#its 1 am and i want to go clean and empty my cupboards

[wtf-amiru]

I'm getting the kitchen layout finalized by the parents and the contractor tomorrow and maybe also pulling cupboards down finally :bongotap: I am terrified and excited :D

[imthebadguyyy]

A/N - based off of this sinful photograph

Suggested listening - Wildside by Normani and Kiss It Better by Rihanna

Wildside

Pairing - Lewis Hamilton x Reader (fem!littlemix!reader)

Fandom - F1

Summary - You've been on tour for a while, and you miss your loverboy. But when he surprises you on tour, its bound to get spicy.

Warnings - smut (not well written)

The snap of hips. The soft groans and moans. The sound of pants. The sound of Rihanna's 'Kiss It Better' blaring through the walls. The bed knocking against the wall as Lewis's hands squeezed your hips, the intensity of the thrust pushing the bed against the wall. The high pitched moan that left your mouth as you reached your high, eyes closing as stars exploded behind your eyelids, as your boyfriend came right after you, your walls clenching as he came. Even after reaching your high, you didn't want to open your eyes, far too consumed in the earth shattering pleasure that was coursing through your veins, until a soft hand reached to pull your chin up, soft brown eyes looking into your own, clouded with lust and euphoria.

Pulling your mouth into his in a heated kiss, Lewis moved his hand to rest on your bare stomach, squeezing your tummy softly as he deepened the kiss. Pulling away he let his head droop onto your bare chest. "That was.." he began, far too blissed out to think of an adjective. "Godly" you said, chest rising and falling rapidly, trying to come to terms with the intensity of your orgasm. Laughing he leaned back up to kiss your nose, before standing up and walking to the bathroom. You heard the tap running, and the sound of the dustbin opening and closing. You closed your eyes again, the aftershocks still coursing through your body.

Opening them again slowly, you saw Lewis walk towards you, towel in hand, and a lazy smile on his face. He gently cleaned your thighs, finishing with kisses on both of them. He reached up and wiped your torso, which was gleaming with a thin layer of sweat, before running the towel over your nose, cheeks, eyes and mouth. He dropped the towel in the clothes hamper near the bathroom door, pulling on his boxer shorts and and pulling out one of his t shirts from the cupboard. "What about the clothes on the floor" you piped up, finally beginning to wake up from your post pleasure state. "When did it get so messy?" He said, spotting 5 different clothing items in 5 different corners of the room. "When you decided to run your hand up my dress in a restraunt" you replied, throwing him a fake glare.

"You liked it" was his cocky reply, smirk spreading over his face as you flushed and ran a hand through your hair. "I did not" you lied, watching as he raised his eyebrows. "Oh really ? Thats not what you were saying 5 minutes ago- oh wait, you weren't saying anything at all. You were too busy moaning my name to say anything else-" "OKAY fine I loved it. Now shut up and bring your fine ass back for cuddles"

*-*-*

That was a month ago. Now you've been away for nearly one and half months, away with the girls on the LM5 tour. You loved touring, it was the best part of being a singer, getting to see the music you girls made together come to life on a stage in front of thousands and thousands of screaming fans. It was a thrill like no other. The only problem was that you were away from home. Distance was never an issue for the two of you, after all, he was a Formula 1 driver. It was very rare that he was home, except during the breaks and the gaps till race weekend, but ever since you two had started dating, he tried to be with you whenever you could. Sometimes, your shows would be in places where the races were too, and then he'd definitely turn up. But it was a difficult thing to do all the time, and some nights on tour were spent pulling all nighters as you talked to each other on the phone, till one of you eventually fell asleep.

But you knew when you started dating him, this wouldn't exactly be a regular relationship. The two of you were doing your dream jobs, and they were both extraordinary. And you were willing to put in the work you had to put in to make the relationship work, and you did. Yet here you were in Madrid, feeling heartbroken and desperately wanting your boyfriend by your side. It had been a rough couple of weeks, you were jet lagged and tired, and although this was the second leg of the tour, and you had had a break, it was tiring. It was hard going to bed every night alone, when all you wanted was to cuddle your boyfriend.

Little did you know, Lewis was feeling the same. In fact he had missed you so much, he had told Angela and his publicist to cancel all events for a week, while he flew out to Madrid to see you. He had missed you, he had missed you more than he could put into words. But he also wanted to surprise you. Pulling out his phone, he scrolled down to Leigh Anne's contact, and sent her a text.

Lewis, Leigh Anne

Hey. Is Y/N asleep ?

Hey! No, she's in an outfit fitting.

Okay that's good. I need your help with something.

Sure how can I help ?

I want to surprise her by coming to see you guys in Madrid.

Oh thats wonderful ! She's been a little down in the dumps. I think she misses you.

I miss her too.

Let me know when, and I'll send a car to pick you up.

I'll be there on Saturday. Landing at 3:15 and I should be at the hotel by 4:30. Then I can get ready and surprise her at the show.

Okay done. I'll send the car around 5:30,so you can rest for a bit. You should be here by 6. The show's at 6:15.

Thank you! Can't wait : )

I'm so happy youre coming to see her ! I'll let the girls know.

*-*-*

As soon as he had finished texting, Lewis decided to start packing, the prospect of seeing you again sending a buzz of happiness running along his veins. God, he had missed you a lot. He turned to Roscoe, the dog sitting by his feet, looking up at his dad with his head cocked to one side. "I'm going to go see Mumma, Roscoe" he explained, smiling as the doggo barked in response. He wouldn't be able to take him to Madrid, he'd have to leave him with a dog sitter, but he couldn't feel too bad about it, since he had had Roscoe with him even when you were gone. And besides, Roscoe enjoyed the dog creche. He couldn't wait for Saturday.

Later in the evening, he sat down with a glass of wine, while the ringtone of your FaceTime rang through the empty house. After a few more seconds of ringing, the call was picked up, your tired face coming into view. "Hi darling" he said, noticing the tiredness in your eyes, and how much you were struggling to keep them open. "Hi bubs. Did you finish eating?" You asked, rubbing your eyes. "No, I've ordered soup" (did anyone get the reference ;) "Oh okay" was the reply. "What about you? What time is it?" "Its 9:20 AM" you replied, gently rubbing your eyes again, forcing yourself to stay awake.

"9:20? Thats pretty late baby. Why are you still sleepy?" "We were recording till 4 AM, so Im functioning on like 5 hours sleep right now" "Oh damn. Go back to sleep then baby" "Can't, rehearsal" was you reply, making him furrow his eyebrows. "Okay I guess. But don't tire yourself out" "I won't" "I love you" he said, smiling at you. "I love you"

*-*-*-*

The Madrid show was always a fun one. The fans were loud and you loved it. They were one of the best crowds you girls ever played for, and the show had its own adrenaline and excitement. But it was difficult to give a 100% when you were tired, but you really tried, you did. During Power, you hit highnotes you didnt think you could, during Woman Like Me you danced like there was no tomorrow. During Wasabi, you brought your sass level up to a 1000. It was during Bounce Back that you caught sight of a very familiar face in the audience. Unable to actually grasp if you had actually seen Lewis, you turned to Jade, who was on your side, and looked back at the crowd and back to her, asking for confirmation.

The smirk she gave you was answer enough. After that, focusing on giving an excellent performance increased tenfold. Every swirl of your hips, every flip of your hair, every wink you threw at the audience, it was all five times sexier. In the crowd, your boyfriend was well aware of what you were doing, and it was fair to say that you were succeeding at it. He could feel an uncomfortable sensation around his pants region, as his cock twitched uncomfortably in his pants. He couldn't wait till the show was over, and you two could have a show of your own.

*-*-*

"That was amazing darling!" Lewis said, spotting the 5 of you in your dressing room. "Oh look its Mr. Loverboy!" Perrie said, cackling as you rolled your eyes at her, before running up to your lover and jumping into his arms. "Hiya Bub! I missed you!" "I missed you too love. That's why I surprised you. I couldn't stand another day without you at home" he said, wrapping his arms around your waist to keep you stable as you jumped into his arms. A chorus of "awws" echoed throughout the room, as the girls watched your cute little interaction. What wasn't cute however was the comment Lewis made in your ear, hiding his face in your ear so that the girls couldn't see. "I can't wait to get back to the hotel. I saw the performance you were putting on for me baby. You have no idea how hard I got, how uncomfortable I was standing in front of so many people when all I really wanted to do was fuck you"

You could feel your mouth become dry, and your heartbeat quicken, and you could feel the area between your thighs become wet. You tightened your grip around him, letting your crotch rub against his very softly. "I think it's time to go" you mumbled against his ear. "Okay girls, as lovely as it was to see you, I think it's time we go back to the hotel. I'm pretty worn out from travelling as well" "Yeah I'm pretty tired too" you replied, faking a large yawn. "Alright then, we'll see you guys tomorrow!" Leigh Anne said, leaning forward to give you a hug. After you finished hugging all the girls, the two of you made your way to the car, eagerly waiting to get back home.

The car ride home was tense. The tension was apparent in the air, reverberating through the air, choking you in a way you revelled in. The air was thick with tension, and it was suffocating you in the best way possible. It was almost too much to take. When the hotel came into sight, you practically leapt out of the car, and rushed to the door, an equally ruffled Lewis beside you. But he was not going to give in to you so easily. He enjoyed seeing you flustered. And he was not a person that gave someone what they wanted when they asked for it,no. He was going to have you desperate for it. Smirking to himself, he made his way to the reception, grabbing you by the waist as he went.

Throwing him a confused look you followed, slightly frustrated. "Hello sir, how can I help you?" the man at the reception asked, eyes going slightly wide as he recognized the two of you. "Hi! I just wanted to ask, till what time is your pool and spa open?" He asked, sliding his hand down to the back of your dress. "The pool closes at 10 pm sir, and the spa at 9 pm. We open the pool at 7 am and the spa at 11pm"he replied, struggling to maintain his professionalism as he spoke to one of the best drivers in Formula 1. "Alright thank you. And what time does breakfast start?" Lewis asked, hand pressing down on your ass, ever so discreetly. "Breakfast is from 6-10 am sir" "Thank you so much"

Next to him, you were fuming. Of course he was going to ask questions to which he already knew the answers to. A painful throb between your legs made you let out a small whimper, and the man at the reception looked at you with concern in his eyes. "Ma'am are you alright?" He asked, eyeing your stiff posture and tense state. "Yes, just tired, thank you" you replied, a little stiffly, but it was hard to concentrate when Lewis's promise of fucking you senseless kept replaying in your mind. "Alright then, good night" Lewis said, biting back a smirk at your flustered state. He knew getting you all riled up would lead to some seriously earth shattering sex, and he couldn't wait. But first, he definitely wanted to tease you, to push you over the edge, just a little more.

Your room was on the 16th floor, and as the two of you made your way into the elevator, he eyed you up and down, eyes lingering on the curve of your breasts. The minute the door shut, he pushed you against the wall, capturing your lips in a steamy kiss you'd be remembering the next day. His hands moved to your ass, squeezing hard, eliciting a moan from your lips. The moment your lips parted, he was pushing his tongue into yours, his other hand coming up to pull on your hair roughly, relishing in the gasp that left your lips. As suddenly as he started, he stopped, pulling back and standing almost nonchalantly against the wall.

Trying to wrap your head around what happened, you gripped the wall with your hand, feeling your legs grow weak to a point where you felt like you couldn't stand on your own. You could feel your wetness dripping, threatening to run down your thighs, as the throbbing became even more painfully exciting. You looked down at the floor, eyes closing as your frustration grew more and more by the second. Finally, with a little 'ding', the elevator stopped at the 16th floor. The moment the door opened you stepped out on wobbly legs, trying your best to walk properly. But of course, that wasn't going to happen. As you turned one long corridor, Lewis suddenly grabbed your waist, pushing you against the wall again, to reach down and suck on your neck. You let out a gasp, and tried to run your crotch against his, but the retaliated with a slap to your ass, smirking when a high pitched moan left your lips. Lifting you up against the wall, he mumbled against your ear "the key card" your clouded mind was unable to process the words, too consumed by slight relief you were getting. "Get the key card baby" he repeated. This time you noted it, reaching down to his pants pocket to pull out the key card. You couldn't resist running your hand over his cock, feeling how rock hard he was. The thought of him fucking you senseless returned, and you let out a groan.

Grabbing the card from your hand, he opened the door, propping you up against the door in your bedroom. His eyes were filled with a raw, animal desire, as he dropped the card on the floor and reached up to unzip your dress. He ripped the zipper down, your dress falling to the floor in a crumpled heap. He locked his eyes on your heaving chest, hand reaching up to grab your chin, pulling you in for a searing kiss. His hand slid up your torso, reaching behind to unhook the red lacy bra you were wearing, letting it drop to the floor as he took in the glorious sight in front of him. You waited, wanting him to just touch you, but he just stared, eyes looking into yours, clearly saying "beg for it"

You couldn't help the soft "please" that left your lips, too desperate for some sort of touch. "Please what?' Lewis said, tightening his grip on your waist. "Please" was all you could say again, nearly whimpering again at the rough look in his eyes. "Use your words baby. Now, please what?" "Please just touch me!" You finally gasped out, moaning loudly when he licked a stripe down your chest before taking your right tit into his mouth. His hand fondled the left one, running his thumb over your erect nipple, the rough pad of his thumb sending shockwaves of pleasure through your body. His mouth sucked on the skin of your tit, before moving down to bite down on your nipple. You gasped again, pain and pleasure coursing through your body as his tongue ran over your nipple over and over till it nearly felt raw. He switched his actions, moving his mouth to your left tit instead, letting his hand harshly fondle the other. He continued the same process of biting, licking and sucking, till he was satisfied with himself. "I fucking love this baby. Seeing you all wet and needy for me. So what do you want? My mouth? My fingers? My cock? Or does my baby want them all ?" He asked, watching as your pupils dilated and you let out a strangled moan.

You let your crotch rub against his thigh, gasping when the friction went straight to your core. "Look at you darling. I asked you what you what you wanted, and you picked my thighs? Well, I want to see you dripping. I want to see you cum on my fingers, my mouth, my thighs and especially on my cock. I'm going to make you cum over and over and over again till you can't even stand on your own fucking legs. I want your thighs to be shaking around my head. I want to see you moan and groan and scream my name so loud, by tomorrow everyone in this hotel will know my name, because you'll spend all night screaming it" you moaned again, his words going straight to your core."Please Lewis, God, just make me cum please!" The desperation of your cry was enough for him to carry you to the bed, dropping your body onto the soft mattress.

He pulled of shirt, unbuttoning every button so you could see him do it. He could see your eyes grow dark, as his compass tattoo came into sight. You had told him it was one of your favourites, and he had used it against you ever since you had told him that. Smirking at you, he climbed onto the bed, lying down between your legs. You pushed yourself up against the headboard, spreading your legs wide for him. His eyes grew dark, as your core came into his view, shimmering with your juices. A near animalistic growl left his mouth, the sound hitting your core. He moved so that he was situated right in front of your core. He let his eyes take in the sight of you in front of him, snapping back to reality when you let out a groan of frustration. Throwing you a devilishly reassuring smile, he inched neared and nearer, till his nose was nearly touching your clit. Then he just lay there. Not moving. You could feel your heartbeat hammering against your chest, chest heaving up and down, an alarming intense feeling growing in your tummy. Finally, when it became too much you let out a small scream of frustration "Oh for fucks sake Lewis please just fuck me!" Your outburst brought a smile to his face. "Oh I will. Just not yet" and with that, he ran a finger along your slit, before finally slipping it into you. You let out a moan, finally getting the friction you had been desperate for. His fingers circled your clit, thumb gently pressing down, before he removed it,only to slam it back down on your sensitive clit, earning a scream of pleasure from you.

He slipped a second finger into you, scissoring around your clit, as your desperate cries of "oh, oh baby! Fuck, fuck lewis-" were lost in the heat of the moment. He leaned his head down to your core, letting his tongue run along your slit too, before licking around it, collecting your wetness on his tongue, before letting it harshly circle your clit. You bucked up into his mouth, feeling his tongue wrap around your clit. He sucked the nub harshly, his fingers still moving in and out of you. "Oh God, Oh GOD, Lew-I- oh! Oh God!" Your broken moans were music to his ears as he sucked your clit into his mouth. You could feel a strange intensity growing in your stomach, feeling a lot stronger than your usual orgasm. The band in your tummy was threatening to snap, but you needed that something more to help it snap. That something more came when Lewis sucked your clit into his mouth, letting it rest in between his teeth, before flicking it with his tongue.

With a cry of "Oh fucking hell, Lew-" you camr gushing into his mouth, your juices coating his fingers and gushing onto his tongue, as he let you ride out your orgasm on his deadly skilled tongue. Well, he had got his wish. Your thighs were shaking around his head, as your body tried to come to terms with the intensity of the pleasure coursing through your body. Looking down, you saw him with his painfully hard cock, grinding down on the sheet, as he let out a moan at the relief the bedsheets gave him. Raising an eyebrow, you patted your thigh, signaling him to come over to you. "You loved on me so well bubs. But I can see how hard you are. Do you want to use me to get off?" You asked, watching the effect you had on him. All he could do was nod, as you sat up on your knees. "Stand up" you ordered, getting up from the bed as well.

You walked over to the wall, letting your body rest against it. Somewhat confused, Lewis followed you, standing in the space between your legs. "I tried to get off using your thighs didn't I? I think you'll enjoy it as much as I did. So use me. Use my thigh. Get off" looking at you in pure shock, your boyfriend moved forward, groaning when you pushed your leg against his throbbing cock. He relished in the friction, slowly beginning to move against your leg, moaning when he began to rub against your leg. He began to hump your leg faster, as the pleasure began to build up in his body, before you reached your hand down to cup his length in your hands, moaning when you realized your fingers didn't quite meet. You ran your fingers along his length. You pumped him, letting your thumb circle his sensitive tip, eliciting a soft whine from him. You circled faster, moving down to your knees, and letting your tongue run up his shaft very softly. Above you, Lewis slammed his hands against the wall, groaning when you took him into your mouth.

But a part of him still wanted to cum inside when he was fucking you (in a condom, because wrap it before you tap it) so he pulled you back up, smirking when you whined. "I know baby, but I just really wanna fuck you now. Back on the bed please, unless you want me to take you here against this wall" practically running, you clambered onto the bed. You watched as Lewis pulled out a condom, ripping the packet open before climbing back on top of you. He let his hand rest on your hip, eyes temporarily losing some of the animalistic need that had been present in them. Leaning down, he connected your lips together in a kiss, a searing, intense kiss that took your breath away. "Ready love?" He asked, looking into your eyes, looking to see if there was even a slight hint that you didn't want this. But you did.

With a sudden jolt, he thrust himself into you, groaning when your warm walls clamped down on him. His hips thrust into you, starting off slow, letting you adjust to his massive length. "My sweet baby,taking me so well. Does it feel good?" You couldn't even respond, mouth agape, as his the pace of his thrusts increased. "Answer me" he said, suddenly stopping. Almost crying out at the loss of pleasure, you looked at him with desperation. "Yes yes, fuck it feels so good, please don't stop!" "Thats all you had to say baby" he said, before pushing in again, slowly. Then, he pulled back out. Looking at him in confusion, you gasped when he slammed back into you, a high pitched moan of "Lewis!" leaving your lips. He moved so that he had a better hold of your hips, rocking the both of you back and forth, the intensity of his thrusts was so much that the bed knocked back against the wall. What he wasn't expecting was for you to take his left thumb up to your mouth, running your tongue over it before sucking on it.

Moaning, he started thrusting into you even harder, shifting so that he was directly hitting your g spot. "Oh, God ! Oh fuck, Baby that feels so good please keep going keep-oh!" The cry that left your lips was so loud, you were sure Perrie in the room next to yours had heard you. "Fuck baby, you take me so well" Lewis said, as he nearly hammered your g spot. He was so, so damn close to cumming, and when you leant up and bit a sensitive spot on his neck, he came, gushing into the guard between you two, but he wanted you to cum to, so he reached down to pinch and rub your clit, still riding out his orgasm in you, moaning when you came with a scream. He winced when your core spasmed on his sensitive cock, and he pulled out slowly, before collapsing next to you. Panting, you curled up to him, letting your hand rest on his compass tattoo. "Okay that was Godlike" you said, earning a tired laugh from your lover.

"Yeah it really was. I missed you" he said, allowing you to nuzzle into his neck, leaning down to press a kiss to your forehead. "I missed you too" you replied, kissing the tattoo. "I love you too" As you lay there together, still revelling in the moment, your phone buzzed. Reaching over to check it, you saw your groupchat with the girls flooding with messages.

-*-*-

Perrie 🧚🏻‍♀️ - Y/N, I'm filing a noise complaint. 🍆

Jade ✨ - Pez 😂 let them be. It's been a while for her.

Leigh 🦋- She really got some tonight huh? 😏

Perrie 🧚🏻‍♀️- LOL she did !! And it was obviously some goooood 'some' *wink wink*

Jade ✨- I could hear em too, and Im on the other end of the hall.

Leigh 🦋 - I know I did too! Must be some damn good sex. 😏

Perrie 🧚🏻‍♀️ - Go Y/N !!

Jade ✨ - Can't wait till she reads this.

Perrie 🧚🏻‍♀️ - Are they still going?!

Leigh 🦋 - No 😂 she's reading the messages. Y/N!! Yoohoo!

You - yes I'm here 🖕🏽

Jade ✨ - Did you have fun babe 😏

You - ..... yes

Perrie 🧚🏻‍♀️ - babe you can't really say no because we heard you

You- Im not saying I didn't have fun. But you guys need to calm down.

Leigh 🦋 - But its funnn

You - okay byeeee ❤

Perrie 🧚🏻‍♀️ - Going for a round 2 😏?

You - okay I said bye.

Leigh 🦋 - she is !!

Jade ✨ - Go babe !

You - I need to leave this group.

Perrie 🧚🏻‍♀️ - No we love you !! ❤

Leigh 🦋 - Yeah don't leave us ❤

Jade ✨- Don't leave meee ! ❤

You - Haha I'd never leave you girls ❤ now bye.

Jade ✨ - bye babe !

Perrie 🧚🏻‍♀️ - bye you sexy minx 😏

Leigh - bye hun 💙

*-*-*

Smiling to yourself, you put your phone away, to see Lewis looking at you with a raised eyebrow. "Who was it?" "Just the girls" you said, cuddling back up to him. "What did they say?" Giggling, you looked up to him and kissed his neck. "They said they're going to file a noise complaint. And they asked me if we were going for a round two" "Were we really that loud?" He asked, looking at you in surprise. "Yeah, even Leigh heard us and she's at the end of the hall!" "Damn" Lewis said laughing. "Well," he said, looking at you again, with a cheeky look in his eye, "they were right about one thing" "And what is that?" You asked, smiling at him mischievously. "We are going for a round two"

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

@maxverstappenx @grandestrategia (because you are worth it 🦋💙)

[dilemmaontwolegs]

Hands That Heal - Ch. 4

Bucky Barnes x mechanic!fem!reader

Chapter Summary: Roles are reversed when Bucky shows his domestic side and you show him your protective side. Series Warnings: 18+ only, canon-typical violence, swearing, fluff, misogyny/degrading comments from some men, smut to come. Word count: 2.2K

Chapters: 1 || 2 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 

RECAP: “I’m not a cop.” He smirked. “I just want to have a friendly conversation. I’ll even leave my weapons with you if it makes you feel better.”

You shook your head with a bitter laugh. “You going in unarmed would not make me feel better.”

“Well, I would keep the arm.” He joked before sobering up and softly cupping your face in his large palms. “Come on, let me fix this so we can see where it goes. Second chances don’t come very often, believe me.”

━━━━━━♡♥♡━━━━━━

“Are you doing anything this weekend?”

You straightened up from where you had been bent over the engine of a Subaru and turned to see Bucky leaning against your workbench.

“When did you get here?” You asked as you looked around the empty workshop, Chip and Dale long gone.

“Few minutes ago, I didn’t want to interrupt.” He admitted with a smirk. “So this weekend?”

For the last three weeks Bucky had rolled into the parking lot at 7 o'clock on the dot and you had quickly grown used to the routine that had formed. He would take you out for dinner then quietly watch you work on his bike, slowly beginning to like your music that played in the background, before going upstairs and watching a movie. Sometimes they were modern, sometimes they were black and white pictures of a bygone era. You didn’t mind what you watched, your attention was more on the man beside you than the tv.

“Sunday I’m heading to the VA but other than that I’m free.” You answered as you cleaned the grease from your hands so you wouldn’t dirty his clothes.

His head tilted to the side and you could see the curiosity grow in his eyes, he was so full of questions, he wanted to know everything about you and you loved that you finally had someone who actually cared to ask. Tossing the greased rag aside you closed the distance between you and his hands met your waist as soon as you were in his reach. He pulled you closer and your hands came to rest on his neck before he greeted you properly with a tender kiss.

“What’s at the VA?” He asked when you pulled away to continue closing the shop.

“A whole lot of old soldiers, you know, just my type.” You teased him with a wink. “Once a month I go there and help the vets out with their cars. Oil changes, engine lights, simple repairs while they are in their group sessions.”

“Why am I not surprised?” He laughed before sighing and a frown crept across his forehead. “You remind me of Steve sometimes.”

“Hopefully not too much.” You jibed. “I might get jealous.”

He shook his head with a small laugh. “Not like that. He was so selfless all the time.”

He saw you were finished packing everything away and took your toolbox to his truck while you tried not to let his words go to your head. When you climbed in the cab you were surprised to find bags of groceries and you looked back at Bucky as he held your door open.

“I thought maybe I could cook you a home cooked meal.” He said, scratching his neck as he was suddenly unsure of himself. “I mean, I can take you out if you want?”

“No, no, I would love that. I think my kitchen has forgotten its purpose in life.” You said as you looked inside the bags to try to figure out what he was planning on making. “Are you planning on feeding an army?”

“Nah, I have something else planned entirely.” He promised before closing the door and walking around.

The ice in your drink was melting away while you were too busy watching Bucky find his way around your kitchen. He could have asked where things were, and you could have told him, but he was quickly learning more about you from rummaging around in your cupboards. You, on the other hand, were getting the delightful view of his toned abs whenever he reached up the shelves and his shirt rode up.

“Who taught you to cook?” You asked as he stirred the pan that was sauteing the fresh vegetables he had bought.

“My mom.” He said without looking away from the pan. “She would work late so I had to make dinner for Rebecca. I couldn’t do much aside from boil potatoes.”

“You’ve come a long way, I’m sure she’d be proud. It smells absolutely divine.” You complimented before you heard a motorcycle thunder up your street.

You climbed down off the bar stool you had been watching Bucky from and pulled the corner of your front curtain aside to peek out and see Axel’s Harley stop outside your gates. He was already climbing off his bike, pulling his riding gloves off as he did and stumbling up to fall against the fence. His fingers locked into the wire mesh and you heard his angry shouts as he rattled the gate on its hinges.

“Get the fuck out here, y/n!”

You dropped the curtain back with a heavy sigh and rested your head against the cool wall as you tried to ignore his calling but Bucky was already turning off the stove and heading downstairs. You hadn’t even heard his footsteps until he hit the squeaky step halfway down the stairs and you rushed to follow him. You swiped the keys to your car from the hook as you hit the bottom landing and grabbed the SIG Sauer that your father left you from the locked glove compartment before chasing after Bucky.

“Y/n, you got another guard dog.”

Axel taunted Bucky as you stepped up beside him and your fingers itched to pull the gun from your waistband. Your father had made sure you knew how to handle a gun when he got back from Afghanistan but you were never really that comfortable firing the weapon. For Axel you might make an exception.

“You really rode over here wasted?” You growled as the thick scent of weed and whiskey wafted around. “Jesus Christ Axel, kill yourself but don’t endanger everyone else on the road.”

“You’d like that wouldn’t you. Hate to break it to you babe, but you can't get rid of me that easily.” He laughed.

“We’ll see about that.” Bucky commented and you watched the same fearless, albeit cocky, attitude break through.

“Open the gate and let’s find out.” Axel said as he kicked the fence. “I told you if you touched her I would kill you.”

Bucky’s laugh set Axel off on an angry tangent of unintelligible ranting and he took your hand that was holding the keys before slipping them from your fingers.

“Yeah, alright. Let’s go.” Bucky agreed as he reached for the padlock and unlocked it. “Go inside, doll. I’ll be up in a minute, just gotta take out the trash.”

You weren’t sure if it was the endearment Bucky had reserved for you or calling Axel trash but you saw pure rage fill Axel’s eyes and he reached behind his back while Bucky’s attention was on you. He saw your eyes widen an instant before your instincts kicked in and you reached for your own weapon. The SIG was heavier than ever but you knew it was all in your head and you held it tight as your palms began to sweat. It took every ounce of strength to make sure your hands were steady as you looked at Axel's chest down the sight.

“Don’t even think about it.” You warned as you saw the gun at his side, his inebriated state slowing his draw. “Just leave and don’t come back.”

Axel’s lips pressed tightly together as he debated his next move but he had always been a cockroach and survived.

“You can’t shoot anyone, y/n. It’s about the only thing you didn’t get from your dad.” He sneered.

“You aren’t anyone to me, you’re no one.” You said as you pulled the slide lock release with your thumb. “Now get the fuck off my property.”

“Look at you, pulling guns, threatening people. You never had to do that when you were with me.”

“Because I didn’t care if you got shot.” You admitted with a snicker that Bucky echoed. “I finally have a good thing going and I’m done with you trying to ruin this. I’m not your girl, I’m not your old lady.”

Bucky moved the second he saw Axel’s gun arm begin to rise, grabbing the Beretta with his vibranium hand and crushing the barrel before tearing it from his grasp. Axel was too stunned to even curse before Bucky’s fist connected with his face and the trifecta was a boot that he planted on Alex’s chest that sent him reeling back and into his bike. You caught hold of Bucky’s wrist as he moved in for another attack and you shook your head.

“He’s done.” You said as you laced your fingers with his and squeezed them gently. “I think he’s got the message.”

“I doubt it.” Bucky said, looking at the mess of a man trying and failing to pull himself out of the dirt. “I’ve seen guys like him before, they don’t know when to quit.”

Bucky bent down and grabbed the discarded Beretta before sliding the magazine clip out and emptying the round that was in the chamber. The way his hands worked to dismantle the gun had your body tingling and it was as if he could sense it when his eyes connected with yours. He could probably see your pupils dilating from where he stood and suddenly he tossed the useless shell of the gun onto Axel’s lap, earning a painful grunt as it connected to a particularly sensitive spot, and he shoved the gate closed.

“Don’t make me come back out here again.” Bucky warned with a glare.

Axel didn’t answer, you could both see that he wasn’t going to listen but you also knew it wasn’t going to be tonight. The man could barely stand on his feet as he spat a mouthful of blood out before climbing on his bike and taking off down the street. You waited until the roar of his engine faded to nothing before accepting the hand Bucky was holding out to you and made your way back inside.

“Can I look?” He asked as you reached your car and went to put the SIG away.

You nodded and handed it over, watching him feel the weight and check the magazine before putting it back into the half cocked state it was when you retrieved it.

“Military issued?”

“It was my dad’s.” You nodded. “I’ve never even drawn it before today.”

“But you did for me.” He frowned. “I’m sorry, you shouldn’t have had to do that.”

“There have been at least a half dozen situations at the clubhouse where I probably should have pulled it but dad taught me that I should never draw a gun if I wasn’t prepared to fire the bullet.” You said as you took the gun and locked it away. “When I saw him reaching for his gun, I just knew I could take his life if it meant saving yours…does it make me a bad person?”

“No, you’re not a bad person.” He said as he wrapped you in his arms. “Not by a mile.”

You could hear the sincerity in his voice but a part of you wasn’t ready to listen. Axel was right to a degree, you never had the conviction or courage to pull a gun before not even when your own life was in danger. Had you changed since being with Bucky or was Bucky bringing out the real you that Axel had suppressed for so many years?

“You’re not a bad person, doll.” He said again, crouching to your height so he could capture your unsure gaze. “A bad person wouldn’t question it and a bad person definitely wouldn’t be going down to the VA on their day off and fixing veterans cars for free.”

With a small nod, you accepted his words and the soft kiss he placed on the corner of your lips that tipped up into a smile. After taking a real kiss from him that chased away the remnants of your doubt you let him lead you back upstairs to find dinner ruined. The vegetables had burned in their residual heat and the oven had accidentally been left on so the roast was a charred smoking heap that set off the smoke alarm when he pulled it out.

“So, takeout?” He asked with a timid smile as he dumped it in the bin.

“How about a bag of popcorn, The Wizard of Oz and an early night?” You countered as you opened your pantry and grabbed the family sized pack.

He agreed by grabbing a bowl and taking the pack from your hands while you went and set the movie up. He was already on the couch when you put the DVD in and found he was lying across the entire length and looking mighty comfortable.

“And where am I meant to fit?” You asked as you put your hand on your cocked hip.

He shuffled back and opened his arm out, giving you the space needed to lay in front of him. You didn’t waste any time filling the space and your head rested on his warm arm while his metal one curled over your waist. There was no way you were going to be able to focus on the movie as you felt the tips of his fingertips teasingly caressing the soft skin of your belly where your shirt had shifted and slowly inch their way down.

“Bucky?” You asked with a breathy voice you barely recognised and his fingers froze where they were. “Please, don’t stop.”

━━━━━━♡♥♡━━━━━━

Click here for next chapter

A/N: eeek they are finally getting physical! I have written like 50,000 words this weekend and it is back to work tomorrow so the next update may be a little slow unless my insomnia kicks in. I love seeing the comments and reblogs - they totally give me extra motivation to write so thank you ♡♡♡

Taglist: @boofy1998

[saturatedboy]

Anyway we could get a part two to that cannibal reader mush?

Donna Beneviento x GN!Reader Pt.2

Pt.1 can be found here

Yes you may! I'm very delighted that people are enjoying my work!

Requests: Open (make sure to follow the rules)

Words: 2.6k

The meal between the both you and the doll creator was peaceful. Although Donna wasn't one to talk much, she would spare a glance at you every now and again making sure you were doing okay and not making a mess of your stew. However after she was done with her serving, she placed her spoon back into her bowl and looked up to see you staring straight at her. The eye contact between the both of your eyes had made her stare down at her hands that were neatly folded upon her lap. You cheerfully laughed at her blushing state, creaking your chair back and standing up at the same time to move both of your empty bowls. "Oh you're adorable sweetie," You spoke whilst giving Donna a kiss on the cheek.

"Am not..." She mumbled out, holding her hand onto her cheek where your lips had just left. She slowly and gently stroked the spot there re-imaging the touch of your lips back on her cheek. She closed her eye in satisfaction, loving every moment she had with you.

In the background, you had been running the water and washing up liquid into the sink and leaning against it, watching her have her own little moment in her own big world. You stared lovingly, feeling the speed of your heart picked its pace up as blood rushed around your body. "Oh yes you are my snookum." teasing her as you waddled your finger in front of your face. She looked over her shoulder and sighed, leaning her elbow on top of her chair and laying her head in her palm.

"When are you going to see me for what I really am?" Her questioned had lingered in the air. It was like you both were having a staring match, waiting for the other to make the first move by blinking. You blinked and smiled which caught her slightly off guard.

"Darling listen." She watched you intensely, her full hearing set on your voice that she had grew  to fall in love with, especially when she saw your tongue flick the top of your teeth on certain letters. Don't even get her started on the way you would have your mouth slightly open when concentrating on something. The way your lips had- "Donna....Dolly are you listening to me?"

Snapping out of her trance, Donna sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck and was swiftly trying to find something to distract you with. "Oh look," She pointed at the sink behind you, "You have washing up to do." she stated as she stood up and brushed her widows-weed-like dress down, walking over to you and rolling her sleeves up to help you clean.

"Dear," You turned the tap off and had gently grabbed her hands before she could even touch anything. Bringing her hands to your lips, you tenderly kissed her knuckles. She huffed out in protest at your actions but you knew deep down she had secretly loved them- she's told you in the past she loved your small actions of affections. "You are the most bewitching woman I have ever laid my eyes upon. All I see is true beauty and the person in front of me right now, is the person I would love to spend time with until death." You had pulled her into a hug whilst talking, your words at the end quietening as you whispered into her ear. She had gently ducked her head down into her shoulders as she felt your hot breath against her sensitive skin. Not to mention she scrunched up her nose slightly smelling your bad breath smelling of blood and guts still.

Pushing you back slightly, your hands resting just on her waist, Donna had gently flicked your nose with a small smile. "You're sweet but your breath isn't the same as your attitude so lets get this cleaned up then you can clean that mouth of yours. I'm not kissing you with a bad breath like that," Gasping in shock playfully, you placed a hand upon were your heart would be and leant back against the sink once more dramatically.

"Wow...my heart has been wounded. Donna I can see it...I can see the...fact I want to kiss you so badly right now," Without warning, you grabbed her forward and pulled her against you. Soon you had smothered her in kisses everywhere all over her face- even upon where the Cadou had set a scar. She tried to get words out through her mouth but she was very unsuccessful as she was both drowning in affection and taken over by her flustered state. Being cheeky, you had kissed her on the mouth and pulled away watching her flustered state turn to one of slightly annoyed.

"Really, you kissed me on the mouth when you still have a blood taste?"

"Yess," You drew out, snaking your arm behind you and flinging some bubbles at Donna from the sink. Donna was taken back at first not expecting that from you however she had recovered through her shocked state and pushed you lightly out of the way of the sink so she could grab some bubbles for herself. Turning towards you, she fling her bubbles that were in her hand towards your hair and smacked you lightly there as a head pat.

She smirked at you and crossed her arms, placing her weight upon her right leg and leaning that way slightly. "Now be good and if you go get cleaned after this you can watch me work." Now that, had you interested. Smiling widely baring your fangs, you ran to the sink and cleaned up the bowls as fast as you could. Some water had splashed against your clothing and left a small waterfall leaking down the cupboards that were set under the sink. Donna sniffled a laugh as she watched you clean. She knew you never liked being clean because you enjoyed killing, biting and not to mention running in the rain through the forest only to come back looking  like you had been for a full mud bath. Seeing you clean just to watch her work however did bring a question to her mind.

Why were you so excited to watch her work? She thought she was boring. She just sits there and sows clothing to be making clay models for her dolls. On warmer days she would even go test out plants reactions to certain chemicals or plant them in the garden. "Sweetheart I've finished~" You sang out, bouncing on the heels of your feet. She ignore her question in mind, it didn't matter. You was a truthful person and if you enjoyed watching her work, she'll let you watch.

"Now go clean yourself up," She spoke as she turned on her own heel and began to walk away. A sudden breeze ran past her as she watched you run ahead towards where the bathrooms were. She raised a hand to her mouth and giggled into it. You being happy always made her feel joy. You were her pride and joy and even if you normally acted like the one to lead your relationship, she had her moments when she would lead the both of you and take over. Either way, she just adored you so much-even in your cannibal state. Rolling her sleeves back down after wiping her hands dry, she began to walk towards her bedroom where she felt most comfortable to make doll clothing.

As she walked, she was greeted by Angie who was running away from a hoard other puppets. "AHHHH DONNA HELP!!" She cried out as she past Donna the other puppets following close behind.

"Don't break anything!" Donna called out as she watched Angie and the others disappear down the hall behind her. Continuing her way towards her bedroom on the second floor, passing through the many hallways, she recognised a familiar voice.

"I'm sexy and I know it-OW!" They sang out whilst dripping something. Donna bit her lip and followed the voice, ending up at the bathroom that was close by her room. Peering in, she spotted you drowsed in towels about to brush your teeth. She leaned against the door and opened it wide watching you place toothpaste onto your toothbrush.

"Need help sexy?" She questioned. You jumped back startles, dropping both the toothbrush and toothpaste into the sink.

"When did you get here?" You asked panicked, coughing and shaking your head like a doll to dry out any wet drips in your hair.

"Just on the line of 'I'm sexy and I know it OW" She mimicked your voice, walking into the room and towards you, only to stand by the sink in close proxemics to you. She plucked both your toothbrush and toothpaste from your gasp and went to cleaning your toothbrush under the running water from the tap at the sink. Uncapping the toothpaste, she squirted some onto the toothbrush and faced you. "Now say ah." she demanded.

You tutted and rolled your eyes with a cheeky smirk, opening your mouth just like Donna asked. Being careful, Donna had placed the toothbrush on your teeth and began to scrub away making sure she didn't hit your gums or the back of your throat whilst doing your molars. She also made sure to brush your fangs thoroughly since there were slight blood stains staining your teeth. Once done, she had told you to spit and clean your toothbrush for you. When raising your head back up from spitting, you grabbed the face towel and wiped your mouth only to throw it in the washing basket and pulling Donna close. "Now may I kiss the most beautiful woman ever?" You asked her.

"Yes you may my clean dear." Leaning down, you captured her lips with your own making sure to apply enough pressure to savour the moment. Donna had placed her hands on your shoulders and stood on her tiptoes, closing her eyes and smiling into the kiss. Your arms wrapped around her body, bringing her close and you placed a hand on her smaller back. Pulling apart but keeping your lips just touching, you whispered her name.

"Donna, you are my everything," She shivered at the light touch of your lips scraping against hers. It brought butterflies to her stomach as she  longed for more off you. "Not only that, but I think we should tie the knots after this whole Mother Miranda thing is over." Donna opened her eye and stared longingly at your own. She saw the faint cherry colour seeking through and moved her dainty hand to hold your cheek. You leaned against it, gently nuzzling it. "Would you like to get married after all this?"

Her bottom lip quivered at your words. She hadn't felt love in a long time till you had came. You're bloody self always brightening her days, your fangs that would be very useful when she needed someone to be cleared out quickly from her manor. The way you had brought more life into her heart, she didn't have to feel like the only human she had you now. And she never wanted to trade you for anyone else. Hell, she would murder in cold blood for you just like you would do for her. "Her vision had blurred as she held your other cheek in her other hand, straightening your head out.

You sighed softly, taking her silence as a 'no'. Being quick on your words, you said the alternative. "We don't have to, I'm not going to rush you into anything at all my queen. We don't need to get married-"

"Just shut up and kiss me my soon to be fiancé." You were taken back as she pulled your head towards hers, being brought into a loving kiss. Both of your lips moved in sync, her being brave enough to push you back until you were fully between the sink and her frail body. Being careful, you held her head to yours and used one of your hands to stroke the side of her neck. Just as you were about to go further, a cough at the door interrupted you both.

"Excuse me, this is a public bathroom," Angie had called out, having a dozen of puppets behind her on the floor and some floating about.  "However," She smirked, "I'm sure they'll be a lot of this action after your wedding. DIBS ON BEING THE ENTERTAINER!" She screamed, laughing like a maniac after as she hit her hand against the door frame trying to catch what you called 'breath'.

Cradling Donna close to your body, you kissed the top of her head and let her hide her red face in your chest. "Hey Angie, do you think a red dress would look just as good as a red face on soon to be Mrs Beneviento?~" You teased, winking at Angie. Your words only made Donna hold onto your shirt tightly, whining at your teasing.

"Maybe you should also get some sexy ling-" A toothpaste tube was flung at Angie as she dodged out of the way in a stylish matter. The culprit was the one and only Donna Beneviento with a face of embarrassment.

"Angie hush, go play dear." She spoke trying to keep her cool acting like she never threw the toothpaste in the first place. Angie shrugged her shoulders and pointed out for the other puppets to leave, however she lingered for longer by the bathroom door.

"You know," She started, turning on her back getting ready to leave the both of you alone. "You two are amazing together. You work well and you both practically need each other for comfort. If you do get married, I know you won't regret it. I trust both of you too look after each other." And she went, her veil flying behind her as she went.

You and Donna was left alone again, staying quiet within the moment. Although the situation was a little...confusing the atmosphere between you both was rather peaceful. You felt honoured to know Angie was allowing you to marry Donna after everything and you felt content with Donna's answer. Even if she said 'no' you would've respected that. You would understand to the best of your ability to see the situation through her eyes and respect her decision. Taking her smaller hand in your own, you twirled her around into your body. Looking down at her, you brushed a stray hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. "I love you Donna. I love you so much, thank you for everything," Your gentle whispers left her speechless. She knew when you said anything quiet you were at your calmest moments savouring the time you had with her.

"I love you too (Y/n). Forever and beyond all the stars." She smiled as she stared into your eyes once again, something she did rather often. The red had still not left your eyes, it slowly gaining dominance over your original colour. "How about after I am finished with tonight's work, you and I take a stroll through the forest hm? Maybe..." She hastily kissed under your chin and pulled away, smirking. "We could plan ahead."

"You know Donna, I wouldn't want to spend any time with anyone else other than you sweetie." Yours eyes had grown to a full red, the red being more blazing then the fires of Hell. "I'll make sure to protect you from any Lycans tonight on our stroll dear." She giggled at your sentence, finding sweetness and safety when hearing your voice.

"And I'll do the same."

[ms-indifferwnt]

Clouds pt 1

Taeil

Boyfriend!Taeil x genderneutral!Reader

"Its your choice, pretend you don't know or go inside and confront them about this"

Warning: Cursing, Suggestive, Yelling, Angst, mention of mental harm 

Word Count: 5.4k

Note: Yayyy!!! 100 followers

Taeil and you probably take the cake for the most Clichè love story. The Best friends to lovers trope. Like seriously, you and Taeil have been friends since birth, technically, Your mom and his mom has been friends since college you see, met and gotten married to the love of their lives a year apart, gotten pregnant almost the same time and have birth a couple of months apart, so in reality, you and Taeil have been fated to be bestfriends 

When you were born six months apart after Moon Taeil, he and his family visited you and your mother in the Hospital while your dad was busy running around the hospital telling everyone he was a dad

Ofcourse you and Taeil had no memory of this but your mom’s were more than happy to introduce their children. Shipping the two of you since you were born

You were six years old, that was your first memory of Taeil, maybe because you always thought of him as the annoying kid that lives a block away who loves to pester you, you were playing with other kids when, your neighbor, Doyoungie (who you had affectionally nicknamed, bunnie at the time) had kicked the ball to your face you remembered that you cried as he said sorry. You were angry and hurt and Taeil was the only one who laughed at the scene but upon seeing your crying face he hugs you and holds your hand “Aww don’t cry, Y/n” he says happily “Lets go play more ok?”

Taeil’s first time thinking of you as someone more than the snotty brat he was forced to take care of was when you got lost, he didn’t have to take care of you then, but he thought he’d bring you along, he was five and you were turning four and he wanted to buy ice-cream,  you wanted ice-cream, so he took you along to that ice-cream shop by the corner. It wasn’t dangerous his mom was with you

He bought ice cream, two of them, knowing that you won’t be able to finish it so he can eat two ice-creams but the moment he turned he doesn’t see you. He panicked and started looking for you all over the shop, trying not to alert his mom but when all hope seemed lost, he started sobbing, where are they? are they hurt? They’re mom is gonna be so sad-

“Mooooom!” He cries and runs to his mother who holds the boy in her arms 

“Why are you crying what happened?”

“Y/n” He looks around “I cant find”

His mom smiles fondly at the boy “Are you worried?”

He nods “I’m supposed to protect them!” He cries and his mom coos gently carrying him and taking him out of the shop, placing him down

“ok, my strong boy” His mom says and kisses the top of his head, “look there” He obeys, with teary eyes only to spot you walking towards them with cotton candy in her hands and he pulled away from his mom to run to you

“Where were you?” He asked and held your face 

“Clouds” You claimed happily showing the cotton candy proudly to him

“You should’ve waited” He sniffled and you reached over to wipe his cheeks, he smiles, but didn’t stop you

“Sorry” You whisper and he nods opening his mouth so he can taste the clouds and you happily letting him take a bite

He looks up to see his mom and your dad grinning at the sight “Hi, Y/n’s dad” he waves and looks at you who was playing with the cloud on your hand “No, Y/n.” He takes it and bonks your head making you wince “you’ll get sticky-”

You and Taeil literally grew up side by side, He was there for you back in middle school when this girl bullied you because you and Taeil would always be together.

Taeil wasn’t happy the way that girl treated you but you always ignored her, she was just jealous that you were bestfriends with him, so you had a habit of holding him back whenever he was about to say something to her, or you try to anyway

“Taeil” you hissed and tugged on his shirt again once he stared down at her, of course you know Taeil is a big softie who cries over Hachiko, The dog that waited for his master by the train station despite his master dying, and that dog from I am Legend, so you know he really means no harm, its just, its his big brother instincts that make him fight anyone who attempts to harm you cause as he quotes “You’re an annoying little snot rag I had to take care of, So if anyone has the right to mentally harm you its me” and rewarded him with a kick to the shin “Lets just go, leave her be”

He looks at you and you smiled softly “We can go get clouds before we go home” you offered once he allows you to take him away, he raises an eyebrow at your words

“You’re fourteen and you still call them clouds?”

You roll your eyes “Cotton candy” you said in distaste “That is the most disgusting word I have ever heard of, Clouds on the other hand, sounds more magical”

He laughs “What about I start calling dumplings as meat pockets again?”

You made a face “What are you five?”

“I’m as cute as one”

“I hate Toddlers”

“No you don’t” He says and leads you to his bike, getting on it after handig you his backpack “You love kids”

You sat by the back, sitting on it with your legs to the side while you held on to his waist, pinching his side “No, I don’t”

He flinches and moves to swat your hands “Yes, you do, you love kids, you would play with them at the park whenever their parents are busy,” he points out and starts biking

“I have no idea what you’re taking about-”

“Look its Baby Yuri” he says saying the name of that child you were always so fond of

You perked “Where?” only to see that its an empty road and a laughter coming from him as a reminder that Baby Yuri’s house is far from here “Jerk” you glared at him and pinched him again, he swats your hand away “now hurry up and teach me how to read Morse codes” you said and held on to the back of his shirt

The time Taeil stopped thinking like you were his little sister was when you dated on your second year of high school. Yes, cliché, but, at first he didn't care, he congratulated you and helped look stunning, he wasn't bitter that you were trying to show off for someone else, or that you were nervous to go on a date with someone else (not true, he did care, he was bitter, he hated every minute of it)

Three months into your relationship, you were crying in Taeil's arms, cause, apparently you had a fight, cause you were to close to Taeil and your fight resorted to yelling and you attempting to kick them

So when you called him, but you didn’t speak, he just heard your heavy breathing he knows you were upset, he knows that you’re trying every thing to not cry, he knows that if you speak you just might, so, he spoke first “Yours or mine?” he stops about three seconds after the first choice so you can hum or grunt (whichever you had the energy to do), then he’ll know what your answer is

You grunted at his second offer, and he stands up from his bed to start cleaning up around the house, “Sure, come over, you want me to pick-” He looks at his phone and you declined the call, so you’ll be coming over yourself. 

He moves to get to work, cleaning up the mess and getting the snacks you like before you arrive, and when he was finished, there you were, on his porch, looking like you were about to kick his door in

He reaches out to hold your hand which you pulled it away and walked inside. He wasn’t offended, he knows why you don’t like the affection, he knows that you breakdown easily. The fact that you haven’t even teared up yet was amazing, but you aren’t outside, you aren’t alone, It’s Taeil, your bestfriend the boy that has been by your side all your life so he knows, you need a hug

He grabbed you by the arm to pull you into his chest, you gasped and attempted to push him away but he shushes you with a small affectionate kiss on your forehead, “its ok,” he whispers “I know you wanna be strong, so its ok, its just me, you did well, you’ve been so strong up until now” he holds you close that you tightened your grip on his shirt “Its just me, Let me be strong for you”

You cried into his chest that day, after his words. You would never admit it, but Taeil is probably the only one who has seen you cry, he doesn’t mind, he’s your Strength, he knows that, you know that, so when it gets too much Taeil lets you cry on him lets you take it out, he makes you feel taken care off And he wouldn’t have it any other way

He managed to calm you down, petting your hair and then he bonks you, making you look at him, tear stained cheeks, eyes bloodshot, he laughs as you rub your head “Feel better?”

“A bit, yeah”

He hums and pulls away “Go take a shower,” he moved to his cupboards and taking out a fresh towel, handing it to you, well actually he didn’t hand it, he fucking threw it to your face, and yeah it hurt, but it made you laugh and he smiles back “Go clean up, I’ll lend you some of my clothes” he sighs “again. Snotty,” He teases “You gotta return my clothes sometime today, the near future”

You smile “No, I like them, go buy new ones instead” 

He laughs “Brat, I need my clothes”

You pout and crossed your arms "You're gonna make me cry again, big brother" you called him that only when you want something, and yeah, it usually works, but something about being referred to as big brother 

He rolls his eyes and threw one of his sweatshirts to you making you yelp, “Shut up and go”

You obeyed, smiling softly at him. He stares at his hands, You haven’t called him Big Brother for a very long time and something about that made his blood boil

He just wishes he knows why. He’s been feeling like this for quite sometime, whenever you get to friendly or to close to someone, he has no idea if he should be angry at you or that person your talking to. 

He settled on the sofa with a sigh and looked at the tv, where the opening scene of your favorite show was paused, your favorite snacks on the coffee table. His ears perked when he heard the familiar sound of his bathroom door opening, you were done, he turned to see your figure disappear somewhere behind his house, he knows what you’re doing you were gonna hang the towel you borrowed, then you reemerged, hair still obviously wet (you didn’t bother to properly dry it, he guesses, again), leaving wet splotches on his sweatshirt. You went up the stairs, he smiles, he has a feeling you’ll get pillows from his room, he can hear the door of his room open, yup he is right.

He stood up to get the towel you hanged and walked back to the living room to see you eating the snacks while cuddling his pillow, He really does know you now. He throws the towel at you “Dry your hair properly, or shave your head” he points out and you sigh, doing as your told with a playful kick to his thighs

Once you were done he leaves to hang it again, when he returns and sees you, he smiles excitedly sitting beside you, and you play the movie

It was just a random movie that you accidentally started liking (he was ninety-nine percent sure you only like it cause Ewan McGregor, who you think is “surprisingly charismatic”, is in it). He wasn’t watching though, the movie wasn’t interesting, he was watching you, reading you body language and facial expression, checking if you really are feeling better

He didn’t realize how hard he was staring at you, ‘till both of your eyes met, he froze, you were so close, his heart skipped a beat, was it just him? or was your eyes always that sparkly?

You lift your hand and placed the snack against his lips, feeding him “take a bite so you’ll stop looking at me like a lost puppy”

He blushes and nods, taking a bite. Looking away, he held his hands. He is fucking screwed

You on the other hand found out you liked him around college. Unfortunately, you and Taeil have drifted apart over time. You don’t hang out as usual, he is studying a different major than you after all, it was only natural you both have other friends

You didn’t like it

Over time you and Taeil have been going through your own time, like getting your own apartments and campus that we want to be on, It doesn’t change, you and Taeil go to and from the Campus and Your houses around the same time since you are neighbors but when the two of you get to the Campus its like neither of you know each other 

Growing up with Taeil means, he was with you every waking moment and all of a sudden its gone, who will get used to that? He has been the person you grew with, who held yo while you were in pain and made you laugh when you were sad 

“I miss you” You whispered one time as you sat on to the passengers seat of his car when you both were heading home for the holidays “A lot” you whispered quiet enough so that he won’t hear but you were wrong

Ever since Taeil accepted the fact that he likes you he has become more insightful in things that upset you, and he can see (he doesn’t know why) but he can see how upset you were and hearing you say that, he didn’t mean it, but it gave him hope that you liked him too

That week Taeil climbed your window to wake you up, knocking on your window 'till you eventually woke up

You weren't exactly asleep, you were to busy looking at your hands, thinking about your Christmas dinner at the Moon Household, you and you're family was there except you and Taeil haven't even attempted to try and speak or approach each other and it only hurt you more when neither of you tried. You sat up and froze, seeing a shadowy figure by your window and your instincts went to overdrive and you opened your mouth to scream for your father

Taeil noticed your on guard position and he shakes his head, knocking against your window in a pattern that he wishes to every one holy that you remember

“Da-” you stopped midway once you hear the knocking looking at the figure, you realized it was Morse code, you listened as the figure tapped the glass, long tap, pause, That’s a ‘T’ tap, long tap, pause, And that’s an ‘A’ tap, pause, what is that one again? Tap, Tap, pause, I remember this one its an ‘I’ tap, long tap, tap, tap

You looked at the figure “Taeil?” you asked and opened the window, Taeil climbing in letting out a sigh of relief “What the hell are you doing here?”

He laughs “I was bored,” You frowned and sat on your bed, glaring at the boy making him raise both his hands in defense “I’m kidding, don’t hit me”

You rolled your eyes and lied sown on the bed “Yeah well, leave, I was sleeping” facing away from him

“We both know you weren’t”

“shut up”

He smiles and taps your thigh over the blanket “Scoot over, I had a nightmare, don’t wanna sleep alone”

You turned to look at him “What are you five?”

“Is that a no?” He asks with a sly smile, holding the blanket up so he can join you when you agree

You sighed, scooting to the side and he slides in beside you “Big baby”

He laughs, but covered his mouth to not wake your parents “I didn’t really have a nightmare” he whispered and moves to tuck an arm underneath his head as you copy his movements, the two of you facing each other “You were avoiding the at the party”

You scoffed “No, you were avoiding me” you huffed

“Are you ok?” He asked reaching up to swipe the hair that covers your face “You’ve been extremely quiet”

You yawned, you felt safe I his presence to even fall asleep to it, you couldn’t help but smile softly at the action “I’m ok” you lied, closing your eyes

“Don’t lie to me” he says, he has known you long enough to know when you lie and he won’t let it pass “I wanna help you”

“There’s nothing you can do”

“There will be if you tell me”

“Taeil”

“Y/n” 

You opened your eyes only to see him staring at you, with worry and care “I hate you”

He smiles, and you felt your cheeks warm up at the sight “No you don’t” You rolled your eyes and he nods “Tell me when you’re ready, but for now” he takes her free hand in a promise “I won’t leave your side, and don’t leave mine”

You looked at him, the at your hands, before nodding “Promise?”

He nods “Promise” He smiles as he watches you yawn “Get some sleep, ok?”

“Ok” you whisper and start to doze off “That’s all I ever wanted,” you whisper “I miss you” you whisper and fall asleep

Taeil’s heart was beating rapidly against his chest, miss him? what is that supposed to mean? was that even supposed to mean anything? And he was aware that your hands are still intertwined, he blushes, and holds it tighter, afraid of letting go. He watches you sleep this time, glad to see you peaceful, seeing you always made him happy, but sometimes knowing that you will never return these feelings, made him so weak that he wants to do nothing but lie in bed, he closes his eyes,  his finger tapping mindlessly on your pillow

L-O-V-E Y-O-U

You and Taeil are still very much a bestfriends. And you two hang out majority of the time since Lee Taeyong, someone from Taeil's group of friends, and Suh Johnny, the American exchange student you became friends with started dating

So bam! You and Taeil were automatically the third wheel, which was fun since you two were already friends, everyone was talking and playing around while you and Taeil were speaking to other people. Taeil looks at you as you fed Jungwoo the tart you ordered and Taeil had to bite his tongue from saying something to the innocent boy

He starts tapping against the table as he looks through his phone, hoping you could understand the Morse code despite how loud the surroundings were

You did. And you couldn’t stop smiling, Fid me 2, He spelled, Feed you? and you understood, you must tease the boy “Ew” you said aloud so he’ll hear and he huffs making you laugh

“Aww I didn’t know you guys can read each other minds” Yuta teases and kicks Taeil under the table 

Taeil shrugs “We’re that close”

You roll your eyes, feigning annoyance but you smiled at Taeil as he focuses on other people, joking and playing with them

“I’m hungry” Taeyong says making everybody listen to him, and Johnny nodding 

“What do you wanna eat my love?” He asks and you gagged, making him elbow you 

Taeyong chuckled and nodded “something sweet” he starts and hums

Johnny looks at everyone as they start suggesting food, Johnny and Taeyong turn down some till Taeil spoke “What about clouds?”

The whole room turned quiet and you stared at the boy in front of you, wide eyed while the room started to rumble with questions

“What the fuck is a cloud?”

“We’re talking about food Taeil”

“Taeil, are you stoned?”

“Since when can you eat clouds?”

You bursted out laughing once he starts to redden from your friends words before glaring at you “Y/n help me” You shake your head still too busy laughing, he growls “Its nothing, its an inside joke, you guys wouldn’t understand!” he huffs and lean against his chair, crossing his arms 

Your laughter died sown as you stared at him, his eyes meeting yours and you blushed, taking a bite of your tart, Why are you blushing? you asked yourself, Why is your heart beating so fast? you might pass out if it continues, surely you don't like Taeil, TAEIL of all people, not him

“Y/n did you hear me?” Jungwoo says making you look at him and apologetically shake your head making him chuckle “I asked when you started liking him”

“I don’t”

He raises his eyebrow “Oh really? cool, cause I have this friend who wants me to set them up with Taeil”

You glared at him “Do you wanna die?” you asked annoyed

He laughs and winks “I will once you admit of your feelings” 

You kicked him, then you hear the table buzz, looking up to see someone approach Taeil, shyly offering him a box, “I,” They smiles, cheeks painted red and you couldn’t help but glare at the new comer “I got you some chocolates, I hope you like them”

Taeil bows and takes the chocolates, and you look away, while Jungwoo looks at you, with a sly grin, and you point a threatening finger at him “Not a word”

Taeil and you confessed in the least romantic way possible, but you loved it all the same, granted you both fought, but it was cute and emotional all the same

He mindlessly played with the flashlight, switching it on and off against his wall, you were asleep on his bed cause you had a fight with your dad about a boy and you decided that sleeping over at Taeil's for the night wouldn't be that bad, so while you slept you lent hi your phone cause his was broken, why? easy, you threw it against the wall cause he wouldn't turn off his alarm "You dance to this shit Y/n" "I don't mind breaking your arm too"

So there he was switching your phone's flashlight on and off after he got bored spamming your gallery with his face. He was a little out of it, but he knows you're awake "You'll drain my battery" you murmured

"It'll charge" He mutters "My phone on the other hand" he says a bit snappy

You pout "I said I'm sorry, and I'm repairing it ok?"

He shrugs and continued going though your phone

You sat up and leaned your forehead against his back "I'm tired I wanna nap again"

"And I wanna date you, we don't get what we want"

You looked up at him so fast that you thought you'd have whiplash "What?" you’re heart beating against your chest

He smiled slyly, trying his best to not blush and moving away from you “End scene” He laughs and playfully winks at you, he chickened out, he hates how angry he has been these past couple of weeks, he hates seeing other people approach and flirt with you, he hates being the subject when you call someone your bestfriend or your older brother, he hates how he can’t push people who wanna keep you away cause he has no right. He hates that it was starting to hurt to look at you, to think about you, its not fair that he likes you and you’ll never be in his arms the way he wants you to. He hates how you’re seeing someone, and it isn’t him. He hates the fact that he loves you, why out of all people, he could love, why you?

“Taeil!” You raised your eyebrow and your voice “What the heck was that supposed to mean “You were kidding?” you didn’t mean it, but sounded so offended and sad, does Taeil really like you? your heart thumped at a quick pace when he looks at you, searching your face for answer

He gulps “why?” he asks facing you “What if I wasn’t?

You stared at him processing “Well-” He moves to tilt his head waiting for you to answer him, you retaliated by hitting him on the shoulder “You didn’t answer me asshole”

He looks at your phone not answering, not fiddling with anything except the morse code app you had in there, turning the sound and you can hear the message

-.-- . ... / -.-- . ... /-.-- . ... 

“What the heck is ‘yes’ supposed to mean?” You started as he starts pressing the app to send you another message and you groaned “just tell me”

.. -- / -.- .. -.. -.. .. -. --. / .. -- / -.- .. -.. -.. -- -. --.

“I’m Kidding?” You read aloud and scrunched your nose “What the heck is that supposed to be? Tell me Taeil!” you yelled and moved slap your phone away from him when he tries to type a new code “Tell me, do you like me or not?” he stares at you “Was it a joke or were you serious?”

He looks at you in shock as you angrily told him those words, why were the you taking this seriously? you don’t like him, right? then why are you so angry? why is it affecting you? “What’s it have to do with you?” 

“Taeil just tell me”

“Why do you need to know if its a joke or not?”

“Just tell me”

“Why? You’re dating someone right now right? why do you need to know?”

“Taeil I’m not..”

“No, tell me why” You opened your mouth when your phone on the floor of Taeil’s room started buzzing, speak of the devil, your phone flashed with his name and it mad Taeil’s blood boil even more when you stood up to take your phone, he grabbed it from your hands before you could answer and threw it to the side, grabbing your wrist and pulling you back on the bed, keeping you there, a hand on your wrist and the other on your waist “Tell me”

You glared at him gripping his collar “What the hell is wrong with you?” You asked angrily “You’ve been salty ever since I asked if I could stay over! You don’t want me here? That’s fine, tell me, you don’t need to let me stay when you clearly don’t want me here!” You’re chest heaved and he could tell you’re just starting “you wanna know why I want to know the truth from you? Cause I care for you more then what a friend, a sibling should do. I hate seeing you with Kim Kochan or Lee Robin those two flirt with you on a basis, you know that right? they cling and keep you all for themselves and I hate it! I hate how fast my heart beats when you smile or when you buy me snacks cause they’re my-”

He cuts you off with a swift kiss to your lips. How could he not, you just confessed you liked him albeit angrily, you still confessed. His lips moved slowly against yours and you froze, your mind on hyperdrive, ‘till he pulled away “I like you too but you’re really loud when you’re upset, we shou-”

You rolled your eyes and pulled his collar, making him crash into you, kissing him again, this time you slowly moved your lips against his, his hands snaking around your waist, to pull you closer, your arms wrapping around his neck

He licks your bottom lip, you groaned softly and he happily sticks his tongue in, gently brushing over your tongue, making you slightly whine and he grins, keeping hold of your as you both play tongue-sies

He pulls away, a string of saliva being the only thing connecting you both before he groans softly at the sight “I love you” he breathes before leaning to trail kisses down your jaw and neck making you tilt your head upward giving him more room. He smiles at the shudder before gripping your waist and pulling on it to make you go up and straddle him “Taeil” you gasped at how bold he was being and he chuckles 

“Say it” he whispers against your ear licking a stripe on it while a hand travels under your shirt making you gasp at the coldness of his hand and the heat of your body, and he smiles “Please? Need to hear you say it”

“Really at a situation like this?” You huff and he only grins at you making you whine “I’ll tell you later, ok?” You tugged on his shirt, in a silent way to command him to do something, and only met with a shake of his head “Taeil” You whined again “fine, I love you too you big dork”

He smiles and happily kissed you again, holding you close before taking your shirt off and giving you everything you asked, encouraging him with every tug of his hair, a gasp and a moan of his name. He was addicted, he never wanted to stop to make you so whiny and needy and putty in his arms

He was happy that night, well dawn, finally having you in his arms, your neck covered in nothing but his marks, and he can see from his position your bruised waist. Oh and his hair, it was in pain, from the way you would pull and tug on it but he loved it, only reminding him that it was all real, his arms and shoulders were bruised but he just smiles at the slight sting before tightening his hold on your waist and kissing the shell of your ear

“No more” you whined and pouted “Please? I am so tired” you begged cupping his cheeks and he couldn’t help it he kissed your palms 

“Stop” he bit his lip and looked at you all wide eyed, seeing your expression, your marks and looking absolutely fucked that he swung his legs over and kissed your nose “Just, just one more, ok? one more round”

“Dad!” Taeil grumbled “Are you serious right now?”

His dad nods “Yes” He points a finger at his chest “Don’t get me wrong, I don’t care if you are sleeping around, as long as you don’t get STD’s or have a failing grade” He reminds “But any other than that, you’re free to do anything you want. You’re mother and I back in college, we had out share of fun”

Taeil covers his ears “no! no no, I don’t need to know, I don’t need to know my birth story, I don't need to know how sexy mom was, I am seriously going to run away screaming”

“Stop being a baby” His dad says and hits him upside the head, “I’m just saying, when you would sleep with someone, you stay over their place not the other way around, so I was wondering who is that? My son’s special someone? and also, I heard everything lastnight so I’m pretty sure it is a special person, and I wanted to ask if they’ll stay the morning cause, It’s my turn to make breakfast and I wanna know if I should add one more serving”

All of a sudden an excited squeal leaves his mother’s lips as she excitedly ran down the stairs and tackled Taeil “I am so proud of you” She praises and kisses him on the forehead “So so Proud”

“What happened?” His dad asks and She spins to look at her husband 

“It’s Y/n”

He blinks and looks at his son then his wife, around the same time the mom clinged once again to Taeil, “I have been shipping you both since you two were in the womb, I waited twenty one years for the two of you to get together” she squeals and hugs him “Even better you both slept with each other, Honey, cook an extra serving for Y/n. And Taeil good job, satisfying your partners needs in bed is much more important, I approve”

“Mom!” Taeil groans 

“Do you think Their parent’s know? we should invite them , lets go invite them!”

Part 2

[digital-corruption]

I have a tendency to carry on. This is really Part 3 Part 1. 😅

Haunted by the Past Part 3

I woke up groggily to the bright sunlight peaking through the wooden boards on the windows. When Jake said there was a bed, what he really meant was an old double mattress on the floor with dirty sheets that probably have never been cleaned. Still, the bed carried his scent, which was calming enough for me to drift off.

I sat up and saw Jake sitting beside the bed, hugging his knees. He had fallen asleep. I reached over and put my hand on the back of his head, causing him to jump.

“You could’ve joined me,” I smiled softly. “There is enough space for two.”

Jake looked around groggily, “I wasn’t sleeping.”

“No?” I raised an eyebrow.

“I was waiting for a script to finish. I thought I would check on you,” he explained.

“You were watching me sleep,” I clarified.

Jake blushed, “You looked... peaceful. It was... calming.”

“Then you fell asleep,” I teased.

“I don’t sleep,” Jake insisted.

“What do you call that?” I laughed.

“Resting my eyes?” Jake said innocently.

My stomach ruined the moment with a growl. “I don’t suppose there is breakfast,” I said embarrassed.

Jake smiled, “There is a kitchen downstairs. There isn’t much, but there should still be some cereal.”

I stood up and stretched. “Are you going to join me?”

Jake hesitated and blushed, then stood up as well, “Um, MC?”

“Yes?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Y-your pants... y-you’re not wearing any,” Jake stuttered while looking away.

I had forgotten I had removed my jeans going to sleep last night. I only sleep in a shirt and panties most nights, “Oh, right.” I quickly grabbed my jeans from beside the mattress. I noticed Jake still took a peek while I pulled them up. He quickly darted his eyes away again. I walked up to him again, fully dressed. “Does it make you uncomfortable?”

“I...” Jake paused. “I didn’t say that I didn’t like it. What I saw.”

“Hmm?” I continued to tease him with a sly smile.

“I thought you were hungry,” Jake changed the subject while walking past me to the other room.

I sighed, “I am.” I followed him out. “Just down the stairs?”

“Yes, at the back of the building,” Jake said sitting back down at his desk.

I walked down stairs slowly. There were layers upon layers of dusk on everything. Downstairs was some sort of warehouse once, with just a scattering of empty pallets left. At the back was a doorway that led to a break room that had a kitchenette. The cupboards were mostly empty aside from some cans of soup, instant noodles and cereal. I managed to find a clean bowl and spoon despite the piles of dirty dishes. I poured some cereal into the bowl. It was stale, but I didn’t care by that point. I opened the fridge, surprised to find it in somewhat decent working condition. The fridge was mostly empty, aside from old takeout containers I didn’t want to touch. The milk however was 5 days past its use by date. Dry cereal it is.

I went back upstairs with my bowl, “We need to get supplies.”

Jake turned and looked at me confused, “Why? What do we need?”

“Food,” I said popping some of the dry cereal in my mouth.

“Don’t you eat cereal with milk?” Jake questioned.

“When it’s not past its use by date,” I frowned, plopping myself on the floor next to him as there is no one else to sit.

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t have time to plan for your arrival,” Jake said apologetically.

“But we need to stock the fridge with proper food,” I insisted. “It’s time we fix up your diet.”

“I eat just fine,” Jake turned away.

“When was the last time you ate a vegetable?” I queried.

“When I last ordered Chinese,” Jake replied nonchalantly.

“That’s what I’m talking about. I saw what you’ve been eating downstairs and it’s got to change,” I went on.

“I don’t have time to waste on cooking,” Jake spoke with a slight whine.

“That’s fine, you focus on Jake things. I'm going to clean up downstairs and then go shopping,” I smiled.

Jake turned back around, “You’re not going out alone.”

“Well then you better come with me,” I teased.

“Why can’t we just order them online?” Jake groaned.

“Because (a) takes too long, (b) getting them delivered here is beyond suspicious, and (3) the digital trail?” I was surprised he'd even suggest it.

“You said... 3...” Jake looked at me confused. I did it on purpose of course. “Don’t be ridiculous. I would never use my real name to order things online.”

“I'd rather pick out my own groceries anyway,” I added.

Jake groaned, “Fine I will take you later. Oh your phone is finished.” Jake handed me my phone. “It should be safe to use again.”

“Yay!” I cheered, turning it back on. There wasn’t much I missed. A few emails, posts by friends, and of course a few messages from Gabe feigning concern.

“Ugh, how do I deal with Gabe?” I sighed.

“I would suggest playing along. Pretend you’re at a motel elsewhere,” Jake offered. “Be vague about your situation and your location. The longer you can string him along the better. Keeps them thinking that they have a line of connection to you. They’ll aim to use it over scrambling teams together to locate you.”

I took Jake’s advice and told Gabe not to worry about me. I had found an out of the way motel and was safe. Of course Gabe started fishing for details on my location casually, like asking if the view was nice. I started to feel sick again. He asked if it was ok to call because he wanted to confirm I was really ok. That was the last straw for me. I told him I had to go get breakfast before they shut the kitchen. Maybe later.

A few moment of silence passed as I was between things. I started spacing out, lost in thought about Gabe and how much he lied to me. My eyes casually lingered on Jake. It was probably the way he worked at the computer, it was mesmerising in its own way.

Suddenly, my phone beeped for a new chat. The sender was unknown. Not good. “Jake... It’s him.”

This startled Jake. He quickly looked down at me and saw my look of panic. He swapped screens and brought up a mirror of my phone on his monitor.

The unknown sender proceeded to send a series of photos of me from finding the mark on the apartment door to me getting on the train at Central Station. Lastly, he sent my an audio file, “Look how ‘brave’ you really are! Not the hero everyone thought you were. You should’ve kept out if my affairs if you can’t handle the heat!”

[i-am-bitterly-jittery]

Five times the Virgil sat on a surface not meant for sitting (and one time he didn’t) pt 1/6

Rating: Teen to be safe

Word count: 889

Pairings: none

Warnings: none

1. Janus

It’s too early to be alive, Janus thinks as he makes his way into the kitchen to scrounge up some coffee. If he had his choice, he wouldn’t be downstairs until well after 8 am, but Logic gets up at 6, and Morality at 7, and Janus would rather avoid the awkward tension his presence causes.

So here he is, getting coffee at 5 am in order to avoid the self-proclaimed “Light Sides”.

What a life.

Janus doesn’t bother with lights as he focuses on making coffee as quickly as he can. As the coffee brews, Janus stares off into space with only the sharp smell of coffee keeping him conscious.

After a few minutes, the coffee maker lets out a quiet beep, signaling that the coffee’s ready. Janus pulls a mug out of the cabinet (it’s a Slytherin themed mug that says “Mind If I Slytherin?” on the side), and fills it with the bitter, life-giving liquid.

Janus can’t help it when his tongue slips out from between his lips to smell. Come to mama my sweet, he thinks as he raises the mug to his lips.

“Can I have some?”

Janus drops the mug onto the counter in shock and lets out a warning hisss that turns into a hiss of pain as the hot coffee drips out of the cracked mug, off the counter, and onto his socked feet.

Janus quickly turns to cuss out whichever Side got between him and his precious coffee, but finds no one.

No one, that is, until he looks up.

“Demon child!” He hisses at Virgil, who’s staring expectantly at him from where he’s perched on top of the refrigerator. “What the hell are you doing up there.”

Virgil shrugs, completely casual despite the venom in Janus’ voice. “Couldn’t sleep.”

“Sssatan’sss sssspawn,” Janus hisses under his breath as he pulls out Logic’s usual mug (because being able to spite the pretentious nerd will make him feel a little better) and fills it with more coffee. Constellations appear in the mug as it fills with hot liquid.

Finally - finally - Janus is able to take a sip of coffee. Virgil continues to stare at him expectantly, but Janus ignores him until he’s successfully drunk half the mug, at which point he pulls Princey’s usual mug (white with red trim, a gold crown on one side, and the words “someday my prince will come” written in gold on the other side) from the cupboard and fills it with coffee for Virgil.

“Thanks, mom!” Virgil grins.

Janus ignores him and downs the rest of his coffee in one go. He places the empty mug on the counter, just shy of being in the coffee puddle from his first mug.

I liked that mug, he thought, spitefully as he stared at the cracked mug. He can’t fix it himself, and can’t very well ask Princey for a new one. Maybe Remus will make me a new one…

Janus stares at the mess a moment longer, before deciding to leave it for Logic to find.

“There’s leftover pasta in the fridge,” Virgil says suddenly, snapping Jamus out of his thoughts.

“Excuse me?”

“There’s pasta in the fridge that you could eat for breakfast if you don’t feel like cooking.

Janus doesn’t reply, instead he just pulls the leftovers from the fridge and sticks them in the microwave for a minute and a half. He uses the time to refill Logic’s mug, and quickly down the whole thing.

“Do you want some?” He offers halfheartedly as the microwave timer goes off. He doesn’t really want to share, but Virgil has a nasty habit of not getting food when he’s hungry.

“Nah, I already ate,” the anxious Side replies.

Janus gives him a sceptical look and sticks his forked-tongue out to taste the air.

Truth.

Janus shrugs before grabbing his food and retreating back to his room, leaving Logic’s dirty mug, and his own broken one on the counter, smirking at the thought of ruining Logic’s morning schedule, even if it’s just a little.

As soon as Janus is out of earshot, Virgil hops off the fridge and starts cleaning up the spilt coffee. He cleans the floor, the counter, Logic’s mug, and Janus’ mug, but he leaves Princey’s mug dirty in the sink.

Small pleasures.

Virgil places Logic’s mug back in its rightful place in the cabinet, and leaves Janus’ mug on the counter by the sink with a sticky note reading: “oops, I guess I cracked under the pressure :(“ in a perfect copy of Morality’s handwriting, hoping to maybe trick Logic or Princey into thinking Morality broke the mug so that they’ll actually try to replace it. (And if Morality is the one to find the note and begs Princey to replace the mug because “it's one of my favorites, Roman! Look! It has such a clever pun on it”, all the while claiming that he was the one who broke it? Well, the end result is the same.)

After making sure everything’s clean, he pours the rest of the coffee into a purple travel mug, and sets up the coffee maker so that all Logic will need to do when he gets up is press a button.

Then he slinks back to his room to watch conspiracy videos until he eventually passes out from exhaustion.

~~~END~~~

[Logan], [Roman], [Remus], [Patton], [Thomas]

[dreamescapeswriting]

BTS Reaction || He Gets Jealous Of Another Member [Request]

A/N: I have come to the conclusion I suck at writing jealousy, I’m sorry. Hope this is okay though! Also who else watched the concerts?!

Seokjin:

When Jin came home from the studio he didn't expect to hear you giggling loudly in the kitchen, he stepped through the front door and dropped his bag onto the floor, looking around to see Jungkook's things in the porch. He stayed silent and took off his shoes before he walked through into the living room and that's when he heard you laughing, he'd only ever heard you laugh like that when he was making the dad jokes that you loved so much, he continued walking through and saw you sitting on the kitchen side watching Jungkook do something that he couldn't see yet. He smiled to himself, glad that you were getting along with his friends as you'd previously expressed you worry that they all hated you for taking him away from the dorms all the time.

"Kook, I know how to make cookies...It's a full dinner I need the help with." Jin's smiled faded, you were asking someone else to help you cook when he was your boyfriend. He stayed still in the living room so he could see you through the kitchen door, you frowned dipping your finger into a bowl and sucking the batter from your finger, he felt his blood begin to boil as Jungkook took a spoonful of the mixture and slid it into your mouth, that should be him teaching you how to cook, acting cute with food with you.

"I should have just gotten lessons from Namjoon at this rate." You grumbled to him as you jumped down from the counter finally noticing Jin standing there staring at you.

"You're home early." You giggled walking over to him and throwing your arms around his neck and trying to hug him but his arms stayed at his side as he eyed up Jungkook who was nervously trying to think of a way out that didn't involve walking past angry-looking Jin.

"Kookie was just helping-"

"I know what he was doing." You moved away from Jin and stared at the floor, without a word Jungkook left the apartment and you started cleaning up the rest of the unused cookie batter and trying to concentrate on that one task but you couldn't help but feel the burn from Jin coming at you, he was staring into the back of your head as you cleaned up before you realised what was happening he started getting pots and pans from the cupboard and setting them out on the side.

"What are you doing Jinnie?" You questioned loading the dishwasher turning your attention to Jin who was now getting things from the fridge,

"I'm going to teach you to cook...I taught Kookie, I can teach you." You stared at him for a couple of seconds and noticed his ears were still read.

"It's okay Jinnie, I know you're busy with work, Kook can teach me." He tightened his grip on the bowl in front of him,

"I'll teach you, what is it you want to learn?"

"Well Jungkook was going to teach me to make--"

"He's not here I am...What do you want to learn?" You smirked to yourself knowing instantly what was going on, you walked over to Jin and slipped your hands around his waist, hugging him from behind and just relaxing against him.

"I missed you Jinnie." He hummed and turned around to embrace you, he rests his head on yours closing his eyes and trying to remember he had nothing to be jealous about but it didn't stop the thoughts in his head running wild.

"Why did you ask him?" You looked up at him as you stepped away and sat on the edge of the dinning table.

"Why did you ask him to help you when I'm clearly the better cook." You stopped your giggle before it came out, not wanting to make Jin mad.

"I did want it to be a surprise, I was going to learn how to cook your favourite meal and then cook it for you...But your jealousy got the better of you and now I doubt Jungkook will ever talk to me again." You sighed looking over at your phone to see if he'd text you but he hadn't.

"I'm sorry." You smiled pushing yourself down from the table and kissing him on the lips.

"That's okay because you can teach me instead and then I'll get Kook to teach me something else if that's okay?" He nodded and ran his hand along your cheek.

"Can always make my favourite desert with him." You nodded and walked over to the kitchen counter.

"Right, Cheif Jin where do I start?"

Yoongi:

You were sitting in the empty studio with Jin and his guitar, he'd been giving you lessons for a couple of weeks since you told him how bored you were at home with nothing to do and expressed that you wanted to learn something new to do to fill your time with when you weren't at work and when Yoongi was at work.

"Can you remember what you leant last time?" You nodded and began playing the first couple of chords from the song he was teaching you and smiled as you looked up to see him smiling at you like a proud dad, you'd seen him looking at Jungkook a couple of times like it.

"You're getting better, I'll teach you the rest of the song but then I have to go." You nodded along with him and he began to tell you what to do, where your fingers should be placed and even drew diagrams for when you were at home and couldn't remember.

(X)

You groaned laying your head on the sofa as you tried to get the chords right for the seventeenth time in a row when the front door to your shared apartment opened,

"Hey, Yoongi." You said with a smile not tearing your eyes away from the piece of paper in front of you, you wanted to get this right.

"What are you doing?" He questioned coming over to you and standing above you, running his hand through your hair as you concentrated.

"Jin's teaching me a new song and I have the first part perfect but I can't get the rest of it right." You grumbled biting down on your lip and trying again.

"Jin's teaching you?" You nodded trying to drown his voice out as you continued to play but you messed up again and wanted to throw the guitar across the room.

"Yeah, been going to meet him at the studio once a week to see him." He blinked down at you and you looked up at him with a pleasant smile.

"You've been coming to the studios and not coming to see me?" You put the guitar in its case and stood up, looking at him he seemed genuinely mad about it.

"You're busy at work...I didn't want to bother you."

"Oh, but you'll gladly go and bother Jin?!" You stepped back knowing when Yoongi got mad it was best to let him cool off before talking to him again. You tried to walk away but he took your wrist in his hand to stop you from moving away, meaning the conversation wasn't over.

"Why are you spending so much time with him, I'm your boyfriend. You don't spend that much time with me." Was he being serious right now, you lived together but didn't spend much time with him?

"Yoongi we live together." His mouth formed a hard line and he stared at you.

"When you're at work, you need to concentrate and you had told me on many occasions that I am a distraction to you so I didn't want to bother you." You whispered to him trying to make him understand but he was jealous and there was no getting through to him about it.

"I don't want you spending all your time with him, you're mine." You looked at him.

"It's one-day Yoongi..." You knew there was no reasoning with him at this point so you gave up on your sentence,

"I'll teach you." You stared at him in silence,

"Yoongi you can play one song on the guitar." You giggled causing him to smile a little, you poked his cheeks.

"Come on jealous, I'll make us something to eat since you've been so hard at work today." You giggled pulling him into the kitchen and promising him the best meal of his life.

Hoseok:

Hoseok wasn't normally the jealous type, he loved and trusted you with every fibre of his being but it was getting a little worrying when you were spending all the time you could with Yoongi and not him, it was starting to get bad when you were leaving early in the mornings and not coming home until late at night.

"Where were you?" He asked as you walked through the door at 1 am, you glanced at the time on your phone and groaned.

"Hobi I'm sorry, me and Yoongi started working on this new track and then I lost track of time-" You stopped talking when you noticed the look on Hoseok's face, you hadn't told him what you'd been doing with Yoongi the whole time because you thought he might be upset or something and looking at his face proved what you thought was right. He was upset.

"You're making music together?" You looked at the floor, guilt washing over your entire body.

"He's just teaching me some producing tips and some piano lessons." You whispered to him but he was mad, he could feel his blood boiling at the thought of you sitting in the studio for hours on end, both of you falling in love with one another because you were together so much.

"Hobi?" He shook his head and looked at you with the fakest smile you'd ever seen him make.

"Yoongi and I are just friends." You tried to tell him but he faked another smile and told you to go up to bed with him.

(X)

It wasn't spoken about again until a couple of weeks later when you were out to dinner with all of the boys and Jungkook made a joke about Yoongi staring at you and Hoseok flipped, he got up and left the restaurant leaving everyone confused.

"He's just a little upset over something." You got up and left, chasing Hoseok down the street to talk to him, when you reached him he looked pissed off. You just walked back to the apartment in silence together. As soon as you got inside he slammed you against the door, arms either side of your body as you looked up at him.

"Looks like I'm going to have to prove to Yoongi who's girl you are." You were confused for a couple of seconds before his lips were on your neck, biting and sucking along the exposed skin causing you to moan out.

"You're mine." You bit back the smirk that was trying to appear on your face, and let Hoseok work out his jealous on you instead.

Namjoon:

You were panting heavily at the side of the dance studio, Jimin chuckling as you laid down on your back against the floor, pouring whatever you had left out of your water bottle onto your face and relaxing. You'd been in the dance studio with them all day today, you were determined to learn how to dance, Jimin offered to help you but you didn't want to learn to dance so you were good on the dance floor, you wanted to dance with Namjoon and maybe even for him. Of course, you kept the dance lessons a secret from Namjoon, wanting it all to be a big surprise for him, Jimin asked why the sudden change on dance, as you'd previously expressed your hate for it, and how you had two left feet, so you expressed that you liked dancing instead of real work out as you like having fun instead of feeling pressured into working out, that and you'd seen a video of a couple online where the girlfriend did a lapdance for her boyfriend and you wanted to be able to do something like that for Namjoon, which Jimin loved the idea of and fully supported you on it, offering extra lessons to you, but today's dance lesson was just you and him dancing along to Mic Drop for your warm-up before you started working on the dance you were creating for Namjoon.

"We should start bringing more water to practice." Jimin joked handing you his bottle, you thanked him silently and drank from his bottle still lying down on the ground, the cold laminate flooring hitting your back.

"Are we close to giving Namjoon the dance?" You questioned sitting up from the floor and rubbing the back of your neck, you'd been keeping a secret for Namjoon, you knew how he felt about other people seeing what belonged to him but you had to practice in the outfit or it wouldn't come outright.

(X)

"I just hate that I don't see you anymore." He grumbled as you told him you were going to hang out with Jimin again, he pulled your wrist so you were sitting on his lap, you'd come home from work and told him you were going back out again.

"Spend the night here," He whispered into your ear, kissing just below your ear before getting to your neck and leaving small marks as he got to your collarbone.

"Joonie." You moaned trying to push him away but not really because you'd been dying to be with him since you started practising but you'd seen too tired, he pulled your top from over your head and revealed the bralette crop top you'd been wearing for dance practise and he pulled away.

"I thought you were going just to hang out." You stared at him and then down at the top,

"Joonie I am...This is...This is nothing-"

"Nothing? Really, because to me it looks like you're dressing up for Jimin." You scoffed at how immature he was being and slipped the shirt back on over your head.

"I'm not Joonie if you loved me you'd trust me on that." He stared at you as you pulled the bag over your head and hung it on your shoulder.

"I do love you and I trust you...I just-Why are you sneaking off with him all the time?" He was starting to get jealous and you could tell because of the grip on your waist, you didn't know what to do. You knew what Namjoon was like when he got jealous, when he was jealous there was no reasoning with him. He was right and everyone else was wrong no matter what the situation.

"I'll call him." You mumbled taking the phone from your bag and leaving the bedroom, you stood in the hallway and hit Jimin's name.

"Yeah, it's me...He's getting suspicious so I can't come tonight," Namjoon took the phone from your hand and pressed it against his ear,

"Yeah she won't be coming to your little get together, she'll be too busy with me." He hung up the phone and walked you into the bedroom, bending you over the side of the bed and yanking your sweatpants down.

"You're mine, and if I have to prove it to you and everyone else around you I will."

"Namjoon I-" Before you could continue he slapped you across the ass causing you to let out a shaky moan from the contact,

"Be a good girl and count." He growled before hitting you again, maybe you'd tell him tomorrow what was really happening with Jimin and accept the ''punishment'' for the night.

Jimin:

"Namjoon it's hard okay, I've been trying." You groaned as you laid your head on the bed, wanting to scream into the pillow. Jimin stopped outside the door and listened in to what was happening,

"It's not that hard, you're just overthinking it." You grumbled something that neither of them could hear before sitting up in the bed and trying again,

"Just take your time." Jimin opened the door to see what was happening and saw you surrounded by textbooks and notes

"You're home early." You panicked looking at Namjoon who stood up from the chair and greeted Jimin.

"Practise everything we did today." You nodded and Namjoon left the apartment leaving you alone with Jimin who was staring at everything around the room.

"What are you doing?" You looked at him and cleared up some of the books and notes.

"Namjoon is helping me study." You said as you reached for a final book but Jimin took it in his hands.

"You're learning Korean...But you already speak it perfectly." You shook your head taking the book and putting it onto the desk along with the others.

"Not perfectly, I want to be able to talk with all of you without missing bits out or...losing track of what I'm saying." He sighed and sat down on the bed, patting the spot next to him.

"I can teach you." You shook your head, Jimin wasn't the right one to teach you, he would get stressed too much, you were stressing Namjoon out and he was the most patient one out of all the boys.

"Why? Because he's better than me?!" You jumped a little and Jimin saw the look on your face and sighed to himself.

"Sorry...I just don't like the thought of you spending all your time with him." You pushed him to lay down on the bed and laid down next to him, laying your head over his chest and listening to his fast-beating heart.

"I'm not spending all of my time with him." You whispered drawing small invisible patterns on his skin in an attempt to calm him down but it wasn't working, he pushed your hands away and got off from the bed,

"That's fine, spend all the time you can with him since he's so much better than me." You blinked at him trying not to laugh since he was being so jealous.

"Jimin you have nothing to be jealous about, Namjoon is just helping me study."

"Jealous?! Why would I be jealous that someone else is teaching my girlfriend the language I speak or spending all her free time with. That's stupid." You looked down at the floor before shaking your head at him.

"I'm going to bed Jimin, be a good boyfriend and join me." You grumbled going into the en-suite to get ready for bed Jimin following behind you and grumbling an apology for being so jealous.

"It's fine." You whispered kissing him on the cheek and giggling as he blushed a little.

(it was too cute to not use the gif)

Taehyung:

"Y/n? What are you doing here?" Tae, your best friend, asked as he walked into Hoseok's office, he saw you on the sofa hair thrown into a messy bun with pencils sticking out of it and you were dressed in sweats and one of his shirts, glasses pushed up onto your face as you scribbled along a notepad. He couldn't help but think about how cute you looked even though he was just your friend he'd always had a crush on you,

"If you're looking for Hobi he went to get us lunch, said he was hungry." You said going back to the paper and trying to put what Hoseok had been teaching you to work but it wasn't working.

"Okay...But what are you doing here?" You groaned putting the pad down and looking at Tae.

"I'm getting some lessons in with Hoseok...He said he would help me with something." You smiled at him going to kiss him but he moved away from you staring at the notepad and then at you,

"What's he teaching you?" You both rushed for the notepad

"Nothing!" But he'd already grabbed it and began reading through the pieces of paper, struggling to read everything you'd scribbled out.

"You're writing a song?" You sighed sitting on the sofa, you instantly felt bad because Tae had been trying to teach you but it wasn't working and now that Hoseok was trying you were starting to think you were the problem, music wasn't for you to write but for you to enjoy.

"He thinks I need that magical moment for me to understand how to write a love song or any song and it's not going to happen..." It looked as though Tae didn't take any of that in though as he just stared at the notepad in his hands,

"I thought I was teaching you." He said throwing the notepad onto the table and looking at you,

"You are I just-"

"Wanted to learn from someone better, I get it." With that he got up and left the studio, you frowned and tried to rush after him but you bumped into Namjoon.

"He went to the roof top." You frowned glancing out of the window, it was pouring it down was he trying to get sick?!

(X)

"Tae! It's freezing and raining come back inside!" You yelled from the doorway of the rooftop entrance but he was ignoring you,

"Taehyung!" You yelled but he ignored you again, you rushed out after him and he turned to look at you.

"You'll get sick, go back inside." He walked closer to you and shook his head at you,

"You go back inside to Hoseok, I'm sure he's worried about you." You scoffed at how immature he was being and took his wrist into your hand trying to pull him back to the door but he pushed your hand away.

"Why are you acting like this!?" You screamed at him wanting answers to why he was acting like a jealous boyfriend, he said nothing he just marched up to you and took your face in his hands, kissing you. There was something heavenly about it, not just because your crush was finally kissing you but because it was so passionate and in the moment that neither of you cared about the rain anymore. You felt droplets against your lips and he smirked pulling away from you.

"I love you." He whispered as he leant his head against yours,

"I love you too." You whispered back to him, he chuckled and ran back into the building with you, both of you soaking wet and running past Hoseok's office causing him to chuckle, he knew his plan to make Tae jealous and finally get you together would work.

Jungkook:

Jungkook wondered why you were spending so much time with Tae all the time but he kept his thoughts to himself as he trusted you. You'd been dating for years and he knew you would never do anything to hurt him but it was getting harder and harder to see you because of work, whenever he was off that meant Taehyung was which meant you were spending time with Tae instead of Jungkook or you would be at work when Jungkook was off on his own and he was starting to get a little upset that you would rather spend time with Taehyung than him.

"What's he got that I haven't?" Jungkook asked Jimin one day when you came to the dorms to see them all but spending time with Tae both of you looking at something on your laptop.

"Why don't you say something if you're so jealous about it." Jimin said following Kook's gaze over to you and Tae who were sitting next to each other on the sofa.

"I'm not jealous, I have nothing to be jealous over." Jimin scoffed and ignored the last comment from Jungkook who was still staring at you both.

(X)

You'd spent most of the night with Tae, both of you on the laptop and giggling to one another, Jungkook thought it was his imagination at first but he saw you sitting in on Tae's lap, something washed over him and he rushed over picking you up and feeling the urge to kiss you in front of everyone so he did, he wrapped his arms around your waist and pulled you closer to him, when you pulled away you stared up at him.

"Kookie?" You questioned but he turned his attention to Tae who was still sitting on the sofa staring at you both with wide eyes, both you and Tae locked eyes and starting giggling but Jungkook was laughing along with you both,

"She's mine if you try and take her I will make your life hell, understand? Back off." You rubbed his hand and he calmed down.

"Kookie, Tae was teaching me some photography skills." You whispered trying to make him understand why you and Tae were being so close and giggly together.

"What?" You nodded at Tae and he brought the laptop out, showing Jungkook the photos you'd been taking over the last few weeks together, then going to the internet and showing him the website where your photos had been showcased.

"Oh." You giggled and kissed his cheek.

"But it's nice to know you're protective baby, but I won't go anywhere. Promise."

tagline: 

@btsiguess-kpop @yoongisdumplingcheeks @yourguessisasgoodasminemate​ @snowy-meowl​  @lynnthevirgo​ @ficdump101​ @babymochichimmy​

[writingblock101]

Test Day (Jason Todd x Reader)

This means I have officially written a quarantine fic. What a weird time to be alive. I also hit 500 followers so thank you for that! 

Request for anon: Fluff #7 “Oh, would you look at that? There’s nowhere to sit besides my lap.” with Jason

Word Count: 1,900

Tags: @idkmanicantenglish

When your alarm went off, you wanted nothing more than to turn it off and curl up against Jason’s warm chest and pretend you didn’t hear anything. But instead, you had to be a diligent student who actually studies so you quickly shut off your alarm and try to creep out of bed, but Jason already heard your alarm go off. 

“No,” He mumbles, wrapping his arms around you tightly. 

You sigh, leaning back against Jason for a moment, relaxing in his hold. 

“I need to study,” You tell him. 

“Five more minutes,” He mumbles into your neck. “It’s too early to study.” 

“Any time before 11:30 is too early for you,” You remind him. “My test is today, I’ve got to cram.” 

Jason grumbles, tightening his arms around your waist. 

“Jase, come on,” You start trying to uselessly wiggle out of his grip. “I’ve been procrastinating this whole week.” 

He sighs but releases his arms. You climb out of bed, but turn and pull the blankets over Jason’s chest again and kiss his head. 

“Go back to sleep,” You tell him. 

He waves you off. 

“Yeah, go study for your test,” He grumbles. 

You can’t help but giggle at his grumpiness but quietly creep out of the room and brew a cup of coffee. Once setting yourself up at your kitchen counter, you begin the long haul of learning as much organic chemistry as possible. While you weren’t completely helpless, the quarantine forced your classes online and completely destroyed your motivation. You’d been lightly studying throughout the week, but today was grind day. 

An hour later, Jason emerges from your bedroom, still looking sleepy and a little grumpy.

“Nice sweatshirt,” He comments, pressing a kiss to the side of your head then pours himself a cup of coffee. 

You grin, tugging on the strings of Jason’s hoodie that you’re currently wearing. It’s warm, big, and smells like Jason. Honestly, at this point, it’s providing more emotional support than physical comfort. 

“I’m surprised you’re up,” You comment, glancing at the clock over your oven which reads: 8:09 AM. 

Normally, you and Jason didn’t even acknowledge the outside world until after 10 o’clock unless absolutely necessary. 

“I don’t like sleeping in an empty bed,” He admits to his coffee. “I don’t sleep as well.” 

Your heart flutters at the comment, but you ruin the moment when you look back at the practice test open on your screen. Oh, you’re still here. You squint your eyes at the old tests as if it deeply offended you (which is has by existing, thank you very much). 

“Did you eat breakfast?” Jason asks. 

“Not yet.” 

Jason nods then opens the fridge and begins making eggs while you keep cracking away at old tests. He wordlessly sets a plate of food down next to you, kisses the top of your head, then sits on the couch to quietly watch TV and enjoy his breakfast. 

A few hours pass as you keep doing practice problems and drawing figures and formulas on your little whiteboard. You’re starting to feel better about the test, but you’re still unsure. Knowing your professor, he’ll ask a question that you have all the information to solve, but no idea how to do it. Your stomach grumbles and you decide you should probably eat lunch. 

When you get stressed or “in the zone”, your brain tends to shut off your appetite. You’d never noticed it until you started living with Jason and he pointed it out after watching you study for a final. Luckily, he’s helped you become more aware of it. 

Speaking of Jason, he disappeared back to the bedroom about an hour ago, probably to read a book or do research for his next mission with the Outlaws. As a thank you for making breakfast, you fix him a sandwich along with your own and walk it back to the bedroom. 

You find him on the floor, one of his dresser drawers open, surrounded by shirts. He brightens when he sees you walk in with food. 

“How’s studying going?” He greets. 

You shrug, handing him his plate. 

“It’s going. I’m starting to feel better about it, but there’s still a lot to go. What are you doing?” 

“Cleaning out some stuff,” Jason looks at his various piles. “I never really built my wardrobe back up after I came back, so a lot of this stuff doesn’t fit me.” 

“Are you going to order some new stuff online?” 

Jason frowns. 

“Maybe? I don’t like buying clothes online.” 

“You don’t like buying clothes period,” You correct with a smile. 

“After all this is over,” Jason vaguely gestures to the air. “I’ll be more than willing to go clothes shopping for at least the first week when quarantine ends, so I’ve gotta make it count.” 

You chuckle. 

“We’ll go on a shopping spree,” You promise. “Well, I gotta keep studying--” 

“Wait, why don’t you eat lunch with me?” Jason asks. “Take a break?” 

“This is me taking a break,” You gesture to him. “I gotta keep going.” 

“Come on, babe, you’ve been studying since 7 this morning. You can afford to stop and eat lunch.” 

“The longer I wait to get back to it, the harder it’s going to be to start,” You shrug. “Sorry, Jase.” 

He frowns, watching you leave the room to keep studying. 

Two hours later, you’re still going strong-- strong as in you’re still looking at the material, but you keep getting the same style question wrong and you can’t figure out why. 

“Okay, an amino has one nitrogen, so you add one, but an amide has one site of unsaturation so you subtract two which then makes it 2n+1,” You scan the possible formulas. “None of these answers have odd numbers,” You groan then flip through your notes, knowing you’re not going to find the answer because you’ve been looking for it for the past fifteen minutes and still found nothing. 

Jason emerges from the bedroom again. 

“Hey, babe, how’s it going?” He asks, getting something to drink out of the fridge. 

“I can’t figure out how to do these stupid problems,” You groan. “I could do them on the last test, but now I can’t do them with amino or amide groups because Dr. Meades never told us the corrected formula.” 

Jason frowns, and rounds the counter, looking at the various scribbles and cross-outs on your whiteboard and open notebook. 

“Maybe you should take a break,” He suggests, rubbing your back. “You’ve been going at it now,” Jason pauses to look at the clock. “For roughly seven hours.” 

“But my test is in three hours. I’ve gotten figure out how to do these problems because there’s always five of them on the test and if I mess up one, I’m going to mess up two,” Your jaw tightens as you feel the burn of tears building in your eyes. 

Oh, hell no. Organic chemistry is NOT going to make me cry. While you care about your studies, it’s not enough to make you cry. You take a deep breath, blinking a few times to force back the tears of frustration. 

“Some fresh eyes might help. Just take a few minutes to shut your brain off,” Jason tries to urge you but you brush him off. 

“I’m okay, I promise. I’m going to see if I can find some example problems,” You start typing on your laptop again, scrounging old tests. 

Jason frowns but leaves you to work. 

Two hours later, you get up to go to the bathroom. You stare at the blue walls of your bathroom feeling drained and exhausted. You hate organic chemistry and you hate online classes. Why are you even taking this class?! It’s stupid! 

After washing your hands, you glance at the clock on Jason’s nightstand-- one hour until you take your test. Sighing heavily, you walk back out to the kitchen to continue studying, only to find every seat at the kitchen counter and small dining table have been taken by a varying amount of objects including but not limited to: a tall stack of folded laundry, a pile of what you were guessing to be Jason’s shirt rejects, a stack of plates from the cupboard, and Jason’s ammunition bag that he takes on missions. 

You stare at the chairs then glance over at Jason only to notice he stacked your textbooks and DVD collection on the loveseat while he is pointedly sprawled across the other couch. He casually reads his book, pretending to not notice you. 

“Hey, Jason?” You ask. 

He hums in response. 

“What is this?” 

Jason looks around the room then sets his book down, placing a hand on his cheek in mock surprise. 

“Oh, would you look at that? There’s nowhere to sit besides my lap.” 

He opens his arms invitingly and you can’t help but laugh. 

“Jason--” You start to say, not moving toward him, despite the tempting offer. 

“No,” He cuts you off. “You have been studying all day. You need to take a break and you’re going to take it now.” 

“My test is in an hour.” 

“Honestly, if you don’t know it by now, you’re not going to know it for the test,” Jason tells you bluntly. “You’re going to be fine. Please, just take a break,” He looks at you pleadingly. 

You glance back toward your laptop which you notice Jason had shut then sigh and walk over to Jason, letting him pull you down onto the couch with him. You land between his legs with his arms wrapped tightly around you. 

“You’re going to do great,” He promises. 

You snort. 

“It’s organic chemistry, “great” does not exist in its vocabulary.” 

“Shut up, it’s going to be great.” 

“I got a 66 on the last test,” You remind him. 

Jason pauses for a moment. 

“You’re going to pass,” He fixes, making you laugh. 

“There we go. That’s the realistic prediction I need to hear,” You grin, tucking your chin under his head. “I just want the semester to be over.” 

“Yeah, I know doll,” He kisses the top of your head. “But you can’t keep trying to do your classes like this.” 

“Yeah, I know,” You sigh, playing with his fingers. 

You two stay like that until it’s time for you to log on and take your test. And what do you know? Jason was right, you did pass. 

“Told you,” Jason grins, kissing your cheek as he looks over your shoulder at the screen. 

“Yeah, yeah,” You roll your eyes, closing your laptop. 

“I’m just saying that you should listen to me more,” He points out. 

“Oh really?” 

“Uh-huh, cause clearly, I’m a genius.” 

“A genius you say?” You turn your chair so you’re facing Jason. 

“Yep,” He grins, stepping between your legs while your arms go around his neck. “I could put Tim out of business.” 

“I’m sure,” You roll your eyes. “You’re very humble about it too.” 

“Oh of course,” Jason flips his hair dramatically. “Not only am I a genius, but I’m also smoking hot.” 

You start laughing, shaking your head. 

“You’re a dork,” You grin, kissing Jason. 

“Yeah, but I’m your dork,” He murmurs against your lips. 

“Damn right,” You grin. 

The quarantine sucks, but at least you have a good company. 

I had a test on Tuesday, can y’all tell? (I did pass) 

[flowercrown-bard]

Birds Still Sing When They Fall From The Sky - Finale

part 1 /  part 2 /  part 3  /  part 4  / part 5  / part 6  / part 7/  part 8   /  part 9 /  part 10 /  part 11  /  part 12  / part 13 / part 14 / part 15 /  part 16 / part 17 / part 18 / part 19 / part 20 / part 21 / part 22 / part 23 belongs to this

content warnings: feeling unloved and unlovable, depressive episode, kind of another funeral scene (not really, but to me it feels like it, so better safe than sorry), temporary setback of the emotional healing, drowning used as a metaphor a lot, self-doubt

(the actual final chapter)

Despite all, despite the sunsets and the music and the little light they shone on the Path, the small bright spots where as inconstant as the sun, sometimes leaving Geralt alone and desperate, waiting for them to reappear but ever fearing they would be gone forever.

Some days were better than others.

Some plunged Geralt into a darkness swallowing him until there was nothing left of him.

It only took one person looking at him in disgust, one too many times seeing a happy couple laughing together to drown him again in the memory of all that he had lost.

He tried reading the letters again. He tried looking at flowers and taking care of himself the way Jaskier had shown him to.

But it was exhausting. Sometimes for days or weeks at a time, no sunset was beautiful enough to make him smile, no bird’s song pretty enough to be worth listening to and no bed would grant him the rest.

Those times were rarer than before, but it didn’t make them hurt any less, didn’t make the emptiness feel any less inescapable.

It had been creeping up on him for days now, dispersing the tentative peace he had created for himself. Geralt had tried to close his eyes, to shut the inevitable hollowness out.

It had reached him nonetheless, as he had always known it would.

With a feeling as if his insides were made of rock, he pulled forth yet another letter. One he had reread so many times over the past months that he knew it by heart, but somehow the words didn’t always stay with him, not the way they were meant to.

‘Read when you feel lonely and unloved’

He stared at the words on the envelope as if they were pulling him in. He knew what he would find when he opened the letter, knew he needed to read it, but for now all he could do was trace the words that cut into his very being. Lonely. Unloved. Unlovable.

He was tired. So tired. He wanted to believe he wasn’t alone. He wanted to believe he was loved. But the thought alone felt like a mockery, an unrealistic dream he would never be granted again.

Still he opened the letter, let the words wash over him again and again, doing his damnest to make them make sense.

The letter was the longest one he had read thus far. A list of things Jaskier had loved about him. A list that felt like a description of someone that wasn’t Geralt, like a list of lies.

Jaskier wouldn’t lie to him. He wouldn’t.

But at the moment there was nothing about Geralt that felt ‘gentle and caring. You make me feel safe and at home.’

There was blood on his hands, tears in his shirt and he was somewhere in the woods with no home in sight.

‘You are loved. You are so so loved. By me, by Eskel and Lambert and the rest of your family. By people you saved and those who keep asking to hear more tales about you.’

His eyes lingered on the words, read them over and over again, pushing himself so hard to believe them.

But there were unfulfilled contracts and occasional sneers that Geralt couldn’t shake of for he hadn’t been able to save everyone he had promised to keep safe. He had isolated himself from his family, pushed them away. They might have liked him in winter when ale was flowing and there was no other company to be had; when Geralt had been warm and loved by Jaskier.

Now? Geralt couldn’t bear the thought of how they would feel about him. Were they sitting together now, talking about how Geralt still hadn’t gotten over himself? How he should have better control over his thoughts and emotions?

If Jaskier knew that Geralt kept failing, that he couldn’t always see the pretty things Jaskier wanted him to see, would he be ashamed of him?

‘You are loved.’

He wanted to be. It hurt how much he wanted to be loved, how much he didn’t feel like he could be.

Just a week ago, everything had been fine, he had been able to believe the words. So why couldn’t he now? Why did he have to be so damn weak and fall back into the hole he had dug for himself?

He hesitated before reading the last lines of the letter. He knew what they were. He didn’t want to read them.

‘Leave the Path for a while. Rest your wings and go back home, wherever that is for you at the moment.’

Geralt didn’t know where home was. Sometimes he thought he did, but today he only had the endless winding road ahead of him, leading him to places he didn’t want to go and further away from where he didn’t want to stay.

The thought of the coast. It wasn’t the same home anymore, not without Jaskier there. But it once had been and maybe that was close enough.

‘Go find someone you love. I promise you they won’t be bothered by you showing up and they won’t turn you away.’

Jaskier couldn’t have known that. He couldn’t have known who Geralt would become once Jaskier left him.

But he had known, hadn’t he? He had known and he had prepared a letter to accompany him every step on the way. He had known that at some point he would feel lonely and unloved.

And still he was so convinced that Geralt wasn’t unlovable, that he wouldn’t disappoint those he needed to love him back.

‘They love you. I love you.’

They loved him. Geralt forced the words to stay in his mind, to not allow any doubt to snatch them away from him. It was hard, near impossible.

A poisonous voice fighting its way to the forefront of his mind insisted that he shouldn’t go, that he would be better off staying alone on the Path where he couldn’t disappoint anyone.

“They love me,” Geralt repeated under his breath, as he packed his things, praying Jaskier’s words wouldn’t be proven wrong.

--

Geralt didn’t read from his notebook as he stood above Jaskier’s grave – Jaskier who loved him, who had been content, no happy, to spend his last moments with Geralt – but he did hold it in his hands, as if presenting it to Jaskier.

It was silly and if anyone would have passed by and seen Geralt, he would have been ashamed of the oafishness of it, but a tiny part of him hoped that Jaskier would appreciate the gesture. Though the sting of failure still clung to Geralt, he hoped that Jaskier would be proud of him.

“I filled it with things I like,” he said quietly, uncertain about how to talk with the flowers and the dirt and the stone bearing Jaskier’s name but feeling the pressing need to speak with him nonetheless. The awkwardness from last time that had choked his words before they had been able to leave his mouth was still there, but the urge to feel someone close was stronger.

‘They love you. I love you.’

‘I care about you. I need you to be alright.’

“I watched sunsets for you. You would have liked them… I did. I tried to see, Jaskier. I did my best and I… still am trying my best.” His voice broke off and his hands clutched the notebook tighter. The notebook that was witness to how he wasn’t a failure. How he was trying and succeeding even if only in small ways, despite what the emptiness whispered in his ear.

“I am not doing good. Not always,” he admitted, but somehow the words didn’t drag him under, they didn’t feel like admitting defeat. “But I am sometimes. I will do better. I promise you.”

The grave was silent. No reply came, but he didn’t need one.

He had countless letters assuring him of Jaskier’s trust. He had the bouquet he had made for Jaskier from the wildflowers he had found on his way back that lay next to the stone. It wasn’t as artful as any bouquet Jaskier had ever made, nor were the flowers the most beautiful there were. But they were a tiny part of the world Geralt could bring Jaskier. They were something beautiful he had managed to see despite everything and take with him. It was something he had made and that alone was enough to give him back the smallest kindling of warmth.

It would have been enough to make Jaskier beam at him as if he was the most wonderful thing in Jaskier’s life, just as Jaskier had been in his.

“I love you.”

The one certainty that always stayed with him, on the good days and on those that made him feel like he was drowning.

He might be drowning now, but there was the surface just above him, there was light streaming through the water and though he was dragged down, he would fight to reach the air again; one moment at a time until he could breathe freely once more.

There were hands reaching out to him, waiting for him to clasp them and let them pull him back up and out of the water.

It felt like hours passed while Geralt just stood there, breathing in the salty breeze that smelled like home and safety, listing to the seabirds cry as if they were convinced they were singing the most beautiful songs, before he turned back to the old cottage.

His heart gave a pang as he entered it.

He didn’t know what he had expected, what he had feared, but a relieved calm washed over him when saw his old home again.

Not much had changed. Apart from what he had taken with him, Jaskier’s things were all in place, as if they hadn’t been touched at all. But still, the cracks of an abandoned home didn’t cling to the room.

Geralt went over to the cupboards which used to hold assortments of tea. A smile spread across his face as he picked up one of the new bottles with the unmistakably sharp smell of Lambert’s homebrew clinging to it.

Of course the prick would leave his empty bottles around without putting them away.

It should have bothered Geralt. This place should have been clean and untouched by any mess that wasn’t Jaskier’s, but Geralt’s couldn’t fight the feeling of utter rightness as he found more and more signs of his brothers having spent time here.

The little trinkets that they had left, as carelessly as if they had always planned on returning some day and taking them back created a strange sense of belonging. Safety. Everything Jaskier had ever wanted to provide for the witchers.

Once Geralt started looking he couldn’t stop noticing the small signs of his brothers’ presence. It made him smile despite himself. It was too much like how Jaskier had left his mark on the world, on Geralt’s life.

The only thing that remained untouched was his and Jaskier’s bed, as if a silent agreement had been made amongst his brothers that this was only Geralt’s.

They must have used the armchair that had been Geralt’s sleeping place instead. His hand brushed over the neatly folded blanket that was laid across the armchair, when suddenly he froze mid-movement.

The smell of home and safety that came with Eskel still clung to the fabric, as if he had been here not long ago.

‘Go find someone you love. I promise you they won’t be bothered by you showing up and they won’t turn you away’

Eskel had offered. He had seen Geralt as he was plunged into darkness with an all-consuming hollowness inside him and he hadn’t been disgusted. Geralt had been drowning without knowing how deep he was dragged under, without noticing the waves crashing above him, and Eskel had reached out his hand to him.

It was time that Geralt finally took it.

A thrill of excitement and anxiety fluttered in his chest as he saddled Roach once more and took off to reach out himself for the first time since he had started drowning.

When he finally found Eskel, the leaves had started to turn brown and sharp wind was tugging at Geralt’s hair, pushing him away and daring him to be alone as it grew colder.

But when Eskel raised his eyes and spotted Geralt as he stood cold and alone before him, his eyes lit up and his arms opened wide to take Geralt into an embrace that felt like home. That felt like being loved.

--

Travelling with another witcher was different than with any other companion Geralt has had before, however few of them there had been.

His brother’s presence didn’t make him miss Jaskier any less, but strangely enough Geralt didn’t feel like he needed to. Eskel didn’t comment when Geralt pulled out one of the letters or stopped to smell some flowers, as if he never expected Geralt to forget about Jaskier or brush his memory aside.

Hunting with Eskel was different too. He no longer relied on his own skill and Jaskier’s words to help him get through a fight. They looked out for each other and tended to each other’s wounds, though Geralt suspected that Eskel did far more to heal him than just bandage him up.

The ache from losing Jaskier didn’t go away, perhaps it never would, but with every day he spent with Eskel, the darkness receded bit by bit.

On rare occasions when they sat together around campfires, Geralt would point out some flowers growing around them. Eskel always listened, always smiled brightly when Geralt’s voice softened, until the last of the flowers was coated by early frost.

--

Making his way up the mountain to Kaer Morhen without Jaskier should have been painful and maybe it was.

But despite the lack of a bard who refused to pack lightly and demanded a break every hour, Geralt wasn’t alone.

He had Eskel with him every step along the way, holding out a hand for him to help him climb over a fallen tree, even though they both knew neither of them needed the help. Every single time Eskel offered, Geralt reached out and accepted the support.

Each step got them closer to the keep. To people he loved. To people who loved him back.

A gruff call made him look up to where Lambert was standing with crossed arms before the gates, making snide remarks about them taking forever to get up the mountain.

“I was already getting bored with only the old man around.”

Lambert pulled Geralt into a brief embrace before ushering him and Eskel inside.

They were home once more.

--

It was almost no different to how it had been the years before. His family was still the same, still treated him the same way they had always done.

Sure, sometimes Lambert would catch himself mid-sentence while making fun of the hideous scarf Geralt refused to take off when it got cold and Eskel’s hand rested more often than before on his arm to ground him when his mind drifted to dark places.

But during sparring sessions they wouldn’t hold back. The training soon ending in playful brawls and with Vesemir muttering to himself about lack of discipline with an amused twinkle in his eyes.

It felt good. Normal.

The routine and familiarity gave Geralt something to hold onto.

The snow soon covered every last trace of flowers and thick fog obscured the sun.

Being unable to see all the things that had kept him going over the year made him restless, until one evening, as he strained his eyes to see the setting sun, he noticed something else.

During his rare contracts in Oakwood where he had been on the lookout for sirens and other sea-dwelling creatures, the fishermen had taught him how the constellations would always guide them home, though Geralt had been no strangers to the pictures the stars painted.

Now, as he was in Kaer Morhen, as much a home as the coast had been, he searched the sky and finally, after months of being denied the guide, he found the warrior amongst the stars, holding his lute.

A smile flickered over his face, as he imagined that somewhere in Oxenfurt at a different time, Jaskier had sat and sought the same constellation, thinking of Geralt.

How foolish and unreasonable to see his lover in the world around him.

How beautiful.

--

As the nights grew colder, the feelings inside Geralt became warmer, brighter.

Vesemir had nodded off some time ago with a smile on his face after he had added the rest of Jaskier’s notebooks and a horribly inaccurate drawing of a kikimora that Jaskier had been so sweetly proud of to his collection of bestiaries.

Geralt knew that Vesemir’s sleep was easily disturbed – if he even was truly asleep and not pretending so he wouldn’t have to deal with whatever they got up to – but Geralt and his brothers didn’t bother to quiet themselves.

It had been too long since Geralt has had anything to celebrate.

Though it had cut him like a knife, he had let the summer solstice pass without acknowledging it. There had been no point in doing so when for witchers the solstice had always been a day like any other.

They didn’t celebrate the winter solstice either in Kaer Morhen, but being safely in the keep together again, surrounded by people who understood and comforted each other with their presence alone after a hard year, was reason enough to let the white gull flow.

It didn’t take long until Lambert persuaded the others to join him in a rowdy song, Coën the only one who even remotely hit the right notes.

Soon it turned into yet another song and another until finally someone – Geralt wasn’t able to tell who; maybe it was he himself? – blurted out some of the witchers’ own verses of ‘Toss a Coin’ that they had added one winter – to the delight and utter second-hand-embarrassment of Jaskier.

It didn’t sting to hear Jaskier’s song, to partake in the joy it brought and Geralt couldn’t help but think that out of all the good this song had done for witchers, giving them a reason to laugh heartily on this night, was the best thing it had given to them.

It wasn’t until the laughter died down and the alcohol shifted their exuberance into quiet reflection that Geralt sang yet another song.

Quietly and still lacking the talent to keep in tune, he sang the song Jaskier had sung to him to keep him warm and his days bright.

No one else knew what the song meant, but they didn’t comment on it.

After the first verse, Eskel silently handed him the lute and Geralt took it without complaints. He didn’t know the right chords, but he plucked some of the strings nonetheless.

Lulled into sleep by the soft albeit out of tune singing, Coën’s head fell onto Lambert’s shoulder, who was too fixated on the lute to shove him off or even roll his eyes in annoyance.

They rarely used their words to tell each other what they meant to each other. That was something Geralt had learned for Jaskier, but with his brothers it was enough to share a tradition that wasn’t theirs and that still meant the world to him for Jaskier had shared it with him, had let Geralt partake in something that had been important to him. It was enough to have Lambert listen to him and have Eskel put the blanket meant for Lil’ Bleater around his shoulders when they started to shake.

He must look ridiculous like this, but he didn’t care. The gesture and the knowledge that his brothers were here with him, for him, warmed him from the inside, as only one other person had been able to do.

--

The horses stomped their hooves in nervous anticipation that Geralt could understand only too well.

The thawing of the snow and the birds that had returned from the south filled Geralt with a restlessness he hadn’t thought he would ever experience again, but the months spend sparring with his brothers and sharing stories about the year they had had, had reawakened the lost spark that beckoned him into the world. An itch that had driven Jaskier to his side, a need to go out there again, see the continent and experience life until he had found more than what he had been looking for.

The other witchers weren’t spared the sight of Geralt’s excitement making his movements sharper and faster.

When Geralt mounted Roach, Eskel spoke up.

“Are we going to travel together again? Or maybe you could go with Lambert or Coën if you wanted to?”

When Geralt shook his head, a concerned look crossed over Eskel’s face, but Geralt smiled.

“Maybe in a few months. I’ll find you if I need you.” He hesitated, but his voice didn’t waver as he said, “There’s just something I need to do. I’ve put it off for far too long.”

Eskel didn’t stop him when he left on his own and neither did anyone else.

It should have been terrifying knowing that he would be on his own again, but strangely enough, it filled him with excitement. This wasn’t him following a path he took because he couldn’t see any other options, alone because he didn’t think anyone would be there if he asked.

This was him finally being ready to be alone again, because he could. And if he needed it, he still had a home at the coast and friends to come back to.

--

It had been so long since Geralt had been here. Here, in the valley of flowers where it all began, the lifetime with Jaskier by his side.

It felt like ages ago that he had told Jaskier he would show him what Dol Blathanna looked like in full bloom and he was finally making good on his promise, though not in the way he had thought back then.

For a moment, Geralt just took it all in, the scent of the flowers, the colours that could inspire a hundred ballads and the cloudless sky above him rivalling a pair of blue eyes that had once looked upon these hills in wonder and want for adventure.

Not far from here Jaskier had strummed his lute and for the first time sung about the man he would spend the rest of his life with.

Carefully, as gently as he had tucked Jaskier into bed, Geralt placed Jaskier’s lute on the ground, surrounded by flowers as it should be.

He worked quietly, as he built a small stone wall around it to shelter it from the weather, though he knew no decay or rot could touch the elven instrument that had seen its fair share of danger in its time.

With a feather-light touch Geralt caressed the wood, laying a last piece of Jaskier to rest, finally letting go.

Here, the only waves were created by the wind sweeping through flowers and tall grass.

If Geralt still had it with him, Geralt would have put something else into the ring of stone, a piece of home, a memory. The seashell that carried the sound of the ocean to lean it against the lute that had told tales of the world as if they belonged together.

But the seashell and its whisper of home was out there in the hands of a bard, travelling the continent and reminding its bearer of home. Geralt couldn’t imagine a better place for it.

For a while Geralt didn’t move from where he knelt on the grass, looking at what he was letting go of.

He would miss the by now familiar feeling of the lute strings under his fingers and the sounds of the home its strings would sing. But neither had truly belonged to him. Seeing the instrument now amidst the flowers that Jaskier had so loved was freeing. Geralt felt lighter somehow.

Neither the music nor the memory it carried were truly gone. He could visit Jaskier whenever he needed, on the coast or at the edge of the world, both of which Jaskier had built a home at.

His memories would still live on, here where it all began, where it finally ended, where something new would begin on this day.

Geralt took a deep breath that for once didn’t have to fight against a tight chest of an aching clench of his heart as he took out the one letter he had yet to read.

The one that he had been sure he would carry with him forever, unable to break the seal.

‘Read when you are well and truly happy’

Had anyone asked him about it a year ago, he would have said that he would never get to read this letter.

And yet he opened it without hesitation or doubt.

Geralt’s eyes scanned the words, a warmth spreading through him with every line he read, with every instance Jaskier had noted of times in which Geralt had made him happy. His breathe stuttered in his chest as he reached the ending of the letter.

‘More than anything, I am happy that you are reading this letter. I am so proud of you and I always will be.

By the time you read this I will have missed you smiling at Roach. I will have missed you laughing at your own bad jokes. I will have missed watching raindrops drip from your hair when you forgot to take your coat with you. I will have missed so many wonderful things that make me love you and I know there will be more such things I will miss in the years to come.

But even knowing that these things will happen – and I do know it will all my heart – is the most wonderful gift for me. Every day that I loved you was the best day of my life. And I might not be able to hold your hand and kiss you while you read this, but I will continue to be with you for as long as birds sing and the sun rises in the morning.

Thank you for everything, but most of all that you found happiness again.

I love you so much and I will never stop doing so.

See you around, Geralt.

With all my love,

Your Jaskier’

The ink swam and spread into an unreadable circle, as a tear landed on Jaskier’s name. Geralt didn’t wipe it away, neither did he try to stop the tears from coming. Instead he let a shaky but genuine smile join them.

“See you around, Jaskier.”

He said the words without a hint of bitterness. The familiarity of them sent a small pang through his chest, but it couldn’t push away the certainty that he would be seeing Jaskier around; in every bit of beauty he had taught Geralt to see.

Because while Geralt knew that not a day will go by without him missing Jaskier, he could hear him now in the wind that Jaskier would have insisted was promising new adventures, he would see him in every smile that was sent his way instead of stones or snarls. He saw him now, in the tiny dandelion that had fought for its place amidst the flowers.

With a gentle tug, Geralt plucked it. The promise he had given Jaskier little more than a year ago clinging to the tiny plant that was begging to be wished upon.

Geralt held the resilient little weed in his hands and twirled it while his thoughts swirled in his mind.

Witchers didn’t wish. Geralt had learned first-hand what happened when they did.

If Jaskier were here, he would offer the wish-carrier to him, but even on his last night when his joints had ached and he had known what was to come, Jaskier had been wanting for nothing.

Nothing, except one thing that he had been so certain he didn’t need to wish for at all.

Geralt thought of the tearstained letter held loosely in his hand. He looked at the lute and felt flowers brush against him as they swayed in the wind. He thought of his brothers and his home and the Path calling out to him once more, begging him to find adventure.

He took his time thinking, smiling, until the wind tugged at the dandelion and took every last one of its seed with him, carrying them away without a wish attached to them.

As Geralt watched the small happinesses drift away, his smile grew brighter.

The last whispered “I love you” received no reply safe for the birds singing overhead and the wind pushing him onwards as he swung himself onto Roach and followed the floating seeds he knew not where.

He had loved Jaskier enough to give up the world for him. Now, he was ready to get back to it, safe in the knowledge that Jaskier had loved him enough to give him the world and change it for him with every word that Geralt would carry with him on his way.

[youarejesting]

Quarantine.2

[Masterlist] Pairing: BTS x reader (i don’t know if this will have ships or just friendship or what I am just letting it run its course) Genres: friendship, drama, romance Rating: All Summary: Your brother works with a few BigHit dance teams and whilst having permission to accompany him at work the city shuts down banning anyone from stepping outside for a whole WEEK while they disinfect the streets. If you step outside you might get arrested, shot or poisoned by the chemicals they are emitting through the city. Words: 3.1k  Announcement: I have 901 followers this. I can’t thank you guys enough. Stay safe. (this has a tiny inspiration from the movie exit and that is that they can’t go outside that's about it)

[Part 1]  [Part 3]  [Tag Yourself Here]

When the sun poured in from the window, you deemed it time to wake up, though you hadn’t actually slept, not that you didn’t try. There were specific requirements you needed to sleep. It had to be pitch black with soft tone music in the background and there had to be air running across your face by a fan or you would feel claustrophobic.

Stepping out into the hall, you heard two young female employees talk as they passed about ‘hot water running out’. Following them down the hall you saw the first set of bathrooms. It was packed, the line stretched out down the hall. 

“Maybe we should try the bathroom on the third floor?” one of the two women said,  “No these are the best and it will be packed as well so we should just stand in line.”  

You walked away and to the third floor to see the line, you weren’t worried about showering anytime soon. It was also out the door with tired men and women sitting against the wall. Humming thoughtfully you remembered the storage room, there was an old bathroom beside it, what are the chances there was a shower in there. 

Taking the service elevator to the basement. It was clean and brightly lit, just as it had been the day before. There were cameras in some corners of the halls. You walked to the end cautiously, why did basements have such a bad reputation. Seeing the familiar storage room ahead of you and to the right was the bathroom. You pushed the door open hesitantly; you saw the stalls they were clean and unused, and like luck would have it the last had a shower. Locking the door you showered quickly the water was hot because there was a personal hot water system in the corner of the stall. 

With a towel wrapped securely around your chest, you quickly ducked into the storage room. Cleaning up a little and hanging ropes across the pipes on the walls. Making a makeshift clothesline to hang the clothes you had washed in the shower. There were some old costumes and props and hoodies. Searching the piles of clothing for something that fit. You found something you were nervous to wear. Embarrassingly you had found a box of old merch and discontinued items in various sizes, none of it had been worn they all still had tags and were sealed in their packets folded professionally. 

You pulled out a set of BT21 underwear in your size and felt your face grow hot if you were caught wearing these character underwear you would be mortified. You found what looked like a plain black hoody in an XXL and slipped it on. It reached to your knees. You chose this size as there were no pants in the pile and boxes you had searched just hoodies and underwear. 

You took the service elevator up to your floor and stepped out walking past the two women who had lined up in front of you still haven’t gone in. Continued walking you slowed past the boys meeting room you could hear groans of annoyance, “there is no hot water and the lines for the showers are huge” 

Deciding to take pity and potentially losing your secret shower, you knocked on the door. Met by a dishevelled Jin. Slipping past him and shutting the door, the room had a very manly musky scent and you blushed “I um… found a secret shower with a personal hot water system but you have to promise to keep it a secret or I won’t tell you?”

Their eyes lit up. Scrambling to you. You told them to pack their shower stuff in a discreet bag and they lined up waiting. 

“Follow me?” Turning and peeking out the door you heard them gasp and start laughing hysterically. You froze confused, had your hoody rode up and exposed your underwear. Tugging the back of the hoody down you sighed in relief realising that wasn’t the case. Whipping around to see they were hanging off each other trying to suppress their laughter.  “what is it?”

“We didn’t know you were a fan of Suga?” “Who?” They pointed at the small thin young man, his eyes sleepy and his face blank, the corners of his mouth seemed permanently turned down.  “You're wearing my uh merch, it says ‘Suga’ on the back” you turned to have a look and facepalmed. 

Yoongi couldn’t help laughing at your shocked reaction, his eyes lost all their sleepiness and turned into rainbow arches, his soft cheeks lifting and his smile revealed. You could see his pink gums and you knew he was genuinely amused. 

“I uh stole it from the storage room, I thought it was a plain black hoody you have a lot of merch clothes down there,” Leading them from the room and past the line of employee’s to the service elevator.  “Why do you take the service elevator?”  “What services will we get when the whole city is stuck indoors? And the regular elevator is small and busy” 

“You are pretty smart?” Namjoon nudged you with his shoulder, which would have been fine if your body wasn’t tired and lethargic from lack of sleep. Stumbling back into Jimin’s arms. “Thank you, I find I can be smart when I need to be” The doors opened and like every time you stepped into the basement you felt like you were in some action or horror movie. 

“This is where we die?” Hoseok laughed his voice cracking a little. You laughed, actually laughed. There was something about the way he said it in English with his cute accent.

“That’s what I think every time I come down here. The bathroom is in there, there is only one shower but if you wash your clothes with the bucket and the generic soap I stole from the supply cupboard down the hall, you can wash your clothes and hang them in the storage room. It has decent ventilation down here so they won’t take to long to dry”

You left them to it, going back to the storage room, cleaning some more you found a board game and some promotional cans of drinks. There were some more clothes in another box, you tried to find a pair of pants that would fit but were unlucky. You couldn’t have it all. 

You sighed hanging a long white fabric backdrop over the slightly stained couch. Sitting as you emptied some more product boxes while waiting. You were tired but you couldn’t sleep. Deciding to use the BT21 makeup, you found you put on some makeup and smiled it was nice. You wondered why the storage room was filled with random bits of their work. 

You finished applying the lip tint when they walked in clean wearing only towels, “oh um” you turned to cover your eyes, “you have clothes and costumes over there”

They all sorted through the clothes and dressed while you faced the corner of the room. When they said they were done, you walked back to the couch to find it already occupied. “You look happier” Examining the group of boys, Taehyung was tying his shoes on the couch and Jimin and Yoongi were talking quietly looking up and down your legs your cheeks tinted pink 

Jin and Jungkook were hanging out washing and they stopped staring at your bra and underwear, causing you to get redder especially your neck and ears. Taehyung hooked his finger under the hem of the hoodie you were wearing and gently pulled it up at the side. With a squeal and a jump, you flailed slapping his hand away. 

“Taehyung, you can’t just do that?” Namjoon scolded and Taehyung blushed holding his hands up in defence.  “Sorry I wasn’t trying to look at your underwear I was just wondering if you had pants on, but, um… are you wearing Cooky underwear?” Jungkook froze his cheeks going red and you looked away refusing to answer your face feeling like it was on fire. “I don’t know the character names but it’s a bunny?”

“Oh JayKay you lucky boy” Hoseok slapped the younger boys back and you frowned.  “Again I just wore what was clean and I could find” You walked out of the room unable to stand to be near them your face was too warm. On your way back to the corridor they all caught up joining you in the elevator to the second floor. You were all going to the dining room for some breakfast. 

Your brother again was nowhere to be found, many of the boys were wearing prescription glasses complaining about not having contacts.  “You look good don’t worry” you mumbled to Jin and he seemed to fluff right up like a proud peacock blowing a kiss at you from one end of the table. 

Taehyung sat in front of you and it was kind of hard to eat. He was so handsome. His face was mesmerising. His eyebrows were thick and eyelashes were long. He had rounded ears that stuck out giving him a silly kind of look but you thought it was so cute. You seemed mesmerised by the tiny freckle on his nose. 

Eating slowly giving up your kimchi again and settled for rice and the lightly seasoned side dishes. “You mustn’t like kimchi,” Namjoon said “It’s a strong flavour I am still getting used to but as for now it is making my stomach hurt my body is not used to fermented foods” “But kimchi is so delicious” Hoseok defended

“It’s like, imagine how you would feel if you had to eat bread every day your body would react. It’s nice at first but then you get sick of it, wanting something you are used to eating. Your body would bloat unused to the carbs. My body does the same thing with kimchi but instead of bloating if I eat it I might just vomit”

Yoongi nodded understanding and you sighed “I just want something bland like mash potatoes and chicken with no chilli or kimchi just plain food, just once” you sighed pushing the food around your plate Jungkook laughed beside you his teeth were adorable, and when he smiled his eyes did too you were lost for a moment. He handed you some of the plain food from his plate. They were all really handsome and you had to keep yourself from saying or doing anything embarrassing. 

Parting ways you went to find your brother, he was practising with the dancers. You sat watching, even helping one of the students through the routine. Dancing was a family trait, you had been dancing for as long as you can remember but you didn’t anymore, you had gotten so many rejections from your auditions that you finally gave up. 

So your brother tried not to act too surprised when he saw you standing and doing the very basic steps to show his student the routine. They were practising for a festival which might not even be held due to the virus. sighing, the kids all took a break and your brother left sparring you a glance. 

Frozen in place you didn’t know you were walking until you were face to face with the stereo. Pressing the play button the music played and all you could hear was the rejection. 

‘I am sorry you didn’t get the part’ 

‘We regret to inform you, your audition was not accepted’ 

‘You didn’t make it to the final audition round better luck next time’. 

Shutting off the music you were having a panic attack. Again. Racing out of the room, you ran straight into Hoseok. He grabbed your arm. Looking down at your face, “hey breathe it’s okay, look at me and breathe” You copied his breathing until you felt yourself slump against his chest. He rubbed your back, “Hey, tell me what’s wrong?”

You hadn’t let any tears slip not this time, and you were determined to keep it that way. “It’s nothing” “Come on, that was not nothing?” He squeezed your hand, “tell me about it, I am a really good listener” He sat you down in your brother’s office and poured you some water, “it’s stupid” “Nothing is stupid if it makes you react like that?”

“I used to do something I pursued it and loved it very much, but everyone rejected me, said I wasn’t good enough said I wouldn’t become anything and after all the rejection I couldn’t take it anymore I couldn’t even think about this thing without panicking, I miss it so much, it use to make me happy. I use to get an electric buzz through my body and it was surreal. I could express myself and become whoever I wanted to be, but now all I hear is their voice telling me no”

“I understand, I wasn’t always this famous guy, I was a street dancer, I tried and tried and tried and I got rejections after rejections until one day I got scouted by BigHit” “How many times were you rejected? If you had to take a guess.” “Fifty to a hundred at least”  “I was rejected 873 times, I had a tally that’s the equivalent of being rejected every day for two and a half years, forgive me if I felt worthless”

“Don’t let the no’s stop you okay, keep pushing until you get that yes because a life of struggle is better than a life of regret” he smiled patting your knee before leaving quietly and you sat there confused. 

You spent the day thinking about it, it scared you how your feet began itching to dance. Your body wanted to move. You walked past the dance studio rooms at least three times before finally, you got the courage to step inside. You sat off to the side watching your brother and Hoseok perfect their routine. 

“Hello” Namjoon smiled as the two of you were talking, he started teaching you a tiny bit of Korean, you only got through greetings, my name is, how are you? Where is the___? what is this? It was fun and took your mind off the dancing. 

You caught your foot tapping and left the room slowly before the feeling caught up with you. You went to the basement and to the storage room your clothes were almost dry, you continued searching through the boxes and bags of clothes and found some more stuff. It was a shirt that said plus multiply plus in yellow and blue, and the sweat pants you found the tag said soobin and was a perfect fit. 

Slipping them in a bag you headed upstairs, everyone went to dinner. Sitting beside your brother you ate slow, mind wandering with what if’s. He was right a life full of what if’s and regret was worse than the rejection. Your brother was talking adamantly with his students and the dance team, you ate what you could before you excused yourself leaving. Laying in the storage room you really couldn’t get the feeling out of your body or the music out your head. Your fear had morphed, you were scared to feel the joy that only dancing could bring, a fear of how bad you must be after the long break.

It was torture, it got dark. You got changed and travelled up the stairs this time trying to tire yourself out or slow yourself down because you knew exactly where you were headed. You took your time and you finally arrived on the fourth floor. You stepped into the empty dance studio and turned on the lights dimming them so they gave a faint glow, you didn’t want to alert anyone that you were inside. 

Turning down the stereo system you plugged your phone in and started a slow song, it started small, feeling the music, trying a few moves and stopping you didn’t have anything to go on just yet you were warming up. When none of the songs could draw anything out of you, you switched to the CD and hit play on whatever was inside. The song title appeared on the small led screen ‘Louder than bombs’. The music was able to move you, it had been so long you danced the lyrics ripping through you 

Louder than bombs I break. 

You finished the song crying and you wanted to do it again but the next song had you with the beat of the drums it was called ‘On’. Slowly getting into the songs each one bringing out a new emotion. Expressing everything you had, you had gone through the album twice. Dancing to black swan, the music died out when you heard clapping and turned falling on your behind. 

There was a slapping sound and a deep “ow what was that for?” “Tae, She isn’t supposed to know we are here idiot” The lights grew a little brighter and you saw the BTS boys and your brother.  You frowned “how long have you been here?” “I have been here since pretty much the start,” Hoseok rubbed the back of his neck “you were dancing to some English songs”

“I came in halfway through louder than bombs the first time” Jimin grinned doing a few of the moves he memorised. “Your brother was looking for you, we had been searching everywhere,” Namjoon said “We worried you went outside”

“Your dancing was really nice?” Jungkook said “I liked what you did with my song and the black swan dance you did was very pretty” “Y/n I haven’t seen you dance in years” Your brother stepped forward, you were feeling a little overwhelmed, “it was really good?”

“Well remember it because I am still not dancing” Trying not to cry the declaration ripping through your chest. Namjoon started explaining the meaning behind black swan you looked at your shaking hands “I have to go I really can’t do this” you tried to push past them as you staggered off down the hallway wiping your eyes on your sleeve. 

“It was nice” You froze the gravelly tone made you turn. Yoongi walked over and placed his hand on your head awkwardly patting it. While refusing to look at you. “I have never seen anyone move like that to my songs before, it made it seem like it was something more I don’t know beautiful it looked like actual art” 

He shuffled looking a bit nervous. Walking away leaving you dumbfounded. Sure it was one thing to hear. ‘You are so good’  but it was another to hear the sincerity in someone’s voice as they said something as deep and meaningful about your dancing like Yoongi had said to you. He called your dancing ‘Art’ for crying out loud. That’s the highest compliment you could possibly think of at this moment.

[Part 1] [Part 3]  [Tag Yourself Here]

[evilrubberducke]

Bump in the Night

A new oneshot with a bit of a different spin than usual from me. I hope you guys enjoy it, even if it is a little rough. 

A short note about why it’s been so long since I’ve written anything is included at the end.

Read it on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24302497 Read it on FF.Net: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13530836/1/IzuMina-Week-2020

Izuku had never been a heavy sleeper, so when a thud echoed down the hallway of the apartment he and his mother shared, he awoke instantly. 

As he rubbed sleep from his eyes, he could hear footsteps padding down the hallway, as well as some muffled cursing. That alone confirmed that it wasn’t his mother going for a late night drink of water. She never cursed, no matter how angry or upset she was feeling.

He quickly slipped out of bed and cracked his bedroom door open. The hallway beyond was pitch black, but he could still make out the sound of footsteps padding away from him. If he had been more awake, he might have realized that the footsteps were coming from the opposite direction as the front door, but he was too exhausted from crying himself to sleep for the past week to realize that. He just knew that he had to follow the footsteps.

They led him into the kitchen, which only strengthened Izuku’s hope. His mother didn’t like late night snacks, saying that they ruined Izuku’s appetite the next day, so the footsteps couldn’t be hers. His father, on the other hand, always had a drink when he got home from a trip. 

“Daddy?” Izuku called, stepping into the kitchen, “Are you home? Mommy said you weren’t—” He froze as he took in the scene in the kitchen.

The refrigerator door was hanging open, the light inside illuminating the kitchen and throwing long shadows on the opposite wall. Standing in front of the refrigerator was a creature that was approximately Izuku’s size, with bright pink skin, ragged clothes, and a short tail that twitched back and forth with agitation as Izuku stared. It’s eyes were wide, allowing Izuku a perfect view of their black sclera and glowing golden irises. A pair of small, nubby horns poked out from it’s mop of curly pink hair, completing its otherworldly appearance.

Izuku couldn’t help it. He yelped in fear and surprise, stumbling backwards and tripping over his own feet in the process. As he toppled to the ground, Izuku sent a silent prayer to whatever gods were listening that the monster would be satisfied with just eating him, and would leave his mother be. That was all he hoped for, as he waited for the end.

And waited.

Finally, Izuku could wait no more. He cracked one eye open to see where the monster was, and was utterly baffled to find it nowhere in sight. The only sign that it had been there was the shaft of light coming from the open refrigerator, and an empty bowl lying in front of it.

With a flash of irritation, Izuku realized that it was the bowl that his mother had stored the leftover katsudon from their dinner that night in. All of his previous fear of the monster vanished. His mother had worked hard to make that food, and the monster had stolen it without a second thought.

He quickly picked himself up on the ground, and stomped petulantly over to the mostly empty bowl. It seemed as though the monster had run away, and left him to clean up the mess it had made. A part of him wanted to leave it for the morning, but he knew that would only upset his mother, and he didn’t want to make things harder on her. 

As he bent down to start cleaning, something caught his eye. On the far side of the kitchen, barely illuminated by the shaft of light from the refrigerator, the cupboard under the sink was cracked open, and the tip of a pink tail was poking out. As Izuku watched, the tip quivered and twitched wildly, giving away the monster’s location in an instant.

In just a few steps, Izuku was at the cupboard. He flung it open without any hesitation, but was stopped by what he saw inside.

The monster was cowering in the deepest part of the cupboard, its eyes as wide as saucers and its arms and legs pulled tight around its body. At that moment, it looked far less like a monster than a frightened puppy, hoping it wouldn’t be kicked again, even as it knew it would be. Izuku knew that look well. He’d seen it on the faces of the kids Kacchan would beat up on the playground before.

Before Izuku could say or do anything, the monster shocked Izuku by speaking up in strangely accented Japanese.

“I’m sorry! Please, please don’t hurt me!”

Izuku was temporarily dumbstruck. It’s… no, her voice was like nothing he’d ever heard before. Her tone danced up and down with every word, giving her speech an almost musical quality. It was also full to the brim with fear, so much so that Izuku was certain she wasn’t faking any bit of it.

“I-I’m not going to hurt you,” Izuku said, kneeling down so he could look her in the eyes. Not that she made it very easy. She kept her gaze firmly turned away from his. Only her tail gave any indication of her emotions, as it flicked back and forth.

“You’re not?”

“No!” Izuku said, scandalized at the very idea. He would sooner hurt himself than actually hurt someone else, even if she had stolen his favorite food.

“Why not?” she asked, uncurling a little bit from her defensive posture, “I took your food.”

“Because hurting people is wrong,” Izuku said. 

“You’re weird,” the creature said, finally raising her eyes to meet his. She still looked wary, but his reassurance seemed to have calmed a lot of her nerves.

“I’m weird?” Izuku said, unable to help himself, “You’re the weird one. You’re pink, and you have horns, and you steal katsudon.”

“Hey! I’m a perfectly normal imp!” she said indignantly, “You don’t even have horns! Or a tail! How are you supposed to balance without a tail?”

Izuku floundered for a moment as he tried to come up with an answer to the sudden question. He had spent plenty of time thinking about how he was different from other children because of his American father, but he had never considered something so basic as why he didn’t have a tail. 

Before he could come up with a response, one part of her statement derailed his train of thought.

“Ummm, what’s an imp?” The term sounded vaguely familiar, but Izuku couldn’t place where he had heard it, or what it meant.

She looked at him like he was an absolute idiot. “Me! I’m an imp! And someday, I’ll be a full fledged demon!”

Izuku’s jaw dropped open.

“Y-Y-You’re a demon?” he spluttered, scooting back slightly. He’d heard of demons, of course, but only in books or T.V. He’d never thought they were actually real.

“Nuh uh. I just told you I’m an imp. Demons are way bigger,” she replied, taking the opportunity to clamber out of the cupboard and dust herself off.

“S-So an imp is like a baby demon?” Izuku asked. He should probably be terrified out of his mind, but his fascination was overwhelming his fear.

Her eyes flashed with annoyance, and she stomped her feet. “I’m not a baby! Just cuz my horns are a little small, everyone thinks I am. But I’m not!”

It was obvious that Izuku had hit a sore spot, which he instantly regretted. He knew what it was like to have people mock him for something he couldn’t control, and that he would change in a heartbeat if he could.

“I-I’m sorry,” Izuku said, bowing to her, “I didn’t mean to upset you. I was just surprised. I’ve never met a future demon before.”

“Hmmph,” she huffed, “I suppose I’ll let you off the hook. But only because it’s obvious that you were wowed by how awesome I am!”

She wasn’t entirely wrong. He’d always loved learning about the world around him, and the revelation that there was a whole species that he barely knew anything about was fascinating. Talking to this imp was just like all the time he’d spent in the library reading books on cool animals, but a million times better. 

It was at that point that Izuku realized he’d overlooked something.

“Do… do imps have names?”

“Of course! I’m Mina. What’s your name?”

“I’m Midoriya,” he replied, sticking his hand out, “Izuku Midoriya.”

She cocked her head in confusion. “So, which is it? Midoriya or Izuku?”

It’s… both?” Izuku said, unsure of how to properly explain it, “Don’t demons have family names?”

“I guess?” she said hesitantly, “No one really uses them though. My brothers and sisters all know who I am, and no one else really talks to me unless they have to.”

“That sounds rough,” Izuku said, knowing exactly what it was like to be shunned by everyone except his mother.

“Eh, It’s alright. I’ve got plenty of friends to hang out with. Besides, once I become a full demon, I’ll be super popular.” 

Then, a wicked grin spread across her face as she stared at Izuku. “Plus, no one else I know has a human friend, so that makes me special! Thanks a bunch, Midori!”

Izuku could feel his brain short circuiting at that statement, for multiple reasons. She had called him his friend, the first friend he had made since Kacchan had stopped spending time with him several months ago. He could hardly believe that this was happening, and so soon after meeting her. He had only just learned her name, and she was already calling him her friend. But that wasn’t the only thing she was calling him. The nickname stuck in his brain and commanded his attention above all else. 

“M-M-M-Midori?” Izuku said, his voice squeaking as he spoke.

“Yep,” Mina said brightly, “Two names is way too many. And they’re too long! So, Midori!”

Surprised as he was, Izuku’s heart still swelled with happiness at the nickname. Unlike his other moniker, it didn’t contain a hidden barb. It was simple, honest, and friendly in a way that he hadn’t felt for a long time.

“T-Thanks,” he said softly, “I like it.”

“Well duh!!” Mina said, “That’s because I’m a nickname master!”

“A nickname master?”

“Uh huh! All my friend’s nicknames come from me, and everyone says that the ones I come up with are really unique!”

“I, uh, don’t know if that’s a good thing,” Izuku said.

“Course it is! Do you have any idea how hard it is to be special when you have 36 siblings? Especially when you’re the smallest one of them?”

Izuku’s mind boggled at the idea. After being an only child, the idea of having so many people around to talk and play with sounded like heaven. He couldn’t understand what she was complaining about.

“Is it really that hard?” Izuku asked. 

“Ugh, it’s the worst!” Mina said, hopping up on the counter and kicking her heels as she spoke, “Anytime I try to do something cool, I find out someone else has already done it. No matter what I climb, or whose tail I tweak, someone always beats me to it! I’m not even the first to come here. My sister apparently comes out to take chocolate all the time, not that she shares any of it with the rest of us.”

All of a sudden, the string of candy thefts that had been the talk of his school the last few months made much more sense. He knew at least two other kids in his class who had lost their favorite treats overnight, while candy stores across the city were running out of all kinds of sweets, much to everyone’s despair.

Thankfully, Izuku’s house had been spared up until this point, so he still had a few chocolate bars  saved up for special occasions. Whenever he did especially well on a project in school, he and his mother would take one of them from the cupboard and share it, nibbling it square by square while she praised his efforts. He wasn’t supposed to take them for himself, but his mother had never said anything about sharing one with a friend. He felt confident that she wouldn’t be too upset.

“M-Mina. Y-you said we were friends, right?”

“Of course!”

“Then… do you want to share a chocolate bar?”

“Wait, really?” Mina said, staring at him incredulously, “This isn’t a trick or anything, is it? I can actually have some?”

“I-I wouldn’t trick you like that,” Izuku said, a part of him slightly offended at the idea he would do something so cruel. He knew she didn’t think he was a mean person, and was probably only suspicious because other demons or imps had tricked her like that before, but he still felt the need to prove his words true. 

He quickly made his way over to the cabinet where his mother kept the delicious treats, and pulled out one of the bars. The milk chocolate bar that he selected was the last of its kind, and smaller than some of the others, but he got the feeling that Mina would prefer it to the dark chocolate bars that his mother favored, and that he had grown to appreciate. He quickly peeled the wrapper off and broke the bar in two, handing the slightly larger piece to Mina.

It was gone in a blink, consumed in a single bite by the pink imp. She squealed in delight as she chewed, her tail twitching back and forth in a staccato rhythm of happiness, the same way a puppy would when given a treat.

“Ish soooo good!” Mina exclaimed before she could even finish chewing, “ ‘M never eatin anything else!”

Izuku giggled, her joy and enthusiasm at the simple treat infectious. “You’d get sick if you ate that much chocolate,” he said, doing his best to break the news gently.

“Don’t care,” Mina replied, licking her palms clean of any remaining chocolate. As she did, Izuku noticed that her tongue was long and forked at the end, like a lizard’s.  “I’ll be sick forever if it means I can eat more chocolate!”

“I’m glad you liked it,” Izuku said sincerely, “Sorry there isn’t more.”

“It’s okay,” Mina said with surprising enthusiasm, “I’ll bring some of my own next time, so we’ll have lots and lots to share!”

“N-Next time?”

“Course!” Mina said with a grin, “We’re gonna hang out all the time, especially once I learn how to make my own portals!”

“Really?” Izuku said, barely able to believe it. 

Mina nodded. “We’re gonna hang out all the time, and eat chocolate, and be best friends forever!”

To Izuku, that was the best plan in the entire universe.

---

7 years later

---

Izuku was studying in his room when a sudden crack filled the air, causing him to jump. He really should be used to Mina’s entrances by this point, but they always seemed to catch him by surprise. A part of him suspected that she did something to make them extra surprising, not because she was malicious but because she liked having attention for her entrance.

On the opposite side of the room, a floating rift in the fabric of the world had appeared, allowing him a glimpse into Mina’s room in the other plane. It was a little smaller than Izuku’s own, with dark stone walls and a rather gothic looking chandelier in the center. Aside from that, it looked like a relatively normal teenage girl’s room. She had an assortment of stylish black and purple furniture, most of which was covered in various magazines and candy wrappers, a chair piled high with clothes that she hadn’t quite gotten around to folding, and even a few cute looking stuffed animals surrounding her bed. Apparently she had a thing for bunny rabbits with overly exaggerated floppy ears.

“Guess who!” the demon girl in question called, bursting through the portal in a shower of pink sparks that served as magical confetti.

As he always did, Izuku marveled at how much Mina had changed since they first met. If it weren’t for the bright pink skin and enthusiastic personality, she could almost be an entirely different being than the tiny imp he had met all those years ago.

She stood just under five feet tall, not including the long pair of horns that protruded up from her forehead, curling back slightly at the tips. Her tail had lengthened as well, becoming long and prehensile enough that she could pick up light objects with it, or just tickle Izuku from a distance with the heart-shaped tip. The greatest change, however, was that she had sprouted a large pair of bat-like wigs. She could apparently use them to fly, though not for very long. In Izuku’s experience, she mostly just used them to keep the sun out of her eyes when she was trying to nap. 

Her clothes were fairly eye catching as well, though that was mostly due to how risque they were compared to most of the girls Izuku saw around town. They were obviously custom made for her, or at least altered, since they had openings to accommodate her wings and tail. The T-shirt was very low cut, exposing quite a bit of skin, and her shorts lived up to their name. 

“I guess Mina,” Izuku said, setting his textbook to the side so he could give her a proper greeting. Despite how much she had changed, she was still his childhood friend, and no amount of impending homework would keep him from spending time with her. 

The fact that he was crushing hard on her probably also factored into that decision. 

He’d just gotten to his feet when Mina closed the portal behind her with a snap of her fingers and bounded forward, pulling him into a tight hug.

“You guessed right!” she said happily, nuzzling against his chest and nearly poking him with her horns several times as she did so.

“Did something happen?” Izuku asked, lightly patting her back. Mina always enjoyed physical contact, but this was excessive affection, even for her.

“Nah,” Mina said, remaining firmly attached to him, “I just missed you.”

“Mina, it’s barely been a week since we hung out,” Izuku replied.

“Yeah, and that’s way too long. I need Izu cuddles or I’ll die of loneliness.”

He sighed at the exaggeration, but wrapped his arms around her, careful not to pinch her wings, and squeezed. Mina sighed in contentment, and snuggled closer to him. In doing so, she pressed entirely up against him, causing Izuku to flush. She had the kind of figure that many women would kill for, and it was times like this that made it very hard to forget that fact. 

“M-Mina, your—”

“Shhhhhh,” Mina hissed, placing a finger to his lips, “Relax. You can go back to studying in a minute. For now, just let me enjoy this.”

There was absolutely no way that Izuku could relax like this, but he did his best to follow Mina’s request while keeping his gaze pointed firmly upwards. She was his oldest and closest friend. He didn’t want to freak her out, or irritate her by openly displaying his crush.

“Izuku…” Mina said, pulling him back to the moment, “You know, you don’t have to keep looking away…”

He glanced towards her, confused by the statement, and nearly had a heart attack. Her eyes were half lidded as she stared up at him, twin pools of darkness with a gently glowing golden center and veiled with dark pink lashes. As he stared, Izuku felt like he was being inexorably drawn into them, even more so than usual.

Slowly, ever so slowly, he leaned forward just a hair. Not enough to close the gap between them, or even to close it significantly, but enough to be noticeable. Enough to draw a sharp breath from Mina. Enough to make her close her eyes and learn forward as well.

As if on cue, Izuku’s phone began to ring, startling both of them.

He felt guilt rush through him, and quickly stepped back from the embrace. Despite his vow not to pursue his feelings for Mina so that he wouldn’t make her feel uncomfortable, he had nearly done exactly what he’d been afraid of. He’d nearly forced himself on her, when she was just being friendly.

Mina meanwhile had retreated to the other side of the room in a pout, grumbling something about “losing progress”, and how hard it was to train a herbivore. 

Izuku was impressed that she knew the term, since it was more complex than her usual vocabulary, though he made a mental note to correct her usage of the term later. He enjoyed katsudon far too much to be considered a herbivore. 

His musings distracted him enough that he almost let the call go straight to voicemail, only realizing at the last second that he should probably answer his phone, in case it was important.

“Hello?”

“Izuku!” his mother said, sounding halfway between elation and tears, “Honey, I’m so proud of you! This is such a big step! But, why didn’t you tell me?”

“T-tell you?” he asked, his already overtaxed brain struggling to catch up to the conversation, “Tell you what mom?”

“About your application letter to UA!”

His jaw dropped open. He most certainly hadn’t applied to UA. It was one of the top schools in the country. Even if he did apply, he stood no chance of getting in. Thousands of people requested acceptance every year, and only a fraction of those were allowed to take the incredibly difficult entrance exam. Of course, he would be thrilled to attend, but he had never considered it as a real option. Just a pipe dream.

“I… what?” he said intelligently.

“Oh, I’m sorry honey. Did you want it to be a surprise? Is that why you used a special envelope? I didn’t mean to pry. I was only curious, since it was such a lovely color.”

A thought struck him then. He never sent letters with any sort of fancy stationary or envelopes, but he knew someone who did. Someone who had a flair for the dramatic, and who knew about his ridiculous dream to attend UA. Someone who even then was staring at him in curiosity.

“Mom, the envelope you’re talking about? What color is it?”

“It’s pink,” she replied, confirming his suspicions in an instant, “Are you feeling alright honey? You sound stressed.”

“I’m fine,” he lied, “Just a little tired. Mom, do you mind if I call you back? I have to finish studying.”

“Oh, with that kind of attitude, you’ll get in for sure. I’m so proud of you, Izuku! I’ll make katsudon for dinner tonight to celebrate!”

“That sounds great. Bye mom,” Izuku said, lowering his phone to his side and leveling his gaze at Mina.

She must have realized that her plot had been discovered, since she was staring at the floor while she traced some arcane pattern with her foot. Her tail was twitching back and forth behind her, making her agitation even more obvious.

“Surprise?” Mina said, looking up at him innocently. Thankfully, her eyes didn’t pull him in like before.

“Mina, you filled out an application to UA for me?” 

“Uh huh,” she said, relaxing a little when she saw he wasn’t angry with her. Despite the many years they had known each other, her instinctive reaction was still to shrink away from him. It was only when he treated her with kindness instead of anger that she relaxed and could be honest about her actions.

“Why?”

“You were talking about it like it was some amazing place to be, and you got me excited about it too. Then you said it was only for really smart people, so you weren’t going to go. And you got all sad about it. But you’re really smart, smarter than anyone else I know. I know you’re gonna be awesome there! You just needed a little push.”

For a long moment, Izuku said nothing. Hearing Mina praise him like that made him feel more than a little giddy, and not just because he had feelings for her. But the more rational part of him knew that it was only because she didn’t know any humans besides him. If she did, she would see just how average he was, would stop thinking of him as someone special, and would think of him as just another human.

“Mina it… it doesn’t work like that,” Izuku said, once he had finally gotten his thoughts in order.

“Then the way it works is stupid,” she pouted, “You deserve to go wherever you want, even if it is some stupid, boring, stuffy school. You’re the awesomest person I know!”

“I’m the only person you know,” he pointed out, which only seemed to make her more frustrated. 

“Just because I spend a lot of time with you, it doesn’t mean that I don’t watch T.V., or go people watching, or listen to all the stories other demons tell. I listen all the time, and I know that you’re special. You’re smart, and you’re kind, and you work harder than anyone I’ve ever heard of.”

As she spoke, she stomped angrily towards him, until she was standing just a few inches away. Her eyes were wide, but they held none of the gentle liquidity from before. They were harder than he’d ever seen, and made her look every bit the demon that she really was.

“So, you listen to me, mister. You are going to apply to that school, and you are going to get in. Then you’re going to show everyone else exactly how amazing I already know you are. And when all of that is done, you are going to hand feed me chocolate until I burst, tell me how right I was all along, and apologize until you’re purple in the face. Understand?” With each sentence, she poked him firmly in the chest, to emphasize her point.

He wanted to argue, to tell her that she was wrong about him and the whole situation. She was completely oversimplifying things, and letting her friendship with him cloud her judgement. But her expression told him that it would be pointless. Mina had set her mind to the idea of him getting into UA, and if there was one thing he had learned over all these years, it was that Mina always got what she wanted, particularly when it came to him doing things.

“O-Okay. I’ll do it,” Izuku said, doing his best to sound more confident about the situation than he actually was. “I’ll try to get into UA.”

The smile that bloomed across Mina’s face made agreeing worth it. Sure, aiming to pass UA’s entrance exam would mean countless hours of studying and effort, but he would do it all happily just for one more glimpse of that radiant grin.

“That’s my Izuku!” she said, pumping her fist into the air as she did so. “You’re gonna be the best University person ever!”

Izuku chuckled. Leave it to Mina to get so excited about something she knew next to nothing about.

“A doctor,” he corrected, “I want to be a doctor, so I can help people.”

He’d briefly considered a career in demonology a few years back, considering he was probably already somewhat of an expert in the field thanks to Mina, but had ultimately decided against it. No one else really took it seriously, and he couldn’t see Mina sitting still long enough to do any sort of examination unless bribed with copious amounts of candy.

“That’s so you,” Mina said, settling down on his bed and arching her back until it popped. “You’re always helping everyone around you, even if they’re a little imp stealing your leftovers.”

“Of course. Everyone needs help sometimes. And I think meeting that imp was one of the best things to ever happen to me,” Izuku replied with a broad smile.

Mina’s irises seemed to flash for a moment, transforming from circles to twin golden hearts. Then she shook her head vigorously, and they were “normal” again. It was fast enough that if he weren’t used to Mina doing a variety of mystical things, he would have dismissed it as his imagination. That said, he couldn’t figure out exactly why the change had happened. Knowing her, it was probably some sort of joke that he was missing.

Before he could ask about the change, Mina grabbed the textbook he had been reading from when she entered and flipped it open to a random page.

“Here. Why don’t you read it to me?” she said quickly.

“Come again?” Izuku said, completely baffled by the request.

“Well, you’re gonna be studying all the time now, but I don’t want to be bored. So, you can read to me while I snack. Win win!” she replied, producing a candy bar from seemingly nowhere.

“Mina, I’m studying algebra. You’re going to be bored even if I do read it to you.”

“Nuh uh. I like listening to you talk. Doesn’t really matter what you’re talking about,” she casually admitted.

His face burned once again. After the earlier incident and her whole monologue about him special, he was feeling a little lightheaded. Normally he would have come up with a reason to excuse himself for a minute or two while he composed himself.

Unfortunately, Mina was already patting the bed next to her and looking at him expectantly. 

Accepting his fate, Izuku dropped down beside her and picked up the textbook once more. He knew from the get go that actually concentrating with her beside him would be next to impossible, but he did his absolute best. 

After all, Mina was counting on him to be an excellent student and get into UA. He wouldn’t let a little thing like the gentle warmth of the girl he adored most in the world seeping into his side distract him, would he?

As the rest of the afternoon proved, yes, he absolutely would.

Read this and other fluffly IzuMina stories on my AO3 or FF.Net accounts! Links available on my Tumblr page, if they get broken again

[neo-culture-mafia]

그림자

last chapter

"'sup bitches." Hyuck called, walking in the front door with groceries in hand.

"Duckie, I have told you 9 separate times to not greet like that." I spun around in the swivel chair, "it's rude." I reasoned and he took his sunglasses off his face, holding them in the same hand as his motorcycle keys. "Whoops?...I guess." He chuckled, strutting over to where I sat at the living room desk.

I turned back around to look at the paperwork spanning across the wood surface. "What's this, sunflower?" He asked grabbing the first paper he could grab. He flicked his brown curls from his vision to have a good look at what was taking place in black ink.

"Money flipping?" He asked me, with a cocked eyebrow and an unamused look. "Yep. Just for a little while," I winked and snatched the paper back. I sighed, setting it back down on the desk, "just until we have enough for an apartment in the city."

He groaned and walked down the hall to the kitchen. "We have everything we need here." He called as I knew he was emptying the contents of the grocery bags into the respectful places they belonged.

I leaned my arm on the desk, laying my head in my hand and staring at the Polaroids above the desk. Some were of us: me, Mark and Hyuck, and some of the rest of the boys...now just a distant memory is what they felt like.

483 days...483 days since we last saw each other. On that damn night. That dreadful night that me and Mark were turned away and shunned like we were dogs.

Then we traveled back to Seoul to find Duckie. After he was missing for 3 weeks, I ran into him by chance in an alley. We actually had gotten in a first fight till his hood fell back and I was met with the melanin enriched skin that made my eyes weep.

I told him to leave, go back, that he was welcomed there. But, he didn't want to leave me or Mark. We lived in the shit shack eating nothing but crackers and water for a couple months, sometimes we opted for sleep as our daily meal.

Until Mark came home with money. He had gotten that damn tunnel door open by the grace of a higher-being: filled with cash to the brim.

Us 3 bought a 2 bedroom farm house in the somewhat country where we were best friends with our retired neighbors; their thoughts and whispers of us being in a 3-way relationship being the talk of the small farming town. We didn't care. We knew what we were doing here and what we needed to do in the future.

"Oh honey. I'm home." Donghyuck called through the house and a door opened to a wet Mark who was towel drying his hair in nothing but sweatpants. "Did you get me the stuff?" He asked all serious, and I looked down the dim hallway to see Mark's blonde hair being tossled by his towel.

Hyuck gave him a flat face, a hand on his hip and another holding him up on the counter. "Yes, Mark. I got you your 'stuff'." He rolled his eyes, going away and returning with a big ass watermelon.

"Yesss," Mark took it and automatically held it to his ear, knocking on it like it was a heavy wood door. "you picked a good one." Mark looked lovingly at the fruit in his arms as if it was a child.

I laughed as I looked at my wacky friend. "Why can't you be obsessed with something usual. Like beer, or poker."

The curly headed boy asked as he walked back down the hall towards me. Taking his thick jacket off and throwing it over the arm of the couch; sitting down he unlaced and unzipped his boots, throwing them by the door.

You watched the conversation play out like a terrible teen-sitcom. "Cause I'd rather die by watermelon overdose than alcohol intoxication-" Mark was cut off as he walked slowly to the front room where Hyuck and I sat. "Yeah yeah yeah. Too many big words for this early in the morning." Hyuck put his arm over his eyes and laid back.

Mark looked at me and we both looked at the clock. "Sweetie, its 3 in the afternoon." I giggled and he whined. "It's so early." He said and stood up.

"I'm getting changed and I'm gonna chill." He said looking at Mark who still clutched his watermelon to his bare chest, damp towel thrown over his shoulder.

"And?" Mark asked. "Why do I care?" He asked and the younger boy just shrugged. "Also...your night for dinner." Mark reminded him and Hyuck whined louder, running down the hall and smacking into our bedroom door.

"Donghyuck!" I jumped up, wanting to check if he was okay. He just kept on whining as he opened our door and went in, closing it.

You could still hear his shrieks as he was probably running around getting changed into comfier clothes.

"Then there were two." Mark sighed as he set his watermelon on the kitchen window, and plopping onto the long couch on the opposite side of the living room.

"I need to redo your hair soon." I said getting up and laying on the ground next to his couch. "I might let it grow up to a ponytail." I sat up quickly. "Uh. No you're not." My voice was harsh and he laughed.

"Girl you need to chill. I was joking." He chuckled, stretching and yawning.

Something that Jaemin used to say to me atleast once an hour. My smile faltered and I became more solemn.

"Do you miss them?" I asked and he just stared at me for a moment. "Who?" Was all he said and I knew that he knew exactly who he was talking about but it still hurt a little bit.

"Your boys." I said and a faint smile was broadcasted over his facial features as he stared into what seemed like distant space but was really just the dark TV.

"Of course." He exasperated and he looked back at my face who was just searching for reassurance that this path was the right one to take.

"But I am so thankful for the two of you, right here, right now." He smiled and my heart was put at ease.

"Alright I'm back. I sensed you guys missed me so I returned. Just for you guys!" Hyuck said as he sat down next to me and leaned back on his arms for support. "Oh yeah. 'Cause we were literally dying without your presence." I said sarcastically and he shrugged.

"Exactly. That's what I just said." He said as serious as possible and me and Mark laughed. "Oh you think you're so funny." Donghyuck said picking me up and pulling me on his lap, his hands reaching for my sides and tickling.

My shrieks and laughs radiated through the house as Mark watched on in admiration. He felt blessed that he made it this far. He also never failed to tell us atleast once a week. We were all each other's life and support systems.

Once hyuck stopped his evil act, I just laid there across his lap trying to resteady my breath.

"What's for dinner?" I looked up at him and he shrugged. "I haven't really looked to be completely honest." He said yawning.

"Well let's go see and then we can make it, eat, clean, and then chill for a while." I said getting up and putting my hand out for him to take.

He groaned but obliged at my request.

He was in some shorts and a basic hoodie. The scarring on his legs reminding us all of a dark period. A painful time that sometimes still follows us.

I have a scar on my back from that night. I don't remember anything of the tunnels but the burning pain in my calves, wanting to stop sprinting through the dark and lonely concrete jungle.

Him and I stood infront of the cupboards in silence.

I suddenly felt so tired and out of it. Like a heavy weight was on my chest and it wouldn't budge.

"Oooo. Spaghetti." He said stretching and reaching the noodles and sauce on the top shelf. I shrugged as he looked at me for my reaction to his suggestion.

"You okay?" He asked and I could only shrug and try to give a convincing smile.

"Yeah. Just thinking about stuff." I shrugged once more and he understood.

"Can you help me with dinner?" He asked and of course I agreed, wanting to get my mind off the looming darkness in the corners of the house.

"Alright. We need 2 pots and then you can figure out some sides we can have with it." He said and I was already grabbing the 2 pots.

I set them on the stove top and he began doing his own thing. I rummaged through the cabinets and fridge before feasting my eyes on what seemed like the perfect pairing.

"Salad?"

~~~~~~~~~

Trying to sleep that night was rough. It was just tough and not even the usual cuddly nature of the sleeping Hyuck next to me could lull me into dream land.

The dark feeling still followed me through dinner and to bed.

I tried staring at the wall but even then the small cracks started freaking me out. I turned towards Hyuck who's curly dark hair framed his face perfectly.

Don't get us wrong. We're not a thing. We're just close. Once we found each other again he has stuck to my side in hopes of fulfilling what he thought he didn't in the first place- protection.

I don't mind. We've always been close and now we've just gotten closer. Was sharing a bedroom in our plans?...no...but we didn't want to put up with Mark and his farting so he was blessed with having his own room.

We're just making do with what we have.

My finger lightly traced shapes on his arm tattoos, trying to pass time and get myself to sleep.

I groaned and his eyes opened. "What's wrong?" He asked looking at the alarm clock on the bedside table.

3:29 AM

He turned back to make sure I was okay. He sat up on his arm and just looked at me for a moment. "Are you hurt?" Was all he asked and I shook my head no. I wouldn't know how to explain the hurt I was feeling anyway.

"I just need water." I said getting up and crawling to the end of the bed. "Be back in 5 minutes please." He said grabbing his phone. I mumbled my recognition and opened our door.

I strided down the hall and grabbed a water bottle. I walked into the hall where the corridor meets living room. Hyuck's phone lit one end of the hall in our bedroom while the other was illuminated by the moon light.

1 sip.

I breathed and looked out the front window at the old couples house across from ours.

2 sips.

I can hear my heart beat as I try to drown it out with gulps of water.

3 sips.

I have a sudden urge to sprint up and down our street to try and rid the shakiness of my body.

4 sips.

I'm not even cold but my anxiety makes my bones sound like wooden spoons and my body go cold with shivers.

And that's when I see it.

The shadow.

It moved on the front porch.

"I'm going crazy." I spoke in a monotone.

"What?" I heard Hyuck call out, now sitting up in the bed.

The shadow came closer to the door, an arm raised, as if it was going to bash in the glass.

"That's not real." I said louder, my water bottle now dropped from my cold hand.

I heard a thud and a swear along with an opening door.

"Mark. Up, now." And a pair of feet come closer down the dark hallway.

The shadow just seemed frozen now as Hyuck stood right by me.

"What is that?" He muttered and Mark now was coming closer, trying to see tiredly through his glasses.

The arm went back and forth a couple of times. "Hyuck go get your gun." Mark said lowly but I wanted to fight this thing head on.

I walked straight to the door before any of their hands could grab me. I threw the door open as my heart felt like it was going to beat right out of my chest.

I was met with bleached blonde hair, a blood splattered face, a cold stare, and a muscly build that held ink and a face of an old someone I used to know.

"Jeno?" I choked out, wanting to vomit as my body went numb from shock. This wasn't real. I was dreaming. This wasn't happening.

I held my hands out towards his face, moving ever so slowly until his own hands held my own.

The boys behind me became silent as I knew one of them held a gun, still on edge for this too good to be true situation.

I threw myself at him and just held onto his muscular frame. His arms held me tight in a grip that I used to miss.

The metallic smell on him made my nose scrunch up in disgust but I was just too wrapped into the moment to care.

My body was yanked back forcefully and I was thrown back into the living room at the feet of a shell shocked Mark who could nothing but stare forward.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I thought Donghyuck was losing it as he cocked his gun and held it at the face of his once brother.

"Duckie what are you doing?" I asked getting up and grabbing at his arm.

Jeno just did nothing but stare down the metal barrel in front of his face, his hands being raised next to his head.

"I did a sweep of the surrounding place and it's sketc-" another body came walking up our porch.

The tall boy still seemed lanky but had glasses this time. His hair was now a lighter brown and it seemed like he had grown another 4 inches in the span of a year.

"Jisung?" I muttered and he was still met another gun barrel.

This time from Mark who had shoved me back again.

"Please don't shoot." Jisung pleaded, scared setting into his features.

"We need help. Please." Jisung begged but Jeno still held his stare with Hyuck.

"Everyone is gone." Jisung pleaded.

"Please." He whispered, his eyes were threatening to spill.

[make-it-mavis]

Homesick (Entry #14)

(cw: drug withdrawal, vomiting) <-Previous ----------

01/02/88  1:34 PM

Hey.

Can’t believe I’m still going to all the effort of writing this dramatic, emotional crap down while you’re not even here to be uncomfortable about it with me. This is so unnatural. But I keep coming back to it, so…

Showering felt good. I wasn’t too happy about smelling like Fix-it’s bath products, but clearing away the grime was therapeutic in its own small way, especially since my skin was smooth and intact again. No dirt, no blood, no wounds, no outward evidence that anything had happened to me at all. 

The feeling of cleanliness was tragically short-lived, however. I’d barely finished drying off before my skin clammed up and my body felt wrapped up in a hot, wet blanket. Boost withdrawal had snuck up on me, hiding behind other, much bigger stressors. Fix-it would soon regret lending me his disturbingly comfortable, silky, immaculately free-of-his-cousin’s-sweat pajamas.

I was in for a long night.

When I left the bathroom, I found Fix-it sitting on the couch next to a folded-up blanket and some pillows, looking thoughtful or troubled or something inexplicably annoying. He straightened up the second he saw me, and gave a wobbly sort of smile. “Did it do ya good to get clean?” he asked, painfully awkwardly.

I just grimaced, waist-deep in withdrawal, not loving the irony in his question.

I sat next to him, leaned my head back, and put a cold, wet hand towel that I’d nicked from the bathroom over my face. It relaxed me a bit, but relaxing wasn’t much of an improvement. My idle mind had no safe path to wander, no distraction other than my climbing fever. So I resorted to focusing on that, and let myself sink like a rock into that post-Boost depression. I needed a hit so badly. I just imagined that sweet electric rush dissolving the withdrawal, blowing away the fog over my senses, charging me back up with fierce courage so I could get back out there and face the arcade. Thinking about a remedy only made me feel sicker, but I didn’t care. More sickness meant more distractions from… other things. 

I was in for a really long night.

It wasn’t until Fix-it said “Mavy..?” that I realized he had been talking. Silently asking the Devs why he was still trying to have a conversation with me, I replied with a grunt.

Assumedly repeating himself, he said carefully, “I just wanted to say thank you… You know, for… trusting me.”

I figured he was kind of putting words in my mouth, but whatever. I was willingly staying in his home, so he wasn’t completely wrong. But I knew he really meant trusting him with… well, everything written on my body. To that, I did not know what to say. I lifted the corner of the cloth on my face to peer at him. He was giving me those earnest eyes again, the ones that his binary may as well tumble out of. I could almost feel the bags under my eyes getting heavier. It felt like anything I could have said would only have made me worse off.

After a sufficiently weird pause, I figured out what to say.

“Do you have a bucket?”

“...Beg pardon?”

“So I don’t puke on your floor.”

“Oh!”

He sprung up like a popcorn kernel, disappeared for a second, and returned with a gross-looking utility bucket, probably the only dirty thing I’d seen in his apartment thus far. It had definitely been used for paint at some point, of all things. Then, seemingly trying to top his personal best record for stupid questions, he asked if I was nauseous. I didn’t dignify it with a response. After that, he just insisted on brewing me some tea that I can’t remember the name of, because it would, as he put it, soothe my “tummy” and help me sleep.

I told him that if he said “tummy” again, I might miss the bucket.

While the tea steeped, we had some minor disagreements about the sleeping arrangement. He wanted to take the couch while I slept in his bed, but I was having none of that. The final verdict was that he’d take the bed, I’d take the couch, and if I somehow needed something that I couldn’t get myself, I could wake him up.

The tea was counterproductive. When I went to drink it, the mug didn’t even make it to my lips. I took one whiff of the scent -- not a bad one, but a scent nonetheless -- and my stomach lurched. I retched into the bucket not a moment later. Fix-it sprung up and practically started whining like an anxious dog. At the same time, though, he looked like he was fighting the urge to sympathy vomit. We had agreed on lights out just a moment ago, but he insisted that he must stay up with me for just a little while longer.

I groaned into the bucket in my lap, “To do what, read me a bedtime story?”

“...Well--”

“No.”

He gave up after that. At long last, he turned in for the night. He got me a glass of water, turned off the lights, and pretended to close the door behind him when he went into his room -- he left it cracked, for some reason I’d no doubt disagree with.

Once the lights were off, it really stood out to me just how wrong it felt spending the night inside Niceland again, after all these years. It was obscenely quiet, the only thing close to white noise being Wreck-it’s distant snoring. The windows didn’t need any blackout shutters like they would in your game, what with our game’s permanent night setting, but the cold, dim light from the cabinet’s screen around the corner was just enough to cast faint window-shaped squares on the floor. For most, it all probably would have been ideal for sleeping. But for me, it was too rigid. Too manufactured, sterile, too clean-cut. I needed mess. I needed a raw, wild, pass-out-drunk mess. Old pilled blankets, misshapen cushions, stained pillows, creaky springs in a mattress way too small for two sprites. If nothing else, I needed the stars. But you can’t see them from the windows of Niceland.

I thought of the places I wished I could be, threw up again, and began my really, really long night.

Most of the night felt like some kind of time loop, just the same awful crap for Devs know how many hours. Throwing up, washing out the bucket, sipping water, refilling water, refreshing the cold towel, burning up, shivering, throwing the blanket, bundling up in the blanket, throwing up again. Startling flashes of memory still kept me from drifting off, but it wasn’t just the fireworks anymore. There was also barking. There was that freak’s grating, screeching abuse. There was the garbled, distorted sound of metal splitting. Worst of all, the feeling of fading into sleep almost felt like fading into near-death again, kicking up that terrified, tooth-and-claw refusal to die. In those cases, I’d wake up screaming.

Freaked the hell out of Fix-it every time.

Something else happened that night. I have no idea what time it was. There was nothing left in me to throw up anymore. My teeth were chattering, but my sweat had still soaked well into the couch. I’d tossed away the warm and damp pillows in favor of resting my burning cheek against the cool cushion beneath. I was just trying desperately to creep past the obstacles between me and anything resembling rest. That’s when things got a little… let’s say “creative.”

I tried to fool myself into thinking I was somewhere more conducive to a good night’s sleep, and it worked. If I really thought about it, I could smell chips, popcorn, and Burger Time grease in the cushion under my head. I could make the upholstery feel frayed and slack. In my feverish delirium, I could even change the room around me. I could picture the walls pulled closer, and an impressive amount of junk for such a small space, all of which I knew by heart. There would be a stereo across from me, a kitchen counter down past my feet, half-full soda cans close to my head, empty six-pack rings hanging on the door handle, a jumpsuit thrown over the corner of the couch, and above me, a rack of meticulously polished trophies. As long as I kept my eyes closed, I was in your trailer. 

For those fleeting moments, everything felt normal again. It was as if nothing ever changed.

I heard your bed creak, and your footsteps shortly after. You paused close to me for a second before continuing into the kitchen. Jars rattled when you opened the fridge, a cupboard creaked as you looked for a glass that was actually clean, and I heard you pour something -- could only have been soda, in the middle of the night, you spectacular trainwreck. Then you crossed back to me, set your glass on a surface that shouldn’t have been there, and stopped moving. You just went quiet. So much that I thought you must have been plotting a way to mess with me in my sleep. I welcomed it, too. I couldn’t wait to catch you in the act and tackle you to the floor.

Then I heard, soft as a mouse, “Mavy?”

The illusion dissipated the moment Fix-it spoke. Reality struck again, landing a critical hit on that miserable withdrawal depression. It wasn’t you. It was just Fix-it, who had apparently come to get me a new glass of water. Part of me wanted to spring up and deck him, but I stayed perfectly still and silent. I didn’t want to encourage him to keep talking to me. In all honesty, I felt too heavy and lifeless to do anything at all.

“Mavy?” he said again. “Are you awake?”

Another stupid question. I just imagined that he wasn’t there, in hopes that it would come true. But, much to my regret, I heard him sit on the coffee table again. I could feel him looking at me. He was silent long enough for me to think that he had come out just to watch me sleep, like an absolute creepazoid. But just as I was bucking up the moxie to tell him to buzz off, he spoke again.

“Mavy… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled at you, or-- or tried to pressure you, or…” 

The first of many long pauses. 

“...I never should have doubted you. You’re worth so… so much more than anyone gives you credit for, and… I’ve known that since day one. Somewhere in this mayhem, I… just... lost sight of that. I know you won’t listen to how sorry I am… but I promise you, Mavy, it won’t happen again. Families support each other… and… this little family of two is all we’ve got. And I know…”

A long pause.

“...I know that you don’t… want a family. But, darn it, Mavy, you need a family, now more than ever. It… It hurts so much watching all this happen to someone I care about. I’m trying so hard to help you, but I just…”

Another pause, exceptionally long this time. For a minute, I wondered if he had left without me noticing, but sure enough, he spoke again. This time, his voice trembled. He’d started crying.

“I… don’t know… how to be the family you need. It... seems like everything I try just… pushes you away even more. I’m not asking you to forgive me, even after all these years, I just… I wish… I wish we could just talk about it. I wish we could just start over and… be better.”

He sniffed, and fell silent again for a minute. When he spoke again, his voice was even quieter.

“You know, for all the trouble you two got into, I… I just loved seeing how happy he made you. I may not know how to be what you need, but… sure seemed like he did. No one else could make you laugh quite like him. ...I miss that laugh.”

Pause.

Then, by some miracle, I managed not to jump when he squeezed my hand. It was disgusting. He wasn’t wearing his gloves, so it was full skin-on-skin contact, and my hand was slimy with sweat, and for the Devs’ sake, Fix-it, I was asleep, as far as he knew. What kind of creep touches someone while they’re sleeping? Yeah, it was just my hand, but it’s the principle of the matter. I did not consent to that contact, and I would not have, even if he asked me. The whole idea of it pissed me off so much.

It didn’t make sense to me, then, why I didn’t pull away.

Maybe I was paralyzed with subconscious rage. Maybe I was too sick and depressed to move. Maybe I really, really didn’t want him to know I’d heard all that. Or, maybe pulling away would have conveyed a message that I didn’t want to send, one I didn’t think he fully deserved at the time.

Probably the rage.

Whatever my reason, he held my hand long enough to test me. Not even my gross, soggy palms deterred him. The binary in my hand was starting to really ache by the time he went on.

“You don’t deserve a broken heart, Mavy. I wish I could do more. I wish I could just… wave my hammer and bring him back for you. I’m so--... I’m so sorry I can’t give you that. There are some things I just… can’t fix.”

I heard him take a deep, slow breath, and it sounded like he rubbed his face with his free hand. For another few moments, I felt him watching me.

“Dream of something nice for me,” he finally muttered, and gave my hand one final squeeze before letting go. He stood, and, despite the fact that I was burning up, draped the blanket over my shoulders like some sappy cliché. Then he went the whole nine yards.

“Love you, cuz. Hope you know that.”

With that, he left me be. I waited until I heard his door creak and his duvet rustle to throw the blanket off and wipe my hand all over the couch. There was barely any mind power left in me to process what had just happened, but I suppose I ought to have thanked him for it -- it took my mind off of the things keeping me awake, and I eventually fell asleep, lost in uncomfortable thought.

I wasn’t angry, really, or even annoyed. I didn’t want to run away or chew him out. I just took bets with myself over how much longer it would be ‘til he realized he was wasting his time on me.

[billie-ford]

1

Days Gone By

6

Houston. The biggest city in the state of Texas and the second largest in the country. But more intimately, it was the home of Billie Ford. She was known well throughout the countryside of Houston and even into the inner city as the kid that went the extra mile. A star runner on the high school track team, destined to make state. The friendly mechanic that willingly made house trips and sometimes took a hot meal as payment. The devoted wife and mother, the lively younger sister known for her exuberant energy. The street she lived on for more than half a decade was once known for it’s exuberant energy too; music bumping from almost every open window and a potluck every other week. It was now a decrepit wasteland. One of the first cities to fall when the virus broke and when it fell, it fell hard.

Every inch of public road was cluttered with debris, abandoned cars, streaks of blood and dead bodies - roaming or not. Music would not be heard on these streets ever again - unless you chose to count the mindless humming from Billie every now and again. Despite how sparse supplies had grown, Billie couldn’t bring herself to leave. Having already abandoned her once warm, loving home, she was now holed up in a strangers house on the other side of the city. Boarded up, furniture pushed against windows and a makeshift bed of sheets and couch cushions positioned messily in the center of the living room. Yet she couldn’t bring herself to call it quits, no matter how ghostly it had gotten in the last few months. Something was keeping her here, and she just couldn’t describe what it was.

(six months since the fall)

“How long will you be?” 

Despite his name, Hunter Hammond was no scavenger. He was a meek man, all five-foot-nine of him. Abraham used to tease him when their families got together for a dinner, joking that Billie had managed to fuse her bisexuality and marry both a man and woman all in one. Hunter never liked Abraham too much.

“I’ll be as quick as I can but who knows what those streets look like now.” Billie tightened the laces of her boots before standing and slinging a backpack over her shoulder. Just behind Hunter, their son Devin played with plastic cars in their couch cushion bed. His smile and bubbly laugh was a constant reminder of what the world had been once, and for both Billie and Hunter it gave them hope.

Billie cupped her husband’s cheek, pressing a tender kiss to his lips. “Back before sundown. I promise. C’mere sweet boy,” she kneeled down and kissed her toddler on the head, breathing in the scent of his cloud-like curls. “You take care of your ol’ man for me, m’kay?” The boy smiled and nodded.

“Board this right back up.” She gave Hunter a stern look as she moved the furniture from the back door, their backyard a quiet enough escape to the road behind them. “I mean it. The second I’m out.”

“Don’t worry, I got you. Come back to me safe, Bill. I mean that.”

Hunter had shut the door before she could give him a second look, the sound of the couch scraping on the other side signaling she was now trapped on the back porch. She took off down the patio stairs, through the neighboring backyards and through the small line of trees that shielded the house from from the main road.

Billie liked to call them walkers. They reminded her of how her dad used to walk when he had knee surgery and ended up with a walking frame for a few weeks; hunched over, slow, lazy. Her father was an intimidating man - strong and stern, a frequent yeller who, just by cracking the buckle of his belt, had Billie stood straight and ready to accomplish any command. But even Abraham Sr. didn’t scare her as much as those things did. Her father could be reasoned with if you showed him enough respect; they could not. The howls of sorrow trapped inside distant memory disturbed her more than when they ran her way, jaws chomping and drooling for a taste of human flesh. Something she had only seen in her brother’s horror movies, and even those couldn’t prepare her for the sights she had seen. It was the humanity lost somewhere within them - that’s what terrified her. She remembered the first time she caught wind of the pandemic beginning to break across the globe; her ear just barely picking up the sound of the radio over power drills and welders.

She hadn’t been able to find Abraham since things really went to shit.

The military did what they could when things started to get out of control, but even they had families to protect and sticking around to maintain order just seemed foolish. Multiple trips were made to the Ford residence with no luck; Cupboards were barren, clothes strewn about and that picture he had on the mantle of the two of them one Christmas was busted out of its frame. Despite her excuses - he didn’t have time to come for me. they were in trouble. he did come by but I was already gone. he’s still around, we just keep missing each other. - she couldn’t kill the eating thought that he just left her. His baby sister, abandoned. He broke his promise. Subconsciously, that was the biggest reason she kept one foot in Houston - he was still coming back for her. But with every day that passed with no sign of life, the hope that he was still close - and breathing - faded further and further away...

7

The camp was far beyond the rest of civilization. And good for it. The tops of buildings looked like shoe boxes interwoven with visibly abandoned streets in the far distance, gray in comparison to what it once used to be. This flat plot of land had barely been touched by human hands when it was found; turned up dirt and rock accompanied by machinery and port-a-potties. A construction sight soon to be turned into a number of vacation homes, that much they gathered from the weathered sign stuck in the ground at the base of the hill.

Breakfast ended an hour ago; watery eggs with sparse salt and bitter potatoes. Everyone was busy now, in the full swing of their day; taking buckets of dishes to the river to be washed while another group returned with wet laundry to hang dry.

“You should let these grow so I can push them to the side. You don’t really want all this hair in your eyes do ya, hun?”

Jane Ford, forty-two, a high school swim coach in what now seemed to be another life now sat in her husband’s tattered flannel and blue jeans tucked into yellow hospital socks. With her eldest between her knees, she snipped away at the atrocious bob the child had given herself a year prior. Her bangs stuck out every which way and no amount of water, time, or prayer would set the needle straight hairs into place. Jane huffed in defeat and dropped the comb and fabric scissors into a cup at her foot.

“I like it like this, momma.” The ten year old stated while playing with the torn ear of her stuffed bunny, given to Jane as a baby shower gift from her aunt. The dirty old thing brought her comfort more now than ever, a reminder of her favorite - well, her only - aunt.

‘You hug this little guy every single night. And wherever I am I’ll be sure to feel it.’

“Leave her hair alone, darlin’. If she likes it than she likes it.” Abraham watched his girls while sipping a black coffee, occasionally looking out into the horizon to scan for survivors or otherwise. “We Fords have the tendency to look good in whatever hairstyle we’re rockin’.” He winked at his daughter who grinned.

“Tell that to your tenth grade mullet.” “You still had a crush on me didn’t ya sweetheart?” “Oh, stick it!” “Last time I did we ended up with the twins..” “Ew, dad!”

He howled with laughter and beckoned his child to come towards him. She jumped up into his lap and he tussled her wet hair, the act earning him a curse from his wife. He pressed a kiss to the side of her head and took that moment to thank God. His family, all five of them, were together and secure. But every thankful thought was followed by the sudden sorrow he felt for his first family; his baby sister. Big Bad Bill. 

He was a military sergeant and when he was called to duty the only thing on his mind was getting this issue under control. He only evacuated the quarantine camps when he had absolutely no choice and by the time he reached his home in the suburbs it was too late to go the inner city. She was just too far away from him. He couldn’t count on all fingers and toes how many times he’d been down in that area since then, practically swatting her home the second he could. Empty. She had taken the photo of them from his high school graduation on her fireplace.

Despite the “no man left behind” attitude instilled in him during boot camp, he just couldn’t bring himself to believe that his sister was still alive. She was tough, but she wasn’t survive-life-or-death-situations-tough. She was just a mechanic.

A familiar shrill voice followed by marching steps in the gravel snapped him out of his pity party. With a groan, he shooed his daughter away to play with the other kids before standing to meet the five-foot-two hurricane that was Marizol Espinosa. “Dios mio Abraham! My Rosita should have been home days ago!” The group he had sent out nearly three days ago had yet to return and despite the majorities silence, everyone was a little worried about their return. Marizol was not one of the silent ones.

“Te quiero fuera. Out there. Searching for them.” A manicured hand rested on a jutted hip, the other pointing a bullet like index into the ginger brutes face. Jane’s eyes flickered between the two cautiously as she busied herself with cleaning chunks of dark hair from her lap.

“Mary, I wouldn’t have sent the group that I sent if I didn’t think they could handle their hides. Give em the day darlin’, I’ll radio in from time to time and if nothin’ still I’ll send a crew after em.”

“Oh dios- get more people lost! Or killed! You listen to me jengibre...” As she opened her mouth to grill him with undoubtedly ruthless insults, the radio on his belt crackled with life. A female voice just barely came through. Abraham gave Marizol a smug grin.

8

“I’ve always loved you, and made you happy...and nothing else could come between...but now you’ve left me, to love another...you have shattered..all..of my dreams..” Breathless, Billie trudged along the side of the road as the afternoon heat caused beads of sweat to rolled down her jaw. With daylight running low she was worried this would be another unsuccessful supply run, having already searching multiple stores and homes throughout town. “You are my sunshine. My only sunshine..you make me happy when skies are gray..you’ll never know dear- fuckin’ hell it’s hot.”

She came to a stop outside of a gas station. A run down shack of a business that she had been to multiple times for a cigarette and a beer during her commute back home after work. But with its busted out windows and disregarded hoses it looked to be a completely foreign shop.

In and out quickly was the plan, and smooth enough it went. She packed what she could; in her months of scavenging she learned quickly that if you looked for things where those things weren’t meant to be, you could find what you needed. With a bowie knife in one hand and a half melted snickers from the cash register in the other she wandered the aisles freely, skimming underneath shelves for stray cans and water bottles. As she was preparing to leave, check today off as a successful enough day, one too many walkers began crowding the door from which she came, falling through busted windows and disemboweling themselves on shards of glass. She took down what she could with her bowie, hoping to clear a way to the road but for every one she killed two more crowded in its place. “Fuck.”

Searching hastily with a newfound feeling of vertigo, she spotted the employee exit behind the counter. A pipe had been lodged into the handle and bent outwards, trapping it shut. She cleared the counter, shivering at the feeling of rotting hands skimming the back of her arms before forcing the pipe out of place and slamming the door shut behind her. Her footsteps echoed off the walls as she searched her bag for a flashlight, her knife wielding hand still raised defensively.

“Grab them!”

Billie felt the sharp pain of a shoulder in her spine as she was tackled to the ground, her cheek crashing into the cold pavement and the wind escaping her lungs as her knife slid feet away from her grasp. She was frisked for her weapons, her bag tore violently from her shoulder as a knee remained snug between her shoulder blades.

“You one of the bitches that jumped us?” “Huh!? No!”

The cool metal of a gun barrel met her temple and she stuttered, “I ain’t here to hurt no one! I’m just stuck! On the bible, man!”

“What do you mean stuck?”

“There’s an ocean of them dead fools out that door behind me- gotta be packed to capacity by now. Man can you get off my back you’re hurting me!”

She was hoisted to her feet as a lamp clicked on. The room lit up in a small yellow glow, revealing a number of people surrounding her. To her left, brunette hair was pulled back under a military cap and tan hands secured in fingerless gloves held a glock steady to her head. Latina. Her glare was strong, eyebrows knitted as she trained her sights on Billie.

“There was a group in here yesterday. They locked us in.” In front of her, a young asian boy sat on a railing. They were in a garage. “Think you can help us out of here?” The man previously kneeling on her spine asked. He was the stockiest of the group; dark skinned, a gap tooth, and a flat cap concealing a bald head. 

She didn’t have much of a choice. Either they all got out or none of them got out. “I can try once your friend gets that barrel off my cheek.” She huffed. A delivery truck sat begging to be used in the middle of the garage. A full tank but no keys, they say. Luckily for them, Billie didn’t need keys. She looked towards the latina, and only after the asian boys pleas did she lower her weapon.

After she jimmied the lock for a while, Billie got the door open and jumped into the driver seat, the latina following her every move as she popped off the connector to the ignition. She looked down to the only other woman and quirked a smile, “you wouldn’t happen to have a bobby pin would ya, hun?” Deadpanned, she dug into her hair and retrieved two bobby pins, slapping them into Billie’s hand who muttered a thank you. In seconds she had the pins poked into each hole of the connector and the truck growled with life. First the lights, brightening the room even more but she refrained from turning the engine, alas, suffocating them all with toxic fumes. Billie turned to the woman below, already used to the bitter gaze she sent her way. “You get the door open and you’re home free.”

“You should come with us.” Once stepping out of the truck she was greeted by the man that had tackled her to the ground, now smiling at her apologetically while extending a hand to shake, “call me T-Dog.” The latina huffed in protest. “She’s useful, Rosita.” Rosita.

“I would love to but uh..I got people waiting on me.” “They can come too.” “There’s no way you’re getting this truck up that road.” “We’ll wait.” “We can’t wait for some stranger, we’ve got people worried about us.”

“I could go with you!” It was the asian boy again, short black hair now covered with a baseball cap. He approached Billie with a smile that rivaled T-Dog’s. These weren’t people that Billie would coin as survivors - all but Rosita maybe - but here they were anyways. “I know my way around the city. We can pick up whoever you’re with and head back to camp.”

“So there’s more of y’all..?” “Loads.”

Rosita shook her head again. “No, no. That’s too many more mouths to feed and we’re already low on supplies.”

“Actually, Rosita, I don’t think supplies will be an issue...”

A voice echoed from within the newly unlocked truck, the sliding door disconnecting the storage space from the front seat now wide open. They followed the sounds of his footsteps to the back door where it was then unlocked from inside, flew open with a loud clang, and revealed stacks upon stacks of unopened cans, bags of chips, and soda. The man - the eldest of the group - smiled down at them, particularly Billie. “That solves that problem young lady.”

“Look at that,” the asian quipped, “we’ve got food for a few more mouths, someone who knows their way around a sticky situation, and you got us to watch your back. Sounds like wins all around to me!”

Everyone seemed to be in agreement of letting this squirrely stranger and her mystery companions join the group, all but Rosita, who had Billie wondering if she had cut her off in traffic one time.

“She helped us when we needed it, Ro,” he reasoned, “she didn’t have to.” He seemed keen on having Billie join them but she just shrugged; made no difference to her. Even the older man, who looked to have been on a fishing trip before they got locked in here, threw in his two cents. “Always room for a survivor.”

“I’ll tell you what,” Rosita squared up to Billie with folded arms. “You get that door open and you get to come back with us. Bring your boyfriend or whatever. Bien?”

“Gracias, a-mee-go.”

If you looked for things where those things weren’t meant to be, you could find what you needed. - Billie’s Law. 

Billie knew garages like the back of her hand, and she knew of the spare clicker that came with every garage system. It was a shot in the dark, hoping the door would even work if she found it, but she searched high and low despite it. Even despite Rosita’s smug bark of ‘we looked for it already’. Like a dog on a scent she overturned garbage cans and tools boxes all while she watched impassively. No clicker. But underneath a uniform coat, beneath a stack of scrap metal, was a car jack, and Billie knew more than a few ways to use one of those.

With a loud bang and a rustic whine, Billie managed to jam the jack underneath the door enough to bend it and gave the handle a few pumps to lift it all while T-Dog and Rosita readied themselves to bash the skulls of any unwanted stragglers. She managed enough space to roll under and the asian boy quickly followed, keeping an eye out for her while she finished the job. Eyes stinging with sweat, Billie picked away at the lock while disembodied moans approached her, silenced by the lead pipe her new comrade armed himself with. The door was finally freed in minutes; they were free and she had a new home for her baby boy.

“Looks like you’re ours now.” The boy smiled again. “Glenn.”

She shook his hand, her grip firmer than his. “Billie.”

[ryahlii]

The Hound of Baker Street

Part 1/? from ryahlii on achive of our own

***

John Watson got a therapy dog for Sherlock. In secret.

A secret dog.

A secret fucking therapy dog.

Standing in front of the apartment’s chipping door, John is clenching the leash and a shiny plastic bag trailing a crinkly reciept, his fingers slick with sweat and his heart beating fast, too fast. It’s like a little hummingbird trapped in the cage of his ribs and as he winds the ridged fabric around and around his palm, he hesitates. Doubt is like a spider creeping up the nape of his neck and his thoughts are suddening a thousand tiny bugs buzzing pinging inside his skull.

What if he doesn’t like dogs? Why didn’t he ask? Oh god, he should’ve asked!

You’ve reached a new kind of idiocy, John. A bloody new kind of stupid.

Because this— This was stupid. He crosses his arms over his body in a sort of self-hug, feeling the contents of the bag knock together in a little chime of discomfort. Goddammit, it's too late to go back now. And looking at the floppy brown dog standing next to him, he's not even sure he wants to.

Open the door for Christ sakes. Explain yourself!

John pushes the door, watching as it swings open to reveal the room, empty save for the remnants of some sort experiment that had been left to stew in the compacted kitchen. The smell wafts over like some sort of unwelcome moth, and he groans, running a hand through his hair.

“Utter cock.”

Sherlock’s not even there.

The dog looks at him, tail wagging hopefully and he pats the top of its fuzzy head, trying to calm his exasperation. Of course, he’s not here. Why did he think he’d even be here? Now he had to wait there for who-knows-how-long, with the horrible anticipation festering in his gut as Sherlock pranced around in who-knows-where, doing who-knows-what. Maybe that's a little unfair, but John isn't really feeling fair anyway.

“Mrs. Hudson?”, He calls down the stairs.

There’s a beat and he had just begun to suspect that she wasn’t home either but then a delicate tinkle sounds from the kitchen. Startled, his heart jumps into his throat and he rushes in, the dog padding alongside him. In the messy room, he finds Mrs. Hudson standing over a broken teacup, dismay painted over her face, her hand poised in astonishment. She takes several steps, backing into the overwhelmed cupboards before meeting John’s eyes. She smiles, looking sheepish.

“Oh, hello dear.”

“What…” He looks at her, nonplussed. “What are you doing in our kitchen?”

“Ah well, Sherlock just left. You know how he is, always dashing about! But he was in a bit of a state—” , She ignores John’s expression and rambles on. “So I decided to just pop on in and have a look, see if he was back up on his habits, you know.”

“Christ. Did you find anything?”

“Couple of needles, but it wasn’t much. I reckon he just got bored again. I was going to fix him a cuppa, for when he gets back but…” She trails off and looks at the porcelain shards scattered on the floor. A severed finger is just visible, peeking out from the white powder. “There was already something in it.”

John frowns, worry creasing his brow. He wanted to go out to find Sherlock and make sure he was alright. Despite the lack of drugs in the kitchen, there were sure to be more stashed away in the crevices of the apartment. Once he had found a syringe, already fitted with its sharp counterpart, tucked away in the folds of the couch. He had nearly sat on it.

However, a small sense of reason tugged on his sleeve. If Sherlock was, in fact, far gone to the junky limbo of morphine or cocaine, Mycroft would have been sure to tell him, already immersed by shiny screens and fingers tap-tap-tapping at keys. Sherlock had been getting better, too. Slowly, painstakingly, and littered manic highs and lows, he had actually begun to try.

Sighing John ran a tired hand over his eyes. He gestured meekly towards the shattered pieces and sighs. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll clean it up.”

His cell phone pings.

John jams his hand into his pocket so fast that a thread pops loose, hooking under his nail. Shaking it free, he opens the message, hoping for news about Sherlock. The message fills his screen but brings forth nothing but disappointment in the tense room.

Hospital. Emergency, come now.

“Oh no, no, no. Bugger off will you?”, John yanks his coat off a chair, mumbling. “I am so so sorry, Mrs. Hudson. Can you watch the dog till I get back?”

He hardly notices as she twitches slightly, giving a stiff nod that seemed to tell the opposite of what a nod should, instead hiding the fact that she would much rather leave the dog to its own doings, in the upstairs flat. John thrusts the leash into her hands and hastens for the door, apologetically. Nodding at the dirty finger of which the dog was looking a little too keen on, he shudders. “You don’t have to clean that. Just keep the dog away from it.”

“Bye, now!”

*****

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