#its a beautiful day but the thought of putting sunscreen is the worst for some reason

[confetti-critter]

Oh I dont feel very good :D

[lulublack90]

Prompt 13 - Sunburn

@wolfstarmicrofic June 13, word count 849

Previous part First part

McGonagall took their dibs cards off them the following morning when she spotted the amount of bacon and eggs they’d all piled onto their plates. 

“You will meet me at the main gates once you have cleaned your plates.” 

“Well, that’s our holiday ruined then,” Peter sulked as he pushed the scrambled eggs around his plate. 

“Cheer up, Pete,” James said cheerily. “There’s four of us this year, I bet we can get through her list of chores for the day and have some free time afterwards.” James was wrong. 

When they finally dragged themselves outside, pots of white paint and brushes waited for them. Remus craned his neck, trying to see where the fence ended. But his guess was they’d be at this all day. They grabbed their supplies and got started. 

Sirius and Remus painted one side while James and Peter did the other. They actually seemed to be making good progress until lunchtime when the sun rose to its highest point and beat down on them. 

They’d watched tiny Mr Flitwick take the rest of the campers into the forest, chatting away merrily about all the things they were going to see. Remus had felt a bit jealous because the few snippets he caught sounded quite interesting. 

“Don’t worry, he says the same stuff every year. I’ll take you around and give you a private tour,” Sirius had winked at him after seeing his sullen face. That had cheered Remus up immensely, and they’d carried on for a few more hours. 

They trudged into the main hall once the others returned for lunch. They were forced to the back of the queue and ate whatever was left.

Remus rolled his shoulders as he sat down, trying to relieve the ache that had settled in soon after he’d started painting. Sirius reached up and applied pressure with his fingertips. Remus had to work really hard not to let out a moan.

“Remus your necks really hot,” Sirius told him. 

“Sirius not while we’re eating,” James wagged a finger at him as he bit off a chunk of his sandwich. 

“Shut up, Potter. No Remus, I mean it’s actually hot.” He pulled Remus’s t-shirt down at the collar to get a better look. Remus squirmed, trying to get away. He had a long scar there from when the doctors had thought he had an issue with his spine and opened him up to find nothing. Sirius ignored it though. 

“Remus you’ve got sunburn on the back of your neck.”

“Oh no,” He whined. His scar was going to be unbearably itchy until the redness went away. 

“I’ve got some cream we can put on that later,” Sirius reassured him, “Do you want me to help make sure you get sunscreen on there before we go back out?” Remus nodded. He’d thought he’d got the worst of the exposed areas of skin with the greasy cream, but clearly, he hadn’t. He could feel the way his skin had gone taught now that Sirius had pointed it out. 

Sirius rubbed copious amounts of sunscreen onto his skin. He seemed to be enjoying himself a bit too much and Remus stopped him after the third pass of his arms. 

“Sirius quit it, if you put any more on, I’ll be better covered than the fences we’re meant to be painting.” He grabbed the bottle and squirted some of the white liquid into his hand. “Come here, and I’ll do you,” He gestured for Sirius to come back. 

“Promises, promises, Remus,” Sirius grinned wickedly at him. Remus rolled his eyes and splatted a glob of sunscreen onto Sirius’s face to shut him up. 

Somehow, they managed to get all the fence painted. With Peter only stepping into a paint pot twice. Both of his legs and shoes were covered in the white paint, but at least he hadn't knocked them over, James had pointed out. They were exhausted, but they wouldn’t have to do it again and that’s what mattered. 

“Beautiful job, boys,” McGonagall appeared out of nowhere again, making them all jump. Her smile was kind. All four of them were nervous. “Go wash up for dinner, I’ll put these away,” She waved her hand over the paint pots and brushes. They didn’t hang around for her to change her mind. 

“Thank you, Minnie!” They all called simultaneously over their shoulders as they hurried back to their cabin. Remus caught the little head shake she gave them and the smile that played at the corner of her mouth. 

“Remus first,” Sirius shouted as they entered the cabin and pushed Remus into the bathroom to have a shower. He threw a clean set of clothes in after him and slammed the door shut. Remus stood there bewildered as James and Peter’s loud complaints came from the other side of the door. “Should have called dibs quicker then, shouldn’t you!” Sirius cackled at them and Remus heard what he supposed was Sirius bounding around the room while James and Peter tried to catch him. He chucked to himself and got into the shower.  

Next part

[bevioletskies]

(and i’m lost) in a daydream

summary: Napping together, in Klavier’s opinion, is one of the most romantic things a couple can do. But, he has to admit, staying up all night with Apollo to talk about nothing in particular is pretty good, too.

word count: 5.4k | read on ao3

a/n: For @klapollo-week, day six of seven (prompt: "sleep"). All seven of my fics take place in the same continuity! However, each can be read as a stand-alone, with the exception of day seven being a sequel to day five.

This fic takes place at some distant point in time after Spirit of Justice where Apollo and Trucy have learned that they’re siblings, but doesn’t reference any specific plotlines otherwise. Fic title is from the song Daydream by The Lovin' Spoonful.

“Why are your feet still so cold? You’ve been lying here for like, ten minutes already!”

“Don’t question my blood circulation, baby, it’s rude.”

“I - what?” Apollo shook his head incredulously as he snuggled deeper into the mattress, pointedly moving his feet away from Klavier’s. “You know what? Never mind, I’m not even gonna ask. Just when I think I finally get you…”

“I’m an enigma, liebling. Hard to understand,” Klavier deadpanned, adjusting the covers so Apollo was snug underneath his duvet, weighted blanket, and faux-fur throw. Apollo seriously questioned how his boyfriend’s skin could be anything but blazingly hot with enough sheets on top of him to legitimately smother someone.

“You? You’re about as deep as a puddle on a freshly-paved road.” Klavier pouted exaggeratedly; Apollo leaned over to kiss his trembling bottom lip with a teasing grin. “Kidding, kidding. How could I possibly question the depth and breadth of someone who writes songs like 13 Years Hard Time For Love and Gonna Lock U Up? Clearly, Guilty Love is your magnum opus - ”

“You are so mean to me,” Klavier whined, wrapping his arms around Apollo’s shoulders and pulling him closer. “How are you still one of my favorite people in the world, achtung.” Laughing, Apollo buried his face against Klavier’s neck. “But...you’re not wrong about Guilty Love. It’s obviously my best work.”

“I prefer The Guitar’s Serenade myself,” Apollo mumbled into his hair, slowly detangling himself from Klavier so he could get a good look at him. He felt deliriously tired for some reason, like he’d been worn out to the point of restlessness. Strange, considering it was just like any other day; there was nothing that would’ve made him more exhausted than normal. Klavier seemed to be that way, too, blinking sleepily at Apollo with a wide grin, more lazy than flirtatious. “...hi?”

“Hallo.” Klavier kissed him again. “We should sleep, it’s late.”

“It’s barely ten,” Apollo pointed out.

“It’s late,” Klavier repeated, throwing an arm out across the pillows. Apollo took that as his cue to move in closer once more. “Some people need their beauty sleep, Apollo. We can’t all be fresh-faced, rosy-cheeked engels like you.”

“Now I know you’re tired, ‘cos that was complete crap,” Apollo said, poking Klavier in the cheek. “Have you seen this pimple on my chin? Look, Klav. It’s big enough to have its own legal system.” Klavier half-snorted, half-yawned. “Why’re you so tired, anyway? I thought you said you had a power nap at work, which is definitely not something you should be doing.”

“Herr Edgeworth can manage without me for twenty minutes, ach,” Klavier said derisively. “And I like a good nap, but it’s no substitute for sleep. And besides, it’s...it feels nicer, going to bed, when I have someone to share it with.”

“You are nauseating,” Apollo informed him, kissing him more intently this time. “...but I get what you mean.” He pulled back, swallowing. “Trucy and I were talking the other day about, like...stuff we missed out on by not growing up together. Y’know, family trips, home movies, falling asleep in the same bed...or, at least, that’s what I think it’s like. I wouldn’t know.”

Klavier went silent for an unsettlingly long time. “...it’s not all bad. Having a sibling. Until you look back on it and start to question all the...you know what, never mind.” He shook himself before he could finish his sentence. “You make a pefekt older brother, baby. Though you’re more like a little big brother, now that she’s taller than you.”

“By half an inch!” Apollo protested loudly, prodding Klavier more insistently now. “Look, her dad has the height gene - ”

“And your dad had the ‘loud voice’ gene, I hear.” Klavier took Apollo’s hand in both of his and brushed a kiss across his knuckles. “Well, thanks to you, mein kleiner sirene, I’m definitely awake now.”

“Asshole,” Apollo said affectionately. “So, what, you wanna get up or something?”

“Nein, not at all.” Klavier rolled onto his side, bringing Apollo’s hand to his chest. Apollo could feel Klavier’s steady heartbeat beneath his fingers. “Let’s just...hang out, ja? We can talk until we fall asleep, just like we used to when you were working in Khura’in. Or, more recently, just the other day.”

“Emphasis on ‘day’ - we were s’posed to be helping Ema finish the decorations for Kay’s surprise party!” Apollo spluttered. “That was not a good time to take an accidental nap.”

“Well, entschuldigung for wanting to reflect fondly on a nice memory we shared,” Klavier griped, poking Apollo in the stomach. “For a moment there, I forgot I was dating the most pedantic man on the planet.”

“We’re lawyers, we’re pedantic for a living.” Apollo poked him back. “Hell, you got mad at me just the other day ‘cos I accidentally swapped two of your face serums or whatever - ”

“My skincare routine is a delicate ecosystem, baby, you can’t just move things - ” Klavier then cut himself off with a long exhale. “Nein, nein, we’re not getting into this again. I don’t like being mad at you. It’s unfathomable, really.”

Humming, Apollo used his free hand - the other was still being held against Klavier’s chest - to gently run his fingers through Klavier’s hair, brushing it out of his face. It was silky smooth and tangle-free, naturally; Klavier had a whole wealth of products he used on his skin and in his hair to maintain their quality. He still hadn’t forgiven Apollo for telling him that his own skincare routine consisted of nothing but St. Ives’ apricot scrub and Ponds cold cream (“At least let me buy you an actual cleanser, ach. And don’t tell me you don’t wear sunscreen!”).

“What’re you thinking about?” Klavier said quietly, finally releasing Apollo’s hand so he could cup his jaw, his thumb brushing across Apollo’s bottom lip. “I can practically see the little hamster wheel turning in your head right now.”

“Shut up,” Apollo murmured, playfully nipping the tip of Klavier’s thumb with his teeth. “I’m not thinking about anything, actually. Which is kinda nice, not gonna lie. I don’t have, like, a million pieces of evidence flying around in my brain for once.”

“The benefits of date night after a trial is over, ja?” Klavier said. “We can enjoy each other’s company without...conditions. Though to be fair, you were right when you said we shouldn’t spend nights together while we’re working the same case. Separate the lover from the lawyer and all that.”

Apollo groaned. “I hated that saying when you came up with it, and I still hate it now.” Laughing, Klavier moved closer, neatly tucking his head underneath Apollo’s chin. He pressed a kiss to Apollo’s collarbone, winding his arms around Apollo’s waist. “One of the many things I gotta put up with, I guess.”

“You love it,” Klavier mumbled against Apollo’s chest. “You think I’m so clever - ”

“Rewind to about five minutes ago when I said you’re about as deep as a footprint on a hardwood floor,” Apollo said wryly, pinching Klavier’s waist so he would look up; Apollo ducked down to kiss him. Grinning, Klavier deepened the kiss, letting out a pleased hum as he did so. “...I don’t totally mind putting up with you, though. Wouldn’t be here if I did.”

“I’m still not completely convinced you aren’t here for my mattress and heated floors.” Klavier began pressing open-mouthed kisses along the crook of Apollo’s jaw, savoring the smell of Apollo’s shampoo as he went. “From what you’ve told me of your apartment, it sounds like an absolute nightmare. A complete schreckgespenst.”

“Gesundheit,” Apollo murmured, tilting his chin upwards to give Klavier better access to his neck. “Yeah, my apartment sucks. The only reason I’d want you to come over is so you can finally meet my cat. Hell, he’s a nightmare and a half on his own.”

“Is this the same cat I’ve heard you refer to as your son?” Klavier asked, sitting up slightly. “The one who you said eats more expensive food than you do - ”

“One and the same,” Apollo replied with a long-suffering sigh. “Fine, fine, you caught me. I’m only dating you ‘cos you have air conditioning, a flatscreen TV, and food that isn’t frozen.”

The laughter that escaped Klavier’s mouth was near-hysterical; his exhaustion was getting more and more obvious by the minute. “And here, I thought you actually loved me. My mistake.” His laughter was swiftly cut off by Apollo’s lips on his, his breath hitching when Apollo quickly turned them around so he was now straddling Klavier’s hips. “So was I right after all - ”

“I can’t believe we have the exact same stupid sense of humor, you make me so angry,” Apollo said breathlessly between kisses. “God, I love you. You’re the worst. The absolute worst - ”

“You and your mixed messages.” Klavier moved his hands from Apollo’s waist to his backside, gripping him possessively; Apollo’s back arched at his touch, anticipatory. “Your thoughts are as confusing as your logic, you know that?”

“This is the part where you say ‘I love you, too’, not ‘I think you can be stupid sometimes’, you asshole,” Apollo retorted, grinning.

Klavier leaned in close, his lips brushing against Apollo’s ear, his voice low and warm and more than a little bit sensual. “Ich liebe dich mehr jeden Tag.” Apollo shivered with pleasure. “Ich kann nicht ohne dich leben. Liebst du mich?”

“Ja,” Apollo whispered, kissing Klavier yet again. “You know that I do.”

_____

Fifteen minutes later, Klavier reluctantly detached himself from Apollo long enough so he could get up and crack open a window; his bedroom had gotten noticeably warmer, and it wasn’t just because they’d spent the last ten minutes making out like teenagers with a limited window of opportunity.

“Warm,” Apollo grunted, rolling up the sleeves of his t-shirt. “It’s so warm - Klav, can we please get rid of at least one layer of bed covers already? I have no interest in getting roasted anymore than I already do.”

“Fine, fine.” Klavier rolled up his faux-fur throw, then disappeared briefly into his walk-in closet so he could set it aside. When he returned, Apollo was sprawled out like a starfish on top of the duvet, his fingers and toes brushing the edges of Klavier’s California king bed, staring up at the ceiling with an exhausted, yet blissful smile. “Er...you okay, baby?”

“Excuse me for enjoying the cool air,” Apollo huffed, smirking when Klavier crawled on top of him once more, knees braced on either side of Apollo’s hips. He automatically reached up to run his hands along the sides of Klavier’s waist, his touch warm through the thin fabric of Klavier’s t-shirt. “...hi. Can I help you?”

“Nein, you’re just fine where you are.” Klavier leaned down to kiss him, then rolled onto his side, letting out a contented sigh. “What do you think, are you good to sleep now?”

Apollo snorted, nudging Klavier’s thigh with his foot. “You’re the one who has a self-imposed bedtime, you tell me.”

Klavier propped himself up on his elbow, then ruffled Apollo’s unstyled hair, sweeping it out of his face. “I was thinking about what you said earlier, actually. About the things that you and Trucy missed out on sharing together.”

“...ah.” Apollo’s expression grew serious. “What about it?”

“Do you think…” Klavier hesitated. “It’s just, you grew up as the younger sibling. Not by much, natürlich, but you were still the younger one. Do you think you would've preferred being the older sibling instead?” He let out a bitter laugh that made Apollo’s heart ache. “Not that I’m projecting, of course. Nein, not me.”

“Oh, Klav,” Apollo sighed, wrapping his arms protectively around Klavier’s shoulders and pulling him into his chest. “And...I dunno, I don’t think it’s really comparable, you know? Nahyuta’s barely a year older, while Trucy’s a whole seven years younger...besides, it really comes down to personality and, like, compatibility. Would I be the same person if I grew up with Trucy instead of Nahyuta? Probably not. Hell, definitely not.” He then snorted. “I mean, for one thing, I wouldn’t be living in the mountains.”

“I’m still not convinced when Herr Sahdmadhi tells me he doesn’t have any other pictures of you two lying around,” Klavier chuckled, his laughter causing the mattress to tremble. “Papa wants to take up scrapbooking, by the way, and he’s been asking me if I have any gut photos of you. Ach, it’s like my parents already decided you were their son-in-law the moment we started dating.”

“I think it’s sweet...a-and a little intimidating,” Apollo admitted. “No pressure, right?” Still, he snuggled in even closer, legs loosely wrapped around Klavier’s hips. “But your parents are great, I’ll see if I can find some photos for your dad. I'm sure I’ve got something in those boxes I brought back from Khura’in that I never bothered opening.”

“Sounds like someone needs to do a little spring cleaning,” Klavier teased. “But danke, baby. It’ll certainly be interesting, seeing our childhood photos side-by-side. Me with my hot pink braces, you with your...what was it, pet rabbits?”

“So many rabbits,” Apollo said forlornly. “We didn’t have the means to stop them from, y’know. Procreating. So, uh, think I’ll stick with my neutered cat any day.”

“Did you have a favorite?” Klavier asked; he seemed much more relaxed now, though Apollo couldn’t help but wonder about his earlier comment, if it was worth mentioning at all. “I had a favorite hündchen. She was very stupid.”

“Nice way to talk about your favorite childhood pet,” Apollo snorted. “Though I frequently brag about how much of an asshole my cat is, so I guess I’m one to talk.”

“Nein, like - she was the kind of dog who ran into glass doors and barked at her own reflection,” Klavier explained, biting back another laugh. “Her name was Sascha, and she was this darling cream-colored retriever who loved to sleep on my legs every night. I would always wake up with numb toes.” His smile then turned sad, melancholy. “The first time I tried a weighted blanket after she passed, I...I almost cried. It had been so long since I had that feeling, you know? Like someone was hugging me while I slept...keeping me safe.”

“Babe,” Apollo said softly, gently cupping Klavier’s face.

“Mir geht's gut,” Klavier reassured him, placing his hands over Apollo’s. “It’s a nice memory, that’s all.” He cleared his throat, making small, soothing circles on the backs of Apollo's hands with his thumbs. “So, your favorite häschen?”

“Well, they were wild rabbits, so it’s not like they were ‘ours’, exactly,” Apollo said thoughtfully, leaning into Klavier’s touch. “We didn't give ‘em names or identifying marks, so we got them mixed up all the time. But there was one little guy who was a real piece of work. If I didn’t feed him fast enough, he’d bite my fingers. I had a weird soft spot for him.”

Klavier raised an eyebrow. “...you have a strange relationship with your pets, liebe.”

“Hey, maybe he was my favorite ‘cos he reminded me of me,” Apollo said defensively. “Just like how your favorite dog liked sleeping on your legs. You sure like hogging the bed, after all - which is an incredible feat, considering this is a California king.”

“True,” Klavier agreed. “You do remind me of kätzchen, sharp nails and all.”

“I accidentally cut you with a broken fingernail while holding your hand just one time,” Apollo sighed. “So, do you have pictures of Sascha? I’d love to see her.”

“At my parents’ house,” Klavier said, smiling softly. “I’ll have to break out the photo albums the next time we drop by.”

Humming, Apollo lowered his head to Klavier’s shoulder, half-burying his face against Klavier’s neck. Klavier’s hands moved to Apollo’s back, tapping out rhythmic patterns along his spine. They stayed like that for a while, quiet, almost zen-like, with the occasional breeze whistling in through the open window. Finally, after a few peaceful minutes, Apollo began to shiver, the hairs on his arms and legs prickling from the cold. “...it’s getting pretty windy now. Maybe it’s time for us to actually try to sleep?”

After closing the window, the two of them got back under the duvet, Klavier playfully prodding Apollo’s bare legs with his literal cold feet. Apollo countered him by aggressively poking Klavier’s cheeks with his frozen fingers, only stopping when Klavier begged for mercy. “You’re a cruel one,” Klavier sniffed despite the fact Apollo was now rubbing his face to warm him back up.

“And you’re such a diva,” Apollo said affectionately, pecking him on the nose. “Remember that one time we went to get poké and they didn’t have furikake? You honest-to-god pouted like a kid who didn’t get their favorite ice cream flavor.”

“I know what I like,” Klavier huffed. “And speaking of which, between the way you talk about Mikeko and the way you talk about me - are you sure you actually like us, schatz?”

Apollo softened somewhat. “To borrow a phrase from you - you know you’re, like, one of my favorite people ever.”

“I would hope so,” Klavier murmured, nudging his face against Apollo’s neck. His fingers then slipped underneath Apollo’s t-shirt so he could feel his warmth, feel the softness of his skin. “That’s something my parents used to say, actually. Back when they were in school, when they wrote each other love letters. ‘You are my favorite star in the sky’, Mama would write.”

“Did they end up keeping those letters?” Apollo asked. “It almost sounds like you’ve read them.”

“Nein, I could never,” Klavier protested. “It’s their private correspondence, after all. They just read me some of the nice bits, the poetic parts. I’d write you a poem myself, if I didn’t think you would absolutely hate it.”

“Hey, I wouldn’t hate it.” Apollo kissed the side of Klavier’s head. “I’m just not big on performative romance, y’know, big displays of love that seem to be for people that aren’t part of the relationship. But this right here...it’s more my speed.”

“I can tell,” Klavier hummed, kissing him. It wasn’t long before the two of them found themselves distracted again, caught up in each other’s embrace. Despite seeing plenty of each other over the past few days, Apollo couldn’t help but - privately - admit that he’d missed being able to see Klavier as his boyfriend, not his rival. Every time Klavier smirked at him from behind the prosecutor’s bench, he had to remind himself that he usually preferred to kiss him, not slap him. “...we’re never getting to sleep, are we?”

“Keep your shirt on, Gavin,” Apollo mumbled against Klavier’s lips.

“Not what I meant, but I like where your mind is at,” Klavier teased. “Besides, a bit hypocritical of you when you have your hands on my ass, ja?”

Apollo quickly withdrew his hands as if he’d been burned, ducking down underneath the sheets so Klavier couldn’t see how red his face had become. “Sh-shut up. It was just more convenient to hold onto than your waist, that’s all!”

“My ass is more convenient than my waist, you say? That’s a new one.” Klavier pulled back the duvet with a mocking grin. “Ah, there’s my favorite forehead. Where’s the rest of you, hm?”

“I hate you so much,” Apollo groaned, reluctantly crawling back out. “Why do you even start calling me that, anyway? It’s not like we were talking about my forehead, it was the location of Dr. Meraktis’s bullet wound!”

Klavier looked at him thoughtfully, his head cocked. The dog-like resemblance was becoming more and more apparent by the second. “Honestly? I don’t actually know. All I know is, I wanted to give you a cute nickname, and it just...stuck for one reason or another. And you have to admit, your hair makes your forehead quite...prominent.”

“Cute nickname?” Apollo repeated.

Now Klavier was staring at him more incredulously than anything else. “...I know we’ve talked about this before, but could you really not tell I was flirting with you from the start? Granted, it wasn’t meant to be anything serious until after our first case together, but still.”

“Oh,” Apollo said faintly, slumping back against the headboard. “I, uh...I honestly thought you were just making fun of me.”

“Achtung,” Klavier remarked, trying his hardest not to laugh. “Maybe it’s time we take a trip down memory lane and see what you thought I was doing. For my curiosity’s sake, if you don’t mind.”

Apollo yawned and stretched. “Hell, why not? It’s not like we’re sleeping anytime soon...apparently.”

_____

Thirty minutes later, the two of them were sitting cross-legged on top of Klavier’s duvet, trying their best not to touch anything with their still-wet nails. Apollo wasn’t a fan of having painted nails - not that he didn’t like nail polish itself, it was more the fact that chipped polish bothered him - but he liked letting Klavier do them, liked the feel of his boyfriend’s soft, gentle fingers as they tenderly held his own.

“Wait, wait, wait - you only said that you didn’t think Athena was my type ‘cos you wanted to know if I was single?!”

“I thought that was obvious,” Klavier said, sighing. “How are you so clever and so unobservant at the same time, ach. My boyfriend, the walking contradiction. The man who helped rebuild an entire legal system, the man who can’t tell when someone is asking him to dinner. You truly are a wonder, liebe.”

“Why didn’t you just ask me - ”

“My mistake, clearly. I should have just walked right into Themis, wearing a neon sign that says ‘Ask Me About My Romantic Feelings for Apollo Justice’.” Klavier snorted at the incredulous look on Apollo’s face. “What, too subtle?”

“I just can’t believe you were into me for that long,” Apollo admitted, his voice small. “Like, if you really thought I wasn’t interested...why didn’t you just...stop?”

“You say that like it’s easy.” Klavier turned away for a moment to delicately blow on his nails, pointedly avoiding Apollo’s eyes, then reached for his bottle of Seche Vite. “Remember what you said to me once? About...feeling your feelings before realizing you even have them. After all, it’s not like feelings are just something you can turn on and off, like a switch.”

“I got pretty good at doing that, actually,” Apollo muttered. “Compartmentalizing, I mean.”

“That’s not the same, though, is it?” Klavier said gently. “Pretending not to love you and not loving you are completely different things. I could act like a carefree flirt all I wanted, but...at the end of the day, my heart was always set on you.”

Apollo bit back a grin. “You are such a sap, sheesh. But I hear you. Sorry I made you wait around, I guess.”

“Don’t be,” Klavier murmured. “I’m just glad we got here in the end, you know?”

“Same.” Apollo leaned in to kiss Klavier chastely on the lips, both of them still taking care not to touch each other or the bed. “So, now that we - ” But before he could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by a short, but loud grrrrr. “...Klav?”

“Achtung,” Klavier said, staring down at his stomach in surprise. “I guess we should’ve ordered more dumplings, after all.”

“Or you shouldn’t have let me take the last one,” Apollo pointed out, laughing. “Okay, okay, after we’re done here, we’re raiding your fridge.”

Another fifteen minutes later, they found themselves sprawled on top of Klavier’s duvet once more, this time with two empty bowls that once held ice cream sitting on his bedside table. Apollo’s eyes were closed in contentment as he hummed a little something - some strange combination of The Guitar’s Serenade and something else he couldn’t identify - only for him to jolt slightly at the feeling of Klavier’s cold fingers on his skin.

“Ah - babe, your hands are freezing - ”

“Sorry.” Klavier didn’t look all that sorry as he pressed a sticky-sweet kiss to Apollo’s stomach. “What’s that you’re humming, liebe?”

“I...I don’t actually know.” Apollo furrowed his brows in confusion. “It feels like something I’ve heard over and over again, but I couldn’t begin to tell you what it is. Weird, huh?”

“It almost sounds like…” Klavier then began to hum it himself, tapping out the rhythm on Apollo’s thigh. “...like a lullaby of sorts. Maybe that’s why you’re mixing it with The Guitar’s Serenade.”

“A lullaby?” Apollo repeated. “Wait, you don’t think it’s something that...I mean, Mom told me this story the other day that…” He swallowed thickly. “...she said my dad used to sing to me, like. All the time. Apparently, Mom would come home from work and find him making dinner, and he’d have me on his back in one of those baby wrap things, and he’d just be...singing. Bouncing up and down to the beat to make me giggle.”

Klavier placed his hands over Apollo’s heart, lightly resting his chin on top of them. “That sounds like a wunderschön sight to come home to. Your papa must have been an amazing man.” Apollo shot him a rueful smile, running his fingers through Klavier’s hair. Then, after a moment’s consideration, he separated a portion of it from the rest and began to braid it almost mindlessly, instinctively, resuming his quiet humming. “Ah - you know how to braid hair?”

“Muscle memory,” Apollo explained, continuing to braid. “I liked keeping my hair short, but Nahyuta experimented with growing it out all the time. Aesthetics and beauty are a big part of Khura’inese culture, so he liked switching things up, even though we were never around anyone but...but Dhurke. I learned how to do braids and buns and stuff so he could have a different hairstyle every day.”

“Maybe I should seriously get you to do my hair sometime,” Klavier mused, right as Apollo tied the ends off. “We’ve got that work event next month, maybe then.”

“Hey, I’m no expert,” Apollo chuckled, leaning back to rest on his elbows and admire his handiwork. It wasn’t quite as neat as it used to be, but even in the middle of the night, even with his sloppy attempt at a simple braid, Klavier was still one of the most beautiful people Apollo had ever seen. “But if you let me practice on you, maybe I will be.”

“As long as you don’t pull all my hair out while you’re at it,” Klavier said, preening.

Apollo continued to laugh; then, his expression grew sober. “...is it weird that I think about, like...if I should miss my dad or not?”

Klavier frowned. “Why is it weird?”

“Because I shouldn’t have to think about it, right?” Apollo said, shrugging. “Like, either I miss him...or I don’t. And it’s not like I can tell Mom, ‘cos she loved him, and she misses him all the time, but I...I…” He inhaled sharply. “...I didn’t know him. Not really. So, uh...how do I miss someone I never knew?”

“Well...maybe it’s not about missing him, per se,” Klavier offered. “Maybe you just...miss that you never got to know him. That all your mama’s stories are just that - stories, not memories. And you wish you had the chance to make your own.”

Apollo shot him a soft smile. “You got all of that out of one train of thought, huh? Though...you might not be wrong. It’s kinda like the whole ‘what if’ with growing up with Trucy versus growing up with Nahyuta, y’know, only with...with my dad. What if things had gone completely differently? Would it be better, worse?”

“You seem to be thinking about family quite a lot these days,” Klavier commented. “What’s on that beautiful mind of yours, hm?”

Apollo shook his head. “I meant what I said earlier - nothing, really. It’s just the kind of thing my mind comes up with at - well, it’s not that late, but still.” He then bit back a smile. “Would be, uh. Would be kinda nice, though, wouldn’t it? If that really was dad’s lullaby I was remembering, that I still - that I have a piece of him still with me?”

“Natürlich,” Klavier agreed. “You should sing it to your mama next time you see her, see if she recognizes it. Even if she doesn’t, it can become your version of The Guitar’s Serenade, for just the two of you.”

“I’d like that,” Apollo said quietly. Klavier squeezed Apollo’s thigh, then shuffled back up the bed so they were face-to-face, kissing Apollo chastely. “Hm...your lips are cold, too.”

“You could warm them up for me,” Klavier murmured suggestively; once again, it was his turn to grab Apollo’s backside, pulling him closer and closer until their chests were pressed against one another, his knee sliding neatly between Apollo’s legs. Apollo groaned at the cheesy line but continued kissing him regardless, his lips parting slightly so he could deepen the kiss. “What happened to us having the same stupid sense of humor, baby?”

“You still make me so mad.” Apollo captured Klavier’s bottom lip between his teeth, tugging slightly with a wicked grin that made Klavier shiver. “It’s funny, whenever I complain about you to someone else - ”

“Which I suspect happens often,” Klavier commented.

“ - they always ask, ‘so why are you with him, then?’.” Apollo released him, nudging his nose affectionately against the underside of Klavier’s jaw. “And usually, I give ‘em some bullshit excuse. No need to tell them more than they have to know, y’know? But the actual answer’s pretty simple.”

Klavier smoothed Apollo’s hair away from his forehead, his thumb tracing a line across Apollo’s freckles. “Tell me.”

“Because it just...makes sense. Which doesn’t make any sense at all.” Apollo’s smile was so warm, so open, that Klavier felt as if he was falling in love all over again. “You get what I mean?”

“I get you, liebling,” Klavier said fondly, capturing his lips once more. “I’ve got you.”

_____

Sugar, sugar...oh, that night, in your embrace…

Apollo violently jolted awake at the sound of his ringtone, nearly tumbling right out of bed in the process. Groaning, he blinked blearily into the morning sunlight streaming in through the windows, then threw his arm out in an attempt to grab his phone from his bedside table without getting out from under the covers. Instead, he ended up hitting something else entirely.

“Ach! Apollo, what are you doing?”

“Crap - sorry, Klavier,” Apollo winced, sitting up properly so he could rub the sleep out of his eyes. He then turned to pick up his phone, letting out an annoyed huff when he realized it was just an unknown number. “Great, spam calls. And at this hour?” He paused. “Wait...what time is it? Shit, it’s - Klav, it’s almost eleven!”

“Perfekt,” Klavier sighed, rolling back over and pulling the duvet over his head. “Another seven hours, bitte.”

“No, i-it’s eleven in the morning!” Apollo shook Klavier’s shoulder. “Babe, we gotta get up!”

“Why?” Klavier said, yawning as he reluctantly opened his eyes. “It’s the weekend, süßer, relax. Neither of us has anywhere to be, ja? I missed my morning run, sure, but considering we didn’t fall asleep until...ach, three? Four? I’m in no mood to work out.”

“But...shouldn’t we…” Apollo was swiftly interrupted by his own yawn. “...fine, fine, you have a point.” He collapsed back into bed, defeated. Grinning victoriously, Klavier pulled him closer, fitting him snugly underneath his chin. Apollo braced his hand against Klavier’s chest; his heartbeat was steady, comforting, beneath Apollo’s fingers. “Seriously, though, let’s never do that again.”

“I don’t know about that,” Klavier hummed. “Personally, I thought it was a night to remember.”

“A night to remember, not a night to repeat,” Apollo muttered. Klavier merely laughed, dropping his head to rest on top of Apollo’s, briefly turning to kiss his forehead. “Klavier…”

“I mean it, liebe,” Klavier murmured; Apollo felt his own eyes drifting shut at the sound of Klavier’s low, soothing voice, his muscles relaxing as his body melted against Klavier’s familiar embrace. “We have nothing to do today. Sounds like the right time to take a nap, don’t you think?”

“I guess it wouldn’t hurt to get a few more hours,” Apollo mumbled into Klavier’s chest. “Early dinner after we get up?”

“Someone’s optimistic,” Klavier chuckled, rubbing Apollo’s shoulder. “Sure, baby. Now go back to sleep, okay?”

_____

a/n: Welcome to my sixth entry for Klapollo Week 2021! Continuity-wise, this is the fifth of seven fics, but again, there is no need to read the others to follow each fic on its own. This is definitely the most plotless fic out of the seven, which is just fine by me, since as I've mentioned before, I love writing dialogue between these two - especially when they're together and get to lovingly snark on each other. It gives me a chance to slip in some little headcanons here and there without worrying about connecting it to the actual plot. For some reason, I have this really vivid image in my mind of Jove holding Apollo on his back while singing along to the radio and working in the kitchen; I think it would be adorable (and a little heartbreaking).

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! Likes and reblogs would be much appreciated. Hoping you’re all safe and healthy and doing well ❤️

[umbry-fic]

A Palette Full of You (1)

Summary: Glimpses into Colette and Lloyd's lives as they grow up together, learn who they are, and fall in love with each other.

(Written for Colloyd Week 2021)

Fandom: Tales of Symphonia Characters: Lloyd Irving, Colette Brunel, Anna Irving, Kratos Aurion Relationships: Colette Brunel & Lloyd Irving, Colette Brunel/Lloyd Irving Rating: G Chapter: 1 of 6 Word Count: 6218 Mirror Link: AO3 Original Post Date: 09/06/2021

Chapter Title: Castle Invaders!!

Chapter Summary: Colette and Lloyd enjoy a sunny day at the beach as children. A sandcastle is made, but does it continue to stand for long?

(Colloyd Week Day 1: Childhood Friends)

Notes: 1st chapter of my multi-chapter Colloyd week 2021 fic, featuring my headcanon of asexual Colette. It's also a modern AU set in Singapore.

Chapter list Full fic Next chapter

~~~

8-years-old

"Lloyd! The water's here!" Colette called out, setting down the heavy bucket filled with water next to Lloyd. Mission accomplished, and without a single hitch! Mostly. She wasn't going to mention how she nearly spilt all of the water when another girl's arm missed her by a hair's width. Or how her heart was still pounding from the close call. "We can get started with the sandcastle now." Lloyd was so occupied pushing sand into one giant pile that he hadn't even noticed her approach.

Having finally gotten his attention, Lloyd stared at her blankly for a few seconds before seeming to come to his senses. Scrambling to his feet, he began to shovel the pile of sand into the bucket. Overhead, a seagull's cry rent the air, barely audible over the screaming of all the children and adults on the beach that was packed to the brim, the two vastly different in tone. "Thanks, Colette! We might need another bucket of water, though. I don't think this is enough."

"Oh, I can -"

"Nah, I'll get the next one. It would only be fair!" Lloyd grinned a toothy smile at her, prominently displaying the gap from the baby tooth that had merrily vacated his mouth last week. She herself currently had a loose tooth that she absent-mindedly pushed at with her tongue, until she pushed too hard and caused a slight stab of pain. It would likely fall out soon.

"Come on, then! This sandcastle won't build itself alone!" Lloyd said, grabbing her hand with his, rough with the individual granules of sand sticking to it.

Colette giggled and joined him, attempting to lift some of the wet sand from the bucket to start making the base of their castle - only to find that the sand seemed to have solidified into one giant clump that refused to budge from its snug home. Every attempt to separate a tiny handful yielded a sucking sound that seemed to make the sand stick together even more, ever more determined to stay with their granular siblings. With a final huff, she put all her strength behind her arms - only to flop back down onto the beach with nothing in her hands.

"That's - hard!" Lloyd grunted, faced with a similar predicament and having no choice but to give up. The sand would remain in the bucket for the foreseeable future, it seemed. He wiped his hands on his red swimming trunks before offering it to Colette, helping her back up.

"Didn't think the sand would stick together this much," Colette muttered. This was why her father had advised them not to use a bucket, huh? She stole a glance towards the collection of colourful beach umbrellas that was close by, where their parents were taking shelter from the sun. They were sitting on the same striped picnic blanket where breakfast had occurred earlier, having a relaxed conversation over cans of lemonade while keeping a watchful eye on the two of them. Noishe was there too, taking a morning nap by the blanket.

Spotting Colette, her father waved cheerily, before taking another chug from his can.

She and Lloyd had been so excited to finally visit the beach during the March Holidays. They'd been jumping up and down on the car seats, sticking their noses into the window, and chattering non-stop on the journey here, giving Noishe, curled up on Lloyd's lap, no peace to sleep in. Her father, who had been sitting with them in the backseat, had just watched with an exasperated smile, having given up on asking them to calm down when his pleas had fallen on deaf ears.

The two of them would finally get to see the breathtaking ocean they had witnessed multiple times when watching The Little Mermaid, their favourite movie to watch together. Lloyd loved the vibrant ocean and the possibility of an entire unexplored world full of magic under the waves. She liked the colours and the cute designs, and the absolutely beautiful story of true love overcoming all. They’d watched it one time too many, until Flounder and Sebastian easily visited her in her dreams.

Aunt Anna had made clear upon their arrival her two conditions for letting them in the ocean. Firstly, that an adult had to accompany them at all times. Understandable, given the terrifying power of the ocean with its roiling waves, that had only been impressed on her upon actually seeing it with her own eyes. Secondly, and expectedly, that they had to wait an hour after breakfast, the familiar argument of "You have to digest all those cheese sandwiches!" leaving Aunt Anna's mouth.

They might as well make the most of the one hour, so Colette had suggested building a sandcastle to pass the time. It was one of the activities that she thought was a must-do for a first-time beach trip. After all, where else were they going to find all the sand they needed?

Lloyd had happily agreed. She was glad to see him finally perk up after wilting a little at the reminder that he needed to wait - days were much better when they were both smiling, and it wouldn't do for Lloyd to spend his first time at the beach with a frown on his face. So they'd dug up the shovels and the buckets from the car's trunk and set out to make the best sandcastle ever, one that reached the sky! They weren't going to let their lack of experience hinder them!

Perhaps that goal was a tad too ambitious. But that sure wouldn't stop her from trying!

Having made zero progress in getting the sand out of the bucket, Lloyd resorted to upending the bucket and slamming on the bottom with his hands until the sand all came out in a single bucket-shaped mound. Colette spared a worried glance at the plastic bucket, which had let out a groan. She had no clue how sturdy it was. Hopefully, it wouldn't break.

"Come on, Colette, let's do this!"

"Yeah!"

Lloyd knelt to start tamping the sand into shape, and Colette joined him.

"Could you pass the shovel?"

"We're out of water again!"

"How about we try doing this?"

Those were the only words that left their mouths as they worked together, their hands brushing. There was also the occasional peal of laughter that slipped out of either of them at something funny the other had done. Otherwise, they were in perfect sync, without the need to talk. They could just adapt to the other's actions. She remained focussed on her task, tuning out the sounds of life around her and getting her hands covered in sand, until there was even sand under her nails.

The sun continued to get higher on its arc, its rays falling on all the bare skin revealed by her navy blue one-piece swimsuit. It felt like she was roasting alive. Sweat ran down the sides of her face and her throat was dry. A can of cold lemonade sounded really nice now. She was glad, at least, that their parents had insisted they put on sunscreen, and had helped slather the two of them in it from head to toe, Lloyd squirming the whole time. If not for that, she would surely have an excruciating sunburn by now. From what she'd seen of her classmates who had returned from last year's March Holidays with red and peeling skin, she was glad to avoid it.

They made steady progress, bar the few close calls where she nearly flung the shovel into the sandcastle. It slowly took shape with a few more water-gathering trips and repeats of the not very effective bucket-slamming tactic, until finally, it was complete. Even the bucket had survived all the abuse! Colette sat back on her haunches to observe their handiwork, a smile lighting up her face.

Their masterpiece.

Okay, it wasn't a masterpiece. It was nowhere near perfect, or even amazing.

A messy tower stood before her eyes, tapering from a wide base to a thin top. It was tiny at thirty centimetres high. From the middle onwards, the tower slanted to the side, a result of Lloyd pushing just a bit too hard. It resembled the Leaning Tower of Pizza now, but, just like that mysterious tower, their tower was still standing through some unknown magic. Using a random stick he’d picked up off the sand, Lloyd had etched a smiley face with wobbly lines into the side of the tower. He'd stuck the stick into the top to act as a flag, exclaiming that the Disney castle had a flag on top of the main building, so theirs would too! She'd also dug a trench, in which Lloyd had poured the extra seawater remaining in the bucket to create a moat. Now no villain could mount a successful attack on their castle! Not even the Goombas or turtles they stomped every weekend in Super Mario Brothers.

The moat had dried up in seconds as the surrounding sand had absorbed the water, but it was the effort that counted. And it looked cool for a while!

Their castle was pretty average compared to the other ones she could see on the beach, and most definitely was nothing compared to the grand, detailed designs she had seen that one time on TV. But she had fun building it, and it was something she'd made together with Lloyd, so it was worth being proud over. That was all that mattered.

It was nice to imagine their castle standing here for all eternity, even if she knew it wouldn't last once they left. She and Lloyd's castle, powerful and durable, even against the worst of enemies!

"Looks good!" A hand landed on her head, prompting Colette to look up and see Aunt Anna waving a polaroid camera around. She could see her reflection, wide-eyed and smiling, in the sunglasses resting on the bridge of Aunt Anna’s nose. Aunt Anna must really love that pair of sunglasses; she always wore them whenever she was driving her and Lloyd to school in the mornings. To protect her eyes from the sun, and to look stylish while doing so? Who knew.

Aunt Anna had put on a giant sunhat, the brim so wide that it cast a shadow over Colette's face. "Come on, let me take a picture of you two with the sandcastle!" Aunt Anna said, raising the polaroid camera to her eye and miming clicking the button.

After a bunch of poking and prodding from Aunt Anna to get them into the best position, with loud protests from Lloyd’s end, they were finally ready to have their photo taken. For the sandcastle to actually show up in the picture, they had to stand behind it. Lloyd looped his arm around her shoulder, while she gave Lloyd bunny ears with her fingers. She would never give up the opportunity to do so. "Say cheese!" Aunt Anna yelled, raising the polaroid camera with a massive smile and clicking the button, the camera emitting a flash of light that blinded Colette for an instant.

"Can I move now, Mom? And can we finally go swimming? Pleaseeeeee?" Lloyd whined, plopping back down onto the sand before he even received his answer. Colette blinked rapidly, still trying to get rid of the spots in her vision.

"Oh, the pictures are gonna turn out sooooo cute," Aunt Anna muttered, retrieving the printed-out polaroid from the camera and beginning to shake it, waiting for it to develop. She glanced at Lloyd, sulking in the sand, and gave him the thumbs-up. Lloyd perked up immediately and scrambled to his feet to run off, only to stop in his tracks after hearing Aunt Anna's next words. "Wait a moment, would you? Your father is gonna follow you and he's still coming over."

"Dad! Hurry up!" Lloyd yelled, impatiently hopping from one leg to the other as Uncle Kratos leisurely walked over. Noishe, having finally caught up on his beauty sleep, ran over too, barking in excitement. Colette giggled, crouching down and reaching her hand out for Noishe to bump his snout against with every round he made around Lloyd's legs. Would Noishe be joining them in the ocean? It was against the rules to bring dogs into the swimming pool, but there was no such rule here. Maybe Noishe secretly liked water! There was no better chance to find out!

And the more the merrier!

"No going further than the bobbing spheres, okay? And stay close to your father!"

"I know, Mom! I know! You told me this three times already!"

"Just checking," Anna replied cheerfully, ruffling Lloyd's hair and prompting a scowl to pop onto Lloyd’s face.

"You got it too, right?" Her father asked her, having come up behind her.

"Yes, Dad!" Colette replied, getting to her feet and preparing to run down to the ocean. "I promise I'll -"

Unfortunately, Colette didn’t get to finish her sentence. One small step forward and her foot caught instantly against the spare shovel still sticking up in the sand, which had completely escaped her notice. Everyone, even Noishe, stopped what they were doing. All three adults stretched out their arms in a desperate attempt to stop her fall, but they were too far away to have any hope of catching her. Flailing her arms, she fell, the world seeming to go by in slow motion as the tower of golden sand became increasingly larger in her vision.

Until she crashed right through the tower she and Lloyd had spent the last hour crafting, in her unstoppable path to face-planting on the beach. Her hand felt the roughness of tightly-packed sand as that sand exploded in every direction. Closing her eyes against the rain of sand, she threw her arms out to cushion her fall, finally landing on the sand.

The action now over, Colette pushed herself into a sitting position, wincing. No visible wounds anywhere. No blood. No lasting pain. At least the sand was somewhat soft.

Oh no… Heart sinking in her chest, she stared at the mess that had once been a glorious sandcastle, now just a sad misshapen mound of sand. The top of the tower had been scattered everywhere.

She could feel everyone’s eyes on her, an awkward silence arising even as noise continued to surround them. She'd ruined everything with her clumsiness again... She wanted to hide, but there was nowhere to hide out here in the open. Maybe she could dig a hole in the sand and hide forever...

"Colette! Are you alright?" Lloyd’s voice broke the silence, a helping hand offered to her as he stared down in concern.

"Yeah." She took his hand, using her other to try brushing off the grains of sand now sticking to her whole body. There was so much... She'd never get all of it off. She opened her mouth, ready to apologise.

“Come on, there’s no time!” Lloyd interrupted before she could even say anything, tugging on her hand as he had done before. She was being pulled in the direction of the waves, stumbling a little in surprise at the sudden movement. “Our castle was attacked by enemies, and they’ve fled to the water! We need to pursue them! Right?”

Lloyd winked at her, a huge grin on his face. She could read the message in his actions loud and clear: there was no need to apologise. Just get back to the fun!

“Right!” She replied, wiping the hesitance from her expression and replacing it with a smile, worries already forgotten. The ocean would be one solution to all the sand stuck to her skin!

“Race you!” Lloyd yelled, letting go of her hand and abruptly taking off. She cried out indignantly in response, chasing after him as fast as she could, Noishe following hot on their heels with his tongue lolling out of his mouth, ears flapping up and down. Their yells about being first to get in the ocean reached Kratos’ ears, who simply sighed at their familiar antics.

~~~

“Here,” Lloyd said, pressing something small into her palm. He and Colette were both drenched from head to toe from all the swimming and water wars that had occurred. The tips of her hair brushed her shoulders, leaving tiny trails of water behind and causing water droplets to slide down her arms. Not even Noishe had been spared, shaking his matted fur furiously. The water had been colder than she'd expected, but all the running around had helped to combat it. In fact, she was exhausted from all the activity, the smile on her face so wide her cheeks hurt and her throat hoarse from all the screaming and laughter.

Now that they were on dry ground again, they were standing by the picnic blanket, waiting for their parents to return with towels. Whereafter their parents would hold the familiar ritual of smothering them with towels, squeezing each strand of hair dry.

In her hand was a seashell, rough against her skin - not the stereotypical blue ones that were always on the pages of the Chinese textbook whenever the ocean was mentioned, with its fan shape and equally-spaced out ridges - but rather an off-white colour, fantastically curved with little spikes sticking out of it to form a geometric pattern. It had a gaping opening that revealed its pink insides.

“Dad said it's called a conch shell,” Lloyd explained. “Snails hide in them, but this one is empty. I found it just now!”

“Oh, it’s so pretty! I haven’t been able to find any...” She’d been scouring the beach to no success. The most she’d spotted among the sand were tiny fragments of what had once been seashells, smashed to smithereens by the wrath of the ocean.

“Put it against your ear! I tried it, and it really works!”

“The sound of the ocean...?”

Colette lifted the conch shell, aligning the hole with her ear and closing her eyes to listen closely, covering her other ear with her hand. She and Lloyd had read about this many times before - how a shell contained the entire ocean within it.

And it did. It was a strange, mysterious sound - like there was water within the small shell lapping against its walls, somehow, even though that wasn’t the case, for any water would have leaked out of the opening by now. It was almost like she herself was surrounded by the ocean, as the shell in her hand must have been as it was carried by the currents to stop on this beach. What a lonely journey that must have been, alone in the deep darkness.

She opened her eyes to see Lloyd’s smiling face, his hand gently pulling hers away from her ears.

“Did you hear it?”

“Yeah. That was incredible...”

“Well, the shell is for you.” Lloyd gestured, grinning.

“Oh, really?” She gasped. “No, you found it, so it should be yours!”

Colette tried to pass it back to Lloyd, but he refused. He only closed her fingers around the shell with his hand before hopping just out of arm's reach. Infuriating.

“Nah, it’s fine! Keep it! I insist!”

Colette pouted, knowing Lloyd wouldn’t budge on the issue. There were times she wished he wasn’t so stubborn. There was no way she was going to win this.

“I’m sorry I can’t give you one in return… I can try and find one now!” she suggested, already scanning the beach as she took a step forward.

“No need for that!” Lloyd reassured her, returning to her side and grabbing her arm to stop her. “Mom said we aren’t staying here for much longer after we’re done cleaning up. You can just make it up to me some other time.”

“Alright! That’s a promise, then. Thank you for the gift,” Colette said, feeling the ridges of the seashell dig into her skin as she tightened her hold. They had gifted each other little trinkets like these many times before, mostly curious objects they came across whenever they played at the playground. She kept every single gift from Lloyd, just as she would this one. Anything she got from her best friend was precious.

Colette could see the adults walking over in the corner of her vision, holding the aforementioned towels and… Popsicles! Oh, those would be delicious. But it also meant her time at the beach was coming to a close.

Colette knew she wouldn’t ever forget this day. This sunny day, filled with joy, fun and wonder…

~~~

28-years-old

"Remember this one?" Lloyd laughed, pointing to the open scrapbook sitting in his lap. His finger sat on a polaroid that was held in place on the page by 4 pieces of cellophane tape, one of which was crooked, and another of which was starting to peel. Colette tapped her finger on the yellowing polaroid as well, recalling how she had gotten it from Aunt Anna and proceeded to stick it in her sketchbook. Words filled the rest of the page, denoting the events of the day, together with a doodle of a seagull sitting on a giant seashell. If she recalled correctly, this was one of the last pages of her scrapbook before she'd gotten too busy to keep it up. It was fun while it lasted, though, absolutely cramming the border of each page with a horrendous amount of washi tape.

She and Lloyd's happy faces peered up at her from the polaroid, a tiny, not very impressive sandcastle visible in front of them. The weather on that day, a foggy memory but not forgotten, for it could never be truly forgotten, couldn't be any more of a contrast to the rain currently slapping against the windows of their apartment, turning the world outside into pure white as the rain obscured all. The wind howled and caused the window panes to rattle in their housings. The air was chilly, fogging up the windows and further blocking their view of the world outside.

Colette should have been shivering on the bed in her denim shorts, but she was nice and toasty instead, legs covered by a thick blanket. She was resting against the backboard, legs stretched out, hair falling to mid-back in messy tangles. The blanket itself had the sewn pattern of dogs doing various things: jumping over fences, dozing off on clouds, running with bones in their mouths. It was adorable! And most of all, it reminded her of another dog who used to run circles around her feet and snuggle on the blankets with her, but who was no longer with them.

She’d even gone the extra mile and put on socks and a hoodie. Lloyd had taken one look at her and… hadn’t done anything else, because this was normal behaviour from her when she was cold. He’d long since accepted it.

Plus, she was leaning against the ultimate source of warmth! Lloyd, who was also under the blanket, legs pressed snugly against hers. Just as always, he could somehow survive the cold in just jeans and an old T-shirt, showing absolutely no signs of being affected. No shivers, nothing. It was impressive. He took "warm-blooded" to the next level.

Her entire body still felt tingly from the cups of hot coffee that Lloyd had brewed in the kitchen earlier. He’d done hers perfectly without even having to ask, the knowledge of how to do so having long been ingrained in his memory. “Precisely half a teaspoon of sugar and half a cup of milk,” he’d said in a sing-song manner, the warm orange of the kitchen’s ceiling light falling upon him and his gentle smile as she’d stood next to him cutting apples. The rhythmic sound of the knife hitting the cutting board, the clinking of the metal spoon against the side of the porcelain cup, and the thudding of raindrops against the window had been the only sounds filling the kitchen.

They’d drunk the coffee first, backs against the countertop and their eyes meeting across the rims of their cups, his hand finding hers in the little space between them. The hot liquid had slid down their throats with ease, settling warm in their bellies. Having drunk his coffee all at one go as he always did, Lloyd had waited for her to finish. He hadn’t said a single word, preferring to maintain the comfortable silence. The only thing he’d done was rub her fingers with his thumb.

They’d then taken turns popping the apple slices in each other’s mouths, the flesh crunchy when they sank their teeth into it, the sweet juice from the fresh fruit a refreshing contrast from the bitter liquid they’d just consumed. Lloyd, as messy an eater as always, had left little bits of apple at the corner of his mouth like tiny yellow spots that she’d had to brush away with her fingers.

Today was Sunday, the day where they both didn't have work to do, unless they were handling some big project with a pending deadline, and had some time to themselves. Their favourite activities to do on this wonderful day of the week included marathoning Disney movies, playing video games together, and going out to their favourite destinations. They also weren't opposed to just lounging on bed together, or taking some alone time.

But today was also a rainy day. She'd actually been woken up by the first claps of thunder in the early morning. The rain had no business being this heavy after the conclusion of the monsoon season, but Mother Nature was fickle, and they could do nothing but accept their given lot. No going out to the Botanic Gardens as they'd originally planned. The only thing they could do was stay home, unless they wanted to catch a cold on purpose.

It was Lloyd who had found her old scrapbook in a corner of their room while aimlessly wandering around the apartment, the book having gathered a thin layer of dust that made her sneeze when he brought it over. She'd forgotten it was sitting on one of the shelves. He had suggested looking over it, since they had nothing better to do. They had just gone through Frozen, Tangled and The Little Mermaid last week - the plots were still fresh in their minds. More fresh than usual. She could recite the entire script of The Little Mermaid from memory if she needed to.

What better time was there to reminisce than with their second anniversary coming up? What better place to do so than in the bedroom they shared, its corners teeming with keepsakes and memories, absolutely overflowing with their love for each other? Just being in here for a minute was enough to make her heart feel warm.

The framed pictures hanging on the walls and sitting on the nightstand - of them and their parents; of the two of them under a sky full of stars; of them and their friends, laughing and popping bottles of wine, fitted in elegant dresses and stylish suits. There were many more pictures, kept in the various albums lining the bookshelf above the bed, which she occasionally took down to look through on days when she was feeling rather nostalgic. Staring up at her from the pages were contented faces from all throughout time, allowing her to track her progress from days long past to the person she was today.

The Siberian Husky plushie she was currently hugging to her chest. The soft fur felt incredible to the touch, and it was so comforting to just run her hands through the fur, tightening her fingers on tufts of it. Behind those beady black eyes were more, however, a significance that no one else but herself could see. A precious memory of a carnival and the time they were finally honest with each other; a step she had been terrified to take but which she’d mustered up the courage to, in order to join Lloyd at the other end of the open door and grab the encouraging hand he offered her. She had stumbled many times along the way, but Lloyd had steadied her every time. She’d gambled on the chance, but it had all been worth it - for she had managed to find her home in Lloyd, and it had all led to the beautiful life she led today, where she got to see his happiness every day.

The wall painted over with galaxies, swirls of pinks and purples and blues, and a single adorable dog in a spacesuit, which they had hand-painted when they first moved in until they were both splattered with paint and giggling.

And of course, the two matching, nondescript metal bands, one lying atop the other on the nightstand.

"You destroyed the sandcastle not soon after, right?" Lloyd said.

"Hey!" Colette pouted, poking Lloyd's side. "Don't tease me."

Lloyd shifted his body away from her attacking finger, still smiling warmly. "I'm not teasing you. I'm just stating what happened." He turned around and retaliated by poking her on the nose, sending her reeling back in a fit of giggles. "It was fun, though!"

"It was," she agreed, struggling to hold back further laughter, bubbling up within her chest like an uncontrollable fountain. “You gifted me a conch shell afterwards. Remember?”

“Of course I remember, silly. It’s sitting on your shelf right now.”

That it was. She’d kept it all these years, the passage of time causing its colour to fade. In all other aspects, it was perfectly conserved, looking just the same as it had on the day he’d pressed it into her hand. She lifted it up to her ear sometimes, just to listen to the sound of the ocean.

Colette flipped to the next page of the scrapbook, looking over all of the memories contained there. Her childhood had been filled with joy, in no small part due to Lloyd, who took every opportunity he could to make her days fun-filled and exciting as he strived to make her face light up with a smile. There were moments where she was suddenly overwhelmed with a great sense of gratefulness for the fact that, out of an infinite number of possible outcomes, she had met Lloyd when she was young. For she was so incredibly fortunate, more fortunate than most, to have met someone who loved and accepted her for everything that she was.

She placed one hand on his cheek, fingers splayed, and turned his head to face her, his warmth spreading through her cold fingers from that one point of contact. Lloyd leaned automatically into her touch.

“Colette...?” Lloyd whispered, leaning automatically into her touch. His eyes searched hers, as he slowly came to understand what she was about to do. This close, she could make out each individual eyelash, attached to the eyelids that fluttered closed over russet eyes. Most people would conclude Lloyd was plain. Average, even. There’d been people who asked her upfront why she’d chosen to settle for him, when according to their honest opinion, her beauty could have landed her much better. They didn’t understand. She was the one fortunate enough to know his love and the miracle of such an incredible person staying by her side when there were so many things she couldn’t give him. A relationship with any other person would have been easier for him, filled with far less of a need for compromise, but he’d chosen her in the end.

Besides, there was beauty in plainness. The daisies that were ignored in favour of the orchids, the mynahs that were overlooked for the orioles. There was beauty to be found there, in the most ordinary of things, the ones people saw every day and had ceased to notice. It was a beauty she itched to capture.

Lloyd, to her, was the most beautiful of them all, a rare treasure that had somehow landed in her hands.

“Shh,” she whispered in return, eyes fluttering shut as she closed the small distance between them. She pressed her lips against his slowly, trying to push behind this one action - the gift she was currently giving - every ounce of the love and appreciation she felt at the moment, enough to fill her heart to the brim. It’d been a while since she’d done this. Two months, maybe? It was a little overdue, having slipped her mind for a time as it always did, no matter how hard she tried to remember. If not for the reminder that had pinged on her phone this morning and made the issue fresh in her mind again, she might have gone another month. She’d have to give him more soon, as per her end of the compromise they had both agreed upon when they’d first started dating, which had served them well all these years. He'd said before that he was alright with getting nothing at all, but that didn't sit right with her. She didn't think it would be fair for him to be the only person giving something up.

Kisses and anything further were always up to her to initiate, since Lloyd, as he’d told her time and time again, wanted her to be comfortable in everything she did. He’d never forced anything on her, content to wait patiently for her to feel ready, whether it be in an hour, a day, a year, or never, perfectly willing to compose their entire relationship on quiet moments spent together and nothing more. She still occasionally struggled with the idea that he was far more than she could ever deserve, even as he gripped her hand tightly and told her she was worth everything. It was getting better with every day she spent in his loving company, the extensive wounds left on her heart in her younger days by a world that told her she would never be enough slowly starting to heal. There would always be scars, but those would fade one day until they were barely visible, until the twinges of pain could barely be felt.

Lloyd’s lips were a little chapped from the cold, unmoving against hers, still tasting faintly of the sweet apple slices from thirty minutes ago. All in all, a pleasant experience.

After a second of shocked stillness, Lloyd came to life again, a small sigh leaving his lips and brushing against hers. His hand came up to cup her ear, his fingers curling in her hair as he kissed her back with nothing but gentleness, always mindful of her boundaries and never pushing her any further. Of course, he had boundaries too. If he’d decided to pull back, she would have respected it. It was the bare minimum she could do for him.

Thirty seconds passed and she pulled away, though not too far, opening her eyes to stare into his. Their hands remained where they were, connecting the two of them.

“Where did that come from?” His words became butterflies, brushing their soft wings against her lips. He tucked her hair behind her ear, his fingers stroking the skin above her ear with the tenderness he always showed her.

“I just felt like saying thank you.” For everything. For all their years together. For all the love he showed her. For the knowledge that Lloyd would continue to stay in her life, for the rest of her time on this wondrous Earth.

Not that long ago, she would have broken away and covered her face with the plushie that was still in her arms, cheeks flushed and too embarrassed to meet Lloyd’s eyes, preferring that he talk to the plushie instead of her. Much like the first kiss, unconventional as it was, that they had shared. Now she could stare unflinchingly with confidence to witness the happiness that bloomed like the most incredible flower on his face.

“Thank you. For the gift,” Lloyd replied, always seconds away from showing his appreciation.

“Shall we look through the rest?” she asked, removing her hand from his cheek to cover the one he had placed on her face, her fingers slotting in perfectly between his as she smiled sweetly.

Here was her sanctuary, where all she knew was serenity and the warmth of loving and being loved.

“Let’s.”

~~~

“Mm.”

Lloyd froze in the middle of flipping to the next page of the scrapbook, watching Colette with eagle eyes. Had he…

But she didn't seem to have awakened. Not really. She made no other sound, only tightened the hold of her arms around his midriff, her face buried in his side and the rest of her lying on her side on the bed. He'd resorted to holding the scrapbook up in order not to accidentally jolt her out of her peaceful sleep. So far, his arms had not started to hurt yet.

Lloyd heaved a sigh of relief, tucking the entirety of the blanket tightly around her shoulders, leaving himself uncovered. Now, swaddled in the blanket, she resembled a cocoon. Adorable. And also what tended to happen each night, as she ended up stealing the blanket eight nights out of ten.

Satisfied that Colette was soundly asleep, Lloyd returned to perusing the contents of the scrapbook, a small smile playing on his lips.

And silence reigned supreme, interrupted only by quiet breathing and the crinkle of paper.

~~~

Next chapter

[gaycrouton]

A Collection of Constants

msr / collection of drabbles / multi-season

This work is a huge, belated thank you to the wonderful Don'tPanicFace who was so, so, so kind to me at X-Fest! So sorry it's so late, but I hope you enjoy it and I am oh so thankful. I also went a slightly weird way with the prompt, but I hope you'll like it! Prompt: "Mulder once told Scully he liked her freckles as she was covering them with makeup, & she scoffed. He said he loved every single one, & it became a thing that he's cataloguing all the freckles on her body."

2016

“You have some new ones,” he stated, the sentence tumbling from his lips without a second thought as he watched her work. His case report on the Man-Lizard (formerly titled Lizard-Man) laid unfinished in front of him as his eyes wandered to their favorite destination.

“Hmm?” she replied from the back of her throat, not bothering to look up.

Her suit jacket had long been discarded to the seat behind her and her bare arms rested gracefully on the desk in front of her. Even from here, even with his bad eyesight, he saw a few new tan freckles littering her arms, kissing the skin gently like he had all those years ago. 

“You have new freckles on your arm,” he murmured, leaning forward to tap her arm in four different places all while lingering a beat longer than necessary.

Either the touch or its duration caused her to look up at him with a raised eyebrow as she looked back down at her arm. “I don’t know,” she shrugged, passing it off as a question when they both knew it wasn’t.

“No, you do. I’m certain,” he teased, pointing to two more on her other arm.

“Mulder,” she replied sternly, her voice a gentle warning to knock it off.

It wasn’t that she was ignoring their prior relationship, no - but every time he made a referential comment or innuendo, she put her walls back up. In his worst moments, he feared it was her wanting to shut him down before he could get his hopes up for a relationship she had no interest in rekindling. In his best moments, he thought she didn’t want to get her hopes up that he was better only to be let down. 

But he was better. Is better. And he was going to do everything he could to let her know that.

He’d spent years gaining Scully’s trust, her faith in him - in them.

He raised his hands in gentle concession. He’d listen better this time around. He gave her a small smile as he scooted forward towards his desk, picked up a discarded pencil, and started working. 

1995

It was a beauty mark.

What made a beauty mark different than a mole, he wasn’t necessarily sure, but what he did know was that impromptu shower in the high school gymnasium took off her usual cover up and revealed a light brown spot on her upper lip.

He’d suspected probably everything under the sun: a raised bump, freckle, a mole, a patch of dry skin that caught her foundation, he’d even considered it was a beauty mark, but he couldn’t guess why she’d cover it up.

They always say that near-death experiences make you grateful for the little things you take for granted, and right now he was irrationally relieved he lived through an attempted sacrifice at the hands of crazy cultists to finally find out what was on her lip.

“Mulder, why do you keep staring at me?” she asked, running her hands over her damp hair for the umpteenth time as if that alone would prevent the curls in her hair from fully forming. 

“I like your beauty mark,” he replied, lifting his hand and gesturing to her lip, resisting the urge to let his finger graze it.

She touched it in his place with the slight roll of her eyes. “Thanks,” she muttered with sarcastic enthusiasm.

“What, don’t you like it?” he asked, his brows furrowing. 

The flashes of crime scene cameras followed by their gentle whirrs created a strange juxtaposition to their mundane conversation, but Scully didn’t seem to be put off by his line of questioning and he figured she was grateful for the respite from the events of the night. “I just always have,” she shrugged, pursing her lips.

“Marilyn Monroe had one,” he offered. 

“On her cheek,” Scully corrected.

“Cindy Crawford has one on her upper lip. I think Madonna has one right where you do.”

Scully looked at him with a cocked eyebrow and he realized his attempt to make her feel better may not have been working as he’d hoped. “You sure seem to know a lot about beauty marks,” she deadpanned.

He shrugged self consciously and emitted a half-hearted chuckle. “I think they’re called beauty marks for a reason.”

She smirked for half a second before suppressing it. “I’ve always been told it looks too big for my face,” she admitted honestly.

“They were wrong.”

1997

It wasn’t like he’d never seen them before. The makeup she used might’ve boasted ‘24 Hour, long lasting, Smudge-proof wearability’, but a day in the life of Scully and a day in the life of the average Covergirl consumer were vastly different. Sometimes he’d catch her in her motel room after she’d washed her face and it was adorned with more freckles than normal. Sometimes he’d wait to say goodnight to her just in the hopes of catching a glimpse of them.

Now, he could see them all on display as she lay bare-faced and sleeping in the hospital bed. He couldn’t see himself, but he knew his face was blotchy and red, as if he’d absorbed all the color the cancer had taken from her.

His knees ached from kneeling on the hospital floor next to her, but this was a vigil he couldn’t find the heart to move from. She still hadn’t woken up, despite his sobbing right next to her for the better part of an hour. Probably a result of the heavy meds they were using to keep her free from pain, to make this all easier for her.

He felt a fresh wave of tears sting his eyes, and he looked upwards towards the ceiling to blink them away. He felt like he was trying to swallow a rock, but he didn’t want to wake her on accident. He’d rather be careful than acknowledge it’d take a lot to wake her up now. 

He sniffed as quietly as he could and looked back down at Scully. Her small frame was lit up by the moonlight streaming in through the blinds. Her dainty hand was still in his, next to the slowly evaporating, large wet spot where his face had just lain.

The occasional flickering behind her eyelids and the gentle rise and fall of her ribs were his only indication she was alive. She is alive. His throat tightened back up as the world blurred. 

Figuring it was a fruitless effort, he let the tears fall down his cheeks as he stared at the ghostly white version of the face he’d been looking at for four years. He let out a small breath through barely opened lips as his eyes caught sight of her uncovered beauty mark, now darker against her alabaster skin. 

There was another, much smaller, dot on her cheek - a dark freckle normally covered up by makeup, she had another prominent one on her forehead near her hairline, but without a doubt, she had the most on the bridge of her nose. Some of those were so close they almost became an indistinguishable clump of amber.

Eighty eight, that he could count, of course. And that was just on her face. Some of them were chocolate brown, others were a faint tan color, imperceivably different than her skin. He was certain that he’d seen more during their summer cases when she valued sunscreen over moisturizer and the sun had darkened them. 

His face was still hot, there was still the uncomfortable pressure at the front of his face, but the tear tracks had finally dried. The rhythmic counting of her freckles had acted like a gentle metronome to center him. He had no idea what to do, but he had a mental map of all the small details of her face, and just that soothed him ever so slightly. Even in her sleep, she could still comfort him. 

Letting go of her hand as gently as he could, he stood upright on sore legs and roughly wiped his face with the palms of his hands.

He had work to do. He had to fix this.

1999

He was bolder. They both were. This thing between them didn’t have a name, but it had a feeling. A feeling of melancholy when Friday rolled around and they hadn’t made plans yet, the prospect of a weekend without the other sounding suspiciously miserable for two coworkers. A feeling of butterflies when “Hey it’s me” was followed by “Do you want to come over?” A feeling of intense longing when body heat was shared from sitting too close on a couch. A feeling that it still wasn’t close enough.

While she was a bit bolder in physical touch, he was a bit more blunt with his words. 

“Why do you cover up your freckles?” he asked one morning when she was doing her makeup in a motel mirror. That was new too. He’d get up early just for the chance to sit on her bed and watch as she did her morning routine, usually under the guise of bringing her coffee and then overstaying his welcome. 

She turned to look at him, face still bare minus the sheen of makeup being applied to her skin. “I like them,” he followed up, seeing a few of them peeking out in areas she hadn’t covered yet.

She scoffed goodnaturedly before returning to the mirror, rubbing circles against the skin of her face. “Did you know people are less likely to take women with freckles seriously than those without?” she asked.

His brow furrowed as he tried to recollect the women in his life who had freckles. She took his silence as a ‘no’ and continued, “It makes women look young. Men don’t take young women seriously. I work in two male dominated fields, and with my freckles I look like a co-ed. Consequently, I cover them up.”

“That’s a shame,” he murmured honestly. She looked back over at him as she picked up a brown tube of eyeliner, shrugging her shoulders as if it was just something she’d come to accept. “I love every single one of them,” he smiled at her.

She looked down as the corners of her mouth quirked up. Even through the layer of makeup, he could still see her turning pink.

“Thanks, Mulder.”

He knew the thing between them wasn’t really nameless. It started with L, ended with E, and had a lot of fear in between. But he’d conquered much scarier things with Scully by his side before.

2000

Two on her left shoulder blade.

One on mid-back.

Two on her lower-back.

Three on her breasts.

One on her abdomen.

One on her outer labia lip.

He got a little distracted after that, but just like the sentiment Scully had been screaming, he knew there were more.

His hands were on her warm back as she raised up and down in time with his breathing, her own even breaths coming out hot on the skin of his neck. “The freckles on your back look like Cassiopeia,” he murmured, running his hand up and down her spine. 

“We tried a new position and you were staring at my freckles?” she teased, his theory she was falling asleep evident in her tone.

“I was staring at a lot of things, Scully,” he cooed in reassurance. As he said this he let his hand slide further down her spine so he could cup her left cheek. His spent member stirring ever so slightly inside of her.

She laughed lightly and he could feel her roll her eyes. “You’re insatiable,” she murmured.

“I think I could say the same about you,” he laughed, looking at the discarded shirt on her vanity that was now missing several buttons. He felt her nuzzle impossibly closer to him, her breast plastered to his bare chest, and it made a smile spread across his face. This was real. The warmth of her skin and the smell of sex still lingering in the air was proof enough.

He raised his hand back up the slope of her spine as he moved to press his index finger into the top freckle on her shoulder-blade, tracing a delicate line to the next until he’d created a connect-the-dot pattern on her back from memory.

“Was tha’ Cassio-peia?” she mumbled, barely clinging onto consciousness.

He gently grabbed the quilt tangled at his side and spread it out on top of them the best he could without jostling her, earning a contented hum.

Crunching his neck upwards, he pressed a kiss to the crown of her head and whispered, “Yes. Cassiopeia, the Queen.”

There was no response as her breathing evened out completely. Enjoying the weight of her on his chest, he smiled sweetly to himself. He’d spent years trying to find answers in the stars and now he had a constellation lying in his arms. 

2001

“I have to be honest, I was really expecting a head of bright red hair,” he whispered, not wanting to wake the newborn on his chest. 

Scully was reclined next to him, propping herself up on an elbow to look at her boys. “He looks like his dad,” she murmured with a smile, a playful twinkle in her eyes. 

“Is that why he doesn’t have any freckles?” he asked, stroking the few brown hairs on the baby’s head into a mohawk.

Scully laughed softly at his attempt and answered, “No, he doesn’t have freckles because freckles don’t develop until the ages two to four.”

“I bet his first one will be right here,” he whispered, faintly pointing to the upper bridge of his William’s little nose.

Scully rolled her eyes, but played along nonetheless. “I’ll place my bets here,” she replied, pointing to William’s cheek, indulging just a little to stroke the soft skin.

“Oh really?” Mulder challenged playfully.

She nodded before leaning closer to him. “Like I said, he looks like his dad,” she murmured, pressing a kiss to his own light beauty mark laid against his stubble.

His cheek pressed against her lips as he smiled, and he turned to catch her lips instead. This was what serenity felt like. 

“I don’t know, Scully. The piercing blue eyes, the fact he willingly wants to be near me. Those traits alone make him unquestionably Scully,” he explained.

She closed her eyes and let out a little exhale laugh through her nose before scooting even closer to him, laying flush to his side as they both stared at the little sleeping baby. “Just wait, he’s going to be towering over me spouting off conspiracy theories in no time,” she replied wistfully.

2002

“Do you know what that is, Gibson?” Mulder asked, pointing up towards the night sky. He’d been upset with himself all day and he finally convinced himself to go outside for some fresh air.

Dearest Dana.

He’d most likely put his family in danger because he couldn’t contain how much he missed them. Gibson let him go through his miscellaneous magazines and he’d come across an old “Best of the 80s” edition of Rolling Stone. He went from blissfully distracted with a Bob Dylan feature to feeling the wind knocked out of him with a picture of Madonna from her “Like a Virgin” days.

A beauty mark on the upper lip. 

She was everywhere.

“It’s Cassiopeia,” Gibson replied immediately.

Mulder glanced over at the kid who was drawing in the sand with a stick, focused on his task. “Did you actually know that or did you hear me?”

“You’ve thought about it a lot. This is the first time I’ve seen it in the sky though,” he replied pointedly.

Mulder cringed in embarrassment that wouldn’t ease no matter how many times it happened. “Sorry.”

A silence fell between them as Mulder looked back up, his eyes going to every individual star that comprised the constellation. “You’re doing it again,” Gibson muttered.

He let out a long sigh and looked at Gibson. Most middle school boy’s experience with the female form came from Playboy or Penthouse, but Gibson now unfortunately had his classmates beat, all thanks to Mulder. “Would you mind…” he trailed off, looking back to the opening of their hideout.

“Sure,” he agreed, letting the stick fall soundlessly to the ground as he turned to walk away. Mulder heard the sounds of him walking, but stopping short of the door. “It was just an email. I doubt we can be found just through that alone. Besides, I bet it meant a whole lot to her.”

He’d long learned it was useless to placate the boy by trying to agree when his heart wasn’t in it. He respected him more than that. All he could offer was a small smile and a thanks, which Gibson reciprocated in kind.

Turning back to the sky, he was reminded of his own queen. Was she safe? Was William safe? Was this as hard for her as it was for him?

He knew it was. He just hoped this was all worth it in the end.

2003

“This one is my favorite,” he murmured, kissing the crook where her neck met her shoulder.

She let out a breathy, shaky laugh as she trembled in his arms. He’d spent the better part of an hour trying to find every single freckle and mark on her body. He hadn’t taken the time to do this inventory before, and it pained him immensely while they were apart. He wouldn’t take it for granted again. He wanted to know every intimate, minute detail of Scully’s body.

She was giggling when he started the journey with his fingers, but the giggling died down when he started using his mouth. Now she had the motel bedsheets in a white knuckle grip as she lay naked with him hovering above her. “Oh really?” she panted, not succeeding in feigning interest in discussion that didn’t pertain to her impending orgasm.

“And I like this one,” he murmured, suckling the one on the underside of her left breast. 

She gently arched upwards, making the skin of their lower abdomens rub against each other. He gasped with a laugh and moved down. “And I like this one,” he repeated, licking the two freckles on her prominent hip bone lightly.

“More,” she whispered breathlessly.

“This one,” the words tumbled from his mouth as he scooted backwards so he could kiss her inner thigh with ease.

She took her turn moving on the bed and readjusted herself so that it was her dripping arousal in his face instead of her thigh. Point taken.

“Especially this one,” he growled, using his thumb to press onto the labia freckle while his mouth went straight to her clit.

She seemed to like that one too.

2018

He could look now. 

When he’d mentioned a few new markings on her arms after the Guy Mann case, he’d been shut down. Now, he felt empowered. The same serotonin rush he would get all those years ago when she’d coyly accept his invitation to his apartment was back in full swing. 

She was still nervous, he could tell that from the way she seemed to get quiet after indulging in an overly intimate comment. As if she was reflecting on if she should or shouldn’t have said it. But it was different than it was when they first started working on X-Files again. The trepidation had been replaced with something that looked like hope. It was an expression he was all too familiar with as he saw it every time he looked in the mirror. 

He’d never press her too much - the best things in life come to those who wait, and he’d wait an eternity if that meant he could spend his life with her. She’d made the first move then, and he’d correctly suspected she’d make the first move again. 

Last night the fantasy he’d been playing in his head for the past four years fantasizing about finally became real. The fact it was technically fraternizing on the job was just an added bonus. It hadn’t been exactly how he’d dreamed; he didn’t get to say all the sentiments on his mind, the lights were off, and he had to leave in fear in the middle of the night instead of waking up with her in his arms. But she had given him hope.

Come back to bed.

And less than 24 hours later, they were back in bed. Though sleeping was the last thing on either of their minds.

He’d always loved unwrapping presents. Ribbons, bright colored paper, the buttons of silk blouses - whatever it may be, as long as it came from Scully, always brought a smile to his face. 

“What?” she asked with a breathy smile. 

“I wasn’t able to see all the new freckles you had last night, it was too dark,” he stated with a grin.

She rolled her eyes and laughed at the enthusiasm in his voice. “Are you going to do that thing with your mouth again, because I think I have too many for that now,” she laughed.

“Is that a challenge?” he murmured before sucking on the bend of her neck. 

She was silent for a moment, shifting under him in an effort to rub against his appreciation for her. After a beat, she answered in a playful and lust filled tone, “Yes. It is.”

[laowai-on-a-bike]

Yinzu, Yinzu, Yinzu… these words echoed endlessly in my head. It all started when I was back from Jiu Gong Mountain, on the highway with my friend Freddy. I was impressed to admire such beautiful landscapes so close to Wuhan. It's weird that we are always drawn to faraway destinations, like Yunnnan, Guizhou or Sichuan provinces but ultimately, there are already plenty of places to explore near our home.

Besides, I will be moving to Guangzhou soon so I might as well explore the area before leaving. And then, starting a bike tour directly from home without the hassle of bringing your bike to a distant destination by train or bus or by mail is really much more convenient. Well, I'm already digressing...

At one point on the highway, then, an exit sign appeared with the name "Yinzu" written on it. I didn't know why, but I was immediately drawn to the name, maybe because it sounds good, I don't know. And then the obsession started: "I'll go by bike to Yinzu". I didn't even know what Yinzu was: a village? A town? Regardless, it seemed like a good pretext for an adventure.

Then Freddy, who speaks Chinese much better than me, managed to find the name in Chinese character. Yinzu was there, on my Baidu Map app (equivalent to Google Map in China), 90 kilometers away from Wuhan.  Ideas for routes were starting to take shape in my head for some time.

In the middle of June, I was having a three days weekend for the Dragon Boat Festival so I said to myself: "Yinzu, I'm coming"!

One day before leaving, I checked the weather forecast: they announced rain for 3 days and a very hot weather (33-35 degrees) ... Ouch ... But, if we are still waiting for the right moment to leave, we will never go on a tour right? “It's raining”, “it's too hot”, “it’s too humid”: these are no excuses! Especially in the Wuhan region, where there are only two seasons (very hot and humid or cold):  that doesn't leave many opportunities to ride if we wait for the perfect weather. So I decided to leave, raining or not.

The last time I rode my bike in bad weather, I wasn't prepared. I ended up with plastic bags around my shoes and a soaked underwear. After this experience, I had searched the internet for the perfect solution to ride in the rain. Overshoes? Good brand raincoat? 10 yuan plastic poncho from street grocery stores? The solution finally came from my British friend Jack: "You must embrace the rain ! Just remove your shirt and ride in sandals"! He was not wrong: in fact, why bother ? Especially with temperatures around 35 degrees, you are dry in 5 minutes ... So I grabbed a 15 Yuan rain shorts (a kind of ugly short made by trash bag material) because I don't like having my underwear wet - yes I know, I'm a little princess -, Decathlon sandals, and for the t-shirt, well… I'm really not a fan of riding with a cycling jersey, so a punk band tee-shirt will have to do !

The day before departure, I loaded my two bike rack bags, I took food (oatmeal and dried fruits for breakfast, and some dehydrated dishes), some clothes, a raincoat which in the end I didn’t use, an Italian coffee maker (instant coffee, no thanks), repairing tools, then equipment for camping (tent, sleeping bag, mattress etc.). Sleeping in a hotel is for a looser, I am a real adventurer... well that's what I thought before leaving…

Sunday 8 am, departure. It didn't seem to be raining, so now was a good time to go. The first 50 km were on a big dusty expressway, I could feel that I was in the suburbs of Wuhan: here and there, construction sites, bridges and roads under construction. I hadn't done 30 km before my bike was already very dusty. No problem, it gives me a feeling of adventure.

The Expressways in China are widely used by trucks… not necessarily super fun to ride, but it allows you to get out of town quickly. Well, positive note, the roads are often very wide here and you really have room to ride. I was trying not to think about the trucks and enjoy my trip, much like when your buddy is snoring next to you, if you start to think about it too much, you will go crazy and it will be impossible to think of anything else. But everything went very well and I never felt unsafe on the road during the whole trip.

The advantage of going on a short 3-day test trip is I learned a lot.

First lesson of this trip: do not trust the weather forecast. The rain they predicted? I hardly saw it…  In fact, it was under a blazing sun that I had to ride the entire trip. They have an easy job, those weather broadcasting guys! Basically they write that there's a 50% chance that it will rain… not a big risk-taking on their part…

So finally, I rode in the blazing sun, and on an express way, there wasn't a single patch of shade. The sun hit hard! As I had already tanned well on my previous bike trips, I figured that I was not too prone to sunburn.

Second lesson: always wear sunscreen, even if you already had sunburns before! And above all, do not wait until you are sweating to put it on, otherwise, it makes a kind of mixture between sticky perspiration, sunscreen and dust...

Well, the sun didn't worry me more than that, at worst a sunburn. ... it was more in terms of hydration that I had to be careful. So I decided to tape bottles on the frame of the bike.  DIY spirit! I also had with me some rehydrating powder to add to the water, since you lose a lot of salt with perspiration.

Anyway, I rode like that for quite a long time, and on the way, I passed a little hand-built house where people were selling water. Seeing me sweating heavily, they invited me to sit on a stool placed in front of a fan. So it was true: when people see a cyclist arriving on a trip, moreover a foreigner coming out of nowhere, smiles and kindness appear.

We talked a bit about the usual topics: Where are you from? What is your job? Are you married? What are you doing here? Then, after a few minutes, the father invited me to eat. At first I politely refused, but eventually I gave in. It is heartwarming to see the hospitality of the people especially at this time, when many Chinese people are scared to see a foreigner, thinking he may have brought covid-19 from abroad. It’s a bit tiring sometimes to see people pinch their noses when they see me on the street, I have to admit. But not at all here. They apologized for only offering me vegetable dishes, no meat, but in fact I was more than happy to eat fresh vegetables from their garden. We chatted about everything and nothing during the meal and it was already time to leave. I would have liked to drink beers longer, but I hadn't come to get drunk. I had a trip planned: Yinzu was waiting for me.

I got back on this big road but after a few kilometers I started to wonder. I hadn't come to go for kilometers on a boring road while being shaken by trucks ... Hence my third lesson of this trip: prepare your route well. Basically there are different types of roads in China that start with a letter: the S and G are the expressways where there are a lot of trucks, little shade, but that has the advantage of going straight and faster. Perfect for traveling for kilometers quickly and out of cities. But the X and Y are much more interesting country roads. Even if it takes detours, it is a change of scenery guaranteed. After these three days of biking, I learned that you have to know the right balance: ride the expressways to go quickly and far, especially when the landscapes are uninteresting. And take the small roads to ride peacefully, to discover rural life and be amazed by the landscapes.

So I changed my route on the GPS. Good decision: I crossed my first rice fields and I was finally over the moon.

Gradually, the landscape started to be really amazing and the colors of the landscapes became greener and greener.

Further on, I began to see mountains in the distance. It was my destination, it was these landscapes that made me want to go to Yinzu !!! The trip was finally starting to make sense. I was as excited as a kid over his Christmas present and all my doubts melted away

I rode like this all afternoon, with a smile on my face, despite the scorching heat.

Gradually, I began to wonder about where to sleep. I am always on the lookout when I ride, looking to see if there is a possibility of wild camping.

Lesson number 4: the rice fields are beautiful in photos but not ideal for camping ... It is not always easy to find a flat and, moreover, hidden place to have a good quiet night's sleep. The rural countryside is incredibly dense with crops and cultivated fields, so it's really not that easy to find a spot to camp. The solution might be to ask people in the area. Well anyway, I was heading to Yinzu and I could decide there.

I arrive near a pagoda and a temple in the middle of nowhere, on the way. What is that ? I asked a passerby, she reply "nothing". I thought she must have been surprised to find herself face to face with a smelly foreigner on a bicycle and told herself that I don't speak Chinese. In fact she was right: the buildings were completely empty, probably a future hotel still under construction.

Finally, a Yinzu sign. I was approaching my goal, but what exactly? I didn't even know what Yinzu was ...

So finally, Yinzu, is a small town which consists of a big main street with its restaurants, its stores. Everyone is surprised to see me there and I have fun seeing children speechless when they meet my eyes: "What can this foreigner on a bicycle be doing here?" I was so excited to have arrived at my destination that I didn't even take a photo of the city. I would also have liked to take pictures of people, but I didn't dare to do it.

I had to make a decision. Get out of Yinzu and find a place to sleep in the wild - I was still quite exhausted from the day's travel and the sunburns - or go and try to check in at the only hotel in the area. I say "try" because not many Chinese know it, but in China, many hotels do not accept foreigners. It is not really out of racism. No one really knows the reason: some say that cheap hotels do not have the computer system to register foreigners, others think that China wants to show only beautiful things to foreign tourists and they must therefore go to beautiful 4 star hotels. Well, I'm not criticizing, it's like that here and I accept it but it's still frustrating to live 15 years in a country, to work there, to be married there and to be refused in a hotel because you're a foreigner…

It makes it hard to plan a bike trip if you're not even sure you can find a place to sleep.

Anyway, whoever tries nothing has nothing and finally, I walked to the hotel without really believing it. The owner who ran the establishment did not even ask a question. I told him that I am a foreigner (sometimes people think I am from Xinjiang Province) just in case. He asked me if I had a Chinese identity card, but I replied with a smile that I only have a passport, that I came from Wuhan by bicycle and that if he wants, I have a photo of my Chinese wife's ID card. But he was very nice and gives me the room card, chatted a bit and even offered me tea.

I went upstairs to take a well-deserved shower. I was really sticky ... I realized that the sun had scorched me today ...

Lesson number 5: apply sunscreen everywhere, including your feet!

I was still a little disappointed with myself. Watching videos of people cycling around the world and camping in nature every night, I told myself that going to sleep at a hotel is a bit cheating, isn't it? But after 5 minutes under the air conditioning, I told myself that it was not that bad in the end. I travel for myself, not for others, and after a little over 100 kilometers in the day, I admit that a shower and a good bed made me feel good. Too bad for my adventurous soul...

I went out to eat something. In the street, I had the impression to rediscover the feeling that I had had when I arrived in China in 2006. It is a felling rather hard to explain. Once again, may be the surprise of people who greeted me with a warm "hello" and wanted to take a photo with me, or the number of street foods vendors who are hard to find in big cities nowadays. I ate a bowl of Lanzhou noodles, returned to the hotel and quickly fell asleep.

 The next day, I woke up feeling very tired. It was undoubtedly linked to the heat stroke of the day before. My feet didn't hurt too much. I had few small blisters on my knees but it could have been worse. I told myself that I shouldn't hang around too much. Better ride early to avoid the heat of the day. By arranging my things scattered all over the place and loading the panniers on the bike, I was already sweating profusely… The day was going to be hot… I put on sunscreen (I had understood my mistake of the day before). I decided to go towards Wuhan but not by the same road because it is boring to take the same route as on the way there. There is a big lake 50 km south of Wuhan, which is perfect because I have never been there before.

The road to the lake was once again beautiful. I passed through villages and small towns, lakes, rice paddies, cornfields. Such a nice place to ride a bike.

Every now and then, I chatted with people at a gas station, or with a watermelon vendor who kindly offered me his stool to eat in the shade and chatted with me.

It was still very hot, but the sun was not too strong. In fact, I can handle the heat really well. I can ride in high temperatures with no problem but on the other hand, when the sun is burning my skin, it's really hard for me, especially from 10 am to 4 pm.

While riding under the sun, I was wondering about my next trips. Since I got back to cycling, I have dreamed of doing part of the Silk Road by bike from Lanzhou to Dunghung in Gansu Province, basically a road through the desert (with cities between). I was starting to realize that my dream was not going to be so easy to achieve. How to ride all day without shade? I guess someone should really be prepare for a trip like that.

I tell myself that in the end, I was smart enough not to jump straight into such a long adventure. Rather than directly embarking on a 20-day adventure and experiencing difficulties, I did things gradually: first short distances in Wuhan to get used to the bike, then trips of 100 kilometers in Wuhan, then a two-day trip, a mountain to climb to test my willpower and finally a slightly longer trip.

Around 11 am, the sun reappeared but I decided to go to the lake without taking too many breaks. I still should have left two hours earlier though (I left at 8 am) to avoid the strong sun radiation.

Gradually, the landscapes changed a little, the mountains in the distance disappeared and the vegetation changed. I would have liked to stay in the area longer but I had to go back to work. Next time I should ride longer.

When I got to the lake, I realized that in fact, I was not really in the place I hoped for. Make no mistake, it was very beautiful, but it wasn't really a big lake. Rather square ponds designed for fishermen.

But I was still super happy to find myself a little shade by the water with my friends the hens who came to visit me and sometimes fishermen who came to chat with me.

The place where I was, however, was not really ideal for camping because it was too close to a road. I didn't want to be woken up in the middle of the night by strangers. Besides, my mate Jack told me that while sleeping near this lake, a farmer kindly asked him to leave in the middle of the night few years before.

So after I had rested for an hour, I left to look for a more hidden place. The camp spot I found was not perfect - It wasn't by the water – but I could be invisible at night. I know that many travelers love to set out to find a place to camp. It’s like a game for them. Me, I always have a little apprehension of doing wild camp. This must be probably related to my inexperience in wild camping. But hey, after an hour of imagining the worst, I told myself that I was not risking much and I had to try to make the most of the present moment.

So I made a meal while waiting for night to fall to put my tent discreetly. I didn't want to attract the attention of the local fishermen either.

As I entered the tent, ready to sleep, I felt really stupid. The tent was like a real sauna!! In terms of insects, I was well protected by the mosquito net but the heat was really difficult to bear. I couldn't open the tent door or else I would be eaten alive by the bugs… I could hear them circling around the tent, attracted by a sweating smelly human and my phone light. So I had a hard time falling asleep. Usually, after a day of cycling like this, you can easily fall asleep around 9 p.m... I still told myself that the hotel in this season is nicer and that would save me from carrying a tent and sleeping gear (and a new lesson learned, a sleeping bag is useless in this season). The hammock could be the solution, I have one with an extra mosquito net, but I don't sleep very well in it... a new lesson learned on this trip !

Finally, I woke up at dawn. After packing all my mess, I had breakfast and a little coffee for the road.

I had around 50 kilometers to ride that day to get home and I had to work in the afternoon. The return went well, I followed a few roads lined with fields of tea and corn, but the landscapes were gradually less pleasant and more and more urban.

  I finally arrived around midday at home. I had ride 230 kilometers with 1200 meters of elevation gain. That was not bad in this heat.  At the end, I was super happy doing this trip: I had learn a lot for my future trips, I enjoyed the ride, saw beautiful landscapes, and met some nice people… I had beautiful memories in my head and only one desire: to leave again as soon as possible!!!

[desperationandgin]

Summer (Gift of) Time (Summer of Smut #2)

Rating: Mature

Author: desperationandgin

Summary: With Jamie's help, Claire attempts to get her garden ready for planting. But it's hot, and someone has other ideas.

Also Read on: AO3

A/N: Here we go, smut ficlet numero dos! I hope you all enjoy and much love and thanks and SO MUCH APPRECIATION to @smashing-teacups and @missclairebelle for reading it, letting me bounce ideas off of them, and for betaing!

The heat in North Carolina in mid-July was, to be perfectly honest, some of the worst I’d ever endured, save for being stranded on an island with no water or relief from the sun. The Ridge felt as if it were on fire from the earth beneath us, heat rising up and setting the rest of the world a blaze.

It likely only felt that way because I’d spent the morning and early afternoon bent over it, trying to turn over the soil in order to prepare my garden for fall planting. Leafy greens and tomato plants were the objectives, along with Brussels sprouts. The latter wouldn’t be all that popular in America until the next century, but it hadn’t been hard to find kindly German immigrants in Wilmington willing to make a trade; a handful of seeds for a rooster and a chicken that would give them eggs and therefore chicks (and more food) later.

I was grateful for the opportunity to plant hearty vegetables to get us through winter (which I knew could be just as brutal as the summer), but it was hard to feel any sort of way other than sticky and done by the time mid-day arrived. It was just Jamie and me, as Ian was spending the day with John Quincy Myers learning how the delicate barter system with the Natives worked. As such, my propriety in regards to clothing had flown out the window, and while trousers weren’t uncommon for me to wear anymore, one of Jamie’s shirts hadn’t yet made it into my routine until now. It was too hot for skirts and stays, and after our meal, I disappeared to change clothing while Jamie went back outside.

When I reappeared, I wore one of his too-large shirts, tucked in so far I was sure the hem was visible at the bottom cuff of my trousers. I’d rolled the sleeves all the way up, and one side mostly hung off of my shoulder, but overall, it was better than all of the heavy material I’d been wearing. Leaving the house with a fresh bucket of water for us both to drink from, I set it down between us and kneeled in the section of dirt opposite Jamie.

“Did you remember to put more lotion on your face?” I asked, trying to get a good look at his skin. With no such thing as sunscreen and a red-headed husband prone to burning, I’d done my best to make a salve as close to sunblock as I could. It was a blend of almond, carrot, and red raspberry seed oil in a hand cream; not nearly as good as something with zinc, but better than nothing.

“Aye, Sassenach, I—”

His words stopped abruptly and I looked up, only to find him staring directly at my chest. Looking down to see what he was gaping at, I realized the low-cut shirt — suitable for Jamie — was giving him a perfect view of fabric hugging the curve of a breast. Rolling my eyes, I smirked at him. “Enjoying the view?”

“Is that my shirt?” he questioned somewhat dumbly. His eyes hadn’t moved back to his work yet, but they did roam my form now, or what he could see of it while I was on my knees digging.

I snorted, huffing and vigorously pulling at dead vegetation from winter. “It is. Your clothing is more practical and well-suited for being under the sun all day,” I pointed out, glancing back up at him as he seemed to reluctantly pull his eyes away and resume his job.

“I dinna mean to point out the obvious,” Jamie began, turning over soil. “But my own shirt tends to come off before I’m finished for the day, on account o’ the heat. It may be cooler now, but I promise ye, it will begin to feel the same as anythin’ else,” he assured me.

He wasn’t the only stubborn one in our family, and I jutted my chin out. “We’ll see. I’m not so sure; I think you enjoy watching me admire you,” I accused with a grin I tried to bite back. Mostly, I failed at the task.

“And ye think that’s why I remove my shirt?” he asked, having the nerve to sound affronted while gaping at me.

His tone was too much, and I laughed before I could stop myself. “I’ll never believe you if you say otherwise,” I admitted, eyes dancing in good humor at him.

Jamie grumbled, but couldn’t quite hide the smile I glimpsed before ducking his head.

“On the other hand, you do work hard all day,” I allowed. “You tend to roast in the sun longer than I do. I worry about that, you know. Skin isn’t supposed to burn and peel, generally speaking. The longer you can keep your shirt on, the better.” I did enjoy looking at him, but winced in sympathy each time he returned to me looking like a boiled Maine lobster.

This time when he peered at me, his features were softer and his eyes remained on mine. “I ken ye worry, but ye do well to take care of me. At least, I’ve no complaints.”

That earned him a kiss across the barely-there crops before we both focused on our respective jobs. By the time the sun began to shift from its highest point over toward the west, I felt as though dirt were sticking to my skin via sweat. Pausing, I made my way toward the water bucket, bringing out the ladle and taking a healthy swallow before contemplating the amount of water left. Dipping back in, I held the spoon in front of my face, imagining rivulets of liquid mercy flowing over my skin. Before I could talk myself out of it, I slowly poured the entire ladle full of water down my chest, closing my eyes at the cool blessing of it. Then, I did the same to my back.

Letting out a soft breath, I turned back to my duty only to find Jamie staring right at me, eyes wide and dark. Although I knew my soaked shirt had turned translucent and clung to my skin, I hadn’t expected it to garner this exact reaction. For one, it was so bloody hot, the idea of creating more heat exhausted me. Besides which, we were nearly done, and had spent all day kneeling; we weren’t old and stiff quite yet, but it was enough to make my joints alert me to their aging presence.

None of that seemed to matter to Jamie.

When he swallowed, I could see his Adam’s apple bob up and down. His shirt was indeed off by now; he’d removed it an hour ago, and I’d stubbornly not complained at all about my sweat-laden shirt seeming heavy and oppressive. While his eyes traced the dark outline of my nipples against the shirt, my own roamed his chest salaciously and without shame.

Christ, he might as well have been carved from stone.

“Mo maise,” he drawled quietly, and I furrowed my brow. That was a new one.

“What was that?”

Jamie blinked and finally looked up, meeting my eyes. “The only thing I could think to say. My beauty.”

I felt myself blush, cheeks warming beyond what the sun provided. “Hardly. I feel like a melted candle.”

He made a grunting noise in the back of his throat. “And now the fabric’s only half-dry, and it’ll feel like ye’re steamin’.”

“What, you’d have me take off my shirt in the middle of the garden?” I attempted to balk.

“No.” Jamie’s voice had dropped an octave, which made my eyes meet his again.

Just that one, evocative change, and I knew I would give him anything he wanted.

“I’d have ye remove my shirt in the middle of the garden.” Slowly, Jamie stood from his kneeling position and watched me. It seemed as though his gaze was on fire, making small flames of want lick at my belly.

“You’re serious?” I asked, wetting my lips and feeling my stomach tighten in anticipation, forgetting any earlier complaints about the heat.

“Oh, aye. Fair’s fair, Sassenach. Ye’ve been eyeing me all this time. ‘Tis my turn,” he decided, a somewhat smug smile on his face.

Rolling my eyes in mock annoyance, I crossed my arms over myself and pulled the shirt up from the bottom, draping it over the fence before turning to face him. Without his having to ask, I pulled my curls free so that the long, wild mess of them flowed freely down my shoulders. I watched his lips part but no sound spilled forth, though idly, he wiped his hands on a cloth hanging from his belt. Now, I was the smug one, and I made my way closer to him.

“Now what, Mr. Fraser?” I asked as one finger dragged down the center of his chest slowly.

When his hand cupped my breast, I closed my eyes at the contrast between my still slightly cool skin and his scorching touch.

“I need to have ye, Sassenach,” he panted against my ear. “Every way I can.”

I pulled my head back to look at him, an eyebrow arching. “In the dirt? Scandalizing my poor plants?”

His hand had worked itself into my trousers; before I could feign protest, his thumb glided across the overheated center of me, and I whimpered.

“If ye can hold out I’ll take ye into the house, but do ye ken, Sassenach? I dinna think ye’ll stop me.”

The bloody bastard was right; he hadn’t even finished his sentence before I wrapped one arm around his neck and the other slung around his hip. My lower half rocked of its own accord, and I dragged myself against his fingertips, eliciting a moan from both of us. I don’t know who began sinking to the ground first; I was only aware of it when his fingers plunged into me and I gasped in pleased surprise. With Jamie, it took very little to make me want him, and he groaned to find me slick and ready. I thought that meant he’d be burying himself inside of me, but instead, he kept his hand right where it was.

Flat on my back, I could feel moist soil against my skin and Jamie’s mouth floating over mine. Reaching out, my hands grasped at his sides, needing an anchor as his fingers curved inside of me, searching for what he knew was there. As he touched, his nose grazed the tip of mine and his lips hovered, breathing the same air with me. His free hand was in my hair, fingers gliding in the same motion as his hand below. Out of breath, I made lazy attempts to catch his mouth with my own, opening my eyes as he denied me.

His focus was intently on mine, and as I met his gaze he smiled, face warm and soft with it. My own smile pulled at the corners of my eyes, causing a pattern of wrinkles to form from years of smiling at him exactly like this. Languidly, my hips rocked in time with the movement of his hand, and I had to close my eyes, tilting my head back. I felt him move from my hair, taking the back of his hand and dragging it along my jawline, letting his knuckles graze my skin. As pleasure wound in my belly, I whimpered and pleaded, opening my eyes only to lunge at him with my mouth.

“I want you inside of me,” I panted, flashing back for a moment to a campfire twenty-five years ago.

His smile proved he recalled the same moment, and repeated now what he’d said then.

“I want to watch ye, Sassenach,” he murmured, and I couldn't say I minded.

As his fingertips grazed my mouth, I pressed my lips to them and he moved faster, causing my back to arch and my arousal to slick his path, making his touch faster, easier. His free hand once again drifted down my breastbone, and I wondered if he could feel the way my heart slammed. His eyes locked on mine, and as my pleasure hit a crescendo, I pressed my forehead to his until finally, finally he gave me his mouth to sink into. Crying out his name into our kiss, I pressed my hips into his touch until I shattered into oblivion, one hand holding his curls in a death grip, the other grabbing a fistful of earth.

Jamie eased me down slowly, fingers sliding from my body only to graze the insides of my thighs. I could feel his smile against my mouth as I relaxed and let out a soft breath of contentment.

“Christ, do ye ken how perfect ye are?” he breathed out, the question rhetorical, as I slowly dragged the tip of my nose up his cheek. When his hand withdrew, he brought his fingers to his lips, holding my gaze as he licked them clean one at a time. “I dinna think a wee taste will do,” he decided as his mouth began to blaze a trail down my body. For a moment, he doubled back to have his way with each breast before finally continuing on.

I wasn’t sure I fully processed his intentions until his hands were pushing my trousers down and my legs were complying of their own accord. Laying flat on his belly, Jamie pushed apart my thighs before burying his face between them, making me thank God for his enthusiasm. Both of my hands pressed into his hair, back arching as I sobbed out my pleasure. It was so close on the heels of my first climax that I found myself gasping and writhing beneath him in a matter of moments. Draping a leg over his shoulder, my hands restlessly moved through his hair, unable to stay still.

As my pleasure began to peak, Jamie roughly repositioned himself and yanked my hips forward, making me cry out sharply and arch. His tongue felt relentless as a hand moved up my chest and over a breast, squeezing with fervency. I panted, fingernails digging into his scalp as I held my breath and then, on a gasping cry of his name, peaked again with my thighs around his head like a vice. I felt him retreat, pressing a scorching kiss to my navel before rising over me, my hands reaching to shove at his trousers as our mouths met and tongues clashed.

“Christ, Jamie, it's so hot,” I whined as he guided himself into me. “I feel like I’m on fire.”

“I’ll burn beside ye,” he grunted, moving hard and fast within me, pressing my hands up and over my head. Every time he filled me I gasped, one arm wriggling free and hooking around his neck as he buried himself as deeply as he could, over and over again. I felt as though my skin was burning as my heart pounded with over-exertion. My vision swam and still, I leaned forward, biting at his shoulder. I felt him shudder and heard the sound of our hips coming together over and over again, a chaotic symphony that recounted a story of lust and bone-deep need.

“Tha gaol agam ort,” he mumbled into my hair; that one I knew.

“I love you,” I managed to gasp out, the effort to make the words taking all the air from my lungs. “I love you, too, Jamie.”

Dizzy with pleasure and overheating, I felt my body squeeze around his, and without warning, Jamie drove home twice more before spilling into me with a loud groan of my name. It was such a different warmth, this one flooding me from the inside out. His hips moved long enough for pleasure to ripple up and down my spine once more; quieter, lazier this time.

Panting heavily, he at least had the good sense to lie on his back beside me, rather than rest on top of me in the heat. My skin felt sticky and damp, and I could feel my hair clinging to my forehead and neck, wet with sweat. With my eyes closed, I was vaguely aware of Jamie moving away from me for a moment and then returning, settling beside me again. The yelp of surprise I gave as cool water trickled down my chest was quite undignified.

Jamie’s laugh had me opening my eyes to glare at him but I soon found I couldn’t help but return his smile.

“Mo luaidh,” he breathed out, leaning over to kiss me before helping me sit up and drink some water.

“What does that one mean, Jamie?” I asked after taking a few sips, passing the ladle over to him.

“My darlin’,” he said with a grin. “Weel, ‘my dear,’ to be more specific about it.”

I watched as he drank greedily, reaching out to run my hand up and down his shoulder. “I like all of the sweet names you call me,” I admitted, not for the first time, and with a soft smile.

“Ye inspire me to call ye many things in different languages,” he revealed, bending to kiss my forehead. A true act of love, considering how sweaty I was.

“Like what?” I all but purred, turning my head to nuzzle his jaw.

“Mon trésor,” he breathed out against my throat, and I smiled.

“Your treasure?” I asked, laughing quietly under my breath.

“My gift,” Jamie amended, shifting to stand and reaching out to help me up. Once I was on my feet, he pulled me into a kiss before dragging his nose up the bridge of mine. “Time gave me a gift, Claire.”

He nuzzled my temple before kissing my forehead once more. Kneeling, he gathered our clothes, cradling them in the crook of one arm, then reaching for my hand with his free one.

“Come, Sassenach, before we press our luck wi’ Ian returning home.”

“Christ, that’s all we need,” I agreed, shaking my head and walking beside him. “I want to get you in some cool water before I rub aloe into your skin,” I decided, fussing over him already. But inside the house, I tugged at his hand until he turned and faced me.

“You’re a gift to me too, Jamie.”

His smile made joy well as tears in my eyes, and our foreheads met once more.

The heat was all but forgotten.

[letsperaltiago]

you are the sun in my universe, considered the best when we've felt the worst |Jake x Amy|

So this took me 5000 months to write and it ain’t even proof read or that good. Sorry:))) bUT ENJOY

Here’s Peraltiago plus babies at the beach because summer also lol the title is basically longer than the fic 

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 To Jake and Amy vacation used to be equal time off and away from the daily stress, seeking a temporary hideaway in a foreign city or even country. They’d align their vacation days in order to leave behind the 9-9, perps, evidence, late nights and paperwork for a week or two. This was somewhat still true. They’d still abandon the 9-9 and work life in Brooklyn but their newly founded family of four wasn’t to be left behind. It definitely wasn’t, Jake thought as he carried his and Amy’s 4-year old and also first born daughter on one arm through, what felt like, the deep sand of some beach in the famous state of California. His other arm was pulled down by carrying a quite huge hard plastic cooler filled with provision for the little family’s day at the beach. Because of his job which required exactly this, Jake thought he was in decent if not good shape. That was until he’d come face to face with a new kind of physical requirement: the parent-stamina. A stamina that would still occasionally beat his ass even after 4 years of trying to crack its code. A small cry from behind him immediately and on instinct caught his full attention.

“You doing okay, Ames?” He snorted, out of breath, with a heaving chest, slightly worried about his wife who was carrying a beach bag with towels and other necessities along with their 2-month old daughter.

“Yeah, but lets not waste any more time looking for a ‘perfect spot’,” she breathed obviously exhausted from the complicated mini-hike featuring small children. “Holly (Yes, Jake did indeed convince his wife to name their daughter after a Die Hard-character) is getting fussy. She’s probably hungry.”

Knowing that a hungry 2-month old daughter of his was no joke, Jake quickly waddled through the sand to an open spot amongst many other people marking it as theirs by planting their first born’s bare feet in the sand. “There, Marcy. Could you please help mommy by grabbing the beach bag, so she can give feed Holly? Show me how strong you are!”

The 4-year old’s high pony-tail swayed in the beach breeze as she with effort ran a few feet back to grab her mother’s bag from her shoulder. “You sure it’s not too heavy, baby?” Amy couldn’t help but worry as she carefully let the bag slide off her shoulder and into her daughter’s tiny arms all whilst balancing the infant on her other arm. “It’s okay. I’m strong, you know? Like you and daddy.” With a muted thud the beach bag hit the ground obviously too heavy. Yet before either Amy or Jake could help out their oldest was struggling yet managing to drag the bag through the sand. The parents’ eyes met under the warmth of the sun, shining with amusement yet also pride as they silently admired their oldest daughter’s admirable willingness to always find a solution.

“Here… Daddy,” the little one breathed out heavily as soon as she was within an arm’s length from her dad.

Within milliseconds Jake reacted to his daughter implicit call out for help and grabbed the bag from her, leaving behind the parasol he’d previously been fiddling with in order for his wife and youngest to rest in its shade.

“Thank you, baby,” he swiftly placed the bag as to mark their territory for the day before pulling out the colourful beach towels which none of them had seen since last summer. New York, work and the colder seasons didn’t exactly call for beach towels or anything beachy at all. After folding out a few towels and soft plaids, the little family quickly settled down ready for a day in the sun and water.

“Lets go in the water, mommy!” Marcy gleefully screeched, jumping on the spot in excitement meanwhile Jake struggled to blow air into the arm floaties on her tiny arms.  

“First of all mommy can’t come right now. She’s giving Holly her lunch. Secondly,  you can’t go anywhere at all before these are fully blown, so stay still, please.” Jake Peralta was an overall very patient dad, but he did have his limits. Especially when it came to the safety of his children… and getting into the water as fast as possible! Gosh, he’d missed the beach!

“Shhh, Holly. Give me a second.” Besides him Amy was resting, sitting beneath the red sunshade, discreetly pulling up the oversized NYPD-shirt she’d borrowed for the occasion before shrugging off right side of her bathing suit. Merging with the crashing waves and screaming seagulls was the sound of Holly’s hungry wails, calling out for attention and more importantly food.

An almost silence crashed onto the shore and Jake didn’t have to turn his head to know that his youngest had finally latched onto her mother’s breast which meant the world was once again at peace. Yet, after having fixed Marcy’s second arm floatie he did throw a glance over his shoulder for the sole reason of taking in the beautiful sight of his wife cradling their baby in her arms whilst looking down on her with at ease, loving eyes. Both Jake and Amy knew from experience that being a newborn’s parent was hard work. Yet there were no hesitations or doubts when Amy one November evening, after putting Marcy to bed, had put aside her crossword to tell him the big news: they were going to be parents for the second time. Now, on a warm August day at the beach, she was here and whilst it had its ups and downs, the little family seemed more complete than ever.

“All good, Ames?” he momentarily kept his eyes on his wife as his supersonic parent-ears paid attention to Marcy and her giggles as she ran the last few feet down to the water’s edge.

Amy looked up from her infatuated dazing at her youngest daughter to send Jake a reassuring smile and nod. “Yeah. Except for the fact that you just let our oldest off without sunscreen.”

“Damn it,” Jake mumbled before throwing a glance in Marcy’s direction where she was currently squatting, still on the water’s edge, in order to touch the cool water. She knew better than to run into the water without her parents presence.

“But besides that you’re really nailing this beach-dad act,” Amy chuckled lovingly before running a free hand through her husbands wind-swept curls immediately earning herself a smile in return. After a few beats of silence it was bound to break and Jake knew the exact the words that would follow. “That said no way we’re letting her off without sunscreen, so you should probably go get her.” Her voice was firm with its order yet there was a slightly cocked eyebrow and guilty smile that let Jake know that she tried to be suggestive rather than bossy though Jake was the last person on earth to care. Her A-type personality was first and foremost endearing and respectable to him. Then, secondly, slightly intimidating and sexy.

“On it,” he pushed himself off the towel before jogging down to the water’s edge, where he playfully attacked his distracted daughter from behind before lifting and swinging him around in his arms. “I’m the sunscreen monster!” He roared along in what would be the horrible impression of a monster voice, as he carried her over his shoulder back towards their base. “I’m going to bring you back to my dungeon and keep you locked up until you’ve got your sunscreen applied!”

Gleeful and loud giggles were carried back with the breeze to the mother who couldn’t help but chuckle with sparkling eyes and wonder how she’d gotten this lucky.

“Noooo. It’s sticky and gross!” Marcy whined from where she was lying on his shoulder whilst also trying to fight her way out of his grip - hopelessly, that is.

“It’s upon order from mommy-sunscreen monster, princess,” Jake chuckled slightly out of breath from walking in the deep sand as he grabbed the little girl and sat her down on her towel. “… A-and daddy-sunscreen monster too, of course,” Jake corrected himself upon earning a disapproving glare from his wife that let him know she wasn’t about to let him get away with the blaming.

Quickly with no time to spare before Marcy (generally a prankster and with talents when it comes to getting away with quite literally anything) could escape, Jake grabbed the bottle of sunscreen and started applying it to the little human. Usual he found a lot of pride and entertainment in the fact, yet sometimes and in times like these, Jake hated that fact that his oldest was much more like him than like her mother.

“Ughhh, daddy. Noooo.”

“The sooner you lie still the sooner you’ll be free,” Jake sighed as he continued the task as he chose to straddle his daughter’s legs in order to keep her somewhat still - making sure to not crush her with his weight, of course. Impatience was a trait that grew on Jake along with his time as a parent. He would rarely get really upset or yell but Marcy, just like himself, had a tendency to test people’s willingness to put up with anything. “Marcia Santiago-Peralta, you’re going to be the death of me.”

Another breathy giggle escaped his daughter’s lip as she felt herself suddenly lack the power to fight anymore and suddenly lied still. Jake smiled as he finished off her upper body before moving off her legs to quickly apply the last bit of sunscreen in the palms of his hands to her tiny legs. “There you go! You’re a free woman now.”

Having barely turned back around from putting away the sunscreen, Marcy is up and clinging onto her still nursing mother’s shoulder. “I’m all ready now, mommy! Come into the water with me! You can just bring Holly along!”

Knowing that her oldest daughter could definitely feel the slight switch in the family dynamic ever since Holly was born, Amy didn’t blame Marcy for seeking attention. More than ever before, Amy at times felt like she was neglecting her oldest now that 90 percent of her energy was poured into taking care of a still very dependent and hopeless Holly. This was even considering the fact that Jake was an amazing dad who did everything within his power to help whichever way possible. A knowing, reassuring smile from across Marcy’s shoulder did help her feel slightly better, when she had to give the girl a sad smile and break the sad news. “I can’t right now, Marcipan. I’m so sorry.” She reached out and stroked the obviously disappointed daughter’s pouty cheeks. “Holly needs to go to sleep.”

Not liking the response, but more or less understanding, Marcy turned on her heels and took heavy steps towards the water. All running, bouncing and joy suddenly seemed to be somewhat sucked out of the little body which caused the mother to feel even more guilty. Automatically a guilty twist formed in her gut only to be followed by her upper teeth digging into her bottom lip.

“I feel bad…” A quiet confession slipped off her lips. Out of the corner of her eye she could see her husband’s head snap in her direction, immediately revealing his concerned yet as always endearing eyes.

“Babe…” He sighed whilst scooting in closer on the wide beach towel. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. Yes, Marcy might be a little disappointed right now but trust me; she knows that Holly needs a lot care and deep down she’s not holding it against any of us. We explained that to her before Holly was even born.”

“I know…” Her frustrated sigh was pressed against the child in her arms' forehead as she was placing a kiss to it before looking back up at her husband. “And I love them both so much it hurts, but having two small children is so hard, Jake. I want to give both of them my full attention, but there’s only so much I can do! And I miss work so much… ” Tears welled up in her eyes, threatening to spill.

This automatically drew Jake even closer, an arm around her back and a tender, long peck to her already sweaty temple. “I know and honestly, Ames?” He pulled back directing his gaze into hers, radiate the need to comfort his wife. He knew that the last few months had both been the biggest joy in their lives. Having not only one but two amazing daughters was truly something Jake had never imagined yet now couldn’t imagine being without. On the other hand, life had never been more chaotic. While they were a good team, dividing tasks between them, there was only so much Jake could do with Holly. He couldn’t physically feed her even if he wanted to… And even if it had nothing to do with breastfeeding, Holly seemed to be a total mommy’s girl who’d sometimes straight up scream-cry and refuse to be held by anyone else - even her father. Hence Jake taking care of Marcy a lot of the time. “… You’re doing an amazing job. I know I usually get up with Marcy in the morning and take her to daycare, but even then and on the days that I don’t? You’re such a super-mom. You have two children beneath the age of 5 in your care, and while you might be exhausted by the time I’m off work, you still nail it and I wish I could do the same for you…”

The few tears that had spilled on her cheeks had dried into her cheeks, allowing her smile to replace them. “You would go crazy, Jake… So long at home with them?” They both had to chuckle at that, before Jake’s expression was suddenly tinted with sincerity again.

“Honestly? I don’t think so. Sometimes I actually wish I had more time with them.” Now it was Amy’s turn to rest her head on her husband’s shoulder, letting him know that she was there to listen. “I barely see Holly during the day because I leave and come home when she’s asleep. I always hate dropping off Marcy at daycare, because honestly? I just want to hang out with her and do fun stuff. She’s such a smart, cool kid and I feel like I’m neglecting that because of work. Kinda like my dad…”

Red flag. Amy knew that once Jake started comparing himself to his dad, then whatever he was saying was causing him the strongest sense of insecurity. It was truly something that was eating him up inside. “Don’t you dare think that, Jake Peralta.” If her arms hadn’t been cradling their sleeping 2-month old, Amy would’ve reached out and cradled his heartbreakingly insecure face to let him know he was more than okay. “Look at me.”

From where his eyes had been staring at the static sand for way too long now, switching between that and keeping an eye on their daughter who was now enjoying herself as well as her beach toys by the water’s edge and staring numbingly at the sand, Jake listened to Amy and turned his head to meet her sincere, almost pleading, eyes. “You are not like your dad.” She couldn’t hold him in her arms or hands, but at least he was close enough for her to plant her forehead comfortingly against his. “The only reason why I haven’t gone absolutely mad is because I have the best co-parent to take some of the weight off of my shoulders. The fact that I don’t have to ask you to do things, because you know it’s a natural part of the job as parent and it comes to your instantly makes it so much easier for me. Even the little things… Like helping Marcy put on a DVD, grocery shopping on your way home from work or getting up in the middle of the night, when Holly cries to see if it something you can solve so I can sleep just a bit longer. All of those little things amongst many other are the reason why we actually enjoy our kids and each other. Without the balance it would be hell and I love you so much for that. Thank you.” She finished off her point by pecking the tip of her nose before pulling back to see a smile plastered across his face. Mission accomplished, she thought to herself.

“While it makes me feel kind of sad that you have to thank me, since apparently co-parenting and equality still isn’t a matter of course in today’s society…” He leaned down to peck the top of his daughter’s head before redirecting his lips to his wife’s for a peck as riot to straightening back up to look sincerely into her eyes. “Thank you. I never expected a thank you, but it’s nice to now that me doing my best is helpful, because I love you and our little family so much, Ames. More than anything. And if I knew that I wasn’t giving myself 200%? I would hate myself.”

“I love you so much too. And I hope I never come across as taking anything for granted - even when Holly is throwing up all over me, Marcy is screaming for something and the pasta is burning.”

They both had to laugh at the horrible yet recognisable situation. “I’m a white, cis male. Please, be my guest and take me for granted. I could use the humbleness.”

“Jake,” Amy had to roll her eyes.

“Too political?”

“For a day at the beach with our family after a heart-to-heart talk? Yes.”

“Sorry. Emotions make me uncomfortable?” He smiled sheepishly.

“I know, dork. But you’re doing fairly well,” she had to recognise with a teasing smile. “Now go have fun with our oldest, and I’ll join you as soon as Holly is done napping.”

After a last smile and peck to his wife’s warm, soft lips, Jake shot up from his spot on the beach towel. As by instinct and also the fact that his mentality shrunk to the one of a playing 10-year old, he jogged in the direction of his oldest daughter whilst letting out a roar and immediately earning a scream from her. Amy laughed upon watching him grab her, throw her over his shoulder and running into the waves as she screamed playfully. Soon enough they both dropped and were swallowed by the blue water, earning a giggle from Marcy who had the playfulness of her father.

Amy could not, even if she wanted to, help but smile and giggle along from a distance, because nothing was more wholesome than knowing that she’d picked the perfect father for her perfect children. Especially now that said perfect father was throwing said perfect daughter into the air and letting her drop into the water with a joyous scream.

[peachymhaechan]

“You know, you have pretty good taste.”

Genre: fluff, a tiny bit of angst I suppose, travel!au

Pairing: Hyuck x reader

Warnings: language, my guy

A/N: i’m uploading this after junior year is finished, hell yeah!! also, happy birthday my full sun, we all love you so much!! unrelated but im trying something other than bullet point scenarios for once?? who IS she

   It was four in the morning, the sun wasn’t out and the birds were not chirping. Instead, the sun was in the process of rising and all that could be heard was shitty airport music and the overpowering sound of airplanes taking off. The people passing by you were an odd mix: some passing layover time by getting drunk off their asses, some hustling to the next gate, some excited to go on vacations (Example that everyone has seen before: that middle class family of four headed to Disney World with matching Mickey and Minnie Mouse T-shirts with their names on the back) or see their families. You, however, happened to be in the group of people who had just finished vacation and were now back home, and dreadfully so. Who would want to go back to the boring and mundane after being at the beach with a group of friends for two weeks? 

   Taking your time to pick up your luggage, you stopped in the bathroom to pass time, as you wanted to avoid the initial rush to at the baggage claim. The first ten to fifteen minutes at the baggage claim were the worst because you had to deal with cranky tourists, crying babies, and overly loud people talking on the phone. After it felt like enough time had passed, you went to the baggage claim for your flight and waited to pick up your suitcase. It was black, with a hard exterior and no really notable qualities other than a yellow tag with your personal information written on it. 

   The bags all went around the conveyor belt a few times and you finally spotted your bag. Well, what you assumed to be yours; it was the exact same suitcase with a yellow tag, so there was no real need to be suspicious of anything or doublecheck the tag. Out of the corner of your eye, you noticed a boy who appeared to be your age grabbing a suitcase that matched yours to a T. He looked tired, like he had been running nonstop and was extremely exhausted, so you thought of complimenting his choice of travelling bags but stopped yourself. Just as you were about to leave, you felt a pair of eyes on you so you turned and found the boy with the same suitcase staring at you. He blushed at being caught but still gave you a small smile and bowing his head in a sleepy greeting. You did the same to him, giving him a small wave and saying, “You know, you have pretty good taste,” and gesturing to the bag. 

   He chuckled cutely, the noise making you blush immediately, and said, “You too.” With that, you both went on your merry ways, not thinking anything of the encounter or the fact that neither of you checked the damn tags to see if you took the other’s bag. Plot twist: you grabbed the wrong bag. 

   About one hour later you closed your apartment door behind you, slipping off your shoes and collapsing onto the couch. You threw your phone onto the charger and placed it onto the coffee table and as soon as your head hit your pillow, your eyes shut and you fell into a deep slumber, your body trying to get rid of the major jet lag. 

   The sun shining through the window and warming your skin woke you in the middle of the afternoon. Deciding that the amount of sleep you had gotten after getting home would be substantial enough for the time being, you got up and started to unpack. Laying the suitcase on your bed, you opened it up and it took you a second to realize it, but boy oh boy were you shocked. 

   That was not your suitcase. 

   How did you know? Well, because the last time you checked, you didn’t wear boxer briefs, especially not ones with lipstick kisses all over them. 

   “Fuck. Shit. Ass. Piss,” was all you could say as you closed it back up and went to check the tag tied around the handle. Lee Donghyuck, the name read, with a phone number scribbled next to it. You went into the living room to go and text the ever mysterious Lee Donghyuck, when the screen was illuminated with a text message from an unsaved number. 

   Hey Y/N, this is Lee Donghyuck from the airport. We had the same bag, remember? Well, I think you’ll find out pretty soon if you haven’t already that we have each other’s bags. Let me know when you’re free so we can swap, please!

   Sighing a breath of relief at the fact that at least the boy was polite and respectful about this awful situation, your fingers started moving over the keyboard to send a message back. 

   Hi Donghyuck, this is Y/N! I’m free all day, where would you like to meet up? We can go to a coffee shop by my house if that is okay with you. If it’s too far, no worries! We can just find somewhere else to go :)

   Not even seconds after you sent the message, Donghyuck sent a response asking which coffee shop you had in mind, and to send him the address. You happily obliged, wanting nothing more than to sort out this mess and get your stuff back. 

   Alright sounds good, I’ll see you there in about an hour !!

   It had almost been time to meet up when you started to head to the coffee shop you guys planned on. It was a little hole in the wall, mom and pop place that had stolen your heart (and money) ever since you moved to that little neighborhood. The best drink on the menu was their caramel macchiatos, the warmth from the beverage warming you to the core on the coldest winter days, and the ice in the cold version cooling you on the hottest summer afternoons. 

   The little bell above the door rang when you walked in, and the barista at the counter gave you a warm hello. “Y/N, how was your trip?” Jaehyun, the fulltime sweetheart and halftime barista, asked you, immediately making you your usual. Taking a seat at your normal spot by the window, you flashed him a grin and said, “Amazing. It felt so good to get away and worry about nothing other than putting on more sunscreen.” The tall boy handed you a steaming cup and before he could say anything else, the bell rang again. 

   Your eyes drifted to the door and you found yourself staring into the same eyes you had stared into earlier. Donghyuck stood in the doorway, not as recognizable, having changed from that morning. Rather than wearing sweatpants and a hoodie, he donned ripped jeans, a loose sweater, and clean sneakers. Rolling your suitcase right behind him, his eyes scanned the room for you, and you could pinpoint the exact moment he saw you. 

   “Y/N?” he hesitantly called, walking towards you. Jaehyun retreated to behind the counter, leaving you two to it. “Yes, hi, hello!” you confirmed, waving hello to the boy and finding yourself in shock when your heart skipped a beat at the sight of him running a hand through his faux golden locks. 

   “Ah, I’m sorry we had to meet like this,” he sheepishly told you, rubbing the back of his neck. He took a seat across from you, changing the view you normally got in your spot. Never in all your experiences at the shop had something or someone changed the view you had: the window to the outside, showing the little alleyway and any locals walking to some of the other shops. It came to you, then, that maybe you didn’t mind a bit of change if it was that cute. 

   “Oh, I don’t mind, really. I’m glad it happened with someone as respectful as you, though. You never know how people can be nowadays,” you said, taking a sip from your drink. “Would you like something to drink? Jaehyun is really good at what he does,” you said, nodding over to the barista who stood behind the bar, seeming bored out of his mind. 

   “Hmmmm…. what would you recommend?” he asked, stealing a glance at the bit of froth that gathered above your lip. 

   “The caramel macchiato is what I normally get. Both iced and warm, its great,” you said, gesturing to the beverage in your cup, a small smile on your face. 

   “Alright, then. I trust you. I’ll take a large caramel macchiato...” 

   Once Jaehyun had made the drink and refused any payment (and gave you a wink from behind Donghyuck, thank God he couldn’t see that), you two chatted for hours. The sun was starting to set before it dawned on you that you had been there for almost three hours, stomach sore from laughter and cheeks burning from smiling. Talking to Donghyuck felt like talking to an old friend, despite knowing him for less than twenty-four hours. In the short time you had spent together, you gathered that he was a sweet and caring boy, as he took care of his younger friends and his younger siblings, but that didn’t stop his whip-like tongue from throwing out witty remarks any time an opportunity arose. His sense of humor was very similar to yours, and his interests were the same as yours, so you two had endless topics to discuss. 

   “Oh my God, what time is it?” you asked, falling out of your stupor and dragging your gaze away from the boy’s beautiful curled lashes and the way they rested upon his cheekbones. You heard Jaehyun dramatically yawn behind the counter, causing you to roll your eyes as Donghyuck checked his watch and said, “It’s almost nine o’clock, I’m about to miss the next bus to get back to my house.” 

   “Well, I guess we should be leaving, then. Good night, Jaehyun, thank you for everything! The macchiato was great, as always.” You both stood up and gathered your things, switching suitcases and checking the tags this time just to be safe. You both shuffled out of the shop, sending a smile and a wave over your shoulder to the barista before standing in the middle of the doorway. 

   Standing there, you weren’t sure what to do or say, but then Donghyuck spoke up. “Thank you for agreeing to meet up with me, I appreciate it. A lot of people nowadays would have just mailed it to me or something, so I’m pretty grateful that you met up with me right away. Oh, and you’re pretty nice, too, so, um... maybe we can meet here again? If that’s okay with you, of course.” There was a crimson tint to his cheeks and you found it outright adorable that the boy blushed at the thought of seeing you again. 

   “I’d love that, Donghyuck! Thank you for not being a serial killer or something and recommending your house instead,” you told him, trying to lighten the atmosphere around you two and succeeding when you heard a little giggle escape his lips. “You really should be going now if you don’t want to miss that bus,” you said, giving him a smile. 

   “Yeah, you’re right... text me when you get home safe, okay? I feel terrible that I can’t walk you home.” He kicked at a rock on the ground, a small pout forming on his cherry red lips. 

   “I will, don’t feel bad! Have a nice night!” you exclaimed and, feeling particularly bold, leaned up to place a feather-light kiss on his already dusted cheeks. The seemingly outgoing boy froze on the spot, skin heating up and eyes widening and watching you pivot and wheel your suitcase away with energy in your step. 

   As soon as you got home, you flung yourself down on the bed and let your actions sink in finally. The memory of kissing his cheek made you all giddy and start giggling, before inevitably squealing into your pillow. Remembering what he told you before you were ever so adventurous, you pulled out your phone and sent him a quick text. 

   Okay, I’m glad you made it home safely! :)

   A few seconds later, you received another text, not giving you any time to recover form the first one.  

   Would you like to hangout tomorrow? If you’re available, that is! 

   Fingers flying over the keyboard and heart leaping out of your chest, you sent a reply right away. 

   I’d like that a lot, Hyuck

[leechanluvbot]

Make A Splash! | Boo Seungkwan

Maybe nearly drowning in the wave pool at Typhoon Lagoon wasn’t the highlight of your day, but finally talking to the cute lifeguard on duty sure was.

Part 1/13 of the Disney w/ SVT series! | masterlist here 

Genre: fluff, mini bit of angst, non idol!SVT, Seungkwan x reader 

Warnings: swearing, mentions of drowning and mini panic attack 

Recommended song: Candle Light - NCT Dream

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

Summer in Florida was especially hot this year

You and your friends were dying for a day off of this sweltering temperature 

So your close friend, Jennie, came up with a plan to beat this heat for one day at your house

“I’m so boredddd” Jiyho groaned, throwing her phone somewhere behind her

Your barely glanced up from your book that you were reading

“Go eat a popsicle or something then” you mumbled

“Boooo I don’t like your tone,” Jiyho yelled back

“I wanna do something fun for once! Like there gotta be something we can do” 

“Idea!” Jennie said sitting up quickly from your bed she was sitting on

“Lets go to the waterpark!” 

“Oh my gOD I haven’t been in years, y/n can we go??” 

You looked between the two rowdy girls, contemplating this idea 

I mean, what was there to loose? You loved the water and going to a waterpark genuinely sounded fun

Except for the fact you were not a strong swimmer 

You figured you would still go to swim, but nothing too crazy 

You threw your book down and stood up

“Fuck it, lets go” 

 An hour later, you and ur girlies drove over to the closest waterpark

Typhoon Lagoon 

“I haven’t been in years!” Jiyho said as you passed through the gates

“I wonder whats changed.”

Leaning back in the front seat, you also wondered the same thing

After spending a shit ton of money JUST TO GET IN i’m big mad about the one day pass like tf

Y’all found seats near the water to sunbathe 🤩🤩

Laying out your stuff, you just happened to look up for a second

And thought you had had developed sun stroke and went to heaven

Cause w h o was that fine ass angel in the lifeguard tower??

And apparently you said this out loud cause your friends immediately whipped their heads to check him out 

“He is cute” Jiyho whispered “Do you think he’s available?”she questioned, to which Jennie smacked her 

“Eyy y/n called dibs relaxed” Jennie grumbled

 But you weren’t listening

You were too focused on staring burning holes into that beautiful boy’s back

y/n stop being whipped challenge: failed 

You immediately made a pact with your friends to try and get this cute boy’s attention at all cost today

When he wasn’t busy that is!!! please don’t try to distract a working lifeguard 

Standing up straighter and smiling while sending little glances up at the chair, mission get y/n their man was a go 🤪👊🏼

Meanwhile, Seungkwan was bored™️

There was little to do at Disney, since everything was pretty much baby-proofed

expect for the wave pool, where he was currently stationed 

The amount of dumb tourists that were knocked down by waves and then proceeded to come to him to complain when it is literally called a wave pool was frustrating to say the least

Like he’s supposed to be on duty, what is he supposed to do, fight the pool? headass 🗿

So whlle he was grilling away in the heat, he decided to people watch

his personal talent

And his eyes landed on you and your rowdy friends

Mentally groaning to himself, he sat up straighter to make sure to keep extra watch on your group

It was always the rowdy groups that caused the most trouble 

Trying to not make it so obivous he was babysitting your group from far away, he only took sparring glances at your and your friends

Meaning he missed the signals you sent to him to,,, “flirt” if you can even call it that 

Which was frustrating,, to say the least

So with you growing more and more unconfident in making Kwannie turn, your friends immediately knew what they had to do when they got to the deeper part o the wave pool 

Which was faking you drowning

Sounds kinda desperate but how else were you gonna get his attention?? he’s a working man

Jennie cleared her throat after sending Jiyho a look

“Hey y/n, lets go in deeper!” 

You immediately got nervous with that 

“I don’t know guys,,, its already pretty strong over here, and its barely up to our thighs,,,”

 Jiyho just waved it off “You’ll be fine, you have us to hold you up<” Jiyho started

“And if anything goes wrong, mr cute over there can hold you up ;)))” 

“Y’all better not be planning my funeral” you warned wearly as they dragged you deeper into the water

Jennie + Jiyho: “Don’t worry!! You’ll live”

Watching you being dragged over to the deep end of the pool, Seungkwan started to really focus on you guys

Only to be blocked by Chan who stood in front of him

“Hyung, you can take break now, I got it” the younger boy stated

“Give me a couple more minutes” he muttered, eyes never leaving you and your friends

Chan followed his gaze over to the pool, where you were currently being dragged into shoulder height

“Ah! do you like one of them or something?” Chan said loudly

Seungkwan opened his mouth to say something when he heard a loud shout from the pool

Just as he thought, it was you that went under the waves

He cursed to himself, shoving Chan out of the way 

“Move fathead, I got this” he grunted before sprinting over to the scene 

Chan, ten seconds later: “fATHEAD?? BITCH-” 

Meanwhile during that short talk, you were trying to break free from your friends

“Guy I really don’t feel comfortable anymore, we’re almost over our heads!” you called, but they weren’t listening anymore

Struggling to break free, you coincidentally didn’t see the rather large wave coming towards you and your friends 

“Here we go!” Jennie shouted gleefully, as the wave crashed into the three of you 

Not expecting it, you took in a large gasp of pool water while under there, and were failing after Jennie and Jiyho let go of you

Panicking as if you forgot how to swim, your body completely went into fight or flight mode and you started to flail 

This in turn, made things worse

Just as your boy was about to completely knock out from sheer terror, a strong grip grabbed your arm and yanked you up

Sputtering and thinking it was Jennie you turned to give her a piece of your mind

Instead you found yourself being dragged to the land with a concerned Jennie and a near tears Jiyho behind you, the two apologizing profusely

Putting two and two together you slowly turned to see none other that the cute lifeguard from before,,, shit 🗿

Finally hitting ground where you could stand you gently pried your arm out of his grip

“I-I can stand from here,, but t-thank you for all your help,,,” you said awkwardly

He turned and gave you a hard look 

Expecting him to yell a you, you prepared for the worst

But wasn’t expecting his reaction  “It’s my job” Seungkwan said with a laugh, “Are you in need of any other assistance now that you have my attention?”

This was the opportunity you friends had been waiting on

“Actually yes!!” Jiyho started, briskly walking over to you two

“She’s still a little weak on her feet, could you maybe help her??” 

And guess what 

THE BITCH SHOVED YOU 

SHOVED YOUR WHOLE BODY ON SEUNGKWAN HJDKDF

BRUH IF IT WANS’T BAD ENOUGH-- THE GIRL DON’T QUIT 🗿

Seungkwan, as if he was expecting it, caught your flying body before you knocked the two of you over

“Careful now, you did nearly swallow the whole pool” he joked 

“Watch it” you said gently hitting his arm

As unprofessional as it was, Seungkwan couldn’t help but admit that you were really pretty,,,

He couldn’t really tell from afar and underwater, but damn

Boy was: whipped

SO he was gonna try and milk any time he could have with you 

“Maybe we should have you checked out, just to make sure” he said

“YES! She would love that!” Jihyo blurted, making you turn pink

Smooth Jiyho. 10/10 

“O-oh? Your face is turning red,” Seungkwan said, feigning ignorance. “ I think we should at least give you sunscreen or a some water.” 

So with that said, he took you over to one of the huts selling drinks and bought you one

“Wait-” you started but he raised a hand. 

“No need,” he said with a smile. “After all, it’s my job.”

“At least let me pay you back somehow,,” You said ”I feel bad that you saved me and bought me water.” 

“Just your name with be enough” smooth, Kwan

“It’s y/n” you said, sticking your hand out. “And you? What’s yours? Or should I keep calling you the cute lifeguard that saved my life?” 

Now its Seungkwan’s turned to be flustered uwu

“I’m Seungkwan. But cute lifeguard works too,,,”

After returning to our friends with your water and a comfortable silence between you and Seungkwan, you turned to him

“When’s your next break? Maybe,,, if you want company,, I can chill with you while they go swim?” you questioned bashfully 

“I would love that”

During his short yet sweet break, you guys got to know each other better 

Seungkwan tried to finesse the system and tried to make Chan take his second shift 

“Im helping the poor soul who nearly drowned! D R OW N E D, Chan. I’m in a therapy session right now shut up” 

Chan, not having it: Shut up bitch- IF YOU THINK FOR  A SECOND YOU’RE GETTING OFF FOR CALLING ME FATHEAD 😤 

RIP Seungkwan 

Later, as you were finally leaving the pool, Seungkwan jogged up to you stopped you yet again 

“Wait!” He said, nearly out of great from running from his shift

“I know it’s a little early but, can I get your number?”

*Cue internal screeching*

“S-sure!” And with that the two of you shot each other a quick text so the other would have the number saved

As you sat in the car talking to the two troublemakers up front, your phone dinged once more

Cute lifeguard 😊💞: hey, when can I see you again?

You nearly made Jennie crash the car after the scream you let out LMAOO

And once you told the girls, they screamed too DBDJDB

Texting back quickly you responded with:

You: I’m free Friday night, if you wanted to catch the Disney fireworks?

Cute lifeguard 😊💞: works for me! See you then! 😆

BRO WHO LET BOO SEUNGKWAN BE THIS CUTE

me that’s who 🤪

Putting the phone down and grinning, you couldn’t help but be excited for whatever was next to come with you and Seungkwan

Who knows, maybe this summer will be a memorable one with a boyfriend?? Only time would tell ;))

[cresfunnisy1975-blog]

It isn worth my time or energy. I have better, more important shit to do with my life than spending it on figuring out how to get a girl to fuck me for a night. And I don even want to get into this whole idea of plates. When I saw these beautiful, happy girls buying expensive products, it was definitely somewhat damaging for me. I felt like I needed those items too in order to be happy, even though I absolutely couldn afford them. It gave me a pretty warped perspective. We solved it by putting her down awake and letting her cry it out at that point. It was hard the first night she cried 15 minutes and I felt so guilty but we had 6 8 weeks of interrupted sleep so I was desperate. The second night was 5, and the nights after she cried 2 3 minutes and was out. It could just be my own philosophical leaning of Existential Nihilism that influences my statement. Existentialism is making your own meaning for life, but objectively there is no true meaning to the universe, and if the world were completely destroyed at this moment, it wouldn objectively be a tragedy because no one is around to be upset by it. A person suicide is indeed tragic for those who survive them, but for the person it could mean an end to a very painful existence, so I do not think less of those who commit, because in some ways it takes a lot of bravery to end one life.. Plus you don't know that mum's situation. That 8 dollars could be 1 transaction in hundreds that that kid has done. Or it could be what's going to keep them fed that night. It helped me a lot too.The gist of it is that he apologized sincerely for the N word 청도출장안마 incident, which I personally thought was the worst. Plus, he's creating smarter content, especially compared to other big Youtubers. He also brought some great points about controversies like Shande Dawson's videos, the Paul brothers, and Youtubers promoting BetterHelp. Edit: Fun fact: Even when there is a heavy traffic during rush hours, even in our capital, people create a so called of life all drivers move to the sides doing whatever they can to make a passage wide enough to let ambulance drive through. By law such vehicle cant be obstructed, but nothing forces us to go to extremes do that, we don learn it at driver school. Even that asshole in BMW that cut you off 2 minutes before will drive into a mud to do it, it just common sense here.. The type of lipstick you use also plays a key factor. Obviously, glosses are gonna be harder to maintain and keep from being 청도출장안마 messy even with a lip liner. I generally gravitate towards bullet lipsticks as I find them to be the most comfortable, but there are some liquid lipsticks on the market that I really love. 3 points submitted 11 days agoI think a glaring issue is the console port. Its so painfully clear that it was made for a console to navigate, none of it makes any sense from a PC perspective. I love anthem, and I have a lot of post defending it, but the UI has nothing good about it other then its "flashy" which is not functional.Division 2 def had a lot to say with the release. I thinking of buying the Rohto Sunplay Sunblock, SunBears Super and Super Cool sunscreen (suggested by Ratzouile). Have you heard of these before? But I also want to get all these baby sunscreens SuhadaFit UV Baby Milk,ISEHAN SUNSCREEN UV Mild Milk,ISEHAN Kiss Me Japan Sunkiller Kids Sunscreen Milk,Isehan Japan Kiss Me Mommy! UV Sunscreen Mild Gel.They don have the greatest protection, lowest SPF30 38 but they do have PA+++. I just get excited and just find as many as possible when that probably a bad idea.

[creacenarroug1971-blog]

For something that's so widely available in stores and on the internet, CBD's legal status is murky. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) classifies it as a Schedule I controlled substance, just like marijuana, according to DEA spokesperson Katherine Pfaff. The agency doesn't distinguish between CBD extracted from a high THC cannabis plant of the sort grown to produce marijuana and CBD that comes from hemp, a form of cannabis that contains only a tiny amount of THC. That girl wanted out of the abusive situation she was put in by her own mother. It wasn't even that she "played along". She was under the control of her mother. They were two perfectly insignificant and incapable individuals, whose existence is only rendered possible through the high organization of civilized crowds. Few men realize that their life, the very essence of their character, their capabilities and their audacities, are only the expression of their belief in the safety of their 고령출장샵 surroundings. The courage, the composure, the confidence; the emotions and principles; every great and every insignificant thought belongs not to the individual but to the crowd: to the crowd that believes blindly in the irresistible force of its institutions and of its morals, in the power of its police and of its opinion. The day of EMDR is exhausting so make sure you plan to do nothing afterwards except take care of yourself. My routine after a late afternoon session involved sitting in my dark bedroom playing on my phone until bedtime and eating fried chicken lol. The next day I sometimes still felt emotionally fragile so I made sure to try to plan my days to account for this.. It's just a different combinations of factors. For example you essentially have an indoor only arrangement. Some people say that by definition can't be sugar and is escorting, others say that ask long as you still have non sex time during the indoor time then it's a SR. Sometimes even patients can make you feel this way too. The other day I had a little old lady try to spit on me, but her mouth was dry so all that happened was she blew air 고령출장샵 in my face. The look of shock and annoyance when she realized she couldnt spit made me laugh so hard my sides hurt. My skin isn sensitive to products. I have been using the gel cleanser and sunscreen for over a year now, the moisturizer for about 6 7 months, and the eye cream for 5 months. I used to have acids in my routine last year but I dialed it back because my skin wasn where I want it to be, and then I started getting CCs which started this whole mess for me.When did you start seeing results for? It really putting me down that I reached the point that everyone says they see results in but my skin is at the worst it ever been.mandaiiii 1 point submitted 2 days agoEven though you were using all of those products before hand. "The president launched into several unrelated diatribes. One of those was commenting on the recent missile launches by the government of North Korea. And, essentially, the president said he did not believe that the North Koreans had the capability to hit us here with ballistic missiles in the United States. The engine alone on this beauty cost $27,325! It has a Roush engine package including a R427 power plant capable of producing 560HP with a top speed of 217MPH. The estimated 0 60 mph time is less than 3 seconds! Take a look at all the details on this fantastic 1966 Ford GT40, including photos and video. And then buy this beauty for your collection.

[kiruuuuu]

Me too, @ruaniamh. Me too :) Thank you so much for this request because I’ll gladly make Doc suffer some more! 💖 (Rating M, no mutual suffering cos Jäger is actually having a great time in this one, non-explicit sex, ~2.5k words)

.

“You look tired”, Blitz remarks right as Doc finishes his examination and earns himself a withering glare.

“Seems like your arm has healed. Maybe now you’ll think twice about engaging in any sport with the small word ‘ultimate’ in its title, even if it’s followed by ‘frisbee’. And yes, I am indeed tired”, Doc replies icily, “and you and your teammates are a large part as to why. Did you know I received a call last night about what I thought to be a medical emergency which turned out to be the impromptu funeral of a rabbit which wasn’t even dead? It must’ve taken a few sips from Bandit’s rum bottle because it showed very similar symptoms in that both of them were largely lethargic with spontaneous bouts of activity, if you can call running into a tree head first a hobby. With how often Bandit does it, I’d say it counts.”

“That’s exactly the reason why I’m mentioning it”, Blitz continues, incomprehensibly excited, “because we actually have a present for you. We pitched in together since you’ve done so much for us, went above and beyond, and we wanted to show you just how much we appreciate all that you’re doing.”

Oh. This is – unexpected. For a few blissful seconds in which the existence of a universe with frightfully idiotic special operators seems nothing but a fever dream, Doc is actually flattered and moved by the gesture. Then suspicion takes over. “…what is it?”

“You’ve been stressed recently and so we thought a vacation is just the thing you need.”

They’re not wrong, though admittedly, Doc could always use a vacation, he just normally doesn’t allow himself to take a rest, abandon his work and the people who count on him. Because as much as he likes to complain, he does genuinely believe they’re good, hard-working people who are able to change the world for the better and he’s proud to serve by their side, honoured for the opportunity to befriend this many compassionate, attentive -

“So we bought you a stay in an all-inclusive hotel in Spain. For an entire week!”

Doc just looks at the beaming German in front of him. He would’ve taken anything, anything, even the bitter cold of the arctic over having literally nothing to do. He likes to go hiking, explore cities and landscapes, and what he doesn’t enjoy is laying in the sun all day wasting away. “That’s uh -”, he starts and is interrupted by a cheery: “You’re welcome! And don’t bring too many books, I’m sure you’ll find enough to do once you’re there.”

And the last wink really should’ve made him realise what was going on.

.

“You”, Doc says loudly, loud enough to be audible over the busy chatter in the luxurious lobby, carpet thick, windows tall and spotless, pillars actual marble, and points at the person whom he’s addressing, “you. I – this… you are fucking kidding me. This isn’t happening. I’m out. I’m going fucking home. Jesus fucking Christ, what the fuck were they thinking?”

People have begun to stare and Jäger walks over, suitcase in tow, so Doc doesn’t have to yell anymore. “I’m pretty sure I can guess”, he replies and sounds entirely too upbeat about this whole disaster of a situation, “you know, Elias has been going on about you and me not showing enough affection to each other.”

So Blitz thought he’d play marriage counsellor. Great. Fan-fucking-tastic. Not only is everyone on the base still convinced the two of them are a couple, now they’re also meddling in their alleged affairs. Even though it’s only noon and Doc got enough sleep last night, he’s beginning to feel exhaustion weighing down his bones. “Did they really -” Book an expensive hotel for a week so Doc and Jäger could have some quality time together? The thought is too horrifying to actually say out loud.

Jäger shrugs and nods. “Seems that way, hm? I was confused why the lady behind the counter told me my ‘partner’ had arrived already.”

“I need something to drink.”

“Knock yourself out. It’s all inclusive.”

.

Doc does indeed knock himself out. He spends the first evening in the hotel bar, bemoaning his fate to everyone who doesn’t manage to get away fast enough and the first night hugging the really quite beautiful toilet while Jäger just giggles at him. He doesn’t seem any less intoxicated than Doc himself but apparently is more adept at holding his liquor – at least for a while. They somehow manage to take shifts in sleeping in their double bed (because of course they’re going to have to share a bed) and vomiting and they end up looking like zombies during breakfast. Blitz sends a text to Jäger about whether they’re enjoying their surprise and Doc only barely restrains himself from answering with a barrage of insults.

There really isn’t anything to do, so when Jäger goes to sleep off the food coma from the excellent breakfast buffet, Doc visits the beach and seeks shelter under a parasol where he tries to read one of the many books he brought until his eyes are falling closed as well. The sweltering heat together with the bright sun are headache inducing even through the painkillers he took pre-emptively this morning, and so he resorts to the one thing which never fails to help: dozing. It’s been a while since he was free from all obligations and duties and so he’s unlearned what to do when he’s not constantly anticipating the next emergency.

He’s awoken by a gentle touch to his hand and blinks groggily into the bright red fabric of the parasol which has miraculously moved to ensure he’s still in its shadow. Going by the fact that Jäger is now perched on another lounger next to him, it’s safe to assume he has to thank the German for saving him from the fate of ending up as red as a boiled lobster.

“Can you get my back? I want to go swimming in a bit.” Jäger holds out a bottle of sunscreen and switches over to Doc’s beach chair when he accepts it with a sigh. “Have you seen the dudes around here? It’s like a gay paradise. Pure eye candy.”

“You should’ve asked one of the prettier ones to smear sun cream all over you”, Doc grumbles as he rubs the cool lotion into the skin of Jäger’s back, barely resisting the urge to draw a dick on him first.

“I did. He’s currently at it.”

Doc snorts, amused for exactly as long as it takes for him to notice Jäger’s small moan while he’s massaging the back of his neck. A terrifying thought dawns on him. “Please tell me you don’t get horny when you’re bored.”

“Of course I do. What else is there to do? Just take a look around, there’s so many gorgeous guys wearing shockingly little and I bet they want to get away from their nagging fake husbands too.”

He pushes against Jäger’s shoulder blades, causing him to lean forward, and dips his hand into the back of his swimming trunks. Better safe than sorry – he once got a nasty sunburn right above his waistline and cursed himself for not being more careful. “I refuse to believe that anyone out there shares our fate. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. Also, if you fuck a stranger in our bed, I’m going to murder you in your sleep.”

“Alright, I’ll stay classy then and fuck them on a toilet or something. I saw you ogle that one brunette though and the same goes for you. No fucking with women in our bed, and if it’s a dude, you better invite me to join.”

“Is that really all there is to do here? Flirt with people?”

Jäger shrugs. “You can go for a swim with me.”

Their banter is oddly freeing. Because no matter how much Doc doesn’t want to be here in this hot hell, at least he’s not alone. He likes Jäger as a person and their mutual exasperation helped them bond even further – maybe he should change his perspective and view this week as a spontaneous holiday together with a friend. Yeah, he can do that. So he finds himself nodding. “Alright. Let’s go.”

“Wait, you should probably apply some sunscreen too. I’ll help.” And as Jäger’s hands gently dig into his muscles, causing him to hum in approval, Doc realises something about himself he didn’t know before. He also gets horny when he’s bored.

He’s just never been this bored before.

.

“Look, Gustave, you’re a great guy and I really enjoyed your company, but I have to be honest with you – I’m not the kind of person to encourage affairs”, the cute brunette woman tells him with a soft, regretful smile.

He blinks at her. It was perfect, they spent the better part of two hours talking, getting to know each other and making each other laugh. Hers is melodic and sweet, the lines in the corners of her eyes alluring and the fact that she’s actually successful and happy as a freelancer nothing but impressive. She’s caring and a great listener and - “What do you mean?”

“I’ve seen you with your husband. I’m sorry, but I don’t do this kind of thing. If you’re unhappy, I’m not the person with whom you should talk. He is.” And with a last squeeze of his hand, she vanishes into a different corner of the vast and uncomfortably dark bar, leaving Doc to put his head in his hands and take a deep breath.

Someone takes her place with a bitter grin which speaks of solidarity. “No luck either?”, Jäger asks.

“No. She also went right past couple and directly to marriage. Maybe we should stop hanging out together.”

“That only works if we’re not sleeping in the same room. Feel free to book one for yourself because I’m definitely staying for free.”

“Why so optimistic, did you actually manage to score a romantic public bathroom blow job?”

“Ah, not yet. But I’m still looking.” Jäger takes another sip from his brightly coloured drink as if he hasn’t had enough the previous night, and lets his gaze travel through the room, allowing for Doc to study him in peace. He’s actually not bad company, a bit immature at times but even Doc got caught up in splashing around in the sea earlier, and he entertained him by explaining exactly how he could take all the electronics in their room apart to construct a microwave, thus allowing him to microwave Nutella to the perfect consistency to eat it with a spoon directly out of the jar. Doc stated that he’d just need to put the jar out in the sun or change the thermostat in their room and Jäger called him a spoilsport in return. He really isn’t that bad. It could be worse.

“Marius”, he says pensively and is immediately granted Jäger’s full attention, “do you… want to go back to our room?”

He doesn’t understand at first, reacts with confusion at Doc’s odd tone of voice but once he gets it, his eyes widen. Nodding eagerly, he attempts to finish his drink and answer simultaneously, resulting in a coughing fit which leaves Doc grinning.

The grin fades as soon as they shut the door behind them.

They don’t even manage to undress fully before Doc is buried to the hilt, and so Jäger gets to try his hand at multitasking once more, this time pulling it off without a hitch: he’s riding, taking off his shirt and moaning filth at the same time while Doc grabs two handfuls of his plump backside and meets his movements, idly wondering just how thick the walls between rooms are.

.

It ends up being almost compulsive. They try their best to find other activities, join people they don’t know in beach volleyball or badminton, go swimming every day, take walks, browse the internet on their phones or on Jäger’s laptop, but there’s a surprising amount of hours in the day and some of them actually make it impossible to leave their air-conditioned room because they’re entirely too hot. So they really have no other choice.

Soon, the other guests’ reactions to merely seeing them span a wide range, among them outright disgust, knowledgable smirks and supportive smiles. One retiree even approaches them with a mischievous grin and lets them know he’d be up for a threesome if they’re looking, but Doc quickly sends him away before Jäger can even think about agreeing.

It happens more than once that Doc finds himself on their bed, Jäger entirely too loud while on his hands and knees before him with a frothing mixture of what Doc identifies to be his own come as well as the coconut oil they’ve grown fond of using dripping down his scrotum and he doesn’t even have the energy to be scandalised anymore. He’s accepted his fate by now, and if his fate is to survive a gruellingly carnal sex holiday, then so be it.

He’s stopped trying to correct people who call Jäger his husband. He even makes the mistake of signing a postcard his friend sends back to Hereford.

.

“So, how was your vacation?”, Blitz asks with a shit eating grin while they’re having lunch, sharing a curry IQ made which drew both the GSG9 as well as the GIGN operators together, resulting in six expectant faces turning to Doc and Jäger at the question.

“It was really fucking hot”, Jäger replies like an idiot and Doc wishes him physical harm.

“I bet it was”, Bandit mutters into his meal and earns a few snorts.

“You definitely look more relaxed than before”, Blitz takes over again, not wanting the conversation to derail this soon.

“Do I?” Doc certainly doesn’t feel more relaxed, his muscles are aching and his penis is still sore.

“Yeah, you’re positively glowing. So you both enjoyed yourselves?”

“Or each other, more like.” Bandit again. And that is it.

It can’t be that no one is taking Doc seriously, not when he stoops to actually holding a funeral speech for a fucking rabbit for his colleagues, not when he’s sweated and bled and worked himself raw for them. It’s ridiculous, absolutely absurd and, frankly, insulting. He can only imagine the reactions were he to actually start dating someone else and it’s bad enough he has to deal with his family thinking they’re together because they refuse to listen as well and why in the world is his dick hard. No, really. Why. This is probably the most inopportune -

“Did you make the curry with coconut milk?”, Jäger wants to know from IQ and judging by the vague panic in his expression, Doc surmises that he’s in a similar state. And oh. Does this mean he can never eat or smell coconut again without getting a boner? “I, uh, just need to go to the bathroom real quick.”

And while Jäger flees, Doc feels his own erection twitch in his pants. “Yeah”, he says distractedly, “me too.”

The snickering follows him all the way to the bathroom door and yet is soon forgotten. Seems like he’s not too tired for now.

[whatiputonmyface]

Beauty Bios, Part 1: Kiki, Rachel & Carly

Katherine a.k.a. Kiki

How old are you? 32

Where do you live? Indianapolis

SKIN

Type: sensitive, combo

Tone: neutral

Skin concerns: fine lines, redness, anti-aging, pigmentation, pores

HAIR

Length: Just past my shoulders; growing it back out to Blake Lively greatness

Processed? Yes - balayaged

Type: oily

Texture: wavy. I air dry my hair and get the beach waves everyone craves. Yes, this is a humblebrag but it’s the only thing I’ve got going for me.

Thickness: thin, but loads of it! Hair concerns: body, volume, tangles

FUN STUFF

Favorite beauty area: I love skincare and am always up to try the latest fad!

When did you "get into" makeup and skincare? LOL I just learned how to do my hair a couple years ago. Bought my first curling iron in 2012. I just started buying more and more makeup (especially once I discovered Colourpop) and am totally self-taught.

Most recent beauty purchase: Does dermaplaning count?

Worst beauty/skincare mistake: See aforementioned very sensitive skin. Then add to sensitive armpit skin some heavy duty Nair. I burnt off the top 3 layers of skin in my left armpit. I went to wash off the Nair and my armpit fucking bled. I couldn’t wear deodorant on that pit for a month.

(ed. note: holy SHIT, katherine)

Beauty inspiration/beauty icon: A healthy mix of Blake Lively (I think the ‘why’ for this is obvious??) and Kathleen Turner in “Body Heat”. She was so beautiful and cold-blooded in that movie, and I’ve always envied how she would wear white skirts and white blouses during a Florida heatwave and still be flawless. She was everything I am not.

damn, girl

***********************************************

Rachel

How old are you? 42 (I am the answer to the meaning of life!)

Where do you live? Denver, Colorado - high desert, hot sun, “It’s a dry heat!”

SKIN

Type: Combination with sun sensitivity (I get sun reactive rosacea)

Tone: Light neutral

Skin concerns: Redness, aging, craters for pores

HAIR

Length: Long! It’s midway down my back when straightened!

Processed? Yes - color for fun and also general enhancement

Type: Dry, fine, but a LOT of it.

Texture: Curly (primarily 3b with spots of 3a & 3c)

Thickness: Thick, but fine, LOTS of it.

Hair concerns: I have curls. They have a mind of their own.

 FUN STUFF

Favorite beauty area: K-beauty and high end. I thrive on getting a good deal on stuff like LaMer.

When did you "get into" makeup and skincare? I’ve always been a bit of a makeup and beauty obsessive, contrary to everyone in my family. When I was growing up, I was trying to take suggestions from Glamour and Marie Claire and put them into practice without any real guidance, which led to some BAAAD makeup results.

Most recent beauty purchase: Drunk Elephant Beste No. 9 Jelly Cleanser

Worst beauty/skincare mistake: I was a goth in a small town. Literally everything about my early makeup/skincare/beauty routine was a mistake. I dyed my hair a darker cranberry red from a box, it always washed out in uneven sections. I didn’t have access to luxury beauty care products and no one knew how to cut my curly hair, so I had either product buildup goopy hair, OR a triangle puffball on my head.

***********************************************

Carly

How old are you? 28!

Where do you live? America’s Sweatin’ Wang (Florida)

SKIN

Type: My skin has gotten more sensitive with age, but nothing too bad. I would say combo, with my cheeks and chin being relatively normal and my t-zone being an oily disaster.

Tone: I am very pink but somehow also definitely neutral. Can also pull off cool tones, but warm with my complexion is a nightmare.

Skin concerns: My main skin concern is combatting oil and the crater-sized pores on my nose, and evening out my skin tone. I’m a little red at all times, but I’m a ginger so I’ve learned to accept it.

HAIR

Length: Long— right now it’s at my mid-back. Also, you can pry my side bangs from my cold, dead hands. Ha ha, no, YOUR entire self-esteem depends on how your hair looks!!!

Processed? As I mentioned, I am a natural redhead, so at least 4,683 people have approached me over the last 28 years to tell me: “you better not EVER dye your hair!!!”, sometimes accompanied by a slightly-joking threat. Most of them are strangers; one of them was definitely your grandmother. She was super sweet tho!

Feeling rebellious in college, I experimented with box dye on a few times on small chunks of my hair, but have not dyed it/processed it other than those few tragic mistakes learning experiences. Nana was right!

Type: Normal. It gets a bit oily sometimes but such is life, no? I wash it every other day or every 3 days if it’s been One Of Those Weeks. It’s too thin for me to go longer without it getting real flat and nasty.

Texture: If I let my hair dry naturally, which I do not, it’s... a little bit wavy? Mostly straight, and flat, and with weird frizzies everywhere because #florida.

Thickness: Thin, but I have a decent amount of it. Keeping it long also makes it look like there’s More Going On. Illusions, Michael! Hair concerns: With great length comes great effort towards getting enough volume. I also have been battling a super-itchy scalp lately and can’t figure out what’s causing it.

My main “concern”, if this counts, is that... I don’t really know how to do anything with it. Mostly what it does is just… hang out. Someone help me!!!

  FUN STUFF

Favorite beauty area: My favorite thing about experimenting on my corporeal form and its various accoutrements is finding inexpensive products that work really well, whether they’re “dupes” for high-end stuff or just ~doing their own thing~. If a product is really good, I’m not afraid of a splurge, but I am a little afraid to buy an $80 face cream and find (as I feel is often the case) that my skin looked just as good using CeraVe. Ya girl’s on a budget!

When did you "get into" makeup and skincare?  In college, my makeup and skincare routine was as follows: wash face with whatever extremely-stripping face soap was on sale; sunscreen during the day (thank god); mascara; a shimmery white eyeshadow smeared everywhere; reapply badly-matched powder every 30 mins. Now that I’m ALL the way done with school, forever, I’m happy that skincare and makeup are more popular, and I’m loving experimenting and trying to get out of my comfort zone.

Most recent beauty purchase: Makeup Revolution Vivid Baked Highlighter in Peach Lights. This is a repurchase for me, because apparently during the 12 hours that my suitcase was Lost In Transit on the way to New Orleans, it was being kicked around by every person who has ever played in the World Cup. Translation: A lot of my shit was broken! Anyway, this highlighter is fucking PRETTY. I highly recommend browsing this brand the next time you’re at Ulta, it’s affordable but everything I’ve tried is great quality. I also have their bronzer and liquid highlighter.

Worst beauty/skincare mistake: Like most of us, I plucked my brows to absolute fuck and back circa 2003. However, unlike most of us, my brows are literally white, so I basically could have shaved them off entirely with the same overall effect. (I’ve recently gotten them tinted—post forthcoming!)

My most hilarious beauty mistake was probably the several times that I dyed the lower part of my hair—not dip-dye style, but like, the bottom third starting at my scalp to ends— with like, random chestnut-to-eggplant-ranging box colors. I was really into it at the time (probably….. 2010?) but looking back it is SO tacky! Several times it was basically…. black. Not great, Bob! At best—misguided Scene Girl; at worst… well, see for yourself. I combed through my entire Facebook history to find this pic, which was EXTREMELY traumatic, so, you’re welcome!!

Beauty inspiration/beauty icon: I’ve never actually thought about this before! It certainly won’t be a model. I’m a redhead with a big nose and my body is shaped like a potato; genetically, I am probably closer to a sundried tomato than to Gigi Hadid. Such is life!

 One thing I love about my mom’s attitude toward makeup is that, whether she’s wearing it or not, she always looks like herself. And: she is super beautiful! Too cool. Because of my own Mack Truck-full of self-esteem issues, I’ve had to be careful over the years not to get so wrapped up in makeup to the point that I don’t still (for the most part) feel comfortable with how my face looks ~nakey~. (This is no judgment on anyone else, of course; I want everyone to do exactly what makes them feel happy and sexy and glowy and whatnot.) IMO, skincare is a fun and productive way to feel better about Just Your Regular Face!

[hobartfrancis]

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[juminsmysticmc]

NEW - RFA with a Mc who is afraid of bees

Whaaa thank you! My first ask! I´m so happy! I hope you like it...I´m afraid of bees too T.T

Update 06.06.2021: Hello! So, I promised that I would overwork some old writings and here we are, just like a few years ago here the first new-old-writing! Please enjoy! 

Jumin

One day, your beautiful beloved husband had a wonderful idea.

sharing his thoughts with you he asked, ,,My love, shall we have a picnic? I will make sure to make you relax as we enjoy the sea,’’ he whispered as he stroked your neck with his hand, making you smile.

You agreed with him, however, you totally forgot that nature meant insects - bees.

You weren’t only scared of bees, but also allergic!

So when the both of you began to prepare the picnic, pulling out the sandwiches with marmalade and fruits, a few bees came.

Jumin saw how quickly you jumped up and ran into the house Jumin owned near the sea.

Immediately your husband followed, worried for you when he heard and saw you crying. ,,My love, what happened?’’ he softly asked you, hugging you and patting your back.

,,I… I’m sorry! But, there were bees and… I forgot that bees could be there… I’m afraid of them because I am allergic to them,’’ you explained as you looked up at him, still sobbing.

,,You’re allergic? You never told me…’’ he mumbled.

,,I didn’t?’’ you asked him and tried to dry your tears.

,,No, my love… but I should have asked you… Let’s go home, my love. Next time I will organize a mosquito tent so that no insect can harm you… I should have done that from the start!’’ he laughed, ignoring you as you told him that there was no need.

But you knew that Jumin would do everything for you, his lovely wife.

Zen

He didn’t know that you, his beautiful princess, feared insects; bees to be more concise.

You were held captive and were so brave back then that Zen didn’t think of you being afraid of bees.

As Zen’s manager, you followed him wherever he had to go and so it came that you and the staff stood around a buffet, watching the rehearsal.

It was a bright sunny day and your boyfriend was currently putting some sunscreen on his skin, warning you too. ,,Mc, it’s a sunny day so you should put it on too. I don’t want your beautiful skin to get burned!’’ he said as he smiled at you, making your heart melt.

But to be honest, you were scared of something else - the bees.

You were so scared of them because you had a bad experience with them.

Suddenly Zen heard a high pitch scream, recognizing your voice as he turned around to check what happened.

,,MC?! What’s wrong? Why are you screaming? Did someone touch you? Are you hurt?’’ he asked you.

You looked at him with tears in your eyes as you shook your head.

,,Hyun! There’s a bee!’’ you whined and hugged him, sobbing into his chest as he held you.

Honestly, Zen felt so good at that moment. He felt proud and strong as he was holding his girlfriend.

,,There’s no need to be afraid of them, Jagiya. I’m here with you,’’ he whispered and smiled as he held you closer to his body, calming you down.

Yoosung

Actually, Yoosung was scared of bees too.

The worst was that either you or Yoosung forgot that the window was left open in the kitchen and that the beloved chips Seven gifted Yoosung were on the table too, attracting the bees.

Yoosung, who was playing LOLOL in his study while you were in the living room, totally forgot about his snacks.

When he heard you scream, his heart began to beat crazily, thinking about the worst case scenario.

,,Mc?! What happened?’’ your husband asked you

He was so shocked when he saw you trembling.

Both of you agreed to not go into the kitchen for a while, hoping that the bee would go out on its own and more insects wouldn’t come.

,,We really need an insect screen, Yoosung,’’ you sighed.

,,Yeah, we should really buy one,’’ he mumbled in a trance.

You turned your head to Yoosung and observed him. ,,Dear?’’

,,Yes, Mc?’’

,,Are you sure that you’re a vet?’’ you asked him.

Yoosung looked back to you and proudly explained, ,,Bees are insects,’’

Jaehee

It was a beautiful sunny day and just as sunny as the day was, it was also hot.

Since you and your girlfriend were literally sweating in your shop, you both decided that it was best to open the doors of your coffee shop.

The only problem was that since you had so many cakes, the sweets attracted the bees.

It was even worse that you were disgusted by them and feared them and it was your turn to serve the cakes as if it wasn’t enough.

You looked over to Jaehee, whose turn was to serve the coffee.

,,Hey, this cake please,’’ a customer made you look up at her.

You smiled as you took the piece she wanted when you suddenly let go of the plate, making it crash on the floor.

,,Mc, are you okay?’’ Jahee asked you, seeing that you were suddenly pale.

,,Well...I’m sorry...but there was a bee and I…’’

,,It’s okay, Mc, let me clean up. I don’t want you to cut yourself,’’ she whispered as she smiled at you.

,,I’m so sorry, Jaehee,’’ you whined and took her hand, you were just so happy that your girlfriend understood your fear so well.

,,No problem! You can serve the customers while I clean up and try to get the bees out. I will try to buy an air conditioner so that we can leave the doors closed,’’ she smiled at you and gave you a quick peck on your cheek.

,,Thank you, Jaehee,’’ you whined.

And so you finally had an air conditioner, protecting you from the heat and the insects.

Saeyoung

None of you realized that there was a beehive in front of your window and no one could see it.

When you opened the shutter, you noticed how serious the problem was. Feeling attacked by your movement, they all flew into the room.

You began to scream loudly and panic. You hated bees, however, neither of the brothers heard you because of the headphones they were wearing.

But when your boyfriend saw you, something made him look into the next room, making him laugh at how funny you looked.

Even Saeran laughed at you.

You looked kind of funny as you were waving with your hands, as if you were dancing.

But suddenly, the fear of bees was too much for you and you fell on your knees, your hands on your face as you bawled.

,,Why is she so scared of some insects?’’ Saeran asked you.

Saeyoung shrugged as he had no idea.

He knew everything about you and had read every detail about you.

Saeyoung knew that your mother died when you were young because of an accident, but he never dared to ask you. After all, why should he open old wounds?

When he finally made the bees leave and finally calmed you down, he decided to ask you why you were so scared of them.

,,You know how my mother died? She was allergic to bees and trying to cover me from a lot of bees, she died thinking that I was allergic too,’’ you suddenly began to sob, old memories coming up again.

Saeyoung suddenly felt really bad that he laughed at you while you were scared of them.

,,I promise you that with me you don’t have to be scared again,’’ he mumbled.

,,Hero 707 will save you,’’ he said, kissing you in front of his brother who turned around to leave.

,,Where are you going, Saeran?’’ he asked him after he parted.

,,Leaving you both alone. Seeing you kiss is so…-’’

MASTERLIST 1

MASTERLIST 2

MASTERLIST 3

Date of repost: 06.06.2021// 22:40 MEST