite touching, as if he was afraid his touch would offend her. Although she had fallen for Eddie since their first date—and she was sure he felt the same—they had never said "I love you" to each other. With Jason, who had been free with his words and said so often, she had always replied, "I love you too", because that's what you're supposed to say when someone says "I love you". She had said those words so much that they had lost all meaning. With Eddie, it was a different matter.

"You've just been inside me, so I guess there's no better time," she said with a small laugh.

Eddie didn't laugh. He cupped her face, his way of focusing on her when he couldn't do it with his eyes, and said, simply, honestly, "I love you."

Like magic, her pain disappeared, replaced by a joy so fierce it was almost like another pain, only this one she didn't want to ever go away. The void inside her began to fill up. This wasn't the end of the world. They were young and ignorant. They still had time. And he loved her. That was the most important thing.

He loved her. She wished she could say it back to him. She wished she could say it with such ease and sincerity and passion as he had. But when she opened her mouth, it was only to say, "Perhaps we can try again."

"I don't know why you would ever want to try again after—after that."

But Chrissy found, to her surprise, that she did want to try again.

"I said we could show each other," she said. "But we didn't show each other anything that time. So yes, I'd like to try again."

He sat up, giving her his full attention. "Show me then."

Chrissy looked around, thinking. Her eyes fell on the opened drawer of her bedside table, and an idea occurred. Reaching into the drawer, she pulled out her sleep mask and slipped it over her eyes.

"What are you doing?" asked Eddie.

"Putting on my sleep mask."

"Why?"

"I want to feel you as you feel me."

As the mask plunged her into darkness, she heard Eddie take in a sharp, eager breath. His hand brushed down her side. A soft gasp escaped her when she felt the smooth undersides of his steel rings on her skin.

"What is it?" Eddie sounded frightened. "Are you still in pain?"

"No. I just—I wasn't expecting it, that's all."

"Do you want me to take the rings off? Do they bother you?"

"No!" She grabbed his hand and put it back where she wanted it. "Not at all."

The rings were warm from his skin, so she'd barely noticed them before, but now, with her eyes covered, the sensation seemed to increase tenfold, the smooth, firm touch of them, so different from the quivering softness of his palms and fingertips, yet still pleasurable in its own way, pleasurable because it was unquestioning Eddie's touch. No other hand would feel the same. Oh, she should have thought of this earlier! There was vulnerability in not being able to see, yes, but there was liberation in it as well, not having to worry about what she saw, and a certain exhilaration in not knowing what to expect while still trusting him with her entire body, her entire being. Let go, Eddie's words from earlier echoed in her mind. Let go.

Reaching out, she found his face and drew him down to her for a long, slow kiss. Just as he'd done with her before, now she ran her hands over him, building a map of him from her remaining senses. The smoothness of his skin, the scent of his 2-in-1 shampoo and body wash—such a boy, she would have to get him to switch to something else that wouldn't damage his lovely hair—mixed with the tanginess of his sweat, and the faint trace of mint in his mouth—she didn't like his smoking, so he'd been trying to quit. She traced her fingers over his tattoos, committing them to her own Theater of the Mind.

"You want to know something funny?" Eddie said, lips grazing her jaw, her throat.

"What?"

"Before we met, when I—touched myself, I never imagined anyone specific."

"And after?"

"I imagine you."

She didn't tell him that had been precisely the same for her as well. She only asked, a little hoarsely, "How do you imagine me?"

"When we kiss, you always make this cute little noise in your throat." He imitated it, like a pleased, breathless "hmm". Chrissy wasn't even aware that she had been making such a sound. It would've mortified her, but she heard the smile in Eddie's voice and knew he delighted in it, just as he delighted in everything about her. "So I would imagine that. And I'd imagine your soft skin, your sweet mouth, your hands on me..." He gave her a little kiss with each thing he listed off. "But I never imagine this."

"What, this?"

She slid a hand below his waist, and he made that noise again—that small, excited inhale. But she was determined to take it slow this time. Grabbing his other hand, she pressed it between her thighs, showing him how to touch her as she'd touched herself, as she'd only been able to do furtively, in her old bedroom at home or in the bathroom here, with the door tightly locked and without making a sound, for fear of discovery. But here, now, there was no fear. There was only the feel of his hand on her, the soft sound in his throat, and her own quickening breath. The fire was rekindling, sparkling embers spreading from low in her belly all the way down her thighs, concentrating where their hands met, at her core.

"Like this?" he whispered, his fingers supple and obedient under her hand, touching and stroking where she wanted, how she wanted.

"Yes," she panted. "Please."

Without pulling his hand away, he trailed his mouth down her throat and her chest, before closing his lips around her nipple. His tongue flicked against the sensitive bud, making her whimper, and when he nibbled at her, it was like a bolt of electricity that went through her, connecting his mouth to his hand, fusing him to her. She cried out as her body arched toward him, asking for more.

This time, there was no need to ask if she was ready. They both groped for the condom on the table, and before she knew it, their bodies were melded together. There was a twinge of half-remembered pain, but it went away the moment Eddie started to move against her. With each thrust, the fire inside her flared into life, scorching, demanding. She clung to him, her arms across his back, her legs around his waist, and her face buried in his shoulder, as her hips lifted to meet him, to move along with him, to urge him on. More. Harder. Faster. More. More.

She yanked the sleep mask down. Through blurry eyes, she could see Eddie looking down at her, his hair framed by the light coming through the window like a halo, and she thought he was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen.

"Tell me you love me," she begged, fingers digging into his back as if she was trying to make a new tattoo there. "Please, Eddie."

He leaned down until their foreheads were touching. "I love you," he whispered. His breath blew hot and sweet across her skin, and as those words settled in her heart, the fire finally burst, sending flames of pure ecstasy over her. She thought it would drown out all sensations, but, like a lightning strike that threw the storm cloud into sharp relief against the dark sky, her climax only allowed her to feel him more closely, clearly, and strongly than anything she had ever felt before. When his own release came, a moment later, she triumphed in it, in the pleasure they had given each other.

Afterward, he gathered her into his arms and kissed her softly.

"Was that better?" he asked.

She smiled into his kiss. "Oh, totally."

He chuckled, a rumbling sound deep in his throat. "You don't really want to learn how to play D&D, do you?" he said. "This is what you had in mind all along, bringing me back to your room so you could seduce me."

"Seduce you?!" she said, laughing.

"Not that I'm complaining."

"How dare you imply that I may have ulterior motives?" she said, in mock outrage. "I do want to learn how to play D&D!"

He smiled and kissed her again. "I guess we can do that later then."

But they never did, not that day. The dice and the rule book lay forgotten on her desk, while they spent the rest of the afternoon in bed, exploring each other's body, mapping every dip and curve like two intrepid travelers discovering the hills and valleys of some unknown, magical country. She learned his tattoos, tracing the strings of the puppet, the claws of the wyvern, counting each and every bat. He learned that her front teeth were crooked, that her nose was slightly upturned, and that one of her calves was bigger than the other, something Chrissy hated because her mother pointed it out constantly, but now, under Eddie's touch, felt like an adorable quirk. She learned that he had a scar on his forehead, curving like a half-moon under his fringe, the result of an accident in the early days of his blindness. They both learned how to touch each other in other, different ways, finding out what they liked and what the other liked, becoming so perfectly in tune with each other that, when their bodies were joined, it was impossible to know where one ended and the other began.

When they got hungry, they finished the picnic leftover, sharing the food as they'd shared the pleasure. Then they continued their journey until exhaustion set in, and they fell asleep in each other's arms.

At some point during the night, Chrissy woke up. The radiator, set on a timer, had turned itself off, and the room was chilled. She gently got out of bed, wrapped herself in her bathrobe—which still smelled faintly of Eddie—and went to the radiator, where Eddie's clothes had dried. These she folded and put on a chair, before turning the radiator back on. Then she crossed to the window, lifted the blinds, and looked out.

It was raining again, a fine drizzling mist that turned the asphalt into specks of gold under the streetlights. It must be quite late, yet some lonely souls were still trudging on the pavement, hunched under umbrellas or with their collars turned up against the cold and damp. Chrissy wondered where they were going, whether they had somewhere or someone warm waiting for them, like she did.

Behind her, Eddie stirred in his sleep and made a noise that was half-whimper, half-whine, when he reached out and found her not there. Chrissy let the blinds fall, so the room was shrouded in darkness again, and made her way back to bed.

But she didn't go back to sleep right away. In the dark, she leaned over Eddie and traced his tattoos with her fingertips, seeing him as he saw himself, pleased that she was beginning to memorize them, just as she was beginning to memorize his body, his scent, the feel of his skin against hers. And that was when she finally understood what Eddie had meant earlier—this was the true permanent thing. Even when the ink had faded, this memory, this feeling would remain, lighting her up like a glow in the dark.

"I love you," she whispered. It didn't matter that he was asleep. She said it to fix the memory of this night in her mind, like Eddie fixing his memories with pictures on his skin. And now that she'd said it, she would be able to say it again, when he could hear her.

But he'd heard her. "Love you too," he mumbled into her hair, sleepily, easily, as if they'd said it to each other hundreds of times. With a smile, Chrissy slipped under the warm blankets and fell into Eddie's warmer embrace, where she slept again.

THE END

[silver-weasel]

Diving (Deku x Reader)

Pairing : Deku x fem!reader (aged-up characters)

Rating : E, 18+

Tags : smut • fem!reader (she/her) • best friends to lovers / childhood friends to lovers • quirkless AU • p*rn with feelings (like. a lot of them) • public sex (more or less) • switching • hair pulling? • pining • Deku being flustered and an absolute angel what’s new • Reader being a teasing brat • It’s all soft and fluffy, I’m as vanilla as you can get 🤷‍♀️ • Happy birthday to the bestest boyyy I love him so much it hurts

Word count : 10 600 (Holy sh—)

A/N : Thank you @hoe-doroki my beloved and savior for beta-ing <3

Written for @rat-zuki​’s collab in honor of our favorite birthday boy, The Deku Agenda Escapes no One. Thank you so much for letting me join! (go check out the other amazing writers and artists!)

MINORS DO NOT INTERACT!

The ground grinds repeatedly under your hiking shoes, some pebbles being kicked forward on your way. You’re way too deep in the forest to hear any cars passing by and during the two hours you’ve been here you haven’t run into anyone. The place seems empty, the only souls breathing the forest’s thick air being you, Izuku and the birds chirping all around you.

The afternoon is coming to an end, the sun sinking down on its way to hide behind the mountains. The remains of its soft light are filtering through the dense leaves all around and above you. You’re surrounded by green, lush and immeasurable greenery, every plant merging into another.

You’ve left the marked paths, now wandering deep in the richest, boundless part of a forest you both know like the back of your hand after roaming it all over innumerable times. All over, except for this part, in which you’re setting foot for the first time today. Your many previous hiking sessions were shortened by your questionable sense of organization, always arriving too late to explore further into the unknown.

Leaves brush against your knees with every single step you take as you follow Izuku on his heels. He’s moving at a steady pace, his hands holding tight the straps of his yellow backpack that he’s had for as long as you can remember. He’s always so organized, has everything you two could eventually need and generally never do. Two huge flasks of water, an entire meal he calls ‘little snacks’, with sandwiches, fruits, protein bars, even hard-boiled eggs. A first-aid kit with disinfectant, bandages, scissors and painkillers. Hell, you’re even wondering if he has any pads for you in there, in case of an unexpected period. You wouldn’t be surprised if he did.

You giggle lightly when you see him stumble for the sixth time since you got here; he can’t seem to keep his curious eyes from drifting up and around, looking in every direction, probably retaining every detail and logging it in some impressive mental database of his. And he’s commenting on every little thing he sees too; he makes you notice things you never would have if it weren’t for his candid interest in everything.

“Oh! Look at that bird!” he exclaims, pointing at a branch over your heads. “Do you see it, right there, with the red mark!”

You turn your gaze to where he’s pointing and see a little bird, very cute, but so tiny you’re wondering how one could spot it without specifically looking for it. That’s probably what you like most about Izuku: his attention to detail. That’s the thing—nothing is too small for him, everything is worthy of interest. His eyes always light up with such curiosity, this child-like wonder and it was always one of your favorite things to witness growing up.

When he came over to your house at age six, he was always running around with some bug on his forearm, calling your name, yelling, “Look at this!”

Most of the time, it was a snail or a ladybug, and that always managed to catch your interest. Sometimes, it was a spider or a beetle, and he had you screaming in horror more than once, running to your mother’s legs with weeping eyes. Those times, he always watched you go with wide, sad eyes and a wobbly lip, because, “I would never hurt her, Mom! I swear I didn’t want to scare her!”

“Oh, yeah, I see it! It’s so cute!”

And it is cute, the way his huge green eyes go even rounder in amazement. You treasure these hikes for providing occasions to witness this. But as much as you wish this moment could last forever, the sun is beginning to set, you probably shouldn’t go deeper in the forest at sundown.

“We should probably head back to the car, Izuku. It’s gonna be dark soon.”

“Come on, it’s still so light—there’s no rush!” His lips crook a bit into an impish smile. “Scared that a bear is coming to get you?”

“There aren’t any bears here—we’ve been coming for five years.”

“Because if it’s the bears you’re afraid of,” he begins, ignoring you on purpose, “you know I’ll protect you, right?” he says, sticking out his chest like he’s some superhero.

“Against a bear? Right.”

“You’re underestimating me? That’s just mean.”

You chuckle at his antics, shooting him a look of yours that says, ‘Come on, please?’.

His eyes soften a bit, but he’s used to that look; it’s been years since it worked on him as well as you’d like it to.

“We can just keep going this way, then we’ll make a loop and head back to the car directly! It’ll be even shorter this way.”

“Alright, let’s do that,” you agree, and the smile it elicits from him makes something tingle deep in your stomach.

You move forward again, sinking deeper within the forest. It’s becoming harder and harder to walk, brambly branches and huge leaves blocking your way more and more with every step.

You’re a bit ahead of him when you catch sight of a sparkle behind the bushes. Just a glimpse of light, but you’re positive you saw it. Is there water here? You never really looked at a map of the place before—you just always went wherever you felt like and used the same tracks on the way back. You hurry up a bit, curious eyes fixed on that glimmer of light.

Soon enough the dense greenery comes to an end, and you’re finally out of the bushes, finding your way into a little clearing. You’re standing, speechless, in front of a pond: it’s about forty feet wide, catching the last rays of sunshine in a dazzling reflection. The water is surrounded by gigantic trees big enough to be home to an entire niche of biodiversity, and a half-sandy, half-stony shore with reeds rising from the water on both sides.

It’s all calm and quiet and massive trees, branches pouring, cascading above still water. The air feels cool, filled with a pure smell of dew and spring even though it’s the end of a hot day of July.

Izuku is close behind you and lets out a very cute, “Whoa,” ditching his backpack on the ground next to you in the middle of the cove. The both of you just stand there for a moment in complete silence, aside from the birds chirping. Izuku breaks it first:

“How come we’ve never seen this before? This place is amazing.” He sounds distant as he speaks, soaking up his surroundings like he always does.

“I guess you never know everything about anything,” you say mindlessly, without detaching your gaze of the wonderful view ahead.

He’s standing close to you, very close. You’re only noticing now that you’re coming down from the high of your discovery. Your arms are brushing, you can feel his body heat from how close you two are. It wouldn’t be the first time; you’re no stranger to being physically close to Izuku. You’ve been playing together since you were able to put one foot in front of the other. And you wish you could say it feels any different right now, but that would be a lie. Being close to him always felt the same. Always felt like the only easy thing in your life. The only constant.

Yet it’s not enough. No matter how close, it’s never enough, it never was. You hate yourself for feeling that way; you’ve never been the greedy, unsatisfied type. You have everything with Izuku. Well, almost everything.

But right now this place—this very quiet, beautiful place with no one in sight is doing things to your fertile imagination. Despite the sun just beginning to set, the summer air still remains thick with heat. You find yourself staring in the abyss of that water, admiring the masterpiece of a reflection on the surface, a painting of leaves and clouds and blue sky. It calls you, sings an irresistible song of fresh water on sweaty skin and strong, freckled arms wrapped around you.

You don’t know if the slight, insignificant detail that you would have to undress in order to dive into that water—since you didn’t bring a swimsuit—is a better reason to do it or to refrain from doing so.

You’ve lost count of how many moments you’ve shared with him just like this one. So many chances for you to take. You never have.

Back to the original issue: can you see yourself walk out of that clearing the way you always do? Can you see yourself going home, adding this missed chance to your growing collection of lost memories, of hands within your reach that you chose not to take?

The answer pops in your mind, crystal clear for the first time since you met him.

You drop your bag on the ground, turning to Izuku with a delighted expression stretching your features. The look on your face reminds him of one he’d seen on you as a kid, bouncing on the balls of your feet in front of the ice cream truck. At this moment he just knows you’ve got some stupid shenanigan in mind, like you always do. Once again, he isn’t wrong.

“Wanna take a dip?” You’re squinting at him from his side, a mischievous smile lighting up your face.

“I-I didn’t bring a swimsuit,” he stutters.

It’s been a long time since he last stuttered in front of you. He got rid of it years ago, but it still resurfaces sometimes in front of intimidating strangers or in a socially uncomfortable situation. Never in front of you, though.

“Me neither,” you answer plainly with that same impish smile, and his eyes go round at your implications.

“Wait, you can’t be—Oh my God—”

His heart does a great flip in his chest when he catches you taking the hem of your shirt up over your head. In less than five seconds, you’ve got him scorching hot, feverish and suddenly he can’t tell right from left.

His reflex is to bury his face in his hands. He respects you too much to take a peek, but you’re making things very difficult for him. He can hear you move towards the water, can hear the thump of your forgotten shoes hitting the ground one after the other, can hear the soft pad of your naked feet on the rocks.

“For the love of God, please, put it back on…” 

“What? Look at this view, it would be a shame not to make the most of it!”

He’s not looking at the view right now, he can’t let himself. He knows very well he won’t be able to focus on the trees when you’re standing pretty much naked—although he’s not sure to what extent—in front of him. You could be entirely naked right now and he wouldn’t be able to tell, his burning face still hidden in his shaking hands. His voice comes out muffled when he stammers, “I-It’s starting to get late, we really should get back to the car…”

“What, you’re scared of the bears?”

He can’t see you, but he knows you’re sporting that smug grin of yours, the one he first saw when you showed him your impressive collection of Pokémon cards on your preschool’s playground. You’ll have to take a lingering silence for an answer.

“Izuku, come on. I don’t bite.”

He’s not entirely sure the sight of you won’t gnaw him to the bone, won’t melt his entire body down and leave him a hot mess. He won’t be a man anymore, just a walking flame fueled by the heavenly sight of you. No, he can’t let himself fall into that. Obviously you don’t know what you’re doing to him.

Nevertheless, you’re probably the most stubborn person he knows. And he’s friends with Katsuki Bakugou, for God’s sake. He won’t be able to get out of this as easily as he wants, especially as he hears the delicate noise of water splitting at your feet as you enter the little pond.

He slowly moves his hands off of his face. You must have your back turned to him, so maybe he can drift his eyes off somewhere—

You are in front of him, thigh deep in the water now. In nothing but your panties. Your white, flower-patterned lace panties that are doing a very bad job at covering your backside. He lets out a long, pained whine, standing in the middle of the little shore with his arms dangling down his sides, not sure what to do with them.

“Why didn’t you at least keep your bra on?” His voice comes out way more wobbly than he intended to.

You turn a little so you can look at him, and it takes every little bit of strength he’s got left to look you in the eye. But as you’re turning around, the smooth curve of your breast starts showing, and God, is that your nipple?

He wants a giant hole to swallow him right now. He wants some forest creature to come for him right this instant, anything to keep him away from you, keep him from doing things he might regret. To punish him for having such thoughts about you, because you trust him, you’re so oblivious, so innocent, and he’s so weak against this inner monster that’s eating him away.

With a little frown, you deliver the answer like it’s self-evident as you kneel into the water, the surface just above your chest:

“I didn’t want it to get wet.”

“But you’re okay with your panties getting wet?”

The realization of what he just said is slow but surely comes. And when it does, he wishes even harder to get erased from the surface of this planet he’s already lucky enough to share with you. There is a long silence, and all he can hear for a few seconds are the birds chirping and the violent pounding of his heart against his ribcage, straining to get out.

You turn back around to look at him, dumbstruck. 

“I’m more than okay with that—”

“Please forget I just said that,” he cuts you off. He’s not sure he can bear to hear more of this.

“I’m never forgetting you said that. It’s pure gold,” you scoff.

He can only answer with a drawn-out whine. He doesn’t have any choice in this, does he?

When you dive in the water, he takes both his shaking hands to the hem of his shirt and starts undressing.

What the fuck am I doing?

The water is so pure you can see underwater as clear as day: the few rocks at the bottom, the little silvery fish all around you, and the last rays of sunlight permeating through the calm surface above your head. The water feels a bit cold on your naked skin since the sunlight and summer heat must only hit the clearing at certain hours of the day. Still, the cold water isn’t enough to clear your foggy mind.

What was I thinking?

You’ve always been a bashful person, why is it changing all of a sudden? Maybe it’s the devastating effect Izuku has on you.

You try to calm down a bit, taking a deep breath. So, you’re pretty much naked in front of him. Well, it definitely wouldn’t be the first time, and it (probably) won’t be the last. Now you just have to go through with your stupid idea. It’s no big deal, it’s only Izuku. Only Izuku.

Only Izuku.

Fuck.

You finally surface, not only because you can’t hide underwater forever, but also because, surprisingly, you’re not a fish, you have to actually breathe.

You push your dripping hair to the back of your head, still careful to keep your breasts under the water. Izuku’s already in to his hips when you turn around to look at him, your vision still blurry from the water trickling all over your face. He’s merciless, standing like that, only the elastic of his boxers peeking out of the water. You’re a bit surprised by the plain, black color. You were expecting something along the lines of blue, yellow and red. Izuku is full of surprises.

But nevermind the color of his underwear—what you find just above is mesmerizing. Your indiscreet, incorrigible gaze can’t help following the thin trail of hair tracing up to his navel, then the stunning lines of his abs, partly hidden behind his freckled forearms shyly crossed over them. The freckles spread up his powerful arms, gently sunkissed, scattering all over his broad shoulders.

Is he actually hiding, though? Doesn’t he know he looks like he was carved by the gods themselves?

“Have you done this before?”

The sound of his voice startles you a bit. Ah, right. You were shamelessly staring. It takes you a couple of seconds to force your distracted mind back into focus. “Done what?”

“Skinny dipping?”

“No, it’s my first time. It looks like it’s yours too.” His big, bright eyes drift around like they don’t know where to look. It’s really cute.

“It is,” he admits, now kneeling into the water as well. “I would’ve thought you were used to this.” You arch a single eyebrow in an amused frown.

“What, do I look like I have a professional degree in skinny dipping?”

“No, it’s just…You look confident, it just seemed like it.”

Confident? You’re nowhere near confident—you’re terrified. You try to keep your cool, but it’s probably the first time you’re putting on an act in front of Izuku.

“Well, you’re not so bad at it yourself.” You don’t miss the little blush coating his cheeks at that. “Also, I’m not exactly naked.”

“You’re not exactly dressed either, that’s a...v-very small piece of clothing.” He’s blushing a bit harder, looking away.

“Oh, seems like you paid some attention to my piece of clothing then, good to know.”

Now he’s quite simply scarlet. A very cute, very hot, freckled tomato. He’s so easily flustered, it only makes you want to tease him some more.

“Were your legendary All Might boxers in the dirty hamper? That’s a shame. I’m a bit disappointed,” you say in a mockingly innocent voice.

He doesn’t retort, simply stands there on his knees, shooting you an unreadable look and a little pout. After a few seconds, you open your mouth to continue, only to be startled by a strong splash hitting you in the face.

When you snap out of your shock, hair and face dripping all over your shoulders, you look up at him with what must be the scariest look of betrayal. Or the most ridiculous, apparently, since he starts laughing, louder and louder, and can’t seem to stop.

“Oh, you’re pretty pleased with yourself right now, aren’t you?” You can’t help but chuckle while talking, his laugh is so contagious.

“I am, yeah!” he manages to articulate, only starting to calm down.

As the calm of the forest returns, you watch his eyes go back to their usual round shape bit by bit, his face relaxing again. His smile causes butterflies to fly up and around in a whirlwind deep into your belly. You chuckle a bit at the feeling, almost embarrassed by how he’s making you feel like you’re in some dumb, cliche rom-com movie. On the outside, you must look a bit like a maniac, but he’s a nice guy, so he simply asks, “What is it?”

And before you can overthink yourself out of it, you’re hurling yourself at him. He barely has the chance to stutter a weak, “Wait!” before you’re putting all your weight on him, sinking his head deep in the water. Izuku may well be a nice guy, but you know he isn’t going to let you get away with this, so you’re not surprised when you’re dragged underwater by your legs. He lets go immediately, a bit abruptly, even, like it burnt his hands to touch you.

You both emerge from the water soon, and it takes you a second to get rid of the water blurring your vision, but then it hits you. How tantalizingly close you are to each other now, your bodies an inch away from touching. You’re both on your knees, enveloped in the coolness of crystal clear water and the reflections of the canopy of leaves above your heads. A spark of electricity makes you freeze on the spot; you’re so close to him your breasts slightly brush against his chest.

After a little eternity, you find the courage to look up at his face. He looks mindblowing, really. Despite the two decades you spent together, you’re not sure you’ve ever seen the pure, astonishing details of his freckles from this close. You would remember it, you definitely would. It’s a spectacular view, one of those visual memories that comes back to hit you in flashes. His nose and cheekbones are covered in them, drawing a mesmerizing pattern, more complex than the Milky Way itself. They’re an uncrackable equation, like a weird quirk of nature that you’ll never understand but don’t question anyway. They spread a little more scattered, but still very present, up to his forehead and down to his delicate jaw.

And his eyes—you could just drown in them. There’s this bright, blinding light there that feels like laying in the grass and looking up at the sunlight coating the leaves of this tree, the one you grew up near and always played under.

You swear you didn’t move, neither did he, and still you manage to get even closer to him. Now it’s you against the inexorable attraction that pulls you towards him like a fierce magnet. And it’s a losing battle, you think, as you’re both entering each other’s personal space like you share just one.

There’s nothing friendly about the way he can’t look you in the eye, seemingly too obsessed with your lips. You drop your gaze to his and find them calling for you. It’s been so long, now the thought of kissing Izuku seems unfamiliar despite being ever-present in your imagination for so many years. Like repeating a word so much it ends up becoming a series of meaningless sounds to your confused mind.

He’s the one who finally closes the distance, his lips landing on yours so softly you can barely feel them. He doesn’t move, simply content with the contact. You’re both eight years old again for a minute. The kiss feels like the little peck a kid would finally give to his crush in the middle of their school’s playground before running away to his friends.

Time seems to stop for God knows how long, and after what feels like no time and forever all at once, his lips move hesitantly against yours, bringing you back to reality. Right then, it all crashes on you like a tremendous wave. The distant echo of your mothers’ voices from the kitchen and the stupid cartoons they made you watch so they could talk for ten more minutes. The games alone together because no one wanted to play with you two weirdos. The piggyback rides, the dumb jokes, the video games (you always won). The neverending texting sessions at night because one of you couldn’t sleep. The fights that never lasted long enough to see the next sunrise because you both are way too weak for each other. All those stupid places that wouldn’t have looked half as breathtaking if it weren’t for him.

His lips are soft but roughly bitten. Hot and wet from the water and maybe from something else. He doesn’t taste like anything other than home, and that’s more than enough for you. His hands went up to cup your face at some point, but you’re too drowned in all the feelings coming up to the surface to pay attention to anything other than his soft mouth pressing on yours, more and more, opening up—

And it’s already over. You only notice that you’ve closed your eyes when you open them again when you don’t feel anything against your mouth other than the summer air. When your mind manages to regain any sense of function, the blurry focus of your gaze settles on his eyes. Wide open. Pupils eating up the dazzling viridian that puts the forest to shame. And a terrified expression in them.

He’s looking at you like he hurt you. His lips should still be on yours, kissing and sucking, not frozen like they are right now, obviously trying to express something painful as a few weak sounds pass their barrier before he finally manages to speak:

“Oh—Oh my God, I-I’m s—”

You don’t let him finish his stupid sentence. You don’t think twice before you take his face in your hands and lean in to kiss him again, with shameless intent this time. No more pretending—you’ve been waiting long enough for this and apparently, so has he.

It’s nothing gentle this time when your mouths crash against each other, teeth clashing and lips bruising under the weight of twenty years. You hold to his face like a lifeline, fingers sinking just a bit into his cheekbones, the tip of your nails getting caught in the knots of his dripping hair just above his ears. It’s messy, your noses rubbing before he angles his face better. One of his hands loops around your waist in a tight grip, forcing your chest to crush against his, the other burying in your hair at the base of your skull.

The feeling is electrifying, indescribable. It’s nothing like the pale, miserable depiction of your imagination. It’s discovering life in color when all you’ve always known was black and white.

The water is cool, but his body scorches against yours, burns your skin in the most exquisite way. The kiss is desperate on both parts, but neither of you is confident. His lips suck on yours with tentative motions, and you respond in kind the best you can. They are hungry, starving for flesh but don’t know how to hunt.

Your hands are gripping more and more of his hair, pulling harder, sending waves of heat all the way down his groin, and he’s not sure he can hide the bulge growing there for much longer.

He has to be sure, he has to be absolutely certain you want this as much as he does, because once he starts, he may not be able to stop. But you feel so good, all pressed against him. Your skin feels so soft under his hand at the small of your back he has to dig his nails in the skin of your waist so he doesn’t cross a line. But the curve just above your ass is begging for him to grip at the tender flesh and squeeze, fill his hands with it. He’s been dreaming about this for so long.

No, he can’t just hurl himself at you like a hunting wolf the first chance he gets—what kind of friend does that?

It takes him every bit of focus he has left to break the kiss, to part away from you. You have to discuss this, he can’t just throw away twenty years of friendship! Now you’re looking up at him with puppy eyes saying, ‘Why won’t you play with me?’ He breathes out a shaky sigh, and begins:

“Um, look. Believe me when I say I’ve wanted this for a very, very long time, and I love you so, so much. As a friend, I mean.” He sees you frown at this, catches a glint of something he doesn’t like in your eyes, then panics. “No, no, no, I mean, a-as a friend, but also more than that, o-obviously. But I don’t know what you want, you might be...d-disappointed, or...um—” His face starts heating up like it hasn’t in ages. He takes another breath, tries to clear up the muddled mess happening in his head. “Look, I just want the best for you, but you look...good, very good, and you’re making things very difficult for me, doing...this—”

“Izuku.” The deafening hubbub filling his mind falls suddenly silent, your voice a comforting, steady rock for him to cling to when his mind is storming out of control.

“Yeah?”

You get even closer to him, since he gradually set some distance while mumbling his anxious thoughts out again. You cup his face in your hands, a gentle, featherlight touch, and look up at him with determination in your eyes. You pull his head down a bit to settle on yours, your foreheads and noses connected, never breaking eye contact. Your lips graze over his, both your breaths mixing there, your voice a quiet whisper as you speak again. “Do you want me?”

Out of the jittery mess of his mind, the answer comes out like evidence, plain and simple: “Yes.”

“Then shut up and kiss me.”

You take action immediately, kissing him once again and this time he doesn’t hesitate to put his—still rather shaky—hands on you. The feeling of you is addicting, pushing his insecurities further in the back of his mind. He starts at your waist, running his thumbs there, feeling the goosebumps rising on your skin. They wander up your spine, counting every single bump of your bones, all the way to your nape. Then dragging them back down to settle on your hips, his fingers digging in the soft flesh. The little sigh you breathe on his lips causes an impressive amount of blood to run straight to his dick. 

Your mouth is distracting, dizzying, sucking on his bottom lip, nipping playfully. His tongue slides over your lips, then against your own when you open up immediately for him. You’re pressing against him even more, your breasts rubbing against his naked chest and he swears you’re going to be the death of him. You’re hanging from his shoulders by now, your arms circling his neck, still gripping a handful of green hair, pulling. You have to stop doing this—he might cum right away. He doesn’t say it aloud, only lets a moan escape him into your mouth.

He wanted this, wanted this for so long, and now that it’s real, it’s beyond everything he could have imagined. The heat of your skin, the weight on his shoulders as you cling to him, your breath in his mouth, your little sighs.

He’s only now noticing that his hands have gone to reach their destination with a mind of their own. They’re on your ass underwater, feeling the white, wet lace, the sole cloth on your entire body—that thing is just there to tempt him. He’s unsure if you like what he’s doing until you release a whimper, louder this time, enough to send a vibration against his mouth (and straight to his cock at the same time).

Suddenly, he wants to taste a lot more of you. You’re all open up to him for the first time—he has to. He trails a series of open-mouthed kisses from the corner of your mouth to your jaw, savoring every little sigh escaping your lips, then to your neck, dragging his tongue up the column of your throat.

The water is fresh all over you, and he doesn’t miss the shivers running up and down your skin at the contact of the twilight breeze. He needs to warm you up, needs to make you feel good, needs everything to be perfect for you. With his hands still on your ass, he trails lower down to your collarbone, allowing some occasional nips on the way that have you shaking. He freezes, looking up at you from there.

“Is this okay?”

The answer comes out breathy, a little desperate: “Yes, yes, please!” It sends a wave of heat all over him, the way you like what he’s doing to you, the way he’s making you feel good.

He’s not experienced or anything, only had a few hookups a couple of times, so he’s not very confident in his capacities, aside from running his hands all over you because that’s how his instincts are manifesting. You know him better than anyone—of course you would know how lost he could be in this kind of situation. But he also knows you’re not much more experienced than him, and that thought is comforting.

He’s experienced in one thing, though. He feels like the worst, filthiest person on the planet for this, but it’s astonishing the number of times he jerked off to the thought of what’s happening right now. How many times did he fuck his hand in the shower thinking about the water trickling down your skin, about licking it off your breasts all the way up to your neck.

So he does what he’s been dying to do for years. your breasts are just above the surface, so he sits on his heels and licks down your chest. When his tongue finally reaches your nipple, giving it a tentative lick, you let out a gasp, encouraging him to get bolder. And he does, closing his mouth on it like it’s the sweetest lollipop; it’s all cold and hard and raised from the water, but it warms up really quickly against the furnace of his mouth. His right hand leaves your ass to cup the neglected other, running his thumb against the bud, squeezing the flesh. That’s when you reach out to bury a hand in his hair, and pull again. God, you can pull on his hair all day and night like this; he’ll never get enough.

His left hand, still on your ass, rises up to the small of your back, feeling you arching more and more, pushing against his mouth. A harder nip has you gasping and he lets his hands run all over you, wandering without direction. It’s messy and urgent; he can’t help it—you feel so good, so soft under his hands. He’s like a kid getting to open his Christmas gifts in the morning after an endless, sleepless night waiting for Santa.

You trail your hand down his chest and his abdomen, a gentle reminder that the power he holds right now could slip through his fingers any moment. He’s willing to give it to you, especially since he doesn’t really know what to do next.

Like you just read his mind, you take his hands in yours, stopping their chaotic race. He’s feeling himself flush a bit—was he going too fast for you? Did he scare you? Or did he just let himself become overwhelmed by his feelings and it didn’t feel good for you? His eyes are looking down directly at your naked chest, he realizes he never took a proper look at them, too busy throwing himself to taste them. They look just as good as they taste, as beautiful as the rest of you.

Tentatively, he raises his eyes to find your reassuring gaze and fond smile. You lead his hands down slowly, setting them on your hips, over the criminal lace fabric preserving your modesty. Your foreheads connect again, but you never break eye contact. Lacing your fingers together, you guide his thumbs into the elastic on both sides, and now that he gets what you’re trying to do, his mind just stops.

Your voice is barely a whisper, a mesmerizing caress on his lips when you speak again. “I think I’ve waited long enough, Zuku.”

Your tone is fond, but you sound so desperate, it’s unbearably cute. His mind fogs up, the smoke of your words filling his skull and he wants to drive you as mad as you drive him. Sure, you’ve waited a lot, but so has he. He isn’t going to rush this, not if he has any say in it.

He slides your panties down your thighs underwater inch by inch. It’s even too slow for him; right now he just wants to rip the stupid piece of lace off of you and fuck you and him both stupid in the water, hard and fast. But even more than that, he wants to take his time with you, wants to take you apart piece by piece. And the testy whine it elicits from you makes it all so worth it.

You shift a bit so he can take your underwear completely off and, in a second, it lays abandoned on the sandy ground of the shore. Just knowing you’re now completely naked in front of him, it sends boiling desire flowing through every single vein in his body. He can’t see that part of you yet, the water darkening along with the sky clouding his view beneath the surface, but nightfall can’t do anything about Izuku’s wild imagination. He’s dizzy, feeling himself slowly falling into a half-conscious daze, but you anchor him right where you are, bringing him back to the reality of your arms hooked around his neck.

He rests his hands on your hips, dragging his fingertips down the soft flesh of them. The idea of touching you down there is making his head spin, he can’t wait any longer.

“Can I—”

“Yes, I want your fingers inside me,” you say before driving your lips back against his.

Without further ado, one of them goes straight to your core, making you jump a bit, breaking the kiss just for a second. He runs his index between your folds, feeling hot slick already coming out of you despite the fresh water around. His touch is light, slow, hesitant as it glides up and down, testing the waters. He’s getting a bit further, putting a bit more pressure with every stroke and earning a few pleased sighs from your heavenly mouth.

He expected a sudden reaction as soon as he found your clit, but that doesn’t mean he was prepared for the drawn-out moan coming out of your gorgeous lips, wet from his mouth and from your dip earlier. He wants to hear that again, every day for the rest of his life. He drags his thumb over it, again and again, slow at first, but then quicker and quicker, and your voice grows louder with every speed-up of his finger.

Your hands go frantic over him, running up his chest and down his abs in repeated motions that feel a lot like it’s lust driving your limbs much more than your mind. You stopped kissing him at some point, your mouth too busy expressing every ounce of pleasure you felt to focus on such basic motions. Your face is buried in his neck, your hot breath crushing against his skin.

He presses his index inside, but he’s so focused on what he’s doing, trying not to hurt you, that he doesn’t notice the shift of your own hand leaning down until he feels it cupping the painful bulge in his boxers. His eyes go wide with a gasp, and when he looks at you, you already have a playful, but intense, gaze piercing right through him.

“Did you think I was gonna let you play all on your own, Zuku?” Your fingers graze over the soaked fabric, down his entire length and to his balls, throwing gasoline on the fire that’s been consuming him for ages. “Don’t be selfish,” you whisper directly in his ear as your hands slip his underwear down his thighs.

As soon as the piece of cloth gets to join your forgotten panties on the shore, you wrap your pretty hand around him. And when you start stroking, his eyes roll so hard he swears he can see the inside of his skull. It feels better than he ever could have imagined; it’s blistering, astonishing. The only idea his brain can manage to work out right now is that he wants you to feel just as good.

He only notices now that his fingers stopped moving, and they go right back to a steady pace, but it’s a matter of seconds before he drives another finger into you. Soon, you’re both fucking the life out of each other with your hands. You’re sucking and nipping at his ear, and every single moan he draws out of you ends up turning against him, breaking into the defenses he built year after year by your side. He’s simply fucking into your hand now. He can’t help it, you feel so good. He doesn’t even want to think about what it’s going to feel like to fuck into your tight little cunt, he might cum hard just from the thought of it.

The spongy spot he finds inside you feels like he just struck gold. It’s glorious, the sounds you make right now, higher, louder. You’re tightening around his fingers, but it’s okay—you can crush them for all he cares. He wants you to moan higher for him, wants you to keep riding his fingers like your life depends on it.

“Izuku, ah—I’m close, I’m so close, please…”

“I got you, baby. I got you, shit—”

He quickens the pace again, feels like his fingers are gonna fall off his hand the moment he gets them out of you, but fuck, what his princess wants, his princess is gonna get. Your orgasms shatter the both of you to pieces, and in the bliss of his high, he can hear some birds flying away, scared by the harmonious, but probably very loud, song of your combined moans.

While his cum strikes out by ropes into the water, his clouded mind can only think about one thing.

He needs more of you.

You can barely stand on your knees, worn out from cumming the hardest you have in your entire life. You actually have to lean on Izuku so you don’t fall into the water head first like some boneless ragdoll. You just let your forehead rest on his shoulder and count the freckles there, splattered in a fascinating work of abstraction.

But apparently, he has other plans. You’re swiftly lifted up and out of the water, huge scarred hands firmly holding the back of your thighs that immediately come to circle his waist.

“Oh, nice. I don’t mind getting carried around like a baby. Where are we going?”

“Not far,” he says with a little grin, walking out of the water. “Do you think you’ll be able to walk?” His voice holds a sarcastic tone, one you’re not used to hearing out of Izuku’s angel mouth.

“I think I can manage, yeah.”

He drops you to stand on your legs, and immediately goes for his backpack. The sun has just set, its last rays of light filling the pink sky over your heads. You can still easily make out everything around you, and Izuku’s body is no exception.

You’re watching him with a raised eyebrow, letting your shameless gaze follow every curve you couldn’t see underwater. The day he started exercising in high school was the day you knew it was over for you. It was the day you couldn’t deny what you felt anymore, you couldn’t deny your best friend was everything you needed, and everything you wished for. The physical factor was only a—very pleasant— addition to the list of things that made you fall hard for Izuku Midoriya.

Your eyes linger over his impressive figure, staring at the dimples at the small of his back. You always knew they were here, but you never allowed yourself to look at them, to imagine how they would grow repeatedly hollow with every thrust of his hips into you.

He finally digs out what he was looking for: a plaid picnic blanket, because of course he would have one in there. He’s wearing a little victorious smile when he stands and turns around to spread it on a grassy spot that looks a lot more comfortable than the hard ground. He turns back to you but averts his gaze to the side, hardly looking directly at you for more than a second at a time. The heat of his gaze tracing your curves through quick glances pools deep in your core. 

“You know you can look, right?” You sure aren’t refraining from doing so after all.

His face reaches its usual redness—hasn’t he learned anything from making you cum like crazy with just his fingers? It’s cute nonetheless; Izuku will never change.

He doesn’t answer your rhetorical question, only gives you a shy command in that tentative, very cute voice of his.

“Could you lay down on this for me?”

You saw this coming, but still, you’re a bit surprised he’s asking you that out loud. You gladly oblige with your legs pressed together, slightly bent. It’s another golden opportunity to tease him a bit:. “This isn’t exactly the right use for this blanket. Aren’t we supposed to eat on this?”

He smiles at the ground while kneeling at your feet.

“Maybe that’s exactly what I’m planning to do.”

Your sly smile fades away. His tone is a contradictory mix of shyness and determination, so it’s a bit confusing but also unbearably hot—you swear an astounding wave of heat is crashing through your deepest parts, untouched, just from some words and a funny tone. You rub your thighs together before he grabs and parts them to slip himself between them.

He crawls over you and leans down to kiss you, a bit more confident than earlier. His hips are pressing between your legs, where you can feel his hardness best.

He’s rutting more and more against you as the kiss intensifies. You could think it’d be a lot less exciting now that you know he’s going to eat you out, there’d be no suspense. Wrong. The little shit apparently likes to tease you to death, because he left your lips to kiss your face, nip at your neck, suck at your ears. Dragging his devilish hands everywhere, pressing harder each time you get louder. An especially heavy whine makes him buck hard, his mouth back against yours.

“The more impatient you get, the slower it’s gonna be,” he murmurs against your lips, and starts to make his way down to where you want him, kissing every inch of you, clouding your mind with desire. It’s way too much and still not enough; it’s maddening. When he finally reaches down, you’re on the verge of a second orgasm like you hadn’t just come down a few minutes ago.

He’s holding your thighs apart in a firm grip. Just the touch of his fingers burns your skin deliciously, and the look he’s giving you from between your legs...his eyes are clouded, half-lidded, looking at the part of you he’s never gotten to see before. It feels like he’s been looking forever and just a second at the same time.

He finally dips into you, leaving butterfly kisses all over your inner thighs, punctuated by little nips, nuzzling the soft skin. He’s not looking you in the eye anymore, his gaze lingering all over your body—all over except for your face. You can make out a slight blush on his cheeks despite the dimness all around. You know him better than anyone, so you immediately recognize what’s going on in his mind just from the slightest hint in his eyes. He looks like he’s fighting a battle against himself, his shyness against his hunger. And you know who you’re both rooting for.

He finally gives in, and it takes your breath away. A single, slight lick on your clit and you’re gone. And the next ones, more and more intense, more and more hungry, push you further to tumble over your edge. He grunts into your heat, multiple times. Moans like he’s the one squirming under your mouth.

His hands hold a firm grip on your hips, squeezing the flesh and keeping you in place—he doesn’t even give you an inch to move. You can only take and take and take. But you still have the luxury of your free hands, and they rush to bury in the knots of his messy wet curls, your nails dragging, scratching his scalp.

His lips close on your clit and suck just a bit, and before you can refrain, you pull on his hair, hard. He gasps, and the moment you think you hurt him, he breathes his loudest moan, right into you. You’re filled with the vibrations—they spread all over your body, have you throwing your head back, trembling from head to toe.

The louder you are, the hungrier he gets, filling you with his insatiable tongue. You have to look at him right now. And you expected quite a show, but you certainly weren't prepared to see this—him rutting against the ground like an animal. You realize he’s getting off just from your taste, just from eating you out. His hips roll repeatedly, making you salivate just to the thought of those same hips bucking into yours, fucking you into oblivion. And the more he ruts, the louder he gets.

Now if he wants to moan, you’re going to give him a good reason to. 

You hint for him to face you with a light tug on his hair. As soon as he’s back up, he dives in to kiss you. You don’t let him. In a second he’s on his back with you seated on his hips.

“What did I say about letting you play on your own, hm?”

The ‘deer caught in headlights’ look is so cute on him. And the rest is a marvel to look at. You’re straddling him and he has no other choice than to let you devour him with your eyes—not that he couldn’t bounce you off of him with just a thrust of his hips, but he already would have if he wanted to. You let your gaze wander mindlessly over him—it’s surreal. There’s no way he’s actually under you, waiting for you to please him back with his mouth and jaw still shining with your juices. It has to be a dream—it’s always been after all.

You shift so you’re straddling his parted thighs. You can finally take a look at him. The whole thing, that is. His cock is resting against his lower stomach, hard and swollen and thick. It’s a pretty, bright pink, shining with pre-cum at the tip. Your mouth waters just at the sight of it.

He’s looking down at you, his face as flushed as his dick, that usual blush still exquisitely coating his freckles. You take him in your hand, dive in to give a lick to the tip and his head falls back down with a whimper. You let your tongue drag over the whole length on the underside, and your lips close around the tip in a wet smooch. His hips jerk up a bit, startling you.

You finally take him whole in your mouth, and you can feel his whole body tensing under you. You start bobbing up and down, going a bit further each time, earning a series of shameless moans because this boy is loud. You expected him to express himself during sex since he’s such a mumbler—and frankly, it was always one of your biggest fantasies, hearing him come undone because of you, lose any sense of shame and self-restriction when he’s such a anxious person otherwise.

But you could’ve thought about it every night and day and still never be ready for this. It’s sinful. His hand goes to grab your hair just like you did to him, and now you get why he liked it so much. The feel of his nails scratching your scalp is electrifying, soothing and destructive at the same time.

Your tongue hits a precise spot just under the tip and he jerks up again, nearly screams, “Fuck—yes, right there, please—d-do that again!”

And you do, you can only oblige—he asked so nicely. Your lips go up and down, over and over, your tongue grazing this spot with a bit more pressure every single time. You squint over him, and what you find there is a mess. Trying so hard not to buck into your mouth but failing miserably. Sounding like he’s at Heaven’s gate.

“Easy, Zuku. You’re gonna scare the birds away,” you chuckle against him, your lips brushing the tip, dripping with your saliva and pre-cum.

“Do I need to remind you…how loud you were for me earlier?” He’s looking back down at you as he speaks, a tremble in his voice telltale of his approaching climax. “You sounded...so good, baby, I swear...wanna hear you again, wanna make you scream, just for me, fuck—”

You can feel yourself soaking the blanket, can feel the slick trickle down your folds and stain the plaid cotton. Is he aware of what he’s doing? Or is he just saying whatever is going through his chaotic mind? In any case it has you starving. So you let go of his cock and, before he can protest, crawl back to his face and kiss him desperately. Tasting both of your fluids in a mindblowing mix.

You pull back just enough to be able to speak, because you need him to understand you loud and clear when you say:  “Please, Izuku, I need you inside me, I’ve waited so long. Please.”

“Okay, okay, fuck—” He cuts himself off, his eyes slightly drooping like a sad puppy. “I-I don’t have any condoms.”

“You mean you probably have pads in there for me but no condoms?” you say with your eyebrows raised, your mocking tone hinting at a teasing remark, far from criticism.

He frowns in confusion. “How do you know I have pads in there?”

“So the legend turns out to be true. After all these years—”

“Shut up, you’re impossible,” he chuckles heatlessly, resting his hands on your back.

“It’s okay. I’m on the pill,” you assure him with a soft tone.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m pretty sure I’m on the pill, yeah.”

He rolls his eyes, then clarifies, a hint of hesitation clear in his voice.

“No I mean...you’re sure you wanna do this?” He marks a brief pause, takes a short breath. “With me?”

You don’t even think before answering, it slips your mouth like it’s not even your own words: “I don’t want it with anyone else.”

There’s a silence.

“Fuck, that sounds cheesy,” you scoff, looking away.

“It does, but we’re both cheesy idiots, apparently.”

You look back at him. His smile is so fond, so loving; it melts your heart in the best way.

“I wanna be your cheesy idiot,” you say against his mouth, looking right into his eyes, willing to fall in them.

“You always have been,” he nearly whispers. It fills your stomach with familiar warmth, intense and overwhelming, comforting.

There’s a bittersweet taste in your mouth, one of regret and lost time and God, we’re idiots.

Now it’s about time you make up for it all.

You look down at him, rolling your hips against him, dripping all over his cock, coating him in your juices.

“I think I asked you something, didn’t I?”

A whimper escapes him at the feeling. His hips buck up slightly, hands gripping at your back. When you do it again, you don’t get the chance to see his reaction; you’re on your back again, him towering over you, his thigh between your legs.

He’s looking at you with something in his eyes you don’t recognize, but the tone he speaks with has your entire body quaking.

“And you’re gonna get it, sweetheart.”

He holds himself over his left forearm, his hand thumbing at your cheek while the other strokes the whole length of your thigh. Your noses are brushing, your breaths crashing together. Your hands hold tight to his nape, playing with the short hair mindlessly as you’re waiting to be filled, finally.

You feel the stretch instantly. You try to focus on those mesmerizing emerald gems he calls eyes. They look right through your soul, eating you up and you barely feel the pain. He’s taking it slow, inch by inch, giving you all the time you need, caressing your cheek with a tender stroke of his thumb.

“Relax for me, baby.”

Izuku’s voice is a soothing sound over the incessant chirping of the grasshoppers. It was always one of your favorite things to hear, its every tone another blessing to your ears. It’s loving when he asks if you’re okay, comforting when he whispers sweet nothings to you as you cry on his shoulder, heartening when he’s going on about anything he’s passionate about.

He’s kissing every part of skin he has access to, over your face, your jaw, your neck. You feel yourself relaxing around him, and roll your hips up to give him the hint.

When he starts moving it’s still slow and careful. He doesn’t break eye contact, so you can see his every reaction, and he can see all yours. His hand is still playing with your hair, even as his pace speeds up with every second. The weight of him over you feels amazing, it holds him close against you, countless parts of you both rubbing together: your chests, your stomachs, your thighs. He doesn’t even have a lot of space to move. But getting to touch and get touched by him like this, it's incredible. You always had him so close to you, always right there and still so out of reach.

You still need more; you’re insatiable. You need to see him come undone under you, because of you. You push him to roll on his back, and you end up straddling him, setting the pace yourself. You start bouncing up and down on his cock, taking balance on the hard planes of his abs. He immediately reaches up to grab your hips, guiding you along.

His face tenses up, frowning, his nose wrinkling, his lips parted just to let out a series of breathy sighs. He looks wrecked and dizzy and stunning. He’s keeping his eyes open, fixed up on you, specifically on your breasts, bouncing with your every motion. And you can feel his gaze on your skin just as much as you feel his hands gripping harder at the flesh below your hips.

“Eyes up here, Zuku,” you coo with two fingers pointed at your eyes.

He doesn’t answer, only sits up easily and wraps his arms around your waist.

“You look so amazing, you have no idea what you do to me,” he says with a trembling voice, filled with bliss.

Your heart misses a beat at his words, they fill you with warmth and comfort because he definitely doesn’t have any idea what he’s doing to you. He delves his face into your neck, kissing and nuzzling, his breath coming shorter and shorter, crashing against your skin and his hands running all over you. The sound of his hoarse voice resonates through the forest and through your soul, echoing an enchanting song.

With little effort, he puts you back under him so he can pound into you with full force, and your legs immediately come up to wrap around his waist, pulling him deeper. Your hands grab his hair, tugging to see if you get the same reaction as earlier, and it doesn’t miss: he lets out a groan right into your ear, speeding up his pace again.

The sky is dark now, and all you can hear are his moans and yours and the slap of your hips coming together repeatedly. Your head is thrown back when he grabs you by the hair, forcing you to turn your head and face him.

“Look at me. I wanna see you.”

“Izuku, I’m gonna—”

“I know, baby. Let go for me, come on.”

Just the feel of his hand trailing down your stomach awakens something in you, this familiar pressure growing tight in your belly. And when his fingers reach your clit, a couple of strokes are enough to have you screaming his name, tightening around him, and pulling him towards his climax with you. His thrusts come franticly as you milk him dry, clawing desperately at his back, panting in his mouth as he leaned down to kiss you through both your climaxes.

As soon as he comes down, he rolls over on his side, still laying close to you, an arm thrown over you. You both take a minute to catch your breaths and, weirdly enough, you don’t hear anything aside from your panting. You really must have scared the birds away. Izuku breaks the silence first.

“Do you wanna...sleep at my place?”

He’s looking over at you and, despite the sky getting dark, you can easily imagine the blush coating his cheeks right now, like he didn’t make you scream his name, drunk on his cock two minutes ago.

You can’t repress your fond smile at his proposition.

“Yeah, let’s do that.”

You take a minute to gather your clothes from all over the place and get dressed, then grab your bag to tug it over your shoulder.

“You got everything?”

Izuku is waiting for you just outside the trees. You take a quick look around, making sure you haven’t forgotten anything, and turn around without a second look at the place.

Because although it was your first time setting foot here, it definitely won’t be the last; you will come back here with Izuku every chance you get, making it your shared secret, your own little wonderland.

You gladly take the hand he’s offering, making him blush a little harder, and you head straight back into the forest together.

You walk side by side as a comfortable silence settles, only disturbed by the grasshoppers’ incessant, boisterous chirping. The sky is utterly dark now, you can make out a few stars shining above the dense trees. You walk at a steady pace, but Izuku is going a bit faster with every step. Soon enough, he’s walking a bit ahead of you, still holding your hand. Another golden occasion to tease his eagerness.

“Are we in a hurry, Zuku?”

In the dark of the night, you struggle to make out the look on his face as he turns around to look at you. A second later, he’s running, and with your hand firmly held in his, you can’t do much but try to follow along. You giggle as you run, and it quickly grows into a belly-deep laughter. He’s fast, doesn’t get tired, but you follow him anyway, probably as eager as he is. You have to zig-zag so you don’t run straight into the massive trees standing in your way.

You get to the car in no time, but you’re both out of breath when you finally get in your respective seats, ready to go home.

Izuku doesn’t even wait to catch his breath before he starts the car, the engine roaring loudly in the silence of the night, probably scaring the birds away for the upteenth time that night. You catch his happy grin in the headlights glow before he heads back into the road.

You have a feeling the night is not over; you’ve only got twenty years to make up for after all.

[tetralea]

Ski date

Pairing: Tom Holland x reader

Word Count: 6.2 K+

Warning: idiots in love, awkward flirting, kissing, unprotected sex, fingering, oral (female recieveing), 

Summary: Tom invites you to join him and Harry skiing, and you say yes. Not so secretly hoping one of you finally makes a move and ends the months long mutual pinning finally. 

It’s very fluffy on main, with some good amount of smut. There is an entire scene of smut I didn’t include, it’s very long already, so if you are interested let me know and I might write it. 

A/N: I love skiing, you might be able to tell it after reading this. The reader is skiing, because I do, so that’s that. Thank you for everyone who encouraged me on writing this. I hope you’ll like it. 

It’s been fairly long since you got to go skiing, so when Tom asked if you wanted to join him and Harry, you said yes, way too fast. 

So here you were, feeling at the top of the world as the Sun was shining, on the beautiful snowy mountain tops all over the horizon. It was the definition of freedom. The mountains, the snow, you skis and speeding down on the slopes until your thighs were burning. 

And now, a pair of deep brown eyes, which you caught staring at you from time to time, only added to the thrills. 

Your close friendship with Tom slowly grew to an endless mutual pining, slowly driving everyone around you crazy, but the both of you played safe, not daring to make a move until you worked together, but up in the mountains everything felt so different. 

His eyes were shining just a bit more bright, his smile seemed just a bit more wide and carefree and the wind carried his clear, happy laughter a tiny bit further. 

‘How about a hot chocolate there?’ You heard Tom’s voice behind you as he walked next to you easily in his boots. His gloved hand was pointing to a small, bright coloured place at the still sunny part, halfway down to the valley. 

‘Sounds good to me.’ You nodded, turning to Harry and seeing his unruly curls moving around on his forehead as they peaked out of his helmet. 

‘Sure, you guys are so lazy tho, we just had lunch.’ He complained before dropping his board on the snow. After a few seconds of shuffling around all three of you were ready to race downhill enjoying the more than beautiful spring weather and the almost empty slopes. 

‘Can you please bring me one?’ You asked Tom, while getting rid of your coat and helmet and settling into the comfy sun chairs. 

‘What do I get if I bring you one?’ He asked with a playful, almost flirty tone. 

Maybe it was the place, or maybe it was the way he got rid of his helmet running his fingers through his messy brown curls, giving you a challenging smile, you felt brave. ‘What do you want?’ 

He leant down, to get his wallet out of his backpack, and to get closer to you, the tension between the two of you almost visible as he looked at you, biting his lips slightly. ‘Just a small kiss, darling.’ His voice was low, a lot more quiet as he tilted his head a little when his long finger touched his skin to show you the exact spot on his cheek he had in mind. Tom’s eyebrows were high as he was waiting for your answer. 

‘Alright, love,’ you emphasised the pet name for him, ‘with whipped cream, without a straw.’ His eyes were locked to yours until he straightened himself and looked at Harry, who was trying to pretend that he found something very interesting on his phone, and not paying attention to your shameless flirting. 

It was hard to tell how much time passed when suddenly the Sun was gone and you opened your eyes to see what happened, not remembering any clouds from earlier. 

Surely it wasn’t a cloud, but Tom was standing in front of you with a satisfied grin and two mugs of hot chocolate. 

You reached out to get yours but he just shook his head with a small laugh, making Harry roll his eyes. Tom leant down and placed the mugs on the small table next to you to free his hands and to get to the same level with you. You tried to blame the non-existent wind for the slight blush on his cheeks, and you told yourself you only imagined the anticipation in his eyes as he looked at you. 

Nonetheless you sat up straight as he was kneeling on the wooden floor, both of your hands sliding onto his cheek to hold his head steady as you pressed a small, but firm kiss to his skin. It was only a brief moment, but you felt your heart racing against your ribs and your breath shaking a bit as you let him go, his cheeks now definitely red and blushing. 

‘Thanks.’ Your voice was merely a whisper as you gave him a soft smile before turning to your drink. 

Harry was already battling with the whipped cream on the top of his drink, trying his best not to let it drip onto his fingers. Now seeing that you and Tom wore done with flirting again, he started a story. 

Long minutes gone by as the three of you just enjoyed the sunshine and the sweet beverage, you tried your best not to burn your tongue, which Tom did of course with the first sip immediately.

Focusing on the people sliding next to the small terrace and just marvelling at the giants of the nature surrounding you almost made you unaware of the pretty brown eyes lingering on your face, drkingin in every smile, every small sigh, every movement you made. 

But you turned as he started to talk, catching him looking at you again. 

‘Um… your face.’ Tom started unsure of how to explain himself, making Harry lean forward seeing what was happening to your face for himself. Now they were both grinning ear to ear, motioning around their own mouths trying to explain to you exactly where the chocolate strained your skin. ‘Wait.’ Tom chuckled a bit reaching forward with a small piece of napkin and he steadied your head with one hand at the back of your neck, while the other started to rub at the strain. You giggled at his not too gentle movements, before his pretty face lit up as he checked and noticed that he successfully removed the chocolate. ‘Now, it’s looking good.’ He said proudly leaning back to let Harry check as well. 

‘Yepp, all gone.’ He gave you a thumbs up and a smile. 

Tom let go of you and you started to get ready for the last few hours of skiing before the slopes closed. 

The three of you always took turns whenever you got to a two seat chair lift, it was always someone else alone. Now you rode it with Tom for the third time in a row, Harry always being there first and leaving the two of you alone or searching for something in his bag telling you to go together. It was more than suspicious, why would anyone search for anything in their bags before the lift ride. He just tried to give you, any of you, that final push to make a move finally. A huge grin spread on your lips to the thought. 

On the other hand you felt Tom sitting just a bit closer to you every time, blaming it on his snowboard that his knees were pushed to yours, during the whole ride. Whenever you crossed the valley and it got a bit more windy he encouraged you to scoot closer to him, leaning to his shoulder, finding shelter against the sharp wind. Not like it helped much, but you wouldn’t have admitted it for your life. 

You enjoyed this closeness just as much, the small flirting, the small beaming looks and every time he was caught, he didn’t look away immediately, he held your gaze for a second, before smiling a bit and closing his eyes giggling. It felt like being a teen all over again. 

It was nice, almost innocent. 

You tried your best around Harry, not to bother or annoy him too much, but after the fifth ride together you didn’t need an excuse to press your thighs to his or lean to his shoulder, like it was all natural. Just chatting and telling stories, planning your next slide or arguing if snowboarding or skiing was better. 

‘Look, look at him!’ You spoke fast in the friendly but heated argument as you pointed to a guy completely ruining the snow as he was just standing on his snowboard, sliding down in a way he pushed the snow from the surface completely. 

‘Okay, sure, but people who can snowboard are not that bad.’ Tom threw his hands in the air defending himself. ‘We don’t do that much damage, like some who can’t ski and just push the snow with every turn.’ 

‘Oh, so you can snowboard well?’ You asked with a playful smile turning your head back from the slopes to face him. 

‘I do.’ He answered confidently and licked his lips when he looked at you, suddenly hyper aware of how close the two of you sat, how close your face was and that your eyes shamelessly followed the movement of his tongue. His breathing hitched, eyes involuntarily drawn to look at your lips, red from the cold wind. 

He wanted to kiss you. He wanted to kiss you so badly at that moment, but you were out in the open, God knows how high, and he doubted anyone knew it was him in that gear, he didn’t dare to risk it. Fuck this. 

His hand moved a little finding yours, holding it reassuringly through the thick material, while he still couldn’t look away from you. 

‘I-, I think you are really pretty.’ He whispered, voice raspy and barely audible. It was a nice save, you chuckled closing your eyes, because you couldn’t hold it against his intense gaze anymore, there were too many things in there, neither of you could act on it at that moment.

‘Thank you.’ The corners of your mouth turned up and your lips were pulling so wide it almost hurt. You felt your cheeks heating up, his grip around your fingers just growing a bit stronger, holding on until you had to lift the bar to exit the lift. 

Soon you were heading home, all three of you starving. 

The next day you started early, still a bit sleepy, your muscles a bit sore from the previous day’s skiing but you didn’t mind. 

It was the third day and you managed to go without falling, but it didn’t last much longer. You arrived at a rather steep part, and yet you weren’t exactly a beginner when your skis slipped on the ice hidden in the shadowy slope you lost your balance and the last thing you heard was Tom yelling your name, then it was a lot of snow in your face. You felt yourself sliding down, the pist being way too steep to just stop, your skis were long gone, and even tho you tried your best to get a grip on the snowy icy surface, it didn’t help. You were sliding down like a ragdoll, looking up, seeing Harry and Tom collecting your skis carefully following you until the slope wasn’t steep enough and you finally stopped. 

They stopped on your boths sides with a sharp sound before sitting in the snow next to you. 

‘You ok?’ Tom asked, just to be sure. Your fall was more comical than dramatic. 

‘Yeah, yeah.’ You laughed, letting your body relax a little against the hard surface. ‘I think I just took the lazy route.’ You were joking, almost drinking the air as you tried to calm down your laughter. ‘However my everything is full of snow.’ You whined a little, unzipping your coat trying to get rid of it the best you could. The guys helped to swipe it off on your back and you were ready to start over.

‘Maybe you should change into something dry.’ Tom said with a bit of a hesitation, unsure of all the crazy ideas in his head. ‘We still have a few days here, it wouldn be a shame if you caught a cold.’ He tried to get his own back. All of you knew that this happens and your clothes weren’t even wet, but he had that same look on his face as last time. That anticipation. 

You agreed and a few minutes later Harry stayed on the terrace of the hotel until the two of you went up to get you changed. The reason why Tom went was also unknown, but no one questioned it. 

You quickly got rid of the coat and the pulover you were wearing, leaving you in your technical pants and secondskin on the top. 

Tom on the other hand seemed to be frozen on the spot, his plan seemed to end there, having the two of you only in somewhere private. 

‘Umm, can you please see if it’s wet on my back?’ It was all just playing along, everything on you were so dry, but you weren’t stupid. 

‘Yeah, sure.’ Tom’s steps were quick as he walked to you. He reached out only using the back of his hand to see if the material was wet, he dabbed the top of your back a few times before his other hand was moving hesitantly to your hip and his other palm now slid across your back, until the top of your technical gear. ‘This looks good.’ He said slowly with voice low, both of his hands resting on your hips, holding you gently. You didn’t move, just whispered a small thank you, before you felt him slowly turning you around. 

Your breathing hitched as you looked at him, your hands immediately finding support on his forearms. His fingers were drawing pretty circles on your second skin as they moved up to your waist, he stepped a little closer, his eyes never leaving you, he licked his lips again and he saw you letting out a small sigh. 

‘Yesterday on the lift, there was something I wanted to do.’ You were clinging to his words, your breathing becoming even more laboured, suddenly all the skiing clothes becoming way too hot for this, but you couldn’t care. ‘I still want to.’ His voice was a bit shaking, only a bit louder than a whisper. 

‘Yeah?’ You moved closer pressing your chest to his, your hands traveling up to his shoulders. ‘I think I know what you are talking about.’ It was difficult to look at him as you tilted your head, merely an inch away from his lips. 

‘Good.’ Tom breathed the small word onto your lips as he pressed his lips to yours. He was gentle, slow, not wanting to rush for a second, just enjoying the feeling of your lips against his own, and the small sigh you let out as his hands moved up, holding you securely in his arms. It seemed to break his patience as he pressed you to his body, his hands moving back to your hips and up to the back of your neck, he opened his mouth cueing you to do the same as he deepened the kiss. It made you shiver as he bit your bottom lip and his tongue finally found yours. Now it was his turn to shigh into the kiss as your fingers ran through his hair pulling on the soft, slightly damp curls a bit. 

It seemed like neither of you wanted to let go, whenever the kiss slowed down, changing back to small kisses and pecks one of you started it all over again. He already pulled the secondskin out of your pants, his hands finding the smooth, warm skin underneath, and he wanted more, so much more. Maybe it was too big of a step right after the first kiss, maybe, but he wanted you, naked, running his hands freely on your skin, feeling every inch of you close to him. It was his low growl and the way he firmly pushed you to the nearest wall, which brought back the both of you. 

‘Harry is waiting for us.’ You tired to reason, but your raspy voice and swollen lips weren’t too convincing. 

‘I know. I know.’ Tom stepped back, separating your bodies from each other. ‘Just don’t put back the same pulover. That would be suspicious.’ He bit his lips with a proud smile. 

‘I think he knows what’s going on.’ You laughed as you finished dressing. ‘No one ever changes their clothes in April after falling.’ You squinted at him, stepping way too close. 

‘Was that so obvious?’ He asked, being fake surprised, chasing after you in the room. 

‘Yeah, we are kind of obvious for a few months now.’ Leaning to the wall was an open invitation and Tom took it gladly. 

‘Good, because this was the last time I encouraged you to put more clothes on.’ His excited voice was mixing with a devilish smile and he gave you no time to respond. He caged your body and kissed you feverishly.

‘So bad?’ You asked with your eyebrows high, grabbing the back of his head and pulling him back to kiss you more. Feeling his body pressed tightly to yours, your fingers dragging across his back, trying to feel him more, whimpering in disappointment when you felt how good those baggy pants were hiding his hard on but it only encouraged him further.

‘Even worse.’ He knew even if he tried he couldn’t make you feel how bad the situation was through those pants, on the other hand he could walk out that door, no one noticing the massive hard on he had. 

‘You know-,’ you started staring up into those lust blown brown eyes, ‘when we come up all of my clothes were dry, but now-’ you never finished and seeing him staring at you wide eyed for a moment before slipping out under his arm, your hand on the door handle, forcing him to behave, just made your panties even more damp. 

Harry being the angel you never thought he would be, never brought up why the hell it took you fifteen minutes to change a pullover, instead he just asked if you were ready and walked out of the building. 

You saw the looks Tom was shooting towards you, changing between adoration and lust, and you saw the way he wanted to show off to you on the slopes, it was adorable and nerve wracking at the same time. 

Whenever he got you alone in the chair lift, Harry not being so charitable as he was last time, he held your hand through the gloves, or found excuses why he needed to take it off and swipe a non-existent stray of hair out of your face, or clean an also non-existent spot above your lips with his thumb. It felt cute and romantic. Other times he also held your hand, but a bit more firmly, massaging it impatiently, his eyes were dark, passion and want was mixing in them. These times he never said a thing, but you claimed to find a spot above his lips, pressing your thumb to his mouth in the process. He opened his mouth, showing you his teeth before biting on your finger a little and sucking it into his mouth briefly. 

It was hard not to find another excuse to pull him up in the room and turn all the tension and longing of these last months into reality. 

You still enjoyed skiing and the view and all that, but now he could steal your focus even easier, and you felt your heart stop for a second when you saw him fall. You helped him up from the ground wanting to pull him in a hug and kiss him but it was just out of the question.

By the end of the day you were going crazy in wanting to kiss him again. His pretty face being all rosy from the wind, his brown eyes lighting up every time your eyes met, and his messy curls made him ridiculously lovely and hot at the same time. 

You offered the chance to Harry to go and have a shower first, maybe a bit more impatiently as you wanted. 

‘Sure, thanks. I’ll knock before coming back to the room, just in case.’ He snorted before closing the door behind him. 

‘Well, at least we don’t need to pretend anymore.’ You shrugged, but Tom was already gone in his head. He crawled in your bed, both of his hands on your cold cheeks, kissing you urgently. He was kneeling almost above you, so it only felt natural to lay down on the mattress to make it more comfortable to even out your momentarily height difference. Both of you were impatient. His hands were roaming under your secondskin in no time as his tongue was dancing with yours. He was laying next to you and a bit on your chest, his big warm hands setting your skin on fire, while he sucked your bottom lip into his mouth, making out with you like you were teenagers, fooling around, not really knowing what’s going on just enjoying the sensations. It made your head spin, and your skin tingling, never wanting to let him go. 

Except that you weren’t teens anymore, you were exactly knowing what was going on and what’s next. Your hands found the hem of Tom’s top and started to push the tight material up on his toned body. He sat up and got rid of it, dropping it on the ground. Not wasting any time pulling the one you wore over your head as well. It left you only in your sports bra in front of him. 

‘I wanted to do this for so long, darling.’ He mumbled as he laid back, now between your legs, his hard on very prominent and pressing to your core through the thin material of the pants you were still wearing.

‘Much better.’ You breathed and started to kiss down on his neck, your hands freely roaming on his wide back as you rolled your hips to feel him even more. 

Tom moaned into the kiss, returning the favour. It felt mind blowing feeling his weight on top of you, the warmth radiating from his body, his bare skin touching every yours and the outline of his cock pressed to your core. He returned to kiss your lips for a second before trailing down, his hot mouth and tongue leaving wet, red spots across your neck and collarbone. 

‘I need you, Tom.’ As your body was heaving under his, rocking to compliment his movements, to make you feel more, your mouth pressed to his round shoulder, sucking and kissing, tasting his skin over and over. ‘Do you think it would be very obvious if we had a shower together?’ You asked in your final desperation. You were barely wearing any clothes, yet it was still too much to feel him in the way you longed for. 

‘Yes.’ He moaned into your neck as your hands slid down onto his round ass cheeks and grabbed them. ‘But at this moment the only thing I care about is to be inside of you.’ He moved back up to your mouth until his hand pushed under your sports bra to cup your breast. Just as he was about to roll your nipple, you heard Harry knock and even through the haze of your passion that small voice found its way, screaming at you, to stop and respect his only request. You pushed Tom away gently, your eyes pleading to him to behave.

‘Thanks.’ Harry nodded, as his eyes took the state the two of you were in, and spearing yourself from any further embarrassment, you rushed into the steamy bathroom, closing the lock, just to be sure Tom didn’t follow. ‘So, you and her, finally?’ He asked cautiously. 

‘Yes!’ Tom’s victorious grin spread across his whole face making Harry let out a small ‘wohoo’.

‘But you are sleeping in separate beds, because I am not waking up in the middle of the night for the two of you going at it.’ He raised his fingers, warning his older brother. 

‘You sound like a mom, like it would stop anything, man.’ Tom grimaced and tried to doge the pillow Harry was throwing at him with a disgusted face. 

‘Seriously, I can go to the sauna and the pool if you ask me to, I just don’t want to see or hear anything.’ He made a gagging face and flopped onto the bed starting to check the pictures he took during the day. 

The two of you tried your best to behave, but now that touching each other and kissing weren’t completely off limits you got carried away sometimes. But the feeling of Tom’s hand on your thigh or around your waist as you were playing some games warmed your heart, that ‘finally’ feeling slowly settling in your chest. His kisses were playful, loving, unable to get enough of you, he stood behind you, holding your waist, his chin resting on your shoulder as you fed him the first bite of peanut butter jelly sandwich you quickly made. Harry just turned his camera on silent mode, so he never bothered your sweet moments like this, genuinely being happy for the both of you. 

It wasn’t difficult to fall into small acts like this, mostly in this environment. It was calmness itself. The mountains always amazed you and Tom just loved watching you as you marvelled at them, he loved your enthusiasm about everything and he mostly loved the way he made you all shy and biting your lips whenever he didn’t look away, and just kept admiring you. 

The hot and heavy passion of that day shifted to something soft and loving, testing the waters, Harry occasionally faking an asthma attack to bring the two of you back to reality. The next day came fast, way too fast as you fell asleep in Tom’s arms, him sneaking into your bed, the small space forcing the two of you to stay close to each other, not that you mind it. 

He woke you up with small kisses, giggling and smiling as you tried to fight him, to get a few more minutes of sleep. ‘Come on, love, the weather is beautiful and the slopes are calling us.’ He tried with his usual energetic voice, which was still a bit raspy from sleep, but he didn’t care. 

‘The bed is also calling.’ You mumbled turning a little so you were on your back looking up on his pretty face. You let out a small puff of air as you took him in fully. His sleepy little face, his messy, morning hair, that sweet look in his eyes which now felt like it was only reserved for you. 

‘But I’m hungry.’ Tom pouted, his puppy dog eyes begging for… food? You weren’t sure, but you gave in. 

‘Alright, lovie, let’s get some food.’ 

Maybe it was just the morning haze, or the fact that he didn’t need to pretend at least in front of Harry anymore, he seemed to calm down since yesterday. Even when he got you alone while Harry was having his morning shower, he was holding you, laying in bed almost fully prepared to go, he was cuddling you, lazily making out with you, his hands caressing your cheeks and side. 

On the slopes you had to play pretend again, but that day everything seemed to be perfect, even like that. Watching him slide so easily on the snow flashing you a smile from time to time, took your breath away for a second, and you found yourself slipping and falling a bit more than usual. You saw him snowboarding before and never once found it ridiculously sexy, but now? Oh, boy. You did, and loved every second of it whether you watched him from the end of the slope or above, it just set a slowly burning fire in your stomach. 

Soon you were pretty preoccupied by his closeness again, his lips looking to be more and more inviting with every lift ride, you started to miss his hands on you and the softness of his hair between your fingers. With your mind not being focused on skiing on main anymore, you found yourself in the snow again and again. You never had it bad, you just mostly looked silly but the more you fell and had to get up the more tired you got and it was an infinite circle. 

‘How about calling it a day early today?’ Harry offered as the three of you occupied one of the cabins on the lift. ‘I mean I could go till five, but maybe some rest would do good to you and I wanted to take some pictures in the village anyway.’ He offered. 

‘Yeah, that might be good. My butt and arms hurt from falling so much.’ You agreed, not daring to look at Tom or asking him if he were to join you or Harry. The answer was obvious and you didn’t need to make it so clear in front of his brother. 

You slid down one last time together before taking your gear back to the hotel, Harry changing back to some more comfortable shoes, while Tom and you headed back to the room. 

You felt that tension only while the two of you were waiting for the elevator. As soon as you stepped in and the doors were closed you were on Tom and he did nothing to resist. 

‘Would you mind if I wouldn’t let you rest right away?’ He asked between the heated kisses. 

‘Just be mindful of my bruised parts.’ You grinned before kissing him again, not stopping until you felt the elevator stop. 

The walk to your room was a bit faster than usual, Tom opened the door in record time and when it closed your back was pressed against it, those delicious lips on yours, helping each other to undress, the heavy coats and pants lading on the floor until you were only in your second skin pants and sports bra again. His large hands were roaming on your body, feeling every part of you, basking in feeling you just as he wanted again. Tom took one of your thighs lifting them up until his hips, so he could step even closer, basically pinning you to the door with his own body. It felt like time has stopped as your palms and fingers mapped out every muscle on his body, as you pulled on his curls and he moaned into your mouth shamelessly, as your fingers found his perfect butt again and dug your nails into it, pulling him even closer, however your didn’t think that was possible. His erection pressing to your thigh again, letting you know how ready he was for you. 

His skilled lips and tongue left a wet trail of kisses on your neck, sucking and biting on your skin gently, being careful with not leaving any marks. He pushed up your sports bra and you helped him to get rid of it. It wasn’t even a second until he stopped to take you in before his hands started to fondle your breasts, his fingers finally pinching and you rolling your nipples, coaxing the sweetest whimpers out of you. His mouth returned to yours to a sloppy kiss, your teeth and tongue meeting as you couldn’t contain your noises anymore. 

Those pants and panties started to feel like hell, clinging tightly to your body, and you needed him to do something about it. 

To cue him, you took one of his hands and guided it until you hooked his finger into your remaining clothes, pressing it down a little. 

‘Let’s get to the bed, lovie.’ Tom breathed onto your lips, grabbing your hips and hands and crossing the room in no time. When he stopped and crawled on your smaller bed, he got rid of every clothing on himself and helped you out of every single piece of clothing you had, leaving you completely naked for him. He took you in wordlessly, only his eyes letting you know how much he loved seeing you like this. He was also a sight, he was more than beautiful naked, his body perfect for you, his cock rock hard and way more thick than you imagined it. When you lifted your arms reaching out for him, he complied instantly laying down, his hips forcing your thighs open of him. 

You kissed him slowly, just enjoying the moment, indulging in the feeling of his weight on you, of his skin on yours, his scent filling your senses, just this moment feeling completely surrounded by Tom. It didn’t take very long until it became heated as your bodies were rocking against each other, his cock head nudging your entrance, sometimes pressing against your clit. 

‘You are so wet, darling.’ He groaned into the kiss. ‘Can I?’ He asked and waited the split second before you could whimper ‘yes’ before he gave in to the sweet invitation of your body and let his cock head slide into you. He broke the kiss, and tried to tilt his head to see your face better. Your eyes were closed and your brows knitted together as he was burying himself into you, and your sweet lips just turned into an ‘o’ when he finally bottomed out. 

‘Sorry, I really wanted to wait with this and give you something more, but you felt too fucking good.’ He groaned and started to roll his hips into you. Soon your couldn’t hold back your moans, he pushed himself up to his palms to have more space as he was fucking into you. He opened his legs wider just to force yours open up even more for him. He speeded up, making your back arch from the bed, your nails digging into his butt once again. Hearing him lose it a bit more every time you did this, made your body tingle and his moans sent shivers down on your spine. 

With a shudder he slowed down gradually, his thrust becoming deep and shallow, trying to buy himself some time. He grabbed your hand which was now holding onto the sheets desperately, and sucked it into his mouth, wetting it as much as he could. His eyes were locked on yours and you would have lied if you said it wasn’t something absolutely obscene, which made you clench around him, Tom shamelessly moaning around your fingers. When he was done, he guided that hand between your bodies, a surprised whimper falling from your lips as your own fingers touched your neglected clit. They were warm and wet from Tom’s saliva and you didn’t need any further comment on what he wanted you to do. He started to move again, his peace becoming frantic in a second, matching the way you rubbed your clit, getting closer and closer to your orgasm. 

You opened your eyes for a second, looking up at him, his cheeks now positively red and flushed, his eyes closed, pleasure written all over his features and his pretty lips opening to a moan was all you needed. You fall over the edge, your body seizing up and your orgasm washing over you, making you tremble and whimper and only beg for more. Tom let go at the moment he felt you squeezing him tight and pulsing around him, milking every drop of his cum, his cock twitching inside of you until he was completely empty. 

He tried not to collapse onto you, to keep himself up on his elbows and forearms while the both of you were panting and trying to come down from your highs. 

He pressed a butterfly kiss to your neck making you shudder, then a lazy, satisfied kiss to your lips, feeling your arms around his neck and shoulders. 

‘That was amazing.’ You sighed and shuddered again as he kissed your neck again.

‘Yeah, pretty amazing.’ Tom smiled, noticing how absolutely sensitive you become. 

You were just laying there caged between the soft mattress and his firm body, enjoying his closeness, the way his slowly softening cock filled you up still, your body and mind feeling utterly at peace. 

Before you could have fallen asleep he helped you out of the bed and into the shower, holding you steadily and gently washing the mess away from his body. He couldn’t help as his hands wondered, sliding between your folds to wash away his own cum, sliding them into you, feeling you sigh again as you were leaning to his torso. He was fingering you gently, having your mind filled with lust again. ‘I really wanna taste you, darling.’ He said and the next thing you knew you were nodding and he was on his knees one of your thighs across his shoulder as he was lapping and sucking on your fucked out pussy, quickly bringing you to another orgasm. When you weren’t trembling anymore and his name wasn’t the only mantra you had anymore he let go of you, finishing what he started, enjoying your nimble fingers on himself as you did your best to return the gentle favour of cleaning you up. You headed out until he did his best to dry his curls which were dripping on the floor, only for him to find you fast asleep in your bed. 

He pulled the blanket over you, making sure that it covered you everywhere before settling in his own bed to start reading his next script, occasionally being interrupted by marvelling on your peaceful, sleeping form. 

Tags: @we--are---not--afraid @storybookholland @hollandprkr @bigassnocash @osterfieldshollandgirl @t-hollanderr @happybunny14 @terrifictomholland @tomsrebeleyebrow @worldoftom @augustholland @greenorangevioletgrass

[helion-ism]

let’s talk about elucien

there are so many reasons why I love elain x lucien and why I think these two would not only be amazing together, but also why they belong together. one of those reasons is lucien’s sassy personality, which we already got a glimpse of in acotar (and that I miss terribly btw), and which is, in my opinion, exactly what elain needs in her life. we’re talking about lucien “your eyes are like stars, and your hair like burnished gold” vanserra. we know he’s got quite a big mouth, that’s how we got to know him, but we also know that mouth is exactly what’s gotten him into trouble before. case in point: the eye incident. lucien doesn’t mince his words and yes, that is one of the reasons why elain really needs to spend some more time with him. 

she has been coddled by not only her father, nesta, feyre, but also the entire inner circle, which has allowed her to live her life passively. yes, she killed the king of hybern, and good for her, but she did it because nobody else could have done it at that point in time. ever since the war ended, elain has not actively contributed to any plot matters, whether by choice or because someone else took the choice from her. azriel said in acosf, “there is an innate darkness to the dread trove that elain should not be exposed to.” even amren pointed out that elain is capable of defending herself, but for some reason, nobody let her even though elain said she would try to find it: “then I will find it. I might require some time to … reacquaint myself with my powers, but I could start today.” and yet,  by the end of the book, elain’s been barely in it and has not contributed at all. (I know some people claim there’s certain things already happening in the background, but honestly, I’m not satisfied with that development happening off page, so I can’t wait to finally go on her journey and actually see her do stuff)

this moment is crucial:

does it look like she is happy with the way the others treat her? not really. when nesta snapped at her, elain started laughing. that signals relief to me because nesta, the one who has always tried to protect elain the most (nesta baby Ilysm), is the one who suddenly lost her patience. elain needs somebody like lucien, somebody with a big mouth and sassy attitude, who can coax her out of that paralysis she’s been stuck in, a bit like nesta in this scene. additionally, the banter would be top tier. I want another “if I offer you the moon on a string, will you give me a kiss, too?” moment, please. god please. (elain blinks. “and where would you like that kiss?” — and lucien just loses his mind.)

another thing that lives in my head rent free is the fact that lucien has travelled almost everywhere and could introduce elain, who wishes to see more of the world (see: “elain had always wanted to visit the continent to study the tulips and other famed flowers”), to the different courts and the continent. I refuse to accept that we will not get to learn more about the other courts, for my sake, but also for elain’s sake. I want her to see the spring court at least once. I want her to go and see those tulips she’s dreamt of. I want her and lucien to discover the day court as a new home, which brings me to the next point. 

elain has been craving sunshine for some time now. there’s several quotes that emphasise her connection to sunshine/light, here are a few of my favourites: 

I marveled at it, actually — that those years of poverty hadn‘t stripped away that light from elain.

the suite was filled with sunlight. every curtain shoved back as far as it could go, to let in as much sun as possible. as if any bit of darkness was abhorrent.

she had been always so full of light. perhaps that was why she now kept all the curtains open. to fill the void that existed where all of that light had once been. and now nothing remained.

what can I get you, elain? — sunshine.

elain doesn’t belong into the night court. feyre has found her family there, with rhys and the inner circle. nesta has found (or should I say accepted) cassian and found gwyn and emerie, her chosen sisters. but elain?

elain is somewhere in the background hiding with the twins and tending to gardens of the citizens of velaris. you can’t tell me that is satisfactory to you. she is currently ignoring her seer abilities, and the members of the inner circle are basically encouraging her to do so. the only time she’s been confronted lately was during that conversation with nesta and her reaction was not exactly what any of us readers would have expected, was it? that tells me there’s much more about her we don’t know yet, and I’m convinced we won’t know until she finally leaves and finds her own people, finds herself again and start dealing with everything that happened to her. elain must leave the night court, i.e. the darkness, behind in order to grow.

the same goes to lucien: he’s not at a place where he can just jump into a relationship or mating bond. he’s got so much stuff going on. lucien was forced to abandon his home and his abusive family, his “father” killed the fae he loved in front of his eyes, his best friend is an abusive pos who never appreciated him anyway, and neither has anyone in the night court. lucien is used because of his connections and because of the mating bond that ties him to elain, whether he wanted it or not. feyre knows he would never turn away from elain unless she explicitly wishes him to, and so she and rhys and the others use that to their advantage. it is smart, of course, but at the same time, they also keep important information about his own life from him that could change many, many things. so he’s spending his time with mortals in the human lands — a place where he as a fae really does not belong. 

lucien being the heir to the day court, well, to me, it feels like sjm is practically screaming it into our face: how could he find a home in the night court, the literal opposite to the day? darkness vs. light. and what about elain “he’d never once in the two years he’d known her found elain to be plain, but wearing black, no matter how much she claimed to be part of this court … it sucked the life from her” archeron? just looking at the symbolism, not only do the quotes from above indicate that the night court cannot possibly be her home, but also very recent quotes from the latest book. elain is a side character in the night court. and so is lucien. they both need to leave in order to become main characters — and it doesn’t even matter that both are already crucial to the further plot of the series because how can they possibly contribute to it in a place where they are both kept down? 

mor said in acofas: “stay out of it. she’s not ready, and neither is he, no matter how many presents he brings.” and “let him figure out where he wants to be. who he wants to be. the same goes with her.” mor’s power is “truth”, whatever that means. but there you have it. they’re not ready to be with each other yet, and that’s okay. 

[elain and lucien are also connected not only because of the mating bond, but also because of the plot. lucien must know quite a lot about her and her sisters simply because of all the time he spent with their father. the father who made a bargain with koschei. koschei who put a spell on vassa. lucien is therefore tied to both papa archeron as well as koschei and vassa. elain, we know, is a seer, despite her not using her abilities (or is she, and we simply don’t know?). elain is (obviously) connected to her father, but also to koschei and vassa (remember those visions she had).]

now let’s get to the mating bond stuff, and I need to say this loud and clear: elain has always had and will always have one (1) true mate. there’s no such thing as “false mate” or even multiple mates. there has been no indication whatsoever. lucien is the mate the cauldron had given her when she was born. and elain is the mate the cauldron had given him when he was born. even when she was still human, they already belonged together — tied together by strings of fate. absolutely nothing will change this fact. should elain reject the bond, lucien will remain a part of her life/her soul forever. should lucien reject the bond, elain will remain a part of his life/his soul forever.

when she was still human, lucien had already felt a pull between them and tried to save and protect her from hybern. when elain was already fae, when it came to protecting her, azriel clapped cassian’s shoulder and left (is this the true mate they’re all talking about?). it’s unfair to lucien, elain, AND azriel and this comparison alone is enough to disprove this theory.

the thing is, lucien has been nothing but respectful, kind and caring towards elain. when he arrived in velaris in acowar, he could immediately sense what she needed and said, “she needs fresh air” (vs. the response “we’ll judge what she needs”) and “take her to the sea. take her to some garden. but get her out of this house for an hour or two.” (I’m gonna make another post about this because I have a few thoughts on this)

of course, she doesn’t owe him anything, but elain herself doesn’t wish to be treated like a child, she maybe she should start acting like an adult because although she doesn’t owe lucien an apology or explanation, she has to have a conversation with him, like two responsible adults. there is no way feyre or anyone in the inner circle hasn’t told her that she can reject the bond and move on with her life. but just like her powers, this is another thing she chooses to ignore. I’m not blaming her because I know she has to work through her trauma first and heal, but by the end of the series, she has to acknowledge that at least.

in acosf, elain says “I am not a child to be fought over” when they discuss the dread trove. I wonder what she would say about the fact azriel threatens to challenge lucien to the blood duel because of her? based on literally everything we know about lucien, I can say with certainty that he would not physically fight over elain. if she only had a conversation with him and told him to move on and leave her alone, lucien would do just that. he would leave her alone and try to move on as best as he could (which we know is difficult for males). but he would never act as entitled to her as to demand a blood duel and fight to death. it goes against his principles. 

to finish this off, sjm summing up everything I just said:

[oikawaplssteponme]

7 signs that you are in love

previously: the fifth sign

masterlist

You introduce them to those who mean the most to you

The spring sunshine had been taken over by gloomy skies, leaving you stuck in your room. You listened to the rumble of thunder and watched as lightning struck mercilessly. You were hoping to be outside today, maybe even go for a stroll with someone but here you were.

Shoto Todoroki began to lace up his shoes. He put on a raincoat and the blue bucket hat he bought with you those weeks ago. He grabbed his cell phone and left his room.

Shoto made his way over to your dorm, knocking on the door. You sat up from your bed when you heard the familiar sound. You knew it was Shoto from the way he knocked, always twice, quickly. You opened the door for him, smiling.

“Hey! Oh, where are you off to?” you asked.

“Well that’s actually why I wanted to see you. I-uh-I’m going to visit my mother and wanted to see if you wanted to come with me,” he explained.

Your eyes grew. Todoroki had mentioned his mother a few times to you before. You had never met her however and only knew about her through stories and what rumors surrounded the Todoroki’s. You couldn’t believe Shoto trusted you enough to meet his mom.

“I understand if you don’t want to-”

“I just need to get my shoes and we can go,” you smiled. Shoto nodded. You turned back into your room, grabbing the nearest pair of shoes and your jacket. You then snatched the matching hat to Shoto’s off of your dresser.

“I’m good to go.”

You and Shoto awaited for the 5 o'clock bus to arrive a few blocks from the dorms. You used your student passes and took a seat.

“When was the last time you saw your mom?” You asked Shoto.

“Maybe a week or two. I haven’t been able to go as much as I would have liked to lately,” he explained. You nodded.

You sat close to Todoroki inorder to make room for the other passengers on the bus. He didn’t mind at all. If it weren’t for the hats on each of your heads, he would have attempted to finish what Kaminari and Sero interrupted those days ago.

The mix of the noisy bus and booming thunder startled you a bit. One crash was so loud that without thinking, you clutched onto Shoto’s arm. He flinched a little but didn’t pull away from your touch. You did, a bit embarrassed.

“S-Sorry,” you murmured. Shoto smiled. He moved the arm that was closest to you and wrapped it around you. He rubbed your shoulder, reassuring to you that there was no reason to be startled.

“Is this okay?” he asked. With a burning face you nodded profusely.

You and Shoto got off the bus after a little while longer. The both of you walked together until reaching the building. Once you entered the doors, there was a burst of cold wind. The lowlights and plain scenery made you almost feel as though you had to be quiet.

Shoto checked the two of you in. He barely had to talk as the front desk person recognized him. You went over to the elevators, clicking the button to take you to the sixth floor out of seven.

You stood close to Shoto as you rode the elevator up. He could tell you were a bit nervous. He grabbed your hand, giving it a small squeeze.

“Every time I mention you to her she asks when she’ll get to meet you,” said Todoroki. You looked up at him.

“Really?”

“Really. She’s never met any of my...um...friends,” he whispered, instantly regretting the last word. You nodded, looking back to the floor.

“Right, friends…”

Elevator doors opened and Todoroki led you out. He turned the corner to his mom’s door. He had a key but he always knocked first.

“Come in.”

Rei Todoroki sat on a chair next to her windowsill. Her light blue sweater matched the wallpaper that surrounded her. Shoto smiled.

“Hi mom.”

Rei waved the two of you over, pointing to her bed for you to sit.

“This is Y/N by the way.”

She looked at you then slowly got up from her chair. She bent down and gave you the biggest hug.

The sight made Shoto a little teary eyed. His mom and you, two people he adores, together. He never could’ve imagined it.

Rei looked at you, placing her hand under your chin.

“Thank you.”

At that moment, you weren’t sure why she said that. You would soon know.

Before Rei sat back down in her seat, she gave Shoto a hug as well.

“How was the bus ride? Hopefully not too bad because of the weather,” she smiled. You nodded.

“Yeah it was good. I honestly haven’t been to this part of town in a while,” you explained.

“I like your hats,” laughed Rei. Shoto’s face got warm. He took off that hat and placed it on his mom’s head.

“We got them a few weeks ago.”

“You two must hang out a lot.”

“I guess so,” you whispered.

“So are you… you know…”

“Mom-”

“Right sorry. So how is school?”

~

The three of you talked for hours it seemed. Rei was incredibly kind, asking you about your time at school, your quirk, and your future. She wanted to get to know you. After all, it seemed like all Shoto mentioned when he came to visit was you.

“It’s getting late, we should be heading back to UA,” insisted Shoto.

“You’re right. Well Y/N, it was wonderful to finally meet you. Please, please, visit again,” smiled Rei. She gave you another tight hug and you returned it.

“Here Mom.” Shoto handed her a small object, you thought it might be a picture. She smiled at it, then hugged Shoto goodbye.

Every time Shoto visits his mother, he takes a picture of himself, prints it, and gives it to her. That way she always knows what he looks like despite not seeing him every day. She keeps them all in a small scrapbook, the date next to each one.

You and Todoroki went down the elevator again and awaited for the bus to take you back to school.

“That’s really kind of you, to visit your mom all the time,” you said. Shoto smiled.

“It’s nice to see her. To see her smile. There were times that I never thought I would.”

“I’m sure you’re the reason for her smile,” you whispered, “just as you are the reason for mine.”

Shoto looked at you, his eyes staring directly into yours. Your face grew terribly warm. He took your hand and placed a kiss on it.

“I hope to keep you smiling then.”

a/n: hi loves! okay i really like this part so i hope you did too! there is gonna be two more parts after this one :)) id love to hear your thoughts and reblogs are greatly appreciated 🤍

[ taglist: @tanakasprayer @heyitsmichele @seiijixcia @asdfghjkl7things @random-fandom-girl-24 @sorrythatspussynal : @bibly @big-phat-cat @sapphoscolonoscopy @luluwiie @happyheartsss @lealofsblog @iwaisa @bakugousmymassa @evivn1 @tetsoleil @bokutory @vangoghmusings @moonlightaangel @complimentaryhugsgirl @marajillana @sopesmin @alaina-rose13 @shotoful ]

[writersrealmbts]

Diamond Tears and Little Wings: Part 6

Description: You’re a fairy, taken in by BTS. You need lots of love and care, otherwise your light will fade and you turn to stone. Between the seven of them, you should never feel unloved. Right?

Warnings: N/A

Posted: 02/25/2021

Tags: bts x reader, ot7

Fluff: 1,412 words

A/N: One of these days I’ll get back into the swing of Clearwater Springs. Anyway, this is part 6 of 7, so we’re almost done! Yay!

There was some activity inside, but a few moments after you entered the staff started excusing themselves.

At first the boys didn’t seem to notice, gathering their things and talking about nonsense things as though nervous. Anticipating.

Emotional.

Then you heard a gasp.

And Namjoon was whipping around, rushing away from the mirror, and hugging you tightly, his breathing labored but completely wordless.

The others were quick to pull the two of you further into the room so that there was room for all of them in the group hug.

Finally breaking out of the group hug, Namjoon gently kissed you on the lips. “We missed you so much, baby.”

You just sobbed in response, letting yourself be turned into Jin’s firm embrace.

Then Yoongi’s gentle hug.

Hobi’s tight hug, with little kisses pressed into your hair.

Taehyung, with a soft peck to the lips and a promise to never lose you again.

Jungkook, fierce and protective, holding you until Jimin made a desperate sort of choked noise.

“I thought I was hallucinating,” Jimin choked out, wrapped completely around you, face nuzzled in.

But when you were out of their embrace, they could see the bruising where the makeup had wiped away.

You stutteringly explained everything that had happened, and that Alena was the family of a fairy friend who had taken you in so that they wouldn’t blame her. You told them about hearing their CD’s and changing Cupcake’s name to Keyowo, the fairies at the market figuring out who you were before you did, and the family you had lived with.

Hobi’s mouth was a triangle.

“Now can we plan murder?” Yoongi asked, glowering at the floor and trying to discretely wipe away his tears.

“Aish,” Jin sighed, closing his eyes.

“That wasn’t a no,” Taehyung commented.

“No murder. Just take me home,” You intervened when you saw Hoseok was contemplating it. You weren’t going to let your sunshine dim himself with that sort of guilt. Or any of your boys for that matter. “Please? I just want to be home.”

Jungkook pulled you back to him, pressing a kiss firmly to your lips, and sighing in relief when he pulled away. “I thought I’d never get to do that.”

Then you were drowning in kisses from the three youngest boys, and you were totally drunk on it.

“Alright, enough, we don’t need her to have a mental implosion like last time,” Jin basically shoved Jungkook onto the couch and elbowed his way between the other two. “Let’s finish getting cleaned up, then she can tell her friend that she’s going back to the hotel with us tonight and we’ll pick up her stuff tomorrow. She’ll stay in Jimin’s room tonight—”

Taehyung and Jungkook and someone else started protesting but Jin quickly cut them off.

“—But only because he’s been doing so poorly and they could both do with some extra cuddles. She’s been gone a while so we can’t overwhelm her with an abundance of love right off the bat. She’s already looking a little overwhelmed.”

“Hyung is right,” Namjoon chimed in, sounding hoarse. “We have another concert tomorrow, too. We should get back and get some rest.”

The boys reluctantly agreed and started gathering their things.

You were usually holding onto one of their hands, not willing to let go for anything.

Alena was completely understanding, and the boys asked a couple of the security guards to walk her to her car for safety.

Then you were in the van with Jimin and Jungkook, and you kept wiping Jungkook’s tears with your coat sleeve so it was quite damp by the time you arrived at the hotel, and your shoulder was damp from Jimin crying on it.

But things were calmer after Jimin had showered, and eaten (something you did with him because you were honestly worried), and then you cuddled up with him in bed much earlier than he probably would have normally gone to sleep.

Jimin sighed shakily as he held you tightly. “I kept thinking I could find you. You couldn’t be far. If I just searched long enough I could find you and bring you home and everything would be okay again. I wasn’t really in my right mind for a lot of it. I had a bad fever for a few weeks and they had to put me on some medicine for a while. I’m better than I was, don’t worry, I just…it took me a while to work through it all.”

You kissed his shoulder since it was all you could kiss in the tight embrace, then gently pushed away, and you blew a little sleep dust at him—just as you had given each of the other boys a little sleep dust to use when they were in bed—to ensure that he would sleep well.

And in the morning, you made sure Jimin ate breakfast, feeding him each bite because he liked that and you completely understood why. But you needed to see him eat because he had felt so bony all through the night.

All of the boys were awake (though the level of awareness varied quite widely), and all of them insisted on going with you back to Frida’s house to get your things.

None of them were very happy about your bruises, especially since they were far more visible without any makeup.

But they were very kind to Alena, Agnar, and Frida, and they cooed over Keyowo, apologizing again that you couldn’t bring him with you.

Agnar didn’t look at all sorry, even though he also apologized about you not being able to take Keyowo. But he also promised to take good care of him, and that was enough for you.

You had your boys back.

Then you were back at the hotel, in pixie form, resting in Yoongi’s room until it was time for their concert, then you were in Jin’s room, playing games because he had his computer and you were not about to subject yourself to a second concert. You’d barely survived the first one.

But it wasn’t bad for them to be gone from you. You knew that their love for you was greater than what a few hours separation would constitute.

That night they were all gathered in Jin’s room, catching you up on everything that had happened since the moment they had taken you away. How the company came around, how badly the boys fared themselves and had to catch each other before they all crumbled. You could tell there were things they were holding back, especially given what Jimin had already told you.

Then they approached the topic of the rest of the tour.

You quickly assured them that you were fine with them finishing it as long as you could be with them. “Home is where the heart is, right? Well, you guys are my heart and you’re here. I couldn’t break your hearts just because you wanted to give me what I asked for and take me back to Korea. Korea is just a place. It just happens to be the place of the people who love me enough that I’m able to love them in return.”

And then Hoseok was crying again.

You flew over to him, in a smaller form because it had honestly been weeks since you were small and now you had to work your way down again.

He cuddled you close and pressed little kisses to your face and hair, upset but not able to voice the reason. Not that there was much mystery regarding the reason.

When he had calmed down some, you cupped his face in your hands and gently kissed him, not missing the way his breath hitched or the tiny sound he made. The last to have a real kiss, your poor sunshine.

And all of you spent the night together, because apparently the boys were out of willpower—though they still needed some magic sleeping dust to get to sleep at a decent time.

Yoongi easily claimed a spot beside you, and Taehyung was quick to claim your other side.

Jimin huffed and ended up laying on top of all three of you.

Jungkook was pressed against Tae’s back.

Hoseok slept next to Jungkook.

Jin backhugged Namjoon and took him down, essentially initially forcing him to cuddle Yoongi, but the two switched places and Jin slept with his back against Yoongi’s, holding onto Namjoon.

Your lovely boys.

–

Previous  ~  Next

Masterlist  -  ot7 Masterpost

Tagging: @alex–awesome–22, @bryvada, @missmoxxiesworld​  @subzerobts​     @forvever-ddaeng​  @vividwoosan   @mischiefmakerliesmith5  @beach-bitch-bitch-beach  @minmeowmeowcuddles  @kpopfictrash @castlewolfsbane @scatkpoptrash​  @knjhe​  @i-dont-even-know-fck @soulphoenix1618 @kerikaaria @sea-nevermind-enthusiast @reinaxans @mcusuperfreak​

If you would like to be tagged: DTLW Taglist (please make sure you can be tagged, I’m no longer hunting people down, ALSO PLEASE NOTE THERE’S ONLY ONE PART LEFT)

[harrypotterbrainworms]

Valentine’s Doom

Summary: A very oblivious young boy has caught the loving eyes of Remus Lupin, but how can one express his feelings if every time (Y/N) opens his mouth, Remus melts like a box of chocolates in the sun.

Pairing: Remus Lupin x Male Reader

Key: (Y/N)- your name, (H/C)- hair colour, (N/N)- nickname

Words: 2587

A/N: I spent way to long on this, almost a week ;-;. I hope you enjoy it!

“Remussss, please. Pretty please with a cherry on top. I promise I’ll make it up to you” (Y/N) pleaded Remus to let him copy his homework. He had completely forgotten to do his own which was mostly Sirius’s fault, keeping him up all night.

“You do realise you have to do your homework in order to graduate, right? It’s a basic skill to have.” He cocked his eyebrow, looking up at the pleading boy in front of him.

“I know, I know, Blah blah, if you don’t learn you’ll never survive in the “real” world. I know the spiel.” He rambled on, motioning a small Remus puppet with his hand mocking the tone of his friend’s warnings.

He had spent the whole night playing tag with Sirius and racing around the courtyard like the drunk children they were. Remus knew this of course, waking up every so often to look down at them being idiots from the tower.

“And yet you still go on late night joy rides with Sirius” He sighed and closed the book he was reading as he watched his friends stuff their faces with toast and eggs.

“Please, Moony.” He begged once more, pulling the sweet and innocent face he knew Remus couldn’t say no to, even adding a slight quivering lip for dramatic affect.

The shorter boy pressed his fingers against his temples trying his best to distract himself from the sweet face of his friend, but gave in.

“Fine, last time I swear to Merlin.” He repeated the same line he always said when (Y/N) or any of his friends asked. He always managed to give in too soon to the pleads.

“Thank you!” (L/N) chirped up giving Remus the warmest smile he could, taking the few pages Remus handed him then took his seat again.

“Y-You’re welcome.” He stuttered out, blushing a bit. James wiggling his eyebrows at Remus, receiving a death glare in return.

“Padfoot, get your ass here! We have t-minus 20 minutes to copy it all” He pulled Sirius’s arm to climb over the table and sit next to him. Both of them pulled out paper to start.

“Wait you didn’t-“ The flustered boy said, not being able to finish his retort before he was interrupted again.

“Thank you again, Moony. We appreciate this so much” Remus could barely get any words out after that, only being about to nod his head in response. (Y/N) did look like he appreciated his friend’s effort to help him stay in school.

James gave him a knowing smile before continuing to devour his breakfast plate while Remus just sighed looking at the two boys copying his homework.

“You lads are gonna be the death of me.” He finally said, opening up his book again and continuing to eat his own meal.

Remus always thought he fanced boys a lot more than girls, but he knew for sure when he set his eyes on (Y/N) for the first time. They were never that close, not that he had tried to get closer. The taller boy just seemed to take a liking to Sirius more than anyone else in the group, always fooling around and getting into trouble more so than himself and James.

He spent many nights awake with James, while the other two snuck out, talking about (Y/N) and how much he liked everything about him.

The day passed by quickly as they always did, pranks and studying. Waiting for the next moon adventure.

Remus sat in the dull light of the common room that evening, relaxing to the sound of the fireplace when (Y/N) burst through the door as chaotic as ever. Collapsing on the sofa next to him.

“Hi, Moony” He smiled nonchalantly, taking a peak at the book he was reading. Remus partly ignored him, giving him an acknowledging hum.

“Oh, I see you’re reading one of my books. Do you like it?” He said while bending over to read the cover. (Y/N) as dumb as he could be, enjoyed reading just as much as Remus did. A lot of the time they spent together was in the library or reading together.

“I do, rather exciting. Didn’t expect to enjoy it this much, but thank you for borrowing it to me” Remus smiled, making (Y/N) blush a little.

“I’m glad!” He said, thumping back onto the sofa. Now trying to keep up with the pace his friend was reading at. He yawned softly, he was quite exhausted from a long day of school.  He was about ready to take a nap.

Laying his head lightly on his friend’s shoulder, he asked Remus to read aloud so he could rest his eyes.

As much as (Y/N) was a pain in his ass, he was a joy to be around. A light in his life unlike the light of his other friends. The heat on his face didn’t help either.

“Is the spring coming?" he said. "What is it like?" "It is the sun shining on the rain and the rain falling on the sunshine...” He spoke in a hush tone, narrating the book for (Y/N).

“I love this part, it’s so nice” (Y/N) smiled, getting comfortable for this afternoon nap. Remus stopped for a moment looking at his soft (H/C) hair and sleep ready face.

“Why did you stop? Was it me? I’ll shut up now” He said half asleep, waiting for his friend to continue the story again and that’s how they both fell asleep that late afternoon.

His book laying over his chest, his hands wrapped around the smaller boy like two cats huddled under a sun beam.

The next week was stressful with Valentine’s Day approaching and love in the air, it was all James could speak out.

“Oh Lily, a name so sweet just like the flower. A scent so alluring, oh Lily, my love, oh how can live without you. Life is , but a muggle roller coaster going up with you” He sighed, hugging the small envelope in his arms. Sirius gagged and pretended to throw up while Remus and (Y/N) laughed at his attempt at poetry.

“This is the year, boys. This is the year Lily Evans will be mine” He looked up at the great hall’s morning sky, his eyes twinkling with the love in his heart.

The other Marauders were painfully single, as was James, but the way he talked about Lily you’d think they’re already married. Lily however looked as though she would vomit at any given time James looked at her.

Tomorrow the whole hall would be filled with hearts and love potions. He was sure someone would slip one of them a potion, it happened every year, last year they had to nurse Peter to health ‘cause someone thought it would be funny if Peter fell in love McGonagall.

“Merlin, Prongs. One more word about Lily and I might curse myself” Sirius sighed and hid his own small envelope under his robe.

“How can I?” James sighed once, looking over the Lily who was sitting with her own friends pretending he didn’t exist. He rested his hand on his arm, sighing loudly and dramatically.

The day passed once again leading the five back into their common room, all tired of classes. The conversation immediately leaped to what would happen the next day.

“I bet Lily will finally accept that we are soulmates separated by a tragic past life” James said proudly once again pulling out the small heart littered envelope he had been carrying all day.

“I bet it’ll be another Valentine’s Day alone for you, dear Prongs” Sirius said in a soft and sweet voice, not mirrored with the evil little smirt of his face.

“Fine. Let’s make a bet then. All five of us, come on” James challenged the boys in the room who looked angrily at Sirius who always started these silly bets.

“Okay, Moony? Wormtail? (N/N)? You in?” Sirius chirped

“No way, last time I had to change my hair green and silver.” Remus said shaking his head profusely, Sirius looked at him and (Y/N) with his puppy dog eyes. Almost considering changing himself into a dog to guilt trip them.

“No need to convince me twice, I’m always in for a bet”

“I’m always in too” Peter chimed in, though no one was surprised as he just did whatever James asked anyway. “Fine, I’m in. What’s the bet?” Remus finally gave in after the whole group joined in, he felt as though he was gonna regret this.

“All us dashing young men need to find a date tomorrow. Anyone who’s rejected has to spend the night on the Quidditch pitch, no blankets, no clothing. Only underwear”

“Deal.” Sirius said quickly, shaking James’ hand.

“How do we always get dragged into this?” Remus sighed and let his head fall back onto the sofa, his arms over his face.

The next day was grueling work, everyone already had a date. James hadn’t asked Lily anything yet, his anxiety suddenly overcoming him, Sirius had been slapped in the face about 5 times, (Y/N) remembered he didn’t know anyone else, Peter had actually acquired a date out of some miracle and Remus was nowhere to be seen.

“Anyone see, Moony yet?” Sirius sighed, a small ice pack on his face. All the men looked completely defeated except Peter who had practically skipped over to them with the news he had gotten a date.

“Nope” (Y/N) quickly looked around the great hall as they sat for lunch, he was a little worried about him. Maybe he was brooding somewhere alone. Maybe was crying that he couldn’t find a date, maybe he was-

“I’m gonna go look for him” He stood up quickly, speed walking towards the closest boys bathroom, then the next and the next. He couldn't see him in any of the bathrooms. He was a little more worried now, well a lot more worried.

A little tired and defeated with the next bell ringing, he got to the next class first and to his surprise and relief Remus was there.

“Idiot. You scared us, we barely saw you today, what the fuck?” He came up behind him and flicked his forehead scolding him. He apologised and said he had to fetch a special package from the owlery alone. (Y/N) didn’t ask anything, just glad to see nothing bad happened.

“Any luck on a date?” He said, still waiting for the other classmates to arrive.

“Not yet, might look at real estate on the pitch” He chuckled, his eyes crinkling in his wide smile, flushing (Y/N)’s cheeks a bit.

They chatted for a short while before the last three troublemakers burst through the potion room door. Peter still has a bright smile on his face.

“Why so cheery, Wormtail?”

“He’s the only one of us with a date” James sighed loudly, still clutching his letter for Lily. He looked a lot less confident than yesterday, Peter deflating his ego even more.

The day passed and soon they were sulking on the sofa together, all now very painfully single besides Peter who was happily owling the Hufflepuff girl he had asked out. James finally had the courage to give the letter to Lily who just gave him a small smile before immediately b-lining out of potions. He was crushed, a broken shell of a man, at least that’s how he described it. Sirius had received about ten more slaps across the face. The other two had just accepted they would be huddling for warm on the pitch or so they thought.

“Here guys, we deserve it” Remus stood up suddenly grabbing the mysterious bag he was hiding under the couch.

He handed each one of the boys a small box of handmade chocolate, Remus’ specialty. They all lighted up suddenly at the prospect of chocolate except for (Y/N). Who got discreetly given a slightly bigger box and when he opened it, they were all heart shaped unlike the other threes’.

“Thanks so much, Moony! What would we do without you” (Y/N) smiled brightly, causing Remus to stiffen up a little.

The other two very quickly realised their chocolates were different than the (H/C) boy’s were. They know what was up, but (Y/N) was not in the loop.

“I’ll be back.” Remus quickly said, doing a 180 turn towards the porthole, leaving the others.

“I hope Moony’s okay. Maybe he got rejected.” He frowned looking at the closing door. He wanted to check up on him, but maybe he just wanted to be alone.

The other two in the room looked at each other, at their chocolates and back at (Y/N). They both decided it was about fucking time, if Remus wasn’t gonna do it. They would.

“You really are dense, (Y/N). He likes you, isn’t it obvious?” James said not looking up from his homework as he sat on the desk in the common room. Sirius shrugged in agreement and (Y/N) looked a little shocked.

He looked down at the box of heart shaped chocolates in front of him, everything finally clicking in his mind as he face palmed his brain.

“Oh my god. Wait really?” He questioned again, the thought had never crossed his mind that Remus would feel the same way he did. He never thought Remus was gay like he was though now that he thought about it, it was kind of obvious.

“You really didn’t know?” Sirius said while struggling to unwrap the ribbon off his own valentine chocolates. (Y/N) really felt dumb as a rock.

“Fuck.” He cussed under his breath, quickly exiting the room to find Remus.

He saw a flash of light hair belonging to the boy on his mind, he raced toward him in a fast walk. Quickly catching up and grabbing his shoulder.

“Moony! Wait! I’m sorry, I didn’t know these were those kinds of chocolates” (Y/N) said a little out of breath still clutching the box in his hands, looking at them briefly before turning to the taller boy.

“It’s fine, (N/N). I don’t think you would’ve accepted them anyway.” Remus sighed softly, what looked like a few tears running down his face which (Y/N) immediately wiped off with his finger gently.

He smiled widely at the crying boy next to him, then gave him a huge hug.

“Yes I would have! I would’ve loved getting chocolates like that.” He said brightly, gripping onto the taller boy’s neck tighter. Not wanting to let go.

“You would?” Remus sniffed quietly, barely speaking over a whisper. He breathed into the (Y/N)’s necks, smelling the sweet smell of his coconut shampoo and cologne.

“Of course! I’m sorry I’m a little oblivious sometimes. I do like you, though… a lot.” He said sheepishly, blushing into the crook of Remus’ neck.

“You do?” He questioned again, his crying stopped and he felt very warm and fuzzy. The butterflies in his stomach beating him up.

“YES! Now come eat these with me. We won the bet.” He let go of Remus and grabbed his hand, pulling him back to the common room again.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me” Sirius said as he saw his two friends hand in hand.

“Looks like we’re sleeping outside” James sighed, looking at the pitch from outside the window...

“So cold.”

[maybe-theres-hope]

Of Will and Wildflowers, Interlude - Carlos: “Indecision”

-Hello all. I debated about ever having this see the light of day, as I wrote it as sort of a character study to keep myself honest while writing the main story, which I always intended to be single POV for the drama of it all. 

However, in my heart I feel like I owe you all at least something for how long you’ve waited for the conclusion to this story (I originally intended to post the whole thing before the season even started and...here we are lol), and I figured you’d appreciate this. It doesn’t spoil anything, so don’t be afraid to read if that’s something you’re worried about (unless of course you haven’t read the story at all, in which case here you go!). It’s just a glimpse into Carlos’ psyche in this AU. 

This takes place the second night of the Strand’s visit, after TK and Carlos take their first journey around the grounds that ends in the apple orchard, and subsequently Elena spilling that Mr. de Castillo will be joining them soon.

This is for all those who have encouraged me so much with this story, and I promise you all you will get the conclusion! Life has just gotten in the way so much lately :( @oquinn53, @reyeslonestar, @howtosingit, @a-l-ias, @mtnofgrace, @descending-into-the-crazies if I missed you let me know please! I love you all :)

Carlos was having difficulty dressing for dinner, and it wasn’t because of the fiddly fastenings of his waistcoat.

TK Strand was…The man was…

Carlos was also having difficulty with full sentences, even ones inside his own head.

The morning they’d shared had been as if from a dream, or a fairytale from one of Raquel’s storybooks. Every time TK smiled at the vast landscape of Carlos’ home, every time his eyes lit up at the brush of scent from the wildflowers hitting his nose, Carlos was arrested. Time stood frozen for a few moments in which he could admire the man before him at his leisure, when he could ascend to a higher plane of aesthetic dominated by the gentle slope of TK’s jaw.

Carlos had also to admit to himself—if not out loud just yet—that there was also the man’s intellect, not just his beautiful face and impeccable seat on a horse, that drew Carlos’ attention. When Carlos had asked him of his life in New York, TK had for some reason shied away from speaking of his father’s company and his own part in it, as Carlos might have expected from a man of business on a business trip. Instead, he talked of Central Park and the Fifth Avenue Hotel, and how the architecture compared to that which he’d seen on their journey through the South. He spoke of the air surrounding them and how clean it smelled, even though Carlos knew they were downwind from a herd and they both knew it.

The man was charming in his innocence and captivating in his depth in turns, and Carlos could hardly bear to look away or allow himself to speak in his turn when TK asked him a question about this landmark or that bit of wildlife.

They’d passed the morning gently ambling along wherever the horses saw fit to take them, talking of everything and nothing, and it had been glorious. And their picnic…their picnic! Carlos had never worshipped Mrs. Smith’s blackberry jam quite as much as when he caught a glimpse of it clinging to the side of TK’s mouth just before a deft tongue slipped out to take it away. He was quite taken aback at the weight of his infatuation, to be honest. He’d not ever had occasion to fall so fast into regard for someone, and it was at times disorienting and grounding. His body felt as if it had been given over to some mystical force, using its hands to ensure the movement of his heart when it stopped itself at the sight of TK’s smile in the sunshine and guiding his eyes to alight once more upon TK’s handsome profile.

The apple orchard had been…a risk. Carlos simply could no longer help himself in his desire to be near this man. He made every clandestine endeavor to brush a shoulder or knee or knuckle as they walked. Holding TK’s hand properly to help him down from Flor’s saddle was akin to ascension to the clouds beyond.

His hand still tingled when he thought of it.

Was this what everyone referred to when they spoke of love? Surely not. He’d only known the man for two days. And yet.

And yet.

Just then a knock at his bedroom door startled him out of his thoughts, which he was secretly glad of.

After a word of acquiescence from Carlos, Christina passed through the door before shutting it again behind her quietly. Her face still held a small trace of trepidation in it when she caught his gaze, and he was instantly reminded of the scene on the porch when they’d arrived back from their tour of the property.

Fernando was coming, and that muddied his thoughts more than all the rest.

“I came to see how you were faring, and I see it’s just as I suspected,” she offered in greeting. She stood in the middle of the room with her hands clasped against her skirts, looking at him in earnest.

“And what did you suspect?”

“You’re warring inside your own head as we speak. Your thoughts are plain as day on your face. As is your utter admiration for our handsome Mr. Strand. Don’t try to deny it, I know you far better than you wish.”

“That is the truth,” he muttered with a sigh. “What am I to do?”

“About what? Your obvious inclination toward Mr. Strand? Or your equally obvious promise to Mr. de Castillo?”

“There was no promise!” He flopped himself down on the bed, dressing forgotten for the moment. They’d had this argument before. “It is merely an understanding, built upon mutual need. We can just as easily misunderstand each other as well.”

“But you’re not that kind of man, Carlos. You don’t go back on your word,” she replied, her expression turning miserable. She was perhaps the only one who truly understood what had been going on in his head when he’d made the promise in the first place. Christina was also possibly the only one who truly understood why he was warring over it now. She could read his face, his tone of voice, the shape of his stance like a book.  Sometimes he hated it, but for the moment he was quite glad to not have to articulate the particulars of this struggle in bare words. He was content to skirt around the topic they both knew was on his mind with veiled hints and euphemisms.

“I know. So, esteemed elder sister, what should I do?”

She came closer and laid a hand upon his shoulder, her face still a picture of commiseration.

“You should do what every gentleman and lady wishes they could do, but for which they all lack the courage.” He stared at her, waited for her to elaborate. “You should follow your heart.”

“I can see now why all those other gentlemen and ladies lack the courage! I am damned if I do anything. If I keep my word to Fernando, I will be secure but restless, adrift, unfulfilled and bound to endure it, and it will be no fault of his but completely my own. He is a good man, and he does not deserve my indifference.”

“But he would have it anyway, would he not? You don’t—“

“You’re right, I do not. But that is not the point!”

“I thought it was? And what should happen if you break your word?” Her eyes seemed to bore into his skull despite the soft brown of her irises.

“I…” Words seemed to slip away on the wind from the open window. He thought again of TK asking about the wildflowers, how his smile lit up the landscape more than the rising sun. He could picture a thousand mornings spent just as they had this one, or perhaps instead of combing Carlos’ family homeland on horseback, they would promenade in Central Park among the birds and trees. They would walk arm in arm with no destination, just the inclination to be together in the bright spring air. He would utter some quip about the couple across the way just to hear the bells of TK’s laughter. TK would point out some high society maiden and they’d remark—under their breath of course—about the ridiculousness of her hat. At the end of each day they would return home together to sit by a roaring fire and talk into the night about everything and nothing before lying down beside each other and drifting into dreams that could do nothing to rival their waking lives.

The picture abruptly vanished at the thought of Fernando, however. Carlos was right, the man did not deserve to be slighted after all he’d done to assure Carlos of a life beyond his mother’s death and Rosa’s inheritance. Fernando was handsome, kind, and the catch of the century. Anyone would be envious of Carlos’ position.

Except Carlos.

Christina, who had been heretofore silent while her brother ruminated in his thoughts, finally sat beside him on the bed and slipped her arm into his, laying her head upon his shoulder.

“I know it’s not ideal, but you have to choose the path that puts your heart at ease, the one you can live with for the rest of your life. If you do that, you’ll be content. If you go against your own heart, you’ll never know peace.”

The problem was, Carlos couldn’t make sense of what his heart wanted in the slightest, and because of that he was frozen in indecision.

[1rintooru]

a relationship gone sour

Warnings: physical abuse, toxic relationships, swearing, the whole ‘yandere’ trope, heavily implied death

Pairing: yandere! Tendou Satori x gender neutral reader

Themes: uhm? read the warning again pls

Word count: 1869 - one-shot

Summary: You and your friends devised a plan to escape your toxic relationship, however Tendou ends things before you even get the chance to.

…You are my sunshine, my only sunshine

You make me happy, when skies are grey…

A familiar hum traveled with the cool breeze that tickled his cheeks. The smell of wet concrete lingered in the air from the heavy downpour earlier. The streetlights had automatically turned off some time ago and the moon hid behind dark, dried-up clouds. ‘Would you be happy to see him? Excited, even? Or would you look at him the same way you’d begun to for many weeks now?’ Tendou could only wonder. For a moment he was worried he’d arrived too early, but it didn’t matter. He promised you that he would visit – even if you didn’t know it yet.

***

Your legs felt heavy once you finally emerged from the bathroom, a yawn escaping your lips. You weren’t used to staying up so late; you had met up with a couple of friends for a much-needed study session and lost track of time. Once you all finally parted ways it was already past midnight and all that you could do was mentally apologize to your future self for being exhausted the following day.

Conversation of school gossip quickly turned into a targeted interrogation towards you. To be fair, your friends were deeply worried for you. They made no secret of their dissatisfaction in your relationship since you heard every complaint under the sun. Gentle concern eventually turned to stern berating out of desperation and much to their dismay, you easily brushed off their remarks and defended Tendou every. Single. Time.

Tendou always stood out to you as an oddball type; he was loud, playful and marched to the beat of his own drum. You fell in love with his quick wit and sardonic humor and grew innately protective over him when you learned about his difficult childhood.

But as months passed, the line between satire and sincerity became more and more blurred. It wasn’t until he would become increasingly obsessive and his lampooning more threatening that you understood the gravity of his words. You were constantly walking on eggshells around him as your formerly sweet relationship quickly turned acidic.

You weren’t wearing your rose-colored glasses anymore and the confession of your relationship woes were met with sighs of relief. Grammar structure and algebraic formulas soon became trivial as you and your friends started planning a way for you to escape your toxic relationship. The worry that weighed heavily on your mind finally lifted as you felt the warm compassion of your closest friends’ envelope you like a heated blanket.

How long has it been since you felt this way?

You smiled to yourself – still riding feathery-light high from earlier – and brushed your thoughts aside, deciding to deal with them again in the morning. You rounded the corner into the hallway, a slight spring in your step as you went, before stopping abruptly.

The light went out.

You made a mental note to replace the broken lightbulb as soon as possible. While you weren’t shrouded in complete darkness, the newly missing light source still created an illusive atmosphere that you weren’t fond of. Your shadow crept up and bounced off the walls and the end of the hallway was left in pitch-darkness. The only thing you could barely make out was the faint outline of your clothes that hung from the clothes stand, creating an eerily human-like shape. You considered to check the door to see if it was locked but decided against it; you were just being paranoid and in your sleepy state it was expected for your mind to play tricks on you.

What you didn’t expect was for the shape to take a step forward.

Your breath hitched in your throat and you could feel how each individual hair stood on end. The figure took another agonizingly slow step forward, revealing its silhouette to be that of a male with a tall, lanky build. You wanted nothing more than to run away, but the cold shiver that went down your spine had you completely frozen. Your legs had locked themselves in place and all you could do was watch in horror as they took a third step forward, the dim lighting cascading across his face and illuminating his features.

“Satori!”

“Hello there, Sunshine.” His tone was sardonic, fleering as he extended his arms towards you. “I’ve missed you… how about a hug?”

You wanted to reply but only managed to choke out a cough; the sharp, excruciating pain at the back of your head traveled down your spine and spread outwards, making your whole backside throb. You didn’t even have time to react when he lunged forward, toppling you off your feet and knocking the wind out of your lungs. The room felt as if it were spinning as you hopelessly watched Tendou and his double merge in and out of each other, both of them offering you an ear-splitting grin. A painful, heavy pressure provoked another coughing fit and your eyes darted to the source – the center of your chest caved in where Tendou deeply dug his knee, the other planted firmly on your left arm while one hand pinned your right down.

You tried desperately to thrash your legs in a frantic attempt to kick him off, but the way you were angled made it nearly impossible to reach him. He remained unyielding as he stayed perched onto you like a gargoyle, his crimson eyes boring into you acrimoniously. A pout formed on his lips as he watched you squirm beneath him, tilting his head so unnaturally that it practically rested on his shoulder.

“Is that any way to greet the love of your life?” he cooed.

“Satori please, I can’t- I can’t breathe,” you gasped, still convulsing in pain.

“Hm? Oh, guess I don’t know my own strength,” he responded dispassionately, focusing his attention on the dirt under his nails. He knew exactly what he was doing, this was all just a child’s play for him. With Tendou it was always a game – and you were the prize. You shifted beneath him, finally able to somewhat breathe as the pressure elevated.  

“Satori, sweetheart – if this is about before, then you have nothing to be jealous about! I was just studying-”

“Huh?” he leaned back with crossed arms, not enough loosen his grip but enough so that he almost sat upright. “Jealous? This has nothing do with jealousy. I made you a promise, remember?”

A promise? Your mind frantically raced trying to remember when he had promised you something. What promise?

He smiled wryly and answered as though he had read your mind, “I promised you that I would keep you safe – that I would keep our relationship safe. I know everything about you and I’ll be damned if anything ever gets between us!”

You winced at his menacing tone; you always knew Tendou could switch from cheerful to incredibly threatening at the drop of a hat and you regretted not listening to your friends sooner. However now, dread enveloped you as you felt a sense of foreshadowing in his words.

“Satori… I am safe! I’m not going anywhere, see?”

His face softened and he abruptly leaned forward, his face just inches above your own. His breath tickled your nose and you had to collect all your willpower to not recoil as his long fingers caressed the side of your cheek ever so gently.

“That’s a lie.”

Your eyes widened in panic as you felt your whole body be overcome with despair.

“Satori, I –”

“I thought we had a pretty good thing going for us. You really accepted me fully and I am so, so thankful for that.” Despite his casual delivery, there was a genuine fondness written on his face, only revealed by the small crinkles that developed under his eyes. “So, when you started to look at me the way everyone else did – like some freak – I knew that wasn’t you. My beloved Y/N wouldn’t look at me like I’m some fucking monster.”

“I – I don’t think that – I would never think you’re a monster!”

You were interrupted by a deafeningly loud clap, the sound still echoing through the room as you felt blistering sting from where Tendou’s hand met your cheek. You briefly saw him multiply again, but even through blurred vision you could see his manic eyes twinkle like rubies.

“Goodness Y/N, you’re just full of lies today!”

His cheery tone made you cower. You knew you couldn’t overpower your 6’2” boyfriend – you already tried that – so in your desperation all you had left was to reason with him.

“Satori please! I’m your sunshine, remember…? You wouldn’t want to hurt your sunshine, right?” your pleas came out as pathetic whimpers, hot tears threatening to spill over your cheeks, already sticky and tear-stained from before.

“Well, yeah I guess.” His face turned thoughtful for a split-second while he considered your words. “But you’re also the one who took my sunshine away. Y/N wouldn’t look at me like I’m some demon.” He shrugged nonchalantly, his expression immediately returning to its morbid excitement.

“But if that’s what you think, then I’ll show you a real fucking abomination.”

He leaned forward and planted a kiss onto your right cheek. Then your left. You wanted to scream but your cries stopped in your throat, right where Tendou had wrapped his long, calloused fingers.

“I wanted to be mad at you, but I just can’t. It’s my fault all of this happened, I failed at protecting you.”

He fastened his grip, adding additional pressure through his digits and onto your larynx. While you felt your throat tighten, you could also feel the weight on your chest get heavier as Tendou slowly and tortuously added more of his bodyweight. His frenzied breath and your choked cries were only drowned out by the earsplitting cracks of your ribs. With both arms freed, you frantically tried to pry his fingers off, scratching his face and punching him as hard as you could. He didn’t even react – completely ignoring the scratches that now decorated his face. The hits you landed felt more like pesky flies to him.

“Forgive me, but I have to do this. It’ll only take a sec.”

Tendou’s grip tightened, silencing you completely. Exhaustion overwhelmed you as the adrenaline from before started to wear off. The weight of your arms felt like cinderblocks as they slowly drooped down, just faintly clasping at the fabric of his sleeves.

“I wish things could have been different.”

You were unsure of who spoke as Tendou’s multiples reappeared, almost as if to taunt you while a black haze emerged from the corners of your eyes. His eyes gleamed nefariously and his face split into a maniacal, shit-eating grin – a final farewell – as your vision fully eclipsed.

“I’m sorry.”

***

The pillowy clouds from earlier had finally dissipated once Tendou stepped back outside, veiling the sleepy neighborhood in a dim moonlight. The breeze from before had died down, leaving the air stagnant. How ordinary. Nothing stood out on this night except for the familiar tune that could be faintly heard in the distance.

…You’ll never know dear, how much I love you

Please don’t take my sunshine away…

[mostlycompetentwriter]

Dragon Three

F/M Pairing: Y/N x Felix (SKZ)

Warnings: mentions of violence, mentions of blood and gore, lots of sexy times with Felix, explicit smut, language, and alcohol use

Word Count: 7.8K

Genre: Game of Thrones AU; Fantasy AU

Summary: In order to stake her claim to the throne, Y/N must cross the narrow sea and destroy an enemy who has an endless barrage of assassins tracking her every movement. But at least she has her faithful advisor, Felix, by her side, and an intimidating army of Dragons who only serve their queen.

A/N: The title comes from a 3racha song which is totally cool and you should listen to it while reading this! 

Spring was a time of rebirth and renewal - an opportunity for second chances and new discoveries. But for me it was different. Because I was destined for something greater, and it was nothing short of intoxicating.

You see, I sought redemption - and there was only one thing left standing in my path.

My remaining obstacle was a wealthy land across the narrow sea - and the final battle meant that I would need to conquer a distant kingdom with an army of skilled warriors by my side. It also meant finding the very best people to serve me, and there weren’t many who planned to turn against a woman with three powerful and very loyal dragons who served at her behest.

But there was still time for distractions - consider it a stress reliever - and I sighed in pleasure, eyelids fluttering when I looked at the flash of silver between my legs - a pair of blue eyes pronounced with desire. “Felix,” I whispered, tracing my fingers across the swollen lines of his lips.

“My queen,” Felix murmured softly in return, looking up at me from his place between my thighs, mouth glistening with the smeared mess of my wet arousal.

“Aren’t you going to finish what you started?” I asked him, hardening my gaze because it was delightful to see the way he submitted to me.

“I’ll do anything you want,” Felix promised, and I could feel his tongue lapping at my wet folds, sinking into my tight cunt with practiced skill.

I hummed in agreement, relaxing my head back against my pillows. When I met Felix for the first time, back when I wasn’t nearly as influential, he was nothing but a little boy who lusted after something that he could never have. But he still agreed to serve me, and his loyalty was nothing short of profound. Perhaps that’s why I eventually succumbed to his advances - agreeing to share my bed with him.

“Can I fuck you?” Felix asked, pulling me out of my thoughts with a guttural groan.

I smirked at him, pretending to think about his request while I made of show of lowering my gaze to the obvious bulge of his erection. “Are those new pants?”

Felix was taken aback by my random comment, but he swallowed hard before responding: “Yeah.”

“They certainly make your cock look bigger,” I said, reaching down to trace the outline. “But you and I both know that your little cock isn’t good enough, so I’m hesitating because I don’t know if it can satisfy me.”

The degradation brought tears to Felix’s eyes, but I knew they weren’t out of grief but rather pleasure. “Please, Y/N,” he cried. “I can make you feel good.”

“You’re just desperate to fuck your cock into anything, aren’t you?” I asked with a snarl.

Felix nodded his head, holding onto my thighs with clenched fingers. Truthfully, Felix’s cock was actually rather good - it wasn’t very girthy, but it was long and always managed to rub against my g-spot perfectly. But he didn’t need to know that - especially when he loved to hear me talk down to him, and his eyes were beautiful and bright with tears filling the corners. “I want to be good for you.”

“You always try for me, Felix,” I placated him, holding up my hand to wipe away some of his tears. “I’m a fair ruler, aren’t I?”

Felix nodded again. “The Seven Kingdoms will be pleased to have you as their queen.”

I smiled at his words. “Well, I want you to show me your best effort, Felix. Can you do that for me? Take out your little cock and please me like you promised.”

“Thank you, Y/N,” Felix panted, and his fingers shook when he removed his belt, shoving down his pants and boxers before tossing them aside. 

I eyed his cock with interest, licking my lips while he wrapped a loose fist around the base, moving his hand up and down while choking around a moan. Meanwhile, I spread my legs wider for him, watching the way his eyes glued themselves to my empty cunt. “Go ahead, Felix,” I said. “Show me what your cock can do.”

“I will,” he promised, looking at me with so much affection that it was almost suffocating. But in the next moment, he was moving himself closer, inserting just the tip as he fought to contain his emotions.

“Why are you holding yourself back?” I asked him with a frown. “Show me how these hips move,” I added while squeezing at his thin waist.

Felix nodded with a quiet groan, throwing back his head to reveal an expanse of beautiful, tanned skin. It was an ethereal appearance, and I could spend the rest of my days studying the shape of him. He was an elegant man with delicate features and a lithe figure that betrayed the impressive strength and resolve of his character - his desire to please the ones he respected the most. 

“Y/N,” Felix said, brushing our lips together in a light kiss. His arms were shaking with the effort of holding himself up over me, releasing low grunts whenever he pressed himself inside. I melted at his ministrations - watching the sweat as it trickled down the sides of his temples, shimmering in contrast to his skin. Because this close, I could see every pore and defining feature - fighting to keep my eyes open to enjoy the delightful vision of his focused expression while his hips rolled in long, sensual patterns. Brushing my clit and filling my tight walls with his thick erection. Pulsating to the beat of his movements, and grazing my g-spot when he angled himself just right - using my thighs as leverage to keep us both as close as possible.

I hummed in delight when one of his hands came up to caress the side of my face - a light touch that contrasted to the quick motions of his deep thrusts. Penetrating my cunt with the same kind of desperation that Felix always seemed to reserve for these intimate moments together - like he wanted to prove a point to me. It wasn’t obvious, whatever it was, but the mystery of Felix was part of the reason why he appealed so much to me. 

“I’m close,” I warned him because I could tell that he was straining to hold back his own orgasm. He was a selfless lover, always ensuring that my pleasure was obtained before he could even consider the possibility of his own release.

In return, his fingers teased my clitoris, and there was a proud smirk on his face as if he was enjoying the quick manner in which he had broken me down. “Come for me,” he said, but it was less of a command and more of a courteous request, and I finally let go of all my accumulating stresses, arching my back against the sudden pressure in my lower back - a tight knot that was slowly becoming undone around me.

And in the afterglow of my orgasm, I listened to Felix’s pretty sounds until something warm started to leak out of the place where he pulled out - leaving behind a mess that we would both ignore. Instead, he collapsed next to me on his back, breathing heavy while he turned around to face me. “Was that good for you?”

I grinned at his neediness, but I nodded my head because I knew that he considered his performances inside the bedroom just as important as the advice he gave outside of our personal affairs. “Of course it was,” I said, pecking his lips. “You’re always so perfect for me, Felix.”

His accompanying smile was brighter than sunshine, and I closed my eyes to the sound of a distant roar outside of our fortress.

It was a triumphant sound because it meant that my dragons had returned.

The stars were beginning to fade at the steady emergence of the sun, and I was walking across the bridge outside of the fortress to approach the sleeping forms of my dragons. They had arrived sometime the previous evening - making their anticipated return after journeying far away at my direction. I always worried about them when they were gone, but they had an uncanny ability to return to me even after weeks passed with no sign of their massive bodies creating brilliant shadows among the blue of the sky.

“There you are,” I remarked, smiling when Chan - my oldest and largest dragon - perked up at the sound of my voice. His scales bristled around a heavy yawn, reflecting a liquid black under the sunlight. “Chan,” I said, watching as he turned his giant head in my direction. “I missed you.” He grunted in return, attracting the attention of Changbin and Jisung who both startled awake at the sound of their older brother’s interruption. 

In comparison to Chan, Changbin was the second oldest, and his blue coloring reminded me of the ocean. Then, there was Jisung who might be the smallest of his brothers, but his scales reflected a sharp silver color that made him appear constantly alert. Still, I laughed at their expressions, wondering how anyone could ever be cruel to these magnificent animals when they expressed themselves so completely with a subtle blinking of their eyes or a single noise to demonstrate their opinion. 

But I carefully navigated around their powerful forms, pausing when I noticed the evidence of their last mission. “I’m very proud of you,” I said, running a hand along Chan’s spine as the eldest dragon purred at my praise. “Let’s have a proper reunion,” I suggested, taking several steps back so that they could dismiss the remnants of their slumber.

Meanwhile, I noticed the approach of Felix from my peripheral, and he looked unbelievably beautiful under the lingering effects of the dawning morning. “My queen,” he greeted me, pausing as he studied the three Dragons stretching their wings. “They’ve returned.”

“Yes,” I agreed, holding out one hand to gently caress the side of Chan’s muzzle. He gurgled in response before affectionately returning my gesture. “I think they made their point.”

I pointed to the side where the skeletal remains of the assassin waited on the cold, unforgiving ground. It was the third one this month, and I had grown tired of living in fear of them. But I also understood that it was a good thing - it meant that the Queen across the sea was afraid of me.

“I’m surprised they brought back anything,” Felix remarked, and he was suddenly next to my side.

“Well, I’m sure they wanted to show me that they did a good job,” I said, grinning when Changbin started nipping at Jisung’s wings. “Play nice, boys.”

Changbin turned to me in an instant, releasing a whining sound as if to show me his displeasure. “They obey you remarkably well,” Felix said. “After all, at their core, we’re talking about wild animals.”

“Oh, but they have good hearts,” I said, smiling when Jisung sniffled at my outstretched hand and I allowed myself to give him several pats on the neck. “Did you have something to tell me?”

Felix sighed as if he was burdened by the information he wished to share with me. “Y/N, we don’t have enough ships to cross the narrow sea, and our armies are growing bored with waiting around the city.”

“Hmmm,” I acknowledged him. “What do you suggest?”

“We could attempt to approach the iron bank,” Felix said. “They could give us the gold to build our own ships.”

“I suppose,” I agreed. “That might take more time than I’m willing to give” 

“Well, we can always negotiate with the lords in the next city,” Felix suggested. “Perhaps we can offer them some of our overstocked resources. And I’m sure they’ll never say no to someone who rides on the backs of Dragons.”

“If that’s what you think will work,” I said, turning to look at him before placing a delicate kiss on his lips. “I trust your logic.”

Felix smiled, clearly pleased by my show of adoration. “Shall I find someone with a disposable navy?”

“Thank you, Felix,” I said, reaching into my pocket for a small treat, holding it out for Jisung who happily lapped it up with clear delight. “I think I’ll pay a visit to the iron bank tomorrow. We can try to convince them that investing their resources into our army will be of the utmost importance.”

“I’ll make the arrangements myself,” Felix said before offering me a polite nod of his head. “Will you spend more time with them?”

I grinned. “I have another mission for my Dragons, but I’ll join you inside before noon.”

Felix gave a noise of acknowledgment before I watched him disappear into our carefully guarded fortress.

Braavos was an intimidating city, and there were richly-clad men and women walking along the main roads touting their impressive assets and keeping themselves surrounded by the best that money could afford. I sneered at their ostentatious displays, choosing to travel with a few willing soldiers and Felix without all the ornament. The entire city was a complicated maze but the Iron Bank was, perhaps, the most impressive institution, and I studied the outline of the cathedral as it towered over our surroundings.

Felix managed to arrange a meeting with the most influential bankers, and I was rehearsing what I planned to say to those men in order to convince them that it was in their best interests to support my cause. The Iron Bank was notorious in its reputation, and the men who financed the institution didn’t just hand out loans to anyone unless it was certain they could be repayed. The expectation was pressuring, but perhaps this would be an objective opportunity for me to truly discern what everyone else thought about my cause and whether or not they believed in my success.

Yet, I was still unprepared for the apparent signs of hostility: “What is your business here?” 

I blinked once at the aggressive question, tilting my head at the sole guardian who stood at the doors to the Iron Bank. “My name is Y/N,” I said. “Perhaps this can answer your inquiry.”

The guardian waited for another moment before bowing low at the waist. “Wait here,” he instructed me before disappearing inside the building.

I scoffed and turned to the side to glance at Felix. “Are they always this hostile?”

“They’re unkind to outsiders,” Felix answered, and I pondered over his words even after the guardian returned to lead us into a massive room where three men sat before us on golden thrones.

My first impression was rather hackneyed because the men were all older, clearly aged and experienced, and they wore matching haughty expressions of contempt. In the past, I might’ve felt intimidated by such a reception, but I wasn’t a scared little girl anymore. “Y/N,” one of the men spoke up over the others. “Welcome to the Iron Bank.”

“It’s just as impressive as I’ve heard through rumors,” I remarked, allowing my eyes to peruse the surrounding decor - noting the domed ceiling and pristine floors. “I can feel its history.”

“Is that so?” he asked. “Well, we’re honored to meet with someone who has caused quite a stir in our free city.”

“My reputations precedes me,” I said. “I’m very grateful.”

“We’re also quite curious,” a second man said. “What can we do for you?”

“Of course,” I acknowledged. “As my advisor has likely revealed to you, I’m in need of funding for a fleet of ships to carry myself and my army across the narrow sea.”

“How unexpected,” the second man remarked. “The last time somebody challenged for the throne, they couldn’t even make it to the walls of King’s Landing before they were obliterated.”

I shivered at his casual tone. “I have something different.”

“Yes,” the second man agreed. “But differences aren’t necessarily equal to guaranteed success.”

“Regardless,” I countered, “I see this is as a mutual opportunity. When I conquer Westeros, I will repay my debt and more.”

“Such grand promises,” the second man said. “But why should we believe you?”

“I’ve already conquered most of Essos,” I said. “Men have cowered in my presence, and the ones who tried to cross me have paid the ultimate price.” I grinned while chancing another step closer to the bankers. “This is an advantage for the Iron Bank. You’ll already have access to the next ruler of the Seven Kingdoms.”

“Yes, but we still don’t see it as an investment that will benefit the bank,” the first man said. “I’d consider your proposal a dangerous liability.”

“Because you don’t believe in my cause,” I said. “How foolish.”

“The current regime has reigned for decades,” the man said. “There’s a reason for its continued success, and that perseverance overshadows a grassroots rebellion.”

I huffed at his assessment. “What fails to convince you? The army serving me with a thousand men? My reputation across Essos? The three Dragons who fight at my side?”

“Even if you are successful,” the first man interrupted. “There’s no guarantee that you’d pay back the debt you will accrue.”  

“My word is not enough?”

“Words can be deceiving,” he replied. “Actions are objective. They speak much louder.”

“Very well,” I said, resigning myself to failure. “But I will always remember your faithlessness.”

“Threats don’t intimidate us, Y/N,” the first man cautioned. “You’d be wise to remember this because you may need us again in the future.”

“We’ll see about that,” I said, and I turned my back on the Iron Bank because I would need to search for alternative means if I wanted to cross the narrow sea.

It was late when I finished my meetings with the people of Braavos, listening to their concerns and addressing grievances. It was tiring work, especially when I encountered situations where there wasn’t such a thing as an easy solution. I was exhausted, but there was nothing better to resolve my overflowing tension than arriving back in my room to find a naked Felix arranging a bath.

“Were you waiting for me?” I asked him, allowing my hand to skim across the skin stretching around his jutting hip bone before walking out onto the balcony outside.

It was bitterly cold, and I supported my chin against my upturned palm as my arm rested against the balcony - quietly observing my Dragons sleeping around the shelter of the forest. “You’re thinking hard,” Felix said, shameless as he walked out to stand next to me. 

“I knew there were other options,” I said. “But today was the first time someone has dared to reject me.”

“I see.” Felix nodded, allowing strands of his silver hair to ruffle in the breeze. “I wouldn’t take offense to a bunch of old assholes who have nothing better to do with their lives than play with people like we’re puppets.”

“But isn’t the point of becoming queen to control those strings?” I asked him. “Otherwise, how will I lead the Kingdoms?”

“By being yourself,” Felix said, drawing my attention by using a finger underneath my chin to direct my head. “I believe in you, Y/N. You’ll do great things for the Kingdoms. Nobody will ever doubt you again.”

“But it still stings,” I said, lowering my gaze to his flaccid cock. “I suppose you had other plans for tonight besides consoling your queen.”

“I wanted to please you,” Felix said. “As always.”

“Well,” I said, trailing my fingers sensually down the bare skin of his chest. “Show me what you had planned.”

“It’s nothing extravagant,” Felix said, taking my hand before leading me back inside. “Take off your clothes.”

“Are you giving out the orders tonight?” I asked, although I was already undoing the intricate lacing holding my gown together.

“If you’ll allow me,” Felix said, and I watched him lower his body into the steaming bath water, groaning in delight at the sensation.

 “I’m always grateful,” I told him, removing my gown while pretending like I wasn’t glad to feel his eyes on me the entire time. I joined him with a sigh of content, falling back into his embrace as we both silently enjoyed the water and one another’s company. 

“Can I wash you?” Felix asked, and I nodded before laving a kiss across his jutting collarbone.

In the meantime, Felix reached for the soap and started to slide the bar across my skin, rubbing it between his hands to create extra suds. “What shall we do about the ships?” I asked around a moan, feeling him squeeze my breasts. 

“Leave that to me,” Felix replied, rubbing his thumbs in sensual circles around my nipples. 

“You know that I trust you with my life,” I said, and I could feel his cock growing erect against my lower back. “Who can we approach?”

“I have someone in mind,” Felix murmured softly, and he was unceasing in the gentle kisses that he was leaving across my shoulders.

His name was Lord Park, and there were rumors that his wealth surpassed even that of the Iron Bank. 

“He’s our man,” Felix assured me as we stood outside of his lavish estate - waiting for someone to greet us at the front door.

“It seems like this gentleman has more money than he knows what to do with,” I remarked.

“He also has ships,” Felix said, trailing his fingers across the back of my hand. “If he agrees to help us, then we’ll be ready to sail before our deadline.”

“Good,” I said, smiling when I sought Felix from my peripheral vision. “You’ve done well.” 

Felix beamed at the compliment while the gates of the estate abruptly opened, and an older man with graying hair and a thick beard stepped out to greet us. “My distinguished guests,” he said. “Lord Park is expecting you in the great room.”

“The honor is ours,” I replied with a bow - nodding at the soldiers I had brought with me as we stepped onto the impressive grounds.

My first impression was quite unforgettable - admiring the enormous columns and the elegant statues lining the path leading to the main entrance of a notable mansion. The doors of which were wide open, revealing a foyer with broad walls and an overarching ceiling that stretched to the heavens above. ”The mansion was constructed in the early ages,” our guide explained. “My esteemed patron had the chandelier installed himself.”

“How interesting,” I remarked, exchanging a quick glance with Felix.

“You may enter at your own convenience,” the guide said, pausing outside of a set of double doors. “Lord Park only asks that you leave your men here with me.”

I hesitated at the request, but Felix squeezed my hand in reassurance, and I took a deep breath before reaching out for the door handle. The room that I had entered reminded me of an office: bookshelves lining the walls with ancient texts, and an enormous table occupying the center of the room. “Close the door behind you,” an unfamiliar man said, and he stood next to the large window overlooking the grounds.

“Of course,” I agreed, and I followed his orders before walking in the direction of the table. “The pleasure is mine, Lord Park.”

The older man chuckled, and he turned around to reveal himself to me - fairly young, but with signs of his aging in the light peppering of gray in his dark brown hair. His grayish-colored eyes were narrowed, and he looked me over like I was a piece of meant on display for him. “I’ve heard many things about you,” Lord Park said. “Have a seat.”

I nodded my head to show my thanks before pulling out one of the chairs - watching Lord Park choose a spot across from me. “Your estate is beautiful,” I told him, and he smiled as he reached for two glasses and a pitcher.

“This wine,” he said while pouring me a generous amount. “It was made from the freshest produce in my vineyards.”

I accepted the glass from him with a careful hand - bringing it to my lips to drink a tentative sip. “It’s very sweet,” I said.

“It reminds me of you,” Lord Park remarked as he drank from his own glass. “You see, the wine is deceiving. It’s taste is quite sweet, but it’s made from a very rare ingredient known for its hard interior.” He paused for a moment, meeting my gaze from across the table. “You appear that way to me as well, Y/N. Your overall impression is sweet and innocent - you must know this because you have such a delicate body. Yet, underneath that facade is someone who is capable of destroying her worst enemies.”

“Hmmm...” I trailed off with a sigh was I traced the top of my glass with one finger. “I quite like the sound of that, Lord Park.”

“You’re a very beautiful woman,” he continued, raising his glass to me before finishing the remainder of its contents. “I’ve been told that you have a pressing need for my resources.”

“Your ships in particular,” I agreed. “I’m willing to repay you, of course. If you agree to let me use those ships, then I’ll try to accommodate whatever you might need.”

“There’s not really much that I do need,” Lord Park said, and he waved his hand around as if indicating the general grandeur of his property.

“You could consider this as a potential partnership,” I said. “I have an army, and you have ships without crews.”

“Yes, but I expect something in return,” Lord Park said, and he was wearing a lascivious smile. “What do you think a single man like myself could need?”

I chose to ignore his implications. “I have Dragons, sir. That usually convinces most men.”

“Dragons that serve you,” Lord Park remarked. “What good will that do for me?”

“They follow my direction,” I agreed. “But I could command them to assist you in other ways. Perhaps if there’s someone you would wish to see...vanish?”

Lord Park chuckled. “I have no such enemies, Y/N. However, I do have a rather notable lack of a suitable heir. Perhaps you could help me with that.”

“I see,” I said, nodding my head while tasting the wine once again - faintly recognizing the bitter taste under all of the embellishment.

“Of course, marriage is my price for complete access to my ships,” Lord Park said. “I hope that is no problem for you.”

“No problem at all,” I said, even though my stomach churned uncomfortably at the mere idea.

“Then it’s settled,” Lord Park said. “I’ll have your hand, and you can use my ships for your command.”

I forced myself to smile, even though I couldn’t help but feel trapped by the prospect. Still, I had to admit that it made sense considering his circumstances, and I desperately needed his ships. It was a fair trade on the surface, but deep down inside, I couldn’t help but feel cheated.

Despite the fact that I had tried to withhold my bargain from Felix, I knew that he would eventually corner me and demand the results. Thus, it wasn’t very surprising to see him storm into my bedroom that evening - eyes reminding me of a dangerous storm over the ocean. I trembled from where I sat in front of my mirror, gliding a comb through my hair as I greeted him with brusque tone. 

“My queen,” Felix said, but the sentiment lacked his usual affection. “Don’t you think it’s unfair to keep me in the dark?”

“What are you referring to, Felix?” 

He scoffed at my obvious evasion. “Lord Park ordered his hand to make arrangements with me for his ships, but I’m no fool, Y/N. What did he ask for in return?”

I carefully lowered my comb, looking down at my hands folded in my lap as I mustered enough confidence to reveal the truth. “I may have to marry myself to that Lord,” I said, and I glanced up in time to notice the hurt flash across his expression. “Oh, Felix, don’t be like that. You probably knew this from the very start. It was your idea. You told me that we needed to negotiate for new ships.”

“My idea?” Felix repeated. “Y/N, at such a high price, I would’ve sought alternative sources.”

“But I can’t take that risk,” I said. “Someone else might want something even more onerous, and this is a worthy sacrifice for our cause.”

“But I hate it,” Felix said, and there was a raw emotion that exposed his very soul. 

“That’s a very dangerous thing for you to say,” I told him. “We both knew that those ships would cost us more than we might be willing to give.”

“Yes, but to bind yourself to him forever!” Felix decried, and I was so very upset to see his eyes gloss over. “Y/N, I’ve given you advice,” Felix whispered. “I helped negotiate for your armies! We raised your Dragons together!”

“Oh, Felix.” I sighed. “It disappoints me to hear you speak this way. I warned you at the very start of our affair that you should keep your feelings guarded.”

“Well, I couldn’t help it,” Felix snapped. “I love you, Y/N, and I won’t see you marry another man.”

“Then you won’t see me at all,” I rebuffed, steeling my gaze. 

I knew that the threat was harsh, and Felix was obviously taken aback. “You don’t mean that,” he said, but I also detected a slight hint of uncertainty.

“Perhaps you underestimate my resolve,” I said. “Those ships mean everything to me, and they’re certainly worth more than your cock.”

My heart twisted painfully at the lie, but I was convinced that marrying Lord Park was the only way to earn my crown. And I couldn’t have Felix standing in the way because of his affections for me - no matter how I might feel about him in return. This was the cold reality of a true ruler, and I would have to get used to making these sacrifices for the betterment of my people. 

“Do you really think of our arrangement as nothing more than a means to satisfy your own urges?” Felix questioned. “How can I believe that, after all this time, you only used me because I was able to fill your greedy little cunt?”

“I thought it was mutual,” I said. “Feelings are too complicated, Felix. Can’t you see how they’re breaking us down?”

“Because you’re allowing our relationship to amount to nothing more than fucking,” Felix countered. “I know that you don’t mean these things, Y/N. But I’m furious that you would lie to me for the sake of a potential marriage to Lord Park of all men. I’ll always stand by your side, even after everything you’ve said tonight, but you should be careful who you allow in such close intimacy.”

“I’ll consider your advice as always,” I said, and I returned my gaze back to the mirror just in time to see the reflection of Felix’s retreating figure.

The next evening, I wasn’t surprised to receive an invitation to dine with Lord Park at his estate. Apparently, he desired to understand his future wife and her aspirations, which brought me to my present situation: walking next to a stoically unmoved Felix as we greeted two servants at the entrance to the dining room. The man in question was already inside, and he walked around the table to greet me with a formal kiss to the top of my hand. “Our future queen,” he said with a sultry tone. “You look ravishing.”

“Thank you, kind sir,” I said, ignoring the way Felix glared at our touching hands.

“Please have a seat,” he said, gesturing to the place right next to the head of the table. “Felix, you can occupy the chair next to mine.”

“How gracious,” Felix muttered, but our host was generous enough to forgive Felix’s dismissive tone. 

“Let’s begin,” Lord Park announced, and we all situated ourselves around the table as several servants entered the room with delicious-smelling platters and dishes full of delectable offerings. “I’ve prepared the best,” Lord Park said. “Help yourselves.”

I smiled in his direction before perusing the vast selections. “It all looks amazing.”

“Thank you,” Lord Park said before briefly glancing in Felix’s direction. “Felix, my dearest boy, you are more than welcome to your share.”

I shot a glare in Felix’s direction because he refused to accept any of Lord Park’s hospitality. “I’m not hungry,” he grumbled.

“Not hungry!” Lord Park exclaimed. “I shall be offended if you sit there while the rest of us enjoy ourselves.”

“Felix,” I snapped - growing more and more irritated since he refused to look at me. “Don’t behave this way.”

“I’m not hungry!” Felix insisted with a far more aggressive tone.

“My word,” Lord Park said. “Will you let him get away with this?”

“It’s been a long week,” I tried to explain. “Felix has been stressed from making arrangements with our armies.”

“It’s still unacceptable behavior from someone in his position,” Lord Park remarked, and Felix’s hand tightened around his fork.

“He’ll improve,” I said, but I knew that Felix’s infamous fits of passionate rage could last for weeks at a time. “Please, Lord Park, tell us more about your daily affairs.”

“I would be glad to lead the conversation,” Lord Park said, and he started launching himself into a retelling of his dealings with a rather mischievous servant who had returned to work that day after nearly a week of constant absences. “Who does he think he is?” Lord Park scoffed. “Of course, I immediately sent him home without pay. We can’t have such actions go unpunished. It sets a bad example for the others.”

“Perhaps he has a good reason for staying away,” I said.

“Oh, he was going on about his wife,” Lord Park said with a roll of his eyes. “But it’s not of my concern. After all, I must keep this place in good condition for my future wife. I’ve been busy renovating a private shelter just for your dragons.”

“Oh, how fascinating,” I lied, dropping my hand on top of his and ignoring the way Felix flinched from the corner of my eye.

“Tell me about the beasts,” he requested. “Are they well-trained?”

“Of course,” I said. “They are quite obedient.”

“It’s just remarkable to me,” Lord Park continued. “They’re such a rare species. How did you find three perfectly good dragon eggs?”

I hesitated at his question, and my eyes met Felix’s for the first time that evening. Because my precious dragons had been a gift from Felix - back when I was still very young and afraid of the world. My aspirations seemed far too ambitious at the time, and I lamented to Felix that I had nothing to support my claim to the throne other than an unverifiable family tree. I told him that I wanted something to make me look powerful, and he had spent days following nothing more than a whispered rumor - until he found what he was looking for in the three dragon eggs hidden away in the mountains. When he brought them to me that night, we made love for the very first time - both young and inexperienced virgins - while the eggs sat next to the fireplace all night long.

But the next morning, the egg shells were in pieces, and three very tiny dragon hatch-lings greeted me with innocent eyes and adorable features.

“It’s a long story,” I told Lord Park before clearing my throat. “Please excuse me for a moment.”

“Take your time,” Lord Park said, but he was clearly at ease while drinking his second glass of wine.

I bowed my head in gratitude before rushing out of the dining room - entering the next chamber where a small window allowed me a discreet view of Lord Park. I could feel my stomach churn while looking at the horrible man - and I desperately wanted to blame the wine but I recognized the bitter sensation of guilt as it sunk against my chest. 

“Do you remember when I fucked you for the very first time?”

I turned around with a start at the unexpected sound of Felix’s voice - spotting him standing at the entrance to the room. “Felix,” I whispered, feeling my heart flutter against my sternum.

“You became my entire world, Y/N,” Felix said, approaching me with measured steps as I forced myself to meet his impenetrable gaze. “I feel like I’ve loved you for my whole life, and I know that I’m the only man who could ever make you truly happy.”

“Felix,” I repeated, but my confidence was in shambles, and there were tears falling in streaks because I was horrified by the idea of marrying Lord Park and losing Felix’s touch forever.

“Tell me again, Y/N,” Felix said, and he was so close that I could see the way his chest heaved with every deep breath. “If you can find the nerve to lie to me like the rat sitting in the next room, then please refuse my heart and end my misery.”

I sniffled because I was close to hysteria as I shook my head, reaching out to wrap my arms around Felix’s neck. “I love you,” I told him. “I don’t know what I would do without your presence by my side.”

“Then we’re the same,” Felix said, and I gasped when he unwound my arms and spun me around - shoving me up against the counter. “Do you think your war is worth that cruel bastard?” Felix asked, and his fingers kept a harsh grip in my hair as he forced my head back against his shoulder - whispers low and seductive in my ear. “Perhaps it might seem like it to you, but you’ll be miserable with him. And do you know why?”

“No,” I said in return. “I don’t know.”

I guess my response wasn’t enough. Because it was like my words had triggered something primal, and I was left at the mercy of Felix as he jerked my hips back away from the counter - only to bend me over as he quickly reached down to bundle the hem of my gown between one hand. And I shivered when nothing but cold air touched my most intimate place - shaking like a leaf when he tugged my panties down my legs. 

“What did those stupid assholes at the Iron Bank tell you?” Felix snarled, spreading my legs and resuming his place in the empty space - pressing the front of his erection against my heat. “Actions speak louder than words, isn’t that right?”

“Yes!” I cried because it was hard to keep myself together in the presence of this unfiltered Felix - listening to the sounds of his zipper as he tugged down his pants. His cock was warm and rigid when he used his free hand to guide the tip along my folds, moving himself up and down but never penetrating inside.

“What would those people think if they saw their queen begging for my cock?” Felix asked. “Would Lord Park think less of you if he knew that your adviser could take you whenever he pleased?”

I moaned at the rhetorical question - knowing that Lord Park was just on the other side of the glass. It fed my growing arousal, and my mouth opened around a scream when Felix started to push his cock into my sensitive pussy. “Oh!” I cried - a broken sound that only continued to increase in volume as Felix pushed down against my lower back and started pounding his cock between my tight walls.

“I’ll treat you like a slut,” Felix said. “If that’s what you really think of our relationship.”

“Nothing I said was true!” I whimpered. “I love you, Felix.”

“Yeah?” Felix purred, and it was a complete contradiction to his earlier tone. “Will you finally admit your feelings for me, Y/N? Only after I’m forced to make an example of this little cunt.”

“Please, Felix,” I said, sobbing against my forearms as both of his hands moved down to grab my waist - using it as leverage to force his cock as deep as possible. 

“Look at him while I’m fucking you,” Felix growled, holding even tighter to my waist as he fucked me like it might be the last time he would ever have the honor and privilege. “You think he could ever be this good for you?”

“Nobody can ever match you, Felix,” I told him earnestly while trying to support myself against the counter.

“This pussy belongs to me,” Felix said, snapping his hips as if trying to make a point. “It can only be satisfied by my cock.”

“You’re right,” I whined, looking up through the window where Lord Park remained seated at the table - calmly attending to his own business without any idea that the woman he was trying to seduce was getting fucked in the next room.

“You might marry that bastard,” Felix continued, anchoring my thigh around his waist to find an even better angle - hitting my g-spot with every upstroke. “But you won’t share his bed, do you understand? That privilege will remain with me!”

“Felix,” I whispered, closing my eyes when I felt my orgasm approaching - the familiar heat burning inside of me. Hotter than any dragon fire.

“My queen,” Felix said. “Say my name, Y/N. Let him hear how good my cock makes you feel.”

“Shit, Felix,” I moaned, even though I had no idea what I was actually begging him to do for me. But I knew that Felix would always do his best to give me whatever I wanted. 

“Come for me,” Felix grunted, pounding his hips into mine as he knocked my waist against the edge of the table. “I can tell that you’re close.”

But it was still the first time that I had ever come on command, and I screamed his name when I fell apart around his pulsating erection, feeling him continue to move inside of me until he was satisfied as well - cum dripping down my thighs. 

“Remember this moment,” Felix said. “Because I know you aren’t attracted to him, and I know that you aren’t serious about an engagement.”

“I’m not,” I said, leaning back into his weight as he brought us to the floor, allowing my dress to fall into place as he held me tightly in his arms. “Nobody could ever replace you, Felix.” 

“Because you’re mine,” Felix purred, and he was more pliant after being sated, sharing his deepest feelings as we resigned ourselves to the undeniable love that had followed us ever since our very first meeting on a warm, spring afternoon. 

It was such a beautiful recollection, and I found myself crying in Felix’s arms as he shushed me quietly. “I don’t want to marry him,” I said. “But what else can I do?”

“I know, my love,” Felix said, and he was so gentle as he carded his fingers through my hair - knotted from his rough touches earlier. “It pains me to see you like this, but I might have a way to prevent your suffering.”

“It’s never easy,” I said, and Felix smiled when he wiped away my tears. “I can’t turn down his ships.”

“Then marry him, Y/N,” he said, ignoring the way that I shivered. “I’ll handle the rest.”

I swallowed hard at his ominous promise. “What will you do to him?”

“It won’t involve your hand,” Felix said. “Leave it to me, my sweet queen. I’ll make sure that your heart never hurts this way again.”

I lifted my head to meet his familiar gaze, and I saw the determination right in front of me. It was reassuring, and I carefully nodded because I would always trust Felix with my life.

One Month Later

I would always recall the winter’s morning when I set sail across the narrow sea to meet my destiny in King’s Landing.

Our enormous fleet of ships proved to be an imposing force as we started sailing across the waters - leaving behind Essos with my armies attending to their duties. The departure of our forces marked an entire month since I had married Lord Park in a private ceremony in view of the officials and his close friends and family. He had whispered to me during our first dance together - talking about how he was going to put a child inside me. 

Yet, that very same night, he could only penetrate the tip of his disgusting cock before a familiar hand was slicing across his throat - using a knife made of Valyrian steel to end Lord Park’s life. I remembered that there had been so much blood - draining from the terrible man in rivulets of crimson until he collapsed next to me face-down into the mattress. He continued to convulse as he struggled while Felix knelt in his place - wiping the blood from his skin and looking down at me with a desperate hunger. 

The news of Lord Park’s death traveled quickly, and I played the part of a distraught housewife who described the masked assassin who had snuck into our room and killed my poor husband. There was nobody to doubt me, especially when I called my dragons to the official hearing, and their intimidating presence was enough to cement my lie. And since all of Lord Park’s estate belonged to me, I could still claim his ships and wealth - using everything to catalyze my impending journey across the narrow sea. 

I was the ruthless queen who had survived death itself, and my reputation was even more formidable than it was before. There was nothing left to stop me, and I breathed in the scent of the ocean as I leaned against the banister of the impressive warship. From next to me, Felix stood tall with his long, silver hair billowing in the breeze.

“We’ll be there before sunrise,” I said, closing my eyes as I envisioned my arrival.

“Its yours for the taking, my queen,” Felix replied, and I trembled when his fingers followed the path of my spine. 

“Yes,” I agreed. “It’s all mine!” 

Felix smirked at my audacious declaration, and I held my head high as the land grew closer in the distance. Meanwhile, my dragons soared high above my ships and the army that would fight for their new queen and secure my rightful place on the Iron Throne.

[teamhappyme]

my world is grey without you

pairing: nick amaro x reader

warnings: tissues. this is not happy.

word count: 1.7k

a/n: this is pure sadness. i am so sorry, it is all hurt and the smallest pin point of comfort. my first nick amaro fic, and it’s gonna be ~heartbreaking~ but this idea has been in my head for weeks. hope you enjoy some of the pain im serving. 

****

You think Mother Nature must be in tune to your emotions, when you wake up that early May morning. The clouds were grey, rain pouring from the sky, collecting in puddles on the cracked sidewalks of New York City. If you had to describe to someone how you were feeling today, you would just tell them to look outside. You felt as gloomy as it was in the city today. 

Normally, your walk to the coffee shop was bright and full of sunshine, especially during spring. The flowers were starting to bloom, the sun was staying out longer, and the weather finally started to reach past sixty degrees. Instead it was filled with droopy tulips and black umbrellas covering everyone’s faces. 

You got your usual order, and one black coffee to go, hailing a cab across town to your destination. You planned on walking yesterday; the half hour walk would help clear your head and calm your nerves. But today, it would only leave you wet and cold.

Once you pulled up to the brick apartment building, you paid the driver and quickly ran up the stoop and into the entrance. You buzzed apartment 3G, and after a few seconds, you were let in. You rode the elevator up to the third floor, your foot tapping against the linoleum floor the entire time. 

You stepped out and took a right down the hall, stopping at the fourth door on the left. After three knocks, the door swung open, and there stood the man of the hour.

“Hey, Nick.” you gave him a small smile, lifting the black coffee you got for him on your way here. “I know it’s early, but I figured this may help you with any last minute packing.”

“I,” he started, running a hand through his hair, “what are you doing here?”

“What, you think you can just leave without a proper send off from your partner? Besides, I’ve owed you this coffee for three years. I had to pay up before you left.”

That got a smile out of him, as he reached for the coffee, and opened the door up a little wider. 

“Come on in,” the foyer of Nick Amaro’s apartment usually greeted you with an onslaught of pictures of Zara and Gil, accompanied by many drawings and art projects from the young girl. Now on his last morning here, the walls were stark white, void of anyone ever living here.

“I can’t believe you got this place packed up so fast. It took us a whole day just to get that giant brown couch into the apartment.” You said, as your eyes looked over what was once the living room. 

“Well, that’s what movers are for.” He followed in behind you, taking in the apartment he called home for the last two years. He moved in to the first place he could find, not wanting to spend another minute thinking about living without his baby girl. “I would offer you a seat, but my furniture is in a u-haul, probably crossing Kansas right about now.”

You smiled, as you crossed your ankles and sat criss cross applesauce on the hardwood floor. “That’s alright. I prefer the floor anyways, keeps me grounded.”

You were ready for the pointed stare you got from him, only making you laugh harder at your awful pun.

“Three years we’ve been partners, and you still have awful jokes I’ve never heard.”

“Hey, I gotta keep you on your toes, Amaro.” he sat down next to you, leaning back on his hands and crossing one foot over the other. You knew there wasn’t much time before he had to head to the airport; you purposely gave yourself a small window to minimize the hurt. “How long do I have you for until you head for the sunshine?”

He looked down at his watch, letting out a small sigh as he checked the time. “My cab will be here in about twenty minutes.”

“Alright. Then we have twenty minutes to make the best cop movie script out of our careers together.”

And for the next twenty minutes, you remembered almost every moment you spent with Detective Nick Amaro. From the first day you met, which had a rocky start, to the day he turned in his papers to be with his kids. There were stories of stakeouts that always included pizza and blaring rock music to keep you awake, monday morning bets on who would be in the precinct last, and endless amounts of coffee runs to keep the other person going. 

There was a lot of trust built between the two of you over the last three years. Nick had been through hell and back in the time you were partnered together, and there was no choice but to trust each other. At work, he needed somebody he could trust without any doubt, and you made it so easy for him. The kindness and empathy you treated him with from the beginning, even when he didn’t deserve it, made a difference in his life. There was no one else he’d trust with his life more than you.

After some time, you two were in sync with one another. You always knew what the other person needed, whether that was a coffee, space, or comfort, the two of you knew what to do. It made work that much easier, it made the bad days that much better, when you didn’t have to tell them how you were feeling; they just knew.

You had just finished the story about your first undercover op together, when his phone lit up.

“My ride is five minutes out.” he said, the trip down memory lane coming to an end. Your smile morphed from a shiny grin, into a small close mouthed line. It was time to say goodbye.

“I’ll walk you out,” you got out, barely above a whisper, as Nick stood up. He held his hand out to you, helping you onto your feet. 

You watched as he grabbed his backpack from his room, patting his pockets to double check he had his phone, wallet, and boarding pass. He took one last look around the place before walking out and closing the door behind him for the last time. 

The elevator ride down was quiet, you spent those thirty seconds regulating your breathing and swallowing the growing lump in the back of your throat. This wasn’t about you.

Once the doors opened to the lobby, you felt soft fingers inching their way into your palm, lighty holding you together. You looked over at Nick, slowly, but he was looking straight ahead. You saw the twitch in his jaw, and the bob of his adam’s apple, and you knew he was holding back his own tears.

Moving your hand the slightest bit, your fingers fell into place with his. You gave his hand a gentle squeeze, before following him out.

The rain had subsided considerably since you arrived, the downpour now more of a spring mist. You stood at the edge of the sidewalk with him for a few minutes, until he got the notification that the car was only five blocks away.

“Well, are you ready to turn into a Cali boy?” you asked, finally turning to see his face. 

“I’m ready for no more New York winters. I am gonna miss just about everything else, though.”

“But you’ll have Zara, and Gil, and that’s all that really matters.” you said with a smile, while gently letting go of his hand. “Besides, I’ll make sure to send you endless videos of me shoveling myself out of my apartment building, just to let you know you made the right decision.”

“Please, please keep that promise and send me those videos. There is nothing more amusing than you swearing at snow.” you rolled your eyes, and nudged his shoulder in annoyance. 

Instead of bouncing back off his body, you felt his arm snake around your waist. You leaned into his touch, letting your head rest on his shoulder. You felt the exhale of his breath before you heard it, along with the rapid beating of his heart.

“I’m gonna miss you, you know,” he started, as you focused on the way his fingers were moving up and down along your hip. “I wouldn’t have made it through everything without you.”

“I was your partner,” you said, the past tense already tasting like bile on your tongue. “I would’ve done anything for you. And I know you would’ve done anything for me.” You turned your head the slightest bit, just enough to see his face. “I’m gonna miss you too. More than I already do.”

He looked down at you, his brown eyes full of emotion and tears. His eyes flickered to your lips for the smallest moment, and you nodded, giving in to the moment, and the man you cared so much for.

His lips met yours in a chaste kiss, just long enough for you to remember what it felt like to hold Nick Amaro this close. 

He pulled away, gently resting his forehead against your own. You let the moment last as long as it could, before the inevitable beep left Nick’s phone. They were here.

You pulled away from him, your waist growing cold without his arm wrapped around you. There was a beep from a blue car a few cars up, and you let out a sigh.

“Your ride’s here, Cali boy.” you said with a smile, wiping away the stray tear that traced your cheek. “Don’t be a stranger, okay?”

“I won’t. Call me, whenever you need me, alright?” you nodded, trying to memorize the smile on his face. He found your hand one last time, giving it a comforting squeeze. 

“I will. Now, go, you’re gonna miss your flight if you hit any lunch traffic.” He looked up the street to the cab, before looking back at you.

He leaned down, pressing a soft kiss to your cheek, and then your lips one last time. 

“I’ll see you later, y/n/n.” he said, and you watched him walk down the streets of New York City for the last time. 

But you knew you would cross paths with Nick Amaro again one day.

****

tags: @hurricanejjareau @qvid-pro-qvo @crazyshannonigans

[jostepherjoestar]

After seeing tha La Squadra ask with the yakuza games I was wondering how the group would react if the yakuza La Squadra member had a few of their old yakuza friends visit Italy and their the characters from the yakuza games (let’s just say it’s in the same universe)

🐉 Former Yakuza La Squadra member gets a visit from Kiryu & Majima🐉 (multiple asks in one) (2,1k)

sfw // gn reader (reader is the former yakuza member)

After discovering Majima and Kiryu shared a mutual friend that had moved to Italy and joined a gang there, they were curious to know how they were faring, deciding on a whim to pay them a visit. Their old pal had left quite the impression on the two men back when they were part of the yakuza.

Set in an AU where the Yakuza in-game happenings and JJBA events take place in the same universe, the game does not exist, it’s just real life for the characters and La Squadra’s newest recruit that used to be in the Yakuza happened to be friends with Kiryu and Majima back in the day.

(Btw my interpretation of Majima when he’s alone with Kiryu is that he mostly drops his act and since he’s in a new country he is a little more timid towards strangers, don’t get me wrong, he will still start shit but maybe not as quick.)

It was a bright and sunny day, the sweet spring wind still holding some winter chill as it blew through your hair. You were sat on the bench across from the safe house, arms spread wide on the backrest, cigarette dangling on your lips while you basked in the warmth of sunshine. You quite enjoyed sitting like this, making it an uninviting scene for passersby or your teammates, not wanting anyone near you so you could relax in peace. Of course still on guard, never truly letting it down, there’s enough people out there that have a bone to pick with Passione, especially your division. You took another long drag of the cigarette, the overwhelming smoke entering your lungs like ashy clouds. But as you heard some rustling you reached over to grab the smoking bud and pressed it into the ground with your foot. There was something suspicious going on, you felt like you were being watched. You casually peered through half closed eyes at the building in front of you, no one had been staring through the windows. No, it felt like it came from a different direction. Lazily you stood up, stretching your core, twisting your middle from side to side while letting your arms get some movement, readying your body for possible combat. As you turned, you saw a trashcan wiggle in your peripheral. The movements looked very unusual, was there a cat stuck in it? But the can was placed so precisely on the corner of an alley, someone could easily be standing right around the bend to surprise-attack you. Picking up a rock and throwing it right at the middle of the can, even making an indent, you felt a bit idiotic for doing it. But still there was no further movement or sound. You were still curious so you without much thinking you crept closer. If it was an animal in need you’d feel bad to have left it to suffer.

As you stepped nearer, now in front of the dented can, having full vision of the alley you were met with someone you didn’t suspect in the slightest. “Kiryu-san?” You questioned, face frozen in shock. “Wh-what are you doing here? Am I dreaming?” you asked while rubbing your eyes, maybe if you rubbed them hard enough you’d wake up. The large man’s furrowed eyebrows softened as he was met with your familiar form. A small smile formed on his lips but he stayed quiet for some reason, opting to kick the trashcan in front of him instead. It burst open, the lid sent flying further into the alley as you both ducked for cover. “What the fuck Kiryu-chan?! I told you I got this!” Majima’s figure popped out, the snakeskin jacket crumpled from what looked like sitting in the confined space for far too long. You couldn’t believe your eyes, you’re sure your mouth was hanging open with eyes wider than a deer in headlights, like your brain had crashed and burned. “Ya went and ruined the surprise Kiryu-chan! And ya went and broke Oushi-chan as well.” The one eyed man gestured angrily while complaining, he’d planned out the perfect way to surprise you: to shock and fight you. But the only thing that snapped you out of your stupor was that stupid nickname, Oushi-chan. He basically called you a bull, giving you the nickname after you’d stormed angrily down the stairs of the Tojo Clan head office after a particularly frustrating meeting and nearly threw Majima down the stairs as you raced on by. “Stop calling me that! And what in the name of all that is sacred are you doing in Italy?” You hushed your yells as to not alert the entire neighbourhood of their arrival, helping the older man out of the trashcan. “We’d thought it was nice to come and visit you, see what you’ve been up to.” Kiryu calmly explained. “And calling was too expensive? You guys really scared the shit out of me!” Still filled with disbelief at their sudden appearance, but glad to see those familiar faces again. You did miss them too, the short time you shared with them still being remembered fondly. “Glad to see ya haven’t changed, ya did get an Italian accent though.” Majima playfully jabbed as he slung his arm around your shoulders. “Oh you’re one to talk about accents old man.” You prodded back as you pushed his arm off in annoyance, not taking any of the man’s teasing that easily. “Before you ask how we found you, I’ll explain.” Kiryu’s voice was still as deep as you remembered, telling you how they knew you were in Naples and even knew of Passione, it was just a matter of time until someone pointed you out (after some mild intimidation). Not that it was hard to spot you among the Italian men in your team. Hard for these two to talk, back in Tokyo you’d spot that grey suit and angry scowl from a mile away. And let’s not even pretend that Majima’s no-shirt-tacky-jacket-leather-pants look was any less eye catching. You huffed out a laugh, the shock of seeing these two finally wearing off as they started asking questions about how you’ve been and how work is. Happily chatting on the bench you were previously lounging on.

“So… what’s the nature of yer squad exactly? I mean ya look meaner than before, if that was even an option.” The one eyed man jested in a hushed voice, sure that it was a sensitive topic. “Well I like to think we’re the cleanup crew, bringing a bit more harmony to this field of work.” Ignoring his comment about your looks, sure that they helped you in this line of business. “That’s one way to phrase it.” Kiryu huffed out a chuckle, leaning his hands on his knees as he looked at you with a sympathetic smile. He admired your fervour, it was one of the reasons he was so fond of you. After hearing how you stood up against Majima and he didn’t slice you to bits, he was impressed at how you persuaded Majima to settle it through a game of hanafuda. The stoic man knew you liked to be alone, being used to it himself or rather preferring it somewhat over putting his loved ones in danger. He actually asked you to join his family if he ever became patriarch of his own one, he put a lot of trust in you.

After some more catching up you decided that perhaps you should show them around the house and introduce them to your teammates. Knowing how much they loved hearing your stories about your time in the yakuza, they’d surely appreciate to meet your old pals. You stepped in with the two men in tow, stopping in the entry way to hand your friends some slippers, it was a habit you never let go since moving here and you’d even convinced the rest of your house mates to go along with it. “Hey guys, I have some friends I’d like you to meet! Please don’t be weird!” You yelled loudly enough for the entire house to hear, even your capo on the top floor would be able to. Formaggio, Prosciutto and Pesci sauntered out of the living room, looking quite bored before noticing your two friends. Now they seemed interested. “So who’s the eye-patch guy and mister giant?” Formaggio joked as he elbowed Prosciutto who tutted his colleague for touching his suit. “Well these two gentlemen are my friends from Japan… from the yakuza…” it was so awkward to add that they were also involved in such things. You were pretty sure Kiryu was nearing his end run with the organisation anyway. “Oh and they do not understand a single word you’re saying, I’ll translate and yes I will filter out your jokes Formaggio.” You said in a serious tone. The two men behind you stood awkwardly awaiting any signal from you, Majima eyeing your teammates up and down, trying to get a good impression of them. Pesci seemed scared by the men but trying his best not to show it, only shaking a little. Majima thought him a perfect target to tease, holding himself back from his usual persona. “Prosciutto. Pesci. Formaggio.” Your blond colleague introduced them curtly, hands still in his pockets. Kiryu understood the introductions and gave a little nod, Majima followed with a grunt. “This is Majima-san and Kiryu-san.” The mingling of Italian and Japanese still being something you were trying to get used to, only having been able to speak Italian since you arrived. You led the men into the sitting room, the three colleagues retreating back to their card game while you and the other two sat down on the couches. Your colleagues weren’t really that interested it seemed or maybe just unsure of them for now. As you excused yourself to get some drinks for your guests, you were a little worried to leave them by themselves, you knew they could handle themselves physically, but it was more the communication part that you were worried about. You returned with a couple of glasses filled with juice as you saw Melone had slinked inside the living room, gently placing himself on the one seater next to the couch. “So who are these guys?” He asked curiously while leering, perhaps making Kiryu blush a little since Melone kept staring at him. You quickly introduced them to him and shushed him out of your seat, instead he sat on the armrests of the chair. Majima sat up a little, not really liking the looks of the purple haired one. “Is he always like that?” he asked, being a little weirded out. “Yes, yes he is.” You replied with a sigh as your teammate kept staring with a grin on his face, happy to just quietly observe.

You nearly sprung out of your chair when Risotto entered the doorway, feeling like you’d overstepped by bringing in your friends. Majima cocked an eyebrow at your behaviour, not knowing what superior could make you act like that. That was until he turned around as well. “Risotto I-, excuse me for bringing them in but they came all the way from Japan to check up on me.” You pleaded in a hurry as your capo took in the people in the room. “Don’t worry.” He said while giving a nod to the guests while taking them in, having a bit of a stare off with Majima or more like Majima didn’t want to lose eye contact. He felt an innate need to fight Risotto, not because he wanted to hurt him, he just wanted to see what the large man was made off. Risotto reminded Majima of his dear friend next to him. “I’ll be going back to work but please treat their guests nicely.” Risotto aimed his comment at the other men in the room, seeing them not really interact with the guests just yet. You sunk back down in your chair and sighed in relief. “He’s got ya whipped Oushi-chan.” Majima joked as he saw your cheeks get a little flushed.

Slowly but surely with lots of hard work the men actually started talking (with your help translating), Kiryu was still a bit demure but you didn’t expect him to be otherwise, respecting his usual style. After a while Prosciutto even invited them to play a round of cards, all sat around the table while he dealt them. A simple game of blackjack. You actually quite enjoyed the intermingling of your past and present, happy to know there were still people looking out for you back home. Not even sure if you were still allowed to call it home, having perhaps found a new one.

And yes Melone did ask to fight Majima, who quickly agreed since he thought the lithe man was weird and needed some readjusting. Of course Majima won, you sternly asked Melone not to use his stand. The whole thing was quite amusing actually, even Kiryu seemed to enjoy it.

[dansnaturepictures]

15/05/21-Martin Down: Blog 2 of 2-The wildlife (Lesser Whitethroat, Small Copper, Common Blue, Small Blue, Cantharis rustica, Skylarks and more)

I liked seeing an oxeye daisy that has grown in the garden always a flower I look forward to seeing out in the wild so it was interesting to see one in the back garden and it was my first of the year which was great before we went out today. I photographed it tonight which I tweeted on Dans_Pictures.

We arrived at Martin Down in a shower and walked along the hedge line at the Sillens Lane car park to try and see if we could see a Lesser Whitethroat a bird this a great place for we saw them here the last two years as they had been reported. It was nice to see lots of speedwell flowers along this path and all the way on the way a great afternoon for flowers they really were there in such abundance. I took the first picture in this photoset of one which I was pleased with.

I had a list of eight butterfly species I wanted to look for which we needed to see for the first time this year today. In the rain we knew it would be difficult but as the sun emerged after the shower finished it was pretty warm and the grass came to life. Lots of flies and little insects were suddenly on the wing which altered me to look for butterflies which excited me. Orange Tip, Brimstone and Grizzled and Dingy Skipper emerged and we got some great views of these. The bright brown skippers that we had seen here so well three weeks ago for the first time in 2021 in a boom time for us for seeing butterflies this year were very nice to see some precious moments spent with them today and we saw them in the higher bits the other side on our circular walk too. I managed the second and seventh pictures in this photoset of these. 

Looking into the vast clump of vegetation I was delighted to spot as well as Common Whitethroats which we are having such a good year for the much darker grey plumage of a Lesser Whitethroat. It was just the one very quickly but it was amazing to get a binocular view of it. I was so thrilled to see this bird with the browner backed Common Whitethroat there always good to see but nice for comparison too. This was such a fantastic bird to see, only my fourth ever sighting of one and I am happy that the rich and wild Martin Down has become a place we have a great regular chance to see them year on year. It was such a precious and valuable bird to see again one of my birds of the year. It takes my bird year list to 154 which I am so thrilled with. A top sighting today. Walking on and we got another quick sighting of a bright warm coloured butterfly and as it settled in the grass I was very pleased to see it was my first Small Copper of the year, one I had been focusing my attentions on trying to see at Lakeside and elsewhere a lot lately so it was really good to see it. I have gone a whole year without seeing these butterflies before so this quick sighting too was a relief. I took the third, fourth and fifth pictures in this photoset of a nice bush, dandelions and cowslips as we walked on.

As we got to the higher areas before going into another and heavier shower it was nice to see some Skylarks and alongside the skippers, and a great little beetle which I’ve been able to have identified thanks to kind Twitter friends and a useful guide is Cantharis rustica soldier beetle we did think it was a soldier beetle when we saw it. I took the sixth picture in this photoset of it. I don’t recall seeing one before a tenth addition to my list of beetles seen in my life and second this month. I saw one or two snails out in the weather here as well. I also heard a very welcome Cuckoo a fifth place I’ve heard them on my 10 year anniversary year of seeing them now. And special every time. I was also surprised but happy in the shower to see a Common Blue butterfly fly across the path and into the grass. My first of the year of this too and for a second spring running I saw my first not in the sunshine. Always a good one to see to let you know the year has really entered the peak spring days for butterflies. I saw a new flower for me which I took the eighth picture in this photoset of the kidney vetch too. 

Skylarks and now bright male Stonechats were entertaining us as the shower cleared and then the sun emerged again. We got some cracking views of a Skylark flying right over head which I took the ninth picture in this photoset of a really close and great view and we saw a fair few more going down the path in the sun and three together with two having a bit of an aerial battle which was interesting I’d not seen that before. We heard their most beautiful of songs so loudly too and I was so in aw of just listening to and taking in that beauty that wall of sound you so often get here. As I am increasingly doing this year I took a voice recording on my phone to remember this beautiful sound by. 

Walking along the path close to bordering farmer’s fields alongside the thick vegetation going back to the car park where the greater stitchwort carpeted it we saw a dainty butterfly flitting in the vegetation. It landed for ages and we saw it was a lovely Small Blue butterfly another key target today it was a special view again I enjoyed seeing it. I took the record shot in the tenth and final picture in this photoset today. A key butterfly for that mid-late spring period and such a strong one for here again it was my first of the year taking my butterfly year list to 19 which grows very well. I feel we have done well lately for sneaking butterfly sightings into weekends that are have had showery days so it’s quite efficient to build up my butterfly year list to a nice place despite the changeable weather. We saw a Holly Blue well a bit further along after not seeing them for a while marking eight butterfly species seen toddy which I am happy with especially for a changeable weather day as they can depend on the sun. On the way back to the car it was really good to see a Yellowhammer so well with great bright colours and see Buzzard, Fallow Deer really well and donkey on the way home via the New Forest. A very good Saturday for me, I hope you all had a good one.

Wildlife Sightings Summary: My first Lesser Whitethroat of the year, my first Small Copper, Common Blue and Small Blue of the year, one of my favourite butterflies the Orange Tip, Holly Blue, Brimstone, Grizzled Skipper, Dingy Skipper, Yellowhammer, Skylark, Whitethroat, Stonechat, Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Rook well here again, Raven, Cantharis rustica solider beetle and other insects.,

[btsslowburnfic]

Chthonic Love Ch. 17

Series Summary: A Greek Mythology AU featuring Yoongi/Suga as Hades and reader as Persephone. Olympian ruler Namjoon has delivered you, Persephone, as a gift for his brother, lord of Death, Yoongi Chapter Summary: Receiving Master Taehyung

Previous Chapter here As Yoongi walked back from the final reaping of the day he remembered that Taehyung was coming tomorrow. He groaned. He was glad to have the legal counsel but the past few days had been so intense he did not feel ready to receive him. Oh well. Time never stopped moving, even in the Underworld. Upon entering the castle, the King immediately traveled down to the Old Throne room. The dirt had permeated at this point and several spiderlings and their bigger siblings were scattered about, clicking and clacking. He almost thought it was cute. He shook the thought from his head. He did not find things cute. 

“Arachne,” He called out into the dimly lit area. He waited a moment or so.

“Yes my Lord?” She appeared from the passage to the catacombs. “What may we do for you?”

“It is short notice, but would you be able to create something more formal for Persephone and I? We are receiving a guest tomorrow.”

“Oh yesssssssss. I have been wanting to create something fancier for soooooooooooo long. The Lady is so kind, you see? Do you see what she created? It is perfect and she created it from nothing.”

Yoongi pursed his lips and looked around once more, “Indeed. She is a woman of many talents. I expect them to be ready in the morning. Lethe will be by to pick them up.”

“Yessss my Lord. We will have them ready.”

“Oh. And Gloves. Gloves for Persephone,” Yoongi added as an afterthought. Your hands would likely still be injured tomorrow.  

“Yessssssss my Lord.” Arachne bowed and turned around to the catacombs.

With that settled, Yoongi headed to his bedchamber. He rarely spent any time here, preferring his office. It was a sprawling room that consisted of the actual bedroom, a sitting area, and a large dressing room. The dressing room always made him laugh. He always wore the same thing, and it was barely full at all. He walked over to the back corner. Glistening under the purple light of the sconces were the few Treasures of the Realm. There were a few crowns, circlets, unmounted jewels, and his mother’s broad collar. When the three brothers divided up the realms, Namjoon and Jin took most of the shiny glittery things. Yoongi didn’t care. In general he preferred the more simple silver jewelry from their parent’s collection. But his mother's broad collar was one of the few pieces he cared about. He had to act as though he didn’t when they were dividing the treasury or else Namjoon would have taken it for spite.

He picked it up, feeling it’s weight in his hands. It hadn’t been worn in centuries. He smiled, briefly remembering the few good memories he had from earlier in his life.  The large silver chains were encrusted with amethyst and obsidian. He imagined what it would look like on Persephone and felt a dull ache in his chest. What was that? He sat the piece down and shook his head. He picked a small crown for himself to wear tomorrow for receiving Taehyung. He looked through the drawers and picked out a few circlets and coronets for you to choose from. He was certain you probably had some of your own back at the spring court, but you didn’t have time to pack when you were kidnapped, did you? 

He felt himself growing angry with Namjoon once more. How dare he think he could just take you from your home and drop you off somewhere. It must have been terrifying for you to wake up in a strange place, not knowing how you got there or why. He felt his hands clenched into fists. Yes. Taehyung would be able to sort through this mess, he reassured himself. With that, Yoongi put the items on the table in the living area and headed out to his office.

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You honestly didn’t realize how dirty and tired you were until you slowly eased your body into the hot bathtub. You manifested a few small flowers which made you feel prettier as the dirt chunks and sand washed off into the water. You sighed and breathed in the hot steam. Some days flew by, while others felt like years. This day had been the latter. You let your mind drift to all sorts of things: what could be on the other side of the mountain, how were the spiderlings doing, why did Penthos hate you, your kiss with Yoongi. Your kiss with Yoongi. You felt a blush cross your cheeks and lowered further into the water. Yep. That had happened.

Neither of you had a chance to talk about it, you know, with the impending structural collapse and such. But now, alone without the threat of being maimed, you allowed your mind to wander back. He had definitely kissed you back. Several times. Ughhhh….you felt slightly embarrassed but didn’t know why. What did that mean for you going home? Did you even want to go home? That was the question you kept facing throughout each day. Yoongi had asked earlier if you missed it. And you did miss parts of it: the sunshine, the wildlife, the plants. But as far as companionship, you preferred your stronger bond with Yoongi and Lethe over the ephemeral relationships with the other Gods and Goddesses of the Mortal realm. 

You heard a knock at the door, “Yes?”

The door opened and you heard Lethe on the other side of the changing screen. “Will you need fresh water m’lady? You seemed...rather…”

“You can just say it, really really disgusting and dirty.” You laughed.

“Well….Yes. You had dirt in your hair and Lord knows where else. It was like a cloud of dust surrounding you. I started soaking your dress and the wash water turned brown.” She mused.

“Yes, I suppose new water would be preferred. Let me get out.” You slowly stood up, looking down at the now dark yellow water. Ew.

You wrapped a towel around your body and sat on a nearby stool. “Alright, I’m ready.”

“Excellent,” Lethe walked around the changing screen and began to drain the tub. “I can’t believe we have a nest of spiders living in the old throne room.” She chuckled.

“The Underworld keeps getting stranger, huh?” You commented. Another woman who you had seen around the palace entered with fresh buckets of water for the bath.

“Thank you.” 

She poured them in and left to get more. 

“Even though the staff doesn't talk much, on account of them being dead, they do appreciate your kindness.” Lethe said as she stirred the water with her hand to check the temperature. “And your leadership earlier. Even though a cave-in wouldn’t physically harm us, many are worried about it restarting their after-life penance if something were to happen to the palace or Lord Yoongi. So thank you.”

“Of course,” You responded, flicking some flowers into the bathtub once again.

“You’re not supposed to use your powers,” she scolded lightly.

“Making tiny flowers is like lifting a teacup for me. See?” you held up your wounded hand, “No harm done.”

Lethe let out a sigh as another girl brought in more buckets. “Pour them both and bring one cold bucket to help me settle the temperature.” 

“Penthos is leaving tomorrow morning.”

“Oh? You ran him off that easily?” Lethe said jokingly.

“No. He’s going to see if he can figure out the cause of the cave in. Maybe we can redecorate the Great Hall while he’s gone and really mess with him.” You said half-joking.

“You mean you don’t like obsidian with a touch of obsidian complemented by obsidian?” The two of you laughed.

Once the bath water was refilled with clean water you eased yourself back in. The water didn’t change color this time, which pleased you.

“Alright, I’ll prepare some food for you. If you need anything else, you know where to find me. Taehyung arrives tomorrow so I will come early to get you ready.”

Crap. You had totally forgotten all about that.

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The next morning you were surprised to find several new items laid out for you: two dresses, a pair of gloves, and ceremonial jewelry. Lethe walked in as though she could sense your stirring. She carried a tray of what you assumed was breakfast tea.

“What’s all that?” You gestured, not fully awake yet.

“You are receiving Master Taehyung today as a representative of this court. Therefore Lord Yoongi wishes you to look the part. Don’t worry though, he didn’t order any shoes.” She shot you a light hearted glance.

You crawled down to the end of the bed and further inspected the items. 

“These are too nice. I can’t wear these. I’ll look like I’m playing dress up.”

Lethe clicked her tongue, “Nonsense. You are a lady and these were made for you. Actually literally made for you by Arachne.”

You breathed out, feeling the luxurious material in your hand. “We’ll see.”

You sat down and drank your tea while Lethe began to style your hair. Once that was done you slipped on the dress and gloves. You stood in front of the circlets. 

“Really? Lord Yoongi just has extra crowns laying around?” You asked, gently patting your dress.

Lethe chuckled, “It’s easy to forget that he’s a King sometimes isn’t it? But yes. There was quite an array picked out, I chose these three for you to choose from.”

You blushed at the thought of Yoongi carefully selecting jewelry for you to wear; it seemed so intimate. 

“Alright, this one.” You chose a circlet resembling holly garland. 

“I thought that might be the winner. Here,” She walked over and you bent your head down slightly for her to place it on your head. She stood in front of you, moving some hair tresses so they laid nicely around it.  “There. Befitting of the Lady of the Underworld.”

You smiled, somewhat sadly to your surprise, “I’m not the Lady of the Underworld.”

Lethe turned the mirror around to face you, “Well you are for today.”

You gazed at yourself in the mirror. Pleasantly surprised by what you saw. The gown was dark purple with sheer capped sleeves. The top revealed your collarbones and not much else. It was light and airy, a nice contrast to the dark color of the dress. The gloves were black and you were sure were meant to hide your injuries. Yoongi is so thoughtful, you found yourself reflecting. Everything you had been given so far had been because of him. You looked in the mirror. You did feel like you were playing dress up. Dress up as someone who had it together. Pretend Lady of the Underworld. Who were you anymore? You wondered. You decided, at least for today it didn’t matter. You felt pretty. You liked Yoongi. That’s what mattered to you right now. “Alright. Now what?”

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Yoongi waited at the edge of the Stygian shore. He had traded his normal simple cloak and tunic for a black suit and jacket as well as one of his more simple crowns. He hadn’t worn anything so ceremonial in centuries. There was no reason to. Namjoon was the only one who ever stopped by and he was always unannounced and there was no way he was trying to impress him. He shook his sleeves while he waited for the boat. He had seen Penthos off that morning. While he also didn’t like the idea of leaving the castle less guarded, he couldn’t continue to have the crumbling catacomb remain a mystery.

The breeze blew, drawing Yoongi’s attention. Yoongi looked over to the right. What was that? He walked closer. A palm tree? He raised his eyebrow puzzled and looked around as though he could account for its appearance. The tree was small and not brown and green like a traditional palm tree. It’s trunk was black, and it’s fronds were silver. Huh. Yoongi poked at it. The tree remained. A breeze ruffled it’s fronds as they swayed gently. He smiled but didn’t have more time to reflect on the tree’s arrival as he saw the ship on the horizon. The reaping was already done for the morning which meant this would be Taehyung. Yoongi walked over to the Estuary to guide the ship in. Once it had docked, he approached and held out his hand.

“Taehyung. It’s good to see you. It’s been ages.” Yoongi said as he took a few steps back to make room for the other man.

“My Lord,” Taehyung bowed. “It’s my pleasure to serve.”

“Come.” Yoongi turned and headed to the castle. He didn’t have the opportunity to see you before the reaping and had hoped you found the clothing satisfactory. He led Tahyung through the Great Hall. “I apologize for the lack of festivities. You know how dead it is around here.”

Taehyung laughed, “Indeed. This is a nice change of pace from the Plane of Judgment though.”

Yoongi opened the doors to the throne room where you were waiting. Lethe was off to the side.

“Taehyung, may I present to you Lady Persephone, Goddess of Spring,” he said while looking at Taehyung, he then turned and really got to look at you for the first time. His breath caught in his throat. You looked beautiful. And you looked like you were made to sit on that throne. 

You stood up and smoothed your dress. You walked down from the dais, closing the space between yourself and the two men.  “Master Taehyung, thank you for visiting the Obsidian Palace.”

“It is my pleasure Lady Persephone.” He bowed.

You studied Taehyung. His skin was darker than Yoongi’s and his eyes were a light brown. Running along his neck and up onto his face were black lines that formed a small spiderweb along his right jaw. It was striking and beautiful.

“I hear we have this rare opportunity to have you at our disposal for today, so may I suggest we adjourn to the library?” You asked, surprising even yourself with the air of confidence in your voice.

Yoongi was staring at you. You almost thought you had done something wrong until he finally spoke. “Indeed,” Yoongi added. You sounded so sexy to him at that exact moment. He had found himself with a loss of words. He didn’t know where these sudden intense feelings were coming from. Yoongi offered you his arm and you glided over to him. He made very brief eye contact with you before looking away, “Let’s go to the library.”

Lethe almost felt her jaw drop. She felt like she was watching a romance novel come to life. It was as though the peerage had forgotten she was in the room. Indeed for several seconds it seemed to here like only Yoongi and you saw each other. Yes. This was going splendidly, she thought. 

The three of you arrived at the library a few minutes later, with several of the staff poking their heads out while trying to appear unassuming. The palace never got visitors other than the King’s  brother, who they all knew to avoid unless they wanted to be turned into a goat or a tree.

A servant opened the doors for the three of you and you wandered over to the table. After you got ready you had come by and organized the texts you found and added some parchment and ink to the table as well. Yoongi looked over the table, impressed that you had taken the initiative. He made a memo to thank you later. “As you can see, Lady Persephone and I have gathered what we can on the matter. But without the original contract, it remains difficult.”

Tae took a seat and laid his satchel on the table. “Yes, that would make it hard to undo a contract if you don’t know the full terms. Luckily for the two of you. Or maybe not. All contracts that are legally entered and executed are recorded into the Hall of Records. And here,” Tae pulled out a parchment, “is the contract.” NEXT CHAPTER