#i’m extra sick in the head today lads

[heart-of-the-morningstar]

I want this man to hump me like a dog in heat send tweet

[kimthwariru]

Namjoon reaction—calling him a ‘friend’ when he clearly has a thing for you

❀genre: smut, a bit of fluff

❀collage au

(This was originally supposed to be a quick reaction but something happened to me and I couldn’t stop writing)

“Look, Jisoo, I’d agree with you, but then we’d both be wrong” you flash a cheeky smile at your best friend. She’s being going on and on about how this Kim Namjoon guy had a thing for you.

You can’t lie, you’ve seen him around in campus and sometimes you’d wish he would suffocate you with these thighs of his. Ugh. The perfect combo, lean yet masculine physique with a brain that actually functions for a change. You’ve seen the way these collage girls were circling him around and you can’t blame them, the guy was a catch.

But he was not your crowd of people. He was outgoing, social and had loads of what you like to call “the lad friends”. You guessed his main activities were partying and getting shitfaced every night.

You’ve talked to him a couple of times. He uses the same bench as you to read now and then. You would eventually take sneak peeks at the books he was reading, check if he had any taste or not, and the result was always better than what you expected. This guy knew books. He was not just reading what was on the best seller’s that week to look sophisticated in front of others.

When he caught you peaking he’d started having small talk with you. You swear you’ve never experienced a better conversation flow with another human being. This guy screamed comfort. He seemed genuinely curious about the things you were saying. None of that painful act of pretending to be interested just because he wanted to get laid. You had been talking with him for a month straight and aside from a few moments of some what flirty looks his actions never suggested something more.

His aura was welcoming and he always paid attention to the little things. Unlike some other shallow guys out there, he felt…different.

But how different could he really be? You’ve seen the people he hangs out with. Kim Taehyung? He had a relationship with three girls at the same time. Didn’t even apologize for being the biggest jerk in history. You’ve heard Jung Hoseok’s body count was reaching a 3 digit number AND Jeon Jungkook once fucked 4 different girls at the same night.

Just thinking about it makes you sick. It pains you to admit but there’s only one truth to this. Even if Kim Namjoon was interesting, he was definitely a person you needed to stay away from. All the data point to a big fuckboy alert!

“Come on y/n…. If he wasn’t even in the slightest interested in you then why did he tell me explicitly that he wanted you to attend the party??”

“An invitation to a party doesn’t mean anything. Besides, I’m sure I’m not his style. Have you seen the type of girls he hangs out with? Yikes.”

Jisoo smirked at you “Oh, I see you’re stalking him now?”

You shake your head “Don’t be ridiculous! We take Econ together, that’s all. What? Am I supposed to cover my eyes every time I see him?”

“Maybe you should” Jisoo came closer to you “Y/n, we’re going to that party”

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

“This is a big mistake, I’ll get bored within the hour” You scream at Jisoo over the loud music.

“Don’t be a whiney ass and enjoy yourself for once” she handed you a drink.

Enjoy yourself for once. You and Jisoo’s definition of enjoying one self were clearly very different. You scan the room to look for any familiar faces you could talk to. Unfortunately, not a lot of your acquaintances attended frat parties.

Your head motion immediately pauses when you meet eyes with Namjoon across the garden. Was he looking at you this whole time? You feel your cheeks burn.

Initially, you don’t know how to react but eventually you flash him a small smile and focus back on Jisoo

“Kim Namjoon just gave me the biggest stare of all time” you say as you down your drink

“What!?” Jisoo’s eyes widened “This is the time where I say I told you so.”

You think for a second that maybe Jisoo was right all along. But that just makes the whole thing more dangerous for you. You can’t lie, Namjoon is attractive, but you knew he was trouble. Maybe he liked you today and then liked another girl tomorrow.

Suddenly, you feel a hand touch your shoulder “Hey y/n, Jisoo. Glad you guys made it” Namjoon’s low voice pierced your ears.

Jisoo gave you a look before replying to him “Hey!! We couldn’t miss such a night!” She smiled “right y/n??”

“Yeah!! Totally” you cheer kind of awkwardly.

Namjoon’s eyes fixed on you. You felt his stare eat you up. His whole presence felt angelic yet overwhelming. “Do you guys maybe want to join us? We’re sitting right by the pool”

“Oh! Sure, why not!” Jisoo answered almost immediately

You were walking towards the pool, Namjoon was pacing right next to you, he was so close to the point where you could sort of smell his cologne. You swear you could get drunk off his scent.

“I have to be honest, I didn’t think you’d actually come” He chuckled

“Are you disappointed?” You teased and raised an eyebrow.

You see a dimple smile making its appearance, how can this dude be so incredibly hot and cute at the same time? “I think pleasantly surprised would be the right way to put it”

Why do you feel like you can not breath? He hasn’t said much, yet you feel yourself burn up all of a sudden. “Good to know” you smile back.

“Joon! You have to see this” was the first thing Taehyung yelled when you arrived to the place where the guys were sitting “12 o’clock, Hobi making out with Mina from 3rd year. Can you believe it? After two years of trying to get it, he finally succeeds”

Of course the main talk is girls. No surprise there.

“Jungkook bitch, you owe me 20 bucks” Taehyung eyed Jungkook

Your expression screamed disgust. Apparently, Namjoon noticed “They are not as bad as they seem” he elbowed you.

You give him and awkward laugh “I’ll take your word for it” You lie.

“Guys, this is Jisoo and y/n. Can you stop trying to head lock each other and say hello? You’re embarrassing me” Namjoon introduced the pair of you to the boys who were still arguing about the bet. 

“Oh, hey girls.” Taehyung paused to inspect Jisoo’s face. “Hey, business and shipping? Ain’t it?”

“Oh, yeah, right!” Jisoo smiled

“Hyung aren’t you taking that class for like the third time? How many times can you fail you recon?” Jungkook teased him and Taehyung answered by giving him a slap on the shoulder.

“Hey y/n, do you want to go grab a drink? I think you’ll need it if you are to tolerate these guys” Namjoon offered.

“I trust you know best” you smile and quickly follow behind him. His shoulders wide and his muscles very visible even through his airy shirt. This guy was a whole statue.

“By the way, I’ve never seen you at parties before. I think I saw you once at the December ball but that’s about it. Not really a big fan of these kind of things, are you?” He suddenly said. You can’t really decode his words. How did Kim Namjoon know you even went to the December ball? You’re pretty sure you didn’t even talk to him that night.

“Interested in me much?” You give him a cheeky smile but he was just looking at you, a couple of seconds passed without him responding “I’m only joking! It’s true I don’t really attend these sort sort of things.”

“And what do you do for fun miss y/n?” He laughs and you swear if you could bottle the sound and get drunk on it you would.

“Oh you’ll think I’m lame”

“Try me” he said in a serious tone while starring right through your eyes. Suddenly, your body felt too heavy for your legs to bear. How can he get to you like that?

“Okay…” You start, him looking at you like that didn’t help control your train of thought, but you manage to get a hold of yourself “So you know that little corner cafe on willow street? Every Friday they have these comedy music nights. A guy-“

“Park Jihoon and the little funny guitar, yeah! I used to go there every Friday during my freshman years! Do they still do that old thing? I swear the pun with the atom never failed to make my day.” He started laughing again.

“Whoah what? You’re telling me you’ve been to the shrieking shack?” That place was a little treasure you’d found earlier this year. It was an amazingly cozy place, perfect during the cold winter time. The staff were all so kind and wore these big oversized colorful ties. But the people going there were all much older than you. You’ve never heard someone your age talk about that place. Let alone a person like Namjoon.

“Careful how you talk to a veteran y/n. I’ve basically helped to build the place” he chuckled.

“Y/n is that you?” A familiar voice greeted you.

“Jimin! Oh my god, hey! It’s been ages since I’ve seen you!” You hug him.

Jimin was a great soul, he majored in contemporary dance and ballet. He had been traveling for the past couple of years enrolling in some extra ballet classes in the magical city of Paris. You envied him for his talent and admired him for his passion.

“Girl, you have to come visit me. You’ll love Europe!”

“I would also LOVE to have some money in my wallet” you laugh “Oh Jimin, this is my friend, Namjoon. We go to collage together”

Namjoon gave you a look and soon after shook Jimin’s hand “What’s up. Nice to meet you”

“Nice to meet you too! But y/n, I’m so so sorry, I have to go. I was actually on my way out just now. I sort of uhm, have a thing-you know” he coughed “I’m leaving in two weeks, can we please meet before that?”

You knew Jimin was probably off to his ex boyfriends house. They broke up before Jimin left for Paris but every time he got back he’d have a couple of hookups with him. “Oh yeah! I bet you’ve got something very important right now, you better go quickly” you teased him “I’ll text you tomorrow, ok?”

Jimin laughed so much his eyes were barely visible “definitely! text me! I’ll be off then! Bye mister Kim Namjoon” he playfully said and was out of your sight a second later.

“You two seem…close” Namjoon suddenly commented

“Yeah! We were! But he has been studying abroad for like two years now.”

Namjoon’s facial expression was quite enigmatic “Did you guys ever… you know”

“Oh no no no.” You pause to make a small chuckle “Jimin isn’t exactly interested in, well, girls like me, or to be exact, girls in general”

Namjoon’s eyes widened and he immediately bursted into laughter “oh… I see” he made a pause “So tell me then, how come the old soul that never goes to parties finally attends one?”

You feel your cheeks burn red. Partly because the reason you went was him. You don’t know why, but the past month you and Namjoon hit it off very well and you wanted to test Jisoo’s crazy theory, you wanted to make sure for yourself if Namjoon was interested in you or not. Now the problem was, even if it turned out he did like you, you didn’t know what you’d do exactly. Namjoon was a really nice guy, but he didn’t come without his red flags.

“Just wanted to try something different, I guess”

“And how’s that 'different' treating you so far?”

What could you possibly tell him? That you have enjoyed every minute you guys have been talking? That you think that just by staring at you he could make you feel things no other guy could? You barely can admit all of that to yourself. “I think pleasantly surprised is the right way to put it” you repeat his words from before.

You see him smile at that. “You know what y/n? I’m really happy you came”

How can he make your heart beat so fast with just one sentence? “Oh really? And why is that?”

“I don’t know, I guess… I just like talking to you, you know? Whenever I’m around you I feel at ease, like I can tell you anything. I feel different when I’m with you, but in a good way”

“Wow” that sound escaped your lips without your consent

Namjoon laughed “Why? Is it too weird?”

“No! Definitely not weird, more like, I don’t know, surprising?”

“In what way?”

“Well you’re… Kim Namjoon, you’re the 2021 class president and you’re like the most popular guy in the whole campus right now.” You made a pause “And I’m just..-“

“The most interesting girl I’ve ever met” he cuts you off

The way he was looking down at you made butterflies grow in your stomach “You really think so?”

He gently grabbed your waist and pulled you closer to him “I know so” he leaned down, you swear his eyes had the whole galaxy painted inside of them. You couldn’t even breath properly at this point. Kim Namjoon was too close and the only thing you were thinking about was how well his kiss would feel “God, you’re so beautiful” he said and pulled you in for a soft, gentle kiss.

You couldn’t believe your senses. Kim Namjoon was kissing you and you really thought the earth had stopped spinning right then and there. You could feel his big palms traveling up and down your back.

His kiss was breathless, jubilant, filled with the joy of life, and you should stop him, he is no good to you, you know that, but his scent is delightful and his lips are so warm.

Unconsciously, your hands reach the inside of his shirt. His skin hot and soft at the touch.

"y/n" he practically moans your name, and just the sound makes your knees go week "Don't do that, I don't think I'll be able to stop"

"Who said anything about stopping?" You say and go back to kiss him even more passionately this time.

“There’s a lot of people here, my room is upstairs, would you perhaps want to-“

“Yes.” You immediately say. You don’t care about anything anymore, you’d let your future self deal with the consequences of today’s actions. The only thing that has been lingering in your mind is how good he’d feel inside of you.

The moment you’re finally alone in his room, he lifts you up, swinging you around and kissing you. It was like a dream. Namjoon was everything you wanted. Your reluctance about getting with him didn’t matter any more, the tingly feeling in your stomach overtook every single bit of hesitation you had. You needed him.

“God, you’re lovely” he exhaled

He looks at you as he sinks you down on the bed. Planting a soft kiss before his hands quickly begun to peel away clothes, yanking his belt loose, fumbling hurriedly at his trousers.

You look at his lips tracing your skin and the faint moisture left behind, you look at his muscly arms as he lifts you up and sinks you down again, you look at him looking at you, with eyes brighter than the sun itself. Was this all a dream?

When your dress was finally off he undoes your bra clasp on the way down. Slowly planting kisses on your collarbone, the tops of your breasts, your sternum, and you arched you back as you were needy for more.

His lips finally reach your nipples .Your boobs smooth under his hands, your nipple firm under his tongue, and there, that makes you squirm again, a little more insistently this time.

“Fuck, I’m so fucking wet right now, I feel it” You moan

You see him raise an eyebrow. A vivid smirk painted on his face “Let’s check, shall we?”

He splays his hand low across your belly, and the first brush of his thumb over your clit makes you breathe in sharply and him forget to breathe at all.

“I’m your friend?” He breaths in, his voice dangerously low

“Oh come on” You manage to say in between moans “what was I supposed to tell Jimin?”

His strokes and flicks are light and teasing, his thumb carefully circling around your clit. He gives you a slow, constant, unyielding pressure that makes your breath come up short, makes your toes curl in the effort not to move.

“I’m gonna fuck the word ‘friend’ right out of your pretty little mouth” he covers your mouth with an intense kiss before slipping two fingers of his free hand inside of you, and you makes a noise like triumph and want all wrapped up together. If his fingers felt like this, you can’t imagine how his dick felt like.

“Hmm?” He doesn’t look up, he keeps his eyes on his hands, on you, spread out beneath him “You like that baby?”

God, just the way the word 'baby' sounded coming from his mouth could make you come right this second. You look at him, his eyes look as hungry as his voice sounded. This dude was out of this world.

“Please Namjoon, I want it, I want you inside of me right now”

Namjoon lowered his underwear, and simply pressed his hard member on your slit. You could feel his balls softly caressing your clit as he made subtle movements while kissing you. “Such a needy little thing” he teases “Tell me how bad you want my cock inside of you”

“Oh..” you moan “I’d do anything, please…give it to me… fuck me like you own me” you whined as you used your pussy to caress his length up and down. He seemed to enjoy they way you touched him.

“Fuck y/n… that feels so good” he rests his forehead on yours.

“Imagine what my inside will feel then” you whisper in his ear “I’m such a tight good girl” you move your mouth in front of his, bitting his bottom lip as he growled when he felt your movement grow faster

“Fucking hell” he immobilized your body with his hands and pressed you down to the bed. He immediately shoves his dick inside you, filing you up to the brim before staying there for a couple of seconds and then pulling out completely. That movement made your vagina crave to be filled all the way up again.

“More” you whine, a dopey expression all over your face. You were so needy of him, but you didn’t care.

He lowered his left hand towards your thigh and gave it a big squeeze, kissing you aggressively while doing so. He quickly braced himself back into you, you felt your walls completely wrap around his member. It felt magical.

His strokes long and steady in the beginning. Every time he went in and out completely you felt the pit of your stomach burn in pleasure. Namjoon was doing everything right, you can’t lie to yourself, this is the best sex you’ve ever had. Normally with other guys you don’t even come close to coming, but now, you feel yourself trying not to do so.

“You like my dick being inside of you baby?” He plants a small kiss on your neck and goosebumps run down your spine.

‘Like’ was nowhere near good enough of a word to explain how much the sensation of him thrusting his hard member in and out of you made you feel. “I love it Namjoon… I just love it…”

Your words must’ve turned Namjoon even more on, because his pace immediately started becoming faster and sloppier. Every time your skin touched a loud sound could be heard. Namjoon was thrusting deeper and deeper into you, and every time he’d fill you up completely you’d cry out his name.

“Ah, I like my name so much better when you fucking moan it like that” he says and started shoving his dick inside of you like crazy. You could tell he was close to coming, and so were you.

It wasn’t long until you felt your walls clenching and your toes curling. The sensation overtook all of your body, it was mad… your heart beat uncontrollable. Namjoon made you feel a completely new range of emotions.

“Ah y/n, I can feel you cumming all over my dick” his voice cracky, You could see how turned on he was by all of this, by you. “Fuck” he shoved harder “You’re so” harder “fucking hot”

Namjoon stopped and pulled out immediately spreading his cum all over your tummy. The sight was breathtaking, you’ve never found a man so attractive while coming before, but then, Namjoon is no ordinary man.

He quickly grabs a couple of tissues and wipes you clean before laying on top of you again, placing another soft kiss this time. His hand playing with your hair. You were both naked and sweaty and a mess but it felt so magical. You wrapped your hands around his broad shoulders, pulling him even closer to you. You didn’t want even a centimeter of distance between you and him.

He suddenly stopped kissing you and simply stared at your eyes. After a minute or two, or maybe three, you're not really sure, time didn't exist right now, he tacked a string of hair behind your left ear.

“Y/n, let me take you on a date. Please. I know you don’t normally go out with guys like me, but I swear I’ll make it worth your while-“

“Park Jihoon and the little funny guitar. How does that sound? Or are you too good for the shrieking shack now?” You chuckled

“I’d love that” he smiled, making your heart melt a little.

[svchengss]

king of hearts | d.sc

PAIRING. dong sicheng x reader

GENRE. high school!au, fluff, slight angst, kind of e2l

WARNINGS. none (lmk if i missed any!)

WORD COUNT. 6.7k

SUMMARY. sicheng’s subtle flirts are not working effectively but it only motivates him to try and woo you more. the devil sure works hard but dong sicheng works harder.

PLAYLIST. king of hearts

TAGLIST. @floraljae @clovdless @mashiihearts @ndr1271 @kunrengui (shoutout to mashi for being a major help in the process of writing this <3)

// just to let you guys know, reblogs and feedbacks are appreciated !! thank you for reading :D

music was blaring through the multiple loudspeakers scattered around the school grounds, booths of various interests that were set-up by the clubs being swarmed by visitors and ecstatic oohs and aahs from the ones playing games can be heard intermittently. the annual school festival of redlands high, an event that is looked forward to by every single student there. or maybe not, you’re quite unsure of the self-made data.

you immediately made a beeline to the dance club booth which is managed by yangyang, the president also holding the title of your best friend. a cartoonish grin crept up on his face when he spots you walking towards him.

“so, what do you think? looks legit, huh?” he crossed his arms together, observing the design of the booth with a proud smile. the set-up is definitely eye-catching, not much decorations going on, adding to the simplicity of the white theme with gold touch-ups. you browsed through the plastered posters on the board, inviting people to sign up for their upcoming audition. looking up to the signboard hanging outside, you showed a thumbs up towards him, muttering a quick ‘perfect’.

“so what exactly is your booth doing? there’s not much… activity going on?” you scratched the non-existent itch on your left eyebrow. the boy in front of you gave you an eye roll before explaining that there will be mini dance games - or just dance as he worded. an amused sound left your lips as you bent down, dropping your signature in the guestbook on the wooden table.

“are you coming to the stage shows tonight? i heard there’s a new band performing,” your ears perked up instinctively upon hearing the words. after your sister graduated high school, nobody paid any attention to keep the band going. the zikas, a trio that made the music club strive back then. either the newer batches were too lazy to make an effort or too scared if they weren’t up to the already high standards of the school.

“i’m going if you’re going,” you simply stated, which made yangyang flash you the same grin from before. you said your simple goodbyes when people started lining up to try the just dance game at his booth. after he reminded you to wait for him by the statue, you went off to check out the food sales, eager to fill your growling stomach since this morning.

you can do this, sicheng. you can do this.

he made sure to double check the tuning of his guitar for one last time before joining the rest of his bandmates on the stage. his tall and slim physique surely left an impact, seeing that some of the audience suddenly became more invested in the performance compared to the others. he’s wearing some band’s shirt - probably green day since it’s quite similar to your sister’s posters in her room, black leather jacket and his black hair middle parted. not to miss the silver pendant necklace on his neck, sparkling under the spotlight.

the moment he struck the pick through the strings of his electric guitar, the drummer and bassist followed after, producing a melody that is pleasing to your ears. he held the microphone closer to his mouth, singing the lyrics as you bobbed your head up and down to the covers they sang - american idiot and helena are the ones you recognized since you’ve heard the songs so often. yangyang on the other hand kept on sipping the chocolate milkshake in his hand, vibing with the music as well.

the next song was a sentimental one which you assumed is a self-composed one, since you’ve never heard this song before. before you know it, the performance is over and the audience have started packing up their belongings to hang out somewhere else or go home.

“good job everyone, we did well,” yuta, who played the bass earlier, high-fived the rest of the band with a sly grin on his face. guanheng chugged the mineral water down his throat before stashing his drumsticks into the bag while sicheng was lost in his thoughts. he doesn’t know why but you stood out from the crowd, only able to see you just now. he wouldn’t say it’s a crush, not knowing anything about you but it definitely made him feel something. a trigger in his heart, not knowing where it leads to. but what he does know is that you caught his attention.

“and you know what he said? i’ll come back crawling to him just like his other exes. what the heck is even that?” you took out the binders from your locker while listening to ningning rant about her love life. since you haven’t had any relationships before, you’re not really a professional in this aspect of life so you just kept your mouth shut to avoid giving useless advice.

“that sounds so rude, he’s such a jerk,” you commented, taking the first bite of your sandwich afterwards. the tea-spilling session eventually came to an end when she reached her class first and you kept walking to mrs. walker’s, english being your first period. nothing exciting really happened in that class except someone got their phone confiscated for texting in class - just the usual things. classes later, it’s finally recess when you met up with ningning and yangyang in the cafeteria.

“first of all, cut him off. block him. everywhere,” yangyang emphasized the last word, knowing how much of an idiot the guy can be. you just scrolled through your socials, double tapping on certain posts that caught your eye. owning a cat looks fun, you made a mental note to bring the idea to your parents later. the bell rang which signals that classes are starting back soon and the same cycle of events continues before it’s time to go home.

you observed yangyang’s sharp moves, following to the beat of the song echoing in the dance room. it’s currently half past seven and he’s still here, beads of sweat running through his hair. and why would he stay in school so late, you may ask? obviously, he’s here for a reason and it being an upcoming dance tournament is the most accurate one. while you’re here, sitting on the floor, back against the mirror and legs straightened out with your phone in your hand. it amazes you how the goofy boy transforms 360°, being all serious when he’s in his element.

“let’s go home, i’m tired already,” he panted out breathlessly, using a cloth nearby to wipe his sweaty forehead. you wait for him by the glass door as he packs up his things when the lights in the music studio also switched off. you wondered it must be the band guys so you paid no attention whatsoever. of course, your predictions were right when you saw two lads stepping out.

since yangyang is taking too much time tidying up the dance studio and the music studio seems unoccupied, you decided to check it out for a bit. it’s been a long time since you last entered the room, always accompanying your sister for her extra practice when you were younger. not much has changed, except some additions of instruments can be seen. not seeing anything in the dark condition as the room is only illuminated by the faint lights from the hallway, you pushed the switches down only to be met by a gasp.

“what are you doing here?” the tall boy approached you, a stern look visible on his fine features. your eyes scrambled around the room in an attempt to find any logical excuses for your ‘break-in’ but to no avail. your tongue was dry, not a sound escaping your throat when you heard yangyang’s voice, signalling your cue to exit the room and escape from the tension building between you and the boy. he just shook his head, the black hair bouncing left to right as he finally caught on.

it’s you, you’re the girl from the crowd. and your name is y/n.

the walk home was filled with one-sided conversations where yangyang kept on babbling about how he should improve the choreography he created earlier while you only added small comments. your mind is filled with embarrassment, too much that you feel slightly mad at yourself. why didn’t you say anything earlier? now, you look like a complete idiot with communication issues in front of that boy.

“yeah, and remember that pasta? we should definitely try it again, it’s like, so good,” yangyang said, earning a nod from you when you saw the boy from last night’s music studio tragedy approaching your table. you tried to look away but it was too late.

“dude, just wanna let you know that mr. park is seeing us after school,” your grip on your fork loosens up when you realized he wasn’t talking to you. maybe he forgot about the incident? you really hope so.

“yeah, totally. thanks sicheng,” yangyang playfully winked at the latter, earning a disgusted look from him who started walking away. he glanced back at you with a smug smile on his plump lips, making you freeze up again.

he didn’t.

“are you okay, y/n? feeling sick?” ningning furrowed her eyebrows upon seeing your sudden change of demeanor. you shrugged her off and continued to consume the macaroni placed on the tray in front of you, mentally cursing at yourself for the poor life choice you’d made. well, at least you know that his name is sicheng, right?

oh boy, you’re in for a long ride.

you can’t wait to go home and snuggle under the covers, today has been a long and tiring one for you. you had three pop quizzes as if all the three teachers intended so, your class had to run multiple laps during p.e. and so on. you’re already planning your routine in your head, trudging your way to the lockers when you saw him leaning against yours, scrolling down his phone.

“crap,” you muttered under your breath.

there it is, the smirk on his face returns when he spots your figure approaching. oh, how you wish you could wipe it off his face. he moved a couple steps backwards to give you some space to arrange your things before locking it, turning your head towards him.

“i’m sorry, why are you here again? and if it’s because of last night, then i’m sorry if it bothered you or anything,” you huffed out.

“what? i didn’t really care, it’s not like you were stealing anything, right?” he squinted his eyes, eyeing you up and down suspiciously, laughing shortly after seeing you get riled up.

“damn, you really need to learn how to take a joke. y/n, right? i’m sicheng, nice to meet you.”

“why exactly are we having this meet-and-greet or whatever this introduction is?” you crossed your arms, waiting for his response. but he didn’t, immediately turning on his heels and making his way towards the stairs, probably going to the studio.

“jerk,” you cursed under your breath, walking out the school building.

“what? you got accepted? seriously?” ningning’s voice echoed against the cafeteria walls, earning surprised and annoyed glances from other students who were either satisfying their grumbling stomach or simply having conversations. yangyang softly nudged her elbows using his, asking her to lower her voice down before telling you to go on. you were quite surprised as well, the acceptance email was not what you expected to receive. when you filled in the application form, it was just a mere shoot-your-shot agenda to see if you’d make the cut. although this is just a camp, you’re still unsure of what lies ahead.

“yeah, it starts next week. but i’m so nervous though,” you sipped the iced coffee in your hands. you’ve only watched videos of people producing their own music from scratch which you start to take an interest in. however, you’ve never done it hands-on before, only having basic music theory knowledge thanks to the piano lessons your parents signed you up for when you were young.

“you’ll do awesome, i promise,” yangyang gave you a reassuring smile, making you release some tension from the overthinking you’ve had since you received the email last night.

“thanks yang.”

now, here you are on the first day of attending the internship camp. you stood in front of the tall mirror hanging on the wall, straightening your cardigan and applying some makeup onto your face as touch-ups. it’s currently 7:40 in the morning, the earliest time you’ve ever woken up on a saturday. your siblings are still swallowed in their states of sleep. you double-checked the contents in your tote bag, making sure that no important things are left behind. you totally don’t intend on leaving a bad first impression on your first day.

after bidding a swift goodbye to your parents who just woke up, you drove your mother’s old honda to the completely new destination - mbyte studios. the tall building with light grey and blue painted walls definitely made it stand out, a futuristic look catching the eyes of the passersby. taking a deep breath, you entered the main lobby before being escorted to a room on the second floor. you assume it’s a waiting room for all participants of the camp, scanning that majority of the occupiers might be college students. you thanked god that the camp takes place on weekends so your high school senior life won’t be interrupted that much.

DAY 1

your eyes widened when you spot sicheng with the same white and blue tag you’re wearing, seated on the sofa. what the hell is he doing here? you avoided acknowledging his presence, trying to make yourself as unnoticed as possible heading over to occupy the seat farthest from his. after quite some time staring at the paintings hanging on the wall, a middle-aged lady with a petite figure entered the room, making you sit up straight.

“welcome to mbyte studios! i’m the assistant director, mrs. hwang. first and foremost, congratulations on being accepted. it’ a pleasure to witness the start of your musical journey embarking here. i believe that we should know each other first?” she gestured for any volunteers. sicheng stood up from his seat, charisma evident in his stance which left quite an impression on the others. the strong confidence in the way he speaks made the woman smile amusingly.

some names later, it was your turn to introduce yourself. the moment you stood up, he immediately recognized you and you were sure you caught him making some faces. the ice-breaking session went well thankfully, mrs. hwang elaborating on the social rules and the itinerary throughout the whole six days. one that caught your attention was assisting the producers on making a track from scratch, just like you had dreamed of.

when it was finally time for lunch break, you shot up from your seat to get away from sicheng as fast as possible but to your dismay, he beat you to it, jogging up towards your standing position.

“i didn’t know you were into music, what’s the sudden occasion?”

“it’s none of your business actually,” you sneered back, obviously not favouring his attention.

“woah, relax. you’ve got quite a temper, don’t you? by the way, we’re having lunch together,” he placed his phone onto a nearby table, pulling a chair for you.

“just eat on your own, i don’t have the appetite,” you flash a sarcastic grin before disappearing into the women’s restroom. he just laughed bitterly at your response before walking towards the food counter, joining his newly made friend, jaehyun. being the same age, they’re easy to click.

DAY 2

“today, we’ll be focusing on the recording process. you’ll be assigned into groups that will have a tour of the whole department. our staff will facilitate each group,” the manager said loud and clear. you remembered his name was johnny. the tattoo on his shoulder really stands out, considering the fact that he’s always wearing a sleeveless shirt.

but what are the odds when your groupmate is none other than the guy himself, sicheng. it’s like the universe truly resented you for having to be associated with him at any event. your group was escorted to the farthest recording studio on the floor. to say that this was a great experience is truly an understatement, making you observe the gears used in astonishment. you hate to admit it but sicheng has a handful of knowledge on this particular topic, always correctly answering the questions directed by the staff. maybe it wasn’t quite surprising upon knowing that his career choice is a singer, not that you care anyways.

again, nothing out of the ordinary happened today, except that you and sicheng had lunch on the same table. of course, it’s not that you accepted his offer but he welcomed himself to the spot. being the quickly favoured participant among the rest, obviously they welcomed him with open hands. he placed himself among the two guys sitting at the right corner, eyeing you whose eyes are still not leaving the article you were skimming through. with the last spoon of food shoved into your mouth, you quietly excused yourself from the group. sicheng just watched your movements in subtle signs of annoyance.

with the final task of doing microphone check-ups, day two of the camp ended with a breeze. you can’t wait to go home, get into a warm bath and spend the night watching netflix. it was a tiring one indeed but you’re not one to complain. pushing the car keys into the ignition slot, the sound of the engine starting is still nowhere to be heard even after a couple of retries. you rested your forehead onto the steering wheel, cursing silently in your head, having to get a taxi and call your mother about this incident. you’re sure to be receiving a handful from her, not to mention her soft but stingful remarks.

“hey, are you okay?” a deep voice interrupts your stressful state of mind. looking up, it’s sicheng with a concerned look on display. you hesitantly shared your problem, making him press his lips together probably thinking of a solution.

“you know, i don’t really know how to fix your broken engine or whatever but i know someone who can. let me just ring him for a sec. and you’re coming home with me.”

and that’s how you ended up in the front passenger seat, sicheng steering with one hand and the other rested on the windowsill. the faint music from the radio can be heard, probably a song by jon vinyl. you’d steal quick glances to see his other hand dancing in the air, enjoying the rhythm of the song playing. besides that, it was silent as both of you are preoccupied with your own things - sicheng on the road while you on your phone. he tried to make small talk but you would say it’s unrequited, only replying with short sentences. after a good ten minutes drive, the sight of your brown painted gate becomes a sign for him to stop the moving car.

“your car is safe with my friend so you shouldn’t worry about it or anything. also, what’s your number? it’ll be easier for, you know the car business of course,” he reached over to unbuckle your seatbelt, handing over his phone to you after. the close proximity made your breath hitch, the dewy scent of his perfume diffusing into your nose. not too strong, he has a good taste.

“thanks and um, i’ll buy you a drink later. just for today.”

“are you asking me on a date?” there it is, the significant tug on the side of his lips making its presence once again.

“stop being so narcissistic and move along please,” you rolled your eyes before giving him a small wave, stepping into your property. sicheng stared at the numerals on his phone screen, a small, proud grin etched on before driving off the lane.

“how was the camp? met any cute boys?” the first thing you hear in the hue of the blue monday morning is ningning’s chirpy voice. sometimes you wonder how she gets all boosted up at this hour of the day. yangyang is the polar opposite, his appearance as if he just got out of bed, the hood of his denim jacket resting on top of his auburn hair.

“it was good and no, no cute boys. but sicheng was there,” you replied nonchalantly, a mischievous grin crept onto her lips. you can almost predict the words that are going to spill out of her mouth.

“what’s up with her?” yangyang yawned, his eyes lazily gaze at you. you just lifted your shoulders, having no idea whatsoever. a ping sound was heard from your phone, notifying that a new message is received.

unknown: hey sicheng here

unknown: ur car may be ready tmr. want me to drive u there?

listening to your heart, you were about to type ‘no’ but remembering the fact that your parents will be busy the whole day tomorrow and yangyang is coming home late once again, you have no choice but to accept the lad’s help.

now you’re back in his vehicle, the same spot as before. you’ve only noticed now that a musical note charm is hung on the rearview mirror, a semiquaver to be exact. you’d say that it looks authentic, gold specks shining when sun rays hit the surface. observing the interior of his car, there are quite a number of small decorations.

“can we get coffee first? my treat for the car and the ride,” you suggested, looking at him whose eyes are focused onto the road. the traffic is quite pleasing today, nobody honking mindlessly at the other drivers and flipping each other off with the famous middle finger gesture. his side profile does look charming, some type of earrings dangling from his ears. if you’re going to be honest, his appearance does seem to be your type. you’re not one to say about his persona though, always managing to bother you at any time of the day.

“sure, wanna go to the new cafe? i heard it’s good,”. you just nodded while he skillfully steered the steering wheel, moving the car to the new destination. you turned your eyes to look outside from the car window, seeing the one hundred and one manners of the citizens. a mother struggling to take her child who’s having a tantrum out of the toy shop, a young couple having their romantic meal in the french cafe. the motion of the car stopping awakened you who was being distracted by your clouded mind.

from the moment you stepped into the place, the interior caught your attention. the light brown painted walls with black furniture complementing each other perfectly, making a retro-like appearance. the funky song playing faintly in the background surely is a mood-setter, just how you like it. even the barista serving you is being friendly, making a couple of small talk in the midst of operating the machines.

you would say that it was a pleasureful day for you. the exquisite taste of latte washing down your dry throat, getting your car back without too much babbling from your dear mother and the gap between you and sicheng closing in for a little.

the last sentence baffled you for a second.

DAY 3

sicheng’s eyes shot open from the short slumber he was trying to get - failing miserably even, upon spotting you enter through the door. he pulled the chair beside him in hopes for you to get his message and take the seat. a frown made its way onto his face when you just waved at him, making your way to another spot a few chairs to the front. he scoffed, head tilting slightly before approaching you instead. you shot him a puzzled look, roughly translating to ask him what he’s doing here.

“i just want to be close to you. now focus,” he redirected his eyes onto the muscular man who just entered the room. he’s a songwriter - the best one in this company to be exact. you were focused on each point he explained, making small notes on your laptop. it’s not always that you’ll get a chance to be guided by a four-time award winning songwriter, might as well gain some benefits from it.

“another tip i have is to use all types of chords. remember, do not stick to the same ones, you’ll lack creativity. for instance, use major, minor, dominant, diminished, and augmented. i promise you, more ideas will be flowing and better quality songs will be produced. you got me?” the questioned, earning buzzing sounds of positive responses from the hall.

DAY 4

another day of group work, you’re given the task to create a melody according to the themes given - for your group, it’s love. looking at sicheng, he’s already on his electric guitar, strumming mindlessly to find the perfect note to start on. the rest of you are now juicing out some thoughts on this particular sense of human nature.

“love gives us thrill, the feeling of excitement, the feeling when you’re uncertain about something but when you have that special someone with you, you’re sure to wing it all,” jaehyun suggests, earning nods of approval from the rest of your groupmates.

“you’re a pro at this, mr. romantic,” you teased him, earning a soft chuckle. a dimpled smile is etched onto his features, rosy cheeks and his eye smile making you fawn. prince-like visual and a sense of humour? a two in one package, totally.

“not really. i guess i’m a sucker for romance movies,” he rubbed the back of his neck. your small conversation came to a halt when you heard a crooked, loud sound coming from the rough strum on the guitar strings. you turned around to see sicheng gazing directly towards the both of you, a sharp one even. jaehyun just blinked his eyes before catching onto the situation unfolding in front of him while you’re still being completely oblivious. you tilted your head in confusion, unsure of what’s gotten into him.

it’s the day that yangyang has been looking forward to since the past few weeks, his dance tournament. you’re seated with ningning on the bleachers, music from the loudspeakers echoing through the walls. with the cheers of the bewatchers whenever someone captivated them with a trick or dance move, usually the risky ones, it truly is a loud atmosphere.

“now, welcoming contestant number 43 to take the stage,” the host announced, you and ningning clapped with all your might, shouting words of encouragement as well. yangyang took a deep breath before lifting his right hand up, cueing for the music to start playing. just then, there’s the sound of someone plopping down on the hard surface next to you - sicheng. he’s looking casual today, a light yellow hoodie replacing his usual dark clothings.

“what are you doing here?” you shout whispered while ningning raised her eyebrows at you.

“didn’t yangyang tell you? i’m here to watch him dance,” he countered your question before darting his eyes back to the boy who’s busy popping on the dance floor, tinashe’s song playing in the background. he ended his routine with a moonwalk, making his way to the end of the stage. you’re confident that he’s going to win the competition, looking at how precise and clean his moves were. all the late night practices he had eventually paid off when he’s announced as the second placer. nonetheless, he’s still proud of himself, not to mention you and ningning who have been with him throughout his whole journey.

“you did well,” sicheng welcomed him with a fist bump which he reciprocated back. you didn’t know that they were this good of friends.

“i’m starving,” he rubbed his hand onto his stomach, making you remember that your stomach has been rumbling since you only ate a cereal bar that morning. you were about to catch up to yangyang and ningning who were walking fast ahead when you felt a tug on your shirt, looking down to see sicheng crouching down to tie your loose shoelaces.

“you might fall,” he placed his hands into the pockets of his hoodies, waiting for you to come along.

“um, thanks,” you muttered out before catching the glances given by your friends, later teasing you about the scene.

roars of students can be heard coherently, filling the basketball court. the basketball captain, a tall one with black charcoal hair is shooting a three-pointer. the players are then called over to their respective sides for whatever strategy their coaches will be implementing in the third-quarter. the home team is currently leading by five points, knowing that the players wearing the significant red and black jersey have been training their asses off for a while now.

but why exactly did you come to the game tonight? besides from the main event happening in the moment, the other reason is now standing in his position, strumming his electric guitar producing a funky sound that vibrates through the walls - a cue for the start of another buzzing stage. sicheng has been bugging you about watching him perform tonight and after quite some time evaluating, why not? when he finally caught you among the crowd, he flashed you a flirtatious wink. right before the band bowed as gratitude to the audience, he gave you a gesture to wait for him at the back of the gym.

“you came! but seriously, thank you,” he rested the sparkly white guitar against the wall, enveloping you into a hug. this is new, you tried to hide the flustered state of yours as you reciprocated his movement. from the corner of your eyes, you can see a black-haired guy approaching the two of you, followed by one with long, white hair and a bandana nicely keeping the fluffy strands in tact.

“ooh, who’s this?” the first one wiggled his eyebrows, later introducing himself as guanheng, the latter named yuta. to your surprise, the bond between you and them are quick to form with guanheng piloting the conversation. not to mention his subtle jokes making you giggle at times.

“well y/n, your little boyfriend here is getting jealous so we’ll excuse ourselves for now. see you whenever,” guanheng banging his drumsticks into the air while yuta gave you a quick wave before disappearing into the store room of the gymnasium. the nickname they gave sicheng surely made you a bit shy.

boyfriend?

DAY 5

you’re seated in front of the computer screen, your chin resting on the palm of your hands and the tabs of different colours left untouched. you redirected your gaze onto the projector screen, the words ‘arrange, mix, edit and master like a pro’ on it. a long sigh leaving your lips, you try to remember what the producer said earlier.

don’t make the song sound too repetitive

a good buildup promises a good melody

you can have a certain instrument playing only on one part for cinematic impact

DAY 6

“i’m hyo and you’re,” she moved the wheels of her chair to the back a bit to take another look at the clipboard resting on the desk, “sicheng, y/n and jaehyun, right?” the three of you nodded in harmony, anticipating for the next order that will be given.

“okay cool, we’ll be brainstorming first,” and she proceeded to explain what the requirements for this project are. you mouthed out the important points she gave, soft rock, heartbreak and drums. you’re on a roll today, contributing your countless ideas during the first few minutes of the discussion. sicheng just looked at you discussing with hyo, your lips pursed slightly. his gaze seems full of adoration, even jaehyun said so.

“any objections?” hyo looked over to the rest.

“i think she made some great ones. i’m sure this project will come out fresh,” jaehyun voiced out his opinions, sicheng nodding after. he went straight to handling the instruments , you and jaehyun collaborating for the mixing process. hyo eventually chimed in on some times, giving small advice whenever you seem stuck in the brain. with the hours ticking by, you’re feeling more satisfied than ever with your earphones in, listening to the final product created.

all of the participants are then assembled in the hall again, waiting for a final speech by the director which formalizes the end of the camp. sure, you’ve earned worthy knowledge throughout the six days. but if you’re being brutally true to the sound of your heart, it would be how you came to learn sicheng’s true antics. he might be the cocky guy who thinks they have the power to do anything but in truth, he’s just some guy with an honest heart, honest intentions to know you better.

summer break, your most anticipated event for the past few weeks. the moment the last bell rang, that scene in high school musical 2 kept replaying in the back of your head, the students doing a parade in front of the lockers picturing how your little heart is doing backflips in your chest right now. all the beach trips ningning planned is making you feel dizzy. you turned around to a voice calling out your name from the end of the hallway, your eyes catching the sight of sicheng jogging towards your spot. he stopped in front of you, hands on his knees catching his breath.

“are you free tomorrow night? there’s a party at guanheng’s and you know, it would be really cool if you join,” his fingers tracing onto each other, waiting patiently for your response.

you didn’t even have the time to process his invitation when ningning crashed her body against yours, yangyang following suit.

“a party? y/n would totally love to come, right?” ningning nudged your arms softly while yangyang tried to stifle a giggle. you were about to mouth out a ‘what?’ before sicheng cut you off.

“cool, you guys should come too. tomorrow at 10,” he and yangyang exchanged finger guns gestures before leaving the three of you. you just stood there in disbelief, eyeing them up and down before ningning dragged you to the parking lot. a stringful of grumbles escaped your lips, making the guy laugh obnoxiously.

“i can’t believe you guys did that,” you extended the seat belt, buckling it to the slot beside you.

“please. but you do want it, right?” you can’t deny, what she said was true. plus, you should have some fun and distress before having to go back to the usual dull routine of yours.

“how do i look?” you turn around, revealing the baby pink crop top and flare pants on your legs. it’s not your best outfit but giving the cliche excuse - you have nothing to wear, the two articles totally complements each other

“you look hot, that’s all i gotta say. right, yang?” ningning lifted her head from the headboard, glancing over at yangyang who’s going over his messages.

“yeah totally,” he lifted his hands, giving you a thumbs up. you threw a jacket onto your shoulders and grabbed the black purse on your dresser, glancing at the wall mirror one last time.

from the moment you stepped into the venue - guanheng’s place, smells of alcohol lingered around your nose, a group of people cheering ever so loudly over a game of beer pong, some already passed out on the couch. not to mention a brownish stain on the carpet - probably from someone throwing up. the mess would take a whole day to get rid off, you note to yourself. your friends are no longer to be found, both of them getting affiliated with god knows what. your eyes scanned the living room for sicheng but his presence is still nowhere to be found.

you decided to step towards the kitchen bar, pouring a drink for yourself. the mixed sweet and sour taste of it remained on your tongue for a couple of seconds. looking over at the snacks served, you grabbed a strawberry flavoured lollipop from the clear bowl. the crowd is cheering loudly for some type of incident happening at the back of the room, the music has been turned up to be a little louder than the volume before and you’re suddenly getting a little bit overwhelmed. you grabbed your purse and stepped out, inhaling some fresh air and looking up to the starry night sky.

“y/n? where have you been?” sicheng approached you from behind, making you a bit startled.

“sorry, hanging out outside can calm me. where did you go?” you popped the lollipop into your mouth.

“some jerk decided to throw up in front of me,” you pinched your nose with a disgusted expression, making him roll his eyes.

“do you want me to accompany you out here?” he offered. you just nod your head, placing yourself on the patio with him following suit. the sweetening flavour empowering your senses. it’s definitely much more calm out here, allowing you to clear up your mind. it’s not that you hate the atmosphere in the house right now, you’re just not in the mood.

“you know, you look pretty,” you turned around to meet his face. his brown eyes brimming with unconfessed love.

“shut up, stop with the jokes,” you lightly land a smack on his arms.

“what if i say i’m not joking?” he looked straight into your eyes, trying to find any emotion inside you. the sudden seriousness is making you feel much more awkward so you forced out a laugh, turning your attention right back upwards. the stars are shining brightly tonight, you can almost spot a constellation.

“i know what you’re doing, dong sicheng. just stop it already, it’s not working on me.” denial, that’s what you’re experiencing in the hot minute.

a gentle tug can be felt on your wrist, his eyes still not leaving yours.

“didn’t anyone tell you before? you’re really pretty. like, i can’t even describe it to you. you’re just,” he leaned over to caress your cheeks, “pretty,”.

what jaehyun said on the other day is true, after all.

love gives us thrill, the feeling of excitement, the feeling when you’re uncertain about something but when you have that special someone with you, you’re sure to wing it all.

your heart is beating so fast, it could fall out of your chest at any moment now. even the faint music blasting through the speakers inside the house can’t flush down the sound of your heartbeat. you’re not used to this, the sudden need of the significant skin to skin contact that symbolizes love between two individuals.

“can i?” his face in a very near proximity from yours, whispering into your right ear with his honey-like voice. you pulled the candy away from your mouth and nod, giving him the approval he needed before he dived in. heat rose from your stomach to your chest. you could only focus on how soft his crimson lips felt on yours, invading your privacy by all senses. you felt the kiss expand beyond your bodies, whirling you round, swirling you into the stars. he pulled away with a soft smile, you thought you could melt right then and there.

“wow,” that was the only word escaping your throat. your jumping heart still hasn’t settled down yet, your very first kiss still feeling surreal. you could see that sicheng is very much mirroring your emotions, his slender fingers grazing over his lips - the one that has come in contact with yours.

“the strawberry lollipop is sweet,” he commented, making the both of you laugh.

a ping from your phone awakened you from the gushy eye contact with him, unlocking it only to find yangyang’s text message. the second part of it made you fluster.

yang: yo r u coming in or what? and congrats for the kiss, we thought we’d have to wait longer for this

[elizabeethan]

Never Nothing- Extra # 2

Another little extra for one of my favorite series!! Soft domestic fluff meets angst... There will be a follow up to this one, eventually.

For @the-darkdragonfly who wanted this to be a 12 part series… we’re halfway there baby

Rated T, mostly for language 

~4300 words

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Read on Ao3

Read the rest of the series

Read my other stuff

~~~~

“Stop it.”

 “I’m only trying--”

 “No, stop it.” 

 “My love, if you’d just--”

 “I don’t want to!” 

 “--you may find that you feel better.”

 “I won’t. I will never feel better, ever, for as long as I live. I will feel exactly this horrible every second for the rest of my miserable life.” 

 Killian sighs softly, smiling at her despite how much it pisses her off and running his hand through her hair. “I’m sorry you’re feeling so uncomfortable.”

 “Having a baby in August is not a good plan.” 

 “No,” he agrees. “I’m sure you must be feeling rather miserable.” 

 She nods, pouting. “Extremely miserable.” 

 He softly kisses the tip of her nose, taking out the sunscreen he’s been begging her to wear and squirting some into his hands. “Now, just imagine how hot you’d be if we were still in Phoenix.” 

 “Shut up,” she grumbles, leaning forward just enough for him to get her back. 

 “You’re the one who suggested we come to the beach.”

 She glares up at him, her lips pressed into a tight line and her brows covering her eyes almost completely. “You’re on thin ice.”

 “I think you’ll find there’s no ice this time of year, my darling. It’s very hot out; it would melt.” 

He can’t blame her for being miserable. At 37 weeks pregnant in late July, she can’t seem to ever get comfortable. Her back hurts her endlessly, her hips are sore, she’s been suffering with horrible heartburn, and the mood swings are difficult to keep up with. 

 He wouldn’t have it any other way, though. 

 “Why don’t we get into the water? A bit of buoyancy is sure to help your back.”  

 She sighs in defeat and says, “I’ll probably just get sea sick. Or eaten by a shark. Or stung by a jellyfish.”

 He kisses her nose once more and takes her hand, hoisting her off of the chaise lounge and placing his palm on the small of her back where he knows she’s sore. “I’ll fight off the sharks and the jellyfish, my love.” 

 “Promise?” she asks as she waddles towards the shore with him. 

 “Of course.”

 She squeals as she tries to get into the chilly water, but once they’re in and she’s used to the cold, she relaxes a bit. His heart flutters when she leans back against his chest, letting him bear her weight as he runs his hand along her bump and presses a kiss to her shoulder. 

 Feeling her pressed against him makes the blood rush through his veins, and he’s glad for the cold water keeping any obvious signs of his arousal at bay. He’s always found her unbelievably sexy, but seeing her in her yellow bikini, her bump on full display, is enough for him to have almost kept her home today. 

 “I know what you’re thinking,” she grumbles, her voice barely audible over the sounds of the waves. “And no, we’re not doing it in the ocean.” 

 “I would perish at the thought of sullying your purity on a public beach, love.”

 “Purity,” she scoffs. “I’m knocked up at 22. Nothing pure about it.” 

 He kisses her neck, then her cheek, and holds her close to himself, his bare wrist pressed to the side of her belly and his hand holding it tenderly. “We've talked about this, love,” he murmurs against her skin. “How this child has come to be is not important. What’s important is how fiercely the two of us love him.”

 “I know,” she agrees softly, dropping her head to his shoulder and sighing as she lets herself relax further into his hold and into the gentle current of the sea. “I just wish… sometimes I just wish you were his dad.”

 He sways the two of them together gently, letting the waves carry them, and reminds her, “I fully intend to be. Biology isn’t really a factor here, my love.”

 She hums happily as she lets him support every ounce of her, effectively floating just below the surface with him holding her up. “I just feel… I love this baby more than anything. I don’t regret having him, I just kind of wish you'd been the one to knock me up.”

 “Me too,” he laughs, “but it’s alright, because this child will be as much my son as any that I sire.” 

 “I love you. Sorry I’m a bitch.” 

 “You’re the furthest thing from it, darling. I’ll not hear you talking about yourself in such a way.” 

 She hums again and shrugs. “I could probably chill out a bit. I’ve been pretty snappy.”

 “Well, you’re nine months pregnant.”

 “Maybe I’ll keep being bitchy after the baby’s born.”

 “I hope so. I like you when you’re fired up.”

 She lies in his arms for a while, content to float almost weightlessly in the water as the pressure of the babe she carries is finally relieved. He feels the lad kicking about beneath the water, likely entranced by the dancing waves, and chuckles softly each time he gets a strike to his palm. 

 “What would you like for dinner, my love?” he asks after a long silence falls between them. 

 “Chinese food,” she answers immediately. 

 “That’s a nice dream. What do you actually want, Miss High Blood Pressure?”

 “Baaaabe,” she groans, tossing her head back against his shoulder again and gripping his forearms. “I don’t want grilled chicken.”

 “You don’t have to have grilled chicken. We can stop for fish.”

 “The baby wants lo mein.”

 “He can have some after he’s born and his mother isn’t at risk for preeclampsia.” 

 She grumbles some more, her words incoherent and inaudible over the sound of the water lapping around them. “Chicken,” she finally concedes. “But only if you make that sauce you made last week.”

 With a snort, he asks, “you mean the one with the bacon in it?” 

 “That’s the one.”

 “Alright, love. Let’s get you out of the water before you give birth to a raisin.”

 “You’ve gotta work on your dad jokes.” 

 ~~~~

 The days seem to be getting longer and longer, time refusing to pass at a normal pace as she lives in constant torture and betrayal of her own body. She loves being pregnant, honestly, but it’s becoming a bit tiring. The baby she’s hauling around is heavy, and her back is killing her. Killian’s being very wary of her slightly elevated blood pressure when all she wants is Chinese food and chicken nuggets. Her mom still remembers her days as a perinatal nurse and won’t stop accidentally scaring her when she talks about what she’s seen during labor. 

 Killian’s looking forward to the delivery, and she tries not to let that piss her off. Of course, she’s more than elated to see him so excited for their child to be born, and she’s so lucky to have a partner who will be there for her throughout the whole thing. But each time he tries to show her something he’s read in a book, or a breathing exercise they can try together during contractions, she wants to chuck something at him. After all, she doesn’t believe that he’s truly ready for what her body will be doing in just a few short weeks. 

 “During a contraction, I can try to massage your lower back if you’re standing. How does that sound?”

 “Standing?” she asks doubtfully. “I can barely stand during cramps.”

 “Don’t let him fool you; the massages don’t help,” Granny says ominously while she places her plate before her. While he’s been very strict about her diet, Killian can’t keep her from getting her French toast from Granny’s on Sunday mornings. 

 “And did you have a walking epidural when you delivered in the Enchanted Forest, Granny?” he asks, his tone sarcastic. 

 She rolls her eyes as she places his eggs in front of him. 

 Taking a deep breath with her eyes squeezed shut, Emma places her hand on the top of her bump as a zip of hot pain rushes up her chest and into her throat. Killian’s silent and still as he watches her, holding his fork above his plate as his brows furrow while she waits for it to pass. Once the pain subsides, he asks, “alright?” 

 “Heartburn,” she breathes. He pushes her glass of water towards her encouragingly as she breathes steadily. “Damn.”

 “It won’t be long, love.”

 “Yeah, he better make an appearance soon. I wanna meet him so bad, and I wouldn’t mind if the indigestion went away.”

 “Morning,” Ruby says happily as she refills Killian’s mug, much to Emma’s jealous vexation. 

 “Morning Ruby. What’s the report for this week?” he asks, happily going along with her perception of herself as the town crier. 

 “Not much, but there’s someone new in town. Can you believe that? The dwarves are doing some research to find out if that means we can leave.” 

 “Well, that will certainly be interesting,” he agrees, giving Emma a happy smile. They haven’t even bothered to attempt to leave themselves, although it’s suspected that they can. 

 “And everyone is excited to have a newcomer.”

 “I’m sure he must be a really interesting character, what with him wanting to come to Storybrooke.” 

 Emma snorts, digging into her breakfast once her least favorite pregnancy symptom subsides completely. 

 “I haven’t met him, but I’ve heard he is kind of an ass.”

 Moments later, her parents bustle into the diner and greet her with a broad smile as they approach them. “Hi honey!” her mom says happily. 

 “Morning,” she smiles. 

 “How are you feeling?” she asks as she and David scoot the two of them down in their booths. “How’s my sweet little grandson?” 

 Mary Margaret places a gentle hand over Emma’s bump and she stiffens just a bit. It always feels weird to have anyone but Killian put their hands on her belly. “Okay. He keeps flopping around and giving me heartburn.” 

 She hums in understanding, patting her belly. “Have you heard about someone new being in town?”

 “We were just briefed by Ruby,” Killian answers. 

 “Well, I met him very briefly. He’s handsome and very charming.” 

 “I don’t think Emma or Hook care much about that, Snow,” David says, and Emma nods. 

 “Well, I heard he’s coming here for breakfast today. Isn’t that exciting? You two won’t be the newcomers anymore.” 

 Emma laughs and nods through another bite. “I guess that’s true.” 

 They continue to chat through their meal, David talking about his job as an animal control officer. Apparently, they’re thinking about adopting a dog he’d rescued a week ago, and Emma’s only seen him beam like this a few times in the short time she’s known him. Things are good, the French toast isn’t giving her heartburn, she thinks she’s going to have a good day. 

 Until the bell above the door rings. 

 And he walks in. 

 She takes in a gasping breath, her eyes bugging out of her head as she swings her head away from the door. “Alright?” Killian asks her softly, leaning over the table and taking her hand. 

 She shakes her head and feels his body go rigid with panic. If they weren’t trapped in the booth by her parents, she would grab his hand and run out the back door of the diner to escape him. 

 “Heartburn?” Killian asks softly, not yet alerting her parents of her sudden shift in mood. “Braxton Hicks? Contractions?!”

 “No,” she croaks. 

 “What is it, angel? Talk to me.”

 She chances a look towards the door and sees him talking with Ruby, probably flirting with her shamelessly. Then, she looks back at Killian and whispers, “Neal.”

 He raises a brow in thought and then she watches as the pieces of the puzzle click into place. He nods once, looking towards the door and grimacing. Ruby starts to guide Neal towards a table and Mary Margaret gives him a friendly, excited wave before Emma can stop her. She wants to put her head through the table; maybe he won’t see her if she does that. 

 The only saving grace is the fact that she can spread her legs out and tuck her bump under the table. The last thing she wants right now is for him to find out that he fertilized the egg that became her son. 

 “Mary Margaret, right? Hi,” he greets casually. “And this must be your husband, and--”

 He’s staring, but not at her. He’s gaping at Killian. 

 “What the… Hook?”

 Killian looks as baffled as Emma must, and he gives her a look of confusion that tells her he has no idea what’s going on. Only, when he looks at her, so does Neal. 

 “Emma?!”

 “You two know each other?”

 “Oh my god,” she grumbles, dropping her head to her folded arms on the table. She’d pushed her plate away, unable to eat anything more as the stress of her sperm donor making an appearance in her life eats away at her. 

 “Darling, perhaps we should--” Before he can continue, she kicks him under the table, not wishing to let Neal know anything personal about her, especially the fact that she and Killian are together and that she’s expecting a baby in a few weeks. 

 “Darling? Are you two, like, dating or something?” 

 “Emma and Ho-- Killian live together,” her mother supplies, and Emma rolls her eyes. 

 “Huh,” Neal says in response. “You sure do move on fast.” 

 “Mate, that’s not--”

 “I’m not your mate, pirate.”

 Killian chuckles awkwardly and asks, “do we know each other?” 

 Neal looks like he’s ready to snap, perhaps jump across the table and strangle Killian at his cocky response, but he’s interrupted by the door opening again and Mr. Gold entering the diner. “Bae,” he calls, not yet taking notice of what he’s doing or who he’s talking to. “What are you doing?”

 “Bae,” Killian breathes, staring up at Neal and Mr. Gold in astonishment. “You… you’re Neal?”

 “What is going on?” Emma asks through gritted teeth, wanting nothing more than to escape. The position she’s put herself in in order to hide her bump is horribly uncomfortable on her back (and she probably looks ridiculous), and all she wants to do now is go home and sit on her new couch. 

 “What’s going on is your boyfriend is a piece of shit,” Neal spits at her. “You sure know how to pick ‘em.” 

 “What, like I picked you? Lot of good that did me, what with the police, and the court hearings, and the community service, and the--”

 “Honey… This is Neal? I thought your name was Bae.” 

 “It was,” Neal grumbles back, turning towards his father and then back to Emma. “You told your parents about me?” 

 “Well, she kind of had to,” David responds condescendingly. “What with the--”

 “Dad. Please stop.” 

 “The what?”

 “Son, let’s go enjoy our breakfast and leave the family drama for later.” 

 The baby starts wiggling just as another bout of heartburn curses her, and she hisses, pushing her fist against her chest and leaning forward even more until she’s in an awkward position. “Honey, you need some tums. I told you, they’re safe for the ba--”

 “I’m fine,” she seethes, swallowing and breathing deeply through the feeling of lava crawling up her throat. She wants to leave so badly, but the moment she moves to stand, her pregnancy will become more than obvious. 

 “Family drama,” Neal laughs. “That’s rich, isn’t it, Hook? First my mom and now my girlfriend?”

 Emma glares up at him, practicing her mom-look. “Go away,” she insists.

 He scoffs and says, “Ems, come on. Let's get you out of here.” 

 “Excuse me?” 

 “Bae is Neal?” Killian asks through continued astonishment, looking down at his hand with his mouth agape, his brows furrowed. 

 “Stop calling me that,” Neal snaps. “You lost your right to talk to me when you killed my mother and sold me to Pan.” 

 Emma knows this isn’t true; Killian told her the story about the Crocodile murdering his first love in front of him. He told her about how he found her son years later and wanted to raise him as his own. She just had no idea that her son was… Neal. Evidently, Killian didn’t either. 

 “Neal, go away. Leave us alone like you left me to rot.”

 “I did that for your own good. You had to break the curse.” 

 “Right,” she scoffs. She wants nothing more than to rub in his face the fact that he abandoned her, homeless and poor and pregnant, but she holds in her anger. Truthfully, Neal leaving was one of the better things to have happened to her. It gave her Killian and their baby. It brought her to her family. It helped her find out who she is.

 Those facts don't make his betrayal sting any less, though.

 “Killian, maybe you should take Emma home,” her mother suggests through the haze of anger and confusion surrounding the table. He looks up at Snow, his jaw still dropped towards the floor and his eyes swimming with the guilt of his past, and nods. 

 “Aye,” he agrees, shaking his head and taking Emma’s hands. “Come, love. Let’s sail away.” 

 She wants nothing more than to agree, to nod and smile at him, taking his hands and letting him lead her out of the diner, but Neal remains firmly planted outside of their booth. If she stands now, she’ll reveal herself. She looks at Killian meaningfully with wide eyes, then glances down towards her belly and up in Neal’s direction. 

 He understands effortlessly and turns towards Neal, asking, “do you mind, mate? We’d like to head out.” 

 Neal rolls his eyes and concedes, stepping away from their booth and towards his father, and Mary Margaret and David stand to give them a path out of their seats. They're almost home free-- she can see the light at the end of the diner-- Killian leading the way and effectively hiding the evidence of her pregnancy. Or so she thinks. 

 Just as Killian’s hand reaches the door, about to push it open and gain their sweet escape, Ruby cuts them off with an excited greeting to Emma, reaching to give her a hug as she usually does and asking, “how’s my favorite little nephew doing? What is it now; three weeks to go?” 

 Emma freezes, eyes wide and face pale as Killian’s back goes stiff in front of her. The diner is silent, the early breakfast rush long over, and she knows Neal heard her. It’s confirmed when she hears the scratch of the chair against the floor as he stands and calls, “what, so he knocked you up, too? What a stand-up guy.” 

 The blood in her veins chills at his statements. Her jaw starts hurting with how forcefully she’s clenching it. She watches Killian turn around and fears that he’s going to confront Neal with the truth. In reality, though, he turns and looks only at her, taking her hands in his easily despite the fact that one is missing, courtesy of her ex’s father. “It’s alright,” he whispers, showing her just how much he understands her. Showing her that he can tell exactly what she’s thinking; can read the fear in her eyes at the thought of Neal finding out that this child is technically a part of him. “We can go,” he tells her. 

 She can’t help but to spin around, half turning to face Neal with tearfilled eyes, looking at him just once so that she can remind herself of the mistakes she’s made in her past. So that she can compare the despair he brought her with the joy that Killian brings so effortlessly. But it’s a mistake. She watches as his face falls, seemingly seeing just how pregnant she really is. 

 “Is that… are you…” He looks up at the ceiling, flexing his fingers as if counting on them. Counting the months since they were last together. Realizing it’s been almost nine months since their last encounter. Taking in just how large her bump is. “Emma…?”

 She should just turn around and leave, or ignore him; refuse to give attention to his thoughts so that she doesn't spur them on. But instead, she lets out a choked sob and buries her face in her hands as her tears flow freely. 

 Killian’s hand is on her back immediately, running soothing circles along her skin as he moves to stand in front of her and blocks her view of the rest of the world, consuming her with only his ocean-blue eyes. “It’s alright,” he whispers again. 

 “Did she say three weeks left? Is that…”

 “It’s okay,” he murmurs, and although Neal’s voice cuts through the air between them like a knife, all she sees is Killian. 

 “I wanna go home,” she cries softly, clinging to his hand and hook. 

 “We will,” he promises. 

 “Emma, is that my kid?”

 She can’t respond. All she can do is tilt her body slightly so that she’s looking past Killian’s right into Neal’s eyes, showing him the truth in her own. She can’t tell him with words that he fathered a child with her, but she knows that the look on her face is enough confirmation when his own pales and he drops back down in his chair. 

 He only stays there for a second before forcefully standing again, the chair colliding with the floor. Gold begs, “Bae,” reaching his hand towards his son, and Neal violently rips away from his father. 

 “Don’t!” He shouts. “Fuck.” 

 Before anyone can say anything, Neal is stalking towards Emma and Killian, and she almost feels nervous for a second, until he brushes past the two of them and slams his way out the door. 

 ~~~~

 Her lip trembles as he shuts the door, and she spins into his arms the second he locks it, bursting into tears easily. “He’s gonna take him,” she cries. 

 “Emma, no. That isn’t going to happen, love.” 

 She sobs some more, gripping his shirt with white knuckles, nodding into his neck and pulling him as close to herself as she possibly can with the bump between them. “He is.” 

 “You saw his face when he found out, darling. He has no interest. He’s already running.”

 “Everything was so perfect. Now it’s ruined.”

 “Nothing is ruined, my love,” he argues. “What makes you even say that?”

 She shudders in his arms, whimpering pathetically as the hormones take over and the fear of losing her child consumes her. “I wanted--” she chokes. “I wanted you to be his dad.” 

 When he pulls away from her, forcing her face from his neck, she cries out again, pained at the thought that she’s losing him, too. “Angel,” he murmurs softly, soothingly. “I am his dad. Perhaps the lad will simply be lucky enough to have two.”

 The violence behind her choked breathing is palpable between the two of them, showing him just how distraught she truly is as she asks, “you mean-- you mean you’re not leaving?”

 “You silly thing,” he breathes through a gentle laugh, pressing their foreheads together. “Do you really believe that that fool coming into our lives will sway me? I love you. Both of you.” 

 Her bottom lip trembles again as his hand slides along the side of her belly, the baby kicking against his palm in greeting. The fact that he didn’t stir when faced with his biological father doesn’t get past her as he wiggles against his dad lovingly. She lets out one last soft, whimpering sob and sniffles before saying, “I love you. We both love you.”

 He kisses her gently despite the tears and snot, making her laugh lightly. “Bae knows what it is to have an absent father, love. I’m… I’m truly shocked to know that the boy who lived on my ship all those years ago has done this to you. But I do believe that, now that he knows, he’ll do what he can to support you and the little lad. I believe he’ll do the right thing.”

 “Maybe I don’t want him to,” she pouts. 

 He smiles, cupping her cheek, and says, “that’s valid. And I know you're scared. But we’ll just have to sort out what’s best for the little one.” 

 With a heaving sigh, she drops her forehead to his chest and shuts her eyes. “Right now, what’s best for the little one is a nap.”

 “It’s only 10:30,” he jests, but despite his argument, he places his hand on the small of her back and guides her towards their bedroom. “Need a snack?”

 “More French toast.”

 “No. An apple.”

 “Never mind,” she grumbles, pouting as she collapses on the bed and holds up her feet until he starts pulling her sandals off. He shakes his head as he laughs lightly, running his thumb over her swollen feet and kissing her cankles. “Killian?” she whispers quietly. 

 “Aye, love?” he asks, almost as softly as he crawls up towards her and helps her lean back onto the bed. 

 She grunts unattractively as her swollen body flops like a fish across the mattress, drawing a soft smile from his lips. “I’m scared,” she whispers when his front wraps around her back. 

 “Aye, love. I know.” His hand slides across her giant bump, the baby kicking him gently, and kisses just behind her ear. “But you’re going to be fantastic. You’re so strong, and smart, and capable of anything you set your mind to.”

 “Then why can’t I just magic him out of here?”

 “Bae?” he asks with a surprised laugh. 

 “Yeah, I’ve been trying since we got home.”

 “You are a silly thing. And I love you very much.”

 With a contented hum, she pulls him closer to her despite the heat. “I love you, but let me sleep now.”

 “As you wish, my angel.”

~~~~

~~~~

@courtorderedcake​​​​ @kmomof4​​​​ @stahlop​​​​ @klynn-stormz​​​​ @laschatzi​​​​ @emelizabeth88​​​​ @lfh1226-linda​​​​ @kday426​​​​ @elisethewritingbeast @timeless-love-story​​​​ @captain-emmajones​​​​ @gingerpolyglot​​​​​ @ebcaver​​​​ @ilovemesomekillianjones​​​​ @teamhook​​​​​ @superchocovian​​​​​ @itsfabianadocarmo​​​​​ @tiganasummertree​​​​​ @gingerchangeling​​​​​ @jrob64​​​​​ @onceratheart18​​​​​ @xhookswenchx​​​​​ @winterbaby89​​​​​ @swampmedusa​​​​​ @ultraluckycatnd​​​​​ @dancingnancyy​​​​​ @love-with-you-i-have-everything​​​​​ @shireness-says​​​​​ @snowbellewells​​​​​ @hollyethecurious​​​​​ @ouatpost​​​​​ @daxx04​​​​​ @the-darkdragonfly​​​​​ @donteattheappleshook​​​​​ @therooksshiningknight @eeteeaytay​​​​​ @xsajx​​​​​ @itsfridaysomewhere​​​​​ @alexa-fangirl-forever​​​​​ @jonesfandomfanatic​​​​​ @wefoundloveunderthelight​​​​​ @qualitycoffeethings​​​​​ @rapunzelsghosts​​​​​ @spaceconveyor @badcats-andmice​​​​​ @batana54​​​​ @sailtoafarawayland​​ @deckerstarblanche​​ @zaharadessert​​ @xarandomdreamx

[reallyhardydraws]

insp by what could come after @look-at-your-shattered-children‘s fic practically married, with some flower advice from @ladytrelaw … so have a drawing and a ficlet from me!

In the end they go for the smallest possible ceremony, just a little affair in Bristol’s city hall. Dea chooses a dress by touch, picking one in satin that swirls around her legs and makes her feel like Titania amongst the forest tangles. By smell she chooses lavender, of course, and weaves a stem into the braid in her hair, along with a few sprigs of baby’s breath because she’s heard they’re traditional, and a few larger chicory blossoms because Gwyn always said they remind him of her.

Gwyn himself wears charcoal grey and a bolo tie with a cold metal clasp, on which there’s the raised design of a wolf, and Dea had delighted in feeling out the point of its little snout. Looks like Mojo, she’d said, and Mojo had woofed his agreement. It had been her father’s, of course, since he’d had his western phase as a young man and Gwyn couldn’t be convinced into wearing a real tie come hell or high water, (though if you asked Dea, she’d say he was really only griping for show, and truly wanted nothing other than to wear the thing, with it being so special to Ursus.)

Of course she wears Gwyn’s mother’s bracelet, her something borrowed for years now, and elects Josiana her maid of honour, because as soon as Dea had mentioned wedding bells around her she’d essentially claimed the position for herself. And that’s alright - Dea’s world is little and once they’d got over their initial jealousy about each other, the two young women found they got along much better than anyone expected them to, what with their similar passions for Gothic romance and tragic theatre. Jojo had thrown herself into dress shopping and hairstyle choices and creating invitations for all of the three extra guests in attendance, and when Dea had found herself teary eyed on the morning of the event, Josiana had been the one to wipe away her tears and hug her tightly before they got into their dresses.

She meets Gwyn now at the altar, Mojo having led her up the aisle, and Gwyn reaches for her hands and holds them tight as Angelica, in the role of officiant, speaks. Together, they say all the necessary responses, and giggle like the schoolchildren they’d been when they first met once they hear the words I now pronounce you married. They kiss and Gwyn has been unmasked from the start, it’s only their dearest friends around anyway, (and everyone in attendance will say afterwards that in the springtime light pouring through the windows, you could hardly see his scars for his smile and the overjoyed tears in his eyes.)

Dea can feel those scars crinkle under her fingers as she holds his face in her hands, her mouth moving against his for a sweet, chaste moment before they pull away, and then they’re husband and wife. And someone snaps a photo and everyone cheers, and suddenly she and Gwyn are the sweet bubble-gum centre in a group-hug lollipop, with Osric’s good arm flung around Gwyn’s neck, and Ursus’s hands on Dea’s shoulders, and David and Jojo squeezing them around the outside, Angelica dragged somewhere into there too.

Together they emerge into the sunlight, and the perfume of roses hits Dea’s nose as tossed petals fly in her face and settle on her hair and shoulders. She holds on tight to Gwyn’s arm and presses her forehead into his shoulder and breathes deeply, deeply.

When they all get back to the house, (with a few white streamers pinned to the walls and a few vases of fragrant flowers on the sturdier surfaces,) Ursus gives a speech, a toast. He takes them all back to the day a scruffy twelve-year-old Gwyn had rescued a tiny eleven-year-old Dea and how, with some coaxing, he’d stuck around afterwards – and just how glad Ursus is that he did so. To my darling girl, he finishes, and my strong, brave lad. May you have many happy years together. May you never have to be apart for long. Beside her, with her hand on his back, Dea can feel a sob bubble up in Gwyn’s chest.

And they all drink, and the dining room table’s been turned into a buffet of home-made delicacies - pierogi and a huge pot of bigos from Angelica, she’d gotten the recipes during her studies in Poland, a selection of misshapen sandwiches because that was the best David and Osric could manage on a team effort and their combined culinary knowledge (which was negligible). There’s a cheeseboard Ursus put together based on a cookbook from 1978, and a cake Josiana commissioned from the best baker in the city - a three tier sponge with sweet buttercream and delicate sugar flowers. An hour later Osric climbs into the sofa with his shoes on and he’d be reprimanded on any other day, but today he gets away with it and gets to give a somewhat tipsy toast of his own, Gwyn, Dea, congratulations! Best ceremony I’ve ever been to, I think, bar that time I stumbled in on a biker wedding in Glasgow – yours a much classier affair I have to say, hey, good on ye!

You’ll be next! someone shouts up at him. Osric sticks out his tongue and gives a drunken chortle, stumbling down from the sofa before flinging his good arm lazily around David’s shoulders, spilling his champagne flute in the process. Jojo fiddles with plugging her phone into the stereo speakers so that they can dance - it’s no expensive wedding reception but they clear a little space in the kitchen for a dance floor and pair up, first father-and-bride and then maid-of-honour-and-bride and then bride-and-tipsy-dundonian and bride-and-tipsy-dundonian’s-boyfriend ‘til finally Dea finds herself in Gwynplaine Trelaw’s unmistakable arms.

“Hello,” he says, bending close to her. “We’re married.”

“Yes,” she replies, giggling. “That we are.”

After so long being practically married, she has to say it doesn’t feel all that different, or at least not yet, but she’s happier than she can express that all their friends were there to witness it happen. And she’s very happy with her dress, the slippery-smooth feel of it just like magic.

“I'm…” Gwyn starts. “I’m really happy. I mean, I didn’t think I wouldn’t be, but now that we’re here…”

“You’re right,” Dea says. “It’s wonderful, isn’t it? Maybe we should get married every week, so we can always feel like this. We could go to Las Vegas.”

“Oh really,” Gwyn replies, wrapping his arms around her waist. “Or we could do a destination wedding and head somewhere tropical.”

“The Bermuda Triangle!” Dea says, thrilled. “And then we’ll honeymoon in Dracula’s castle.”

Suddenly, Gwyn’s lifting her in the air and laughing as he spins them, like he almost never does, like he doesn’t care at all, like everything’s wonderful. Because everything is! Everything’s wonderful, right now, and Dea shrieks with surprised laughter too, still giggling when he sets her safely back down.

“I love you,” Gwyn says, breathless, like he’s so happy he could sing. “I love you.”

“I love you,” says Dea, “I’m going to tell you every day, 'til you’re sick of it.”

“I couldn’t ever be!” Gwyn says, and he twirls her, and they dance. They dance, and their friends dance with them long into the night, and they hold each other tight until everyone else has gone home, and then they dance once more even after all the music has been switched off, when they’re just in their pajamas and the flowers that had been in Dea’s hair are now in the sink, and they hold each other tight until the morning. 

There’s a ring on Dea’s finger, and a matching one on Gwyn’s. And Dea thinks, yes, they might just have to get married a few more times, because after all, she really likes her dress. It’d be a shame if she only got to wear it once.

[t-lostinworlds]

Babied (Tom Holland)

A/N: This will be the last of the requests for now since I have my own works i need to get too aha, so the anons who sent a few, I hope you don’t mind waiting a little longer <3 anyway, here’s another fluffy piece that’s made me want to cuddle with Tom even more. Short but extra sweet. Hope you guys enjoy!

Pairing: Tom Holland x Fem!Reader

Requested:

@ anon, first off, thank you so much you sweetheart! second, thank you for waiting love, hope you like this one <3

Warnings: Just pure wholesome fluff & maybe typos

Word Count: 1.7k

Masterlist in Bio

-:-:-:-:-

"Where is he?" You asked the moment you stepped inside the boys' house, worry etched on your features due to the faintly morbid text Harrison has sent you.

Said lad who was sat casually on the couch with a guitar in hand, head turning once he noticed your presence to greet you with a sympathetic smile. "He hasn't left his bed unless it's for the bathroom or food."

You sighed, muttering a quick 'thank you' to Harrison before you went into the kitchen to set down your bag of goods. Once done, you filled a tall glass of water full, holding it in one hand with the meds on the other. You went straight towards Tom's room right after, silently prying the door open as you made your way inside.

You felt your heart ache at the sight of your boyfriend, all curled up into a ball under the covers. You can just hear his heavy breaths, a soft groan following suit once he shifted from lying to his side to flat on his back. You made your way towards him, handsome face now in full view, brows furrowed as he squeezed his eyes shut, unaware that he had company until you set the glass of water and medicines gently on the nightstand.

Peeking an eye open, Tom stared at you in pure surprise, blinking rapidly to see if you were actually real. "Y/N? What're you doing here?" He grumbled, voice deep and hoarse as he sniffled.

You frowned at him—at his state to be specific—in utter concern, the bed dipping as you sat on the space beside him. "Haz said you've been groaning and moaning like you're dying so I came as soon as I can."

Tom shook his head with a scoff, gradually pushing himself to sit up—a slight task given that all his muscles were sore and aching—until he was close to eye-level with you, arms resting behind him to support his weight. "That's a bit of an exaggeration."

"I don't think so. You look like shit."

Tom's face was all puffy, hair going on different directions, unruly on top of his head. His eyes looked too tired with the bags under them to match, lips all chapped, nose red due to him always rubbing it with a tissue, irritating the skin, and his whole complexion is just downright pale, drained from any color making him look sickly, still handsome of course, but sickly.

He tilted his head at you with a pout. "Well, thanks darling, I love you too."

You felt your lips quirk up at that, hand going to cup his face, the heat of his skin searing on your palm. Your frown was quick to make a comeback at the feeling.

"Have you checked your temp?"

Tom nodded with a hum and a soft sniffle, leaning into your touch like a cute puppy, wearing a tired yet soft smile, brown orbs staring at you adoringly that's made your heart melt ten times over. "Hmm, it's just a fever love, don't worry too much."

Stroking your thumb softly on his warm cheek, you gave him a knowing look. "I care about you Thomas, I'll always worry a bit more."

Tom lets out a soft chuckle, turning his head to place a sweet kiss on your palm before pulling away from your touch reluctantly. "I know. I don't want you to catch it too though."

You stood up, Tom's eyes following your movement as you took the glass of water off the nightstand and handed it to him. "I'm going to be fine Tom. Now, let me take care you."

He grinned widely at that, corners of his eyes crinkling. "Are you going to baby me? I love getting babied by you." You shook your head at him with a laugh, leaning forward to give his forehead a loving peck, Tom letting out a soft sigh of content at the gesture.

"Drink up bub, you've got to stay hydrated." You thought his grin couldn’t get any wider but it did, a cute giggle coming out of Tom as he followed your instructions, lifting up the glass to his lips and emptied it out, eyes never losing that sweet crinkle.

He truly does love being babied.

Turning to catch a glimpse of the meds, you asked. "Did you drink any medicine today?" Tom shook his head no with a sheepish smile, handing you the empty glass in the process. "I thought I could just sleep it off." You couldn't help but roll your eyes at your boy. "Of course you did."

"I'll go get you some food so you can drink some meds." After earning a soft 'okay', you made your way out of his room, and back in the kitchen to heat up the broccoli and chicken noodle soup you've already made beforehand, and as if moths on a flame, the boys came rushing in the kitchen, nose upturned to see what the tasty smell was.

"Can I have some?" Harry asked, eyes hopeful, Harrison mirroring his expression as they leaned on the kitchen counter. You knew making more than one serving was the right call, especially when Tom lives in a house full of always, hungry lads. "Yes, but don't eat it all up and leave some for your brother later."

Both boys shouted in glee at that, fussing around the kitchen to get their own spoons and bowls, lining up on your right as they waited, like kids at lunch time. You let out a laugh, head shaking at their antics.

With a tray filled with a hot bowl of soup, some ginger tea, and another glass of water later, you made your way back to Tom's room, his head perking up from the pillow the moment he heard your footsteps. A lazy smile was plastered on his lips as he watched you place the tray on his bedside table, sighing at the heavenly smell that managed to slip through his stuffed nostrils.

"I'm such a lucky guy aren't I?" He hummed as he pushed himself back up. Once his back was rested on the headboard, his whole face crinkled, one second pause before letting out a loud, hard sneeze. Tom groaned, hand reaching on the opposite nightstand towards his box of tissues, wiping himself clean and then throwing them in the bin just in front of said nightstand.

You shot him a sympathetic smile. "Bless you."

"I love you." Tom responded with a beam, extending the last vowel, voice soft and sweet with the glow in his eyes to match, and by the gods above he never does fail to make you fawn over him, even when he's ill.

"You're so adorable you know that?" You gushed, running your nimble fingers through his hair comfortingly.

"Thought I look like shit?" Tom raised his one messy brow at you, tone playfully accusing. You giggled. "You do, but still adorable nonetheless. Now scoot."

You sat on the bed once he moved, taking the bowl of soup in your hand, scooping a spoonful and lifting it up to his lips. Tom couldn’t erase the love-struck look he had on his face, his eyes boring into yours, coated with nothing but fondness, humming at the warm, comforting feeling once he ate.

"I thought you just had a fever Tom, didn't know you lost a hand too." Harry joked as he pop his head inside Tom's room. "You're just jealous 'cause you don't have a girlfriend who'd baby you." The older brother mocked, Harry letting out a loud laugh before disappearing back outside.

Once he finished as much soup that he could, you handed him the ginger tea and the meds, a sweet thank you coming out of his lips as he drank. Tom sighed in pure relief, body feeling lighter, fever slowly dropping. It filled your heart with comfort just seeing the color gradually seep back into his skin.

"Warm bath?" You offered, smiling sweetly at him and Tom stared at you, features covered with awe, utter wonder as to how he's managed to have someone like you in his life. "God, I'm so in love with you. I so badly want to kiss you but I don't want you getting sick too and argh the struggle is real darling."

A hearty laugh erupted from your chest at his input, smile all wide as you placed a chaste kiss on his temple, whispering on his skin ever so tenderly. "I love you too, you dork."

You took the dirty dishes back to the kitchen, and after that, you went straight to the bathroom to run him a bath, helping him up and off the bed next. Giggles and laughs bounced off the white tiles as he slowly undressed himself, teasing jokes thrown about before he finally slipped into the bath.

Countless times of begging, from Tom's puppy-dog eyes to his adorable pout, you gave in to his request with a sigh, stripping out of your own clothes and joining him in the tub. You talked about anything and everything, deep thoughts to something silly with Tom situated comfily between your legs, his back rested against your chest, your fingers rubbing at his temples soothingly.

Once the water started to turn cold, you two got out of the bath. Tom gave you a loving hug from behind and a sweet just below your ear, so smitten and in love before letting you go to change into fresh sets of clothes.

Now, both of you were cozily tangled on his bed, the television playing some random show just to fill up the room with soft noise. Tom laid right on top of you, his face pressed on the crook of your neck, warm air tickling your skin as he lets out a gratifying breath.

"Feel better?" You cooed, hand running up and down his back comfortingly. Tom nodded, snuggling closer to your side, placing a warm kiss on your collarbone before murmuring, voice soft and sleepy. "Loads better."

You hummed all satisfied. "Now, get some rest you big baby."

"Your baby." Tom grumbled, breath slowly steadying, indicating that he was slowly drifting off.

You giggled, nodding in agreement and giving him a loving squeeze, turning your head to press your lips on his head sweetly. With tone laced with adoration, completely enamored with the boy in your arms, heart full and oozing with pure love, you whispered,

"My baby."

-:-:-:-:-

Like, Reblog & Leave a Comment if you enjoyed! Lemme know your thoughts! <3

Tom H. Taglist: @spacebitch2​​ @hollanddolanfangirl​​ @keepingupwiththehollands​​

[hiswhiteknight]

Unbelievably Outlandish– Part 5

Summary:  Before starting down a new crossroads, the Reader goes onto an adventure of literary traveling. Suddenly tossed into an unbelievable story that has swept the world, The Outlander Series itself. How will a twenty first century woman survive?

Note: I own no characters, except reader, clearly this is based off the lovely book series Outlander by Diana Gabaldon and tv show. This follows more the tv show, but it’s far from accurate. I’m going to try to get better with using less proper English, but who knows maybe I’ll get into Scottish slang.

Pairing: Jamie Fraser x Female Reader

Words: 2000

Warning: Angst, playfulness, cursing, slow start, obviously fighting and such

 You were woken up by a bolt, Mrs. Fitz barged in and woke you up. She had to you stripped into your nakedness, dressing you in appropriate garb, freezing you as she washed you up. She would make comments like, “You’ve got lovely hair and strong frame.” Or “you’ll make a lucky wife for some lad.”

You didn’t eye roll the comment because she was so extremely kind and lovely. Mostly you stayed quiet and listened to her speak about a gathering and how nice it is to have you to help with the injuries and ailments. You thought about the rocks and getting back to your time, where you were slightly less likely to die due to being an outspoken woman. You remember the woman from the rocks and what she said, “Enjoy your adventure, lass.” Your gut told you, you would get back there by fate or at least you could buy time to plan a better escape than something you could throw together in the next few days or even weeks.

You were waiting to be called to the laird, Mrs. Fitz guided you down to an area where you recognized as some medicine, healer space. You spent your time learning and reading from the books. If you were going to be convincing person with healing, you’ve got to read some stuff. You tried to go back into your memory searching for the information you learned from the states and some information you could read from the books. You were far from a medic in anyway. When you first met with the Laird, he was kind and didn’t question you as harshly as you thought he would, considering I was a stranger or a spy. The US government would not take too kindly to a stranger like myself in my time.

Most of the time you read up and explored the grounds and customs. You truly kept to yourself, trying to learn the best you could, especially considering you were not an expert level medic like your brother, he was the MacGyver doctor of the group. The first day you ate in the kitchen with Mrs. Fitz, trying to help around the kitchen. This seemed more manageable than medicine for now. The next day, your mind wondered to Jamie more so than the day before.

Honestly, it’s hard to keep the man out of your head. The first initial day my mind was elsewhere, trying to figure out how to survive in this time till I can find my way home. But now my interest in Jamie was more towards the fact that he felt like your only friend at this time and you didn’t want him to get sick and die of infection, “Mrs. Fitz,” she looked back at you after helping with breakfast, “Do you know where Jamie’s been, thought I would have seen him around more?”

“He spends his time by the stables, top of the meadow, towards the east, why?”

“I should look after his arm, change some of his bandages, and maybe I can bring him lunch,” you said, skeptically. Everything you said, you were cautious in offending the culture here. Honestly, it’s the way you felt when traveling around the world, always apologizing, and choosing to say nothing incase you offend something which you no nothing about.

She smiled at you, “Of course you do lass, I’ve seen you working down there. You’ll see the stuff you need over there.”

“Thank you, you are a true angel,” she continued to work as she smiled, “Oh I thought I might take some extra food for Dougal’s men who have been following me. Thought they might get hungry.”

Shaking her head, “Yeah, though your treating them much kinder than they have been treating you.”

Answering her comment with a smirk, you shrug, “You’re making it harder to want to be nice Mrs. Fitz.”

“You’ve got a kind soul dear, that’s all I’m saying,” she mused at you before shooing you away to complete your business, “Also Las, the laird will want you to join the feast tonight as his guest.”

This cautioned your step, this would be his time to question your motives – the good cop, “Yes Mrs. Fitz, I’d love too. I guess I’m done hiding in your kitchen.”

“That you are my dear,” she smiled at you before you trotted away to get some things you need.

 On your way over, you noticed your guard for the day. For the most part, you tried to ignore the pair. You would have done the same if you were in their shoes. You saw Jamie working a horse as it trots around him. It was strange to think of this time being so similar to how it’s still done today. Jamie had a glow to him, something you really couldn’t describe, not that you’d act on it. You’re not known to act on your attraction or even think about romantic feelings – you’re about everything else. Here was the first time since you were a teenager that you felt a spark of a crush added with a tad bit of annoyance.

It was unfortunate that you were so focused on Jamie’s glow that you trip on a divot in the ground and clobbered over making a strange noise of shock, some curses, and a clang from your basket. This spooked the horse, which nearly injured Jamie. You could hear his Gaelic curses before double taking the sight of you on the ground, “Dear me, I’m sorry,” you yelled in his direction, standing up on your knees trying to dust off your hands.

He tried to hold back his laughter, pulling his sling away from his body and bouncing over to help you up and gathered your things, “She’s just a girl with spirits, that’s all. It’s always a good thing. What can I do for you Y/N?”

“I haven’t seen you in the past day, thought I’d bring you some food and change those bandages,” you said to him, noticing how difficult it is to keep eye contact with him, especially with him holding your hand and you suddenly feeling shy again.

He nodded, looking around, “Let’s head over here, I suspect it’s going to rain soon.”

When he showed you where you were going, you both sat in silence as you checked his wound. It seemed to be healing nicely and that’s when the rain started, “I love the rain.”

“You’re in luck, you’ll be getting that a lot here,” he smirked at you, “Doesn’t it rain where you’re from?”

You continued to focus on wrapping back his wound in clean bandages and the conversation is making it easier to ignore your attraction towards him, “Of course, but I’ve travelled all over for a long time, so rain doesn’t always happen in some areas.”

“Aye, makes sense,” he said, “I imagine everything is healing nicely.”

You nod, as you pat his leg to say he could put his shirt fully back on. You started to lay out the food and you just watched him. You weren’t surprised how much he ate with out much work he had to be doing. Something sparked Jamie to tell you some tales of his times before this moment and you just listened. He told you about his family, especially in relation to his uncles, which made you understand it a bit more. This young man before you had been through his share of trauma and he still sits in front of you fully conscious and thriving. He was a wonder and refreshing. He didn’t hide anything; this was him take it or leave it. He started to get ready to start work again, “You didn’t have to tell me all that, you know. I could be a traitor, a spy even. Maybe I could get money for your head and run away from here.”

He chuckled, smirking down at you before squatting next to you, “That you could, Deoiridh,” he tapped your chin, “Guess I decided to trust ye instead.” He stood up, reaching his hand down to help you up as well, “Best be getting back to work. Thank you for bring me some food and taking care of this,” he touched his shoulder. You could see the stable hand heading in your direction, “You’re a good listener. Also, I hope you’ll start talking about yourself. You’re a mystery.”

You smirk, “Better to use to my advantage later, especially if you even try to pick me up like that again.”

Shaking his head, “I won’t make any promises,” he grinned at you before getting back to his work exchanging some words with a man he worked with.

 You passed by one of Dougal’s men, passing him a basket of food, “Come on good sir, let’s head back to the castle before you switch with Angus, you are far more charming.”

He was in shock and had to skip to catch up to you, taking a bite of an apple. For Dinner, you sat next to the laird being introduced to his family and endured his questions. He continued to try to get you to drink more or catch you in some sort of lie, but you remained calm and answered some of the storyline you have come up with over the past few days. Though he and Dougal didn’t seem convinced, you were in better footing already.

Over the next few days, you got to know the people. Dougal would watch you interact with the children and teaching some of the boys and girls how to fight properly with swords and fists. Medicine was becoming something you were doing your best to learn, but this was your expertise.

Besides that, you kept yourself small as possible until the night of the hall where people gathered to discuss disputes. You stood close to Mrs. Fitz and she translated some of the conflicts being bestowed in front of you. You heard a gasp next to you as Mrs. Fitz held onto your arm, “That’s my granddaughter.” She explained the best she could about what was being said.

“Punished,” you questioned, “She’s a young lady, a girl,” you say, “What would he have them do,” you questioned, trying to understand the barbaric concept. You looked at the pretty girl, noticing her delicate features and small frame. This girl could not take much punishment from what you could tell.

“Whipped,” you barley heard her whisper.

Without thinking you look at her and say, “Like hell.” You barged your way in the center, hearing nearly everyone gasp and a flame of anger hit both Mackenzie’s eyes, “Pardon me, my laird,” you didn’t understand a lot of the customs, but after talking to Mrs. Fitz and some of the children, you know some of the concepts of this ritual, “I don’t mean any disrespect, but I’m to understand I could volunteer to take the girls punishment.”

The father began to yell and get aggressive, you made eye contact with a desperate and scared Mrs. Fitz.

There is a giant pause and skepticism soared between the pair of gentlemen in front of you, “I’m trying my best to fit in here, as your guest, and it’s only fair that I show my respect for your people. This is but a young girl, I can volunteer myself, please.”

Dougal looked fairly enraged, but there was a different spark in Colum’s eyes. Before either of them could speak, Jamie spoke in Gaelic, something that made the crowd laugh, which you suspected to be at your expense. He spoke directly to the laird, which got interrupted by the father again. Dougal whispered something to Colum, “As I appreciate you trying to respect our culture Mistress O’Mulligain, I will ask you to have a sit back where you came.”

You were about to protest, particularly with Jamie’s injury, but the look he gave you told him not to push it. You wanted to be sick, as well kick the crap out of Jamie. You stood next to Mrs. Fitz, putting your arm around her shoulder, and holding her tight. Colum spoke directly to Jamie next, which I understood to show he accepted his terms.

It made you sick watching the cheap moves from his uncle’s lackey. You were bubbling so hot that steam was exploding out of your ears. You watched him limp way and you made your way to give him a piece of your mind.

PART 6

taglist: @doctorwhatwhenandwhere

[acraftedmistake]

A Person Who Has Never Played MCSM Writes A Story About MCSM Chp. 14

HAHAAA BACK IN BUSINESS BABY!

Hope you enjoy this one!!

Jesse sat against the broken column by the shrine’s entrance, a breeze brushing against his face. He brought his eyes up, looking at the clear blue sky through the ravine’s crack and listening to the faint conversations coming from inside the shrine. There was nothing for him here.

No answers to Lukas’ whereabouts, nothing about what The Awakening was planning next, the only thing these past few gatherings have given him was discomfort.

Nell was usually the one to talk him into attending each Gathering, but she was sick today. This was his first time coming here alone, and hopefully his last. Being by himself made him even more aware of how everything felt… Off. Whenever members saw him walk in, they’d stop by his seat to say hi and talk about what’s going on, if he was enjoying his visits, simple small talk. However, something everyone seemed too comfortable with was how close they’d get to him. Jesse was never too big on people being near or putting their hands on him, the only exceptions being a quick handshake, a pat on the back from his friends, or Aiden messing with his hair to annoy him. Those were harmless and only lasted a moment. But whenever Jesse would step into the shrine, he'd see a few people’s faces light up as they’d walk over to him with arms open wide, ready to hug him as if they were best friends who hadn’t seen each other in years. They’d pull him close, place their hand on his shoulder as they spoke about their day, and refused to loosen their grip even when he asked. Some people would look genuinely hurt when he pulled away.

There would be nights where these Awakening individuals, Nell included, would spot Jesse on the streets. Those were the worst days. The way they’d look at him with big, bright smiles that stretched from ear to ear, walking up to him and asking if he was coming to this week’s Gathering made him feel terrible. He didn’t want to keep coming, he already felt like he was betraying his own friends, but he was afraid of how the members would react if he refused to return.

He knew the members meant well and were just trying to be nice, at least, that’s what he believed, but they’re all so unaware of how horrible their leaders actually are.

“No, they aren’t called ‘leaders’,” He remembered Nell telling him before one of the Gatherings, “they’re Visions! They look after us.”

Brenner and Mahlon, the ‘Visions’, the individuals who preached about helping others, the individuals who gave guidance to their members and offered their support during trying times were the same individuals who unleashed their horrific lava creation onto the world. They were the same people who took away lives and watched the world burn with no remorse.

They were terrible.

Jesse had watched the older, white haired Vision--the man who had screamed vile curses at him and his friends--happily play with children outside of the shrine. He’d sit on the grass and tell them stories about The Awakening and The Hero after the Gatherings were over. It was so surreal to witness.

The Visions might’ve fooled these misguided people, but they haven’t fooled Jesse. He was waiting for someone, the leaders, Cecil, anyone to slip up and reveal their next scheme, but nothing’s happened yet. If they haven’t hinted at anything these past few weeks who knows how long it’ll take them. Jesse can’t keep coming here forever. Aiden and Olivia had questioned why he’s been leaving the house more often, and who the blonde woman greeting him every now and then was. He knew the excuses: “I just need to clear my head” and “Someone I kinda know” will only last him so long.

Today was going to be his last visit. There was nothing for him here.

“Is all well?” Jesse heard an older man ask. He brought his head up. Standing over him was one of the Visions. Mahlon. The Vision’s head was tilted down slightly, his foggy eye focused more on the broken column rather than the boy below.

“Yeah--Yes, Vision… Sir.” When Jesse spoke the Vision lowered his head more, ‘staring’ more in the direction from where Jesse’s voice came.

“No need to be so formal.” The old man chuckled, “You can call me by my name.” Mahlon said as he sat besides Jesse.

“You’re Jesse, if I remember correctly? Our newest member?” Mahlon asked.

“Right.” Jesse said through gritted teeth, his body stiff as a board. He tried to lean away from Mahlon. Just the thought of being associated with these people made him sick.

“And how are you liking it here?” Mahlon spoke gently, his voice was slightly hoarse.

Jesse answered with a lie, “It’s nice here.” He was afraid of locking eyes with Mahlon. He was half expecting the man’s blindness to be another deceiving trick, but anytime Jesse glanced at him, he saw a genuine look of curiosity on Mahlon’s face, like he wanted to hear more.

The mixture of Mahlon’s pleasant expression and Jesse’s fear of upsetting him prompted him to keep lying. He lied about the new friends he’s made here, how each Gathering had connected with him, and how much their words meant to him. As he kept lying, Mahlon kept smiling. Jesse couldn’t take his eyes off of Mahlon’s burn scar. Most of the old man’s face had been taken over by this fleshy-pink scar that stretched from the bottom left of his face all the way to the top right in a somewhat diagonal manner. The only remaining visible parts of his white, porcelain skin was a small portion where his right eye was, his mouth--where his long, thin white beard covered bits of the scar--and the upper left part of his forehead. Jesse had also noticed that only one of Mahlon’s eyes could open properly while the left one was melted shut. Jesse, admittingly, felt terrible that he couldn’t take his attention away from Mahlon’s distortions. It’s disrespectful--well, it’s not like the old man would ever know where he’s staring, but it was disrespectful nonetheless. The only other feature that would occasionally distract Jesse from the face was Mahlon’s long, white hair which flowed like a candle’s fire in the wind.

Jesse’s kind words sparked a rambling from the old man. Mahlon began talking about everyone’s first visit, how their family welcomes anyone with open arms, the variety of celebrations they’ll have throughout the year to look forward to… These were more words to ‘help’ Jesse feel more ‘comfortable’ here, no doubt. As Mahlon spoke, he’d gesture with his hands. The long sleeves of his robe would flow along with his movements. His attire was similar to Brenner’s. Both wore robes that were a deep shade of red. The ends of the sleeves and the bottom of the robe itself were aligned with a golden yellow. Unlike Brenner’s, however, where the bottom of his robe--and the collar around his neck--had a small, triangle slit, Mahlon had none. Instead, he had a hood that was quite difficult to spot due to his thick hair covering it. Another element Mahlon’s robe had that Brenner lacked was a thick, V-shaped golden line around his waist that could be mistaken as a belt. If Jesse really concentrated on the golden parts of the robe he could make out a variety of tiny symbols--mostly being odd shapes and dashes--on them. Their color was only slightly darker than the yellow they were sewn into, making them easy to miss.

In all honesty, the robe was elegant. It was clear so much time and effort was put into making sure this wonderful robe fit this horrible man. Someone so vile doesn’t deserve to wear something so graceful.

“So what is troubling you?” Mahlon asked. “If you’ve been enjoying your time here, then why sit out here all alone?”

“How’d you even know I was out here?” Jesse tilted his head slowly, curious and a little disturbed.

“Cecil, the lad. He told me.”

Cecil. Of course. What else has he been telling the Visions? He’s probably been keeping them updated every time Jesse so much as scratched his head, but now wasn’t the time to get upset. Jesse needed to make an excuse. Any excuse, as long as it was believable.

“I’ve been...” Jesse swallowed, “Thinking about a friend I lost.”

That was meant to be a lie, but it struck Jesse that it’s been nearly a year since Lukas had gone missing. He started to feel queasy.

Mahlon’s smile faded and was replaced by a look of sorrow, “I see.” He said in a whisper.

There was a moment of silence. Jesse hugged his knees, and Mahlon faced forward and stroked his beard.

Mahlon turned to Jesse again and spoke carefully, “I’m terribly sorry about your friend.”

“Don’t be,” Jesse had to force his next words out, “it wasn’t your fault.”

“If I may,” Mahlon said, “I had also lost someone close to me.”

“You did?” The sinking feeling in Jesse’s stomach grew.

“Yes, he was our Sense before you came along.” Mahlon began, “He had been a wonderful friend of mine since I was a boy, and I fondly remember the excitement I felt when I heard the news that he had been selected as my and Brenner’s Sense. We were all overjoyed. Even after our ceremony, where we were expected to remain resilient leaders, it truly felt like nothing had changed between us. We were three friends who worked together and achieved our dreams. Frankly, the whole experience felt like a dream.” He let out a pleasant laugh as he rested his head on his hands. “Antonin and Brenner made the last ten years of being a Vision possibly the greatest years of my life.” There was a sparkle of joy in Mahlon’s eye, “You’d be surprised how short a decade feels when you’re my age. Oh, it all went by so fast.”

Mahlon’s mouth twitched and he let out a sigh, “And perhaps I should have been wiser; spend an extra few minutes talking to him during breakfast, join him when he was training with Brenner, ramble with him in the library for a moment longer. I was so certain time was on my side. I truly thought that nothing bad could have ever happened to him.”

Jesse listened to Mahlon, and how his voice would get lower the longer he went on. It'd crack and shake at certain points of his recollection, and that bit of light in his eye began to fade. A part of Jesse wanted to feel bad, the other wondered just how blind Mahlon was.

Antonin, this ‘wonderful’ man, surely couldn’t have been the same man who was running towards Jesse and his friends the night they were fighting the lava beast. The image of the man’s black hair flying in the air as he was rushing to them, his sword held high, his red cloak torn, and nothing but hatred in his eyes as he screamed bloody murder at them under the smoke-filled sky was fresh in Jesse’s mind. Maybe Mahlon never saw this horrible side of his friend. Maybe he refused to see it.

And then there was that word, “Sense”. Jesse had heard Radar mention the word in the past when referencing The Awakening, he’s also heard that word in passing conversations in the shrine. He remembered Nell telling him all about their ‘community’ one day before a Gathering started, and they soon got on the topic of Cecil. “...He’s also a leader,” Nell had said, “...but he mostly protects the Visions. He’s like their own personal guard.” Jesse could hardly contain his disbelief. He couldn’t believe someone like Cecil was now another leader of the Awakening.

‘What a downgrade.’ Jesse thought to himself. To think the Awakening’s past Sense--a broad madman who was dead set on killing Jesse’s friends when the world was falling apart--had been replaced by some skinny, sickly pale blondie who used to flee from a fight when things became a little overwhelming. Even Cecil’s attire felt less-than compared to the Visions’ and Antonin’s. His red cloak went a bit past his waste and had a golden collar with a small, yellow button keeping the cloak together. There were no fancy symbols on it either--at least none which Jesse could see. It was jarring to see such an uptight, boastful man wear something so… Plain.

“Oh look at me, acting like he’s died long ago.” Mahlon chuckled sadly, “It’s only been a year; minutes for me.”

“You’re a fine boy,” Mahlon fixed his posture and faced Jesse’s direction again, “I’m absolutely certain your friend was just as wonderful a person as you.”

“Thank--” Jesse quickly hid his voice crack with a cough, “Thank you. He was… He was the best.”

“Our bodies may die on this earth,” Mahlon slowly rose, “but our spirits live on in The Hero’s hands.” Mahlon offered his hand to Jesse, “Will you be joining our Gathering today?”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Olivia woke up. She didn’t remember falling asleep. She did remember talking with Jess about what happened last night. They were on the bed, both worried about what was happening and about each other. Guess she just… dozed off. She felt well rested at least, that’s always important. What time was it though?

She sat up and ran her hand through her tangled hair before getting out of bed. Olivia dragged her feet across the guest room’s floor to the window and opened the curtains just a sliver. She peaked through the crack, hoping to see the sun and get a vague idea of what hour it was, but instead she was greeted with light gray clouds completely covering the sky. She didn’t see anyone roaming the streets, so hopefully it was still morning. That’s technically evening for Aiden and the others, isn’t it?

She still wasn’t used to this time difference. She didn’t want to get used to it. Her sleep schedule was already weird enough, she could only imagine how horrific it would get if she got adjusted to the hours here. And being active at night… The idea didn’t sound appealing to her at all. She thought back to the times she pulled all-nighters on projects, getting headaches from the bright redstone lamps shining down on her because the Sun had set and needing to leave the comfort of her own home and storm over to the nearest cave to find whatever material she ran out of before mobs would hunt her down. Those nights were the most infuriating, and she shuddered at the thought of living every single day like that. That’d be a life full of inconveniences.

“Hm…” Olivia looked around the guest room. Where was Jess? She would’ve definitely spotted him by now, or he would’ve given her a loud ‘Good Morning!’ from behind that’d always scare the socks off of her back when they used to live in the treehouse together.

The only place she could think of was downstairs. Maybe he’s having breakfast already.

Olivia quietly left her room, making sure to open and close the door carefully so she wouldn’t awaken anyone nearby. As she made her way down the stairs, she heard a faint conversation grow louder.

When she finally reached the end, she peeked over the wall and saw Jess and Aiden sitting together on the couch working on the flint and steel. They still didn’t seem too thrilled with each other, but it was much better than the anger and shouting from last night.

“Morning guys.” Olivia said as she began walking over.

Jess waved at her, “Morning!”

Aiden gave her a stiff “Hey.”, while he continued to focus on the tool.

“Is that the appropriate thing to say?” She asked Aiden, “Can I say ‘Good Morning’? Or do you have a special phrase for this specific time?” She sat down beside Jess, sinking into the couch cushion.

“ ‘Morning’’s uncommon, but it’s fine.” Aiden replied, “Most people usually say ‘Good day’ or somethin’ like that.”

She nodded then leaned closer to the table where the items and notes were placed, “Any progress?” She shifted around, trying to get a bit more comfortable, but felt grainy, sand-like particles stuck to her feet. She glanced at the floor to see redstone powder scattered everywhere. It clinged onto the ends of the couch and got stuck in between the cracks of the wooden boards. That powder was an uncomfortable feeling on the feet and a pain to clean up.

“It was kinda rocky at first, but we’ve figured out the notes with Radar’s help!” Jess started. While he wanted to show Olivia what they’ve accomplished, Aiden was still holding onto the flint and steel with one hand, and reading a page of notes in the other, so he decided to let Aiden be. “We coated the fire striker with redstone powder. It actually stuck to the metal pretty well, but we’re still being careful whenever we place it down. We also figured out we need to make this weird mish-mash of a gold and netherrack base? Mold? Something to fit the flint in--” Jess went on to describe their plans on how they were going to create a mold out of such odd materials when suddenly Aiden interrupted.

“Olivia,” He finally spoke up, “I--I’m sorry about last night.” He gripped the flint and steel so tightly he was afraid it was going to break. “I should’ve controlled myself better--I shouldn’t have told Jesse about you. I shouldn’t have even mentioned you.” He shot up from the couch and was fidgeting with the tool now. He kept running his free hand through his hair, not caring about the red powder getting tangled up with the strands. “I put you and Jess in danger when I just wanted to help. I know--” He swallowed, “I know you’re not from this universe, you’re not really my friends, but I still want to protect you. I wanna help get you outta this mess I started.”

Olivia stopped and stared at him for a moment, surprised by this sudden apology. She slowly clasped her hands together and blinked. “Aiden…” She said quietly, “It’s okay. I forgive you.” She didn’t realize how comforting that apology was. Even if the situation was looming over them, things felt a little better.

“We’ll figure a way out of this together.” Jess added in. “And uh…” He glanced at Olivia then at Aiden, “Yeah, I’m sorry about how I acted yesterday too.”

“No, you two don’t have anything to be sorry for.” Aiden pointed at Jess as he placed the tool on top of the papers.

“But I could’ve handled things better.” Jess mumbled and went silent for a moment. “Aiden, I know you want to protect us, but we’re able to help. We don’t need to be locked in here and supervised like children. We’ve saved the world--multiple worlds--multiple times. We can help! Heck, I’m the mayor of an entire town!” He exclaimed.

“I sometimes forget about that unfortunate fact.” Olivia commented, a little smirk on her face.

Jess turned around with his eyebrows raised high. He actually looks a bit offended by her joke. “And what do you mean by ‘unfortunate’?”

“Like I could forget the time you tried to decorate Beacon Town with lava-falls for Halloween.” She kept that playful but devious expression on. She propped one leg up and rested her arm on her knee, “You nearly burnt down a good third of the buildings.”

“I put it out!” Jess felt his face turn a light shade of pink. “Plus I was following Ivor’s advice! So the Halloween Incident was technically his fault!”

“Oh sure, blame the senior citizen.” Olivia chuckled. Aiden snickered along. Jess turned even more red as he tried to think of a witty comeback, but all he could do was give her a light shove then turn away, folding his arms and pouting like a little kid as he struggled to hold back his own laughter.

“Alright, but seriously.” Aiden was finally relaxed, “I was just worked up when I said that. We can take you two outta the house and wherever you need to be as long as you hide your faces well enough.” He went to the kitchen, “I’m gonna make myself some coffee. You two want any?” He looked back at Jess and Olivia.

“Yes please!” Olivia said.

Jess shook his head, “I’m alright, thanks though.”

Aiden took out a small saucepan and placed it under the sink. He turned the faucet on and kept an eye on the water’s level.

“Actually…” Jess perked up, “Speaking of lava, what did that lava monster you guys fought look like? I’ve been thinking about it ever since you’ve brought it up.”

“Now that you mention it,” Olivia said, patting down her frizzy hair, “I’ve been pretty interested as well.”

“Oh jeez.” Aiden sighed as he turned off the water and brought the pan to the stove. He turned the heat to medium high, the knob making faint clicking sounds with each number he passed. “Man, we could only stare at that thing for a couple of seconds or our eyes would’ve melted off.” As the water slowly began to heat up, Aiden turned to a higher cabinet and swung it open.

“I knew it had a couple of eyes and a bunch of arms.” He pushed aside a few items and stopped when he spotted a small, crinkled, light blue bag.

“How many?” Olivia asked.

“Hero if I know.” Aiden let out a laugh, “More than five. It’d drag itself around with them, one arm would merge into another, and then when that thing brought one of it’s limbs back into the air--” He raised one of his arms over his head attempting to recreate the motion, “--you could see the arm split up into two or three more. And when it’s claws would hit the ground it’d send rocks and magma flying everywhere.” He splayed his fingers out, “I know a good chunk of forests burnt down, and some houses in nearby towns too, unfortunately. The library almost got hit too!” He explained while he opened and closed multiple drawers, trying to look for something.

“And the sound. Sweet Hero, the sound. It’s one of those things I’ll probably never forget. I sometimes hear it in my dreams.” He finally spotted what he was searching for--a tablespoon--and closed the drawer. He opened his bag of coffee, scooped up a hefty spoonful of powder, and added it into the pan, getting a bit of the powder on the kitchen counter. “So it’d start off real low, right? Almost sounds like a rumble, but then it’d open it’s mouth more and more until it’d let out this roar that left us deaf for nearly a minute!” He added a few more tablespoons into the water and began mixing the contents together, “Hadrian told us the sound was enough to shake the buildings, and that it’s body was so bright they thought it was day! He and Mevia used to travel the world a ton and they told us they’ve never seen anything like that creature before.”

“That’s insane.” Olivia’s eyes were wide. “That thing sounds just as dangerous as Ivor’s Witherstorm.”

“Tell me about it.” Jess was thinking about what such a beast would look like. Multiple eyes, a giant mouth, enough strength to shake the earth with each step it took. He could only imagine how horrendous the damage must’ve been, the smoke that filled the air with the fires it caused, the ashes flying everywhere, it was probably hot enough to melt a person’s skin off if they were unfortunate enough to stand too close.

“Now,” Aiden said as he tossed the tablespoon into the sink, “how bout that Witherstorm of yours? What was that like?”

Jess thought it was only fair to share their tale now. He went into detail about how the Witherstorm happened in the first place, how it kept following them and destroying everything in it’s path, how they had to travel across the world to create a weapon strong enough to destroy it, only for that plan to fail and leading to Jess having to kill it from the inside. This soon led to Jess going off about Ivor and The Order of the Stone, the Ender Dragon, and how Jess and his friends discovered the truth about them. Every now and then when Jess would mention the names of people he’s met, he’d ask Aiden if he’s ever interacted with them in this universe. Aiden needed their physical appearance to be described to get a good idea of them, but most of his answers were usually: “Don’t know them.” or a “I think we might’ve met ‘em?”. The only names Aiden seemed familiar with were Isa, Harper, and Otto. There was a big maybe on Gabriel and Soren.

“Hadrian and Mevia might’ve known them, honestly.” Aiden said at one point, “They’ve met a ton of people when they were ramblers.”

As Jess and Olivia kept going back and forth talking about the Admins, White Pumpkin, and everything else they’ve experienced, Aiden would listen along and chime in with similar situations he and his friends went through. His reactions were definitely mixed when he learned about their Cassie Rose and what she’s done. There’d be points where all he could do was laugh over how bizarre the situation sounded, and other instances where he couldn’t react at all because of how… Unstable Jess and Olivia’s Cassie Rose seemed. Aiden eventually came back into the living room with two cups of fresh, hot coffee in his hands. He sat beside Jess and placed one of the cups on the table for Olivia. She gave him a quiet thank you as they both continued to listen to Jess’ stories.

Jess was sharing his experiences out of order, but he was finally telling Aiden about Hadrian and Mevia. How they ran these twisted games and how he thought Lukas and Petra were killed right before his eyes--when suddenly Aiden jerked forward and choked on his coffee.

He hurriedly placed his cup down--spilling a bit of his drink--and broke into a coughing fit. Jess patted his back a couple of times to try and help him.

“You--your friends with Lukas in your universe?” Aiden asked between coughs.

“Yeah,” Jess answered, “I thought we--” He froze. Oh no. They never… Did they never tell Aiden that they knew Lukas in their universe? Or maybe they did--but did they never mention that they were all friends?

“And he’s alive?” Aiden said, his voice a touch raspy from the strain.

“Yes--absolutely! He’s still in one piece! We met cause of the Witherstorm and got real close throughout all those adventures.” Jess was speaking so fast, “Argh, I’m sorry, I thought I told you this.” How could he forget to tell Aiden something as major as this? Especially after Aiden had told him all about the struggles he and his friends went through after their Lukas went missing.

“No, don’t be. I probably--” Aiden stopped to cough again, “I probably forgot. I sorta remember you mentioning I kinda sucked in your universe.” He grinned. There was a sad look in his eyes. “But are Lukas and I… Are we friends there?”

Jess didn’t answer for a second. In that second he thought back to Sky City; the hatred and disgust in Lukas’ eyes whenever he had to face or even acknowledge Aiden. He thought about the many letters their Aiden had sent over that Lukas threw away. He remembered Lukas’ curious expression contorting to pure anger when Jess had mentioned Aiden wanting redemption. He doesn’t--

“Oh, absolutely!” Olivia lied. “Sure you guys hit a couple of rough patches here and there, especially after the whole Sky City incident, but you two made up!”

Jess went along, “You two live pretty far away from each other, but I know you and Lukas like to hang out at this one restaurant at least once a month to catch up.”

“The Shulker Spices?” Olivia made up the restaurant’s name on the spot.  

Jess snapped his finger, “Yeah, that one! Great stuff.”

“That’s good to hear… That’s probably the best thing I’ve heard in a while.” The soft smile on Aiden’s face faltered for a moment. Sure, he looked relieved, but Jess felt terrible. He hated flat out lying like this, but there was no way he was going to crush Aiden with the truth, and it’s not like he’ll ever know. They did the right thing. Even if it doesn’t feel like it.

Aiden’s body loosened and he let out a long sigh. “It’s been rough ever since he went missing.” He admitted, “Jess, you got a lotta good things back in your universe. Your friends are all still there, you’ve been able to take down any problems comin’ at you… I bet the people there must love ya.”

“But… Your friends love you too, don’t they?” Jess asked, gently placing his hand on Aiden’s back.

“Yeah--I didn’t mean to--of course they do!” Aiden quickly lifted his head back up, “And… You know…” His face got a little red, “I love ‘em too.”

Aiden went to grab his coffee to have another sip, “But you two need to get back to your universe. Once Rose comes back we can finish that flint and steel and get you two home.”

“Cassie’s still gone?” Olivia sounded concerned.

“She’ll be alright.” Aiden said, gesturing with his mug. “I know she can handle herself in extreme places like the Nether, but if she doesn’t come back by the end of tomorrow, we’ll have to hunt her down.”

The three sat on the couch, motionless for a minute, and couldn’t really think of anything else to talk about, so Jess and Olivia decided to finally make themselves breakfast. Jess helped himself to a couple of eggs; preparing a pan to scramble them in while Olivia mostly searched throughout the kitchen for ideas. She didn’t know what she was craving, she just knew she was hungry. As she scanned the contents of the pantry, something struck her.

“Sort of on the topic of questions, or--well, things about other universes…” She fumbled with her words as she reached inside to grab a small container of oatmeal, “I was wondering if there’d be anyway to, uh, see my place of death--my grave. If--if I have one.” She immediately held her breath after asking that question. She knew this was undoubtedly a personal thing to ask, but she’s been wanting to know for some time. She didn’t know when to ask before, and--and this felt like her only chance. She glanced at Aiden to see if he had heard her. He was staring right back at her, frozen in place with his coffee inches away from his face. His mouth was stuck open like he was in disbelief over what Olivia had just asked. Olivia even caught a glimpse of Jess being just as off guard by her question.

“I--We don’t--” Olivia stammered. She quickly turned away from the boys and tried to hide her face behind the pantry door, “We don’t have to! I understand if you don’t want to!” She said, “It might be dangerous to go outside anyways, I don’t mind if you describe it instead--”

“Is that what you wanna do?” Aiden asked, the energy of his voice absent compared to what it sounded like minutes ago. He set his cup aside and headed to the kitchen. To Olivia.

“Only if you think it’s safe.” Olivia’s voice was shaky. Maybe she shouldn’t have asked. She shouldn’t have asked.

“If we go together,” Jess spoke up, “and hide ourselves, we should be alright.” He wanted to try and be supportive, but even he wasn’t too sure about this.

“Right.” Aiden said, focusing on Olivia. He folded his arms, “We’d have to do it soon. Today might be your only chance. If that’s where you want to go, I’ll take you there.”

[dogfatherpads]

Remus J. Lupin with a FUCKING BEARD

I just know he gets extra hairy around the full moon. What if one day he just decided he wasn’t going to shave it anymore?

Tbh this is just Wolfstar Slowburn sort of but not really

He sighed as he looked in the mirror. He was already running late and it would take at least 15 minutes if he didn’t want to add new scars to his face. It was just so bloody hard to get up in the morning around this time of the month. His skin itched in anticipation of the pain they would go through in a few short days. His bones hurt, his muscles felt heavy, who cares if he showed up to transfiguration with just a little bit more hair? He could shave it tomorrow, today he was just too tired.

“Moony!! We’re gonna be late lets go!!” James hollered, banging on the bathroom door.

“To hell with it,” Remus threw his razor back in the drawer and pushed his unruly curls out of his face. When did that grow out? He’d just gotten his hair cut three days ago. He huffed aggitatedly and stepped out into the room. “Sorry to keep you lads waiting. Im just so tired this morning,” he began to pick up his books, straightening up just a little when he noticed their staring. “What?”

“You’re um,” Sirius spluttered.

“It’s nothing,” James held up a hand, “now lets go before Minnie gives us detention again. I’ve got a date I don’t want to miss.” Remus rolled his eyes but couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face when looking at James’ fond one. He and Lily were so disgustingly in love and it was wonderful because James in love and happy was less awful than James in love and pining.

“I found a hidden hallway we can take. I was trying to put it in the map last night, I’ll need your help with the spell Prongs,” Remus ran after them, breathless with excitement. “It ends behind that suit of armor just outside of Transfiguration.”

“Brilliant. Stupid staircases are not working in our favor today. Lead the way Rem.”

They’d made it with ten minutes to spare thanks to the hidden hallway and James grinned thankfully at Moony before walking over to Lily’s desk for a chat. Remus slumped in his chair, wishing desperately for the day to pass by quickly so he could get back into bed.

“You look tired Remus,” Lily commented, “go back to bed, I’ll take notes for you.”

He smiled greatfully, “Thank you, but I’ll survive. I will however, steal that hair tie,” he pointed to her wrist and she grinned.

“I wasn’t going to comment on the hair. I like it though, may I?” she asked, moving to stand behind him when he nodded. His eyes seemed to close on their own accord as she raked her fingers through his hair then scooped it all up and tied it at the back of his head. “Looks good. All the muggle rock stars are rocking the messy bun.”

He chuckled and shrugged, “Don’t feel so rock and roll right now, but I like it if it keeps the hair out of my face. Thank you,” he smiled gratfuly. He pulled his things out of his bag as McGonagall started the lesson. “Hey Pads,” he whispered, still searching through his bag, “do you have an extra quill I can borrow?” He looked up to meet Sirius’ eyes and froze. The storm in his eyes was clouded by his furrowed brow, his lips parted slightly. He gulped inaudibly when Remus’ bewildered gaze dropped to his lips. Sirius slid the quill across the table, his eyes never leaving Remus’ face before he stood abruptly, causing his stool to tip over.

“Mr. Black?” McGonagall turned, a frown quickly forming across her face, “are you alright?”

“I’m actually feeling quite ill,” his eyes bore into Remus’; Remus who wanted so desperately to look away but couldn’t tear his gaze from the tempestuous glare. “Please, may I be excused to the infirmary?”

“Very well, do you need someone to accompany you? Mr. Potter,” she motioned to James who was already getting out of his chair, a look of alarm on his face as he looked between Remus and Sirius.

“No,” Sirius finally tore his eyes away from Remus who gasped raggedly, unaware that he’d been holding his breath the entire time. “I think I can manage thank you.” And he was gone.

It took Remus a second to collect himself and when he looked up he met James’ confused stare he could do nothing but shrug as he tried to think of what he had said or done to Sirius this morning or even the night before to make him look at him with such... anger? There wasn’t anything Remus could think of. Sure he’d teased Sirius a little the night before about wearing Lily’s shirt to bed, too be honest it was kind of hot, but no way was Remus going to allow himself to think about that right now. Not about how tight the t shirt had been as it was three sizes too small. Not about how it exposed his hips when he stretched his arms over his head to yawn or threw his head back in boisterous laughter. No, it wasn’t the time to think about that now. Not when his glare had been so intense. The daily lessons seemed endless and Remus was glad when finally it was time for dinner and he could stop pretending to listen about mugwort or goblin wars. He loosened his tie and dumped it along with his books on his bed before stepping into the bathroom. He promised to meet the boys in the dining hall after they visited Sirius in the hospital wing. He hadn’t returned to any of their lessons and James’ expression only grew more suspicious when Remus declined to join them.

“Did you have a fight?” he inquired as he and Peter hurried and stumbled up the stairs to catch up to Remus.

“I’m telling you I don’t know what happened,” the fat lady scoffed when Remus practically snarled the password at her, “one minute I was asking if he had an extra quill, the next he was storming out.”

“Maybe there was a misunderstanding?” Peter suggested, looking to James for an answer.

“Come with us Moony. We’ll sort it out, whatever it is,” James insisted once more at the foot of the stairs to their dorms.

“I’ll meet you at the hall. No way Sirius would willingly spend the night at the infirmary. We’ll sort it out there. Promise.” He hammed it up a bit to get James off his back. It had failed miserably but James didn’t press the issue and escorted Peter out of the common room.

Remus shut the bathroom door and flicked the light on. He startled at his reflection before leaning in a little closer. His usually green eyes were beginning to turn that hazel, almost vile yellow color they usually did when the full moon neared. His skin was pulled almost a little tighter across his face, giving his nose and jaw a sharper more defined look. His canines were becoming longer too, the pointed end sharper. He admired that the beard covered most of the scars that marred his face. Perhaps he wouldn’t shave it off it all. He scoffed at himself. He looked like a crappy extra in some muggle teen romance about vampires and werewolves with the over exaggerated features that somehow no human could seem to realize were not human.

Not human.

If this is what Remus saw... Had Sirius been cowering away from the wolf that lingered so close to the surface now? Had he looked at Remus with disgust in class now that his features reflected the monster within? He stumbled away from the mirror. Of course. No one else has to risk their lives for their werewolf friend. 

Some friend! 

Asking his friends to join the wolf to keep it from destroying itself. If Sirius had come to resent him, well, Remus couldn’t blame him. The grumbling of his stomach resurfaced him from his wallowing and he sighed. If he didn’t join the others in the hall, James would surely convince himself that something had happened between he and Sirius. Perhaps something had happened. Perhaps he was no longer Remus’ friend. Remus swallowed down the pain of the thought of losing Sirius and locked it away where he kept hidden all of the other feelings he had about the grey eyed man. There was nothing he could do about his appearance now. Concealing charms and even beautification charms were tricky things. He’d learned simple ones to keep the werewolf teltales away. He chanted a few then removed Lily’s hair tie, hoping to receive some coverage from the too long curls now. That was all he could do. The boys would see past his charms. They always did. It didn’t matter now. He had to face Sirius eventually.

But he wasn’t there. “Madame Pomfrey says he’s got some stomach bug. Wouldn’t even let us see him.”

“Hmm,” Remus stabbed at his peas with a sigh. A stomach bug, please.

“Won’t you pay him a visit?” Peter asked around a mouthful of potato and Remus grimaced.

“For what? You already said Pomfrey wont let us in.”

“Yeah,” James interjected then motioned towards himself and Peter, “US. But you? She’s got a soft spot.”

“So do most new borns. Regardless of the fondness or not, she wouldn’t let a stomach bug,” he said sarcastically and around air quotes, “spread. Not a chance.”

Peter and James shared a glance that Remus wanted to question but was interrupted by Lily’s arrival, a pretty brunette in tow. “James, I’m sorry to do this last minute. Do you mind if we reschedule tonight? I’m a little behind on the Transfigurations essay,” she admitted sheepishly, “mum was sick this weekend and I didn’t get around to it.”

“It’s no problem Evans,” James smiled and took her hand, “I could help you with it. Top of the class remember?” he grinned and she rolled her eyes but smiled fondly.

“That’s just because you managed to win McGonagall over with your stupid charm and clever spell use in your pranks.”

“You think I’m clever?” his grin widened and she smacked his arm. “Im only joking. Im happy to help. We can reschedule for this weekend. The Hogsmeade trip?”

Remus tuned out the rest of the conversation when he realized Lily’s friend had been staring. He panicked momentarily. Had the charm worn off? Was his werewolf showing?

“Hey.. Remus,” she smiled shyly.

Oh.

But what was her name. He was sure they shared a class but which-

“Have you started your essay for History of Magic? I can’t decide which war I want to write about,” she sat across from him and smiled politely. Alice?

“Umm, I’ve outlined a rough draft on The Goblin Rebellions.” Emma? Samantha?

“Oh, I thought about the Gargoyle Strike of 1911 but I’m a bit confused about one of the events. Do you think you might be able to tutor me some time?” She smiled and Remus blinked. What the fuck was her name?

“Uhh..”

“You can join our study group, Charlie,” Lily gave Remus a pointed look and he smiled gratefully when the girl turned to look at Lily. “It’s currently just James and I but I think Marlene and Dorcas might join.”

“Oh,” she smiled ruefully, “I wouldn’t want to fifth wheel... maybe if Remus came?” she turned to look at Remus once more.

“Fifth wheel? Who’s the other couple?” James whispered to Lily who shook her head and sighed.

“You can be so oblivious Potter...”

“Sure,” Remus finally smiled politely, regretting it almost immediately when he heard the girl’s heart leap.

“Okay! Great! Thank you, I’ll get the details from Lily,” she smiled and stood up. “I like your new hair by the way,” she threw over her shoulder with a smirk before striding away.

“Are Marlene and Dorcas dating?” James asked loudly and Lily sighed.

****

It was almost nine when Remus returned from the library, leaving James and Lily alone to flirt. Peter had gone off to meet some lass he was seeing who, if Remus was being completely honest, was sporting a mustache much greater than Peter’s. He tugged on his cloak and tossed it over his trunk, beginning to unbutton his shirt when he stumbled over a shoe. A doc marten to be exact. He turned to look in every direction of the dark room, his eyes not needing to adjust in the dark, until they landed on the figure perched at the window. Those very hostile eyes met his again. Was hostile the right word? It was a mixture of dismay and confusion and maybe... lust? That was ridiculous, but Remus wasn’t going to be the first to drop his stare this time.

“Thought you were ill.”

“I was.”

So that’s how it was going to be.

“Sick of your own bullshit?” Remus raised a brow and Sirius frowned. Remus had to remind himself that he didn’t have any right to be angry with Sirius. He asked a lot of him when he expected him at the shack every night. “If you don’t want to come anymore,” if you hate me now and despise me and resent me for risking your life every month, “I understand.” But Sirius looked confused.

“Sorry?”

“I know I... around this time I start to show... I’m sorry if it bothers you more now. I don’t want you to do something you don’t want to.” Sirius had hopped off the window sill and begun walking towards him, making him stumble again when he took a step back and took a hard seat onto his trunk.

“Remus,” he was so close now that he could feel Sirius’ breath on his face, “you don’t have a clue..” Sirius’ fingers had began toying with the collar of Remus’ shirt, tugging ever so gently as his eyes flashed up to meet Remus’.

Sirius wasn’t ready to confess. It wasn’t a secret that he was gay. All of the Marauders knew and a few blokes he’d hooked up with did too. But Remus? Remus who was too kind and too smart and too good for him. He had his own problems he didn’t need to take on more, especially not the kind that would surely come if they ever... If they ever what? Hooked up? Moony wasn’t hook up material. Not with his warm skin and needy fingers in the morning. It wasn’t like he and Remus hadn’t shared a bed before. They all had at some time or another. Platonic cuddles were important, James had said. But Sirius hadn’t expected it would feel like the waves crashing against the shore when Remus pressed his cold nose against his neck in the morning, his lips brushing there too as he mumbled sleepily about chocolate pudding. He didn’t feel that way when James threw a haphazard arm around him or even Peter wiggled in too closely. With Remus it always felt like he wasn’t close enough.

And it had been so easy, so bloody easy to ignore it. To ignore the need to be closer and to want to crawl into his bed every night instead of taking turns with James who thought Peter’s elbows were too knobby. If he could wake up every morning to Remus’ cold nose he could take on anything. It had all been so easy until this morning. They had all teased Remus about how high maintenance he was about his hair. He was always cleanly shaved, he got up extra early every day to do it. He had his hair cut every two weeks and he even made sure to trim across his chest. Yes he was a werewolf, but he didn’t have to flaunt it, so he had said. The last few weeks leading up to the full moon had been tough for him, however. He’d been much more tired, much more reluctant to get out of bed. The stubble last week had already made Sirius stare for just a little too long when he thought no one was looking. He didn’t expect that Remus would be sporting a whole beard just a week later. He looked older even, especially with the way his features were beginning to sharpen. Sirius longed so much to run his fingers along the slope of his jaw. He wondered if it would be as sharp, if it would cut, if the hair that hid it now would make it softer. Would it tickle his skin? His face if he just leaned in now? He swallowed audibly when those golden eyes, nearly hidden behind the over grown curls, glanced briefly at his lips.

“Don’t know what, Sirius?” Remus whispered. He wanted so much to believe that the question in Sirius’ eyes was the one he wanted to hear.

“Hey Moony we went to check on Pads but he’s not,” James barged into the room with Peter in tow and they froze. Sirius took a step away from Remus and smiled.

“I’m feeling much better now. Pomfrey let me sleep in my own room,” he smiled as convincingly as he could.

“That’s great! Was it something you ate? I thought the biscuits at breakfast were a little off,” Peter had pushed past James and was already undressing to get into his pajamas.

“That must’ve been it,” Sirius gave him a small smile that disappeared when he met James’ eyes again. Remus looked between them. Between Sirius’ pleading eyes and James’ knowing ones.

Oh.

He had to pay a certain red head a visit.

*****

He sat still in the girls’ dorm, watching through the mirror as Marlene pouted. “Are you sure you want to cut it all off Remus?”

“Marlene, I already promised to keep the beard. The hair keeps getting in my eyes though. Please? Just some length.”

“Oh alright,” she sighed and she picked up the shears. Mary tapped her chin.

“What if we kept the length at the top.”

“Whatever just get it out of my face.”

“Ooo a werewolf with a temper, how original,” Lily grinned at his scowl. And then he remembered he was supposed to make nice because-

“Hey Lils?”

“Hmm?” She was distracted. The girls had taken advantage of Remus asking for a hair cut to have a spa day. Marlene was the only person that Remus trusted with his hair. Supposedly she’d taken lessons over the summer with a muggle cousin of hers. She’d made quite the profit dying and cutting hair when lessons were over. “If I wasn’t so sure I wanted to join the ministry, perhaps I’d open my own salon,” she had mentioned the first time she cut Remus’ hair. She was the only one who could get it exactly the way he wanted it.

“Want to play a game to pass the time?”

“Does it involve using my hands, kind of occupied..”

“No, Marlene would kill me if I moved a muscle.”

“Got that right,” she huffed.

“What game?”

“I’ll ask you yes or no questions and you have to answer with the first one that comes to mind.”

“You’re looking for trouble, me thinks,” Mary lifted a cucumber from her eye to peek at Remus, “there’s something he wants you to confess. Don’t do it Lily.”

“Remus is smarter than that. If he wants answers he should ask like a big boy, isn’t that right Remus?” Lily laughed at his scowl through the mirror.

“I’m not certain you’d tell me.”

“Alright Remus, I’m in good spirits, I’ll humor you this once. Go on,” and she was back to painting her nails.

“Do you like chocolate ice cream?”

“No.”

“Do you prefer McGonagall over Bins?”

“Yes.”

“Do you like Shakespeare?”

“Absolutely not. That won’t change, leave me be!!”

“Yes or no only!”

“Alright!”

“Do you prefer butterbeer over fire whiskey.”

“Yes.”

“Do you fancy James?”

“Yes.”

“Does Sirius fancy me?”

“WAIT!” Marlene shouted making them all jump.

“Oh no,” Lily groaned at her ruined toes, “Marlene you’ve bloody ruined them.”

“No no no,” Mary was removing the cucumbers again, “forget your toes for a minute. Remus,” she smiled condescendingly, “sweetie,” Remus growled lowly but she persisted, “do you fancy Sirius?”

“Stupid question babe,” Marlene laughed and Remus sputtered.

“Excuse me?”

“Oh Remus really,” Marlene gave him a tired look, “it’s so bloody obvious. You practically drool over him.”

“Fine. I’m in love with the idiot is that what you want?” They all froze before sharing a look and then turning to him.

“You’re in love with him?”

“I thought it was obvious?” Remus scowled and Lily waddled over to sit in front of him next to Mary.

“Well I mean it was obvious you were totally gone for him but, in love? That’s different...” Mary shook her head. Remus was starting to feel nervous. Maybe love was more than he bargained for. Here he was confessing and he wasn’t even sure. He was sure of his own feelings but what did they matter if Sirius didn’t feel the same?

“You didn’t answer my question...”

“He doesn’t fancy you,” Lily shook her head and Marlene snorted, “he worships the ground you walk on.”

“Get stuffed,” Remus rolled his eyes and Lily flipped him the bird.

“Do you know how before James and Lily were dating, they would go on and on and on about each other? And if they were having a conversation, they acted like they weren’t aware that anyone else was in the room?” Marlene had taken up the scissors again as she asked.

“Come off it,” Lily blushed.

“Sirius is like that about you. Only worse.”

“Worse?” Remus breathed almost inaudibly. He didn’t believe it when he asked. He wondered and he hoped so much that it were true but having it confirmed felt like a glacier melting in his chest.

“He pines,” Mary grimaced.

“Merlin, does he pine. And he rambles too,” Marlene shook her head.

“He whines! That’s the worst part,” Lily laughed.

The floor beneath him felt unsteady. Was the chair swaying?

“Get a grip Remus,” Marlene’s brow furrowed, a bit if concern on her face, “is that not what you wanted to hear?”

“I- yes but...”

“What is it?” Lily asked.

“What now?”

“Men are impossible,” Mary rolled her eyes then placed fresh cucumber rounds over them.

“You know he has feelings for you, the same ones you have for him, and you don’t know what to do now? Do you need to hear about the birds and the bees too?” Marlene laughed and Mary snorted.

“Birds and the birds Marls.”

“I think men are the bees?”

“Can it you two,” Lily grinned, “Remus... you have to tell him. When you’re ready of course. Doesn’t have to be today. But also what are you waiting for!”

“Poor Charlie will be crushed,” Mary chuckled and Marlene’s fingers froze in his hair.

“Charlie... Charlotte McLaggen? Yuck please, you can do better than that, Remus.”

“Mean, she’s a nice girl,” Lily frowned.

“Better than Sirius?” Marlene countered and they burst out in laughter.

“That’s really a matter of opinion,” Lily shrugged and Remus sighed.

“I can hear you lot laughing from down the hall,” Dorcas came through the door, arms full of sweets from the kitchens. “You started without me!!” she feigned a look of disbelief and pouted.

“Are those for me?” Marlene smiled at the chocolates in her hands. Remus didn’t hear the rest of the conversation however. He was too focused on Marlene’s face. She was looking at Dorcas.... he had to look away, it felt like intruding to keep staring. He could only smile when he realized that Sirius had looked at him that way the night before.

*****

It’d been a week since the night in the girl’s dorms. Remus, who now found himself trapped between a bookshelf and Charlie’s fingers in his hair, regretted most deeply that he had not yet confessed to Sirius about his feelings.

“It’s such a shame you cut so much of it off Remus,” she frowned and Remus smiled politely. He wrapped his fingers around her wrist and gently removed her hand from his hair and placed it in her own lap.

“It’ll grow.” He was ashamed of his inability to conceal his irritation. The full moon had come and gone and he was tired, his body still feeling the effects of the change. He’d managed to get a new scar that split his left eyebrow and he was happy now that he had allowed Marlene to leave his hair just a little longer than he usually wore it. But oh how Charlotte loved it.

“You just look like such a bad boy. Its sexy.”

Remus wanted nothing more than to be done with this damn study group so he could find Sirius. He kept waiting for the right moment but maybe there wasn’t one. Maybe any chance to tell him was the right moment. Any chance to be able to press his lips against his-

“Remus?” James snapped him out of his trance.

“Hmm?”

“Same time tomorrow? The weather’s too nice out we aren’t going to get anything done now. Even you seem distracted,” James grinned and Remus smiled sheepishly.

“I apologize I-“

“Maybe we can skip off to Hogsmeade, Remus,” Charlotte interrupted him and Lily began to pick up her books faster when she noticed Remus’ tight lipped smile, “visit Madame Puddifoot’s tea shop?”

“Charlotte-“

“Charlie,” she grinned and Remus all but screamed.

“Charlie,” he stood up and slung his bag over his shoulder, “it is never gonna happen between us. I’m sorry I wasted your time. I just don’t see-“

“Oh... oh you’re joking!” she laughed and shoved his arm, “you’re so funny.”

“I’m not funny, I’m gay. Now if you’ll excuse me,” Remus strode off then, leaving behind an open mouthed Charlie and a laughing Lily and James.

Remus ran out of the library and out towards the lake. It was common to find Sirius under the tree there, having a nap and ditching study hall. Remus could see his boots protruding from behind one of the roots and smiled. He sped up, wincing as his muscles protested. He dropped his bag at the edge of the lake, leaning over and bracing himself on his knees as he wheezed for air.

“Remus?” Sirius sat up, a look of alarm on his face, “are you alright?” he scrambled to his knees and made his way over, pressing his hands to Remus’ shoulders. “Hey,” he tilted his head and smiled when his eyes met Remus’, “alright Moony?”

Remus had just begun to settle his heavy breathing but he was suddenly breathless again. He straightened himself and Sirius dropped his hands, taking a step back before Remus caught his arm.

“I’m not... I mean..” he shut his eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly before looking at Sirius again. “I’m much better than alright.”

“Is that right,” he reached up, “you’ve cut it.” Remus wrapped his fingers around his wrist, chuckling at the familiar action. Except he didn’t mind these fingers in his hair as much. He kept his hold on Sirius’ wrist and smiled.

“It wasn’t very me... plus it tickled my nose,” he grinned wider when Sirius laughed, “I think I’m in love with you.”

He’d stopped laughing then. “Think you’re still under the effects of the full moon there Moony,” but his smile never faded.

“Oh I definitely am. My legs are ready to give out actually,” he released Sirius’ wrist then, leaning into the fingers that had tangled into his hair and were now pressed to his face.

“I’m so stupid,” Sirius laughed, “I’d hidden it so well... who knew I had a thing for hairy men.”

“Everyone. I might be a little ashamed to say I asked Lily and Marlene.”

“Moony!” He exclaimed, “I didn’t take you for a gossip.”

“Be nice,” Remus’ face hurt from smiling, “I had to be sure... didn’t want to make a fool of myself or even push you away. I’d rather be your friend and keep my feelings to myself if it means you’d stay in my life.”

“What made you change your mind? Seemed to be in a rush when you got here,” he chuckled, “so eager to give me a half arsed confession.”

“Half arsed!” Remus’ eyebrows shot up.

“I think I’m in love with you,” Sirius repeated and Remus grinned.

“I know that I am... you however, I think you’re just lusting,” he teased and Sirius dropped his hand, giving him a small shrug.

“Mayhaps I am. So what now?”

“I think that’s up to you,” Remus couldn’t help but be surprised at the shy smile that Sirius offered him. Sirius reached forward once more to grip the front of Remus’ shirt, stood on his toes, and pressed his lips to his.

“The hair I can part with, but please... never shave that beard,” he mumbled against Remus’ lips.

[i-dont-want-your-hysteria]

Curiosity Cursed the Leppard

(This is a stupid little idea I wrote 2 years ago- one of my first Leppard fics that I actually executed. Normally I try to be as historically accurate as humanly possible, but I’m a teeny bit lazy with this one. I didn’t edit much when it came to proofreading this. I posted this on ao3 and rockfic 2 years ago once it was done, so if you recognize it, thanks for reading it so long ago!)

Words: 3,406 Characters: Phil, Steve, Rick, Sav, Joe, Peter Mensch Setting: March 1983, beginning of the Billy Squier tour Summary: The baby Pyro Leppards are sick of sitting back and doing what they’re told. To spite their dearest band manager, they need to- as Steve once put it- “break up the monotony”. Unfortunately, their curiosity comes with some minor consequences...

------

March 1983, somewhere in Europe

“Look at this over here!” Phil called back into the hotel room from the balcony, “Swimming pool!”

Steve trotted out to the balcony and joined his Terror Twin at the railing. Down in the small yard of the hotel was an in-ground pool with a few lawn chairs and a diving board. It was nothing extravagant, but it was a pleasant sight no less.

“That’d be really nice, if it were a bit hotter out,” Steve leaned on the railing of the balcony. When he spoke, the fog of his breath was visible.

The Leppards were about to begin their tour as the opening act for Billy Squier. They had about a week before any of the shows actually started, though. With all this extra time and no plans, there really seemed to be no telling what they could get themselves into before they had a show. Since it was the first day of their down time, curiosity seemed inevitable.

“It’s still early in the morning, it’ll get warmer,” Phil encouraged, “Don’t know about you, but I’d take the chance!”

Steve hung his head, looking directly down from where they stood, “I think you’ve forgotten what season it is, mate.”

“It won’t make a difference if it’s winter or summer,” Rick appeared in the doorway, joining in on the conversation, “I heard the pool’s heated, anyways. They haven’t turned it on for the day yet.”

Phil’s head popped up and he cooed, “Ooh, even better; we can pop in for a hot swim after our runnin’ around today.”

“Don’t even think about it!” Peter Mensch echoed from the inside, “Heated pool or not, it’s only 34 Fahrenheit outside right now, and you boys can’t risk getting sick! Besides, you probably won’t even have time to swim after all that we’ve gotta do today.”

Sav appeared next to Peter, holding a few of his luggage bags, “Oh, it’s not that much to do; it’s mostly just the dinner with Bill!”

Peter had to object, “Maybe it mostly is the dinner with Bill, but it can still take forever. All I’m saying is, don’t take the chance; we’ve got stuff to do.”

And with that, he exited the one large hotel room the Leppards all had to share.

“All this ‘stuff’ he’s claiming we have to do is just the same old story,” Joe muttered to Sav, also carrying luggage, “He says its ‘super important’ and we’ve ‘got to be there’, but we just end up taggin along with him for the ride and he does all the work.”

“It’s like we’re his pets or something,” Rick flew past the two of them and jumped face-first onto one of the beds.

“Or his children,” Sav commented, “Either way, he thinks he needs leashes on us.”

Phil suddenly called back into the room over his shoulder, “I say we spite him.”

Steve yelled back in the same manner, even though he was answering to Phil right next to him, “Ditto.”

“But how?” Joe inquired to the men on the balcony, putting luggage on the bed right next to Rick, “You two are the experts of spite.”

Phil simply motioned his arm out towards the yard of their hotel with a formal demeanor, “Let’s go for a quick swim; it’s the perfect opportunity!"

Steve nodded in approval of Phil’s proposal, and silence fell between the band for a sudden and brief moment.

“Count me in,” Rick muttered into a pillow, which made it sound more like gibberish. He sat himself up and stared at Joe and Sav, awaiting a response to support the future actions of the rest of the band, “What about you two?”

Sav and Joe looked at each other and shrugged.

“I’m alright with it, ‘long as we do it later,” Joe expressed his agreement as he looked out to the Terror Twins on the balcony, smirking, “Can’t spite him too early in the day.”

“Yeah, I say we do it later when it’s not freezing outside,” Sav suggested, “Spitin’ him doesn’t mean we have to freeze our arses off.”

***

When leaving for their day activities about an hour later, the five band members gazed in awe at the steam coming off of the pool water. As they walked on by, a woman with long dark hair and pale skin was in the pool.

“Ooh, can’t wait for that later,” Phil cooed.

“Can’t wait for what?” Steve asked him while they both stared outside, “The pool, or the girl?”

Phil casually joked, “Ah, I’ll flip a coin.”

“Okay,” Joe whispered to the rest of the band as they fell behind Peter a little more, “After we get back, we hide out in our room and wait until he’s gone.”

Sav added onto their plan, “And hiding time is prep time. We get changed, we check to see if anyone’s around the pool, all that jazz.”

“Sounds like the most exciting thing we’re gonna do all day,” Rick commented as they strode along into their “busy” day, “Don’t know how long I’ll be able to last through all of this useless shit we’ve gotta do.”

“It’ll all be worth it,” Phil assured them, “We’ve just gotta wait... and Lord knows for how long.”

***

They ended up waiting until about 7pm that night before they got back to the hotel. It was strange, because once they did get back, Peter said that he was going to simply leave them for the night. At the time they found out, the Leppards reacted normally, talking about being cooped up with the telly for the night or getting a good drink or two in. They all knew Peter had to run back out and do other manager-type things, but they didn’t know when he was leaving.

While they were waiting for him to leave, they all hastily got changed into swim trunks and fished out towels from the bathroom and kept peeking around to see whether the man of the hour still remained close by.

“I can’t take this anymore,” Phil said at one point, “We’ve been waiting 11 bloody minutes!”

“So?” Steve walked out of the bathroom in swim trunks, “It’s just 11 minutes. We weren’t expecting him to leave right away.”

Phil put on a pair of jeans over his own trunks, threw on a shirt, and made his way to the door of their room, “Well I’m impatient, and it’d be nice to know where this little plan of ours stands at the moment. We gotta look to see if he’s gone yet.”

“Be careful out there, solider,” Joe joked, strolling into the room with a bath towel.

***

Phil slipped out of the room and into the empty hallway silently. He walked towards the end that had Peter’s room, when Peter himself suddenly turned the corner in front of him, making him jump.

“Oh- Peter!” he awkwardly greeted him, “Hello, there!”

“Long time no see,” Peter greeted him back, not taking a second to stop walking. Phil, however, needed that stolen second.

He turned around to look at Peter and tried not to sound rushed when he asked, “Hey- uh, where are you headin’ off to right now?”

“Just to the arena where next week’s first show is,” he began, ��Then I’m off to another meeting with Bill’s managers, then I’ve got to meet up with Mutt for a phone call to-”

“Oof,” Phil interrupted hastily as if it were bad news to him, and kept walking along, “That’s a lot, that’s tough. Hope you get it all done, bye!”

He suddenly turned and walked in the opposite direction, waving farewell. It prompted Peter to wave back (confusedly). Once their paths had crossed for good, and Phil turned a corner, he slowly peeked back around the corner to see if his target had completely gone. Once he saw the man in question enter the lift, the guitarist made his way back to the band’s room with a smug grin on his face.

It was go time.

***

“He’s been gone longer than I thought he’d be,” Steve commented as he gazed through the peep-hole of their door after only about three minutes of Phil’s absence. The other three were close by him, awaiting any news from their foot solider.

Joe pitched in, “Maybe he had to hide?”

Rick suggested, “Maybe he got in trouble?”

Sav countered, “And what would he get in trouble for so quickly?”

“Oh, he’s coming!” Steve whispered excitedly as the four of them back away from the door, leaving room for Phil to open it. When he did, he came in quickly, shut it behind him and exchanged a pleased look with the rest of the band.

They all waited in anticipation for a quick moment before Phil announced, “Our plan is a go, lads! He’s gone!”

The other four clapped and cheered briefly before each heading in a different direction to get their towels and shoes.

“What took you so long?” Steve asked him with a laugh, “I thought you were just snoopin’ around, weren’t you?”

“Well,” Phil shrugged, walking over to a bed where his towel lay, “I had to hide for a bit to watch him leave because I accidentally ran into him, and I also asked that lovely girl we saw in the pool earlier to join us...”

The older guitarist exchanged a smirk with the rest of his band, and they all suddenly looked excited. Whenever they hung out with girls, it tended to get wild (and almost certainly meant that one of them would get lucky).

“And?” Rick anxiously inquired, speaking for the whole band.

The smirk left Phil’s face instantly, and his voice dropped to a tone of disappointment, “She said she had to go meet up with friends.”

A collective chorus of “aww”s and “dammit”s subtly filled the room, but they all headed out the door and down to the pool no less. They passed the front desk along the way when-

“Excuse me, gentlemen?” the fairly young American man at the desk called out to them as they walked on by. They stopped in their tracks and faced him, trying to cover up their bare chests with their towels. Their turning around was a good enough answer to the man's question.

“I’m sorry, but we’ve just gotten a report that the heater in the pool has stopped working. We’ll have maintenance around in the morning to fix it,” he informed them. The band all sighed and moaned in defeat. Their one rebellious act on this boring day was cancelled.

“Can’t we still go in?” Steve asked him, resulting in a slap on the arm from Sav.

“It’s freezing out, and you wanna go swimming in an unheated pool?”

Steve shrugged, trying to prove a point, “Well if it hasn’t been broken long, the pool’s probably still heated a bit, right?”

“If you all wanna go in, you’re more than welcome,” the man at the desk offered, “But I wouldn’t recommend it.”

“Right, thank you, sir,” Phil smiled, turning with the rest of the band towards the exit to the outdoor patio where the pool was. They didn't care about temperature at this point; they had a goal. Right about now Joe would normally be the one to turn them onto the right path, but he knew that they all had their minds set on the same path. He knew they weren’t just gonna stop.

“We’re all mad, we really are,” he mused excitedly to them, “Old man Peter’s gonna have our heads if he finds us right now.”

Rick tied his towel around his neck like a cape and laughed, “If he finds us, but we know he won’t!”

They all giggled like children as they walked outside to patio where the illuminated in ground pool resided, their breaths now visible. The freezing air of the evening enveloped them immediately, causing them to pull their towels around them tighter. After a moment, though, they all tossed their towels onto the chairs nearby, embracing the brisk temperature.

“Little chilly,” Sav stated as they kept walking towards the pool. When they got there, Steve kicked off his shoes and dipped his toes in right away.

“Little heated,” Steve said back as he felt the water with his foot.

“Little jump!” Phil threw his towel behind him and suddenly jumped into the pool, splashing the others in the process. They all gasped and started laughing at the guitarist’s perfect entry.

Rick pointed at the water where Phil was, “Okay, he’s mad!”

Phil came back up, wiped his eyes and told them, “It’s actually quite nice! Just come right in!”

“Well someone’s gotta go first!” Joe proclaimed, “And it’s not gonna be me!”

A quick pause between the remaining four ensued. It was broken when Sav suddenly yelled for a split second and fell forward into the pool. Joe, Phil, and Rick all turned and looked at Steve, who had just been standing behind Sav (and was now giggling).

“Oops,” he sarcastically snickered before jumping in after Sav and swimming as far away from the bassist as possible. Rick and Joe both broke down in laughs and wheezes, along with Phil in the pool.

Sav resurfaced with a curtain of wet hair over his eyes and called out to no one in particular, “Where the fuck is he?! Steve!”

“Over here!” Steve playfully called out from the middle of the pool, far away from where Sav currently was. Sav scooped his hair out of his face, located Steve a few yards away, and dove after him.

"Okay, okay, who's next? Me or you?" Joe said to the drummer.

"Actually," Rick proposed immediately after the inquiry, "I've got an idea for both of us."

***

“Okay, ready?” Rick asked Joe, who was standing on the side of the pool opposite himself.

“Ready,” came the response.

“One...” Rick counted.

“Two...” Joe continued.

“Three!” they both shouted as they began to run. Once they both reached the edge of the pool, they jumped simultaneously and just as clumsily as one another. For the second that they were both in the air, they managed to high five each other perfectly with a quick scream before plummeting into the slightly heated water. The three other band members that were already in the water applauded them at their success with enthusiastic claps and laughs. When Rick and Joe resurfaced, they were immensely pleased with their accomplishment, celebrating it with a proper high five. And thus, the private (but still forbidden) pool party had begun.

The next two hours housed a wide variety of spontaneous activities. These happenings ranged from cannonball competitions, to genuine conversation, and to reenactments of live shows (but played underwater, of course). The band’s wading in the water went unnoticed by the hotel staff the whole time it commenced, just as the cold temperature outside went unnoticed by the band themselves. Once the pre-provided heat had worn off into nothing but steam, the band's energy began to wind down slowly as well.

"Man," Phil remarked at one point when they were all still swimming, "Who knew that swimmin' for a bit could make your throat hurt."

"We've all been yelling too much, you know what that does to your voice," Joe told him knowingly (after all, he was the singer), “You know what happens when your energy gets up.”

“I feel like we’ve just played a show,” the drummer pulled himself up onto the edge of the pool and stretched both of him arms, feeling how sore they now were.

Sav, on the other hand, kept his shoulders underwater in order to provide some protection from the bite in the air. His hair was also acting like a scarf to the back of his neck to retain some of his body heat.

His jaw chattered when he spoke, “Is-sn’t anyone g-gonna mention how cold it is n-now?”

“He’s r-right,” Steve supported Sav, floating right next to him in the exact same manner, “It’s gotten a l-lot colder...”

“Guess it’s time we all called it a night, then,” Joe pulled himself out of the pool and quickly wrapped himself in a towel, now visibly shivering as well. The four other men followed his lead as the water on the ends of their hair slowly began to chill to a freezing temperature. In a few minutes, they were all heading back to their room, smushed together in the hopes of heating up even a little bit.

"Can't wait to get me some nice, hot tea," Rick rubbed his towel back and forth around him, "Now my throat's killin' me."

“Blimey, can you believe how cold it is in here?” Phil asked his friends once they were back inside the hotel (even though the heaters were most certainly running). They all nodded and murmured in collective agreement at the remark.

The man at the front desk had heard this interaction, and sighed as he continued to fan himself with a folder, sweating in the excessive heat of the hotel.

***

“You guys are all idiots, you know,” Peter stated bluntly to the band members the next morning.

They were all grumpily moaning in front of him on the beds and couch, far from being ready for any sort of activity. They were also all as sick as dogs; each of them running a fever, each of them huddled up under several blankets, and each of their noses acting all kinds of crazy.

“I can’t believe you guys would go swimming in an unheated pool when it’s 39 fucking degrees outside, and think that you wouldn’t get sick- especially when you know we’re at the beginning of a tour!”

“Hey now, Peter,“ Joe croaked sassily from under the covers, his beloved voice now destroyed, “We’ve still got a whole week before any shows.”

“Besides,” Phil added nasily, “Aren’t you happy we’re learning our lesson?”

“You got me there,” the manager pointed at him, “I shouldn’t be surprised; I don’t know why I am, but lucky for you dumbasses, you just got yourselves out of today’s activities.”

Soft sighs of “yes” swept over the hotel room as Peter covered his eyes with his hand in disappointment.

“No, not yes!” he couldn’t help but chuckle with a hint of anger, “You're still very sick! Now you boys have to get better, and fast! The fact that you’re sick doesn’t take away the fact that we’re on tour!”

“We’ll try to get better soon, we promise,” Sav whined before sneezing loudly, then holding his head in discomfort, "Ughh... I hope so..."

“We’re real sorry, Peter,” Steve pouted and made a fake but sleepy apology, “But we’re actually gonna need you to get some medicine for us, if it’s not too much trouble.”

The manager sighed at the innocent request and gave in, “Yeah, yeah, I can do that. Maybe it’s actually a good thing you’re all sick; now you don’t wanna run off into trouble.”

Sav mumbled to Joe next to him, “Told you he wants to put us on leashes.”

Peter spoke up, “What was that?”

“Nothing!”

“And for god’s sake, guys,” the oldest man in the room began to make his way over to the heater, “Would it kill you turn down the heat in here?”

“Yes, it would kill us!!” came five disgruntled objections, making the manager freeze in his current action and back away from the heater with both of his hands up in surrender.

“Alright, alright, I guess I’ll see you guys in a few. Is there anything else you want me to get?”

“Tea,” was all Rick needed to say.

“Gotcha,” Peter confirmed with the young drummer before quitting the Leppards’ room. A bit of quietness took place right afterwards, just to make sure that Old Man Peter didn’t come running back in to see if they were faking the band-wide illness.

“So what do you think?” Joe asked his four other friends, “Worth it?”

There was another brief silence before Phil answered, “Yeah. Definitely worth it.”

“Same here.”

“Agreed.”

“It was delightful.”

Low, evil, chuckles made their way around the room and faded away. The band members then laid in silence and stared up at the ceiling, now uncertain of what to do next in their unexpected down time.

“So...” Phil proposed to them, “First one to break their fever wins?”

Steve immediately turned his head to answer for the entire band, "You’re on.”

The end

[fazbear-security]

Secret Tunnels & Surprise Visits

Mike hadn’t had a week off in nearly two years, and he wasn’t quite sure what to do with it.

He’d slept as late as he could, but that had only taken him to 1pm, and most of his siblings had extra curricular activities that would keep them out until at least 6pm. His mother was working until at least then, when she picked up the kids, and Sasha’s curfew wasn’t until 11pm (and boy, did she wring it for every minute she could get). He’d tried cleaning up around the house, but that had only taken up part of his Thursday, and as much as his mother had appreciated his hard work, it hadn’t been enough to satisfy the itch in his idle hands.

The pizzeria was being renovated that weekend, and was closed from Thursday to the following Wednesday, so Mike had a good full six or seven days all to himself. Already out of things to do around the house after day one, he’d decided to tackle the one task he (and everyone else in the house) had been putting off for years.

Organizing the basement.

“You have a lot of stuff down here.” Puppet commented as he climbed up on top of an old gear locker shoved against the stairs. A pair of old workout gloves and a rolled up mat were still stuffed in it, along with a set of resistance bands. Mike made a point not to look at it. “Like, a LOT a lot.” The slender animatronic that had taken up residence under his bed poked at the curling edge of an old sticker on the side of the locker. “Don’t you guys throw anything out?”

“Does it look like it?” Mike asked rhetorically as he surveyed the mess. Where was the best place to start? Christmas ‘91? His old college stuff? That box of yearbooks that stretched all the way back to Tara’s freshman year of high school? “That’s what we’re down here to do today - pare down all this junk and get rid of the stuff we really don’t need.”

“That’s easier said than done…” Puppet eyed the mess from his perch up on the locker before jumping down, and curiously opening the nearest box. “You’ve got more stuff down here than the old location had in storage….oh!” The little animatronic leaned over the edge of the large box - almost falling in - before scrambling back out with a little box clutched in his striped fingers, and a wide smile on his mask.

“Hey! I remember these!!” He popped open the lid and ran a cloth fingertip over the enamel pins on the board inside while Mike picked another box in a stack across the room, and started to dig through it. “These are the commemorative pins from 1987! They had me give these to employees as a gift at a big party!” Puppet tilted his head curiously. “How’d they get down here?”

“The night shift isn’t the first time I’ve worked for Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, you know.” Mike made a face at the musty books inside the box he’d chosen, and closed it back up. His mother still might want to donate these to the library - best to just set these aside, for now. “I spent a few months making pizzas for the other location across town before I went to college. I was out sick when that party happened, but management gave me those pins the next day.”

“You mean...we could’ve met sooner?” Puppet looked down at the old pins - at the cutesy, cartoony faces of Freddy, Chica, Bonnie, Foxy, and the pizzeria’s logo - and some of his smile faded. Mike looked up from the box of old clothes he was sorting through at the heavy silence, and frowned.

“Don’t...don’t think too much about it, Puppet.” He advised, folding an old shirt that had stopped fitting a decade ago and setting it aside. “You wouldn’t have liked me when I was eighteen, anyway. I was kind of an as-...uh...kind of a jerk.” He quickly amended. Puppet frowned, and put the lid back on the box before jumping up and sliding it on top of the locker. He was absolutely keeping that.

“So?” The animatronic moved to Mike’s side, and stood as high as he could to try and  see into the clothing box. “I’ve dealt with sulky teenagers before.”

“I was a lot more than just ‘sulky’...” Mike winced. He’d been a jerk with a capital ‘J’ before he’d gone to college and gotten knocked off his pedestal. It was a miracle his parents had been able to put up with him for an entire year, honestly. “Be glad we met after I got my head on straight. It was for the best for both of us.” Puppet’s mask twisted into a frown, but Mike was determined for that to be the end of the topic, and moved the clothing box to get at the yearbooks beneath it.

“...huh?” Mike paused in the middle of opening the last box in the stack, and closed the flaps again to tilt it back, and get a better look at what had caught his attention. Puppet quickly perked up as the young man shifted the box across the floor, and off of a mysterious, rectangular shape still half-buried by all the clutter.

“Oh, cool! A secret door!” Puppet grabbed another stack of boxes and tried to push it off the shape, while Mike scratched his head in confusion.

“I...don’t remember this.” The human frowned, even as he helped Puppet to move the stack that weighed more than him. “I wonder if Mom or Dad knew about this?” He frowned as he cleared the last of the boxes off of what was now obviously some kind of old trapdoor. “Kind of seems like they tried to bury it.”

“Maybe it leads to a secret tunnel!” Puppet suggested eagerly. “Just like in that cartoon with the dog Pippa likes!” He started to bounce on his heels, and started to reach for the seam in the floor. “Let’s open it and see where it goes!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Slow down, Puppet!” Mike snatched the little animatronic up under one arm, and stepped back before he could get his striped fingers into the crack. “We can’t just open it!” He argued. “We have no idea what might be down there - there could be rats, or spiders, or-”

THUNK.

“......” Both Mike and Puppet froze at the sound, and looked down at the trapdoor. “.....that’s a big rat.” Puppet whispered. Mike slowly - quietly - stepped back from the trapdoor, and the sound came again, only louder. He dropped Puppet back to his feet, and the little animatronic quickly hid behind the human, and dug his striped fingers into Mike’s red jacket as they both nervously watched the trapdoor.

THUNK. THUNK.

Something pounded on the trapdoor from below - something big - and a small puff of dust was kicked up from the space. Mike looked around frantically for something he could use as a weapon, and snatched up a baseball bat from another pile of junk. Luis hadn’t used it since his high school days. Surely, he wouldn’t mind?

THUNK THUNK THUNK.

The trapdoor began to rattle, and Mike swung the bat up over his shoulder as the rusty lock creaked and bent. Finally, the old metal snapped, and the trapdoor was thrown open by-....by Chica?

Mike’s brain ground to a halt as the animatronic chicken mascot from his workplace popped up through his floor, looking around with a curious hum at the cluttered basement before she laid optics on him, and broke out into a wide, toothy smile.

“Hi, Mr. Schmidt!! How’d you get here?”

“.......” The baseball bat fell out of Mike’s limp hands, and clattered to the floor. Puppet flinched at the loud sound, but Chica didn’t seem to register the human’s obvious shock, and came up the rest of the stairs and into the basement.

“Guys!” She shouted back down the stairs. “Mike’s here!” Behind her, Bonnie’s ears appeared before the rest of him, and Foxy’s hook scratched at the edge of the trapdoor hole as he hauled himself up out of the tunnel that yawned beneath the basement floor. Mike sucked in a breath through his teeth as the pirate fox - and other figures that, in no way, should have ever been in his house - rose up from beneath the floor, and stretched his limbs.

“Aaarrr, ‘tis about time!” Foxy grumbled, leaning back as if to stretch out a kink in his spine. “We’ve been walkin’ fer hours! I thought we’d be ‘alfway t’ Tortuga by now!”

“We were only down there for twenty minutes, at best.” Bonnie argued as he climbed out. “Your internal clock must be broken!”

“Jus’ like th’ rest o’ me, ey?” Foxy turned an irritable glare upon the rabbit, but his expression immediately softened when he noticed the audience Bonnie had not. “Oh! Mike! How ye’ be, lad? Ain’t seen ye’ since Wednesday eve’!” Puppet looked up at the human he hid behind with wide eyes, and Mike found the presence of mind to lower his hands from their raised position.

“....you’re in my house.” He said eloquently. Bonnie and Foxy both tipped their ears forward, and looked around the basement.

“This be your house?” Foxy flipped up his eyepatch for a better look. “It be….uh….cozy?” Bonnie shook his head and smacked the fox on the arm.

“This isn’t the whole place, buckethead.” He scoffed. “There’s an upstairs, see?” He pointed to the basement stairs, and Mike looked over just in time to see Chica’s tailfeathers disappearing at the top. His heart skipped a beat or two.“This is just a basement!” The rabbit hopped over a box on the floor, and headed up the stairs himself. “Chica, wait for me!”

“I knew that!” Foxy huffed back with a lash of his tail. The basement started to feel a little small, and Mike pulled another breath in through his teeth. Oh, god. He’d had nightmares just like this, back when he’d first started on the night shift...except he wasn’t sleeping now. He was awake, and this was real-

“I, ah, don’t suppose I could get a hand?” Mike froze, and slowly looked back down at the trapdoor to see Freddy himself seemingly wedged in the stairway opening. Behind him, he could also see the glow from Sam’s LED hat band, somewhere back within the tunnel. “I’m not as slim as the rest of you, you know!” The bear admitted.

“Aye, let’s get’che out o’ there.” Foxy reached out with his good hand to grab Freddy’s and started to pull, with Sam - presumably - pushing from behind. After a few more seconds of staring, Puppet edged out from behind Mike to help. Mike, however, remained frozen in place, and a few shades paler than he probably should have been as he tried to comprehend how one of his darkest nightmares was becoming reality right before his eyes-

“Oh, wow!” Chica’s voice echoed from somewhere upstairs - somewhere on the second floor. “It looks like Parts & Services up here, only better lit! Bonnie, you have to come see this!”

“That’s my-! Oh no.” Mike’s eyes popped wide, and he finally broke out of his frozen stupor to bolt for the stairs, leaving Puppet, Foxy, and Sam alone to try and pry the pizzeria star out through the too-small trapdoor in the floor. “That’s my room! Don’t touch anything!”

He passed Bonnie in the living room, seemingly enamoured by the many framed photos hung up behind the couch, and nearly tripped running up the stairs before he caught himself on the banister. It wasn’t until he’d made it up to the landing and thrown open his bedroom door that Mike realized that he...had no real plan for confronting the animatronic inside. He froze again in the doorway, panting, and struggling for words as Chica ‘ooh’ed and ‘ahh’ed over the variety of drawings and unfinished projects strewn about his desk.

“Whoa!!!” Chica picked up a pipe-and-wire hand model that he’d given up on three months ago, and cradled it in her hands with the reverence of a child holding a coveted toy for the first time. “This is just like our endoskeletons! Mr. Schmidt, I didn’t know you could build things!”

“I-. Uh. Um.” The unexpected praise made it even harder for Mike to find his words, and he stumbled for an embarrassingly long time before he heard the creaking of the stairs, and felt a towering presence at his back.

“Oh, neat!” Bonnie pushed his way into the room, causing Mike to stumble forward, as well, and gleefully batted at the punching bag still hanging from the ceiling next to his bed. “Heheh, what’s this thing? Does it make noise?”

“No, it-. It doesn’t make noise.” Mike reached out a hand to stop the bag from swinging, and hoped the feeling of the synthetic leather against his hand would help snap him back to reality. It didn’t do much. “It’s for hitting.”

“Oh.” Bonnie seemed to lose interest at this answer, and turned to face Chica, who had moved on to looking at the posters and pictures hanging on the wall. “Oh!” Bonnie zeroed in on one in particular, and Mike winced internally. “Who’s this kid? I haven’t seen them at the pizzeria before.”

“Yeah, you have. That’s, uh.” Mike found himself wishing he’d never framed that dumb childhood photo. “That’s me.”

“That’s you?!” Bonnie and Chica both crowded around the frame, now, and Mike prayed to any deity listening that his floor would hold under them. “Aww! You used to be so cute!”

“Bonnie!” Chica gasped, and tweaked one of the rabbit’s ears. “That’s so rude! He’s still cute!”

“......” Mike pressed both hands over his face, and leaned back until he was sitting on his bed as the two animatronics began to squabble.

Maybe, if he just sat here for long enough, his brain would get tired of this nightmare, and he’d wake up?

[betweensceneswriter]

Island Hopper-Chapter 27: So Long, Farewell

Claire & Jamie head home, but unexpected surprises await them.

Previously on Island Hopper:

Chapter 26: Forgive me, Father… Jamie’s got a lot of built up bitterness toward his father.

ISLAND HOPPER (Jimjeran Book 2) Table of Contents

ISLAND FEVER (Jimjeran Book 1) Table of Contents

     Jamie reached down to give my mom a hug.  With her arms around his neck she kissed him on the cheek.

“I really do love you, Mister Jamie,” she said.  “Your mama would be so proud of you.”

The look on his face was precious—an affectionate smile and a flush of pride.

“Thanks for opening up your home to us,” he beamed, with an extra squeeze and a slight lift that made Mom laugh outright when he put her down, her face flushing as well.

“You’re welcome to visit anytime, son,” my dad said, reaching his hand out to shake Jamie’s.  He was more reserved than my mom but I could see his eyes twinkle as he put his arm around Jamie’s shoulders before we continued to make our farewells.

“I’m not sure I’m ready to let you go, man,” Seth said, putting out his hand to shake Jamie’s and then pulling him into a hug.  “Who is going to pace me on my morning jogs?”

“Ye just need to find a reason to do your final film project out on Arno,” Jamie told him after pounding him on the back affectionately. “Then it willna be as long before we get to jog together again.”

“You look out for my sister,” Shelly ordered Jamie as she hugged me.  “After what we’ve been studying in my global climate class, I’m worried about this upcoming storm season.”

We were waiting in the TSA line when John and Joe came rushing down the hall.  I did a double take when I realized John didn’t have a bit of luggage with him.

At Jamie’s curious shrug and the question in his eyes, John blushed.

“I changed my flight,” he explained.  “I was going to be flying back today, but I… we…” He glanced over at Joe.

“What the…?” I blurted out, looking from John to Joe and then back again. I’m sure my confusion was written all over my face, but so were my matchmaking suspicions.

Joe put his hand affectionately on John’s shoulder and raised an eyebrow at me. “You can stop grinning, Claire,” he ordered me.  “I know you’re jumping around on the inside.”

“Are you kidding me?” I exclaimed, grabbing Joe by the waist and squeezing him, looking up into his face to see his dark eyes twinkling down at me.  He hugged me back, and as I looked over at John's shy smile I whispered to Joe, “This is one of the good ones, Joegie.”

“Do the two of you want to stay with us?” my mom piped up.  “It would save you the cost of a hotel, and with Jamie and Claire leaving, there’s a room free in our house.”

“Thanks, Robin,” Joe responded.  “But this—” he said, meeting John’s eyes, “is so new, that might be awkward.”

“Well, at least come for dinner tonight,” she insisted.  “I’m going to be going through kid withdrawals by then.”

My eyes were pricking with tears and I found myself hugging my mom gratefully.  I knew that many of their Christian friends and colleagues were not as open minded, but my dad’s background in counseling had convicted them several years back that bigotry and judgment had no place in a loving life.

When I let go of my mom, I met Jamie’s eyes.  We were almost at the front of the line, our family members having traveled with us through the weaving queue leading up to the security check-in.

“I've made a decision,” Jamie declared, as we pulled the cart carrying our backpacks forward a few more steps.  I looked up at him curiously.  “I think I’ll just stay here,” he said brightly.  “I’ve bonded with your family, Claire, and I dinna want to travel on the Island Hopper again.  It makes me queasy just to think of it.”

“Jamie, honey,” my mom said reassuringly, patting his arm.  “You’ve got those copper pressure point bracelets I got for you, and you’ve taken your motion sickness medicine.  When you get on the plane, take the antihistamine Claire has for you and you’ll fall asleep.  You’ll be boring company for Claire, but you won’t feel nearly as sick.”

Jamie grinned down at my mom and put his arm around her.  “Thanks, Robin,” he said.  “I canna thank ye enough for looking out for me.”

“I’m a momma,” she said.  “And you’re one of my kids now, too.”

There was a lump in my throat as Jamie and I put our backpacks on the conveyor belt and stopped at the bench to take off our shoes.  I turned back one last time as we left the security area to go to our gate, and saw six familiar faces gazing at us, six arms waving furiously until we couldn’t see them anymore.

Jamie stopped me as we rounded the corner.  I had let out a little sob, and he dropped his backpack and took me in his arms.

“It hurts to say goodbye,” he whispered, his head bending close to mine.  “But how blessed we are to have your family so close.”

I nodded and took his hand as we headed toward home.

The text on my phone was as abrupt as the man himself. When does your plane arrive?

I shook my head in confusion, typing “7:17 pm” and hitting send.

Next to me, Jamie gave a soft snort, shifted in his seat, and then returned to the even breathing of sleep.

I will meet you then, came the reply.

Thanks, I responded.

You should stay with us tonight.

That would be nice.  Thanks.

The Iroij and I have a request. Let’s talk when you get here.

Dougal’s final response left me disquieted.

Dougal and the Iroij? What could they want, and why the need to prepare us for it?

I had been fretting about Dougal's announcement for nearly an hour when a deep breath and expansive stretch from Jamie next to me announced that the antihistamine effects might be wearing off.  He nuzzled my neck and then took my hand in his, drawing it into his lap.

“Jamie!” I whispered, “We are in an airplane, you goober.  There are people around!”

“Ifrinn, that is a shame,” came his slow good-humored reply.  With one final motion that brought me in lingering contact with his wake up show-and-tell, he released my hand and kissed me on the shoulder.

“Perhaps later,” he murmured.

“At Dougal's house?” I asked dubiously, handing him my phone.

He read over the messages, his forehead furrowing as he blinked the sleep from his eyes.

“What could they possibly want from us?” Jamie mused, yawning as he handed the phone back to me.

What indeed? I wondered, looking out the window at the never-ending landscape of blue ocean and the occasional cloud. I had to satisfy myself with the reassurance that we would find out soon enough.

“How were your travels?” Dougal asked once he had helped us load our things into the trunk of his car and he had turned down Lagoon Drive leaving the airport. The sun had set and all we could see was faint pink in the west over the lights of Delap.

“Remarkably good,” Jamie responded with a deep sigh, stretching his legs out and sinking into the front seat.  “Even spending today on the Island Hopper, I dinna feel horrible, though I do feel stiff and sore.  Dinna think I got off the plane once.”  He glanced over his shoulder at me in the back seat.  “As for Guam, the whole trip was brilliant.  Claire’s family was so welcoming I already love them.” Before turning back to face Dougal, he winked at me.

“Any other news?” Dougal asked, unaware of the shade thrown his way.

“Well, my da called me,” Jamie mentioned off-handedly.

“He did, then,” Dougal responded gravely. “He had called to get your information and I gave him Claire’s phone number.  How are ye, lad?”

“Not sure… Still in a state of shock, I guess, though I should probably call him before we leave Majuro,” Jamie replied.

Dougal didn’t ask any more questions, and Jamie didn’t offer any more information the few remaining minutes until we reached the MacKenzie home.

“The Iroij and I would like the two of you to take Perkaj home,” was Dougal’s request.  He had restrained himself until supper, once we were sitting in chairs around the dining table with him and Revka and Moneo.

I shared a confused glance with Jamie. How was that a request that needed much consideration?  “Well, of course we can take him back to Arno,” I responded.

“I dinna believe you grasp my meaning,” Dougal said, leaning forward. “We need you to take him back to Arno and keep him in your home for a time.”

“What about Maria?” I asked, confused.

“Aye, what about his auntie?” Jamie chimed in.

“She stayed for a week but then left,” Dougal explained, “convinced that the task was beyond her.  She isn’t prepared to monitor his blood sugars and take charge of his diabetic care.”

“And his parents?” I asked.  I glanced over at Jamie, whose brow was furrowed in thought.

“With several younger children in the home, I don't think his parents can be expected to take it on either,” Dougal reasoned. “But the Iroij and I feel like it would be cruel to put him in medical foster care here on Majuro, so far from his home.”

“No, that wouldna be right,” said Jamie, shaking his head. He reached over and put his hand on my knee.

“I agree,” said Dougal.  “So we would like the two of you to consider accepting this responsibility.  To have him come live with you for a time.”  He paused to let the concept sink in.  “We honestly can't imagine a better environment.  You with your medical background, Claire.  And you, Jamie, a teacher—close to him all day so you can monitor his blood sugars during school and coach him on eating and giving himself insulin.  The both of you will be there to help him through the night and in the morning.”

“But willna he miss his family?” Jamie asked.  “It may confuse him for them to just be down the lane.”

Dougal nodded briefly. “Mr. Timisen and I were thinking his life should be as normal as possible.  We would like him to eat a meal with his family each day and play with friends in the afternoon.  But until they are confident he is in a situation with the support to keep his blood sugar level, the hospital won’t even release him to let him return home.”

“Aye.” Jamie answered with conviction when Dougal finally paused in his reasons. “Of course we will help the wee laddie.”

I was still taking it in, thinking about the challenges of bringing a seven-year-old into our home.

I glanced over at Jamie to see if I could catch his eye—to see if I could signal to him that perhaps we should talk first.

Instead I saw him lean back in his chair, arms crossed over his chest, on his face a wry smile.

“Am I to understand, Uncle,” he mused, “that as a married couple, Claire and I are actually better suited to be of benefit to the islanders on Arno than we were unmarried?”

Dougal’s generally gruff countenance softened at his nephew’s teasing comment.

“Aye, son, you’ve proven your point,” he said, shaking his head with a grin.  “And I said as much to Claire on our field ship voyage—that I was wrong to judge her effectiveness based on the actions of one night, and that I truly see now what an impact she is having.”

“As I said, of course we will be happy to take Perkaj home wi’ us,” Jamie repeated, smiling over at me proudly.

By that point both men were looking at me in expectation. What other choice was there? We were there for the sake of the islanders, not our own selfish impulses.

“So,” I said brightly.  “What do we need to do to get ready for a temporary son?”

Perkaj looked so small in the hospital bed. He'd always been a cheerful student and joker, his chubby face often in a smile.  Now he looked shrunken and serious as the endocrinologist showed us the tester, the insulin pen, and the syringe for long-acting insulin.

I had done an endocrinology rotation in nursing school.  Despite this, the prospect of learning to be a human pancreas was daunting. I held back, but Jamie instantly sat down by the boy, taking his hand in his and talking to him in Marshallese.  Perkaj answered his questions in a small voice, and Jamie kept up a constant stream of conversation until the doctor was ready to continue.

“Go ahead and speak to him in Majel,” Jamie directed the doctor.  “I’ll translate for Claire.”

I appreciated how Dr Langenbelik also sat down at Perkaj’s level to show him the insulin pen as he told us they’d already administered his long-acting insulin for the day, the dose given each morning to provide a baseline level of insulin in the bloodstream for the day.  As we were talking, a breakfast tray arrived from the cafeteria.  On it was a range of island menu staples—a small bowl of rice, a piece of grilled fish, some baked breadfruit, sliced papaya, and two white flour pancakes.

“Knowing how much insulin to take with each meal is very important,” the doctor was telling Perkaj.  “You need to get good at counting your carbs.”

The doctor cupped his hand and held it up in front of Perkaj.

“That’s about a half cup,” Jamie translated in a whispered aside, “That is the size of a serving of food.”  He stopped and listened as the doctor explained while pointing to the items on the tray, then turned back to interpret for me.  “A half cup of anything sweet or starchy—rice or pancakes, fruit or breadfruit—takes one unit of insulin to enter the cells of the body.  With each meal Perkaj eats, he needs to figure out how many servings he is eating, and then he will give himself the short-acting insulin.”

“Or we can help him until he is ready to do it,” I suggested.

“Before eating anything, ledrik,” the doctor said to Perkaj, who was eyeing the food hungrily, “You need to test your blood sugar.  If you are high, you need to add an extra ____ units for each ____ points too high.  If you are too low, you need to adjust the insulin down slightly.”

Perkaj leaned back, deflated.

“Dinna worry, Perkaj,” Jamie encouraged.  “It shouldn’t take long.”

“It’s time,” the doctor said to us.  “I’m going to step back and observe as you help Perkaj with this meal.”

Jamie and I exchanged wide-eyed glances, then nodded at each other to fortify our confidence.

“Ready?” Jamie asked the young boy.  Perkaj nodded his head, sitting back up and looking eagerly at the food.  “First we should have you test your blood sugar.  Can you do that?”

With one false start and wincing as he did it, Perkaj was able to poke his fingertip with the lancet to get his blood sugar reading.  It was right on target, so as the boy looked over his plate, Jamie coached him to count the carbohydrate servings, which Perkaj adorably did by counting on his fingers.

“Enana keine” he said, making a face after a tiny taste of pancake.  “I eat the kappokpok, the keinabbu, the feesh, and the rice.  That is tree carbs.  No carb for feesh.” He looked around the tray curiously, questioning, “Is there salt? Or soy sauce?”

Once Perkaj had decided what he was hungry for, it was time to administer the short-acting insulin.  Jamie tried to hand the pen off to me, but I forced it back into his palm.  “You need to do it,” I insisted at his surprise.  “I know how to give injections. You’re the one who needs practice!”  He conceded with wide eyes and a reluctant sigh.

I coached Jamie with the insulin pen, watching as he turned the end of the cylinder until it clicked three times, one for each carb serving—the rice, the breadfruit, and the papaya.

“But I don’t want to hurt him,” Jamie objected when I pulled up Perkaj’s sleeve and exposed the back of his arm where Jamie was to give him the injection.

“Is okay, Meester Shamie,” Perkaj said reassuringly, bravely squaring his jaw as Jamie did the same, looking away as Jamie firmly jabbed the needle into the boy’s arm and pressed the plunger to dispense the insulin units into his bloodstream.

Jamie shuddered when it was done, murmuring “Jolok bod,” to Perkaj.

“Echelok bod, Meester Shamie,” Perkaj said cheerily.  “You did bery good. Emetak only jiddik.”

Dr. Langenbelik approached, a smile on his face.  “Excellent,” he said.  “Now eat your breakfast, Perkaj—we want to make sure there are carbohydrates in your body when the insulin is in your bloodstream.”

Perkaj seemed hungry and grateful to get food in his system again.  As he ate, the doctor turned and talked to the two of us quietly.

“Our goal is to get Perkaj trained to take on his diabetic care himself.  Until he does, though, I am grateful that the two of you are willing to take on the responsibility.  Not every young person diagnosed with type 1 has family members who feel ready to help them get through the learning process.”

“I don’t feel ready,” Jamie said to the doctor.  “But I dinna think we have much choice.”

We took shifts staying with Perkaj during the twenty-four hours before the Jolok boat was to take us home.  I stayed with him while Jamie went to the hardware store to buy the last of the things he needed for the solar still and storm-proofing our house.  I had taken one of Revka’s books with me and spent several hours reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone to Perkaj.

Jamie arrived, giving me a quick hug before going right to Perkaj’s bedside.  He picked up where I left off with the book while I went to do our grocery shopping for fresh produce and dry goods for the next few weeks.

“Our blood sugar is right on target!” Jamie announced when I returned to the hospital in the late afternoon after dropping off the food boxes at Dougal’s house.  He showed me the little notebook where they had marked down Perkaj’s pre-meal blood sugar level, the amount of insulin, the number of servings he had eaten, and then the mid-afternoon blood sugar level.

Perkaj seemed to be tired by then, but Jamie continued to sit by his bed holding his hand as the boy’s eyes repeatedly blinked and then closed.

I stood behind Jamie, massaging his shoulders as I watched the little boy sleeping.

“Not exactly what you pictured as your first child, is he?” Jamie whispered, rolling his head back and forth and groaning as I hit tight muscles.

“A little bigger than I expected,” I joked, smiling as Jamie grabbed my hand and kissed it.

“Are you okay with this?” Jamie asked, turning to look up at me. “I'm the one who deals with kids most of the time. You want a baby, but our baby.  This is different, to be sure.”

“I’m terrified, honestly,” I responded, leaning forward and putting my arms around Jamie’s shoulders, my cheek against his as we both stared at Perkaj.  “I know we’re capable, but this is such a responsibility.”

I could feel a lump growing in my throat and I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself.  “And I was so looking forward to being alone again.”

Jamie chuckled and brought his hands up to rest on my arms. “That day will come.”  He pressed his cheek against mine as he looked at the little dark-haired form in front of us.  “This will just be a season, like your da said.”  He took a breath and then began hesitantly.  “Now, I was thinking Perkaj will do better if he doesna wake up all alone.  Can I stay here wi’ him tonight?”

“Of course,” I responded.

“So do you want to stay here wi’ us, or go to Dougal’s house?”

“Dougal will need their car in the morning,” I said with a sigh, looking at the narrow guest couch edging the window. “And all our groceries are there at their house.  I’ll need to pack them up before we come to pick Perkaj up for the ride on the Jolok boat.”

“I’ll see you in the morning, then?” he asked.  As he stood and took me in his arms I closed my eyes, breathing in his familiar scent, listening to the reassuring thump of his heart.

“Yes,” I sighed.  Then I reached up, pulled his face down to mine and kissed him thoroughly.

He chuckled.  “Trying to make me regret my choice?”

“No,” I answered.  “I just love you.”

When I left the room I looked back—pausing just to watch Jamie sitting in the chair next to the bed, leaning his arms on the railing and looking down at the dark-haired form covered by a thin blue blanket.

On to Chapter 28: Just Add Water

Certain things are instant.  Not usually sons.

[senorarelojes]

Fic: Precious (4/?)

Title: Precious (4/?) Pairing: Dave/Alan Rating: NC-17 Additional Tags: Mpreg, ABO verse

Summary: "What's wrong with me? Am I sick?" Dave asked.

"No, Mr Gahan," the doctor replied. "You're pregnant."

Part 1 is here. Part 2 is here. Part 3 is here.

.

(It’s something I’m just writing for fun for @pinksyndication so please don’t take it too seriously and don’t click if male pregnancy isn’t your thing, sorry!)

. Alan was very quiet over the next few days as they left Japan, and Dave overheard Martin and Fletch gossiping that Al's pensive mood was most likely due to his explosive break-up with Jeri. Dave was happy to leave them in their mistaken assumption, because he wasn’t ready for anyone else to know the truth yet. Thankfully the Japanese dates were the last of their tour, and they were able to fly back home to the UK for the summer before continuing the second European leg in July.

Dave hadn’t wanted to go home to Basildon, so he let Jo have the flat in Bas while he searched for a new place in London. Alan had suggested that they look for a flat together since he was now technically homeless too, although Dave suspected it was because Alan wanted to be near him and the baby. Ever since he’d learned the news, Alan had been extra attentive to Dave, and he’d insisted on accompanying Dave to all his doctor’s appointments. They’d found an omega specialist on Liverpool Street, and she had the same kind, maternal air as Dr Watanabe, which comforted Dave greatly. She also didn’t seem to recognise either of them, which was a major bonus point.

They finally settled on a flat in Earl’s Court, which was quiet and peaceful, but near enough central London for Alan’s liking. It had two bedrooms, but from the first night onwards they automatically gravitated towards the same bed. Sometimes Dave would wake up in the middle of the night and find Alan watching him pensively, a hand sprawled protectively over Dave’s exposed belly. It then became second nature for both of them to sleep naked, skin to skin. Dave supposed it was one of the biological aspects of mating and bonding.

They still didn’t know whether Alan was an alpha or a beta, since they were preoccupied with the baby. When Dave had suggested that Alan go for a test, he’d simply shrugged before changing the topic to something else. It didn’t seem to be something he was too concerned about.

Over the next two weeks, Dave spent most of his mornings throwing up, then swearing at Alan for knocking him up. Alan took the abuse with good humour and spent his free time studying furniture catalogs so he could babyproof the flat. He brought Dave out to the movies and to eat at restaurants they both liked. “We should make full use of this time,” Alan said, tucking heartily into a plate of cacio e pepe. “Y’know, before you start showing.”

God, Dave didn’t even want to think about that. The pasta now tasted like paper in his mouth, but he kept eating quietly as Alan talked about a fancy new stroller he’d seen in Mothercare.

***

When Dave was eight weeks along, they agreed it was time to tell the others so they could cancel the second leg of their tour. They met with Fletch and Martin at the Mute office in Hammersmith, the four of them chatting in the reception while waiting for Dan to come in. Both Mart and Fletch seemed to assume the meeting was for the purposes of discussing logistics for the upcoming second leg of their European tour. Fletch talked about how he and Grainne were now scouting for flats in London, while Martin mused about possibly moving to Berlin. Alan was somehow able to act normally and participate in the conversation, while Dave just sat on the sofa and wished very desperately for a cigarette. 

Finally Dan arrived, juggling his mail and a takeaway cup of tea as he unlocked his office. “Sorry about that, lads. Come in.”

Dan’s office was an exercise in organised chaos. He had stacks and stacks of unheard demos waiting on his desk, along with letters, faxes and advanced album master copies waiting for him to sign off on them.  Dave took the chair next to Alan’s as Fletch made himself comfortable on the little sofa Dan kept in his office for naps, Martin perching on the arm beside him.

“So.” Dan cocked his head at Dave and Alan. “What’s the agenda for today, then?”

“Wait.” Fletch pointed at the two of them with a frown. “You lot called this meeting? I thought it was Dan.”

“No, it was Dave and I,” Alan said, looking straight at Dan. “We need to talk about cancelling the second leg of the tour.”

Fletch scoffed. “You’re bloody joking.”

“What’s going on?” Martin asked, brows knitted in concern.

“I’m pregnant,” Dave said softly, staring down at Dan’s table. Ironically, it was Vince’s face staring up at him from an Erasure press release.

Fletch and Martin immediately burst into laughter, both of them clutching onto each other in mirth. However, Dan was frowning deeply, his gaze ping-ponging between Alan and Dave. Maybe it was Alan’s grave expression that convinced him, because he was leaning forward, every muscle in his body seemingly taut with tension. “Is this true?” he asked Alan very seriously.

Alan nodded, reaching over to place a hand on Dave’s thigh. Dan looked down at Alan’s hand, then studied Dave again.

Both Fletch’s and Martin’s laughter was dying down. “Oh come on,” Fletch was saying, still smiling. “This is a prank, right?”

“No it’s not a prank,” Alan said. He nodded at Dave, who turned and reached into his bag to pull out the latest report and sonogram from their doctor. Dan took them all, putting on his glasses and studying the reports earnestly as though they were sales figures.

“Get out.” Fletch got to his feet, stomping over to hover over Dan’s shoulder so he could see them for himself. It was only a few moments before Fletch’s face turned paler and paler, his eyes wide and disbelieving. “No fucking way…”

“Wait, it’s real?” Martin jumped up, squeezing himself into the gap between Fletch and Dan so he could see it for himself. After a short while, Martin laughed nervously. “C’mon, this is a forgery, right? Good one, lads.”

Dave stood up in a cold fury. “You can all fuck off,” he snapped before storming out of Dan’s office, slipping on his shades so Suzie the receptionist wouldn’t see him crying. He found himself in the alley downstairs behind Mute’s office, desperately fumbling with a stray packet of cigarettes he’d found hidden in his jacket. He knew Alan would scold him for smoking, but right now he absolutely didn’t give a fuck.

Anyway, it didn’t matter because his hands were trembling too much to light a cigarette. He felt someone gently taking away the cig and his lighter. “Don’t do that.” At least Alan’s quiet voice helped to soothe his nerves.

Dave gave a violent sniffle, grateful that Alan pretended to look away so that Dave could wipe his eyes. “They still up there, thinking it’s a fuckin’ joke?” He was unable to keep the bitterness out of his voice.

Alan shrugged. “Dan’s talking to the two of them. At least Dan believes us, right? It’s honestly a better outcome than I expected.”

Dave eyed him. “What did you expect?”

“To be laughed out of the office,” Alan said simply. He stepped forward, folding his arms around Dave who gratefully accepted his hug.

It wasn’t long before they heard two sets of footsteps. Fletch still seemed to be getting over his shock, while Martin’s face was ridden with guilt. “All right?” Fletch said awkwardly, scuffing at his feet.

“You two came down to laugh at me some more?” Dave said, although there wasn’t much heat in it. Alan was still holding him, which felt really nice and took most of the anger out of him. Dave felt cold when Alan finally let him go.

Fletch’s jaw dropped, while Martin frowned at him and elbowed him meaningfully. “Er no, not at all.” Fletch rubbed the back of his head, the way he always did whenever he felt bad about something. “I mean, it is a lot to take in--”

“Andy,” Martin interjected, raising an eyebrow at Fletch.

“We shouldn’t have laughed,” Fletch admitted. “It was just a big shock, is all.”

“We didn’t know you were an omega,” Martin told Dave gently.

“Neither did I, mate,” Dave said with a sigh. “Only found out in Japan.”

Martin’s eyes widened. “You mean, when you had that food poisoning thing? That was--” Here, he gestured awkwardly at Dave’s belly. Alan nodded for the both of them.

“So what are we gonna do, lads?” Fletch, who always spoke with an air of strident confidence, sounded as lost as Dave felt.

“I don’t know,” Alan said, before rubbing Dave’s back. “But we’ll figure it out, yeah? You two on board with us?”

Martin nodded immediately. Fletch shot him an unsure glance before he gave them a single sharp nod.

It was definitely the best outcome Dave could have hoped for, at least.

[rumbelleshowdown]

Author:  Detective Weaver's Badge

Prompt:  Dog person

Group: B

-

DUG

“Hey, can you hurry it up back there, I want my drink!” an angry customer shouted toward the back room in Roni’s bar.

“I’m sorry!” an exasperated Lacey cried as she darted out into the room with the man’s drink order.  “Here you are – rum and coke.” The man took a sip of the drink.

“The coke is flat,” the man complained, and he slammed the drink down onto the table.

“I – our soda machine must not be working right, I’ll check it,” Lacey whimpered.  Suddenly a little toddler darted out from the back room and latched himself around Lacey’s legs.

“Mama!  I thirsty!” Lacey sighed and looked down at the little boy.

“Gideon, sweetheart, I told you to stay in the back and play with your toys, mommy is busy.”

“What is this, a daycare?  Listen lady, I came here to drink, not to play Sesame Street.” The man stood up and slammed his chair forward into the table.  “I’m outta here.”  Lacey sat down at the table and cried.  Roni, the bar’s owner, had to go out of town for a few days, and Lacey volunteered to watch the bar for her.  She certainly needed the extra money.  Of course, she didn’t realize that a day after Roni left, her usual sitter would come down with the flu, and two of the bartenders decided to take the evening off, leaving Lacey alone, manning the place with her toddler son.

“Mama sad?” Gideon asked as he crawled onto her lap.

“Yes sweetheart, Mama sad.”  Lacey pulled the boy into a hug.

“Where Papa?” Lacey took a deep breath and held the boy tighter.  The truth was, she didn’t know where Gideon’s father was.  She didn’t even know WHO Gideon’s father was.  All she knew was she loved her son and was doing her best to raise him alone.  She may have made many mistakes in the past, but she wasn’t going to let Gideon suffer for them.  The door to the bar opened, and Lacey looked up at the man who was entering.  She smiled a bit at him.  Lacey secretly had a crush on Detective Weaver, one of Hyperion Heights’ finest officers.  Well – finest to look at, at any rate.  She heard all the rumors of how he wasn’t exactly one to follow the letter of the law.  But he was nice to her, he was a good tipper, and who was she to judge after all?

“Gideon, you need to get down love, Mommy really needs to work.” As soon as Gideon turned and saw Weaver, his face lit up with a smile that Lacey hadn’t seen on his face for as long as she could remember.

“Papa!” Gideon shouted, and he darted toward Weaver and wrapped himself around the man’s legs for a moment, then lifted his arms into the air.  “Up, Papa!  Up!” Weaver wore a puzzled look on his face as he glanced down at the young boy.

“Yours?” he asked Lacey.

“Um – yes, he’s mine.  Gideon, that’s not your papa, that’s the detective, leave him alone.” Gideon grabbed onto Weaver’s legs once again.

“No!  Papa!  I want Papa!” Gideon shouted.

“I – I don’t know why he thinks you’re his father, I’m so sorry,” Lacey said.  From outside a loud bark was heard, and Gideon perked up.

“Dug!” Gideon shouted, and he darted toward the door.

“Gideon!  Get back here, no!” Lacey ran after the boy, and Weaver followed.  A golden retriever with a black collar was tied to the patio, and Gideon ran toward the dog.  “Gideon, stop, you don’t just run to strange dogs like that!”

“It’s alright, it’s my dog,” Weaver said, and he went to the dog’s side.  The dog seemed happy to see the young boy, wiggling with glee and wagging his tail fiercely as Gideon pet him.

“Dug!  Papa and Dug!” Gideon exclaimed happily.

“Not dug – DOG,” Lacey corrected him.

“No – DUG.  My Dug,” Gideon retorted.

“I guess he’s trying to say dog,” Lacey said.  “I didn’t know you were a dog lover.” She looked up at Weaver and smiled.

“Well, I found him on the street when I was out and about a few weeks ago.  No one claimed him so – he’s a good dog.”

“What’s his name?” Lacey asked.

“Gold,” Weaver replied.

“You named your golden retriever GOLD?  Not very original,” Lacey teased.

“Well, I like the name for some reason.  So – are you open or what?”  Weaver sat down, and Lacey sat down with him.

“Well, I’m trying to be but – Roni went out of town, my sitter got sick, and everyone called off today, and trying to run a bar with a toddler underfoot isn’t exactly bringing in the customers.  I’m sorry – what can I get you?”

“Sounds like you just need to close up and go home,” Weaver suggested.

“Roni would kill me.”

“Nah – this is her slow night anyway, she’d understand.  And if not – I’ll have a talk with her.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I know – but the offer stands.  Come on Gold – let’s get home so that Miss French and her little lad can be off.” Weaver reached for the dog’s leash, and Gideon started screaming.

“No!  Papa!  Dug!  You stay, I want Papa to stay!” the boy screamed, tears streaming down his face.  Lacey picked him up and hugged him.

“Gideon, I told you, this isn’t your papa.  Detective Weaver needs to go home.” Gideon turned and looked at Weaver and reached out to him.  “Papa!”  Lacey looked at Weaver in embarrassment.

“Would, um – I don’t know what’s gotten into him but – would you like to come over to my place?  You can bring the dog.  It’s been a rough week, and he seems to like you.  Maybe it’ll settle him down.”

“Well, I’m off for the night.  Why not.” Lacey grabbed a napkin and wrote her address on it, then handed it to Weaver.

“Give me about thirty minutes.”  Lacey headed back into the bar to lock up, Gideon still screaming in her arms.

“He seems to like the dog quite a bit,” Lacey said as she pulled several things out of the refrigerator to make something that resembled dinner.  Gideon was on the floor playing with the dog, who seemed very content to let the boy do whatever he wished.

“Yes, he does.  Can I help with anything?  Maybe make us some coffee or tea?”

“Oh, tea would be wonderful.  I have a tea set in the third cupboard; I hardly ever get to use it.  Honestly, I don’t even know the last time I pulled it out of the cupboard.  I mean – ever since Gideon I – well, I don’t have company much.  There’s several different tea blends there as well, make what you like.”

“Be glad to,” Weaver replied.  For as long as he could remember, he’d had a mild crush on Lacey French, which is why he made sure that he visited Roni’s bar when he knew that she was working.  He had no idea that she was living in such a tiny shack, nor that she was a single mother.  Why didn’t he know these things? he wondered to himself.  Weaver opened the cupboard to find a lovely tea set.  It was white with blue trim.  He took down two of the cups and was just about to reach for the tea blends when he noticed that one of the cups had a small chip in the corner.  He picked it up and was about to put it back when suddenly he was flooded with memories ….

Belle.  More curses than he could count.  Bae.  Gideon.  The dog they rescued when they were visiting in Storybrooke just before this new curse took hold – that Gideon had named Dug.  He glanced at his son, happily playing with the dog that was named Gold of all things – whoever cast this new curse certainly had a sense of humor.  They also must not have realized that children who are still in the age of innocence aren’t exactly easy to manipulate, which is probably why Gideon didn’t seem to understand any of this.  Poor lad – this had to be difficult for him.  But he’d fix it.  As soon as he made his wife remember, they’d fix it together.

“Lacey – look at this teacup,” Weaver said.  Lacey stepped away from the stove and took the teacup into her hands.

“It’s – chipped,” she stated, then gasped, nearly dropping the cup, but Weaver caught it just in time.

“Belle,” he whispered, tears forming in his eyes.

“Rumple,” she answered, her voice trembling, and they melted into a kiss.  

[massivehistorycowseagle]

Here's the short story I promised. It's called The attack on the outsiders. Hope you enjoy. I have left the ending a bit open so let me know if you want a another one of these in the comments below. Thankyou, Enjoy!

The attack on the outsiders:

Chapter 1: The beginning

Charlie stared at Sophia. Sophia stared back. Charlie despised Sophia. Sophia disliked what Charlie had become. Sophia knew she shouldn't care anymore but she couldn't help herself. She felt lost without him by her side. She felt swept away and uncared for when their friendship fell apart. She missed him but she knew happiness had found her again. Sophia remembered laughing with Charlie. She now had other friends to do this with. Sophia wanted to walk over there and confront Charlie. She didn't have the confidence to though. She knew the new Charlie. He wasn't someone you wanted to approach unless you wanted trouble. Her dream friendship had been broken. Charlie finally stopped pinning her down with his iron cold stare. Sophia finally looked away and back to her friends.

Sophia didn't miss everything about the past. She didn't miss the toxicity of popularity. She found her happiness and what she needed in her new group of friends. Sophia looked at her new friends. She didn't fear dying of embarrassment in school. She may be now one of the lowest links in the food chain at school but the happiest and probably the least scared of silly mistakes. She loved spending time with the people she saw. Emily, her new best friend had never once let her down in the past 8 months of knowing each other.

Chapter 2: Sophia

Sophia knew it wasn't wrong to feel how she felt. She did question it though after her experience with Charlie and the rest of her old group. Her newer friends made her more confident that she was right. Emily, Ryan, Regan and Brooke all supported her. There was a special connection between all of them. Sophia felt it, some more than others and in different ways but she couldn't deny that they were all her friends.

Sophia missed her old group. There was no doubt about that. She knew where she felt happier though. She missed the old Charlie. She missed Oliver, she was almost certain that he would've supported her. She didn't know why but she just felt that. Sabine and Sam are just awesome. Or at least were. Rae. Well she seemed sweet but was she the person to turn them all against her. Rae had only just joined the group when Sophia came out as lesbian....

Oh well. Hopefully not.

Chapter 3: Outsiders

The silence from Sophia hadn't gone unnoticed by her group. Her silence was finally broken by Emily.

"Sophia? Is everything okay?"

"Oh. I'm sorry. Yes. Just lost in my thoughts."

Emily knew this wasn't exactly true but she didn't want to enhance the pain she knew her friend was going through.

Just then a group of girls walked past giggling. Sophia and the rest of her friends heard for the umphteen time today.

"There's the outsiders." laughed the girl in pink. Her name was Becky; she was most commonly known as Bex. She has an important role and storyline but that's for another time.

Once the girls had gone past Ryan piped up "What do you think about this outsiders name, people seem to give us?"

"Well if they can't accept differences that's their problem. I just try to ignore them." Regan said firmly.

"Yeah I agree. They want to hurt us and break us. They never will as long as we have each other." Brooke added on.

"Our differences make us who we are." Sophia assured Ryan.

"I'm glad not to be a sheep." Emily joined into the conversation.

Then the bell rang to signify the end of lunch.

Chapter 4: Help!

The five of them parted and headed off to their lessons with cheery goodbyes.

Sophia felt better after her friends had talked about that elephant in the room and helping to empower each other.

Unbeknown to Sophia, Charlie and his group were approaching behind her. Sophia was about to turn the last corridor towards her classroom when Charlie and his mob surrounded her. Charlie was directly infront of Sophia.

"Let me go Charlie! Leave me alone!" shouted Sophia. Sophia then tried to escape from her old friends but she was well and truly surrounded. Unfortunately her shouts hadn't been heard by anyone.

"Listen to me." Charlie said menacingly "Afterschool I'm going to have sex with you. You'll lose your virginity with a lad whilst your lesbian. You'll never live it down. If you struggle; Oliver you tell her."

"We'll beat you to shreds." Oliver responded.

"You dare tell anyone and both will happen; you'll lose your dignity and virginity." Sabine chipped in.

Charlie and his mob had planned this out nicely. They hoped the last comment would scare Sophia but they couldn't be sure.

Sophia was a bit scared.

'That's what the iron eyes were about at lunchtime.' She thought.

"Now go." Samuel commanded.

"See you later Princess." Charlie called after her.

That really freaked Sophia out. That used to be what he called her as a friend. Now it was like some pornographic turn on for him.

Sophia knew that she had two lessons before afterschool. What was she going to do?

Time was ticking by and Sophia continued to lose concentration in her lesson. She felt sick and the ever increasing doom of the situation.

The bell finally went for the end of the first of Sophia's lessons; a blessing and a curse.

Sophia walked into her second lesson, she was obviously trembling. She was sweating. Emily sat next to Sophia in History, which happened to be their last lesson of the day.

"Hey. What's up?" Emily whispered.

Sophia just shook her head.

"Sophia, please tell me." Emily emplored quietly.

"Charlie. Charlie...." Sophia trailed off.

Emily knew Charlie was a weak spot for Sophia so trod round this subject very carefully.

"What about him love?" Emily quizzed Sophia.

"He's going to rape me, afterschool." Sophia cried quietly.

"Not if I can help it." Emily said taken about.

Emily knew she shouldn't use her phone in lesson but this was an emergency. She texted Ryan, Regan and Brooke and let them know what the situation was.

Would they see the message before the end of the day?

Chapter 5: Friends unite

The school bell rang signifying the end of the day. Emily grabbed hold of Sophia's hand. Sophia felt comforted by this action. Emily and Sophia walked out of school, still hand in hand.

Suddenly Charlie and his mob surrounded them.

"Let us go or we will fight all of you!!!" came Emily's war-like cry.

"Yeah." came Sophia's response less confidently.

"Go." Charlie said confidently whilst he tilted his head.

Rae grabbed Emily and held her back whilst the rest of the mob surrounded Sophia.

Sophia thought she was in for it and even worse whilst her friend Emily was forced to watch. Emily wondered if anyone had actually got her message.

Suddenly the reinforcements came in. There was Ryan and Regan. Emily was relieved. Sophia was scared. Where was Brooke? Suddenly Brooke came around the corner. A sigh of relief came from Sophia.

Ryan grabbed hold of Rae's hair and pulled. As Rae's grip loosened on Emily, Emily managed to elbow her in the face. Emily was now free. A fight had broken out.

Regan hit Sam. His nose started to bleed scarlet red blood. Brooke being at a lower level in her wheelchair managed to trip Sabine as she ran to join the fight.

Charlie was left approaching Sophia. Sophia kneed her old friend where the sun doesn't shine. He momentarily screamed and fell to the floor clutching where he just got kneed. He got up as suddenly as he had got down.

Sophia and her group were winning.

Oliver threw a punch missing absolutely anyone but he didn't want to fight or seem like he wasn't trying.

Charlie ran away from Sophia and  pushed Regan to the floor before she could hit the stunned Sam. Regan was out cold. Sabine got up from the floor, she pulled Ryan off Rae and pushed him into a tree, making him very woozy and out of it. Oliver threw another fake punch. Sam tipped Brooke's wheelchair with quite some force. Sophia screamed.

Charlie and his gang had one more to take down before he could get his hands on Sophia. Rae landed a punch on Emily leaving her clean out cold.

Chapter 6: At a loss

Charlie approached Sophia. He and his gang had won. Victory felt even sweeter. Sophia was alone and done for she knew it. The thing she didn't know was that she wasn't the only one crying nearby.

Charlie started to lift Sophia's skirt. Sophia cringed at this. Then Charlie for a moment stopped, let go, started laughing and enjoying himself then slowly, sensually started to undo his trousers.

Then there was a russle from the bushes. But before anyone could concentrate on that Ryan found some extra strength from somewhere, fulled by anger.

Chapter 7: Ryan

Ryan, sweat and blood covered ran inbetween Sophia and Charlie. He pushed Charlie away a bit to force space between Charlie and Sophia. Charlie was almost knocked off balance. This was why Ryan was Sophia's go to guy.

Charlie stunned took a moment before being ready to stike Ryan back down.

Oliver saw this. He knew what was about to happen. To happen to his Ryan. Not his yet but he so wanted Ryan to be his. He hated fighting at the best of times but he couldn't stand by and watch his crush get hit.

Oliver in that split second ran inbetween Ryan and Charlie.

He grabbed Charlie's fist screaming "No! No! Stop this now!" Ryan, Sophia, Charlie and the rest of the mob were all taken aback by this.

Chapter 8: Getaway

"Get out of my way Oliver!" commanded Charlie.

"No Charlie!" Oliver cried

"What?! Are you trying to protect these freaks?" Charlie screamed.

Tears started streaming down Oliver's face as Charlie barked at him. Oliver's hand stayed firm though.

The rest of Charlie's mob surrounded Oliver.

Everyone from Sophia's group was back up now except Brooke who was still tipped over in her wheelchair. Ryan quietly went and put it back onto its wheels and the five of them quietly snook off and got away from the situation whilst the rest were distracted. Ryan felt sorry to leave Oliver but the girls convinced him that he deserved it as punishment for what he had done before. The way he'd treated them in the past 8 months.

The mob didn't notice this. But then there was a russle from the bush and soneone was coming out from there. The mob fled except Oliver. Oliver was still crying profusely.

Oliver jumped as someone put a caring arm around him. He looked up terrified to see Bex.

[heathered-beinn]

BTS American Hustle Life Ep 2 musings

Recap of Ep 1; so BTS arrived in LA to learn about hip hop. They got about 1 days’ worth of sightseeing and fun before they were “kidnapped” late at night in the van while making a ‘stop off’ on the way back to the hotel. Some of them seemed genuinely scared and that was not okay. However, they are now in ‘hip hop school’ and have already met their teachers and special guest; Coolio.

Let’s see what Episode 2 brings…

Wow so V actually had to do the push ups. Give the lad his due I think his first set of push ups were impressive enough.

Straight into the tough talk. This feels a little over-dramatic; even for a tv show. I get what Coolio is saying though. Hip hop saved his life from prison and/or an early death and therefore it’s nothing to joke about. However, I do think he’s laying it on a bit thick for the camera.

LOL, called it. Coolio leaves the room after his tough talk and calmly has breakfast (?)

I do wonder if there are translators around behind the scenes and whether they can do their homework in Korean lol.

Their performance for Coolio was pretty impressive for off the cuff - although I’m curious as to what Coolio thinks of the dancing. BTS are great dancers but is that polished synchronisation to much for hip hop?

Coolio calling RM and V “Brain and Clown”? Bwahahahahaha, omg.

Okay, I choked over the murder stats for the Compton area. I googled it, they didn’t fake how dangerous it is. And they want BTS to go out into it on their own. Jeez, is that really necessary?! I want to say that they wouldn’t put the band in any real danger but… I actually really don’t know this band or their management well enough to be sure to what extent their safety weighs against profit.

Jeez, I feel like this should be some kind of meme. Boy scouts venture into da’ hood to give out cookies and lemonade.

The ‘sing to the neighbours’ challenge is quite cringy. I think I’m going to need to fast forward. *side note* there’s something about the way BTS act around women that reminds me strongly of the movie American Pie. It’s awkward and over-played and a bit ridiculous. Who would be who thought? My opinion: (and this is only based on how they act around women and NOT their personalities also this is really spur of the moment and no in-depth thought from me lol)

Jin = John (party dude - mostly vocal on his appreciation) Suga = Jessica (can’t put my finger on why but it just fits)  RM = Sherminator (I really think he’s a nerd deep in side) J-Hope = Oz (the girlfriend kind of lad but not immune for stupidity with girls) Jimin = a very tame Stiffler (because he over-acts) V = Finch (like Suga I can’t explain it but to me it fits) Jungkook = A cross between Jim and Heather (clueless and a bit standoffish).

IMPORTANT NOTE 

The reason I likened Jimin to Stiffler is simply because he is a bit extra… like over-compensating kind of extra. I really don’t think he’s had much experience with girlfriends or boyfriends. He does not have Stiffler’s obnoxious personality – I cannot stress that enough!!!

BACK TO THE SHOW

Phew that singing to the neighbour cringe-fest is over. Thank god. Let’s see how they did with their homework.

Lol, Jungkook, J-Hope and Jimin look like they are struggling a bit as their teacher is talking about a song they should sing. I don’t know whether the struggle is with the language barrier, or that they are not really interested in hip hop music or are a bit underwhelmed by the particular song choice. However, they still clearly want to work hard and try to do their best. This offers a moments’ insight into their work ethics and self-motivation. This is just my opinion but after watching Rookie King, China Job, and now American Hustle Life, I get the vibe that J-Hope’s motivation, at least at that time, came from a place of wanting attention and feeling competitive. Jimin’s motivation on the other hand seems to come from wanting to prove himself and also needing attention. There is a subtle difference between J-Hope’s want and Jimin’s need for attention – Jimin’s need is from perceived starvation while J-Hope’s want is more for validation.

Jungkook’s motivation seems to come from the need to please and to be seen to be a good. These are fairly strong motivations and I would be surprised if they don’t do well as a team.

So the winners of the sing to the neighbours activity get to have dinner with Coolio and the losers have to stay behind.

Aww, it’s nice seeing Jungkook having the confidence to sit next to Coolio in the car and actually converse. Atta boy.

Poor RM, V, Suga, and Jin. Not only do they have to stay behind but also do push ups and sit ups as punishment.

Jimin, Jungkook, and J-Hope are drinking sparkling water at the restaurant… Wait, of course, they are all underage for drinking in America. I forgot. I think it’s 21 there and Jungkook’s, what, 16???

OMG Jimin’s expression was so cute when he tasted the meat. Happy bean.

Hahaha, Suga and Jin were totally milking their mini win over V and RM. They definitely have a vindictive streak in them lol. OMG Suga “Go to the restroom for me” (!)

Jimin looks waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too awake for 7am.

Wait, did V just go to Tony’s bed?????????? Wow, the confidence, the daring lol.

“Wash your face, brush your teeth,” lol, the teachers are turning into parents!

I love V.

Lol at Jin going around feeding everyone a nutritious crisp (chip) breakfast.

Jimin doesn’t seem too enthusiastic today – kinda just sitting there, barely claps when the others do, doesn’t put his hand up to say he’s hungry. I wonder what’s up. Is he tired? Sick? Fed up? Fallen out with someone?

Shopping: *hides face* at RM and V in the underwear store. Lol, that silver hat makes V look like a glittery sperm. Aww at V charming the older ladies. But HEY! Don’t teach them to say “Jimin is dumb” in Korean! Poor Jimin. Lol V, I’m disappointed young man.

Ah, RM breaking things again.

What on earth is J-Hope talking about in the car lol. Drums? Glasses? What?

LMAO at Jin and Suga in the other car. Oh my god Jin Jin: We need to do Fire Show. Teacher (frown): Like fireworks? Jin: Like cook. … Teacher (mildly impressed): You know how to do that? Jin (nonchalant): No Teacher (excuse me, what?): It’s your first time? Jin: Yeah Teacher (wide eyed and alarmed): You’re going to burn down… Jin and Suga: Don’t worry, you trust me. Teacher (hand to head in mild panic): ooooooooh

So the cooking part… yeah. I think I my brain might have gone offline when Jimin walked in with Tony dressed like…. Well okay, I may have had to fast forward through most of that cooking skit.

So to the results of the cooking challenge…

Jeez, Coolio, harsh much? Poor V, labelled a disadvantage before nearly having his spine ejected out his mouth by the force of those backslaps.

J-Hope, Jimin and Jungkook win again! Oooh, I just noticed, 3 Js… J3?

Chokes $1000 ??????!!!!

Aww, the others got a chain too, nice.

A good moral at the end of the day; do it for the love of music not the fame or money.

Jimin in the traditional girl’s clothes; he looks cute. Also, look at those arm muscles.

Wait, Suga, who were you shaking/holding hands with in that end scene?

Okay, so this is my least favourite series so far. There are a lot of cringe moments and there has been someone questionable things said and done. However, it’s still early days so maybe it will chill out a little in the coming episodes.