#its sad that this is how i get the chance to form a bond but im taking it

[kiras-monkey-bum-face]

me fucking around at work making myself look a fool so some kids who recently witnessed a death can forget about it even just for a little bit and know they're safe with me

[klausysworld]

Hiii I was wondering if you could write a klaus oneshot where the reader is enemies with klaus but klaus finds out she has cancer and is all alone and begins to fall in love with her or something like that.

I totally understand if you don’t want to do or you’re uncomfortable with it.

I’ve Got You

(This is on a very sensitive subject, please don’t read if it will upset you too much and know that if you are suffering or know someone who is, nobody is alone)

Cancer was something that had torn up Y/n’s life. It caused her to push people away all of the time. She didn’t want to be too close to anyone, not when the doctors couldn’t tell her how long she had left.

For a while they thought that the cancer had gone but she didn’t want to risk anything only for it to come back.

So she continued to be closed off, even from her own family.

Being Elena and Jeremy’s sister was hard enough, let alone growing up having cancer. Having two parents who were involved in medical care was both a dream and a nightmare. They made her live according to their timetable and their rules as to what would ‘help’. She knew, even as a child, that her family struggled much like any family would struggle to afford treatment and research and she hated herself for costing them so much.

She was kept separate from her siblings, built little to no bond with them. When her parents died, there was nobody to care for her or at least give her hope. She couldn’t afford hospital bills on her own, she had to seek out other family, like Uncle John and he did help however when he lost his life, she lost the chance of hers.

The people at the hospital knew Y/n well, they wanted to help best they could. She was supplied with medication in the form of pills to at least somewhat control the cancer and they had hope that she would be able to take part in a chemotherapy treatment program that would take place within the next year. That was as much hope as she could have to go on.

And she tried to hold onto that, she would imagine the day that they told her she would be able to live her life full without so much risk.

But at the same time, she didn’t really believe it would happen for her. Not anymore.

Sometimes she wished that a vampire would just kill her, out her out of her misery. Other times she wanted to survive everything her dreadful life threw at her and live a long healthy life to its fullest.

It was why she was so up and down with how she behaved. It was why the way she was around certain people changed so drastically, like Klaus.

Sometimes she wanted to see how many buttons she could push, she wanted to make him kill her so at least it wasn’t cancer that took her out. Other times, she just wish he’d disappear and leave both her and her family alone.

She would wonder if, had no vampires ever turned up to Mystic falls, if she would have been able to connect with her siblings some more, if Jenna would have given her some hope.

Those thoughts made her mad, but also sad. That’s when she would get snappy. Sometimes she didn’t mean to annoy him but she couldn’t help herself.

But unfortunately it made people dislike her which in some cases was a good thing because it meant people wouldn’t miss her if she did die but it also meant that she was even more alone.

Y/n was too young to deal with something so big, it was no surprise she didn’t know how to manage it. The problem was that nobody else knew how to either and so she was forced to try do it herself.

The medication she had been on since young caused an imbalance of hormones and had stunted her growth in areas. It made her hair thin and caused her to become feeble and delicate to an extent. Of course she tried her hardest to build up her strength but she wasn’t stupid, she knew it was much easier for her to become out of breath, to become exhausted or hurt. It was because of this that people like Damon would dismiss her and why she would be cast aside without any explanation. Not that she needed a reason, she already knew.

In some ways, she liked that Klaus didn’t know that she had cancer. He would be boisterous around her, tease and taunt her like he would anyone else. Because to him, she was like everyone else. She wasn’t a delicate little thing that needed to be avoided and fixed.

Sometimes he could go a little far, once he had her by the throat, cutting off her airways as he threatened her. He didn’t know that after he left she was spluttering blood all over the floor as she coughed and wheezed for air. She struggled for it anyway, she didn’t like someone taking it from her. But she never said anything to him, of course she was a little more cautious but she enjoyed pissing him off when she could.

When she was little, kids were cruel. If she wanted to play, they would give her funny looks and say they didn’t want to play with her. They acted like she was contagious, or an alien. She hated it.

So even if Klaus’s attention was ill intended, at least it was directed at her.

————————————————————————

Klaus originally saw her as another inconvenience. He met her when he was in Alarics body, when he went over to the Gilbert’s house to harass Jenna and frightened the others. Turns out their sister Y/n also hadn’t been clued in on who he really was. She had wondered down the stairs still in her pyjamas, smiling subtly at him and going to the cupboard to grab some biscuits. Once she had sat down and began munching, Stefan was storming in and telling her and Jenna to run. At that point Y/n just looked tired and begrudgingly got dragged out the house by a hysterical Jenna.

The next time was at a hospital after he had taken Elena from senior prank night. She was sat in the waiting room, lead across the seats as though she had been there hours. He came and sat beside her, spoke to her and told her to tell Damon to never threaten him again. She agreed without compulsion and kept her trap shut about anything else.

The following few times he saw her, she was less tired and more firey. That’s when he began to take a strange liking to her. She always had something to snap back at him no matter how dark the last thing he said was.

Somehow she seemed to know exactly how to make him tick. Knew how to tease him enough to make him want her to shut up but not enough to physically make her. Though occasionally she went too far and he would break.

Sometimes he felt a weird sensation of guilt swirling inside him, he never knew what to do about that. He didn’t enjoy that.

When she became tired, she was moody and would say things to purposely make him angry. And klaus’s anger management had never been great. He didn’t always mean to react to quick and harshly but he couldn’t help it. Especially when he didn’t understand why she was so angry sometimes.

He knew that she was very much seen as irrelevant when it came to her siblings and the Salvatore’s etc. He couldn’t understand why exactly, she was not less useful than Elena was as far as he could see. Still he didn’t ask or dig on it, it didn’t matter to him if she was apart of the little gang or not. She seemed to hang around him anyway.

He took an amount of joy in their playful banter and teasing nature when around each other. He also liked to push at her buttons the same way she did his. But he wasn’t as good at knowing how far he could go, often she would end up storming off and he’d be left feeling guilty and there’d frustrate which lead to annoyance and anger.

————————————————————————

Klaus hadn’t once guessed that the reason for her mood swings or her pushed to the side nature was due to cancer.

He hadn’t been expecting to see her name on labels of samples of blood.

He was in the hospital for blood obviously, even though he drank mostly straight from the vein, with all his hybrids and his busy schedule sometimes blood bag was easier.

He happened to come across the samples and spotted a familiar name. His curiosity peeked. Of course he originally guessed that it was just normal things like she had given blood or that she had low iron. But something within him told him to look further.

So he began to compel people to get him her files and information. But turns out he didn’t need to, as soon as he said her name the receptionist was yapping on.

“Oh the poor girl, in and out of here since she was just a toddler” she began, sighing and clicking for Y/n’s name on the computer.

“Really?” He questioned, his brows furrowed.

“Uhuh, next appointment is…oh! Tomorrow” she smiled and Klaus nodded pretending to know

“Right for..”

“Collection and a check up” she smiled and turned around to find something, a bag. She placed the paper back infront of him with contained the prescription pills that would control the cancer to some level. He smiled back at her though it didn’t reach his eyes and picked up the packet, reading what they were and what they did.

His heart dropped a little and he hesitantly handed them back to the receptionist. “Thank you, I’d take them to her but if she has a check up tomorrow anyway then I expect it’s easier if she get them herself” he muttered, his voice quiet as he felt a strange sadness forming somewhere inside him.

“Of course” the woman answered “Will you be with her tomorrow?” She asks with the tilt of her head.

“I might be” he replied, unsure and she nodded slightly back

“I’m sure she’d like it if you did, nobodies been with her for a scan for over a year now” she sighed and his heart ached.

He left shortly after and tried to find her. Eventually he found her, much to his surprise, at his house. She was sat on his sofa with a glass of wine and one of his hybrids, chatting about whatever. Without caring he made his way over and grabbed her by the arm.

“Klaus!” She yelped as he began to pull her away from the hybrid.

“He just wants to drain you love, come on upstairs” he murmured, pushing her up the stairs and grabbing the bottle of wine from the table.

“Well he might just be nice” she muttered

“Perhaps but I don’t like the odds” he replied as he pulled her into his room

“Right, because you care if he kills me” she grumbled and his stomach turned uncomfortably. No longer did the joking of her death amuse him like it once did.

When she noticed his silence and the look he had in his eyes, she knew that he knew. It was stupid look of pity that everyone had and that slightly uncomfortable stance because they don’t know how to act around her anymore.

She sighed and glanced to the floor and then him. “Can you not?” She whispered and he frowned confused

“Not what-“

“Oh don’t do that. I know you know. Its fine. I’ve had it forever you don’t have to be weird” she mumbled as she sat on his bed, laying back and staring up at the ceiling tiredly.

“I don’t know what-“

“Cancer Klaus. It’s not a scary word, it’s not Voldemort” she grumbled

“What-?” He questioned confused

“Doesn’t matter it’s not the point” she whispered and he frowned

“You never said anything about it” he muttered as he sat beside her.

“It’s not really the best conversation topic. Plus we’re not that close” she mumbled

“Well…you’re in my bed so I’ve done something right” he joked lightly and she smiled

“I guess so” she whispered.

Klaus laid down beside Y/n quietly. It was a little odd to be so close to her without either of them having ill intentions. He did feel bad though that he made her uncomfortable but he couldn’t help but act a little off. His mind had been replaying every time he had hurt her, he wondered how much it had endangered her life.

It confused him as to why he had this care for her. He couldn’t have cared less about week ago if she had been killed but knowing that she actually, most likely, would die much sooner than expected made him feel something. To know that she was living in pain and fear of when it would catch up to her.

Klaus was a man who liked control, he couldn’t imagine having something like cancer hanging over his life everyday acting as a threat ever time she breathed.

“So you-“

“I don’t wanna talk about it” she mumbled, cutting him off. He fell into silence and sighed softly.

Y/n stared at the ceiling, wishing it would fall on her in this moment. She hated that he knew. Of course she didn’t exactly hide it from him but she also didn’t want him to know. Not because it was something she was embarrassed of, or because she feared he would used it against her. Simply because it meant there was one more person who would look at her like she was incapable and weak. She didn’t want to be stared at like an animal at a zoo by anyone else.

She’d rather he be cruel to her and tell her how pathetic she was just for being a human. She’d rather he scare her and hurt her like he did everyone else in town than look at her like he was now.

She felt her eyes drain of the life that they usually held when around Klaus. With a lump forming in her throat and a heavy weight of disappointment on top of her, she pushed herself up and got off his bed.

“I’m gonna go home” she muttered, ignoring the way he sat up and looked after her with worry.

“Love-“ he called, standing up to follow her as she made her way down his stairs.

“I don’t want to talk, I want to go home” she huffed.

“Sweetheart-“

“Shut up Klaus” she snapped “stop calling me cute little names and looking at me like I’m a three-legged puppy! You don’t like me, I’m annoying and useless to you” she sighed, her voice becoming desperate and she hated how pathetic she sounded.

“You’re dying” he whispered

“Everyone’s dying” she mumbled “I’m just doing it faster” before leaving his house, closing the door behind her.

Klaus left her alone for a little while, and she avoided him also.

He did however go back to the hospital after she had her most recent scan. He compelled the surgeon to show he what was happening, where it was and what that meant. He wanted to know why she wasn’t getting more help, they told him there was very little chance of her surviving even with chemotherapy. Klaus argued they should still try and they informed him of the treatment trial coming up in two months time. Demands were made, he would pay for everything and they would tell her that she qualified to have it free. He didn’t really care what lie they told her just so long as she accepted it.

And she did, Klaus received a phone call telling him so.

Klaus still had no explanation for his sudden change of heart, why he wanted her to get better so badly. He didn’t know why, he just did.

He felt a little sad that she wouldn’t hang around him anymore. Not many people willingly spoke to him, even if it was just some teasing and playful banter. He missed it.

When she had her first dosage of chemo, he found himself in her hospital room. It upset him that nobody had come with her or shown any care at all.

Klaus quietly wondered through the hospital, it was halfway into the night and quiet as he searched for her room. His expression softened when he saw her curled up in a bed, the machine beside her beeping quietly. A singular rose was placed beside her bed as he pulled a chair over to her and leaned down to kiss her cheek softly. It was an odd gesture coming from the hybrid but he tried not to dwell on it as he sat beside her for a while.

Klaus came back during the night as her treatment continued, he would leave her a rose and often a note. He would never know how much it meant to her.

One night he ran his fingers through her hair, only for a handful of strands to come out with his hand. His eyes had enlarged as he quickly put it in the bin and gently lifted to her head to find a clump of hair on her pillow. He didn’t want her to find it in the morning and be upset and so removed it himself.

He didn’t mean to wake her up. She knew it was him without a doubt when she felt her face against someone’s chest. She could hear his soft muttering and the sound of his hand behind her head. It took her a minute to figure out what he was doing and when the realisation hit her she just stared at his chest exhausted. Y/n could remember when all her hair fell out the first time, when she was little and the other kids would poke fun while the parents would tell her how brave she was while staring at her with that helpless, pitiful face. She didn’t want to see it on Klaus’s face as well so she pretended to stay asleep.

After a moment he laid her back down and pulled the blanket back up. “There we go” he murmured softly as he smoothed it over “it’s all going to be just fine” he whispered, stroking her arm gently. She kept her eyes closed and her breathing steady until he left, she couldn’t stop the tears rolling after he was gone. She hated feeling sorry for herself all of the time but it seemed she could never catch a break.

It wasn’t long before she was back home, still on chemo but home. Jeremy was living in Denver and Elena basically lived at the Salvatores so Y/n had the house to herself. She didn’t go out much, she never really had. She only did recently to annoy Klaus but she didn’t want to be around him anymore either so she found that staying inside was better.

However Klaus had different ideas and so wound up on her doorstep, nocking incessantly until she answered.

“Finally love, you and me worried” he sighed and she narrowed her eyes

“What do you want?” She snapped, she was wrapped up in a blanket and wore a hat on her head. Klaud wasn’t sure if it was because she was cold or because she had given in and shaved her head.

“It’s lovely to see you too” he smiled sarcasticly and she glared. “I wanted to see how you were doing” he answered.

“I’m doing fine. How are you doing?” She replied stiffly

“Ah you know…family troubles” he mumbled and she hummed

“Elijah?” She question

“All of them” Klaus muttered “three brothers, a sister and a mother. I can only be glad I’ve already killed my father…though that didn’t stop mother”

Y/n let out a breathy laugh and glance down “I’ll grab my shoes and we’ll talk and walk.” She told him before closing the door. Klaus smiled to himself as he waited a second before she came out ready. She was completely wrapped up, hat gloves coat. Still he didn’t ask, just remained happy to be with her.

They spoke about the sudden arrival of his family and the ball. He said he hoped she would come but her silence wasn’t convincing.

“You don’t have to” he told her “I know you don’t like people and you barely like me enough” he smiled and she returned it weakly.

“I don’t really think it’s a good idea” she mumbled and he nodded, of course he was a little disappointed but he wasn’t exactly surprised either.

“Then perhaps you’ll have to give me a dance another time?” He offered and she shrugged playfully with a smile

“I might be able to come for just one dance, but I go home straight after?” She compromised and he grinned

“Perfect” he whispered and cupped her face. The smile soon vanished from his lips as he felt how hot her skin was to touch “you’re burning” he mumbled before unzipping her coat and pulling her hat off. Immediately she made a sound of upset and grabbed for the hat. His eyes softened as she stared at him with a mixture of emotions.

She wanted to die. That was it. She wanted the cancer to take her in that moment. Stupid Klaus. She wasn’t sure why having no hair made her feel so bad, she had a nice shaped head but her past experience with peoples reactions caused her to hate it.

“Put it back” she whimpered but he shook his head. His hands gently pulled her coat off and then her gloves.

“You have a fever, you’re boiling, I’m taking you home” he told her as he leant down and lifted her up. She looked at him like he was crazy, she didn’t understand what kind of bond they had or what feelings they held for eachother. She didn’t why he would like her of all people. Was it pity? She hoped not, she’d be so pissed off it was.

“Fevers are normal” she mumbled “you don’t gotta worry”

“Normal or not, it’s best we get rid of it so that it doesn’t hurt you” he answered as he carried her towards her house. She couldn’t help but smile a little when he said ‘we’. In a way it reminded her of how her parents would care her and tell her that it was something they would all get through.

He felt her relax a little in his hold and glanced down to see her looking up at him with a lost look in her eye as he approached her door.

“I can’t come in but I trust that you’ll know how to cool off? I can take you to my house otherwise” he told her as he placed her down and passed her things back to her as she got inside.

“I’ll be fine, thank you” she told him with a small smile before closing the door.

Later that day she received a package containing a dress, shoes that matched and a silver necklace with her birthstone hanging from it. She smiled a little and put it somewhere safe ready for the next evening.

Then she continued to settle her fever and take a nap. She woke back up, watched a few films, messaged Klaus to let him know she was okay now, and finally took her meds when she ate her dinner before going to sleep.

In the morning she continued her everyday routine and lounging around until it was only a couple hours before the ball that the mikaelsons were throwing. She had argued with herself all day whether she should go. She knew people would talk, seeing the cancer kid with Klaus Mikaelson. Not that it was date. No no. That would be weird…

Eventually she decided she would go, dance the first dance and then go home. She just hoped that the exhaustion wouldn’t hit her too hard while she was out or that she wouldn’t fall sick until she got back home.

Y/n never got to go to events like Elena and Jeremy did when she was little, but her mother would dress her up when she was in the house sometimes to make her feel happy and pretty for a day. That was the only way she knew what she was doing when it came to her face. She had stolen some from Elena’s room as she only had the basics for herself.

She put on everything he had given her and looked in the mirror. Her hands touched her head with a small sigh before she called a cab that took her to the mansion.

She stood outside it for a few minutes, unsure whether she should just turn around and walk in. Klaud didn’t give her that option when he came wondering outside, his eyes looking around for her hopefully. She smiled a little to herself and began to walk towards him, his gaze met hers halfway and he quickly flashed beside her.

“You came” he whispered, pulling her in for an unexpected hug. He pulled back and cleared his throat “sorry” he muttered awkwardly before grabbing her hand and leading her inside. “You look gorgeous by the way, you always look gorgeous but…not that- “

“Thank you” she cut him off with a smile and squeezed his hand in appreciation. “Am I late? I didn’t mean to stand there for so long” she asked quietly, glancing around and seeing the entire town moving around his home.

“It’s okay, the first dance only just started” he told her, leading her further inside.

“I never really learned to dance” she whispered nervously

“That’s alright” he murmured “I’ve got you” he told her and she believed him.

She let him guide her throughout the dance, she kept her eyes on him and tried to ignore any stares. Klaus kept her close and offered a death glare to anyone who even glanced their way. Time flew, they danced for nearly six full songs before he felt her body go momentarily limp to his. Thankfully his arm was around her waist already so he kept her up. She regained her balance in seconds but it was clear that something was wrong.

“I’m going to take you upstairs, alright love?” He murmured to her but she shook her head

“I can’t do the stairs…I’m dizzy” she whispered and he nodded

“I know, I didn’t expect you to walk up them” he told her before gently tugging her away from the people. They walked straight past Elijah and Elena talking, both turned to face them with looked of confusion and surprise as Klaus told her to let him help her. He kept upright so that nobody would know she was being carried as he supported her weight up each step. Once at the top they walked past Finn and Esther, his mother eyed the girl with that same pity as most and shook her head at Finn in a way that told him to leave them alone as Klaus lead her into his room carefully.

He laid her down on his bed, propping her up with pillows and cupping her face gently. Her eyes focused on his as his cool hands soothed her skin.

“You feel okay love?” He asked softly

“Yeah I’m ok” she nodded as her head began to settle. She felt a little nauseous but less faint. “I should go home” she mumbled, pushing herself up but he shook his head and laid her back down.

“Stay here tonight love, I’ll look after you” he told her

“Can’t, gotta have my meds” she muttered and he nodded

“I’ll go get them okay? You stay in here, find a shirt of mine to wear to bed and I’ll go get your pills.” He decided, standing up

“Klaus…you’re not invited in” she whispered and he sighed

“Then I’ll go to the hospital and get some, I know what you need”

“It’s easier if I go home” she argued

“I want you here” he told her seriously and with a sigh she nodded.He nodded in return and stroked her face, and her smooth head gently. “You can wear whatever you like okay?” He smiled and she nodded, watching as he left.

Klaus quickly made his way out the room, rushing down the stairs and out the house. Stopping for only a second to tell Elijah to keep people downstairs.

Once he was back from the hospital with her medication she was wrapped in his duvet, dressed in his shirt and her panties with no makeup left on her face while scrolling through Netflix on his TV. He smiled at the sight and close the door behind him with a click. Her head lifted to see him and he made his way over with the bottle in one hand and a glass of water in the other.

“Thank you Klaus” she whispered gratefully as she swallowed a pill before handing back the glass which he placed on a coaster on his bedside table.

He grabbed a shirt and some plaid pants before disappearing into his conjoined bathroom. He remerged from the room in a couple minutes ready for sleep. He had a sofa in his room, a mini fridge and everything. Y/n wandered if he ever actually had to leave his room.

Klaus opened a cabinet filled with blankets and pillows and pulled a couple out and setting up a bed on the couch making Y/n frown a little, guilt and confusion swirling.

“You done have to sleep there” she told him “You could sleep here if you want…or I could go on the sofa, I don’t mind” she offered, slipping out of the bed and making her way to the couch but he spun her straight back around and lead her back to bed.

“Under no circumstances will you not be in that bed” he told her, a level of authority in his tone as he put her to bed. “I don’t want to disturb your sleep by stealing half the bed” he teased.

“No it’s okay, I like sharing” she smiled and he raised a brow as he sat down infront of her.

“Oh? Do you share beds often?” He teased with narrowed eyes. Klaus didn’t like the thought of Y/n sleeping with anyone but himself. Even if it was just a nap.

“No” she whispered, her cheeks bushing pink “sometimes when I was sick my mom would sleep with me” she shrugged and he smiled.

“I doubt I’ll be anything like your mother sweetheart” he chuckled and she rolled her eyes

“Oh just come lay down, you know that’s not-“

“I know, I know” he murmured playfully as he laid beside her. She huffed out a breath dramatically and he grinned, pulling her against him. It was strange to be so close to him, teasing and laughing again. She liked it though, and so did he.

Klaus shifted himself under the duvet and pulled it around them. He hadn’t had a girl in his bed for a while, especially the past few months. All he could think of was her so why would he want some other woman? It had been even longer since he had a girl in his bed with no expectations of sex. That hadn’t happened in decades.

Something about it was nice, innocent.

Y/n on the other hand had never shared a bed with a man, never been touched or ever really thought that a guy would want to touch her. She didn’t think Klaus would either, especially not when she looked like she did. She’d lost a lot of weight from the chemo, her stamina was low, she bruised easy and she had no hair which threw most boys off. Boys her own age at least. Not Klaus.

He couldn’t have cared less about something so simplistic. Sure, she had pretty hair at one point but it didn’t define her. He liked her as she was, of course he wanted her to be cancer free and happy but he’d still love her while she wasn’t.

Love. Was it too strong of a word? He wasn’t sure.

Especially not when he was looking at her like he was now. Seeing her so openly vulnerable and curled up against him, sleepy eyes set on the tv and her body hidden under the quilt though he could feel her legs touching his.

It wasn’t long before they were snuggled up and half asleep. She was barely conscious when Elijah’s head popped into the room to check on Niklaus. The brothers had a brief conversation on how the night went, Elijah expressed his caution around their mother Klaus said he couldn’t be bothered with it anymore. Elijah left when Y/n began to stir and Klaus’s focus became her.

He slept with her throughout the night, he woke to find her missing and his heart sank. Thankfully she wondered back in from the bathroom a few minutes later and crawled back to bed with a yawn. Klaus’s lips upturned and he pulled her close again. She looked up at him with a small smile which grew when their eyes met.

“Hi” she whispered and he smiled

“Hi” he uttered back, pulling her as close to his side as he could before she was under him. She glanced to the time, seeing it was still really early. She groaned softly and closed her eyes. Klaus hummed softly and brushed the backs of his fingers across her cheek bones softly. “You look so pretty” he whispered.

Her cheeks tinted red and she rolled onto her side to hide her face from him but it only resulted in him spooning her. He kissed the back of her head making her go redder and her fingers to hold onto the sheets beneath. Klaus pressed close to her, too close. The second she felt something hard against her backside her body went tense and she panicked. Klaus felt her fear and quickly pulled himself away from her but she was already getting out of bed.

“I have to go, I’m sorry” she whispered, heading for the door but he sped infront of her.

“Love-“

“I gotta go”

“Let me drive you, and at least give you something to wear” he mumbled, disappointed with himself for scaring her. She nodded when she realised she was still in just her underwear and his shirt. He sped into Rebekah’s room which was unsurprisingly empty as she had ended up staying the night in Damon Salvatores bed.

He came back and she pulled the jeans on before he drove her home. It was quiet and he hated that he’d ruined the night. He should have thought about it and known she wouldn’t want that, he hadn’t intended to do anything other than sleep but she was so close and he couldn’t help but want. His desire always won though in this case it made him lose big time.

He apologised quietly when she got out the car and she told him it was okay and that she overreacted. Neither of them were particularly pleased with how they responded.

Y/n thought about how the moment could have played out a hundred times over and kicked herself for not just letting him have her. But she knew she would have regretted it.

They both decided to pretend the incident didn’t happen when they saw eachother next. Klaus had turned up on her doorstep that same night, it was clear he had been crying but she mention it. She wrapped her arms around him as he told her that his family had left again and that his mother wanted him dead. She ended up back in his bed, using his chest as a pillow once more.

In fact she ended up in his house, his bed a lot. Especially as her chemo treatment continued, when she wasn’t in hospital he managed to coax her to his house.

“I enjoy our sleepovers” he teased making her bite back a smile and glare playfully.

“Technically you don’t even need sleep” she reminded and he rolled his eyes.

“Well I like sleeping with you” he murmured with a wink and she laughed.

For a little while, things seemed to be getting better. She felt happier and somewhat healthier. She was more confident in herself when Klaus was around, he helped her see her beauty and her worth. For a moment she truly believed that everything would be better.

But things could never just be so simple.

At the end of her chemotherapeutic treatment, she went into the hospital as expected. Klaus didn’t go with her this time, Y/n had told him that the appointment wasn’t for another week because she wanted good news as a surprise.

How she wished it was good news.

She knew as soon as she saw the nurses face. When she told her that the treatment hadn’t worked the way they hoped, she just nodded and asked how much she owed. They shook their heads and reminded her that it was ‘free’ and she went home.

All this had done was just confirm that she wouldn’t live even half of what everyone else would. A quarter if she was lucky.

Vampire blood couldn’t save her, magic couldn’t save her. She just had to accept it and live with it for however long.

That wasn’t even the hard part for her, the hard part was telling Klaus.

After her appointment she went back to his home. He wasn’t in but she went up to his room anyway, besides it was basically her soon now too.

She stared at the bed, god she loved that bed. It was like a cloud and when she had Klaus holding her tight aswell? She only hoped heaven would be similar.

She tapped her fingers against her arm as she thought. With a sigh she went and had a shower, got back out and stared at herself in the full length mirror that Klaus had in his bathroom for whatever reason. She smiled and laughed through her nose at the thought.

Y/n had a lot of clothes at Klaus’s now, she pulled on one of the only actual sets of underwear she owned and sat down on the bed. She adjusted the straps on her bra for a few minutes and fiddled with her panties so they sat how she wanted them to.

Klaus was home shortly after and made his way upstairs to his room. His breath got caught in his throat the second he saw her.

They teased eachother and made little jokes about sex, they both entertained the idea in their heads but he never actually thought she would be the one to make the move.

He didn’t know what the final push was that made her give in but he wouldn’t push it away.

Within seconds he was on that bed, gently pushing her down onto her back and hovering over her. His lips met hers in a deep passion that heated them both. Her legs were nudged apart so he could lay between them. She kissed him back with as much love as should had in an effort to make him understand how much he meant to her.

His hands stroked up her sides gently, holding her waist perfectly. His mouth pressed to hers repeatedly before moving down to her neck. Y/n’s eyes kept shut as she felt the soft tingle of every touch, her hands slid down and unbuckled his belt. She pulled it through the loops with a tug and pushed it aside.

Klaus pulled back and looked down at her hands, he gently took them in his hands and lifted them to his lips, kissing the backs of them. “We don’t need to rush, we have all the time in the world” he whispered, the words made her eyes prick with tears but she held them back.

“I know…I just need you now” she told him quietly making him smile. He leant back down and kissed from her collarbone down. Y/n watched as goosebumps lined her skin and his hands slid her panties down her legs slowly so that she had the option to stop him.

He pressed soft kisses to her knees and then up along her thighs. His hands caressed her legs gently as he pressed an open mouthed kiss to her pussy. Y/n’s body jerked away from his mouth at the unfamiliar feeling and he smiled.

“It’s alright love, I’ve got you” he told her before running his tongue through her folds and up to her clit. Her legs went over his shoulder as her hands went to his hair, feeling the soft curls as her body filled with heat. Klaus rest his head against one of her thighs so he could look up at her as his tongue flicked gently at her little button. Her brows pulled together and a soft sound escaped her as she felt his teasing.

“Klaus” she whispered softly, a slightly tremble in her voice as his fingers made their way up and gently traced her pussy lips. He hummed quietly in response, letting the gentle vibrations tickle her nerves pleasantly. The words ‘I love you’ were on the tip of her tongue but she didn’t utter them, not yet. She worried that he would want to know why she chose now to tell him, why now to give herself to him. And if he did find out why, everything would be ruined.

A shaky breath left her and she put her focus back on him. She pulled at his soft hair gently, telling him to give her more and he eagerly obliged. He slipped a finger into her halfway, moving it slowly to help ease the foreign feeling upon her. His tongue still licked at her clit, though now with a little more pressure.

Her back arched a little and a breathy moan left her lips making him push his finger in so it was knuckle deep before pulling it out with a slight curve. He watched her tighten around nothing as her hips rolled a little to try get his touch back inside her.

“Do you like how it feels love?” He murmured with a kiss to her clit. She nodded and pulled at his curls gently.

“I do” she whispered “I love it” she confirmed and he smirked a little.

“I love it too” he smiled and sucked her clit into his mouth making her squirm and moan his name. She inhaled deeply and leant her head back against the pillows and two fingers began to stretch her open as they pushed in as far as they could’ve.

She took soft but long breaths as her body filled with heat and her hips ground her pussy against his fingers as they curled into her and found her spot. Her back curved off the bed and he smiled to himself, happy to bring her pleasure.

His fingers met the thrusts of her hips and his tongue lay flat against her clit, letting her rub against it as quick as she needed. A soft cry left her and her pussy squeezed his fingers tightly, her thighs squished his head making him chuckle and suck on her softly. He pulled away before she could come undone and pulled her down the bed so her legs were at his hips instead.

He leant down to kiss her lips making her wrinkle her nose and dodge him.

“Sweetheart, you can’t deny my kisses now” he murmured as she wriggled.

“You can’t kiss me after that” she whined and he laughed

“You taste lovely” he teased

“I’m good not knowing” she laughed and he narrowed his eyes before attacking her with kisses all over her face making her squeal and push at his chest playfully. Eventually he caught her lips and had her succumb to the kiss. A soft moan escaped her and he smiled.

“Can I keep going love?” He asked softly as he used one of his hands to undo his jeans. She nodded kissed his jaw softly, her eyes fluttering as she felt his bare legs against hers. Her body tensed for a moment as his cock rest against her thigh and her hand gripped his shoulder. “I’ll be slow” he whispered, “don’t worry Y/n”.

She nodded again and tightened her legs round his waist. Klaus cupped the back of her head with one hand while the other guided his tip into her weeping hole. She whimpered at the stretch and he kissed her cheek, holding her close.

She nuzzled close and clung to him as he pushed another two inches into her and gently rocked in and out of her, getting another inch into her with each thrust until eventually she took all of him. He stayed they for a while, stroking away the little tears that gathered in the corners of her eyes and kissing her lips softly.

“It’s okay love” he told her gently, “you know I’ve got you”

She nodded weakly and kept her face in the crook of his neck as he began to move again. Soft little moans slipped past her lips and vibrated against his throat as he thrust into her slowly. His hips moved perfectly to stroke all the right places inside her.

Y/n’s hands held onto him tightly, so did her pussy.

Klaus kissed her skin gently as he rocked into her, his hand slid down between their bodies and he began to stroke her swollen clit. She let out a little cry and he grunted as his cock was squeezed.

“You’re doing so good sweetheart” he murmured as he began to speed up. His eyes closed as he focused on pleasing her body, he could hear the repeated sound of his skin meeting hers along with the whimpers that tumbled past her mouth. He could feel her body growing tired and knew she wouldn’t be able to go on much more. He stroked her skin soothingly while his other hand rubbed quick circles on her pretty clit.

Her body tensed and she cried his name as her body let go around his. Klaus hugged her close as he thrust into her slowly, his hips came to a stop and she panted softly for air. He kissed her lips softly and pulled out. His hand stroked his cock quickly and he squeezed it tightly until he came onto her stomach. She moaned softly and tugged at him for a kiss.

His lips pressed to hers lovingly and rolled onto his back, pulling her ontop of him. Y/n smiled down at him and caressed his chest gently.

“I love you” she whispered and his heart warmed even more

“I love you too” he told her, wrapping his arms around her waist and sitting up. He stood up with her in his arms and carried her to the bathroom. He turned the shower on and brought them both under the warm water.

“I can stand” she mumbled and he hummed but didn’t put her down. Instead he kept ahold of her as he helped clean them both off. She leant against him, her head in his neck as he wrapped a towel big enough to be a double duvet. He kissed her head and dried them off before setting her back on his bed. He pulled one of his shirts over her head and pulled some panties up her legs. “Thank you” Y/n whispered with a smile.

“Of course” he smiled back and laid beside her in his sleep pants. Klaus held her to him, his lips pulled up in contentment and he closed his eyes. He held her close they slept and woke up early to prepare breakfast.

Klaus wanted this relationship to be right. He wanted to treat her like he knew he could and show that he meant his love for her. So he went downstairs and cooked up some pancakes and bacon for his girl. He plated it up and poured them both drinks, he set the table for them and made his way back upstairs.

His movements faltered for a moment as he heard the sound of gagging. Hurriedly he made his way to the bathroom to see her heaving over the toilet. Quickly he kneeled beside her and caressed her back, her hand reached for tissue as she wiped her mouth, dumping the tissue ontop of her sock and flushing the toilet. He helped her up and wrapped his arms around her waits from behind as she brushed her teeth. She apologised quietly but he shook his head and kissed her cheek.

“I got you something love” he told Y/n softly before leading her downstairs. She looked up at him with a soft look in her eyes as he pulled out her seat at the table. She sat down and smiled as he pushed her in and sat opposite her with his food also.

“You know you didn’t have to?” She whispered softly and Klaus hummed

“Of course I did” he answered “I’ll always look after you”

Y/n’s smile wavered a little but she pulled back together. They ate their food and she helped him clean up. After they got dressed and he started to talk. When Klaus starts talking he doesn’t tend to stop until he absolutely has to.

Usually Y/n didn’t mind his rants and rambles but this time it was about them. He started going on about all the things they could do together and how once her cancer was gone then they would go wherever she wanted and he went on and on. After a while however, Y/n just couldn’t help it.

Her eyes had been watering for a full twenty minutes and as soon as the first tear fell, well it was like a waterfall. Klaus’s face dropped within seconds and his heart sunk. Panic flooded him and he quickly pulled her into his lap. He tried to calm her but had no idea what was wrong to begin with. Well not at first.

She tried to leave, push him away like she knew she should have at the start. He wouldn’t let her though. Not now. He had to block the exit, ended up yelling for her to tell him what was wrong. Instead of an actual answer she told him that she didn’t want to be with him, she began to say hurtful things. She needed him to not love her. Not if there was no hope of living. She didn’t want to leave him missing her, she would rather he hated her and was glad she was gone. Or at least that’s how she thought in that moment.

Klaus was never good when it came to emotions. He didn’t understand the sudden change of heart, the hatred that suddenly blossomed. But he knew something was wrong, she didn’t look angry or disgusted by him like she tried to claim she was. She just looked scared and borderline devastated.

He stared at her for a while and she didn’t dare say anything else. Klaud didn’t want to believe it to begin with. But it was the only thing that made sense. With slight hesitation he stepped to her, he overpowered her shoving hands and forced her into a hug. It only took a moment for her to collapse into it, cries shaking through her without a break.

“I’m gonna take you everywhere” he mumbled softly, kissing her smooth head continuously. She made a sound of distress and she shushed her gently “anywhere you want sweetheart. It doesn’t matter how long we have, I will not have you live it alone and in self-pity” he argued and she shook.

He picked her up and sat down with her on the sofa, he grabbed a world map and brought it over to her. “Come on love, you choose somewhere and I’ll get us in a plane, have you ever flown?” He asked, swallowing any tears or sadness down. Right now he just needed to keep her with him. He would go anywhere, do anything to ensure that she was happy for however long she had to live.

“We can’t just-“

“Yes we can. We will. We don’t even have to pack, I’ll buy you everything new from wherever we go. Just pick a continent, we’ll do a country from each and see how you’re feeling before we go again” he whispered, desperation seeping into his tone.

“You’re making it worse for yourself” she uttered, wiping her tears.

“It’ll be a hundred times worse if I’m not with you” he argued, a tear dropping from his lashes.

They both went quiet and let the situation fully dawn on them for a little while. Finally Y/n glanced to the map. “I’ve always heard Europe was pretty” she mused quietly and Klaus wiped his eyes, pulling a smile onto his face as he pulled her close and kissed the side of her head.

“It’s beautiful. I’ll call for a private jet and we shall leave in a few hours. Would you like to tell your family that you’ll be away?” He asked but she shook her head no. “Then please, just trust me my love?”

“I do…and I’m sorry for-“

“Don’t be. Just know that I love you and that I will always have you no matter what” he told her, a kiss to her lips to seal the promise.

“I love you” she uttered, they repeated it back to one another as she made her way into his lap and rest her face in his neck.

Everything else was forgotten.

The doppelgänger, hybrids, Salvatore’s, Mikaelsons. They would all have to wait.

[stxrr-strxckk]

Something I noticed about I Saw the TV Glow that I haven't seen anybody mention yet

I saw this movie in theaters back in early may when it was released (Twice!), and it's been lingering in my head ever since then. Something I noticed on my second watch through: When Owen (and the audience) first see the Pink Opaque, we see Tara and Isabel in this sort of 90s nostalgia light, and I always thought they looked quite similar to Maddy and Owen. For example: Here is Owen and Isabel next to each other for reference.

While it's not entirely the same (Owen has softer features and is warmer toned, Isabel is more sharp and cool toned), they do look like they'd at least be related, cousins at least?

Same with Maddy and Tara, though not as much. (They looked more similar after Maddy's haircut, but I'm too lazy to change the photo)

But then, at the end when Owen is rewatching Pink Opaque? It's completely different. That nostalgic effect is gone and all of a sudden Tara is nowhere to be seen (Since Maddy left the world they were trapped in), and Isabel is completely different. Instead of being the confident, strong, WOC we see her as originally, she's just the same boring white protagonist of every little girl's show we grew up on.

And of course Owen is panicking, realizing that he lost his chance: He buried Isabel; she's dead underground, without her heart and instead of being who he truly is where he truly belongs, he's just... Owen. Stuck in suburbia, living the hell of being a queer kid growing up in the suburbs. Except now, he's an adult living a lie, knowing what he could have had is gone and he's stuck.

And another thing: I think the choice of the fun zone being where Owen works is deliberate. Sure, they could have kept him at the theater, but the theater shutting down is not only accurate (sad but true- please support your local movie theaters!) but shows how everyone is moving on from that experience of going to see a movie (and also from the joy of childhood and into adulthood while Owen is still stuck that awkward teenager!) in person- choosing streaming instead.

And we also notice this change in the Pink Opaque when Owen is watching it streaming. This is a reflection of how media felt more special growing up when it was in a physical form. Cds, vinyl, Dvds, casettes, film reels, even game cartridges, we've always had some physical object that bonds us to the worlds of creativity in which artists express themselves. And whether you've noticed or not, it's a special sort of feeling that just... Dies with streaming. Its like you own a piece of the media. Like saying: "This is mine, it's my personal piece of media that belongs to me and only me." and that's always made it feel special. Sure, there may be multiple copies, but this one belongs just to you. Not to mention the ritual of actually putting in cds, dvds, casettes into a player, or playing vinyl on a record player. There's this action you have to take to consume this media that's familiar and sort of gets you to anticipate what you're about to watch (much like Owen and Maddy's ritual of Maddy taping the show then leaving them around school for Owen to find) whereas now, you're just on a streaming service that lots of people own, and you're just mindlessly scrolling through hundreds of options.

Another thing: What do we see when Owen cuts his chest open in the final few minutes? TV static. Like when a tape finishes and you don't take it out of the player. His tape is over, Isabel is dead, and all that's left is the static of his fake life as he slowly rots in this husk. Now with streaming, you don't get that static. His connection with the Pink Opaque stems from his friendship with Maddy, the nostalgia of his favorite childhood show, and of course: his own queerness.

It's no secret this movie is about growing up queer and feeling like something is wrong. Like some part of you missing, the part that makes you normal. I've seen many reviews on IMDB that clearly missed the point, so I really want to spell it out here: THIS IS A MOVIE ABOUT QUEER PEOPLE FOR QUEER PEOPLE. And I've never seen a movie so perfectly encapsulate that feeling more than this one.

From my experience as a queer POC growing up with little to no representation I know this feeling all too well of seeing someone and realizing: "Wow, that's me." And projecting who I wanted to be onto that person. Even though they're not queer, they're not a poc, they're just a character. We try so hard to make them into who we want to be that the image of this character becomes so distorted you barely recognize them. Then, later revisiting that media to realize that a: you've become them, your true self, or b, in Owen's case: that you've buried that person alive and barely recognize yourself now.

It's really such a unique experience that I've never been able to put into words before. These scenes gave me such a visceral feeling and I almost cried in the theater. The scene of Owen in Isabel's dress is just the cherry on top. I myself am lucky enough to not need to transition and growing up I didn't feel as much dysphoria as my other trans friends, but this reminds me of a good friend of mine who used to dress in heels, makeup, skirts, and dresses to try and lessen the dysphoria she felt growing up in the wrong body.

I also love how the movie shows being queer in school.

Like how Maddy asks Owen if he likes girls or boys, and he replies with: "I think I like TV shows."

Avoiding the question because you either don't know the answer, or are so afraid you're gonna get bullied even more for being who you are.

Growing up, there weren't many queer kids in my school. So when we found each other, we stuck together. But for most of school, we were alone. No groups, not many friends, no space at the lunch table for us.

And seeing Owen, I just felt this connection to him almost immediately. Alone, not part of any group, until he finally finds Maddy. They don't have anything in common except the show, which is really the only reason they're friends, but it keeps them together, They're bonded.

For me, I see this as finding another queer kid in a mostly straight school. You may not have much in common, but that identity means you two will stick together, no matter what.

TLDR: I love isttvg, it makes me cry, everyone is gay and fuck imdb.

[xx-psych0-rabbit-xx]

miscellaneous kirby characters n if id trust them w my drink at the club while i go to the restroom n how well theyd protect it

king dedede:hed say hell make sure nobody touches it but hed end up drinking it himself out of an impulse, hed rush to buy me a new one but id be able to tell its new bc its full n hes acting weird, this is getting a new full free drink but i will have to say 0/10 bc my original drink was not protected

nightmare:id cover my drink if i saw him at the club.0/10.

meta knight:hed give a dramatic monologue hell protect it with his life n draw out his sword, taking a defensive stance until im back, my drink is fully safe n we both have a fun time at the club, 10/10

dark meta knight:he would leave it on the table unprotected n id break it on his head when im back n a fight would break out n wed both end up in jail, horrible time at the club 0/10

daroach:no hed steal it.0/10

magolor:i would NOT trust him w it hed put smth in himself.nothing dangerous but hed put like.fucking pepper he carries in his pocket for specifically this occasion in it.5/10 bc i mean ig technically my drink was kept safe he kept it his word its just disgusting now

taranza:in general i think hed do a great drink protecting job, hed take it n cover it w one of his hands n would observe every corner of the room looking for possible drink threats while having his four remaining hands ready to throw punches, but my concern is while im gone hell accidentally see someone from floraria in the club n have to make a run for it bc theyre still mad abt the whole monarchy coup thing n might try to kill him, hed take my drink w him n id come back to no drink, so a 6/10 due to the success chances

susie:the second i say im going to the restroom she announces shes coming too, bc were both girls n girls follow each other to the bathroom, shed hold my drink for me after following me all the way n she has a gun so id say id feel its absolutely safe w her, 10/10

francisca:froze my drink holding it.7/10 bc she did her best id just wait for it to unfreeze to honor her efforts

flamberge:evaporated my drink holding it.the cups empty n were both just sad.5/10 she did keep it safe but theres nothing there anymore

zan partizanne:ok so heres the thing.shed do a great job protecting it.shed take out her spear n get ready to strike anyone who might touch my drink.but the issue is zan is herself n she ends up impulsively attacking anyone whos stepping near her after a while n within the 4 minutes it took for me to be back she killed half the club n is in jail n id have to go pick her up (theres no legal trouble bc she killed all the cops in there too).but hey my drinks safe! 10/10

hyness:you see i dont think hyness would be untrustworthy w my drink.i think hed get confused if i were to hand it to him bc he wasnt paying attention but he wouldnt let anyone get near it to do anything.id come back to my drink the same way it was before.but the thing is i just dont trust him.its not abt the drink its abt personal bias.i just dont trust him i wouldnt want to give him a personal task representing the bond between two ppl bc i dont trust him.0/10

void termina:if its the big boy form id poke it at the leg n ask if it can keep my drink safe n itd just carefully pinch it between its fingers, i would cheerfully go on my way bc the rest of the club is gathered at the corner in fear far from the giant god of destruction, 10/10 but if its the blob form i would not bring a toddler to the club.also even if it wasnt a toddler it has no hands.0/10

fecto elfilis:if i saw elfilis at the club our eyes would meet n id ask someone to hold my drinks n then id start running towards them n punch them square in the face.n then id keep punching them while theyre down.theyd have to get the entire security team on me to get me to stop.id end up at a padded room in the mental hospital bc id start beating up security too n then start beating elfilis up again.id chew my way out of the walls n find where elfilis lives n start beating them up again.theyd never know peace again.it doesnt matter what happens i will find them n i will punch them.n id continue to until theyre finally dead.

escargoon:yeag i think hed keep an eye on it i trust him :) 10/10

[mothwingwritings]

R & Y for baki please <3 it can be mixed

Thank yooou! Here's some love for our titular boy loool <3

Warnings: Mentions of confinement, being held against your will, and one sided affection

Regret: Would they ever feel guilty about abducting their darling? Would they ever let their darling go?

In moments of lucidity, Baki would feel very guilty. What right did he have to pluck you up off the street and hold you against your will? He’s forced you into confinement like you were some kind of criminal, turning your life upside down. It was selfish, it was cruel, and it robbed you of everything and everyone you loved in your life. He was your world now, and even though he earnestly felt that was for the best and knew he loved you more than any other human possibly could, he also knew how lonely this confinement made you. Every time he saw that sad look in your eyes, your body slumped over in dejection and fear as you sat in the corner of his barren room refusing to speak with him, it broke his heart. You were his shining, vibrant, brilliant love and he alone had made you lose your luster.

Deep down he knew he just was chasing after a phantom feeling of affection, the dream of having a loving and doting partner by his side spurring him to do something outrageous. He was disappointed in himself, disgusted for having betrayed your trust. Any positive bond he had formed with you was certainly destroyed at this point, any actual love you felt for him has gone clear out the window. When he gets into these guilt-ridden spirals he wonders if it was all worth it, if potentially demolishing the once natural attachment you shared with him was something that was truly necessary or desired by him. It eats him up more than he will ever let on, he never wanted to be the villain in your life.

However, it’s only a matter of time before he reverts to his default mindset and realizes that there is no reason to be beating himself up over all this. You may be upset or momentarily hurt, but in the end he did this for your own benefit. He is protecting you and providing for you in ways no one else can, he’ll never let any misfortune befall you as long as you are at his side. True, maybe his home isn’t the most spacious or as clean as it could be, but its world’s better then leaving you to fend for yourself on the outside. He’ll always strive to make your life better, even if you can’t necessarily see that that’s what is happening.

He loves you with all that he is, so even if it hurts or confuses you in the process, it will all be worth it in the end. When you finally realize how well off you are none of the grievances of the present will matter any longer. Your future with him is bright and full of happiness, how can it not be when he is pouring so much of himself into providing you an ideal life?

He just has to keep telling himself that until that day arrives.

As far as letting you go, I think after a lot of time and discussion Baki would be willing to let you go once he truly understands it’s in your best interest. When it comes down to it, he really does love you and want your happiness, so after an extended amount of time if his methods continue to not work, or make you actively worse, he will bite the bullet and do what’s best for you. It will be the hardest choice he has ever had to make, but he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if you lost yourself entirely due to his greed and infatuation. He’ll always cling on to hope though, saving himself for you so that one day in the future you may come back ready to give him another chance, this time of your own accord.

Yearn: How long do they pine after their darling before they snap?

Your relationship with Baki actually starts off pretty normal. You met, became good acquaintances, which led to friendship and then blossomed into him becoming one of your best friends. At some point in that time frame, it struck him that while he loved your companionship and affection as his close confidant and buddy, he wanted, or rather needed something much more than that with you.

Baki is a pretty patient person, but the moment he realizes his feelings for you run deeper than just mere friendship, it’s over.  The second he comes to terms with just how deeply he cares for you he becomes obsessed with making you aware of it, unable to contain his unbridled excitement over the revelation. It’s all so exhilarating and intoxicating, and he just knows the instant he tells you you’ll be thrilled too. He loves you so deeply, so fully, how did he not realize this sooner? You two are meant to be together, literally made for each other, he was blind not to see what was before him! You were veritable soul mates, and that thought flooded his chest with butterflies, made his stomach do flips. Maybe he was the only one out of the loop, he wondered if you had long since realized this and were just patiently waiting for Baki to make a move? How embarrassing, he’ll have to make it up tenfold as soon as he sees you.

So he rushes to you and wastes no time confessing, ardent feelings gushing from within him as he bares his heart for you in a torrent of flowery words, barely able to catch his breath as he goes on and on, making sure to leave nothing unsaid. He’s expecting you to respond with a smile, or maybe even happy tears or an embarrassed little blush, but you just… stare at him. There’s no pleased grin that lights up your face, no playful chiding over how long it took him to catch on and confess, no enveloping hug as you leap into his arms in sheer joy. You just looked at him blankly until you eventually avert your gaze, awkwardly focusing anywhere but him as you apologize, telling him you only saw him as your dear friend and nothing more.

Oh.

THIS is the only time he truly pines.

He tried to accept it, really he did, but damned if it wasn’t hard. And things were so… weird after his confession. You kept your distance, dodging any physical contact Baki tried to give you. You didn’t smile at him like you used to, or joke around with him till the wee hours of the morning. You always loved his hugs, but now you shrank away from them, denying him the pleasure of feeling your warm, inviting body against his own. And as more time passed, he saw less and less of you overall, his hang out requests always responded to with convenient flimsy excuses.

He ached for you. His body, his soul, every part of him yearned for you, desperately craving your attention and affection. Your absence was profound and painful and after a solid three weeks had passed without any response to him or you reaching out once, he knew he had to take matters into his own hands.

Baki didn’t blame you for your behavior. How he went about his confession was all wrong, and in the end, it ended up unnerving you a bit. He just got too excited and worked up over the thought of becoming official with you, but he realized now how he was far too eager in his execution. Just like how your bond formed originally, you needed time to get used to him not just as Baki your friend, but Baki your lover. And the best way to do that was to give you plenty of time alone together, with no outside distractions to interrupt you.

He spent a long time getting his home ready for your arrival. Your favorite snacks filled his pantry, a new toothbrush ready and waiting for you in the bathroom. He even bought you some new clothes he knows will look adorable on you (as well as some underwear/lingerie he’s very much looking forward to seeing you in) and some books/magazines/games to keep you entertained. It’s going to be great-just the two of you hanging out, getting to know each other in a whole new light, which will grant you the time to realize your true feelings. Spending so much time together in such close corners is a sure fire way to ignite the flames of passion within you, right? There’s no way your dormant feelings of love won’t be aroused by your new living situation.

Just thinking about it was getting him excited all over again.

[moonliched]

Hello pretty

I remember you talked about the bad ending of 3th chapter where Moon would successfully lure Meryn under the water ( rip, very sad alternative universe, glad we are in the other timeline) what would happen if Meryn didn't survive the first encounter with Sun? If they didn't retrieve their breather? Would Sun realise sooner than Moon? Would they drown? If they did would Sun even realise? What would he do? Would he hide it from Moon? Or swimed searching, for him terrified with what happened? How would Moon feel? Would he blame himself for keeping Meryn a secret? After all maybe if he told Sun about them, that they are different, can't breathe like them, that wouldn't happen. What would Bon-Bon feel? I think it would hit him hard, not only his only friend is gone, but their last conversation was an argument. It really hit me how badly for everyone it could end if Meryn wasn't sneaky and smart.

Sorry for angst lol just curious after I read about Moon really drowning reader

Good thing they both know now <3

Also can Meryn digest more things than normal human can? Are they more resistant to food poisoning? Like could they eat raw meat without worrying about anything?

Also did Moon realise after some time ( for example after he bit reader ) how badly he hurt them during their first encounter? Rereading the fic I see by his standards and world view ( him having scales and thinking Meryn does too, therefore them being tougher) he handled them pretty well and softly you can say, considering situation they were in. But after learning how soft their scaleless skin is did he had the realisation moment? Like he is in his nest just thinking and bam, he realises how hurtful it had to be?

Love yaaa sorry for rambling

ehee hiii bby, kicks my feet <3

this turned out long so it's under the cut✂️

sadly Meryn would have absolutely drowned in that scenario😭 Sun had noticed enough to hear that any sounds they were making were coming from behind the breather, but he only realised its purpose after Meryn retrieved it from him in the fic.

in this alternate timeline, after they drown he might not entirely understand how they died - from his POV, they would have been fighting and struggling, then weakening, then limp and unconscious/drowned. maybe he'd consider the mask and put the dots together.

he would have tried to wake them up and failed. keeping them in the water runs the risk of other creatures eating the body, and he wouldn't want to bring a corpse back to the nest, so Sun would likely place them above water (plenty of air bubbles in this fic.) he would wait for Moon to return and gradually become more and more frantic and agitated, blaming himself and panicking. he'd check back on Meryn in the hopes that some miracle has revived them, and tug painfully at his head fins. he'd be too frightened to leave the warm environment.

around this time Moon is only returning home to rest and drop off supplies he has hunted, so Sun would have a hard time catching him. when he finally finds him, Sun would lead Moon to Meryn, hoping he can do something to fix this. he'd be babbling too hard for Moon to immediately understand what had happened, and Moon might even jump to conclusions that Meryn has done something dumb to scare his partner, and get annoyed with them. sneaking around, entering his home without asking - his human is so much trouble!

then he'd see the body and feel so much worse.

Moon would definitely blame himself for not communicating with Sun. he'd turn it around and around in his head, considering everything he could have done differently. he'd try to revive Meryn in any way he can, but eventually have to give it up. Sun would feel even worse - not only has he killed the first chance of outside contact they've had in a long time, but it's someone Moon has already formed a bond with. Moon would be tempted to keep the body, but ultimately the mers would return them to the platform. the decision would take a while.

BON-BON would react very badly. the body showing up would extinguish all hope that Meryn is somehow alive out there, waiting to be rescued. his friend is gone in exactly the way he always feared, and he would take it out on the team by manipulating the building and the robots. he would also become extremely aggressive and mistrustful of the mermaids, and utilise the facility's external machinery to scare them off if they ever return (e.g. the subs.) eventually, his behaviour would grow so abrasive and overt that he would be discovered as a sentient AI.

hope that was fun, a bit more angst for you :3c

Meryn is a mixed bag! they can eat some things regular humans can't, but also other things aren't suited for them - like dairy. they're a lil lactose intolerant, and the ice creams they feed Moon don't contain actual milk. they could absolutely eat raw meat, but they're intensely aware of how badly people react to that sort of thing😣 however, i don't know if that makes them less susceptible to food poisoning - since this is future sci fi fic, some of the food they eat is alien in origin, so there isn't a blanket answer on that :0

Moon is now aware that Meryn is softer and more fragile than a mermaid, and has gentled his actions to accommodate. biting them definitely kickstarted that realisation, and he felt bad after thinking over their past interactions later. buuuut he still doesn't fully understand, as of chapter 13. mermaids heal quicker than humans, and his bite has permanently scarred Meryn's shoulder. he hasn't had the opportunity to see that... yet :)

thank you for the big ask, mwah mwah mwah❤️❤️❤️ ppl like you make me feel so happy, you're thinking about my story and theorising! hugs u😋

[i-am-a-lost-girl16]

Eris and his Hounds

I'm not going to lie.. I'm slightly obsessed with Eris and his hounds. @erisweek2023

Eris was given his hounds by his father, though I firmly believe the intent isn’t for comradery or compassion. Beron’s intent in initially giving Eris his hounds as pups is to teach him a lesson in responsibility

Eris, as a young boy initially, is worried about raising the pups. He’s seen his father’s other hunting hounds and how ferocious they could be. The last thing he wants is to be responsible for a number of them. But Beron has made it clear: Either Eris takes care of them or they starve.

The first day in the kennel with them is all about Eris letting the hounds get familiar with him, he starts by just letting his hand hang into the kennel giving each hound the opportunity to sniff him. Once they’ve been exposed to his scent, he takes a small step inside. He braces himself as they swarm him, but his tension quickly drops as various snouts sniff and tickle him. 

That’s how his first few weeks with them go, Eris lets himself get used to each one and lets each dog get used to him. Once he has a feel for their personalities he begins assigning them all their own names (In order: Four females and three males): Roux, Bronwyn, Aster, Gaia, Flint, Jora, and Bruno

Every day he has time set aside to go out and train them, starting with the basic commands of Sit, Stay, Down. Before he advances each of them into more complicated commands.

Eris takes full care of his hounds, he’s up in the morning to take them outside and give them breakfast, he’s back by mid day to run through training with them, and in his free time he will often find himself at their sides. Whether it’s more training or taking them out for longer breaks into the woods. In the evening, before he retires, he makes sure that each dog is alright and in its proper place before he goes to his own room.

Now I think bath time with seven hounds and Eris is a hilarious feat. The exasperated boy will absolutely chase each of them around the bathroom he commandeered for his task, yellow at them and using whatever distraction he possibly can. I think that bath time is the one space that hasn’t changed since the hounds were pups, it has and always will be chaos and Eris loves every single second of it.

By the end of their first year together, he and his hounds had already formed an unbreakable bond. Nobody takes care of Eris’ hounds but him and his hounds are the first thing he allows himself to love fully without fear of hiding it. His hounds answer to nobody but him truly. 

Eris often goes to his hounds for solace, they’re some of the few living creatures that get to see him for who he truly is and each hound has their own special bond with Eris. There are plenty of late nights where he’s snuck to the kennels for comfort and fell asleep alongside them, only to wake up the next morning and have to threaten the nearest servant into silence about it.  

He would never be able to choose a favorite, each hound has their own special spot in his heart and he knows each of their habits.

Roux won’t sleep without burrowing into her blanket several times until it’s up to her standard, Flint and Gaia have been inseparable since birth the only two actual siblings of his hounds and as such they can constantly be found side by side. Brownyn will not share her food and her bowl needs to be several feet from the others at meal times. Bruno hides his treats, Eris once found a stash of several bones hidden in a hole in the wall of his kennel. If it’s raining, Jora will howl and whine in his kennel until he’s given the chance to go out into it (On days like these Eris makes sure Jora gets a few extra minutes outside), and Aster is the kindest heart of them all and absolutely knows she has Eris wrapped around her paw with one sad dog look he can't help but give her an extra treat.

Eris isn’t often found without at least one of the hounds by his side when he’s wandering the Forest House or even other areas of the Autumn Court. There’s no need for a leash amongst them usually, they listen well enough to his commands to stay glued to his side unless otherwise told.

I truly believe that Eris’ hounds are his babies and he spoils them endlessly whenever he can. Wherever Eris goes, his hounds are sure to follow him.

If one of his female hounds got pregnant (or Beron demand that Eris find a stud to breed her with) Eris is the epitome of a mother hen. He’s beside his hound every step of the way threatening every animal physician he can into making sure it goes smoothly. When her pups are set to come, Eris is right by her side helping to deliver them. In the end she has a litter of about four healthy puppies with limited complications but Eris swears that he’s aged another hundred years because of the worry that he went through for his beloved hound and her pups.

I could probably ramble on and on about Eris and his pups but at the end of the day, they are some of the most important things in Eris’ life in my mind.

[phopollo]

*getting on my hands and knees* Please I would love to know more about your fairytail rewrite, I have also just decided to do a rewatch of it and I am dying for more content/more people to talk about it with (also i love your designs so far and especially the focus on my girl Juvia... would love to know your ideas for both ex phantom lord guys actually)

AKFNWKG OMG HI YOU DONT UNDERSTAND HOW HAPPY THIS MAKES ME

GAJEEL & JUVIA MEAN SO MUCH TO ME, BOTH INDIVIDUALLY AND AS A DUO, AND I WAS SO SAD ABOUT HOW THEYRE TREATED IN CANON (especially Juvia,,, she was my favorite, but she got done so dirty when they stopped allowing her to he her own character outside of loving Gray,,,) SO IM ELATED YOU WANNA KNOW MORE ABOUT THEM, BECAUSE I THINK ABOUT THEM SO MUCH

So!!

I'll start with them as a duo

While members of Phantom Lord, none of the Element 4 were really like.... friends per say, but Gajeel and Juvia had the closest thing to being like........ friendly coworkers of all the relationships among them. Juvia was kind of the only one Gajeel really respected, and Juvia recognized thar Gajeel treated her with as much respect as he could, so she reciprocated (think like,,, verbally acknowledging each other as they passed in the halls, but calling each other by last name)

After joining Fairy Tail, in the immediate aftermath, everyone was still a little cautious of them for understandable reasons. So they kind if unintentionally cling to each other, because..... yknow. They're the only ones not giving each other the side eye, so it doesn't feel like they have to claw through a wall of tension to just hold a simple conversation

The turning point for them into actual friendship is when people start to give them more of a chance! In particular, on a day that Fairy Tail is getting A Bit Rowdy(tm) in the guild hall, and Gajeel turns around, expecting Juvia to have his back, and shes.... she's not there........... and now that he thinks about it, it's been a bit rainy today............... so he gets a little worried and goes looking for her, only to find her hiding in the bathroom because she got a bit overwhelmed and overstimulated because she's never had so many people approach and try to talk to her all at once and never been involved in a brawl like that that wasn't an actual like, fight, and she just...... she needs a minute. So. Gajeel sits with her a bit, because. Yknow. It wouldn't be worth it to go out there and pick fights with everyone and have fun if she's not also going to. It's just not as fun

They get a little awkward sitting there in silence and Gajeel gets antsy. He looks at himself in the mirror, and then down at Juvia and her perfectly styled hair. He goes "Hey wanna help me wash my hair?" And she kind of. Stares at him for a few seconds.

(Bonus doodles of when I was initially thinking about this but never planned to post bc my hand writing is ILLEGIBLE)

So Gajeel takes care of his hair now (very important about him and his character and the change in his hair style between Phantom Lord and Fairy Tail)

And after that, they accidentally become Natsu-And-Lucy-But-Cool-Tones

And they're very silly, and I love them very much

Whoops, that on its own was a little longer than I intended, but I'll still go into them individually too

Gajeel;

His insecurity about falling behind the other dragon slayers is a little more prevelant-- he just kind of always feels like he has something to prove

An important part of the Rewrite to me is thst there's the opportunity for characters who didn't really seem to interact as much get the opportunity to, so I'll also put out there thst Gajeel forms pretty tight bonds with Wendy, Erza, team Shadow Gear as a whole not just Levy, and the Strauss siblings

I don't think he really knows what he actually likes to do in his free time. He kind of just tags along with other people doing things they like to do

He's roughly very similar to how he was in canon. A lot of the work I've done on him has been more just smoothing out the edges and adjusting his behavior to reflect the people I've declared him the closest to

Juvia;

It's so important to me that she gets to be a character outside of being in love with Gray. She does still have a crush on him, and she's not super subtle about it, but she's also like.... she's capable of being a normal person around and about him. They are genuinely friends above anything else

She had no idea how to talk to anyone. Cana and Mirajane were lowkey her saviors when it came to learning how to interact with other people and not be a complete freak, so she's super tight with them in particular

In canon, we were shown both thst she made her own Teru Teru Bozus, and that she knit Gray a scarf once. There's also a couple other things we're shown that its never explicitly state she made them, but I feel like the implication is there. So I'm taking those and running with them-- I'm making her a really crafty person, and she loves and takes a lot of comfort in doing things like sewing, knitting, and crocheting, and that's something she notably does in her free time-- especially since she doesn't just do them for the sake of doing them, she almost always makes something for someone (got a little drawing about this incoming actually)

We only really got to know the bare minimum of Juvia's backstory-- that her parents are dead, she was taken in by her uncle who did his best to help her and her rain problem by seeking out water and ice wizards, and then he also died while seeking help for her-- so I've expanded on it a little and made some minor changes! Longest story short; her father died in a workplace accident before she was born, and her mother died during child birth, which is what lead to her being taken in by her uncle. As much as he loved her and was doing his best with her, he also kind of always resented her and blamed her for the death of his sister (her mom) even though it really was not her fault. Juvia sort of always recognized this, but also as a traumatized child, blamed herself, which lead to the intensifying of the rain around her as she got older and understood things better. That's when her uncle started looking for other water wizards and ice wizards to try and help stop the rain. He went out one day to meet with one, and he never came back. Juvia doesn't know if something happened or if the resentment finally built of too much and he just up and left, and that's something she's never going to get closure on. It definitely still plagues the back of her mind and affects the way she acts now, even if she thinks she's moved past that point in her life.

Woah

That was a lot, sorry akfbskd

I hope this was at least some of what you wanted to hear about them!!

[starg1rlie]

𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 ㅤㅤPROLOGUE: The Baby | (MLIST)

⟡ rating. slight romance + angst ( adolescent audience )

⟡ summary. ( the re-written version of "better late than never" is finally here! i know some people have asked about it, since i've deleted it but it's BACK NOW!! ) not all fairy tales end in a happily-ever-after. take (Y/N) and ajax for example; they had the love story of a lifetime and yet it's now all water under the bridge. ten years after the two of them split up, it was suggested that (Y/N) spend a summer vacation over in snezhnaya to give their son and the father some time to bond together and enjoy a relaxing break. however, that's easier said than done.

notes. you have no idea how long this post has been sitting in my drafts, oml. hey, yep, this is leo here, formerly known online as tarluscious (or, leo, as my moots know me), here to talk a bit about the remake of this delightful series. ever since i started publishing more and more chapters of this series back when it was still a "fly by the seat of my pants" project, i wasn't happy with the final results. i mean, hell, who's ever happy with the first attempt? and i've been meaning to re-write this series for so long, but i never found the time to. when i took my hiatus a couple of months ago, i was a little sad that i wouldn't get the chance to write BLTN over again. however, my friend, who now runs this blog (hyokkun) with me, suggested that they might re-write it, and we came to a happy conclusion that the both of us should work on this project together. so here we are, with the prologue. yayy. just wanted to say that what this means is, hyokkun has added their own inputs into this series, while i, leo, am the main author of it. so, all that being said, i hope you thoroughly enjoy this re-written version. please note that some things may be different from the last time you've read this series, and that's because changes has been made to fit the new plot accordingly. reblogs and likes are appreciated ! | wc. 1,542 words ( 8,566 characters )

⟡ feat. childe / tartaglia x female! reader ( she / her pronouns are used )

ㅤㅤA cry split through the peaceful silence of the hospital. A baby, swaddled in warm, cuddly blankets had begun wailing, even though he was cradled within the arms of his mother. He kept bawling, even as the mother hummed a lullaby, even as she rocked him back and forth in her arms, even as she cupped one side of his delicate face and whispered 'It's going to be okay' over and over again.

ㅤㅤA new wave of sickness passed over (Y/N) as she stared down at her stomach, imagining what it would be like bigger, pondering over the process it takes for a baby to develop within her. It both simultaneously intrigued and terrfied her. She couldn't imagine popping out a baby from her unmentionables, let alone having it stuck in her womb for months. Yet as she began to wonder, a new question came into light: would she give up this baby? Could she?

ㅤㅤPeople say that you don't really have a choice when you're young; no one's capable of raising a child when they're barely just a young adult, and yet, she could name a few people she knew right off the bat who were doing just fine with parenting. But the real question was if she was ready for this. Be it ready to give it up or ready to endure the consequences, it didn't matter. She just had to know for sure if she was ready.

ㅤㅤShe still remembered the conversation that had went down only a few weeks ago. She refers to it as a 'discussion', but really, it was a full-out argument....A migraine had formed underneath her temple and had buried its heels in deep, causing a resonating pounding to echo within her head, messing with her already tangled up thoughts. And yet, that day's memories remained untouched. If anything, it was tugged free of the mess and pulled into the light.

ㅤㅤ"What the fuck? What the fuck?"

ㅤㅤ"Saying 'what the fuck' over and over again isn't going to make the situation anymore better than it already is, Ajax," (Y/N) interrupted, breathing out a slightly exasperated sigh. She'd been scared out of mind about telling her boyfriend about the news and this was exactly why: he'd take it badly. He always took life-changing news badly, unless it involved travelling, free food, or money. She'd grown used to his childish behaviour ever since the two started going out, but right now was not the time to act like a child.

ㅤㅤ"Then what will make this better? Huh? Please elaborate on that for me," Ajax replied sarcastically, throwing his hands up in the air. He'd been pacing for the past five minutes since (Y/N) had spilled the beans about her pregnancy. Anymore pacing and he'd pace a trench right through their apartment floor. "Because I really don't understand how anything can make this better."

ㅤㅤ"Oh, I don't know, maybe the fact that you're going to be a father? Haven't you been going on and on about wanting to have a son one day?" (Y/N) retorted, patience fizzling.

ㅤㅤ"When I'm thirty, not twenty-four!"

ㅤㅤ"What's a few years early? If anything, you'd get your dream quicker," she mumbled under her breath, absentmindedly flipping through the channels on the cable.

ㅤㅤAjax leapt forward and snatched the remote out of her hands, slamming it roughly onto the glossy surface of their coffee table, one that he'd insisted he put together himself, even though the table had come from IKEA, and he knew nothing on how to read instructions in Swedish. That little memory caused a tiny pang to go through her heart, enough to make it ache just a little bit. Please, she prayed, please let us get through this together.

ㅤㅤ"You're not listening! Do you honestly think that I'm ready for this? That you're ready for this? We're still in college for God's sake, do you expect us to be whizzes at parenthood?"

ㅤㅤ(Y/N) barely managed to withhold a snort at his sarcasm, but politely shook her head. She knew deep down inside that she wasn't ready to be a mother, let alone have a child at such a young age. What would her friends think? What would her parents think?

ㅤㅤ"What, then, I 'spose you expect us to waltz right in and get comfortable in our positions as parents, right? We'll be fine, so long as we manage to balance a baby into our already hectic and crazy lives, right? Just plop it right in between work and college and paying bills, hm?"

ㅤㅤ"Right," she repeated.

ㅤㅤAjax paused his pacing for a moment. "Do you understand the concept of sarcasm?" he asked incredulously.

ㅤㅤ(Y/N) went silent, seemingly contemplating whether she'd been too hasty to cast in her answer earlier.

ㅤㅤ"Whatever. It doesn't matter." His jaw tensed and for a moment, he looked as though he might punch something. Not (Y/N), heavens no, but something. Possibly the fridge (poor thing; it never did anything to deserve this sort of abuse). "What matters is that you're pregnant and we're still in college. We're students, we can barely make it past out deadlines, let alone manage a child." He sounded almost tired, and for the first time in a while, she just now noticed the bags under his eyes, and the tired croak to his voice, taking the place of the usual charming lilt he normally had. How many times had she come home from her part-time job at the laundromat to see him passed out on the exact same coffee table they were currently in front of, drooling all over his calculus homework? How many times had she come back from her lectures to find a pristine sink and an empty fridge? Ajax was incredibly vain and conscious about his self-image, that he took great lengths to make himself look presentable each day. But ever since his senior year in college started, his schedue started going downhill and he never had the time to do any of the things he normally did to take care of his body. He hadn't eaten proper food for days, and has been liviing off of coffee (and her fancy vanilla oatmilk creamer) and Doritos for God knows how long.

ㅤㅤ"What are we going to do?" (Y/N) asked finally, voice timid and quiet, as if anything louder might break the fragility of this scene.

ㅤㅤWhen Ajax looked up, she had expected his face to be sad, almost regretful for saying such things about the situation, but instead she found his gaze hard and penetrating, almost menacing. "We can't look after a baby right now, (Y/N), you know that."

ㅤㅤAnd the truth was, she did know it. She just chose not to believe it. But the way he worded it, the way he said it, seemed to hint at something. Something that made waves of nausea roll through the pits of her stomach.

ㅤㅤ"You're not suggesting...."

ㅤㅤ"An abortion," Ajax finished quietly, gaze trained on a coffee stain on the carpet.

ㅤㅤ"Ajax, no. No. We can't give the baby up before we've even tried. That's just cruel. This is your child, possibly the son you said you wanted, and you're just going to throw him away? Let him die before he gets a chance to play on a soccer team, like you did? Before he even gets a chance to see the two people who made him?" Your voice broke at those last few words and before you knew it, tears were streaming down your face in thick, wet trails. "You might be giving up on him, but I'm never letting go."

ㅤㅤAjax inhaled sharply, air hissing through clenched teeth as he breathed out. "We aren't ready for this, (Y/N)."

ㅤㅤ She knew he was right. She knew it in her heart and in her brain. But some part of her wanted to keep this unborn baby that was developing within her stomach right now. Some part of her wanted to know the happiness of being a parent, a mother.

ㅤㅤShe didn't want to follow through with this. She didn't want to let the baby die. And yet...

ㅤㅤ"Miss (L/N)? You can come in now. Dr. Li's ready for you," a voice called, interrupting (Y/N)'s train of thought. She looked up, one hand resting on her tummy, the other clenched around a cell phone. The screen was still on, a barrage of messages (most likely from her family and friends) lighting up the screen with soft 'pings'.

ㅤㅤShe breathed in deeply, exhaling slowly, a breathing trick she'd learned from online to calm her nerves down.

ㅤㅤFinally, she spoke.

ㅤㅤ"Ah, sorry. I'm afraid I've changed my mind. If it's alright with you, I'll be canceling my appointment."

ㅤㅤThe nurse hesitated for a moment before nodding along. She obviously was not paid enough to barge into patients' lives, so she (wisely) kept her nose in her own business. "Of course, miss. I'll let him know you'll be leaving. Have a lovely rest of your day."

ㅤㅤ(Y/N) nodded along before waddling out of the waiting room, feeling giddy and deliriously light from the weight that had just been lifted from her shoulders. Ajax would be upset over this, yes, but it would be worth it. She could feel it in her bones.

📮 tagging. @kiryoutann, @ajaxstar, @mobiussdarling, @samarill, @dinolvrrr, @messyserver, @xxfrostiee, @enviouspeanut, @ehddsnys, @maaarshieee, @dazaiscum, @mochicurls21, @shinobuko, @iiyumii, @meiraloves2dmen, @retiredmommylover, @electronicphilosopherflower. if your user is highlighted in BOLD that means your current URL does not match the one you inputted in the form. fill out this form if you want to be tagged

[ashprince-of-bel-air]

Can I request Haarlep reacting to Tav, who just met them for the first time, asked in concern immediately what's their actual name, how long have they been here in the House of Hope, how are they being treated, and how is their life after being a spy for Mephistopheles please?

So, I have written something, it is probably not your exact ask but I have done what I can. i wanted to finish this before I went on vacation tomorrow!

Edit: I have just tweaked this slightly and added more to the ended so it is a little different now.

Tav had stumbled into the opulent room, their time in the House of Hope had not helped them navigate themselves around it with any sort of ease, it was an ever changing labyrinth to them, unable to gauge what rooms were where. This time they fell into what looked like a boudoir, there was a four-poster bed at the end of the room, the silk sheets draped around it cemented that idea.

They stood there astounded in the middle of the room admiring its splendour, Tav had been in service for Mephistopheles for quite some time now, spying on his dear son Raphael, yet they had never come across this room before. Tav was not sure how long they had been here, roaming the halls at this point. Time worked in mysterious ways in the Hells.

A few cautious steps into the room Tav saw a body stir upon the grandiose bed, they were sure it was not Raphael, yet it bore his visage, donned in a skimpy outfit leaving nothing to the imagination. Their eyes fell on the scantily clad figure in the bed, watching them as they rose and moved towards them, a wicked grin on their face.

“So, the lamb has wandered into the lion’s den” The voice was a silky purr as they approached Tav, circling around them as if they were their helpless prey. “You should not be here little mouse.”  A finger hooked under Tavs chin, pulling their gaze upwards so that they could face them, smirking at the nervous look plastered on their face. Haarlep took a deep sniff against Tav’s neck, enjoying their aroma. “I can smell the chains of bondage on you, little mouse. You belong to Master Raphael as much as I do.” His voice held a hint of sadness, not at being with Raphael, but at being a puppet for him. “Your soul is not here though; Master Raphael has taken to display his trophies on level 2 next to the rest of his trinkets. I remember him being elated the day he brought back your soul contract”

Haarleps hand slowly and gently left Tav’s chin and travelled down their arm, considering their form before him, his eyebrows wiggling in mischief, smelling Mephistopheles’s scent on you. “And does the Raphael know that his dear old Daddy is asking you to spy on him?” Haarleps lips were grazing along their neck, Tav held back their moan knowing that he was trying to break them. Harleep looked at Tav for a long time, taking in their visage and trying to guage their reaction. Haarlep could smell the bonds of both Mephistopheles and Raphael on them, trying to figure out where their true loyalty lied, they were spying for Mephistopheles yet if they truly wanted to harm Raphael they could have done so long before now.

Tav felt the long and sharp nails of Haarlep stroke softly down their arms in a delicate fashion, Haarlep did not get chance to meet with anyone other than Raphael so he would take this chance to embrace other company. “And what is your name, my little mouse?” Nails scratching softly against Tav’s skin as Haarleps voiced echoed against their neck, their teeth still roaming the soft unmarked skin.

“….Tav” a small voice managed to utter, “my name is Tav”. It was hard for them to appear unbothered by Haarleps actions, but they needed to be focused, it would not be worth thinking about the wrath of Mephistopheles if they had no information to report back to them, no matter how inconsequential the information was, he expected results every time.

“Tav?.. An interesting name my little mouse” Haarlep smiled against Tav’s skin as they brushed some errant hair away from their neck. “And how has my master been treating you, Raphael is not known for playing nicely with his toys” Haarleps voice grew softer as he played with Tav’s hair, he knew the extent of Raphaels wrath and for some reason he did not want this little flower before him to ever having been subjected to it, watching their facial expressions as they considered a diplomatic answer, his eyes glancing over their skin, trying to find any bruises or scarring evident on their skin.

“His treatment has been…interesting” Was all Tav could manage, they did not trust Haarlep so would not be forthcoming with knowledge. Haarleps smile faded from his face, he knew how Raphael could be, he had felt it firsthand on many occasions.

“Yes, the House of Hope takes it’s toll on many residents, yet you look extremely worn” His face was sad as Tav felt the sharp nails of his caress their body. Tav was ready to try and speak freely to Haarlep, sensing that they would offer no harm to them, it would be a nice respite to have someone sane to speak to for a change. Their mouth began to open, yet they were interrupted when they felt the call off Mephistopheles. Tav skin began to grow warm as they felt themself start to fade away as their chains of bondage drew them to where they were called to.

Haarlep watched with a sorrowful look as their new friend dissolved away at the will of their master. As he was left alone in his luxurious prison he returned to his bed and pondered over Tav, he was sure that they would return back here again very shortly, there was no end of madness in the House of Hope and any sort of sanity was like a drug in this place. He knew that Tav would crave more of it.

[munchkin1156]

New au infodump?

Dystopian au go brr

This is going to be a dystopian (:0 shocking) sci-fi world with a borrower Tommy who has a special wristband that lets him sizeshift, a gift from a long lost friend.

The au is mainly sbi centric (because I have a very very hard time writing anything else, though believe me I will try one day), other than Tommy there will be avian hybrid Philza, piglin hybrid Technoblade, and shrunken phantom Wilbur who got shrunken due to technical issues with a device he was tinkering with (and now needs to figure out how to get back to normal size).

The sbi are all first class, first district people, which, though it does make them seem stuck up and posh, they don’t actually know about the crumbling world of the lower districts.

Tommy’s been forced to steal to survive, and while shifted into human form, accidentally loses his way and finds himself in the higher districts, where he runs into Phil.

…you can probably guess that Phil’s hybrid brain goes to ‘child-its-child-why-sad-keep-safe’

Phil offers to take Tommy to his house, wanting to help him as well as pry information out of him to try and find out why he’s so scrawny

Tommy (reluctantly) takes up the offer because free food and a chance to steal something of actual value so he can get a lot of money, two birds with one stone in a way…

Oh and I forgot to mention that the sbi is kinda famous/important…

So they go to the sbi’s house and Tommy meets Techno and Wilbur, who are also enchanted by the blond. When Tommy sees Wilbur, he loses it for a moment, thinking that he’d finally found another one of his kind, until Techno explains the situation and Tommy feels ashamed he let his instincts control him like that and almost force him to shift.

They have dinner and game night, over which they bond with Tommy a lot, and even offer him to stay for the night ‘cause it’s dark out.

Tommy says yes, knowing how dangerous it is to walk the lower districts streets at any given point, especially at night, and they set him up in his new bedroom the guest room.

In the middle of the night Tommy wakes up from a nightmare and accidentally reopens a stab wound that he got a couple night ago (I did say the lower was dangerous after all), therefore his body shifts down to borrower size in order to heal it faster.

He can’t shift back until it’s healed, and now he’s at a upper class house with people that have been nothing but kind to him, though he knows that once they see him for the pest he is they’ll kick him out.

Fuck.

. . .

That’s about what chapter one should be, though I won’t start it for a while, homework is murdering me and I used to be at a really chill school with basically none of it so….

Please please please ask me about this, I would love to answer shit about it :D

Taglist under cut: (it’s not long, tell me if you want to be added :])

@i-am-beckyu, @brick-a-doodle-do

[the-coffee-fandom]

✨ Nimona Fic Recs ✨

A good handful of Nimona fics I really enjoyed (I especially suggest the bottom three)

As The Rain Continued To Fall (Complete)

Rated G - Hurt/Comfort

Ballister x Ambrousois

It was the middle of the night, and it was dark, and he was Awake.

A night, after the end of the Movie. Ballister, alone with his thoughts.

Ashes Of The Hearth (Incomplete)

Rated T - Hurt/Comfort

Ballister x Ambrosius & Nimona

Nimona knows her power. Knows her limits.

Well, most of them.

Sidewalk Reinventions (Complete)

Rated G - Hurt/Comfort

Ballister & Nimona

Nimona, the Best and Most Renowned Shapeshifter in the World, or: a chronicle of the shapes Nimona takes through the years.

Happiness Found In You (Complete)

Rated G - Fluff

Ballister & Nimona

Here’s some fluff for that sad little man with the baby girl eyes

Following the ending of the movie!!

Not A People (Complete)

Rated G - Hurt/Comfort

Ballister & Nimona

Nimona always has a habit of getting injured during fights but nobody has ever worried about her, that is, until Ballister Boldheart came around.

(I’m) The Monster Under Your Bed (Complete)

Not Rated (G rating content) - Angst With Happy Ending

Ballister x Ambrosius & Nimona

Be it simple curiosity, or something deeper, one day Ballister asks Nimona a question

He's not ready for the answer.

Late At Night (Complete)

Rated G - Hurt/Comfort

Ballister x Ambrosius & Nimona

Nimona is still getting used to Ambrosius, it helps that Ballister loves him very much.

Twenty Seven Thousand Years Of This (Seven More To Go) (Complete)

Rated G - Hurt/Comfort

Mentions of: Panic attacks and PTSD

Ballister & Nimona

“Shhh, stop. Stop, it’s okay,” The voice soothes, now, hands hovering above her head, already formed into the shape of her hair, but doesn’t dare to touch her. “Nimona—listen to me. You’re home. You’re alright.”

Home. Noun. Four letters. Two syllables. But what the fuck does it mean to a girl who’s been a deer and a fish and a shark and a dragon and somehow in the end, despite all of that, nobody at all? What the fuck does it mean to a girl who’s seen the moons change its shape too many times over and brought fire to every valley where her baby feet steps?

or: violent nightmares aren't new to nimona. what's new is the pair of arms that holds her regardless, and a place that normal people call home.

Enough Courage To Trust (Complete)

Rated G - Fluff

Ballister x Ambrosius & Nimona

Nimona and Ambrosius don't really like each other, let alone trust each other. One of those days, they finally get a chance to bond - through kicking ass and having pizza.

Me And The Devil, Walking Side By Side (Complete)

Rated G - Hurt No Comfort

Gloreth & Nimona

On her seventeenth birthday, Gloreth sets out into the forest to finish what she started.

Or, one possibility for how the knights came to be.

Kiss It And Make It Better (Complete)

Rated G - Fluff

Ballister & Nimona

After Ballister removes the arrow from Nimona's leg, she decides she kinda enjoys the attention.

Stick Figure Stones (Complete)

Rated G - Hurt/Comfort

Ballister & Nimona

The first time Ballister came across the well, he was drowning.

Or; I thought "what if Bal found the well" and wrote this in like an hour and a half :>

A Glimpse Of What I Call Home (Complete)

Rated G - Fluff

Ballister & Nimona

Ballister realizes his dream of having a family has already been granted, after a minor slip up from Nimona during casual conversation.

Eight Months Later (Incomplete)

Rated T - Hurt/Comfort (but highlight the hurt)

Mentions of: Su*c*de, Panic Attacks, and PTSD

Ballister x Ambrosius & Nimona

Nimona’s alive. Ballister wants her to know how much people love her. He takes her to her memorial.

It doesn’t go great.

My Glory Is Yours (Complete)

Rated T - Angst With A Happy Ending

Ballister x Ambrosius & Nimona x Gloreth

Eight years after the fateful incident with Nimona, Gloreth makes a wish to fix things by the old well where they met. To her surprise, she finds herself 1000 years in the future.

[countrymusiclover]

25 - The Future Lady Lannister

Part 26

The Last Velaryon

Tag list @rise-my-angel @cdragons @kmc1989 @starkleila

Chezney's pov

Riding back into the Stark camp on horseback with one leg on each side of the horse I tugged the reins making him stop where I slowly climbed down off my saddle. Tying my horse back underneath the stable building I brushed my fingers through its mane hearing footsteps coming behind me. “Lady Chezney, a letter has arrived for you.”

“You swear you've been secretive of these yes Ser Lannister?” I whispered under my breath, taking the sealed letter from his hand. After Robb had sent him to deliver the peace terms I had been paying him in some food scraps so long as he would come back and deliver my letters to and from Tyrion.

He nodded his head yes before hearing someone coming towards us. “I should go, my lady.” He ducked his head down using as much of his cloak to hide his face as possible vanishing into the woods outside the camp.

Haelesa was apparently the one coming over to me and she seemed to have been crying because she was all red in the face. “Hey Hael, so what did he want to talk about?”

“He gave me a crapass apology thinking I would forgive him easily.”

I gasped wishing so badly I could hit the Stark king upside the head right now. “That cunt!”

“Chezney!” She warned me.

Shifting the letter in my left hand underneath my cloak I throw my right hand up in the air. “No, he needs to be called out for that. He claims that he loves you but then he obviously doesn’t because of how he’s been treating you.”

“I suppose you’re right. What are you holding underneath your cloak?” My best friend tilted her head seeing that I had kept one hand underneath my cloak, leaving my freehand hanging on the other side in her view.

I bite my lip avoiding her gaze. “Nothing. My hands have just been cold unless I stuff them underneath my cloak.”

“We’re no in the North. We are getting further South so you shouldn’t need to be warm. So what are you really hiding from me, Chez?” She raised a brow at me knowing when I was lying.

Slowly pulling out my hand that had the sealed letter I showed it to her. “I’ve been sending secret ravens to King's Landing.”

“What! Why?” She blurted out completely awestruck.

Tucking hair behind my ear I slipped the scroll back underneath my cloak. “You’re not the only person to apparently be captivated by a lion.”

“Jaime has escaped camp. Why didn’t you tell me before now?”

Shaking my head, I corrected her. “It’s not him. It’s his brother, Tyrion.”

“How did it happen, when did it happen, why didn’t you tell me, does he love you-“

I began listing her answers off my fingers. “One we formed a bond while drinking wine at Winterfell, two it happened in a matter of days and he gave me something from him as a parting gift, three you’ve been busy shuffling around things here as queen I didn’t wish to bother you, and four we have said I love you yet. Although I doubt when we get to the city that Robb will spare him simply because he’s a Lannister too.”

“I’ll do my best to make sure Robb doesn’t kill him. If he wishes for me to forgive him this shall be the first step in that direction. You don’t have to worry, I'll ensure it, Chezney.”

Flinging my arms around her neck we embraced the other in a warm hug before she broke it. “Thank you, Haelesa.”

“I’ll see you later. I’d like to read your other letters if you’d allow me the chance.” Haelesa smirked, spinning on her feet and walked away giving me the chance to go read the letter. Pushing my way through the entrance of my tent I sat down at the table in the corner breaking the lion sigil beginning to read the letter he had sent me. “Dear Chezn,

I must say that this letter won’t have as many jokes as my previous ones about how everyone in this city isn’t as clever as me. Instead it has some sad news to it. I will be forced to marry someone by my father Tywin who is now Hand of the King. The lady is Sansa Stark of Winterfell. I am sorry to write this to you but I wish you deserved to know what is happening. I will always want to marry you and call my Lady Lannister. Maybe the gods will be good and let us marry someday down the road, yours Tyrion.” Laying the letter back down I lifted up my left hand letting the ring catch the light, twirling the ring on my finger remembering when he gave this to me.

Haelesa and Jaime hadn’t come down for breakfast but I knew why just like everyone else in the castle did. They were husband and wife now so everyone assumed they’d slept together, only Tyrion and I were the only two people who knew the real truth that she was still a virgin. Standing by my horse I brushed its mane I heard footsteps coming up to me before I felt three taps on my lower back. “Chezney, I wasn’t certain I would see you before we went our separate ways.”

“I must say I wish you were coming back with us to King's Landing.” I admitted tuning around to face him with my hands intertwined together in front of my stomach.

He smiled, bending his head down at his boots briefly. “I’m sorry to disappoint you. But this might be my only chance to ever see the Wall. I have to go see it.”

“Well as long as you write down your adventures then we can try and both live through them.”

Tyrion reached and dug around for something inside his pocket. “I want to give you something before I go. When we reunite I’ll do this properly of course but this is for the moment.”

“Ohh Tyrion. It’s beautiful.” I took the small band from his fingertips that had a lion engraved into it.

He smiled, taking it from my hand sliding it on my left hand. “I’ll have one of my mothers made up for you in time. But this should do, will you marry me Chezney Ally?” He lowered himself down on one knee before my eyes.

“Yes. Yes I will. I’ll become your wife someday.” I grinned, helping him up to his feet leaning down and kissing him before we heard some people talking and coming in our direction so we broke away from one another.

[tomorrowxtogether]

Five things we learned from Tomorrow X Together’s ‘Our Lost Summer’ documentary

As the K-pop boyband prepare to return to Lollapalooza, they share a look at their debut at the festival and their first world tour

In just under a week, Tomorrow X Together (TXT) will return to Chicago’s Lollapalooza to make history once again. Last year, they became the first K-pop act to perform at the festival while, this year, they’ll be the first K-pop group to headline. Ahead of their triumphant return, the band have looked back at their first appearance in Grant Park and their first world tour in the new Disney+ documentary, Tomorrow X Together: Our Lost Summer’, giving fans an insight into the preparation and experience of finally getting to meet MOAs worldwide for the first time.

Here’s five things we learned from the documentary.

Before the pandemic halted Tomorrow X Together’s momentous rise in its physical form, the five-piece were only able to embark on a short showcase tour of the US. It wasn’t until three years after they debuted that they were finally able to hold their first world tour, ‘Act: Lovesick’. While they were happy to finally be out on the road and free from the “gloomy” awkwardness of online concerts, there was also an element of sadness to the tour. “At the time, I felt like we were finally doing something we should have done a long time ago,” Taehyun said. “So as much as I felt relieved, it was also a little sad as it felt overdue.”

Beomgyu thinks TXT’s existence is like that of cicadas

Comparing themselves to noisy insects like cicadas might seem like an interesting choice, but the singer’s analogy has depth to it. If a cicada only lives for up to four weeks before succumbing to the circle of life, then TXT’s cycle of practicing and performing is similar. “We don’t have seasons, we’re always in the studio,” Beomgyu explained. “We’re like cicadas – we practice for six to seven months, then it’s two weeks before performing.” He continued to reason that, due to the pandemic prohibiting them from stepping out of the studio to meet their fans, they “lost track of the seasons”. With touring back on the table, though, “now we have our seasons back”.

TXT’s bond is something special

The five members’ close relationship has always been obvious in their interviews and content, but Our Lost Summer highlights just how strong their bond is. While in the US, Beomgyu suffered an illness that caused him to miss part of a show in Atlanta and, although leader Soobin notes he wanted to just “act normal” to his bandmate instead of making a fuss, the footage shows how the rest of the band rallied around him, even in small ways.

“Usually, we jokingly say we can’t stand each other,” Beomgyu said. “But when one of us gets sick, we gather up even though we all have our separate rooms. When times get tough, we’re always there for each other. We become a family.” While there might be obvious signs of their camaraderie with each other on stage, TXT support their bandmates during performances in ways that MOAs are unaware of too. During ‘Opening Sequence’ – the end of an 11-song stint with no break – the members talked to each other through their microphones when they’re not being channelled through the PA, willing them on for the final minutes.

The idea of winning over new fans at Lollapalooza excited them

As much as all artists love performing in front of crowds full of their own fans, festival sets present a different opportunity and challenge – that of winning over the uninitiated and welcoming them into your fanbase. When TXT made their Lollapalooza debut last year, they revelled in that facet of the performance. “I get more excited in front of other fans,” Beomgyu said. “It’s just a different feeling […] On a stage with non-fans, I have a chance to turn them into my fans.”

But they weren’t sure they should be there – and not all of the members left the festival on cloud nine

Despite welcoming new challenges, the group weren’t convinced they should be on the line-up. “Did we deserve to be there?” Yeonjun questioned. “We were worried that we might ruin the vibe.” Although their set proved exactly why TXT deserved to be given that history-making slot, not all of the members were elated after the performance.

“I cried so hard in my hotel room,” Soobin shared. “All the members were saying it was their happiest day since their debut as singers, but I didn’t feel the same.” Concerned about his self-described awkwardness on stage when there was no choreography to get stuck into, the band’s leader said he found it hard to enjoy himself and let go.

Tomorrow x Together: Our Lost Summer is out now on Disney+

[dayfalwastaken]

Spider-Man, the Other.

Being in a hurry, he hadn’t wasted time checking out the cutting-edge equipment, going straight for the glass container in which the Symbiote had been kept. A small, cylindrical capsule with metal hatches that lacked inside decorations. It’d reminded him of an aquarium. The empty, sad type that didn’t have any algae or other ornaments for the fish- aliens in this case- to swim in.

The Klyntar had noticed him almost immediately in spite of its lack of eyes. It had stopped moving and stuck to the glass as he’d descended from the vent above, and Peter could’ve sworn he’d been judged harshly for his fashion sense. What had most likely been happening was the Symbiote trying to decide whether he was a threat or not. He did look very different from the Oscorp eggheads that had done God knew what before he’d arrived.

Ultimately the Symbiote had retreated from the glass as he’d stepped closer. Either in fright, caution or dismissiveness, he hadn’t been able to tell. He’d stopped before the container and had taken a quick moment to appreciate the way in which the alien lifeform moved. Reminiscent of what he’d known it to be like, the Klyntar had been ever shifting, going from a black puddle to interwoven tendrils and a mass of living goo in a matter of seconds, never keeping its form stationary.

Peter hadn’t been sure how to interpret its constant movements. Had it been attempting to intimidate him, was it in a panic, excited to see someone that wasn’t dressed in a lab coat? He’d had no idea. It hadn’t felt as if it was being hostile, as it’d made no attempt to lash out at the glass or anything of the sort, but…

Well, gauging the reactions of a cephalopod-looking creature wasn’t what he’d call a cakewalk.

Slowly and silently, he’d reached for the metal hatch, and it had been in that instant that the Symbiote had shown clear signs of being afraid. It had gone transparent, merging perfectly with the glass, not even distorting space where it had previously sat. Invisibility to rival Susan Storm’s. No hiss of hostility, no nothing. Just a swift defense mechanism- a fight or flight response where the flight had won. It’d occurred so fast that Peter still wondered just what in the heck had been done to the poor Symbiote before he’d gotten there.

But he’d been determined to get it out of that capsule before his time ran out. Calming himself first, he’d knelt down until he was crouching in an attempt to appear as nonthreatening as possible. He’d still kept his hand on the hatch, but he’d been careful not to make any sudden moves.

“I know you can’t really understand what I’m saying, but I’m not here to hurt you. Believe me, that’s the last thing I wanna do.” He’d said despite knowing the chances of being understood were nonexistent given how no one, as far as he knew, had bonded with it prior to that.In response, a small shudder had passed through the air where the Symbiote had camouflaged itself. At least that was confirmation it’d been able to hear him.

“I don’t want to spook you or, you know, rush this, but we are in a bit of a hurry.”

Another shudder.

Talking with it is good then. I can work with that, he’d thought.

“Um- we’re both gonna be in big trouble if we don’t get out of here as fast as possible, is what I’m trying to say.”

And a third one.

“And, yeah, I know you have no reason to trust me, but your chances aren’t going to improve if you stay here either. The guy that runs this joint- ho boy, let me tell you, he is not the kind of man you wanna hang around with.”

In a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment, he’d managed to catch a black stain manifesting in midair for a few milliseconds. A hint of curiosity, perhaps.

Yes! Okay, greatgreatgreat. I got this.

“You’re… scared. Or close to it anyway, and- that’s uh, reasonable, yeah! I’d be too if I was in your shoes, but you don’t have to be. Just…” He’d been at a loss for words. Nothing could’ve prepared him for how to approach this. “I just want to help you.” He’d admitted quietly. “I think we can help each other… You don’t have to be alone and… I don’t have to go at this alone.” His voice had barely been above a whisper as he’d spoken that. Peter liked to believe the Symbiote had at least sensed, in some capacity, that he’d been honest.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have an explanation for why space had begun rippling before steadily turning back into that familiar noncolor. Maybe it had been feeling his emotions and realized he had no true intentions to harm it? Whatever had prompted the shift in attitude, he’d more than welcomed it.

But some amount of mistrust was still present. If he had to describe it, he would’ve said it was a similar sensation to his Spider-Sense going off, only instead of being alerted to danger he was being gazed at by thousands of eyes that weren’t there. All studying him and looking for clues that would imply deceit or malice.

The Symbiote had found none, however.

Maybe it’d been his imagination, but Peter was positive he had experienced some sort of… well, relief being transmitted from the Symbiote. In return, a humble spark of pride had lit up inside of him. Like the Symbiote acknowledging that he meant well was enough to put him at ease for what they were about to do, and… He’d been thankful for that.

Calculated in its pace, Symbie had taken its time crawling to the front of the container, standing stiffly on the other side of the hatch. It’d extended a thread, touching the metal with its tip while another one had formed to reach for the glass, towards Peter.

“Alright. I’mma get this open for you… Nice and easy.” He’d dug his fingers into the cover and, courtesy of his super strength, crushed the metal so that the airtight seal would break and allow it to come off.

The Symbiote for its part had not flinched at the creaking sound, waiting patiently for him to remove the hatch, but Peter had still clenched his teeth in deep focus as he’d concentrated on making as little noise as he could.

Once oxygen had flooded the cylinder the small tendrils had pulled back, not unlike how coil springs would. The Klyntar had produced a sound akin to a low growl, though one that hadn’t been directed at Peter at first sight.

They’ve been keeping it in a vacuum this whole time? I mean, it did come from space so that does make sense, but how’d it hear me with no air to..? Ah, it was sensing the vibrations coming through the glass. Yeah, sure, I can see that.

Tinier tendrils had timidly creeped out of the tube, attaching themselves to its sides and dragging the rest of their mass outside. Peter had moved his hand back a little, having wanted to allow the Symbiote to initiate the bonding itself, only it too had been hesitant to start.

“Don’t worry, I’m having second thoughts about this as well, but I still think it’s worth a shot. What do ya say?”

In a motion that could’ve been interpreted as nothing else besides a nod, the Symbiote had pushed its front half up and down before scaling the gap in-between and wrapping around Peter’s hand in one clean go.

No amount of shocking from Electro could’ve prepared him for the sheer current that had gone up his nervous system the moment he’d made contact with it. Electrifying his every cell as it’d made its way up his fingers and arm, the Klyntar had stuck to the suit like glue, and Peter hadn’t been able to resist freezing up.

Quick yet gentle in its ascent, he’d felt it seep into his skin faster than it had covered the red, rushing to spread throughout his body. It had slithered its tendrils through his veins, pushing his blood every which way as it had traveled through his muscles, past his tendons and over his bones to reach his spine.

A scorching heat comparable only to the Sun had hit him then, and combined with the sudden feeling of suffocation from his lungs seemingly filling with fluid as the suit had been fully covered- he’d thought he’d passed out. It’d certainly appeared like he’d gone under, given that for a few seconds his vision had been obstructed by pure darkness.

In spite of that, what was more of a presence rather than a voice had told him, softly, to remain calm. Connected to his brainstem and fastening around his neurons, he’d shared, for what hadn’t been nearly enough time, a profound sense of togetherness with the Other.

While his hands had acted on reflex, clawing at the void to allow himself to gasp for air, Peter had floated, undisturbed in a dreamlike state. Somewhere in the middle of reality and his subconscious, time had grinded to a halt, and a missing piece he hadn’t known he’d been missing had found him.

He’d heard it speak, not in words but in emotions, in a way that would always transcend human speech. For however long they had been like that, he’d known what the Klyntar been saying and vice versa despite not uttering a single sentence. Peter hadn’t minded.

He had felt exposed, naked even, like every facet of himself- all that he was and ever would be had been put on display for all to see… But there hadn’t been any judgement. Instead, a glimmer of reassurance, bright in its intent but too slow in its pulse, had flown from Symbiote to Host.

Or had that been the exact opposite? Now, the more he thought about it the less he understood it. The Other had been silent since leaving Oscorp as well. No shared innermost thoughts or sentiments that’d make him privy to what it was thinking, although he was more than sure his own were being read.

He’d have to be patient, he guessed. Bonding was a two-way street. The Symbiote was more than likely just as affected- in a good way, maybe, hopefully- and was doing its best to figure out what this all meant for itself. He just couldn’t see the tells of that as it was happening. Therefore, from his perspective it was pretending to be lifeless, he hoped, just for the time being.

It was fine. Peter could wait.

(Preview for an upcoming Spidey fanfiction called "Red, Black and Blue", which will attempt to explore how Peter Parker's life would change if he had kept the Venom Symbiote instead of discarding it, with a twist! Set in a "composite" universe of sorts that combines aspects from multiple Spider-Man incarnations, this fanfiction will tell its own unique story unrestrained from a pre-established setting such as the MCU or Earth 616, so there can be no limits on the type of story being told set by those respective mediums.)

[hide-in-imagination]

"And I never saw you coming" | Simbar Oneshot

Summary: She saw him standing with a glass in his hand and thought nothing of it. It was only later, when she got to talking with him and smelled no alcohol in his breath that it gave her pause.

Wait… is that Fanta?

Or: In a world known for its vices and excesses, professional actress Ámbar meets an unbelievably pure guy.

| 9.5k words. Rated T. Mentions of underage drinking, drug consumption, and some sexual themes but nothing too explicit. |

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It was Delfi who introduced them.

Delfi was one of the few people Ámbar could really call a friend in the world of appearances they both lived in. They had met how most actors met other actors— through a project. They were fifteen at the time, Ámbar had been acting for three years, Delfi had been acting for one year. She’d been nervous about participating in her first big show. Ámbar had helped her through it, maybe because she saw her younger self reflected in her, and between hundreds of working hours together, countless anecdotes when the cameras weren’t filming, and actually many things they happened to have in common, a durable bond formed, one strong enough to last after the project was over and they went their separate ways.

Now twenty-three, Ámbar was very glad she had managed to make real friends in her formative years, both from the industry and outside of the industry. Those who were in like her understood her like no other. Those who weren’t a part of it helped to ground her, made her see different perspectives, kept her humble.

It was very hard to date outside of the industry though. Guys who weren’t part of it just didn’t get it, weren’t equipped to deal with the exposure that it meant to date a public figure, ended up resenting the changing schedules, the last-minute cancellation of plans, the lack of ‘normalcy.’

(They failed to see, for her, this was the norm.)

So Ámbar was not surprised when Delfi told her she had met a guy at an awards show. She wasn’t surprised either when two weeks later she told her he was now her boyfriend— Delfi tended to fall in love a little fast. Ámbar listened to her talk about how her new boyfriend was so hot and he was in a band and he was oh so romantic. Ámbar wanted to warn her that musicians have a rep for being cheaters, but those were her own trust issues talking and she didn’t even know the guy to make any kind of assumptions. Her friend was happy, and while she tended to get a little too absorbed in love every time, her taste was usually not bad, so Ámbar decided to give this guy a chance.

Delfi dragged her to a party so she could meet Pedro, her new, apparently perfect, boyfriend. Ámbar would’ve preferred a quieter scene to meet him for the first time, but she figured this one had its perks too— She could observe how he behaved in this kind of environment, if his eyes wandered to the models and other celebrities when Delfi wasn’t looking, if he indulged too much in drinks and substances when he was out of the public eye.

To his credit, Ámbar couldn’t find any fault in him as they got talking. Pedro really seemed to be the nice guy Delfi had described him as. He was lively, funny, wisely nervous at meeting the best friend of his girlfriend, and with the way he looked at Delfi, it didn’t seem like he had eyes for anyone else.

Ámbar was glad. Of course, this was just a first meeting and the happy couple were just in the honeymoon stage where nothing ever seemed to be wrong, but she was happy for her friend. Delfi had been very sad and insecure after her last crush didn’t want to be with her. It was good she was feeling loved now.

“Where are Nico and Simón?” Delfi asked her boyfriend after a while.

Pedro looked around. “Oh, they went on their own when I said I was going to meet you, they must be around here somewhere.”

Until then, Nico and Simón were just names Ámbar recognized because of Delfi. She’d told her they were Pedro’s bandmates, and just like with Pedro, Ámbar had refrained from googling them, wanting to form an opinion herself separate from what the media might say, so she had no idea what they looked like.

“Ah, there they are, talking with Jim and Yam.”

Ámbar looked in the direction Pedro was pointing at. Jim and Yam were a music duo she knew already. Yam carried the vocals while Jim carried the moves, although both were good at either thing. They were also a couple, if Ámbar wasn’t mistaken, but they didn’t seem to be out yet.

She recognized the two girls in the crowd, so she switched her gaze to the two guys talking with them. One was blond and dressed stylishly with lots of accessories and a burgundy blazer. He seemed to be sweet talking the girls judging by the smirks and looks he sent them. Poor guy, he had no idea they didn’t swing that way.

Ámbar didn’t blame him— the Roller Band was new in the scene, a rising trio of musicians the world was just starting to know. The lack of knowledge went both ways.

The other guy had dark hair and bronze skin. He seemed more relaxed in his outfit, just a green t-shirt with a black denim jacket on top and a pair of jeans— and a flannel shirt tied around his hips, probably just for style.

He had a glass in his hand he nursed from time to time as he spoke. Ámbar thought nothing of it— she had her own glass in hand and it was a very common sight. His smile seemed genuine. That wasn’t common. But then again, he could just be drunk.

It was some minutes later that the two guys came over to them, called by Pedro, and Delfi introduced them to Ámbar.

“Ámbar, this is Nico,” she said, gesturing to the blond guy, “and this is Simón,” she pointed to the brunet, “I’ve told you about them.”

“Yeah, a pleasure,” Ámbar greeted them with an amicable smile.

“The pleasure is all mine, beautiful,” Nico told her with a wink.

Ámbar refrained from rolling her eyes, but Simón didn’t have the same sympathy for his friend, rolling his eyes and playfully shoving him away.

“Ignore him, he’s always like this.” He smiled at her. “It’s nice to meet you, Ámbar. Delfi has told us a lot about you.”

Oh, an accent.

Right, now that she remembered, Delfi did mention he was Mexican.

His smile looked cuter up close.   

“Those better be good things,” Ámbar replied, throwing Delfi a playful warning look.

“Of course! I’m your friend!” She defended herself immediately.

The group laughed and they started to get to know each other. They asked the typical “Have you been in anything I might have seen?” and Ámbar politely asked if they had any new music coming out soon (she already knew from Delfi but it was always better to hide just how much her friend talked about her new boyfriend).

Speaking of the couple, Delfi and Pedro sneaked away from the group at some point (probably to make out—Ámbar didn’t judge.) Nico then excused himself to flirt with a dancer (apparently, he got the message Ámbar wasn’t interested), and that left Ámbar with Simón, both joking about how they were abandoned by their friends.

It was only when they got to talking one-on-one, a little closer because of all the ambiance noise, that Ámbar noticed she couldn’t smell any alcohol in Simón’s breath, even though he’d been drinking from his glass the whole time.

It gave her pause, so she looked at the liquid he was holding with more attention, and she saw bubbles— bubbles and a strong artificial orange color.

Wait… is that Fanta? 

“You’re not drinking?”

She couldn’t help but voice the question— it was very uncommon to see someone at a party like this drinking just soda (unless you were a minor, but even then, unfortunately, they always got their hands on something stronger.)

Simón stopped in the middle of the story he’d been telling when Ámbar spoke and looked down at his glass. “Oh. Yeah, I usually don’t.”

“Really?” She couldn’t keep the surprise out of her voice. She tried to be polite though. “Is that some religious belief or…?”

“No, I just don’t like it much,” he said lightly, shrugging.  

… Huh.

“So, no hard drugs either?”

He laughed. “No, definitely not.”

Well I’ll be damned. This guy was a unicorn.

It was extremely uncommon, but Ámbar didn’t judge him— in fact, it was amazing that working in the industry they worked in he still remained so… pure, in a way. She hated to say it, but everyone ended up in something eventually, especially if they started young. She personally had never delved into drugs, thankfully, but she had other vices— Control freak behaviors, perfectionism, a battle against narcissism she’d only recently won, and probably many other little things she and her therapist hadn’t dug up yet.  

It seemed she stayed quiet for too long because Simón looked at her with worry. “…What, you do?”

Ámbar’s eyes widened. “Nonono, me neither,” she said, dissolving into a laugh.

“Oh, okay,” he chuckled with relief. “I thought I had been rude laughing at your face like that.”

“Oh no, you’re fine. Actually, I was the rude one for interrupting you just to ask why you don’t drink— Keep talking.” She leaned against the wall, ready to listen. “Día de los Muertos was it?”

------------------------- 

They didn’t talk much more that night, just about half an hour, one hour tops. Some fellow cast members of Ámbar’s newest show showed up to the party and she started chatting with them, so Simón politely stepped aside and let them have their fun, saying he was going to find Nico and Pedro. Ámbar spent the rest of the night dancing, drinking, and gossiping with her coworkers, so it wasn’t until much later, when she was getting ready to sleep, that Simón crossed her mind again.

I didn’t say goodbye.

With all the alcohol and exhaustion in her body, it was a surprise she even thought about anything at all. She got into bed after taking off her makeup and washing her face, and the second her head hit the pillow, she was out like a light.

The next day she woke up with a mild hangover and texts from Delfi saying she had also made it home safely. Normally, Ámbar wouldn’t have gone to sleep— wouldn’t have left the party at all— before checking on her best friend, but she was with her boyfriend, so, not wanting to interrupt whatever they might be up to, she just sent Delfi a text saying she was going home and asking to receive signs of life later and called it a night. She was glad Delfi was okay. Honestly, if Pedro couldn’t even make sure of that during one party, Ámbar would’ve kicked his ass.

The hungover laid off throughout the day and by mid-afternoon she was good as new— perks of experimenting with alcohol since fifteen and learning exactly what her limits were. (She did not want a repeat of November 28th’ 2017, thank you very much.) Also by afternoon, she came to realize all the guys from the Roller Band had followed her on Instagram. Ámbar thought ‘why not?’ and followed them back. After all, Delfi and Pedro’s relationship was public by now, so no one would blink an eye at her best friend following them.

Two months passed by in the blink of an eye in between shoots for her new show, commercials, interviews, and the other 20% of her time that Ámbar called ‘having a personal life.’ During that time, sometimes the guys liked one of her posts or Instagram stories and she liked one of them—Regular stuff. Delfi also got Ámbar into the Roller Band’s songs. Not that she purposefully tried to— She just naturally sang them a lot without realizing it, and they were catchy, so eventually, they got stuck in Ámbar’s head too.

What she did show Ámbar were some music videos. “Pedro looks so good in this one!!” She said— about every single one of them. To be fair though, Pedro did look good. All of them did.

Ámbar watched all their music videos one afternoon out of curiosity. She could tell which were old ones and which were more recent, not only because they looked younger in the early ones (wow, Simón used to love beanies), but because the level of production had significantly increased, surely because of the money their record label started pumping in when their popularity began to grow. And Ámbar could see why that happened. They had the looks and the talent— They sounded just as well live as they did in studio, which was rare these days. She hoped things kept going well for them. It would be sad if they had a couple years of fame and then fell to the shadows, never to be heard of again. It happened more often than one would think.   

The next time she saw Simón— at a party, again— the can in his hand was clearly beer. A tiny part of Ámbar felt weirdly disappointed by this, while another part felt bitterly vindicated. See? No one stays that clean for long in this industry.

At the end of the day though, it was just beer. Way lower alcohol percentage than the concoctions one usually saw being passed around at these gatherings. An image flashed through Ámbar’s brain of this guy doing a line in the bathroom and she felt sick. She hoped for his sake that it never came to that.

“Hey, Ámbar! How you been?”  

Simón looked simple but polished just like the last time she had seen him. He wore a white printed T-shirt and some black well-fitted pants, nothing extravagant. Oh, and a flannel shirt around his hips, of course (Ámbar had figured out by now that it was his brand). He had no jacket this time, which made sense given the rising temperatures (made worse by the enclosed place full of people). Ámbar herself had forgone a jacket this time— she only wore a maroon blouse and her favorite short skirt, because it had pockets. Any skirt that had pockets was a favorite.

Ámbar had been chatting with Emilia, another one of her friends from the industry, when Simón walked over to talk to her. Emilia was a makeup artist, one Ámbar had worked with so many times she was basically her personal makeup artist by now. The only reason she hadn’t offered her an exclusive contract yet was because Emilia was ambitious (a trait they had in common) and so she wanted to offer her services to as many big names as she could— form the biggest, most outstanding portfolio the industry had ever seen— and make the celebrities reach out to her. Ámbar believed that if Emilia kept doing what she was doing, her dream might as well come true in a couple of years.

Ámbar greeted Simón and introduced him and Emilia. They exchanged pleasantries, Emilia mentioning she’d heard a song of their band on the radio and Simón saying that if her own makeup was anything to go by, Emilia was very good at what she did. They were both very pleased to find another Mexican in the country.

“Where are the guys? Are you alone?” Ámbar asked him before they could keep reminiscing about their home and probably keep her out of the conversation.

“Pedro couldn’t come, I think he had plans with your friend,” he told her, elbowing her playfully. “Nico is over there somewhere,” he looked at the mass of people.

They all looked over and eventually found Nico’s blond head some meters to the back, talking with a brunette in a short golden dress.

“You should tell him to slow down, he’s gonna catch syphilis,” Ámbar warned him, only half-joking.

Simón’s eyes widened and his whole face turned comically dumbfounded before he got a hold of himself. “Oh, I, uh, I hope he’s being careful,” he said, watching his friend.

Ámbar almost laughed. What was that reaction? Talks about sex and STDs were as common as drugs at parties like these. Hell, talks about sex were common everywhere at their age.

Yet he looked so shocked, like he’d never expected something like that to come out of her mouth.

Adorable.

Ámbar brought her gaze from Simón to Emilia and saw she wasn’t the only one who had noticed this and was thinking something similar. Emilia had that look on her face, the one she always got when she was planning something, and she looked from Ámbar to Simón with a little smirk on her lips, barely concealed by the red cup in her hand.

Oh no. If Emilia decided she wanted a piece of that, Ámbar would have to make herself scarce immediately.

Opposite to her expectations though, Emilia broke the silence not to flirt but to announce her leave.

“Well, I’m gonna go say hi to some old friends and introduce myself to potential clients,” she said, taking a step back. “I’ll see you guys around. And Simón, we should hang out someday and eat some tacos. Real ones, not the poor imitations they sell around here.”

Simón laughed. “That sounds good.”

Oh, so Emilia was interested in Simón. For some reason, that left a sour taste in Ámbar’s mouth, and she didn’t know why— She liked Emilia, Simón seemed like a good guy, they were both from Mexico so they had that in common, it would be great if they got together, right? She should like that prospect.  

Right before leaving, Emilia leaned towards Ámbar and whispered in her ear.  

“Bon appétit, girl.”

She patted Ámbar’s shoulder and walked away, mixing with the crowd. Ámbar stood staring at her retreating back with a racing pulse. What the hell? What did she mean?

“Hey, so, um,” Simón pulled her out of her thoughts, “I saw you on that show on TV,” he said with an excited smile. “You were amazing. I didn’t know you could sing.”

“Oh, thank you.” Forget Emilia, she’s just messing with you. She had much too self-control to let some teasing get to her. “Yeah, it’s part of the many trainings one goes through as an actor to try to book more roles. Thus far, it’s only served me to book teenage shows like this one but,” she shrugged with a smile, “you never know.” Playing a teenager at her age wasn’t exactly what she’d love to be doing, but she couldn’t complain; there was a big company behind it and that always meant good exposure.

“You sound very good. You could be a singer if you wanted.”

She laughed slightly. “I wouldn’t say that…”

“No, really,” Simón said, earnest, “your voice is very beautiful.”

… Fuck.

Okay, something was wrong with her tonight because, after years of doing what she did, she was pretty desensitized to praise. Not that it didn’t feel great, of course, but she heard it everywhere she went, from fans to TV hosts, directors, managers, fellow actors, guys trying to get into her pants... There was nothing she hadn’t heard before, she was pretty certain.

So why the hell did this guy calling her voice beautiful make her want to blush?

Ámbar looked to the side a little. “…Thank you. I guess, coming from a musician, I should take that praise seriously,” she said in a playful tone. They were just having a casual conversation after all, there was no reason to get deep.

“You really should,” Simón replied in the same light tone. “I’m not one to lie or say things I don’t mean.” For most people, Ámbar would’ve called bullshit, but coming from him, she somehow believed that. “Which really makes me admire you actors,” Simón continued animatedly. “I’ve been told I can’t hold a lie to save my life, and meanwhile you guys have to portray completely different lives, and you make it look so believable. I mean, seriously, I was looking at you on that show and I was blown away. Your performance is incredible.”

Ámbar smiled and couldn’t help the way she stood a little taller. “Well, I’ve had many years to perfect my craft,” she replied with modesty. “I’m glad that all the work I’ve put into it shows on the screen.”

“It definitely does.” Simón looked away for a second. When he talked again, his tone was less giddy and more curious, more hesitant. “I, um… I happened to watch that episode where you kiss your co-star, I don’t remember the character’s name.”

“Joaquín.”

“Right, him. It was… unbelievable how real that looked,” he told her. “I mean, again, I don’t know how you actors do it, to kiss someone like that and really make it look like there’s love there. I mean, don’t you feel anything? Well, there are many cases of co-stars who end up dating each other in real life, I imagine it’s because of that.”

Ámbar blinked. “Yeah, um, it happens sometimes.” Sometimes it was just publicity stunts, but if he didn’t know that by now, he’d know it eventually. “I mean, like you say, with some actors the line between their real selves and their characters can get a little blurry. You start thinking ‘Hey, if it’s this wonderful when we perform, could it be as great if it were real?’ I personally try to really mark the difference between acting and real life, but I totally get how many of my peers get swallowed up by it.”

Simón nodded his head in understanding. “So… you and your co-star… there’s nothing going on?”

Ámbar chuckled. “No, there’s nothing going on between us, we’re just friendly on set.”

Simón smiled and turned to look at the people chatting and dancing. “I see.”

She couldn’t help but notice that he looked… relieved by that answer.

Oh.

Now, Ámbar knew how to read a room and how to read people— It was a skill that had been honed into her from years and years of auditions and public events, one she sometimes had to consciously turn off to just enjoy the moments and stop worrying what people might think of her. Given that experience, her assessments were almost always right, and in this case, she was pretty certain she wasn’t mistaken.

Emilia’s words came back to her. Bon appétit, she’d said. She had seen it before Ámbar did. From just a few minutes of conversation, in fact. And she didn’t say ‘Good luck with this one’ or ‘Call me later if you need an escape’— No. To her eyes, Simón was not someone Ámbar wanted to run away from. To her eyes, the interest was mutual.

Ámbar took a sip from her cup and seized the chance to look at Simón while his focus was elsewhere.  She ran her gaze over his profile: A pretty nose, a sharp jaw, long eyelashes, soft-looking hair.

Soft-looking lips.

Ámbar spun to face Simón. “Did it really look that real? The kiss.”

Simón turned to look at her. Pretty eyes.

“Yeah,” he said with a small laugh. “I guess you’re that good.”

Nice smile. Strong arms. Broad shoulders.

“Well, there’s a technique to it, just like with anything else,” she replied simply.

Simón nodded. “Right, I can imagine.”

He brought the can to his lips to drink from it.

Ámbar spoke.  

“Do you want me to show you?”

The can stopped centimeters from Simón’s mouth. His eyes flew in her direction and remained, searching her face, her own eyes. Ámbar kept his gaze. During that moment, it was like they had a silent conversation. 

Simón swallowed saliva.

“Okay.”

Ámbar smiled and grabbed his hand to take him somewhere more private. One of the perks of rich parties at rich guy’s houses was that there were many rooms the guests could choose from, either to partake in illicit activities, do substances, or do each other.

Simón left his beer can somewhere as Ámbar led him down a hall at a leisurely pace, searching for a door that wasn’t locked. His hand was big around hers. A little rough. Warm.

Ámbar sped up a bit.

Finally, she found a free room and got them inside. Ámbar didn’t bother turning the light on— There were plenty of colorful party lights filtering in through the back window, so she could see the bed in the middle of the room, a nightstand and a wardrobe next to it, and a dresser to her right, right next to the door.

She turned the lock and took a couple steps into the room before turning toward Simón.

“So, what kind of kiss you go for will always depend on the director, of course.” Ámbar left her red cup on top of the dresser as she began explaining. Simón, who hadn’t moved an inch since entering, was still standing in front of the door. “Sometimes they’ll want something to look very tender, so you barely move your lips, but you try to hold the other’s face or something like that to convey the emotion.”

Slowly, she took a step toward Simón and cupped his face between her hands, looking into his eyes. She took great pleasure in how he seemed incapable of looking away.  

“Sometimes they want passion,” she continued. “Heat. So you get as close as you can and pour everything you have into it.” In a fast stride, Ámbar pressed herself up against him, from chest to toe. Simón’s breath hitched. “Some actors think about someone they really like to get inspired. I usually just stay in character.”

Simón’s hands went to rest on her back. He cleared his throat quietly. “Do you… talk with the person you’ll be kissing? Beforehand. Like, to make a plan or…”

“Sometimes.” Ámbar entertained herself exploring the feel of his face with her fingers, running the back of them over his jaw and up to the roots of his hair as she spoke. “In some shoots, there’s this person called an Intimacy Coordinator. Like, if there’s a sex scene, this person will make sure that everyone’s boundaries are respected, that everyone involved feels comfortable… Then the director might tell you to put your hand here or there,” she took one of his hands from her back and placed it on the curve of her throat, “and then move it as the scene progresses…” She slid his palm slowly down her body, passing through her clavicle, the side of her breast, and her waist, to finally place it on her hip. “Stuff like that.”

Simón gulped. “It must be hard to do those things with so many cameras pointed at you.”

Ámbar laughed. “It is. You gotta be very tough and very professional. It helps when you’re working with a good team of people.” She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Wanna know the secret to the perfect kiss on camera?”

The room they were in wasn’t very illuminated, but she was certain that Simón’s wide pupils had nothing to do with that. Silently, he nodded.

“The secret to making it look good…” She leaned in slightly, leaving less space between them, “is to wait for the lips to come to you.” She grazed her nose against his. “Because usually you’d pucker them, right? You’d be impatient and want to speed up the contact.” She tilted her head to the other side, keeping the distance. “But it looks better if you keep your lips still, relaxed, and just wait until they touch.”

Ámbar closed her eyes, and very slowly, closed the remaining space between them until she pressed her lips against Simón’s.

She’d been right, his lips were soft. She could feel herself melting as they moved against hers, softly, exploringly, gentle presses and releases that left her lips tingling once she pulled away.

Their eyes found each other.

“Now you try it,” Ámbar said quietly.  

Simón stared at her eyes for a moment longer and then dropped his gaze to her mouth. He brought his lips near again and followed her instructions, waiting, keeping them nice and relaxed until they touched hers.

What a good student.

This kiss was a little harder, a little more intense— They had both learned each other’s taste earlier and discovered that they liked it. Simón hands slid to Ámbar’s waist and tried to pull her closer than they were already. Ámbar caressed his hair, his back, his shoulders. Their tongues touched. It was only small grazes, slow slides, but they made Ámbar’s head grow hazy all the same.

They were both breathing a little fast this time when they parted.

“There, you got it,” Ámbar rasped out. More than got it— he’s addicting.  

Simón seemed to be thinking something along those lines too because he couldn’t stop staring at her mouth.

“Ámbar, can I kiss you again without pretexts this time?”

The hint of desperation in his voice made something coil and burn in Ámbar’s stomach. She grabbed handfuls of his t-shirt and wondered when had been the last time she’d felt like this with anyone.

She had a hard time even answering with words but she made the effort. “Yes, go on.”

Simón wasted no time in covering her lips with his. Ámbar closed her eyes and let him do what he pleased, happy to go along with the ride, and oh, okay, yeah, he haddefinitelybeen holding back before.

He had her head spinning in mere seconds. If this was how he kissed, he didn’t need any classes at all. His big hands touched her all over, roaming her sides and drowning in her hair, and as if that wasn’t enough to leave her breathless, the way he moved his tongue against hers was pure bliss, all passion and warmth and electrifying wetness.  

Ámbar couldn’t help but moan into his mouth— it felt that good. Simón responded with his own sound— a lower, deeper one that curled her toes and made her crave for more contact. She delved her hands underneath his clothes, searching for his skin, and the muscles she found there on his abdomen, which twitched under her touch, almost made her push him into the bed right there.

It was minutes of pure, unbridled want passing through them before Simón started slowing down, first with his touches, then gently but surely bringing the kiss down to soft pecks, which allowed Ámbar to catch her breathing and stopped her from doing something reckless, like getting on her knees and pulling out what she hoped was a glorious cock as good as those kisses.

It still sounded like a good idea if she was honest. At the very least she’d like to keep making out with him because it felt really good and she had no idea why he stopped. She was ready to make her case that they should definitely keep doing that when Simón spoke first.

“Would you let me take you out to dinner sometime?”

Ámbar blinked. She looked at Simón and had to recalibrate her brain a little to process what he’d just said. His eyes were still dark from their previous liaisons, but there were nerves now there too— in all of him, actually. From Ámbar’s hands on his shoulders, she could feel his tension.

He really wants this.

Ámbar’s heart went wild inside her chest, which, yes, it had been doing since before, but this was different, very much different.

She didn’t think she managed to keep the tenderness off the curve of her lips. Given the case, who cared. “Yeah, I would like that.”

Simón’s nervousness left him in a spontaneous laugh, all teeth and happy and breathless, probably high on everything that had just happened. “Good.” He reached for his pants pocket. “I’ll give you my number— I don’t even know why I never gave you my number.”

Ámbar reached for her own phone. “I’ll give you mine too.”

“Great.” If Simón’s smile got any bigger, he was going to hurt his face.

That would be a crime.  

They switched phones so they could save each other in their contacts and then pocketed them again.

“Uh,” Simón rubbed the back of his neck adorably, come on, Ámbar, get a hold of yourself, “should we go back to the party?”

Ámbar pursed her lips, pretending to think about it. “Mmm… we could stay here for a few more minutes,” she said, grabbing his hands and walking backward towards the bed.

“Would that be okay?” Simón asked hesitantly as he followed.

“Trust me,” she sat them both down, “whoever is in the other rooms, they’re doing way worse.”

Simón chuckled until it was muffled by her lips.

Just as they said, they stayed a few minutes longer, making out and talking, although the make-out-to-talking ratio was about 10:1. They didn’t go further than some petting over their clothes, which was cool with Ámbar now that she knew he wanted more from her.

When she’d first brought Simón into this room, it had been impulsive. She had realized she wanted him, maybe ever since she met him, and she hadn’t wanted to waste any more time— Why would she? when he liked her too. Ámbar always went after what she wanted, and guys weren’t the exception.

She’d been ready to push him onto that bed and fuck the innocence out of him and deal with whatever consequence that led to later. It was the world she’d always lived in— Fast, intense, changing, chaotic. But he asked for a date. Simón had her practically in the palm of his hand and, instead of taking her, he asked for a date. It could’ve annoyed her. Like—We’re already here, you really wanna talk about that now? But it was just so… him that it endeared her instead. So what if she was used to faster and more superficial things? Wouldn’t a change do her good every once in a while? Didn’t it warm her heart that he wanted something concrete with her beyond here and now? Even though it wasn’t guaranteed there would be a future for them.

It would nice, Ámbar thought, if this could really turn into something real.

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

They set the date for two weeks later— as early as they could fit into their schedules (mostly Ámbar’s, which was packed with filming days).

They texted each other in the meantime, not an exorbitant amount, just enough to show that the mutual interest was still there and to get to know each other a little bit more— and enough for their friends to tease them about it.

Well, to be fair, Delfi’s comments weren’t so much teasing remarks as more of excited “Oh my god, now we can go on double dates together!!!”

“We haven’t even had one date yet, calm down,” was Ámbar’s down to earth response.

Now, Emilia on the other hand…

‘Called it’, her text read. ‘I want all the details later. He better make you scream Long live México.’

Ámbar didn’t reply to that.

(If it was up to her, she’d have him screaming Long live Argentina.)

The day rolled around and Ámbar got herself ready at her house (which she’d bought with her own money when she turned 21). It was Sunday evening and Simón told her he’d come to pick her up, so once Ámbar was ready with her casual but flattering black dress and her makeup, all she had to do was wait… and try to calm her nerves down a little bit— it’d been some time since she’d gone out on a proper date with someone.  

Five minutes early, she got a text from Simón saying he had arrived. Ámbar grabbed her purse and looked out the window, finding a dark blue car with tinted windows parked outside. She was grateful for the privacy.

Ámbar walked out of her house and towards the car and almost got into the backseat when the front window pulled down and she saw Simón at the wheel. Oh.

“Hi,” he greeted her with a smile.

Ámbar changed course and sat shotgun instead, closing the door right after. “Hey, sorry, I almost got into the backseat, I’m so used to people driving me everywhere,” she made fun of it.

“Oh, yeah, it happens to me too,” Simón said with a little chuckle. He looked good, Ámbar noticed. He was wearing a black suit with a blue shirt underneath the open jacket, no tie, and black leather ankle boots. He also smelled nice— Was it cologne? “But I wanted tonight to be just the two of us,” he continued. “I hope you don’t mind.”

Ámbar smiled. “Not at all, it sounds perfect.”

Simón returned her smile and brought her hand to his lips to drop a short kiss on the back of it. Ámbar’s heart gave a little skip at the gesture, and even though he let go immediately to start the car and get them on the road, the warmth of his kiss remained on her hand.

Always so full of surprises.  

“So,” she said after her seatbelt was secured and the ride had started, “where are you taking me?”

“Well, hopefully somewhere you find nice,” Simón said with a mix of nerves and optimism. “Unfortunately, I doubt I can take you anywhere you haven’t been to before, but I learned of this place from a friend and I’ve been there a few times and I think the food is very good. There’s a wide variety of dishes so you should be able to pick something you like. Plus, they have private booths and I reserved one for us, so, you shouldn’t have to worry about anyone taking your picture.”

Her heart melted at all his consideration. “You talk as if it was only a concern for me— Anyone could want your picture too, mister Best New Artist award winner.”

Simón laughed with a little breathless quality of awe. “I still can’t believe that happened.”

“You deserve it,” she told him truthfully. “You and the guys. Your band is amazing, and I’m sure there will be many more awards for you three from now on.”

Simón’s smile widened, and while he couldn’t take his eyes off the road, his right hand reached for hers, and Ámbar had no problem with taking it.

“Thank you,” he said wholeheartedly, squeezing her palm.

“Don’t mention it,” Ámbar squeezed back. She considered letting go but gathered there was no rush. He would have to eventually whenever he needed to change gears— in the meantime, what harm did it make to hold his hand? “And about the restaurant, I’m sure I’ll like whichever place you picked.”

“Well, if you don’t, we can always walk out and go to the nearest McDonalds.”

Ámbar laughed. “Now that would turn some heads.”

They kept light conversation for the rest of the ride. About thirty minutes later, Simón brought the car to a parking lot and announced they’d reached their destination. Ámbar looked out through the window and the view of a grand, nice-looking restaurant met her eyes.  

Simón got out before her and hurried over to her side to open the car door for her. Again she wasn’t expecting it, and while it was really unnecessary, it made her smile, so she said thank you. Was he also the kind to pull her chair back for her? They’d be sitting in a booth, so she wouldn’t get to find out.

Something tells me he is though.    

It was a little too much for this day and age, but if he wanted to give his absolute best on their first date, Ámbar wasn’t about to complain about it.

“Well,” she said as they walked to the entrance, “I’ve actually never been here before.”

“Really?” Simón said all excited. It was so cute to see him so happy about something like that. “Awesome! That means we get to make memories here for just the two of us.”

“Didn’t you say you’ve been here before?”

“Well, yeah, but with the guys, not with a— date.”

The falter had been very short but not enough for Ámbar not to notice it. Suspicious, she looked at Simón out of the corner of her eye and found him looking straight ahead, a clear embarrassed tint on his face. Did he almost say ‘girlfriend’? Ámbar thought with amusement. Oh well, it was only a slip of the tongue, she could let it slide.

Besides… who knows? Maybe this will go well.

“Mm…” She hummed in lieu of an answer, choosing not to make a comment to not embarrass him further.

They met the lady at the front door who led them to their reserved booth. Ámbar looked around a little as they followed. The inside of the restaurant looked sophisticated but not pompously luxurious or anything of the sort. It was well illuminated, with white walls, dark brown furniture, and décor in earthy tones with some accents in red and orange. Aside from the crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, it was almost like a family restaurant, with all of the coziness and none of the grease and chaos. The other patrons also looked elegant and formal but nothing that screamed money— it certainly had a more relaxed atmosphere than other places Ámbar had been to.

The booths were at the very back, and just as Simón had said, they gave a more private feeling than the rest of the tables. They were also roomy, with comfortable leather seats and some flowers decorating the clothed table.

The woman handed them two menus as they took a seat across from each other and told them a waiter would be with them shortly. Ámbar placed her purse next to her on the booth while Simón took off his suit jacket. He didn’t seem to know what to do with it when there wasn’t a chair to hang it on, so he just folded it in half and draped it over the top of the booth, trying to get it to stay in place and not slide down to the seat. Cute.

“Anything you recommend?” Ámbar asked as she opened the menu.

“Uh,” Simón looked at the menu, “I really like the meat here if you wanna try it. But anything should be good. And you can customize it if you want.”

Ámbar hummed as she started to scan over the options. “Meat sounds good. Let’s see.”

A few minutes later, they both placed their orders and then handed the menus back to their waiter. Simón was right, there was a wide variety of dishes to choose from, so now Ámbar wasn’t only looking forward to the company but also the food.  

Their waiter told them he’d be right back with their drinks and then walked away, leaving them alone. Ámbar met Simón’s gaze across the table. In some way, even though it had already started, this felt like the date had really begun.  

“You look beautiful,” was the first thing he said. “I didn’t tell you before, sorry. I mean, I thought it, but I didn’t say it. And there were other times I thought it and I didn’t say it, but, well, I mean, I wasn’t about to just say it every time I thought it, it would’ve been too much, probably, but this time I am telling you because… you look very beautiful.”

Aww, he’s nervous.

Ámbar put on her best smile of modesty. “Well, thank you. For this one and all the times you didn’t say it.” He let out a laugh. “You look very handsome too.”

It wasn’t just out of politeness that she said it. That blue shirt fit him like a glove, accentuating the muscles of his chest and arms, especially with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows as they were. It gave her a nice view of his forearms, and the few open buttons at the neck gave her a peek of his collarbone. She might have stared a little at how his pants fit his thighs too back in the car.

His face was nothing short of a delight either.

“Thank you,” Simón replied to her compliment, apparently too nervous still to notice the way she was ogling him. “I’m still not very used to wearing suits,” he admitted with a little self-conscious smile. “Before we started getting invited to events, the only times I had worn a suit were for my cousin’s wedding and a couple of funerals when I was little, so, safe to say, I had to buy new ones.”

Ámbar leaned forward a little and rested her chin on her knuckles. “I think you should wear them more often,” she purred, looking straight into his brown eyes. “You look very good.”

Sensing the shift in the air, Simón’s face went from lighthearted amusement to a deep, heated contemplation.

“Well…” A smirk curled his lips as he placed his forearms on the table, leaning forward too. “If you say that, Ámbar, I might not wear anything but suits for the rest of my life.”

Light laughter rolled out of both of them, and with it went the nerves and the tension. They continued talking throughout the night— about their childhood, their careers, their dreams; their food tastes, music tastes, movie tastes. It flowed, the way wind rustles the leaves on a tree or passes through an open window, filling the room with new fresh air. They joked. Ámbar laughed, more than she remembered doing on previous dates. She was especially happy that he seemed to like her ironic humor and often responded in kind. It was nice.

They talked even long after they had finished eating. They stayed nursing the last of the Carménère they’d ordered until they had sipped all of it away, and then talked some more still. Maybe it was just Ámbar’s impression, but she thought they were both drinking deliberately slowly.

Eventually, Simón asked for the check— they couldn’t stay there all night after all. The waiter left the leather-bound bill between them and then walked to another table that was calling him over. 

Simón grabbed the check and was pulling out his credit card when Ámbar stopped him.

“No, wait, I’ll pay,” she said, one hand raised, the other reaching for her purse.

Simón wrinkled his brows and laughed. “Ámbar, I invited you, it’s my treat,” he said like it was obvious.

“We can split then if you want,” she proposed, because the idea that he had to pay for everything only because he invited her didn’t seem fair to her. She agreed to come after all.

“It’s okay, Ámbar, don’t worry about it,” Simón declined kindly. “It’s not like I’m short on money,” he pointed out, a little uncomfortably because he still wasn’t used to that fact, but it was true.   

Ámbar placed her hand on his forearm. “I believe you, I respect it, you deserve it— But I insist that you let me split the bill,” she said.

“And I insist that you let me pay for our date.”

They looked at each other for a moment.

Ámbar leaned back in her seat. “It seems we have come to an impasse.”

“It seems so,” Simón agreed. “…Rock, paper, scissors?” He proposed after a moment.

Ámbar thought about it.

“You know what? You’re on.”

The two leaned forward in their seats and brought their hands forward.

“Okay, here we go,” Simón said.

“Rock, paper, scissors!”

Simón’s paper defeated Ámbar’s rock.

“You’re kidding me,” she complained.

“Back luck it seems,” Simón said.

“Two out of three,” Ámbar challenged, because apparently, her competitiveness encompassed even stupid things like this.

“Okay,” Simón agreed, and they played again.

This time, Ámbar’s rock defeated Simón’s scissors.

“Ha!”

“Don’t claim victory yet, you still need one more,” Simón reminded her.

“Okay, let’s do this.”

“Rock, paper, scissors!”

Simón threw rock.

Ámbar threw scissors.

“Noooo.” She hid her face in her hands.

“Welp,” Simón reached for the check, “you were a worthy opponent but victory smiles at me this time.”

“Next time I’ll defeat you.”

Simón, who’d been in the middle of calling over the waiter to take his card, paused at that.

He looked at her. “Oh, so, there will be a next time?”

Ámbar’s heart jumped. Shit, she fell right into that one without thinking.

She contemplated for a moment how to respond. How honest should she be? What was safe? What did she want?

In the end, she decided to trust her own feelings, and the glow in Simón’s eyes that looked so much like hope.

“Certainly,” she answered, keeping an air of her previous playful competitiveness. “I can’t leave things like this; my honor is at stake.” She spun one of her rings around her finger. “Unless you don’t want to, of course.”

Just seeing the way Simón’s face lighted up put all her worries to rest.

His lips curled into the smile she was starting to adore, and the warmth in his gaze as he looked at her was something she wasn’t sure she had ever seen outside of a performance. Had any actor ever looked at her like that? Was this what Simón saw when he told her her scenes were incredibly believable? Whatever the case, it didn’t matter. This was way better than any of that, because it was real.

“Ámbar, nothing would make me happier.”

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

Ámbar adored Simón’s music room. It was the brightest room in his apartment, with tons of natural light coming in through the floor-to-ceiling window throughout the day, and a nice view of the trees and birds outside. It was comfortable and quiet, secluded but in a cozy way, not a lonely way.

In the last three months, Ámbar had lost count of the number of days she had accompanied Simón here while he worked on something on the vertical piano or his guitar. She didn’t even know he could play the piano before she started dating him. Now the view of his back as his fingers danced around the keys was a familiar one, and one she held dear. It felt special for Ámbar to be part of something magical from the very beginning of its creation. She loved to watch him play around with chords on the guitar until his concentrated frown turned into an enthusiastic smile— that was how she knew he had finally gotten the sound he wanted. He tried to teach her too the first time she was here. He showed him how to do some chords on the guitar, moving her fingers here and there, and it was fun, she had never done something like that before, but she had to stop pretty soon because her fingertips ached and started to look purple. She gained a new appreciation for the calluses in his hands since then.

This room had become one of Ámbar’s favorite places to study her lines, only short of her own house, and only because she had to admit she sometimes got distracted if she was with Simón. (Not that she didn’t like those distractions, of course.)

That afternoon, she was sitting on the green beanbag in front of the piano, the mic stand, and the guitar stand, going through the script of the new movie she had booked while Simón was lying on the black couch next to the window, quietly surfing through his phone. Her feet were bare as she enjoyed the feel of the soft cream-colored carpet under them, and the only sound in the room was the occasional turning of a page as Ámbar read on.

Simón broke the comfortable silence.

“Would it bother you if I wrote a song about you?”

Ámbar immediately turned her head to the right to look at him. Her heart melted like ice cream in the summer heat. “You’re writing a song about me?”

Simón’s gaze momentarily averted while his hands fidgeted with his phone. “I might have started several during the last three months,” he admitted. Wow.

Ámbar flashed back to the melodies she had seen him compose during the last few months. Had any of them been about her? Simón had always been a little reluctant to sing any lyrics to her, claiming he wanted to wait until they were done.

Ámbar left her script on the carpet. “Would you really trash all that work if I told you I didn’t feel comfortable with it?” They took time and dedication after all.  

Simón ran a hand through his hair. Ámbar now knew that it turned a little curly when it grew longer. She loved to run her fingers through it. Simón had also told her he liked it when she did that, so Ámbar always followed the impulse to her heart’s content.

“Well…” He started. “I would try to explain to you how it comes natural to me and other musicians to draw from my personal experiences to create music. They tend to inspire my best works, actually. I don’t think I could just… not do it at all. It would be like trying to turn my brain off. But if you told me you didn’t like it, I would try to keep it subtle. I wouldn’t want to upset you.”

A smile upturned Ámbar’s lips. She crawled over to her considerate boyfriend and leaned in to kiss him softly. “It’s okay, I don’t mind. You can write whatever you want as long as it’s not too private.”

“What would be too private for you?” He asked.

With the ease of habit, Ámbar got up and sat on top of Simón, straddling him. She made sure to keep his gaze as she rolled her hips, pointingly grinding against his bulge.   

A moan jumped out of Simón’s mouth and his hands flew instinctively to her hips.

“Oh,” he said eloquently. “I would never,” he assured her.

Ámbar smiled. “Then it’s okay.”

She brought her mouth down to kiss him again, lingering this time, and she heard the thud of Simón’s phone falling on the carpet as he brought his hands around her, returning the affection of her lips.

It turned heavy quite fast, as it tended to do with them whenever they were alone. Ámbar had been told that musicians were passionate people and she had come to learn, repeatedly, that it was true. It fit right in with her— if he was fire, she was the wind ready to fan the flames at any given time. She loved to feel his hands on her bare skin, those talented hands that created art and always made her feel wanted, adored, cherished. Her body had always been an instrument— it was her work tool, something she had to keep shiny and polished to get jobs, something she used to bring to life someone else, something she put out there as a service to the community and to the arts, something that, sometimes, didn’t feel her own. When Simón was with her, she felt like a person. Like she wasn’t important because of her body but her body was important because it was hers.

With both their shirts off, Simón sat up on the couch, bringing Ámbar to his lap, pulling her close so their chests were pressed together. He rolled his hips up, making her moan against his lips. She kept the movement going, needing to feel him, wanting to be as close to him as possible with no layers in between. Simón broke the kiss with a groan and leaned their foreheads together, the two of them breathing hard as they swayed in unison.

He leaned to kiss her ear. “I could write a hundred songs about how good it feels to be inside you.” Ámbar moaned. “How well you take me, how beautiful you look when you’re in bliss.” He dropped kisses down her neck. “But that would make other people imagine it, and I would rather die than have someone else see you like this, even in their imagination.” Gently, he laid her down and settled on top of her, cupping her face and stroking it with his thumb. “The whole world may see your acting, but this Ámbar is mine.”

Ámbar welcomed his lips as they came upon hers and gave back as much love as Simón poured into her. She wrapped him in her arms and hugged him with her legs. She cradled him against her soul and wished for him to never leave.

Yes, she was his. He was hers. This beautiful, marvelous, and painstakingly real thing was their own, and Ámbar, who so many times had wished she was someone else, who had dedicated her whole life to becoming someone else, for the first time felt like she, just herself, just being Ámbar, was enough.

She was loved just as she was and that was more than enough.

…

..

.

This is the golden age of something good, and right, and real…

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

Oh my god, I hadn’t posted any oneshots since February!!! I can’t believe how fast this year passed by. I hope you liked this story!! I can’t believe this idea jumped me one day and I wasn’t able to put it down until I finished it— I guess I was really inspired! It took me exactly 20 days but here it is, I love it &lt;3

I have some other oneshots lying around that I would love to finish soon; I’ll see you when I do. Until then, have yourselves a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year &lt;3