#let me sip on the tea and eat the beans plEASE GOD

[kacchanofficial]

Just having lunch and a coworker who went through some personal stuff weeks ago comes in and we get to talking and she actualy spills SO MANY BEANS about said persoanl stuff and im like 👁👁 yowza !

[alonezz]

"Lets swap drinks?”

Includes: Mikasa, Ymir, Historia, Annie, Fem Hange, Sasha.

Warnings: food.

Summary: TikTok prank, lets swap drinks.

Mikasa

You guys had just gone through the Starbucks drive-thru and Mikasa ordered your favorite drink for you, she had been so sweet today. You took a sip of your drink, it was so good, but you wanted to prank Mikasa today.

“Baby, I don’t like my drink,” you say as you look at her.

“why? I thought it was your favorite,” she says now looking at you, worry evident in her eyes. 

“It’s just it is too sweet,” you say and she looks at you tilting her head slightly.

“You have tea, right? Can we swap?” you ask her trying to hide your smile.

She thinks for a little before nodding slightly. You know Mikasa doesn’t like sweet drinks, the fact that she was willing to swap with you made your heart flutter.

“I was just kidding, baby! Have your drink back!” you say and she looks at you with a small pout on her lips. 

“you are so unfunny, (Y/N)” she says and you quickly reach over to peck her lips making her smile a little.

This girl is head over the heels for you and would do anything to make you happy, even if that means she has to give you her favorite drink.

Ymir

You and Ymir went to chipotle like you usually do and both of you were now in the car eating. You look over at her, she looks like she is enjoying the food a lot so you decide to prank her.

“Babe, I don’t like my food,” at the same time she spills some beans on her shirt and yells, “oh, fuck, great!”

“babyyyyy,” you call her.

“WHAT?” she says trying to wipe the beans off of her white shirt.

“I don’t like the brown rice,”

“Just eat it,” she says

“I don’t like it, I am not eating it,”

“JUST EAT IT,”

“Nooo, I don’t like it,”

“what do you want me to do about it?” she says but she actually is upset you didn’t like it.

“Can we swap?” you ask pouting.

“UGH fine,” she says as you both swap bowls.

“I HATE brown rice, I am not eating this,” she says as she places it behind the steering wheel.

“Babyy, here have yours back,”

“No, you are hungry you can have it,”

“I was just kidding; I do like brown rice!” you say laughing slightly.

“Okay, here have it back,” she says and you smile softly.

“Thanks, babe,”

“I HAVE BEANS ALL OVER MY WHITE SHIRT,” she says ignoring what you had said before.

This girl can come off mean and is sometimes a little loud and crazy but she loves you so much!

Historia

You and Historia were eating sushi like you do every Friday. You always order the same roll, today you had been scrolling through Tiktok and you saw a couple doing a prank so you decided to do it to Historia.

“Baby?” you say as you took a deep sigh.

“Yes? Something wrong honey?” she asks slightly worried.

“I don’t like my roll,” you say pouting.

“But you always have that roll? Does it taste different?” she asks as she examines your sushi carefully.

“No, I am just tired of it,” you say pushing the sushi away from you.

“Oh, baby, you should’ve said that before we ordered! Here have mine I can have yours,” She says as she swaps sushi and gives you a reassuring smile.

“Baby, I was just kidding! You can have yours back,”

“Oh,” she says, and then she giggles softly.

God your soft Historia would also do anything for her princess! she would even give you all of her food without anything in return, she just wants to see her baby happy!

Annie

You and Annie bought some drinks at this new boba place and were in the parking lot in her car drinking them. Your drink tasted so good, but you wanted to taste Annie’s and at the same time prank her.

“Ann, can I have a sip?” you ask motioning to her drink.

She hums approvingly as she pushes her drink towards you and you take a sip, you don’t really like it much but Annie and you have completely different tastes when it comes to food.

“I like yours better,” you say pouting.

“But you don’t like this flavor,” she says looking at you slightly confused.

“I know but I like it better, can we switch,” you say and her eyes go wide.

“No!” she says, Annie is very protective of her food.

“Pretty please,” you say pouting slightly.

“Just drink yours,” she says staring at you and searching your eyes for any actual hurt. Annie sometimes doesn’t know how to talk to you and is afraid of hurting you.

“Please, Anne? For me?” you say with the best puppy face you could gather.

“Anything for my darling, right?” she says finally giving in as she gives you the drink. You see that she starts opening the door.

“Where are you going?”

“To get another drink,” she says and you tug her hand before she can leave.

“Annie! No, have yours back. It was a prank,” you say giggling, “I don’t like your drink,”

She gets back in and snatches her drink for you pretending to be pissed but you see the small tug of her lips. She won’t admit it often but she loves you so much!

Hange

You look at Hange’s coffee, it was more sugar and milk than coffee but she happily took another sip. Yours was a little stronger and Hange doesn’t like strong coffee at all. She had pranked you a few days ago and you decided to get her back for it.

“Hange?” you asked softly and she looked up to you smiling softly.

“Yes, my dear?” she says as she grabs one of your hands gently, God you almost forgot about the prank at how sweet she is.

“Can I taste your drink?”

“Of course, my darling!” she says as she gives you her drink, she then proceeds to explain everything that’s in it.

“It’s good! Really good,” you say and she smiles gently, “I know! It’s my favorite!” she happily takes another sip.

“I don’t like mine that much,” you say with the best sad expression you could gather.

“Oh, Darling! Here we can share mine!” she says happily getting closer to you and you smile wide at how sweet this girl can be.

“Hange, baby, I was just kidding,” you say and she gently laughs pecking your lips softly.

“you got me, dear, but I wouldn’t mind sharing with you! I love you,” she says now peppering kisses all over your face and you wonder, how on earth did you get so lucky?

Sasha

God if anything, she will eat your food. She would immediately decline to swap any food but when she sees how sad and hurt you look she reluctantly swaps with you. When you tell her, it was a joke she says that you owe her food. This girl loves you more than she loves food, if that’s even possible, so she would give you some of hers.

[hood-ex]

Dick stares at the ceiling of his darkened bedroom for what feels like forever before the alarm on his phone starts going off. The Backstreet Boys song that Babs had set as his default alarm fills the room with a chorus of, “Everybody! Rock your body right! Backstreet's back alright!” 

He normally tries to shut the obnoxious song up as soon as it goes off, but, well, there isn’t really anything normal about Dick’s current situation, and he figures that letting the song play out for a little longer than usual might curb his feelings of homesickness.

It fades into background noise as he flings off the covers and rolls out of bed, wincing as his bare feet meet the chilled wood floor. He blindly turns in the direction of the Alexa device and—wait. It’s called Cora in this universe, not Alexa. 

Right. 

“Cora, turn on Dick’s bedroom lights,” he says to the small white device that’s sitting on the bedside table. Cora glows green to indicate that she heard the demand, and the lights flicker on immediately. 

Dick squints at the sudden brightness and stumbles his way into the bathroom for a piss and a quick shower. It takes him all of ten minutes to finish. After he dries his hair with a towel, he heads to the closet and surveys the small selection of clothes that are all in his size but aren’t actually his. That’s made obvious by the fact that all the shirts are neutral colored, many of the pants are ripped at the knees, and any form of outerwear consists mostly of hoodies. 

At 27-years-old, Dick can’t imagine himself wearing ripped jeans. He knows from what Alfred told him when he arrived here that this universe’s Dick is only 19. Still, even when Dick was that age, he’d been wearing outfits that were considered more fashionable. 

He figures the casual wear has something to do with the fact that this universe’s Alfred and Bruce are way more laid back in both manner and appearance than his own. Just yesterday, Bruce had been wandering around the kitchen in nothing but briefs and a t-shirt, something Dick's Alfred would definitely not have been pleased about.

He grins at the memory and surveys his options one last time before pulling on some light wash jeans and a beige colored Stussy shirt. He goes for a watch next—this Dick is apparently a watch guy because he’s got like six of them—and while he’s in the middle of fastening it to his wrist, he’s startled by Cora suddenly glowing green and emanating the sound of a bell ringing. 

Alfred’s pre-recorded voice then comes through the speaker and says, “Breakfast is ready. Please make your way downstairs before it gets cold.” 

Dick has to admit that out of all the things that are different about this alternate universe, having Alfred take full advantage of Cora’s abilities is one of the most amusing. Also, weirdly convenient. He’ll have to see about teaching Alfie how to use Alexa when he gets back home. 

The Backstreet Boys are finally silenced once Dick turns off the alarm. He shoves his phone in his pocket before following the heavenly scent of food towards the kitchen. 

The first thing he sees when he walks in is Bruce is sitting at the table with a tablet, no doubt reading this morning’s news. He’s already dressed in a black polo with the Wayne Enterprises crest embroidered on the breast. It’s tucked into a pair of gray trousers that are nicely tapered and draw attention to his suede penny loafers. Bruce’s hair is already neatly styled into place, and as Dick takes a seat across from him at the table, the smell of spicy cologne hits his nose. He can’t help but feel a little sad that the cologne isn’t the same as what his Bruce wears. 

Bruce sets the tablet to the side when Dick finally settles in his seat. His soft blue eyes roam over Dick’s face in a way that Dick’s come to be familiar with since landing in this universe. He figures it’s because he looks a little different than 19-year-old Dick and that Bruce is probably curious about what his boy will look like in eight years. Either that or he just misses his kid in the same way Dick misses his Bruce. 

“Morning, Dick,” Bruce greets with a smile, his tone rather chipper. 

Bruce’s upbeat attitude and smiles had thrown Dick off when he’d first arrived in this universe, not having seen his own Bruce act like that since it was just the two of them against the world. 

“Good morning, Master Dick,” Alfred greets while he gathers two plates from the marble island in the middle of the kitchen. He’s decked out in his white apron which looks pristine as always. 

“Morning,” Dick says. He reaches for the carton of milk in the middle of the table and carefully pours it into the glass that’s been preset next to his placemat. 

Alfred swoops in with the two plates and places one in front of Dick and the other in front of Bruce. Dick nearly curses in excitement when he sees what it is. 

“A full English breakfast, Alf? Aw, you shouldn’t have,” he says, and his stomach rumbles loudly as if telling him to shut up and just eat. “But I’m so glad you did.”

“Me too,” Bruce says, having already taken a bite out of a sausage. “Thanks, Alfred. This is great.”

Dick hums in agreement and quickly works on lathering his bread with some of the beans, meat, and eggs.

“Thank you, sirs. I figured Master Dick might like it, seeing as he mentioned it’s something my counterpart enjoys making.”

“You figured right,” Dick says after he finishes swallowing a mouthful. “Back home, I’d eat one of these plates so fast that Alfie would get all Shakespeare on me.” With a switch in accent and tone, Dick imitates Alfred and says, “‘He hath eaten me out of house and home; he hath put all my substance into that fat belly of his!’” 

Something like pride fills his chest when both Bruce and Alfred’s faces scrunch up in laughter. Bruce’s eyes crinkle at the corners, and Alfred covers his mouth with his hand to hide his amusement. 

Dick’s just glad they have something like Shakespeare to relate to even though he knows that this universe's William Shakespeare only wrote half the number of plays that are in Dick’s universe. Not seeing the recognition on Bruce and Alfred’s faces when he had quoted Romeo and Juliet at them the other night had broken his heart if only because it’s quoted frequently in his family.

“Sounds like Alfred alright,” Bruce grins. 

“I’ll have to save that for when our Master Dick returns,” Alfred says, looking both fond and sad at the reminder of his missing boy. 

“He’ll get a kick out of it,” Bruce nods, looking equally as wistful. 

Dick shifts uncomfortably in his seat at the blatant display of affection for his counterpart. He can’t help but wonder if he’s being missed just as strongly back home. If he is, he’s sure it’s not being expressed as openly as this. Well, he likes to think that Babs, Tim, and Damian might have something to say about it in their own ways. 

Alfred clears his throat to dispel the sudden quiet that falls over them. “Excuse me, sirs. I’ll be eating my own breakfast in the other room.”

“Going to catch up on watching You Just Got Served?” Bruce asks knowingly. 

“What’s that?” Dick asks.

“A morning gossip show in the UK,” Bruce says, taking a sip of his coffee to no doubt hide his smirk from Alfred’s piercing gaze. 

“Gossip,” Alfred practically scoffs as if offended by the idea that he could ever find such a thing enjoyable. He grabs his plate and cup of tea from the counter, and before he leaves the kitchen, Dick hears him mutter, “If I wanted to be entertained by gossip of all things then I would spend my days reading tabloids with your face plastered across them, Master Bruce.” 

“Ohhh, burn!” Dick cackles while mentally high fiving Alfred and his quick tongue. 

Bruce cocks an eyebrow. “Burn?”

Right. Universe differences. 

“Where I’m from it’s something you say when someone else gets mocked or teased but, like, in a playful way.”

“Oh,” Bruce says quietly, eyes raised to the ceiling like he’s thinking. “I don’t know if we have a word like that here. I’ll have to ask Dick when he’s back.”

Dick hums in acknowledgment and falls quiet. His mind is a little occupied by all the food that’s still sitting in front of him, and he can tell that Bruce is the same way. Both of them are happy to sit in comfortable silence while they finish off the majority of their meals. 

It’s only when Dick is washing most of it down with his milk that Bruce suddenly asks, “You sleep okay, Chum?” 

Dick pauses at the question. Not because Bruce refers to him by the same nickname that his own Bruce calls him on occasion, but because the nickname is said with a soft look that Dick hasn’t seen on his own Bruce’s face in god knows when. He’s not sure what prompted the question, but he guesses he must look a bit rough for Bruce to bring it up. 

“Kind of,” Dick admits with a shrug. He places his glass back on the table and then continues to dig into the scraps on his plate. 

“Nightmares?” Bruce prods after chewing a mouthful of baked beans. His eyes are trained on Dick, and they’re unguarded in a way that his Bruce’s rarely are. It’s obvious he’s concerned, and Dick feels slightly touched that this Bruce who isn’t his dad is worried about him.   

Dick’s fringe flops in his face when he shakes his head. “Nah,” he says. “My mind just wouldn’t shut up.”

Bruce hums. “Thinking about home?”

“Yeah,” Dick sighs. He crosses his arms over his chest and leans back in his chair. “Mostly just thinking about what I’m going to do if things go wrong in my universe and my Bruce isn’t able to implement the protocol.”

The protocol in this particular situation, as Dick had explained to Bruce the first night he showed up in this universe, involves a ten day wait period. He’s to standby and wait for his Bruce to get either Zatanna or Doctor Fate to open a dimensional portal to take Dick home. If they don’t come within the first ten days of Dick’s arrival, Dick is supposed to seek out the closest thing this universe has to a magic user. 

On one hand, Dick is lucky that he ended up in a universe that has a non-hostile Batman who’s willing to help him. On the other hand, he’s completely fucked in that this universe’s Zatanna is on a deep space mission and isn’t due to return for another month. The League is also apparently not on good terms with Doctor Fate here, and while it’s not out of the question that they can eventually get him to help, Dick’s been told that it will be extremely difficult. 

Dick knows that Bruce has already been looking into other options, desperate to get his own Dick Grayson back. For now, they’re mostly relying on Dick’s Bruce to make a successful swap. 

“We’ll figure it out, Chum,” Bruce says with a comforting smile. “Worst case scenario, we wait a month for my Zatanna to get back.”

Dick bites his lip. “And if she dies on the mission?” 

Bruce’s face shifts into a closed off expression that’s familiar to Dick but looks weirdly out of place on this Bruce's face. “Like I said… we’ll figure it out.” 

Dick's mouth twists into a frown at the answer that is, frankly, not good enough for him. The only thing that keeps him from pushing the issue further is that he can tell Bruce isn’t satisfied with his answer either. 

Dick decides to back off… for now.

[whumpmatsus]

Heyo! 👋 hope you're doing well! If you are taking requests right now, maybe some Ichi hurt/comfort? Like maybe he's having a depressive episode one day (me? Projecting? It's more likely than you think 😂) unlike any he's ever had before, and he just doesn't have the strength to do anything, even make snippy remarks at any of his brothers. One (or all, you can pick!) of them notices this odd behavior, and makes it their mission to help him feel a little more like his old self, even if that just means "riding out the storm" with him.

Oof this was really long, lol sorry 😂 but thanks for taking the time to read, I love your writing style! Take care! 👋

eyyy don't be sorry! God I REALLY enjoyed writing this... I love how it turned out

sometimes these guys can be jerks, for sure, even when one of their own is in pain

but... when it's serious... THIS BEAUTIFUL SHIT HAPPENS

please enjoy Ichi being spoiled and surrounded by love from all his brothers because HE DESERVES IT and I love how this turned out <3

-

Ichimatsu’s first (and maybe only) mistake is that he assumes his brothers don’t pay that much attention to him one way or the other unless he speaks up.

Or, maybe it’s that he often hopes they don’t.

Because he knows they care; there are little things they all do that remind him that no matter what, they love him. But they all have their own things to do, and most of the time he finds that best. They should be able to do whatever they like instead of wasting their lives making him feel better. He has a bad day or hates himself so much of the time, if they paid him attention whenever he wasn’t doing well, they’d never get to enjoy themselves with other things.

He cares about them, too. So usually he’d rather they occupy themselves with their own interests whenever he’s not feeling well. He can bury things deep inside and pretend those shitty feelings don’t exist and act almost normal. As normal as someone like him can act, anyway. For their sake. They don’t deserve to worry about him.

Today, he’s too tired for whatever reason. His scathing barbs and negative attitude on most days aren’t really fake… on the bad days, though, he can force his typical demeanor so nobody suspects he’s not fine. All they see is sour-faced, ill-tempered fourth brother Ichimatsu.

He can’t even do that much right now. It’s as if the weight of existence and his own mind is pulling him down, further and further, until he’s drowning in his thoughts. Horrible thoughts. Things telling him he’s worthless, a failure, a burden, good for nothing, should probably be dead… too many things to keep track of.

If he were trying not to get his brothers’ attention by being quiet and listless, it isn’t working. In fact, his current behavior has actually done the opposite.

While he’s lying in the corner of the room, curled around himself and wishing he could fall asleep to avoid dealing with these thoughts and feelings, the others are around their table muttering among themselves.

“You guys noticed he barely touched breakfast, right?” Osomatsu is the first to speak up, and he’s doing his best not to look at Ichimatsu too much, simply because he doesn’t want his younger brother to feel everyone’s eyes on him. He’s pretty sure that would just make matters worse.

Choromatsu hums in agreement. “Yeah, no, he just kind of stared into his tea… he might have taken a sip or two, but that’s about it. I don’t think he even ate any rice.”

“Did he even brush his teeth this morning?” Totty speaks up. “Or his hair? It looks messier than usual, and I was the last one in the bathroom before breakfast, and it didn’t look like his toothbrush had been used.”

“Also,” Karamatsu chimes in, “I believe that is the same outfit he wore yesterday. He didn’t sleep in it, but he put it back on when he got up even though it hasn’t been washed.”

Choromatsu frowns and steals a quick glance at the fourth eldest. “Like he… didn’t wanna think about picking something different out, huh? And… it’s kind of worrying that he didn’t brush his teeth or hair. I mean, that’s basic hygiene. It’s like he’s depressed or… some… thing…”

Suddenly a light bulb goes off, and the rest of the brothers exchange a concerned look with each other.

“Oh,” is all Osomatsu says for a moment. Then, “Fuck.”

Before anyone else can breathe a word, Jyushimatsu leans back away from the table and collapses with his head in Ichimatsu’s lap. “Aaaah, Ichimatsu-nii-chan! Baseball practice today? We can do it at the beach!”

Ichimatsu hardly flinches at the abrupt contact, but really it’s because he doesn’t even have the strength to be startled. He doesn’t move to push Jyushimatsu off or bounce his leg to dissuade the him from staying or anything. It’s a moment until he actually says anything, like a delayed reaction from a computer. “Uh. Not today, Jyushi. I’m probably gonna take a nap.”

“Hmmmmmmm… oh, I know! I’ll nap with you! Maybe we’ll dream about baseball!”

All the others watch closely, waiting to see if he gives an average Ichimatsu reaction. Instead, he doesn’t even shrug. “Yeah, if you want.”

Obviously, that’s not what they would be expecting from any other day. They all look at each other again, minus Jyushimatsu who just curls up against his big brother’s side.

Ichimatsu, on the other hand, is so out of it in his own head that he doesn’t realize that he’s done anything to worry his brothers. They should all be paying attention to their own shit, right?

He just feels so exhausted despite that he knows he slept okay last night. All he did this morning was wake up and get out of bed and already he’s… drained.

You’re so lazy. You can’t even put together the energy it takes to read a fucking magazine or something? To do nothing like you usually do? What kind of loser doesn’t have enough energy to do something like watch TV?

What the hell is wrong with you?

He cringes at the sound of his own inner voice berating him, and ducks his head down between his knees. Shit. Everything hurts. Isn’t that right, though? He’s useless. It doesn’t take any effort to just sit somewhere watching TV or reading and yet he’s not even willing to do something like that.

Even though he expects that Jyushimatsu might want to hang out with him, because the two of them are close, he doesn’t anticipate it when Osomatsu comes over and sits himself down across from Ichimatsu. At least, he thinks it’s Osomatsu. He doesn’t really feel like lifting his head fully; it looks like a red hoodie, though.

“Uh, hey, Ichimacchan.” Osomatsu feels a little awkward at first, mainly due to the fact that he’s never sure what to do when Ichimatsu is in one of ‘these’ moods. What works on one day might not work the next time. Previous experience is all he has to draw on, though.

“I noticed you didn’t eat too much at breakfast… you in the mood for something sweet?” Tempting him with one of their favorite treats might put him in better spirits, at least for a minute. “There’s a box of imagawayaki on the counter… there’s three in there, so we can split ‘em. Mom said these ones have chocolate cream in them.”

Everyone else lets out a blissful sigh as they all think about how delicious that’s going to be. Bean paste or custard or even regular cream is always good, but chocolate cream? If they had to fight over those, someone might end up dead.

Ichimatsu offers a shrug in his brother’s direction. “Sure, if you guys want. I’m just not that hungry.”

Osomatsu frowns, and looks over toward Choromatsu who’s thankfully recovered from the imagawayaki imagine spot. None of the brothers would ever turn that down. Even if they weren’t necessarily hungry, they’d make room for something that good. Moreover, given that Ichimatsu didn’t eat anything at breakfast, he should be starving,especially for sweets.

Choromatsu makes his way over, setting a careful hand on Ichimatsu’s shoulder. He doesn’t have any more of a clue what to do than their eldest, so he’s flying by the seat of his pants just as much. Something has to be done… they can’t just let poor Ichimatsu suffer. “Ichimacchan? It’s pretty cold today. How about I turn on the kotatsu, and if you’re gonna nap, you can sleep with your legs under it? That might feel nice.”

Well. That does sound nice, Ichimatsu thinks, because curling up under the heat of the kotatsu is always nice in the winter. But… he’s pretty sure he doesn’t have the energy to even move from this spot. “Oh, yeah… I’ll probably just nap here, though. Don’t really feel like moving.”

“Aaah, but you are cold, aren’t you? I can hear your teeth chattering from all the way over here!” Karamatsu is up in an instant, tugging his leather jacket off his shoulders. Although it leaves him in nothing but a tank top ― and a horribly plain grey one, at that ― it’s a necessary sacrifice for his little brother’s comfort.

He hurries over to where everyone else is gathering and gently drapes the jacket over Ichimatsu’s shoulders. “Hmph… Karamatsu to the rescue as usual! You’re looking cozier already.”

Man,Ichimatsu’s mind comes up with, I try on Shittymatsu’s dumbass jacket one time and suddenly he’s coming up with any excuse to put the stupid thing over me. Do I really want him freezing instead of me? Why don’t I just move my ass over to the kotatsu? He’s gonna catch a cold and it’ll be all my fault because my stubborn ass didn’t move and he took pity on me.

God, I wanna die. They’re all falling all over themselves to do shit to cheer me up when they should be focusing on themselves. I’m fucking trash, making my brothers waste all their damn time on me. Why couldn’t I just do stuff and not make them worry?

“… Ichimatsu-nii-san?” Totty has plopped himself down in front of Ichimatsu, staring in concern at his big brother. Fuck. He’s using that eye voodoo of his, and if he says anything, if he asks Ichimatsu a question, he’s gonna get an honest answer despite the fact that Ichimatsu doesn’t want to admit anything.

He can’t help it, though. Totty’s hand is soft as he reaches up toward Ichimatsu’s face, thumbing away tears that Ichimatsu didn’t even realize he’d started to cry. But his youngest brother is delicate in the way he brushes them, so caring and tender that any little bit of strength Ichimatsu had to keep things hidden away crumbles quickly.

“Hehe,” Totty chuckles, though there isn’t a genuine mirth behind it, “you’re not having a good day, Ichimatsu-nii-san… are you?”

He blinks, and more tears start to drip down his cheeks. This time Totty doesn’t make a move to wipe them away, instead staring at his brother with those big, sad doe eyes, glittering with sympathy.

Ichimatsu lets his head drop again, eyes pressing against his arm and tears soaking into his sleeve. “N-no,” he manages to say in a quiet, insecure, small voice. He hates it. He hates making this stupid confession, because he should be able to take care of himself. His brothers don’t need to be huddled around him, pissing their days down the drain. “I’m… I’m having a bad day.”

With that, it’s like all five of them attach themselves to him all at once. There’s a brief cacophony of worry and reassurances, and a hug Ichimatsu almost loses himself inside of.

“Alright, you hear that, guys?” Osomatsu announces, maybe a bit louder than he really needs to. “Ichimatsu’s having a bad day! Woohoo!”

Choromatsu scoffs. “Ah, ‘woohoo’?? Osomatsu, you idiot! This isn’t a good thing!”

Osomatsu pulls away to rub a finger under his nose with a grin. “Hey, sure it is! He said it, didn’t he? Good for you, Ichimacchan! You’re having a bad day and you said so! Remember what happened when Totty kept junk from us? We need to know this shit! I’m glad you said something!”

Karamatsu’s hand tousles Ichimatsu’s hair as he pulls his brother into a hug. “Yes, Osomatsu is right. You’re having a bad day, Ichimatsu, and that’s just fine. It takes a lot of bravery to admit it, so we’re proud of you.”

“Plus, we’re gonna make this the best bad day ever!” Totty hums. He’s whipped his phone out before anyone can so much as blink, typing away on it. “It’s just about lunch time, so I’m gonna order some takeout! Ichimatsu-nii-san, what sounds good? Curry? Sushi? Ooh… maybe fried chicken? We don’t do that too often… might be a nice treat! Oh, it’s your call, though.”

Osomatsu gives Ichimatsu a tiny bump on the shoulder with his fist. “You and Totty figure that out while I go cut that imagawayaki for us. Be right back, guys.”

… Am I in the fucking Twilight Zone or something? What the hell???

Ichimatsu lifts his head just a little, looking at all his brothers. Totty’s on his phone looking at delivery options, Osomatsu is headed to the kitchen, Jyushimatsu is nuzzled against his side…

None of them are leaving him by himself. They all still want to be here even when his mood sucks ass. Even when he can’t really do anything for himself. Even when he’s being a huge fucking pain and a thorn in their sides and doing literally nothing to contribute to the day.

What the hell are they all doing? Why are they all fine with wasting their day taking care of him?

When Karamatsu presses a couple of tissues into his hand, Ichimatsu somehow finds the energy to use them to wipe his face. Fuck, he hates crying, and he hates people seeing him cry. “Don’t do this,” he mumbles. “You’re fucking morons. You have better shit to do than…”

“No way!” Jyushimatsu aggressively snuggles against the side of Ichimatsu’s stomach, circling his arms around his brother’s waist. “What better shit could weeeee have to do? We’re shitty NEETs!”

Choromatsu chuckles. “Besides, there’s literally nothing more important than taking care of each other, especially when one of us is down and out. Ichimatsu, you… know none of us are shy when it comes to being honest. So, just… try to believe us when we say there’s nothing we’d rather be doing than being with you right now.”

He straightens up, then gingerly taps Jyushimatsu with his foot. “Hey, Jyushi, how about you scoot yourself and Ichimatsu over to the kotatsu? And Totty, are you really gonna make a delivery driver come out in this weather? It’s almost below freezing! Why don’t you go get it yourself?”

“Excuse you, but if they haven’t shut down the delivery option, why shouldn’t I take advantage of it? I don’t wanna leave Ichimatsu-nii-san!”

“Okay, okay… I guess that’s fair. What are you ordering, again?”

“Aaaah, I dunno! I was waiting for Ichimatsu-nii-san to say what he feels like.”

Meanwhile, Jyushimatsu has somehow gotten himself and Ichimatsu over to the kotatsu, and is currently shoving his big brother’s legs under it while Choromatsu moves to plug it in. “Home run, YEAH! Your tootsies will be toasty in no time, Ichimatsu-nii-san!”

“O-oh… thanks, Jyushi…” That’s about all he can say, really. He’s slumped over the table in a matter of seconds, and although there’s no way it can support the weight of everything he feels like he’s being crushed under, feels a little more relaxing than holding himself in a tight ball in the corner.

He’s going to cry again. He’s pretty sure he’s going to cry again. His brothers, his selfish, douche-a-holic, demon brothers… would rather be taking care of him on a bad day than out doing their own things, not touching him or his shitty mood with a ten-foot pole.

Jyushimatsu is cuddled up on one side, and he can feel Karamatsu settling in on the other with an arm around Ichimatsu’s shoulders. That’s it. He’s surrounded by brothers and their warm, selfless-for-once-in-their-lives affection. He has to surrender. He doesn’t stand a chance.

His mind drifts back to the others. “Oh… Totty…”

“Oh! Yeah, mhm?”

“Um… curry sounds good, I guess.”

The impossibly huge smile on his youngest brother’s face comes through even when he speaks. “Oh, great! Curry it is! Okaaaay, I’m gonna get it from that nice place in town. You want it with rice or udon? Or do you want curry bread?”

“Uhh… just with rice.”

“Rice, okay, sounds good! Beef, chicken, or pork?”

“Huh… you mentioned fried chicken, now that sounds good. Does that place do curry rice with tonkatsu on top?”

“Oooh… that does sound good. Yeah, I think there’s an option for that. Chicken tonkatsu with curry rice, then?”

“Yeah.”

“Gotcha. Is that what everybody wants?”

“Yeah, Totty,” Choromatsu injects, “just order the same thing for everybody. We’ll all eat that.”

“Okay, what about sides? Does anyone want fukujinzuke or rakkyō?”

“Geez, just… just get half of each and we can divide it up if anyone wants any.”

“Okaaay! I’m not ordering drinks from there, though… too expensive. We have tea here. Oh, I’ll get a few orders of pork curry bread, too, in case we want a snack later.”

“Well, make sure you get either three or six.”

“Yeahhhh, Cherrymatsu, I’m not stupid! I’ll just get three; I’m fine buying some, but I’m not trying to go broke! Does that sound okay, Ichimatsu-nii-san? The curry bread for later?”

It takes a moment, but finally Ichimatsu lets out a breathy, almost tearful laugh as he leans against Karamatsu’s shoulder. “Totty… you’re trying to fatten me up… you witch… you’re gonna cook me and eat me… that’s your plan, huh?…”

The whole room erupts into a small fit of laughter, even Totty who’s blushing at being teased. Ichimatsu feels Karamatsu press a kiss to his head, and he sighs. Usually he wouldn’t be able to take all of this… the attention, and Totty blabbering away, and Choromatsu trying to be responsible, and… everything.

At the moment, it feels right. Like things are supposed to be this way. Like he’s supposed to be having a bad day so his brothers can all gather around him and remind him that regardless of anything else, when one of them needs their brothers, everyone is going to be there.

Maybe he needed that reminder.

Maybe they all did.

[collectionofcherries]

👀couldnt help but notice you talking about hannibal in your billy loomis imagine 👀 also couldnt help but to notice thats in your fandom list 👀 maybe you should shoot your shot with an imagine with hanni 👀

So over on my Naruto blog I did a little fluff piece called Morning Coffee that everyone seemed to enjoy so I thought I'd bring it here. It’s a simple concept, it follows your morning to the start of your cup to the end of it. Hope you enjoy! --- ☕ Morning Coffee ☕

---

written in the mind-frame of a Female!Reader but there are no pronouns mentioned nor gender specific anatomical body parts.  Warnings: None, flirting with the idea of smut but no actual smut. Sexual longing maybe? Word Count: 1,155

--- Hannibal Lecter

   Having coffee with a friend shouldn't have been this stressful, being this stressed in the morning couldn't be good for you but it wasn't like you could help it. How are you supposed to dress for morning coffee with a man who practically lives in three piece suits? Formal? Business casual? Casual casual? Your clothing covered floor seemed to bare no answers as you stared at what you swore was everything you owned...had everything always been this ugly? God! Why did you even propose a breakfast together? Hannibal does dinner but no you had to pitch breakfast to be different and try to impress him, yeah you're sure he'd be impressed by the amount of clothing on the floor. If you'd been like everyone else and just gone for dinner you'd have more time to try on clothes but a look at the clock told you that you had to leave now or you'd be late and that'd be terrible, that'd be rude and Hannibal can't stand people who're rude. However messy your floor was it was worth it for the compliment you got when Hannibal opened his door to greet you. “I don't see you in colour often, red looks lovely on you.”     Well, guess you're wearing red for the rest of your life.     "Oh thank you.” Finds it's way out of your throat as your face is painted the colour that apparently looks lovely on you.     “Please, come in.” He welcomes stepping to the side to allow room.    You never gave much thought to what a foyer could be, yours is technically where you just kick off your shoes and put your keys but this, this was proper foyer. Just the entrance to his house was nice. God it was big too, he could probably rent it out to a poor college kid for like 500 bucks if he wanted not that he looked like he needed the extra money. Did you even know how to say Foyer properly? You bet Hannibal did, without a doubt he knew all those fancy French words--was that word even French? Oh no, what if you were stupid and it wasn't French? What if this wasn't even a foyer? How dumb were you? H-- hands came up to your shoulders jolting you out of your spiral. Hannibal gently pulls the edges of your jacket and you immediately understand. “Thank you.” You repeat once again.    He smiles with a nod as he slides your jacket off of you with your help and hangs it up on a beautiful wood stand you're sure costs more than half your rent. Thinking about how much money was within these walls could make your head spin but that spinning is halted by the soothing tones of his voice. “Lost in thought?” He inquired.    “Uh, just early morning brain fog you know?” You try to bluff.    It's not convincing but he nods anyway. “Perhaps some coffee would help.”     “Sounds good.” You agree.    Following him through his house only furthers your awe, you could spent a lifetime in here just looking at stuff. “I thought it'd be pleasant to make breakfast together instead of having it ready, eating together is one experience but preparing a meal is another entirely.” He explained    The idea of sharing an experience with Hannibal was one that filled you with butterflies, the more you thought about it you didn't think you'd heard of Hannibal cooking with anyone else, maybe the stress of this morning would pay off after all. “I'm not a chef but I'll do my best, what're we making?”     “Uova al purgatorio.” Which leads to a bit of a blank stare on your end, as pretty as it sounds you've got no idea what that means. “It's an Italian dish, eggs in Purgatory.” He explained.    “Sounds interesting.” You quip.    “It is, the name comes from the eggs sitting in a tomato base, the white of the eggs floating within the red sauce giving the illusion of souls trapped within the unknown of Purgatory.” He explains as he prepares the boiling water for your coffee. “Even at breakfast it seems we wonder where our souls go to lay.”     “Well makes sense for Italy home of the Pope, I'm sure there's religious overtones at most meals.”    He smiles a little and nods. “During my time in Italy it truly does surround you, it's an interesting feeling, almost euphoric to be encapsulated by it at every

turn.” He remarked.    “Wow, you spent time in Italy? It looks beautiful there.” You say, trying to stray a little further from the religious aspect, you don't exactly know where Hannibal falls on that spectrum and the last thing you want to do is come across rude or disrespectful to him. “Coffee smells great.” You add as he pours the boiling water into his very fancy looking French Press.    Your attempt to change subjects doesn't go unnoticed at all but he once again nods as he looks at you. “Yes, I traveled quite a bit in my youth, I called Italy my home for some time.” He explains.     “Do you ever miss it?” You ask    “I take with me what I relish in the places I've been, while I may no longer be surrounded by the Primavera or the walls of Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini they are ever present in my mind, reproduced with the utmost detail.” You could listen to Hannibal talk all day, it wouldn't matter what he said you just like the way he said things, the timbre of his voice. “Have you ever given thought to travelling?” He prodded.    “Course, who doesn't think about travelling? See far off places, experience new people, new things, different cultures.” You reminisce.    “What stops you?”     You shrug a little. “Funds mainly but I'd want to take the time to learn the language of where I'm going, understand the culture so I don't offend anyone. I don't want to be one of those tourists that makes an ass out of themselves.” You said cringing at the end.    “It's considerate to take the time to understand a culture you will not live in, many go on whims like they're visiting amusement parks.” He agreed. “Would Italy be a place you'd like to visit or would you find their taste for religion leaving a sour taste in your mouth?” He asked.    Did you really think you'd get out of a question Hannibal wanted answered? You shrugged a little once again trying to make sure you phrase things that wouldn't step on toes that were in shoes that likely cost more than your rent. “I'm unsure...I don't know if my broader and more open views would be welcome in the narrower scope of such a religious place and I wouldn't want to impose myself or my views upon anyone.” You slowly clamber out as he pours two cups of what smells like incredibly coffee. “Thank you.” You quickly add as you take it from his hands.    “While I do know you enough to welcome you into my home, I'm not sure if I know you well enough to know of the open views you believe would be scrutinized under the gaze of the Church. Do you speak a broader view of all religions? Racial rights? Sexual appetite?”     You stomach almost leaps into your throat at the last question, talking sexual appetites with someone who could feed that said appetite for the rest of your life? How were you supposed to talk about that? You didn't want to impose but you certainly didn't want to miss any chance of feeding that appetite. “All of the above, you know?” You pitch at first. “I'm a big believer in religious freedoms for everyone, from anywhere--just freedom for everyone in general.” You tackle first, that's the more important one and the one that won't get you into any trouble. “And um--yeah I suppose my sexual appetite wouldn't please the Church.” You say with a small laugh breaking your gaze from Hannibal and down at your coffee cup. “Not exactly a born again virgin.” Smooth. Great job. Wow. Fuck. Maybe you could drown yourself in this coffee? You take a sip and to spite being too shy to ask for sugar or milk this coffee is great, actually smooth. Unlike you. “This is great, what is this?” You try.    Why do you try? He always notices, you're luckier than you know that it endlessly amuses him rather than annoys him. “It's Peaberry Coffee from Tanzania, it's a rounder sweeter bean, almost tea like.” He explains, allowing for a moment for you to believe you've somehow fooled him into letting his prior question go thoroughly unanswered. “It can take a more refined palette to taste all the notes.” He remarks.    “I don't know how refined mine is, I just know it's nice.”

You admit with a small laugh.    “Usually our tongues know more than we think, close your eyes and allow the flavours to dance over your tongue.” He instructed.    Hannibal could tell you to jump off a cliff and if he said it nice enough you probably would. You take a small breath and take another sip and try your damnest to impress Hannibal if only even a little but as you swallow you know your guesses are little more than shots in the dark. “It's sweet...kind of like a berry...?” You weakly pitch.    You're not wrong but Hannibal can tell your guess isn't confident. “Do you know you have a habit of coming in on yourself when you're unsure of what you're saying?” He asks letting you know he's been on to you for much longer than you would have hoped. He comes around from his large kitchen island to stand in front of you and you fight the urge to step back and away which only adds to how hard your heart beats in your chest. “Coming in on ones self allows negative neurons to fire, by simply lifting your head you'll allude more confidence and though red looks lovely on you so does that.” That compliment alone made your head spin so his next action of bringing his warm hand up to gently lift your head? Your entire body felt weak. It was laughable that the simple touch of his thumb resting on your chin and his forefinger below it could have such an effect on you, looking up at him him with unsure eyes as to where this went next was laughable to him. You were putty in his hands, vulnerable in every meaning of the word. "Try again, close your eyes and when you take a sip allow it to work around your mouth, to explore every inch of your tongue.”    Was this porn? This could be porn, this might as well be porn as far as your body was concerned apparently. It took you a moment to actually get your limbs to move and grab your coffee again and it felt good to close your eyes, you liked Hannibal but being so close and having him stare back at you was overwhelming. And he knew it, there was something very satisfying about your kind of vulnerability, it was raw and open for him to touch and mold with his hands. You brought the cup to your lips and took another sip and once again tried to find a defined note in this coffee and maybe it was having your head tilted up, maybe it was having him so close but an answer did come from your mouth. “Cedar?”    Opening your eyes you knew you'd gotten it right by the contented look you were rewarded with. "I had a hunch your tongue knew more than you were letting on.” He teased.    He let his thumb trail back and forth on your chin before moving it away and your head felt like it was floating. “What does your tongue taste? I'm sure it's much more experienced than mine.”     You're sure if you didn't feel so floaty such a blatantly flirty question wouldn't have come out of you but it seemed to fly just fine as a small amused breath made it's way out of him. “Your assumption would be correct.” He let you know. “The notes in this coffee I've become very acquainted with over the years so it wouldn't be much of an exercise in taste for me to tell you them all. Perhaps another breakfast we could expand upon both our tongues.” Your entire body clenched and you had to practically drown out your whine of want by taking a sip of your coffee. “For now we'll be expanding on yours, come, wash up I'll show you how to make uova al purgatorio, a taste from my past.” He said walking back around the kitchen island.    You follow him around the island and with one last sip put your empty coffee cup into the sink. --- ~Admin Coral 🍒 Buy Me A Coffee?

[operationcavill]

Untangled - Part 6

He parks the car outside of her apartment and sighs heavily, “Let’s talk upstairs,” He walks around the front of the car to open her door, looking around with a scowl on his face. Neither of then say a word until they reach the elevator.

Inspired by: Butterflies // Kacey Musgraves

Y/N - Your name

S/N - Sisters name

B/I/L - Brother-in-Law

B/N - Brothers Name

B/F/N - Best Friends Name

Y/N turns her shower on and really looks at herself in the mirror for the first time in hours, “You just got laid, bitch.” By Henry Cavill no less, but what does that even mean? Was he actually that into her? He seems to be but he is an actor. He asked her to lunch, though. And technically, for another date. Did last night actually happen? The hot water feels renewing, refreshing. Should she tell B/F/N? Hell, she wouldn’t even have told her S/N if she hadn’t walk in on them. She can only imagine what was going through her sisters head. Who wouldn’t go nuts if they saw a practically nude man like that? Stepping out, she grabs her phone and decides to text B/F/N.

Y/N: I have something to tell you.

B/F/N: Please do not scare me.

Y/N: It’s nothing bad. I slept with someone last night!

B/F/N: OMG WHO

Y/N: That’s the part I’m having trouble with

B/F/N: What

B/F/N: Jesus Christ, you didn’t sleep with [Your Ex] did you??

Y/N: Bitch. No.

B/F/N: Why are you being so weird then?

Y/N: Because he’s kinda like famous.

B/F/N: Excuse me??

Y/N: You CAN NOT tell anyone ok?

B/F/N: Lmao did you sleep with a superhero or something? What’s with the secret??

Y/N: Funny you should say that 🙃

B/F/N: Ummmm what

Y/N: I may or may not have slept with the guy who plays superman.

B/F/N: Stop it.

Y/N: I did.

B/F/N: Seriously?

Y/N: We’re going to lunch in a little bit.

B/F/N: I’m fucking dying right now.

Y/N: How do you think I feel!?

B/F/N: You gonna give up the deets?

Y/N: I will later. I need to get ready.

B/F/N: bitch 😒

Y/N: You love it 💕

B/F/N: You know waiting on this is gonna kill me

Y/N: I’ll get text you soon!

Henry has a large smile on his face when Y/N arrives, “Hello there,” they share a quick cheek kiss before sitting at a cozy table by the window. They make small talk and Henry takes a picture with a little girl who said that wonder woman was her favorite but he’s second. He was sweet and gentle, he asked for her name and if she’s excited for halloween. He told her to try not to eat too many sweeties, which is much cuter than saying, ‘candy’.

“You’re somethin’ else,” She’s sure her face is going to get stuff in a permanent smile.

His face slightly twists, “Why? What’d I do?”

“You’re kind. You were so sweet to her.” She can practically feel the tug on her ovaries.

The waiter arrives to take their order. He was visibly starstruck and tripped over his words, “It’s so cool that you’re on a date with Geralt!”

She amuses him. “I know. Although, I think I prefer the grey hair.” Once they all have a laugh, the waiter trots off to the kitchen.

“Are you a nerd, Y/N?”

She attempts to be serious, “I’ll show you my Fifth Element miniatures later. How was your little trip?”

He bites his lip, “So, I got some news while back at the hotel,”

“Oh yeah? Anything scandalous?”

He nervously laughs, “I wish. I, uh,  have to go back home for a week to do press.”

“Are you excited to go home for a bit?”

“Yes, and No,” he pushes a fork around and focuses on it, “I love going home, and I like working.”

She senses that there’s something else, “But?”

Henry continues, “But I’ve met a girl in a bar and I wasn’t finished getting to know her,” he wonders how many times he can make her blush, he’s sure it’s never enough.

“Wanna make a deal, Cavill?”

He perks up his eyebrow, “What you offering, Y/L/N?”

“How about, you let me know when you get back and I let you know where to find me.”

He doesn’t hesitate, “Deal.”

The waiter brings their sandwiches and they enjoy their meal while poking each others legs under the table like children. In this moment, he completely forgets who he is. Right now, he’s just Henry. He’s Henry who likes to eat sandwiches with cute woman and talk about his dog and the show he’s been trying to watch for months. He feels good.

Y/N almost chokes on her food laughing at story concerning an unfortunate tongue biting accident that occurred during his first kiss, “What did you do?”

“I jumped and kind of yelled in pain, and I think she cried. She never looked at me again.”

“I’m happy to report my first kiss was not as tragic,” he asks her to go on and she grins, “I was about 14 and there was a boy who would visit his grandma a few times during the summer. I had known him forever, his grandma lived across the street so we’d play together. One day, we were playing spotlight with a bunch of the neighborhood kids and he just kissed me. Kissed me right there beside Mr. Hoffmans car.”

“That’s very cute,” he could get a stomach ache with how sweet she was.

“It was,” She takes a sip of her water, “I have no idea what happened to him, either.”

Henry watches her, a habit he doesn’t plan on breaking, “You wanna go for a walk?”

“If you buy be coffee first,” Y/N and her addiction to warm drinks is what makes this her favorite time of year.

“You got it.” After some deliberation, Henry finally convinces Y/N that he’s paying for her food, and coffee, too.

They begin their stroll around the chilly city, stealing small looks at one another, “So, When do you leave?”

He sighs, “Tomorrow evening,”

“That sounds like an awful time for a flight,” Y/N’s head gravitates towards his shoulder.

“I’m a little used to it now. Leave late on the east coast, arrive in the morning in the UK,”

“Don’t you get tired?” She asks him so genuinely, with so much concern.

“I’m always tired,” Henry gives her a soft chuckle.

Y/N searches his face, “You seem to sleep pretty good to me,”

“There’s an exception, Darling,” Henry can’t help but feel a little bashful.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you, it was nice and your blankets are so soft.”

She giggles and leans into him again for a short side hug, “You’re a cliche that I have no problem with,”

“I am not,” He flicks her nose.

“Wha—!” She flicks his in return, “How very dare you?”

He kisses the tip of her nose and apologizes, “You’re lucky you’re cute.”

“You’re lucky you got me coffee,” She pants jokingly after taking a large sip.

“You’re quite the caffeine addict. Late night tea, 16 ounce coffees,”

“What can I say? I’m a starving artist, it was either cigarettes or giant cups of piping hot coffee, I chose the coffee,” she pulls on the collar of his shirt and he’s tempted to kiss her again, but if he kisses her now, he doesn’t know if he can find the will to stop. There’s just something about her.

They decide to circle back around and Y/N pulls out her phone to get a ride, “I’ll take you home, why didn’t you drive today?”

She looks slightly embarrassed, “Oh, my tail light went out the other night and the garage won’t take it until Friday. They ticket you for everything up here, so I didn’t wanna risk it.”

Henry escorts her to the car, politely opening and closing her door. Just a few minutes into the drive Y/N’s phone goes off, “Oh god, it’s my mom.”

He turns the radio down and whispers, “I won’t make peep.”

She answers the phone as if she’s alone and not with a world famous actor, “Hey, mama,”

“Is there something you need to tell me?” There’s no way her sister would have told her anything, even if she threatened to do so. Y/N is taking too long and her mother repeats herself.

“No? What do you mean?” She notices Henry look at her and then look back at the road.

Her mother sighs “The boy who cuts our grass showed me a picture of you with a certain someone.”

“A picture?” If they weren’t already at a stop light, Henry thinks he might have slammed on the breaks.

“Y/N, theres a bunch! He’s kissing your nose and rubbing your leg while you eat a sandwich. Why didn’t you tell me you were seeing someone? And HIM?”

“I’m not,” she collapses onto her couch, “I just met him.”

“Are you lying?” Mothers always know.

The light turns green but he’s still looking at her, as if he’s trying to hear the conversation, “No, mother,” She mouths to him, ‘it’s green,”

But accidentally lets out a, “Oh, sorry, Darling.”

Her mother gasps in disbelief, “You slept with him!”

Her eyes practically fly out of her skull, “What! How—no I did not!”

“He called you ‘Darling’. That’s some sweet talk, I don’t think this is a good idea. You always say you like your privacy.” Her mother always knew what her girls were really up to. Mothers always know.

“I know, ma, but you’re reading way too much into this,” She exhales, “can we talk about this later?”

And just like all mothers, she refuses to let up,“No, how did you even meet him?”

“We were at Benny’s and he was there.”

“Out of all the bars,” She just knows her mom is rolling her eyes.

“He’s kind, fun to talk to.” Henry actually blushes and can’t contain his smile.

“I googled him.” Oh, of course, “He’s 10 years older than you.”

“You’re older than dad.” He tenses, he’s a little familiar with this, and he understands, but Y/N was very grown and very independent. He liked her for her, not her age. Ok, so her being attractive was a plus, but he had no intention of ‘playing’ her.

“I’m one year older than your father, thank you.”

“I’m very aware of my age,” She hated this. It didn’t matter how old Y/N was, she was the baby, the little one, the one protected one in her family.

“Honey, I’m serious.” Mothers.

She knows her mother means well, but can’t a girl live? “Why are y’all so worked up over this? I—,”

“Who’s y’all?”, Y/N spilled the beans, “You said you just met.”

“S/N met him that night I did,” and saw him practically naked the next morning, “and B/I/L...and John.”

“Well, now the whole world knows you’re sleeping with him.”

“I’m not sleeping with him,” He snaps her a look and she gives on in return as a warning to him, he better not make a sound.

“Are you being safe?”

“Oh my god! Yes, I’m being safe!” Henry has to stifle his laughter by covering his mouth.

“Ah-Ha, you are sleeping with him,” Great.

Y/N throws her head back on the headrest, “Jesus, ya’ll are being really intrusive. You know that, right?”

“I’m your mother. It’s my job to worry about you.”

“And I’m fine, Mama.” He finds it endearing that they call her ‘Mama’. It’s sweet and brings out her accent. “Can I call you later?”

She stalls, “I guess, but I’m not done talking about this. It’s not every day your daughter get’s involved with a warlock,”

“It’s a Witcher, Ma, not a warlock.” Henry can’t keep his laugh in this time, causing Y/N to slap his arm.

He clears his throat, “Sorry,”

She can feel her mothers glare through the phone, “I’ll talk to you later, ok? I love you.”

“I love you, too. Bye,” She turn towards him, “Well, we’ve been had.”

“I’m so sorry.” He looks all too apologetic, “I wasn’t thinking about it. I’m sorry.”

While she is nervous, she knows it’s not his fault, “Don’t be sorry. I still had a good date with you, Her phone buzzes for was seems like a dozen times in a row, “Oh,”

Henry’s mood has completely shifted. He already felt as if his feelings for her were escalating too quickly, and now this? It had only been a couple of days, “Don’t look at them.”

She scrunches her nose, “Huh?”

He parks the car outside of her apartment and sighs heavily, “Let’s talk upstairs,” He walks around the front of the car to open her door, looking around with a scowl on his face. Neither of then say a word until they reach the elevator.

She clicks her tongue a few times in hopes that he breaks the silence first, he doesn’t and she finally speaks up, “What did you mean don’t look at them?”

He waits until the doors open to her floor, “Don’t look at those things they tag you in. Some people are cruel for no reason.”

Henry can tell she’s nervous and getting a bit worked up. She’s struggling with the keys and can’t get the door unlocked. She gets so frustrated that she lets out an all too loud, “Fuck!” Her elderly neighbor, Mrs. Timmons, opens her door to see what causes the ruckus, “Sorry, Mrs. Timmons.” The woman disappears back into her apartment with a huff.

Y/N tries to open the door again and flings it open, closing it and leaning against it after it’s closed, “I’m so sorry for today.” He truly looks sorrowful and guilty.

“It’s not your fault,” She takes her coat off, then her shoes, and plops down on the couch, “I’m just—overwhelmed, I think.”

“You don’t deserve to be spied on like that,” He sits beside her and rests his elbows on his knees, “have you picture taken without you knowing.”

She scoffs, “You don’t either. Just ‘cause you're in movies doesn’t mean you should have to get you privacy violated.” She takes the hair tie from her wrist and begins to braid her hair, “I can’t believe I told my mom I slept with you.”

He laughs, “Am I really that bad?”

She falls to the side, groaning as she face plants the cushion, “No, I just don’t talk about those things with her. I mean, not really.”

“I can barely hear you,” He pokes her head and she sits back up.

“Do you tell your mom who you mess around with?”

“I can’t say that I do,”

“I need to turn off the notifications. That noise is going to drive me crazy.”

“You don’t have to but maybe making stuff private would help,”

“It’s all private already, these are like, people I don’t even really talk to or I haven’t talked to for years. Stupid Facebook.” She tosses her phone onto a chair and looks at Henry, who still has a solemn gaze, “I’m pretty good at covering my tracks, you know? I don’t use twitter, my instagram is private. Whatever this is, all of that stuff isn’t gonna get in the way.”

He shrugs, “I understand if you don’t want to deal with it,”

“It’s not exactly normal, is it?”

“No,” His tone has changed. It’s no longer chipper, just melancholy.

“Do you still want to see each other when you come back?”

“If you let me,”

She kisses his cheek quickly, “I wouldn’t have asked,”

“I do like you. Last night was just a huge bonus,” He hisses, “That sounded kind of gross,”

“I know what you meant,” She gives him a light and comforting smile.

“I have to ask; Are you pissed?”

Y/N tilts her head to the side, “Just unprepared, I guess.”

“Yeah, you can’t really prepare yourself for your mum to ask who you’re sleeping with,”

“I’m sorry my family is,” she pauses, “dramatic.”

“They’re not,” He admires a strong family bonds, he strives to create one of his own one of these days.

“Henry, it sounds like my sister wants to punch you and my mom freaked out, too.”

“Any chance I can get in good with your dad?” She gives him a blank stare, “I’m only joking.”

“B/F/N is gonna shit a brick.”

“And B/F/N is?”

“She’s my best friend. She’s practically our sister,” she remembers their text conversation, “oh, god, my mom probably called her.”

He chuckles, “You’ve got quite the circle.”

“I know, I’m sorry. They’re just protective and, yeah.” She’s tried not to show her embarrassment but it’s written in her body language.

“It’s not a big deal, I understand. It’s a tricky situation,” Tricky, indeed, but if anything this just made Henry want to further prove himself.

Y/N’s phone begins to ring and she excuses herself, “Sorry, I have to answer this one.”

Henry simply nods, interlacing his fingers and relaxing into the couch. He watches her walk around a small room, her hands up in the air and at times, writing things down. He leans to the side to get a better look. He doesn’t mean to be nosy but something catches his eye, its a painting. He can only see part of it but he already loves it. Some colors blend and others are blocked together, there’s lines and shapes. If she lets him, he’d love to explore more.

She reappears and gets back to her spot on the couch, “That looks like a fun room,”

“It’s where I paint,” She fiddles with her pant leg, “I have a show coming up,”

“Oh, yeah? Where?” She’s taken aback by his enthusiasm.

“It’s called Desmond’s,” She grins so widely that Henry notices a small dimple beside her mouth, “it's my second show there.”

“That’s amazing,”

“Thank you,” The shyness that overcomes her when she talks about her work, it’s akin to enchantment.

“Will you show me your work one of these days?” Henry looks as if he’s glowing at the possible opportunity.

“Hmm,” She taps her chin, faking thought, ”maybe.”

“I’ll take a maybe.” He’s more than glad for the maybe.

“I don’t think any of these are yours,” He waves his finger around happily.

“Hmm,” He’s correct, these are gifts or purchased from other artists, “I wanna see if you can spot them.”

He points toward her studio, “And I can’t look in there?”

Y/N shakes her head, “No, that doesn’t count.”

“I just want to see what you got in there. I know where I can spot one.”

She wants to call his bluff, “You do, do you?”

“At the bar,” He states it so matter of factly, “there’s a really cool mural on the back wall where the tables are.”

He figured it out too quick, “How did you know that was me?”

“It looks like you,” He shrugs, as if that’s not a completely sweet thing to say.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, it has the best colors. Your colors.” Wow.

“Stop that.” He looks away and looks back to her, confused as to what he did, “You cannot be so cute when you’re so, I don’t know, that.” She wiggles her fingers at him and he get’s all too playful again.

Henry knows he’s good looking but it’s funny how she doesn’t even attempt to hide how it affects her, “And what’s that?” He refuses to break eye contact. If she likes how he looks, then he’s gonna make her look at him. She looks away and he catches her cheek in his hand, slowly turning it back to him, “Hmm?”

This is another one of his unfair games. She knows what he’s doing, and he knows she knows. His thumb traces her mouth and she bits the tip of it, but he doesn’t flinch. His hand travels down to her throat, feeling her breathe, “You know what you are.” He smiles in a way that could make her collapse if she wasn’t already on the couch. “Charming,” He leans forward and pulls her closer by her throat. An act so suggestive, yet gentle, “Handsome,” He signals her to come closer by pulling again, this time she’s brushing her lips against his chin, “Magnetic.”

He holds her there, so close but not close enough. His eyes look down into hers, only inches away but enough to make her feel small, but safe. She feels slightly dominated by it, and she likes it. “Such a pretty girl,” he can feel her swallow, letting him know her mouth has ben watering for him, “my girl”. He kisses her forehead and lets her go but stands up, “I’ll let you know when my flight gets in, Sweetheart.” He walks to the door with a smirk, knowing what he’s just done.

Y/N’s mouth is left agape, even after the door closes behind him, “Motherfucker.”

[Tagged: If you’d like to be tagged, just shoot me a message or ask!]

@igotkatiepowers  @xxxkatxo  @lunedelorient  @heartfelt-pen​ @omgkatinka​ @viking-raider​ @summersing69 @hell1129-blog

i had so much fun writing this! I left it a bit open ended in case I felt like coming back to it

[miss-dr-reid]

This is calm, and it's, Doctor #6

A little something different for this one.

~Spencer's POV~

After I ordered the food to be delivered, I turned around to see y/n had disappeared from her perch on the stool. I walked around the bench, looked down the hall and saw no movement. I walked over to the lounge and found her resting, looking so peaceful.

Her face looked soft, lips parted slightly. Her arms cuddled the cushion tocher chest while her legs were called up, fitting into the lounge. Not wanting to disturb her peaceful slumber, I grabbed a book and sat at the table behind her. I sat on the side of the table that allowed me to see her face whenever I looked up from my book.

She was so beautiful in so many ways. In the week I've known her, I've noticed myself wanting to be around her as much as possible. She was so smart, but humble enough that she never really corrected anyone if that hadn't called her 'Doctor', so much so, that maybe people didn't even realise.

I looked up from my book as she stirred, taking in a deep breath, smacking her lips to get her quietly as she exhaled. My heart skipped a beat as I watched. After a while of reading, there was a knock on the door, 'Dinner', I thought as I walked over and opened the door.

Happy to see my dinner in the hands of the delivery man, I handed him a $10 tip and he went on his way. I closed the door and popped the bag onto the bench. I unpacked by he bag on the bench, ensuring everything was there b

"Vegetable omelette, fried rice, beef and black bean..." Quietly listing them to myself as I set them in the bench, followed by the complimentary prawn chips. I headed over for the lounge.

"Y/N," I kneeled next to her on the ground, "y/n, dinner is here." I tapped her hand which was wrapped around her wrist, holding her arms together.

One eye popped open slightly, looking at me.

"Dinner?" Her voice, a whisper.

"Yeah!" I confirmed. She grabbed my hand, surprising me. I hadn't realised that I had rested mine on hers after waking her. She used me to help herself up, throwing her feet to the ground, yawning and stretching.

I got up and walked back to the kitchen, grabbing plates and cutlery for each of us. Y/N took the stool where she had been before laying down. I took the one next to her, handing over the plate and cutlery I got for her. Her face screwed up as I handed over the cutlery.

"What?" I asked, thinking something was wrong. She picked up the fork I had given her,

"A fork? Do you have chopsticks?" She asking, faking offence.

I grabbed out the complimentary ones from the bottom of the bag and gave them to her. Satisfied with her utensils, she proceeded to pour some of each dish onto her plate.

"You gonna eat those?" She gestured toward the prawn chips. I shook my head, sliding them her way. She happily accepted them, opening the bag and diving right in. I watched as she pulled out chips, inspecting each one. After watching for a while, I reduced that she was looking for 'bowl-shaped' chips so she could pile as much food onto it as possible.

I let out a little laugh as I realised. I was so intrigued in how she chose to are, I couldn't help but watch. As much as it usually revolted me, I was too invested to stop. After picking the perfect chip, scooping as much food onto it as possible, she'd try eat it all in one go.

"You right?" She asked, snapping me out of my trance I hadn't realised I was in. Her eyes watched my face as I nodded, not knowing what to say.

"I- I've never seen anyone eat like that." was all I could manage.

"I'm not just anyone, Spence." She joked, wiggling her eyebrows and elbowing my arm. I faked an injury, grabbing my arm with an "Ow!". Even though 'Spence' was a nickname used my most people I know, the way Y/N says it makes it sound so good. And, when she calls me 'Doctor', something happens inside me, I can't even describe it. The thought of her saying my name makes my heart race.

We finished eating dinner and I wanted the few dishes we had messed, Y/N watched me Street I had declined her offer of help. I noticed her watching my hands, and looking up to my face every now and then, her own face resting on her propped up hand.

Once I was done, I dried my hands on the tea towel that was in the bench. I took the couple of steps over to the bench opposite Y/N. Leaning on my elbows, I looked over her face, her eyes slightly droopy, but not necessarily tired, I couldn't put my finger on it.

"Spence..." she said soft and slightly hoarse, "can we listen to some music?"

"Oh yeah. I have a Google Home, so, to for it." I told her.

"Hey Google," she started, "Play 'Moo' by Doja Cat." She called, a smirk filling her lips. I was confused, so I focused on Google.

"Bitch, I'm a cow." It started. I was taken aback and Y/N laughed, quickly changing the song.

"Hey Google, play 'Crazy Little thing called Love." She hopped off the stool and walked to the empty area between the bench and table.

The song started and she started dancing. Her voice filled the room, full of passion. I was enjoying watching her perform until she gestured for me to join her. I shook my head, stiffening at the idea of dancing.

"Please Spence, it'll loosen you up, and we all need to chill out." She almost begged, fluttering her eyelashes, while holding her arms out toward me, a grabbing motion played on her fingers.

Seeing this side of Y/N was strange, but comforting. The entire time I had known her, she was always serious. Happy to have a laugh, but never too much fun. I unwillingly obliged only because I wanted to see her smile again, and she did as I stated toward her.

She didn't get my hands like o thought she would, instead she swayed her body in time with the music causing me to follow along. I did enjoy this more than I was expecting to. I think, because of her. She was singing, dancing and almost performing a whole concert.

She stopped in her tracks, smirking at me as she called for Google to play another song.

#Where have all the good men gone

and where are all the gods?

Where's the streetwise Hercules

To fight the rising odds#

She sang along, hitting every note, I was in awe. After the song, she decided one okay change was necessary. The music changed to the artist 'Bruno Mars', her body language changed. She went from partying and jumping around, to smooth fluid, alluring moves.

"Got anything to drink?" Her voice, breaking my thoughts one more time, "Anything adult?" She emphasised.

Thinking for a second, I did have some whiskey that I was gifted and never drank. I grabbed the bottle bedroom the top shelf of an overhead cupboard. I collected a glass from another, scooped some ice from the freezer, and poured out a drink into the glass, sliding the glass over to her across the bench.

She took it, sniffed it, swirled it and took a sip. She swallowed it all up after getting a taste, tapping the glass on the counter and with her best western accent,

"Another, barkeep!" She mustered out. I poured another, and she downed it. She got up to resume her dancing. I put the lid on the bottle and left it on the bench.

I walked around and sat on the stool, enjoying watching her sing and dance, relaxing as the drinks styles in her system. She danced for a while, eventually joining me as I wandered over to the lounge. She brought the whiskey, her glass and one for me. Not being a big drinker, I declined. She didn't press but left the glass on the coffee table in front of us.

"I guess you're staying tonight?" I asked, watching her pour another drink.

"Oh, shit!" She stopped, looking up at me, "Spence, I'm sorry! I can go- I- I don't want to make you uncomfortable if you don't want me here!" Worry in her voice as she realised there had been no official invitation for her to stay. She didn't need one. I was over the moon to have company that wasn't my brain and numerous books.

"No, you're not going anywhere. I have some spare clothes that I'm sure will fit you if you feel like changing. Please, Y/N, you are more than welcome to stay tonight and whenever else you'd like to." I assured her, placing my hand on my shoulder, only removing it once she relaxed.

She let out a breathy sigh and laid back against the lounge, exhaling deeply. Her hands grabbed each side of her face and pulled down slowly until they teachers her chin.

"I would love to get changed." She whispered and rolled her head to look at me.

I tilted my head so it was same angle as hers,

"Come on." I reached for her hand, she smiled at me as she took it in hers. She trailed closely behind as I led her to my room. She sat down on the edge of the bed, her legs hanging off, and she kicked than back and forth.

I opened my wardrobe and rifled through the racks, finding an old plain grey tee. I took it out and laid it next to her on the bed. Y/N's hand ran over it as I dove back in to my wardrobe. I found a pair of darker grey tracks and laid them on top of the shirt.

"There's a spare towel hanging in the bathroom if you'd like to shower. I'll be in the loungeroom, reading most likely." I spoke, putting my hands in my pockets, shifting from heel to toe not wanting to leave.

Her looked me up and down, with raised eyebrows. When she got back to my face, she glanced between me and the door.

"Oh, right!" I spun on my heels and left, closing the door behind me. "Idiot. You work together. What do you even want from her!?" I asked myself once I was out of earshot.

Entering the loungeroom, music was still playing. A new song came on and I decided to listen to it, trying to get an idea of the music Y/N likes.

#I found a love, for me# I clicked on the lyrics tab of the Google Home screen.

#Darling, just dive right in

Follow my lead# I hadn't realised that I had started swaying to the song.

Arms wrapped around my waist, a face rested on my back. I stiffened at the sudden touch. I turned, Y/N only loosened her grip enough for me to spin around. She looked up at me, smiling contently. Her arms still wrapped around my waist, she rested her face on my chest. She started swaying, causing us both to sway. I rested my arms over her shoulders, one hand on top of her head, under my chin.

As we were swaying, she shifted her arms from my waist to my shoulders, my arms from her shoulders to her waist. Her fingers made their way up my neck and to the back of my head, playing with the curls that day there. My hands responded, rubbing her back slowly up and down.

I wanted to hold her there forever. To kiss the top of her head. To pick her up and just hold her.

But, we work together. We're friends, mates. It can't happen. She doesn't even like me like that.

His can't happen.... Right?

[calumbringbackthewatermelonshirt]

Hiraeth (C.H.)

Hiraeth: a homesickness for a home you can never return to, a home which maybe never was. 

a/n: welcome back. please enjoy this entirely too long calum hood boarding school au. I did my best, but if there are any discrepancies PLEASE send me an ask and tell me!!! I included the women of 5sos for more character diversity and I low-key kind of love it! this is about the first 10 pages and theres dozens more to come that are already written! come hell or high-water, I am committing to finishing this wip, please feel free to send me thoughts and questions!!!

“Crap.” Sierra muttered under her breath when she noticed the sign on the old RA’s door. Even though she wouldn’t have considered them friends, Sierra was at least comfortable enough with the old RA to go to her when Sierra needed to get into her room. She really had to start keeping track of her keys better.

Stalking back down the hallway, she went to go find Kaykay, knowing her roommate would definitely have her keys.

….

“A new RA?” Calum sounded skeptical over dinner the next day. “It’s kind of late in the school year for that.”

“What do you care, Hood?” Michael rested his weight on his elbows on the table and smirked at Hood over his sandwich. “Afraid of a little competition?”

“What competition?” Luke looked up from his latest novel, some clunky old thing he was reading in french.

“Competition for the best RA, duh.” Kaykay kicked her feet up onto the table, only to have Hood shove them back onto the ground. Hood never let her have her feet on the table when they were eating but that didn't stop her from putting them up there. One day, one day she would be able to keep them up there for the entirety of the lunch. It was like her white whale. “Maybe this one will let us play poker on her floor.”

“Yeah, well, she’s not off to a great start. I got locked out earlier and had to find Kaykay to let me into our room.” Sierra was still a little bothered by that. Even though rationally she knew she should cut the new RA some slack, her blisters were making it kinda hard to forget her trek.

“Come on now, Si. A little walking never killed anybody.” Michael gave Sierra a grin that stretched wide across his face, but if there was anyone who could resist it, it was Sierra.

“You’re not the one who had to walk all the way across campus.” Sierra was grumbling into her food, but it was still audible to Kaykay, who smothered a snicker.

“Give her a chance, Sierra. The new RA was probably still moving in. Be nice.” Crystal was palming orange slices into Luke’s hands as he read, who was robotically eating them. Kaykay, on the other hand, was blowing her straw wrapper at Luke’s face, cheering when she hit him. Luke didn’t seem to register either one of them.

“Coach says we’re getting someone new on the soccer team. Maybe it’s also the new RA?” Kaykay picked at her food absentmindedly, as if contemplating the odds of it being the same person. Kaykay was pretty good friends with everyone on the team, but she was on JV and the coach said the new girl would be on varsity.

“Maybe. Everyone finish up. Curfew’s in 15 minutes, and you all need to be back in the dorms by then.” Hood didn’t seem like he put much thought into the conversation that had gone down at the table, more concerned with corralling his bunch into following the rules. It almost never happened, but Hood still tried.

“It’s not like it’ll matter much. Sierra and I don’t have anyone there to tell us we're late.” Kaykay was still playing the cat and mouse game with Hood, her doc martens gracing the table with their presence once more. Hood, to his credit, pushed them off not even a minute later.

Crystal stood up, dragging Luke with her. “Yeah, but we do.”

….

“Do you think she’ll be nice? Or like super strict? God, I hope she’s not super strict. Maybe we’ll get super lucky and get someone like Hood. Michael and Luke are so lucky.” Sierra was kind of nervous. She always got like this when she was gearing up to meet new people. Yet, her rambling subsided when she heard voices echoing down the mahogany hallways.

“No, you cannot set their rooms on fire. I don't care that they replaced your lip gloss with jelly, arson is not the answer. Please just shave their eyebrows like normal students. And go late at night so you don’t get caught. If you get caught, I’ll have to play dumb and that’s kinda hard for the valedictorian.” Kaykay and Sierra watched as two sophomores ran giggling down the hallway, armed with freshly acquired shaving cream and devious new plans.

Sierra and Kaykay locked eyes then spoke in unison. “Definitely cool.”

They took the short walk down to your doorway, where you were leaning and watching the two girls run off. You wore casual clothes, white school t-shirt, blue plaid men’s boxers, and mix-matched socks, one short with an avocado on it and one tall with mini corgis. You were chugging iced coffee through straw like your life depended on it. Sierra took it all in, deciding she liked you by the time her eyes made it up to your metal straw.

You took one look at Sierra and Kaykay, almost studying them. “You heard nothing.”

Sierra was quick to reply, already wanting your approval. “Not a peep. I’m Sierra, and this is Kaykay. We’re on your floor.”

“Ah. Cool beans.” You introduced yourself, looking at Kaykay a second longer than Sierra. “You’re on the soccer team, right?”

“Yeah.” Unlike Sierra, Kaykay clammed up around people she didn’t know, and she was still quiet around the ones she did. “Are you the new girl the coach told us about?”

“I am indeed. I start practicing with you guys tomorrow.” You glanced at a notification that popped up on your phone, scrunching up your eyes a bit to read it. “It’s kinda late. Shouldn’t you two youngsters be asleep? You’ll need it if you wanna grow up big and strong.”

“Yeah, yes, of course. We promise we won't set anyone’s room on fire either.” After a withering glance from you, Sierra grinned. “Not that we would ever do that. Where would someone even get an idea like that?”

You smirked right back at them. “You know where I am if you ever need anything. But be warned, I’m not a morning person.”

With that you turned and shut your door, leaving Sierra and Kaykay standing in the hallway right outside your door.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Sierra’s smile was as wide as her face allowed. She had a devious look on her face, one that only a person who had illegally downloaded thousands of shows on her laptop could have.

“I never am. I’m pretty sure no one ever is.” Kaykay was skeptical, knowing that whatever was going on in that genius brain of Sierra’s could not be good. Sierra had a nose for sticking her nose in other people’s business.

“Her, plus Hood, equals literally the most perfect couple in the world. Maybe to ever exist.” Oh, she could already see them together, holding hands, you making Hood laugh for once in his life. Him cheering you on at your soccer games. You cheering him on at his if the gang could force him to have fun. Oh, this was perfect. Beyond perfect.

“Are you sure? We probably shouldn’t meddle in other people’s love lives. It might be kinda rude.” Kaykay scrunched up her nose, allowing Sierra to drag her by the wrist back to their room. Kaykay wasn’t a particularly nosy person.She was a big fan of giving herself rules to not get attached, such as ‘hey, don't insert yourself into other people’s love lives.’

“Oh, hush, I’m literally the best cupid. I even have the wings for it.” Sierra was jogging a little now, so many plans already rushing through her head. Sierra had always considered herself a bit of genius, but she had outdone herself this time.

…

“Hello, my darlings!” Sierra was buzzing with excitement. This was a big moment for her. Her scheme was about to be set into motion, and god, was she excited. Hood was stuck in a floor meeting for Lincoln house, which meant you were, too. She took the timing of the meeting as a sign from the gods that this was meant to be. “Listen up please. I have news.”

Sierra remained standing as the others gathered round and took their seats. She waited until everyone sat down and was too busy with their food to interrupt her.

“So. Kaykay and I have met the new RA, and let me tell you, she is amazing.”  Sierra grinned leaning forward on the table. Her words all came out a teensy bit rushed, as they were prone to do when she was excited.

“Weren’t you just hating on that chick yesterday? What changed your mind?” Michael was halfway through his eggs, and three-quarters of the way awake. Sierra could be loud when she got excited, and he wasn’t looking to be all the way awake yet.

“Hush, your leader is speaking. Anywho, she is not a chick, she is a queen. She is also perfect for one pseudo dad floor advisor we know.” Sierra was swatting at Kaykay, who was barely awake, trying to get her to pay attention to her all-knowing speech. Kaykay to her credit, hummed in agreement, albeit with her eyes closed.

“Wait, perfect as in like dating?” Luke looked almost disgusted at the idea of two people in a relationship. Crystal almost let Luke catch her smiling, but hid it at the last second. Crystal guessed he was still in the ‘girls have cooties’ phase, and it amused her to no end.

“She’s pretty cool.” Kaykay's words were soft with sleep, but there was enough of a lull in the conversation from everyone to hear her. “She’s on the soccer team with me.”

“As the most responsible person here, I cannot condone this and will not partake in any scheme you may or may not dream up. However, I also know I can’t stop you. Please just don’t do anything too stupid.” Crystal was sipping a glass of tea, trying not to look bemused by the idea of Hood in a relationship. Even though he was only a year younger than her, she reminisced on her own young love. It would be good for him, Crystal thought to herself. Plus, she had seen you around the library quite a bit. The two of you had chatted, and Crystal already liked you. Maybe she wouldn't have an active role in the forging of the relationship, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t support it.

“I dunno. I’d have to meet her before I could make a judgment on whether she’s good enough for Hood.” Even though Micahel didn’t care to admit it, Hood was the dad to their little group of misfits. Michael didn't want him to get hurt, especially if it would be their fault.

Sierra was grinning her ‘I’m a genius and this is genius’ grin again. “Oh, trust me. She is.”  

…

You were lying on a couch in the commons when their gaggle found you, chewing forbidden gum and texting on a forbidden phone. You had seen them approaching, but still didn’t care enough to put your phone away. You hadn’t taken either of the girls you met last night as a snitch, and from the looks of the girl in the against dress code denim jacket, you were probably right to assume the same about all of them.

“Sup kiddies.” You didn’t even glance up at them. If they weren’t screaming, it wasn’t an emergency. And if it wasn’t an emergency, it wasn’t worth looking up from your intense game of 8-ball for.

“We require assistance.” Sierra was acting as the pseudo leader of the group, speaking up before the others got the chance.

“In what form? We talking ‘hide a body’ or ‘I got locked out’  kind of assistance?” This time you looked up, taking in seven sets of eyes upon you, including Crystal and a different senior you didn’t know. Immediately, you were suspicious. Why would two seniors be needing your help?

“More of the second one, but also not.” You sighed and stood up, stretching as you did so. Nothing like a second-day, midafternoon crisis to get your blood flowing.

“What’s up?” You introduced yourself to the rest of the bunch and gave a quick nod to Crystal. “You’ve got me for 20 minutes and then I have a soccer practice. Actually, you do too, Kaykay.”

“This won’t take long. You have extra library privileges since you're a RA, right?” Sierra took off as soon as you stood up, the rest of the group following, clearly already knowing whatever plan they had formed. You stayed silent, waiting for them to explain more before you promised to be able to help. It was a bit confusing why they needed your help since Crystal actually worked in the library.

“Moving on. We wanna rent out a study room for a little bit this evening and...,” there was a pregnant pause as they all made eye contact between Sierra’s words, “study.”

“Yeah, I’m still not seeing how any of this involves me.” You were near the back next to Crystal, noting Sierra’s wild hairstyle and purple lip gloss, and Kaykay’s various piercings. The group didn’t exactly seem like the rule following type, which made you even more perplexed for their need for you. What could they be getting at?

“We need you to persuade the librarian to bump one of the study room spots open. They’re all filled.” Ah, finally, the truth came out. Luckily for them, you had made good with the librarian after spending most of your free time with her. Being the new kid, plus the pressure from your parents to keep your grades up, equaled having you living in the library. But none of them knew that except for Crystal.

The need for your help in the library made you pause for a second. Crystal worked in the library. She could definitely be of more help than you, and you were pretty sure everyone in the group knew it.

“They like you. They just don’t know how to ask to hangout with you in a normal way.” Crystal lowered her voice, almost whispering. She loved her little band of misfits, but their methods were...unique sometimes. Crystal still tried to support them as much as she could, even if she had to spoil their dramatics sometimes.

“Ah. I see.” You nodded thoughtfully. Crystal was a level headed person. But you could tell she definitely had a fun side, too. “Follow my lead?”

After a smirk and a quick nod, you tried to act thoughtful for a second.

“I dunno. Ms. Robins is a real rule follower. It’s gonna be a hard sell to get her to bend the rules our way. I might need some incentive to help me want to risk getting caught.”  And just like that you had a scheme of your own.

“What are you saying?” Michael, he said his name was, was eyeing you. It was pretty clear he didn’t trust you. It wasn’t your problem, but you figured you should try and look approachable as a new RA.  After all, it was kind of your job.

“Just that. Like, if someone was to offer to buy me a coffee as a thank you, I would be much more willing to take part in your little scheme.” Luke, the young one, opened his mouth as if to deny your calling what they were doing a scheme. “Don’t even deny it, boyo. This is most definitely a scheme.”

The younger kid huffed out a ‘fine,’ easily defeated.

“Back to the matter at hand. What’s in it for me?” You smirked back at them, adrenaline buzzing through your veins.

You could have sworn you heard Kaykay mutter ‘a boyfriend.’

Sierra covered, not that you were sure anything was actually said. “Ashton has a car. He can take you to town and stuff.”

You made eye contact with Ashton, the one who allegedly had a car. It was a bit tempting. Really tempting. There was a coffee shop on campus, and you had a keurig in your room, but it was nothing compared to the taste of mass-manufactured Dunkin Doughnuts coffee. Plus, off campus meant no uniform. That was a win enough.

“Well, then. I think we have ourselves a deal.”  You could already taste the coffee.

…

God, these kids were not slick. You were chatting with Ms. Robins about nothing in particular, not even broaching the subject of the study rooms. You knew Ms. Robins would bump one if you asked, but it was way more fun to do it the hard way. It was kind of funny to watch the little group you were with try to be slick and spy on the conversation without getting spotted, but not one of them was successful.

“Hey, is the room for RAs empty?” There was a study room set aside for RAs when they needed a break from the typical chaos on the floors of the dorms. You wouldn’t call it secret, per say, but you could agree that not well-known was a fitting term.

“Of course dear. It’s all yours if you want it. Do you need the key?”

You said no and thanked the kinder older lady. It was like you said, sometimes it was more fun to do it the hard way.

Everyone gathered around as you walked back to where Crystal and Ashton had been sitting and chatting.

“Bad news. Robins wouldn’t budge.”  You sighed and leaned on the table suppressing a smirk. You had to draw them in first to have a big reveal.

“Damn.” Ashton swore under his breath.

“But…” You raised your finger and cocked your head, finally allowing a grin to cross your face. “I know a secret room.”

“A what?” You finally had Kaykay’s attention, at least. Probably the secret part of your sentence.

“A secret room. Follow.” The floor advisor study room was at the very end of the hallway and had the overhead light above the door flickering, which only added to the “secret room” illusion.

Michael reached the door first, shaking the older knob, which did not open. It was locked, after all. “What now?”

They all looked at you expectantly, but you had come prepared.

“Step aside, peasants.” You whipped out your student I.D., sliding it into the gap between the door and the frame. With a quick swipe and twist of your wrist, the door opened with a click.

Sierra looked like she could hug you, Luke was already in the room, and Michael nodded his head approvingly. Ashton and Kaykay both gave you a high five, though.

“You gotta teach me how to do that!” Kaykay was practically beaming at you, as if you were the coolest person she knew.

“Uh, no. There’s no telling what you would do with that knowledge.” Crystal crossed her arms, but she winked at you as she crossed the threshold into the room.

“Alrighty. Kaykay and I have to get a move on lest we want to run laps til we puke. Enjoy don’t destroy kiddos.” You shut the door behind you and Kaykay, grinning at your little rhyme.

…

“So?” Sierra was excited, and for good reason. She was right. You were perfect, both in general and for Hood.

“Alright, Si, you got me. She’s pretty cool.” Michael was letting his features transform to a smile, ready to hear out the rest of Sierra’s plan. It was official. He was now an accomplice.

“I like her. She’s...fun.” Ashton was studying the corners of the room, finding it up to his posh standards. There was no way this was just a “secret hidden” room, but he didn’t particularly care to give up their new friend’s ruse. “But I’m with Crystal. I’m not going to be a willing participant.”

Sierra gave him her best puppy dog eyes. She had already planned up to step twelve of your and Hood’s relationship, and they would need Ashton’s help if they wanted to get past step five.

“Fine. I will not be an active participant.” They were relentless. Ashton knew that if he didn’t agree now, he’d end up caving later. Might as well agree now on his own terms.

“I think she’s cool. You don’t meet very many people who know how to pick locks any more. Hey, did you guys know that that specific type of lock is actually-” Luke was starting to spiral into obscure facts, as he did sometimes.

“Good, so we're all in agreement.” Sierra was ready. It was time to tell everyone the first few steps of operation “lovebirds.”

The name was a work in progress.

….

You had been adopted. Well, in a way you were. The group from the library had adopted you as one of their own, but you had already adopted all of them as your children. Minus Crystal and Ashton, of course. They had also adopted the younger kids, Crystal in a maternal way and Ashton in an uncle sort of way. But a fun uncle.

You had been eating with them at meals, walking to and from the various buildings with each other, even turning the lounge you had broken them into into your own little hangout. It was kind of nice to be a part of their own little family.

That’s exactly what it was. A family. There was just one piece missing. The “dad”.

“Hood”.

Pretty much all the younger kids did was talk about him, making it clear that he was basically their dad. And that he was a “super cool person if you didn’t count the stick up his ass,” according to Kaykay. You had yet to find out his name. Well, his real name. Apparently, he was the RA to your own brother dorm in Lincoln house and you had still yet to meet him. He was clearly a huge part of this group, though. That just kind of added to your puzzling view of him.

He most definitely was a mystery.

Whenever you brought him up to the group, all they did was look at each other and do a poor job at hiding their smiles. You ignored it for the most part, though. If you were destined to meet Hood, you would. If you weren’t, you wouldn’t.

Still you couldn’t help but wonder about him. Who he was, what he watched on Netflix, what he looked like.

You were in fact thinking about these very things in your morning elevator ride up to your first class of the day. You were still kind of out of it, only on your second cup of coffee and still in your zombie mode.

But, you were awake enough to hear a voice calling out to stop the elevator. And lucid enough to stick your hand in the doors a second before the closed.

Into the elevator rushed a guy about your age, taller and definitely cute. His dark hair was kind of shaggy, but that only added to his appeal for you.

“Thanks.” His voice was deep, but still soft. If you were any more awake, you’d ask for his number.

“No problem.” Instead of laying on the moves, you resigned yourself to taking another long slurp of your coffee, relaxing back against the railing of the elevator.

“You, um, you have something in your hair.” You looked up at him, cocking your eyebrow. Of course you had something in your hair. With the cutest guy you've met at this school thus far staring at you. Yet again, the stranger burst into your thoughts. “Can I get it for you?”

“That’d be great. I’d hate to walk around looking like an idiot all day.” You gave him your most witty, charming smile as you turned to face elevator guy.

“Got it.” You gave him a smile in lieu of a thanks, trying not to embarrass yourself any further. It was unlikely, but hey, worth a shot. It was then elevator guy chose to mutter something under his breath.

“I’m sorry?” With all the muttering that was happening lately you were starting to contemplate getting your hearing checked. It’d be a worthy investment. You were under the impression that private school kids would be a bit more poised and able to speak a touch more clear. You were wrong yet again.

“Um, your hair smells nice.” Elevator guy was now a bright shade of red. Like a cute tomato. You looked down at your shoes, rolling your lips into your mouth but smiling. Yeah, definitely still smiling.

“Thanks.” You were smirking at him now. You kinda liked having all the power in the elevator, considering elevator guy looked like he was ready to die at any second now. “I’d repay the compliment but I’ve yet to catch a whiff of your shampoo.”

“I’m Cal.” He stuck out his hand, as if suddenly remembering he went to private school. A handshake, like you two were CEOs of companies or something. It was endearing. You took another sip of your coffee, maintaining eye contact, before you reached your hand out and joined it with his.

You had just finished the last syllable of your name when the elevator pinged, announcing your arrival on your floor. You walked out of the elevator without another word, knowing that Cal’s eyes were following you the whole time.

[dragons-bones]

FFXIV Write Entry #26: Lunch Dates

Prompt: when pigs fly | Master Post | On AO3

Head empty for so long, forced this out while missing my absolutely favorite ramen joint in all of Boston. I would kill a man for a bowl of tonkotsu as big as my head right now.

--

“Oh my gods where is she.”

Alakhai held up the fore, middle fingers, and thumb of her right hand, holding them straight, and then snapped those three digits closed in a locking motion. Then she immediately followed it up with a derisive flick of her two fingers.

Rereha raised both of her hands and flicked back twice with a sneer.

“Ladies,” Heron said without looking up from her book.

Alakhai rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, and Rereha sighed dramatically, bracing herself on her palms and leaning back on the bench, kicking her legs.

“Sorry I’m late!”

All three women looked up to see Synnove jogging towards them from the direction of the aetheryte plaza, wearing the halter top, rough canvas work pants, and heavy boots she would throw on before one of her gathering expeditions for crystals or ore or gems. Her sledgehammer and pick were slung over her shoulder, and Tyr trotted next to her, converted saddlebags slung over his back stuffed full of material.

Alakhai shuffled over on the bench and Synnove slid in next to her, setting her tools down on the ground and then leaning over to help Tyr out of the saddlebags and shoving them with a chime of crystals under the table. Tyr hopped onto the stool, carefully settling his tails around himself so they wouldn’t be stepped on by a waitress or other patron, and boofed happily when Heron reached over to scratch his neck.

Rereha pushed herself upright, hands raised in the air. “All right, we can eat!” she sang out, doing a happy dance in her seat.

One of the waitresses, Tatsu, came over and she smiled and bowed to them. “The usual, ladies?” she said.

“Yes, please!” they said in chorus.

Tatsu turned to Tyr. “And for you?”

The carbuncle made a deep burbling noise as he thought, ears flicking back and forth, before he finally mrowed. The katsudon, please! And some miso soup on the side?

“Of course,” the waitress said with another bow. As she rose, she made her way towards the ramen stall, calling out in rapidfire Hingan.

The group of friends settled in to wait with a round of gossip. Synnove had spent the morning out in the hills of Onokoro, collecting elemental crystals for a test back at the Guild, plus searching for spinels for another experiment. “Not carbuncle summoning,” she said with a wave of her hand, “but testing for suitably for industrial use of some sort. Any of the nicer specimens, of course, we’ll cut ourselves and sell to go into the Guild coffers.”

Alakhai would be teleporting to the Doman Enclave later for a promised sparring match with Yugiri. “Need to brush up on some of the traditional shinobi bladework versus the rogues’ style,” she murmured, sipping at her tea. Heron, meanwhile, had finished a short bodyguard contract for a Hannish merchant the previous night and was indulging in some sightseeing and shopping in Kugane before heading home. And Rereha was attending a complete, full day performance of a kabuki play entitled Kanadehon Chushingura (Rereha sounded it out carefully in the measured way of forcing the Echo not to translate it) at the Mujikoza.

“Of course, since half the audience are foreigners, there’s a two-bell intermission so everyone can get lunch,” Rere chirped.

“Hence your impatience for Synnove to arrive,” Heron drawled.

“Listen, I need at least three bowls of the good stuff to get me through the rest of this show, they don’t let you snack during the performance.”

At that moment, Tatsu returned with one of her sisters in tow, both of them carrying large trays. They set them on the edge of the table as the group cheered, and then began passing out the steaming bowls of ramen.

“Large tonkotsu with extra noodles, pork belly, egg, bamboo shoots, and seaweed,” the waitress said cheerfully as she set that one in front of Rereha.

“Aw, yeeeeaaaaaah.”

“Large tonkotsu with extra noodles, pork belly, egg, steamed fish cake, and bean sprouts.”

Alakhai grinned, the limbal rings around her irises glinting.

“Large tonkotsu with extra noodles, pork belly, egg, seaweed, corn, and butter.”

“I know I’m a heathen foreigner and I thank you and grandmother for indulging me,” Synnove gushed, rubbing her hands together as her bowl was placed in front of her.

Tatsu laughed. “You are not the first foreigner to ask for unusual toppings, and Grandmother enjoys expanding her palate! And for Heron, large tonkotsu with extra noodles, pork belly, chicken, extra egg, and bamboo shoots.”

Heron sighed happily and took a deep, appreciative sniff of her bowl.

“And last but certainly not least, for Master Tyr, the katsudon, miso soup—and four soft-boiled eggs, halved.”

Tyr boofed in delight, his feet tappity-tapping happily on his stool. Oh, thank you, Tatsu!

Each of the dishes had a generous sprinkling of green onion on top—extra for both Heron and Tyr—and Tatsu and her sister passed out chopsticks, soup spoons, napkins, and jars of condiments: hot sauce, plum sauce, tonkatsu sauce, and minced garlic. The waitresses bowed. “Please enjoy!” they chorused, and went to help another customer.

Tyr had been given a wide, shallow bowl for his katsudon to make it easier for him to have a mouthful of all three of the rice, fried cutlet, and eggs at once, and he chewed with a table rattling purr. Synnove poured a serving of the tonkatsu sauce on half his katsudon, and Tyr burbled his thanks, alternating bites of non-sauce with sauce covered lunch, sips of miso, and halves of egg.

The two-leggers dug in with equal gusto as the carbuncle; Rereha added enough hot sauce to her ramen that the broth turned a violent red—“I can enjoy bowls two and three plain, I gotta blow my brains out first!”—and almost immediately started sweating with the first bite of noodle and pork belly she shoved into her mouth. Alakhai went heavy on the minced garlic, and loaded up her spoon with broth and egg and sprouts, slurping it up with a pleased hum. Heron enjoyed her ramen without anything for her initial few bites, savoring noodles and broth and toppings all, before adding a dash of the plum sauce and a bit of minced garlic. Synnove went without any of the condiments for this serving, instead letting her pat of butter melt and muddle into the broth and expertly using her chopsticks to pop her egg into her mouth, following it with a slurp of broth.

They ate in silence, focused on the good food, working at a fast, methodical pace—the joys of working their arses off for a living was needing to keep their energy levels up—until, as one, they all lifted up their bowls and slurped the remaining broth until the vessels were empty. At that point, Tatsu arrived with fresh servings and took away the used dishes. For round two, their pace was much more leisurely, and they began to chat once more.

“Do you think if we give her one of those fancy spinels, Grandma Tsuru will finally share the secret of her magical broth?” Rereha said around a mouthful of noodles.

Her friends all snorted.

“That woman is unbribable,” Alakhai said.

“And you are in the unfortunate situation of not being a blood relative,” said Synnove, drizzling more tonkatsu sauce onto Tyr’s fresh serving of katsudon.

“Also, it means we keep giving her our business and gil,” Heron said with a snicker.

Rereha huffed and turned around, shouting towards where the old woman who made the best ramen in Kugane sat chopping green onions, “Hey, Grandma Tsuru! When will you give me your tonkotsu recipe?”

“When you can go one day without a smartass comment!” Grandma Tsuru hollered back.

“Oh, godsdamnit.”

Synnove, Heron, and Alakhai all began cackling as Rereha sulkily slurped more noodles.

[normal-thoughts-official]

your “luke and alaric are married af” series made me transcend. they absolutely ARE. when i watched the show i really expected them to be in a canon relationship bc. it just seemed obvious. (me and magnus: you mean you’re NOT married??????) i’m surprised it’s such a small ship tbh. there is so much potential... i would love to hear more from u!!!!! what ideas do u have? first dates? how does maia react (i bet she’s like... duh? you’re my dads)? the story of luke’s epiphany omg???

for real!!! the chemistry and the love between them was so real and palpable and like hello? the way they always were on each other's corner? the Partners to Lovers dynamic?? the obvious mutual respect they had even though they were always butting heads? the way they always seemed to be growing together and not just fighting??? again the CHEMISTRY?? the fun little snippets we had like "it's never too early for teriyaki"?? literally we had so much to build an amazing romance and alaric is such a minor character his actor isn't even an actor he's a stunt double

like they had what 5 scenes and they all had such a great setup for romance or even for them to have been married the whole time??? they certainly had old married couple dynamics. fuck jocelyn i am speaking her out of existence. also i mean open relationships but why would luke even have a relationship with jocelyn when he had an actually good relationship to compare it to?

also the potential of their getting together being tied up to some personal growth from luke as an alpha and a downworlder in general like... most of their conflicts was because a part of luke still felt indebted to shadowhunters and their heritage and he kept putting the wolves last, and it would have been so good to see luke slowly realizing that he doesn't owe them shit and he gets to prioritize his own people and the people who are there for him, and him eventually choosing alaric over jocelyn being tied to choosing himself as he is now to who he used to be as a (terrible) shadowhunter...

not that it's alaric's job to fix luke obviously, but i don't think it would be "fixing" and this definitely wouldn't be a "teaching luke out of racism" story because when luke helped alaric as he became a werewolf he was already somewhat settled into werewolf life. i just think that a part of luke feels like he still owes loyalty to the people who hated him and it could have been a nice parallel to see him letting this go and getting with alaric. especially because alaric never coddled him, so, you know. and i think luke needed that little push in that sense. and alaric meanwhile would also be growing more confident into his role in the pack and in their job and getting the support he obviously still needed, and like, it could have been so good? definitely rocky before they sorted it out, but good. and of course sh had to waste the opportunity without even giving it thought because when don't they

anyway!!! as for your actual questions! first date is honestly so hard for me because i feel like their first date would feel like their billionth date. again i say, THEY ARE MARRIED whether they know it or not. so i can see their first official date going one of two ways: it's very lowkey, nothing they haven't done a thousand times before (like going to a small little family restaurant that they like, eating together, talking, maybe sharing a milkshake and they feel stupid but they're giggling and can't stop smiling and it makes them so happy that who cares) and it's absolutely PERFECT; OR they try to go all out and make it special and ~woo~ each other and it feels a little weird at first but it's still good and they get to enjoy the romantic ambience, hold hands over the table, and they're both a little shy because it feels like such a leap but it feels right

im gonna elaborate a little bit on both because i really love both??? so like they go to this little joint that is not the jade wolf or anything too close because they want to have this moment for tHEMSELVES, away from wherever anyone else from work or the shadow world might see them and from where they would think about it and associate with it. i am thinking... ohh some nice little place near where alaric's grown up? i'm headcanoning him as hondureño since we got no specifics other than his last name being rodriguez and i'm feeling like making him central american

and ALSO a great typical honduran dish is marinated meat and since luke is a beef jerky fan he would be all over that shit. i headcanon that luke knows alaric's family to some extent (i made a very quick reference to that in the second fic of the series) and i really love to think that luke has been to at least a few carneadas with alaric and his family?? which is aaaaaa another whole thing to talk about i might get back to it in a second but the DATE

also i like to think that luke would fall in love with rice and beans/casamiento because that is my rights. so like them going to the restaurant and having some meat (it's not really a carneada outside of the context of a carneada and for a date but like.. maybe pinchos or ye regular steak with urucum? i've had that in central brazil a few times and god i love it to death. or maybe chimol which sounds like something luke would like) with casamiento, tajadas, u know, the regular stuff? and it's lowey intimate because they are sharing the dish and it's something from alaric's culture you know??? god damn it i'm still talking about food. ONTO THE DATE

the point is that it's very casual and intimate but also uplifting and fun because this is a honduran restaurant we are talking about, so there's probably music, noise, alaric knows the family that runs it and possibly luke does too but they still have their space. maybe they get to dance a little bit because please god i am begging you, and luke has never had too many opportunities to dance before but it turns out he is a natural even if a little self conscious. i am picturing them dancing salsa which i kNOW is not an honduran dance but if the restaurant just leaves a Latin Music™ radio on as they usually do in latino restaurants in the US it's not that unlikely that it would play. and with alaric not being actually cuban he wouldn't humiliate luke too much. lmao

anyway most of the time they are just talking and teasing each other and every time luke takes a bite of the food he moans a little bit because he's a sucker for marinated meat and alaric wasn't even the one to cook it but goddamn if he doesn't feel proud of himself. and they share a drink (i guess the milkshake idea doesn't fit as well here but whatever they will get two straws for their iced tea or Tropical if they're feeling silly or agua de ensalada if they're feeling traditional. the point is that the lack of milkshake won't stop them from doing their dumb sappy thing) and are kind of laughing the whole time because it feels so teenage-y but to be fair luke DID just find out he was bisexual and figuring out your sexuality always brings in second puberty in terms of experiences. and alaric is not going to complain because it feels so sweet and right

and then the dancing which is fun and intimate and a little challenging for luke even if they aren't Full On Dancing Salsa, just a few moves here and there together but they get to be close and intimate and maybe alaric does some impromptu spinning and it makes them both laugh and maybe rub their noses together while they laugh and they are being so silly but they don't care

and basically they go home after hours, as you do, holding hands and a little drunk on each other, bumping shoulders on the way, alaric resting his head on luke's shoulder and luke on top of alaric's? and it makes walking a little awkward but god They Don't Care. and it just feels so perfect, like home and family and everything they are to each other :))))

really wanna add an "and then they fuck like rabbits" at the end but anyway i'll try not to ruin it

second date option! full out fanciness. they are already partners, they have seen each other in every possible situation, they know their worse, they know their married ways, but they want to have a ROMANTIC first date! lay thick their new relationship status. woo each other! show each other what amazing caring boyfriends/husbands they are. be adults!

they pick some fancy restaurant that luke may or may not have gotten suggested to him by magnus when he called him in a bit of panic because he is not very well versed in fancy restaurants and the like. maybe magnus even takes that extra step and portals them somewhere extra romantic like venice or whatever but i think they'd want to be independent in terms of going there and back so maybe not. anyway the point is, fancy restaurant! suits! they are a bit more nervous than they usually would because they haven't been in a place like this in waaayyy too long and they've never done anything remotely similar to that together before so it feels like a new territory and they kiinda want to prove something even though that's stupid because they've already chosen each other

but it goes well???? not as natural as the first date idea but that might just be me and thinking that casualness is the most romantic thing, and either way, it still feels so right and good. they get to sip wine, hold hands over the table, say something sweet to each other over entrees, share dessert, bicker over who gets to pay. again the marriedness of it all absolutely slips through but there is that new element that they are getting to explore and that feels so nice

and it's never stilted and forced, even if they are a little nervous, they are still themselves and it goes down smoothly and they are happy that it worked so well because there is always that fear in a best friends to lovers kinda situation that things will just feel weird, especially when you're both adults and have so much history. but it doesn't, it feels romantic and new and exciting and as they leave they tease each other a little bit like "after you, gentleman" and laugh together 🥺🥺🥺

and they have their first kiss as they leave and they both linger a little bit as they just stand under the stars and keep their eyes closed and their hands linked together and i need a moment oh my god

this got too long so i'm separating the answers for the different questions: maia's reaction (link), luke's epiphany (link)

[livingmybestfakelife]

The Man With The White Horse

Summary: There were many situations that split mother and son apart, but this might be something that just might separate them forever

Paring: Michael Gray x Reader

Oneshot

gifs by bonniebird

It was currently forty degrees and steady dropping so it was safe to say that it was cold, too cold to be outside having a conversation that could have been done indoors, but his cousins insisted that they have a word with him outside so he reluctantly followed them through the double doors and onto the wide open yard, their heavy footsteps crushed the thick snow beneath them, Arthur had to catch himself from slipping on a piece that was hard as a rock, Michael pulled out a cigarette hoping that it would warm him up a little, but would still rather be in the house, so whatever they wanted to tell him they would have to do it quickly and had better worth freezing his balls off.

“Alright, what is it? What’s going on?”

“How about you take a sip of this gin aye Michael?”

“Since when are you a gin drinker? Whiskey is more your preference”

Arthur shrugs and passes him a glass that he had already poured, he takes the glass from him and swirls the liquid around a little before taking a sip, the other two look on to see his reaction

“Mm it’s good, a little sweet but it’s alright...so is this what you dragged me out here for, to have me try some gin?”

John snorts and goes to pat him on the shoulder

“No, but we’d hope it would loosen you up a little, you’ve been crunching numbers all week, it’s time you let loose, it’s Friday night Mikey”

“I’m aware of the day of the week John, now what’s up with the both of you? You’ve been acting as if you’ve got something to hide all day, hell you all have, my mum won’t even look me in the eyes, fucks going on?”

The families suspicions behavior didn’t go unnoticed by Michael no matter how hard they insisted there was nothing wrong, but they knew he was too smart to be played a fool, so they thought they might as well spill the beans, he would find out the truth eventually

“Michael, we’d each had gotten a letter earlier this week, you had gotten one too but...”

“Hold on, what letter?”

It was silent again, the only sounds that was filling in the awkwardness was the crickets and an owl, it was somehow making him more colder, he hated when people would try to sugar coat what they were trying to say, he’d much rather them speak frankly, like Tommy and Polly did.

“Arthur, what letter?”

“A letter from YN’s uncle, asking for a meeting”

“Okay, so what happened to my letter then?”

“We couldn’t let you see it Michael, he was pretty aggressive in yours”

“Why would he be aggressive? I didn’t do anything wrong”

“Yeah we know that be he...”

“Would you fucking quit it with that! Tell me what’s going on, I’m sick of being out of the loop!”

His eyes were wild and frantic, he wore built up irritation and stress all over his face and in his voice, this family was going to be the death of him no doubt about it

“He thinks that you were behind YN’s assasination attempt”

“HE FUCKING WHAT?”

“Now calm down Michael”

“Don’t fucking tell me to calm down, why the fuck would he think that John? I love YN more than anything in this whole fucking world, more than I love myself, why would I want to hurt her!”

Arthur goes to grab his shoulders in an attempt to calm him down a little, but the action does nothing and he shoves him away, he didn’t want to be coddled like a child, he was way beyond being a kid, now in his mid twenties with more base in his voice no longer the mild mannered teenager that showed up on Polly’s doorstep, he was a grown man, a homeowner and a fiancée who would one day be the mother of his children, he could handle just about everything that came with being a man, but being accused of wanting to off his woman was something he couldn’t stomach.

“Michael, I’m serious lower your voice, you want your nosey neighbors to hear ya?”

“Then why are we out here? Let’s discuss this inside!”

The three men headed towards the door, Michael was about to open it only for someone on the other side to do it for him, out walked his mother with a look of concern on her face, she seemed to just get done breathing hard and tried to collect herself, she placed her warm hands on his face and expected him, she had indeed hard the shouts of her son from inside, she had came over to visit for the evening to discuss some last minute wedding plans with you, all hope for a peaceful evening quickly ended and she knew the reason why, it’s been eating her up inside, making her heart ache and stomach turn, she’d been dreading this moment for a while now, she thought she was careful but apparently not enough, it was all out in the open now, only God could save her now, but she hasn’t spoken to the good lord for a very long time.

“Michael, honey what’s the matter?”

“Arthur spoke up for him

“Let’s talk about this inside Pol”

She wraps a hand around his arm and guides him inside, the warmth from the fire that was lit in the living room instantly smacked him in the face, it soothes him for a moment and for a split second he’s not as angry as he was, but was still irritable, he wanted answers and he wanted them tonight, from either Polly or anybody.

“Son, you’re freezing, come sit down in front of the fire, YN just made some tea”

He moves himself out of her grasp and heads to the living room to find you taking a sip of your tea then putting it down once you notice him, the smile that forms on your face puts one on his, Michael walks quickly over to you and grabs your hands to lift you up, you’re surprised by his action as he does in a haste, you stumbled into his arms as you let out little squeal.

“Michael what’s the matter, what are you doing”

“We’re leaving”

“What, why what’s going on?”

“We’re going to New York, should’ve never left, knew coming back to this fucking city would be a mistake, fucking cursed I’m telling you-“

“Michael! What are you saying right now?”

Polly has tears in her eyes and turns to look at her nephews, they give her sorrow looks and feel sorry for her, they both already know her big secret and knew that if it were ever reach your family and Michael then the Shelby’s would be in a whole lot of trouble, they had enough enemies as it is, but none of them compared to the ones that they now made with the YLN’s, most importantly Richard YLN, your late fathers older brother and the patriarch of the YLN family, what he says goes, his power and influence made Thomas Shelby look like he was a little boy playing pretend.

It took a lot for Michael to even earn his trust, first business wise then personal because he wanted to date the mans favorite niece, the pretty girl he had met at one of Tommy’s gala’s that he was hosting, he remembered how your beautiful pale pink gown made you look like an angel, your very delicate and expensive pearls and diamond earrings added some elegance to your look for the evening, he’s seen some beautiful women before but there was something about you that reeled him in more than the others did, and it wasn’t a feeling of lust, this was something he couldn’t put into words, you were just it for him, he could feel it, right then and there he wanted you, hell even needed you, he hoped and prayed that another man didn’t already have claim to you, even if he did, he’s Michael Gray, he’d always gotten what he wanted, he had a bright future ahead of him and you were going to be apart of it.

“Michael please let’s just sit down and talk about this, there is no need to run of back to America, the both of you are not going anywhere, especially not YN, you remember how pissed Richard was after you dragged her away the first time”

“Yeah, that’s nothing compared to now mum, he fucking thinks that I tried to get YN killed, he’ll never forgive me now”

“Wait, w-what the hell is going on?!”

“Well go on mum, tell your soon to be daughter in law that her uncle for some reason believes that I was behind the her being kidnapped and nearly killed by the Owens brothers, oh and why the fuck would he think that anyway?”

You look to Polly for answers, she looks over at you as well and takes a step forward but he holds a hand up signaling her to stop

“Tell us about the letters mum, the ones that were sent to all of us but was hidden from me”

“Michael I swear to God I didn’t know it would go down the way it did, we made a deal they said that they wouldn’t hurt her- oh my God”

Her voice was shaking and she couldn’t finish, clinging onto John who held her tight, Arthur once again speaking up for everyone

“Polly made a deal with the Owens boys, it was suppose to be simple and no one was suppose to get hurt, Tommy made a bad deal with them and lost some money, they assumed that we betrayed them and stole money, so to get their payback they threatened to kill a family member...”

He trailed off and before Michael could tell him to keep going Polly looked up and continued

“I met with the eldest brother, I made a deal with them to not kill anyone...but to instead kidnap a member, and to do only that, keep them locked away somewhere until we could figure out what had went wrong, he swore no one would lay a finger on her, but his trigger happy little brother shot her, I can’t tell you how sorry I am, YN sweetheart you know that I care about you love, b-but there was no other way around it, it wasn’t suppose to happen this way-“

Michael ran over to her like a mad man, yelling and swearing like he was possessed, his anger, pain and betrayal clouded his thoughts and his body went on autopilot, he tackled his mother to the cold floor and wrapped his hands around her throat, squeezing tighter and tighter, in that moment he felt nothing but hate and resentment for her, all these years of bonding went down the drain along with any love he’d ever felt for her.

“YOU FUCKING BITCH, YOU FUCKING WHORE, HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME HUH? YOU FUCKING SCUM”

His strength was unmatched by Arthur and John who tried desperately to remove him from on top of their aunt before he killed her, he could hear your faint cries from across the room begging him to stop

“MICHAEL YOU’RE GOING TO KILL HER STOP IT”

Her eyes were turning red and so was her face, she scratched and punched but nothing helped, finally giving up she let him continue to try and choke her to death, she deserved it, and if there were anyone she would rather take her life it would be her precious baby boy, her little Michael.

Finally he was pulled away before she could close her eyes, she gagged in an attempt to let oxygen get into her lungs, her throat was already forming a nasty bruise, you cried, then Polly then Michael, he cried and screamed and banged his fists on the hard wood floor.

“I wish I never came looking for you, this family...this family is the worst thing to ever happen to me”

He whispered but she could hear him as if he said it in her ear

“Michael, oh my god”

You ran over to him and collapsed by his side to hold him, as much as you were hurt by Polly’s confession you still didn’t want to see her be harmed in that way, especially not by her own son, John and Arthur checked over Polly who gently pushed them away and got onto her feet with whatever strength she had left

“I’m sorry, oh my boy I love you”

“Get out of my house, ALL OF YOU GO”

The boys helped Polly to leave but not before you had your say

“I can’t promise you that Uncle Richard won’t come for you Polly, I suggest you be the one to run off to America”

She still has her hands caressing her sore neck, nodding in acceptance of her fate, and with that they left, you and Michael looked at the door, he was still breathing hard and his hands were still in a choking form, you reached down to hold them and looked up at him

“Michael, for heavens sake”

“No one and I mean no one comes above you, if I won’t do it then Richard will, and with the way your family does business, choking her would’ve been a less painful death”

You nod your head because that’s the only response you could give, Richard would find out the whole truth eventually, and when he does, Polly Gray would be no more.

[aurmgoldau]

The Fox and the Cat - pt 2

It was settled: Ignitia would up against Li in one round fight.

“Is it really okay?” Li fidgeted. They had five minutes preparation before the fight started. “And why they agree for this …?”

“The bartender is the owner and the one responsible for this place,” Anya replied, lowered her voice. “This place runs an illegal event and she, of course, wants to keep it a secret with all cost. We accidentally discovered her secret. She will certainly want to make sure we shut our mouth, right?”

Li nodded.

“I told her we won’t spill the beans. We’re students and we’re gonna get into trouble if words come out about we visited this place.”

Li nodded again.

“But,” Anya took a glance at Ignitia who stood across them, “there’s no guarantee Ignitia will forget about the incident today. So, I asked the bartender what will settle the problem between us? Will a round of fight with Ignitia do?”

“They agree?”

“Ignitia agreed. A few others encouraged her to accept. She isn’t too well-liked, apparently. Some people want to see her lost.”

“She’s glaring at us ….”

“Yeah. Scary. I wonder what’s her day job.”

“It’s a different ‘scary’ than when Mom is angry.”

“Obviously.”

“Fighters! Get into your position!”

Li took a deep breath. She bit her lip and looked at Anya again.

“I’ll take care of these.” Anya patted Li’s folded vest and scarf. Li was told to leave them out. Accessories and trinkets should be removed to ensure a fair fight. “Your bracelet too.”

The bracelet was the most important one.

“Knock her out when I signal you to do so,” Anya reminded Li.

“Okay.”

The rules were simple enough and similar to any sparring Li had. No weapon, no Semblance. Hitting body area below abdomen was BIG NO. No poking eyes, no clawing, no biting. Punch only, no kicking.

Sometimes Li wondered whether the “no clawing” and “no biting” were emphasized when one of the participants was a Faunus or not. Humans could claw and bite too.

Li ignored Ignitia’s growl and gesture. She focused her attention to the referee.

“And … BEGIN!” The referee step aside.

Ignitia growled and grinned. As expected, she didn’t immediately attack Li.

“Think you can win, scaredy cat? You might win when you’re up against men, perhaps, since they are distracted by your body, huh?”

A year ago, the trick would work and Li would be upset or hesitated. Now, it was different. Nothing could waver Li whenever she was in her “armed and ready” state (not always “armed”, though). Li’s mentor in Haven Academy and one of her mother’s friends trained Li really hard for this.

And, Anya had told Li to leave the “taunt and insult business” for her. Whatever that meant--

“You know what most people think about your body, Miss Ignitia? They are confused why you have asses as your chin and breast.”

Oh my God.

Anya’s voice was loud enough to be heard by everyone in the arena. The crowd went quiet, either they were shocked or afraid that Anya had crossed the line too far.

Li noticed how Ignitia’s expression had changed. She would punch Anya to pulp. Definitely.

“Just ….” Li felt really bad for Ignitia. “Just don’t listen to her ….”

“Need a younger kid to tell you to calm down, champion?” Anya laughed. “How adorable.”

Now Li really wondered how could Mei who was well-planned, well-prepared, well-organized, and well-mannered work together with Anya? Just … how?

“I … I think you should ignore her …,” Li said again. Anya, please don’t say anything.

Anya did not say anything.

Ignitia, however, was already furious and triggered.

“SHUT! UP!”

Li blocked the incoming punch with both arms. That punch was even harder than before. Li stepped back. She blocked the second punch and moved closer to Ignitia to push her back.

Ignitia was heavy. Li didn’t apply enough power to push her. Her defense opened for a split second and Ignitia used it to land a clear hit on Li’s ribs.

The crowd cheered. Ignitia pushed forward. Li parried Ignitia’s left hook and countered with a quick jab. Ignitia didn’t back down. She retaliated with another blow.

Li strafed to her left. Ignitia missed. Seeing a chance, Li leapt forward. She landed another hit, this time on Ignitia’s jaw.

Someone from the crowd shouted. Li didn’t hear it clearly, but it was for her. Something about “get serious”.

Li could get even more serious than this, but Anya told her not to wrap up the fight too soon.

Ignitia surprised Li with her change of target.

Instead of trying to hit Li’s head, Ignitia aimed for her ribs and waist. Li maneuvered around the small arena, so far didn’t get hit. She had to refrain herself from countering with a kick. Kicking wasn’t allowed.

Li stole a glance at Anya. Not yet. A bit longer.

“Oof!”

The crowd broke into another cheers. Li stumbled onto one of the hay bales. That last punch hit her stomach. Clear and hard. Li coughed and winced.

“Hey, you okay?” That was Anya asking.

Li nodded.

“Finish her off if you don’t think you can hold any longer.”

“I’m okay. Really.”

Arslan Atlan, Li’s mentor in Haven Academy had hit her harder than this. Li had been through quite some fights and each of them made her both tougher and stronger.

Ignitia wasn’t close enough to any fights against Beringels. Maybe if Li played around before defeating the gorilla Grimms, it would be close enough.

Filled to the brim with confidence, Ignitia’s attack became more intense. She kept closing her distance and barraged Li with punches. If Li’s guess was right, Ignitia tried to wear Li down and knock her out with a finishing blow.

Li put some distance with Ignitia again.

“Take a break, kid?” Ignitia panted. “Well, you deserve it for enduring the fight for this long.”

Li looked at Anya. The pink-haired girl shrugged and snapped her fingers.

That was the signal.

Li put her stance again and walked closer to Ignitia. The woman noticed the change of pace and braced herself.

It was a few milliseconds late. Apparently, Ignitia was the one who wore herself down and lowered her guard.

Once Li got Ignitia in her range, she launched her punch. Unlike her previous attacks, Li put more strength in this one. Her fist landed on Ignitia’s lower jaw. It wasn’t a bone-shattering one like Li did on the Grimms, but it had enough power to incapacitate Ignitia. The woman’s body tumbled and collapsed on a hay bale.

The underground arena went silent. The referee rushed to check on Ignitia’s condition. She started counting to ten and Ignitia stayed still, not moving beside breathing.

Li wasn’t too focused when the referee announced her as the winner. Instead of cheers, she heard polite claps from the spectators.

Anya winked when Li looked at her. And there, she put her “foxy grin” again.

***

“Let’s go somewhere before we return to Patch. You like fish and seafood, right?”

Li and Anya had left the Industrial District and arrived safely at the friendlier Commercial District. It was around two o’clock in the afternoon. Li usually had her lunch around twelve or one, but she wasn’t too hungry after that … “workout” in Amazon’s Den.

“Any kind of seafood.” Li nodded. “Fish included.”

“How about having ‘sushi date’? The two of us.” Anya chuckled. “My treat. Let’s celebrate your first win in the underground arena.”

“Sushi is … expensive.”

“Well ….” Anya took her wallet and showed it to Li. There were a lot of Lien cards. “Betting all of my money on you was the best decision.”

“You—what?” Li gaped. “You—sorry—what?”

“They think it’s fun to open a bet on your fight against Ignitia.” Anya shrugged. “Your odds was high and I’m confident you’re going to win, so, of course, I put all my money on you.”

Li had totally no idea what to say. Too many wrong things happened. “Wrong” in Li’s judgement, at least. First, the fight and second, the betting.

However, the “sushi date” was a good thing. Li had been curious about sushi restaurant. She could find affordable packaged sushi in store, but most of them used processed fish meat. There were a lot of sushi restaurants in Mistral, since the food came from that region, but Li hadn’t had any chance to visit any. Besides, she was the only one who were fond of sushi in the team.

Apparently, eating sushi was new for Anya. It was amusing to watch her try to figure out things when Li knew everything about sushi thanks to her grandma.

“Your hand trembles.” Li couldn’t help not smirking at the scene.

“Oh, shut up. I don’t need your comment.” Anya tried to pick sushi with chopsticks for the third time. “I’m doing my best here.”

“Eating sushi with chopsticks isn’t an obligation.” Li took another plate from the conveyor belt in front of her.

“It isn’t?”

“Using your hand is perfectly acceptable.”

“But the sauce?”

“You just need to dip them, not drown them. Granma said so.”

Anya’s sushi slipped miserably into her sauce plate. Li couldn’t hold her laugh any longer.

“Here.” Li borrowed Anya’s chopsticks. She salvaged most of the drowned sushi to empty plate. “You shouldn’t dip the rice side, by the way. When soaked with the sauce, the rice will fall apart.”

“So, instead … how should I do it?”

It didn’t take too much time for Li to teach Anya the basics of eating sushi properly. It was quite fun too, teaching people. No wonder Li’s grandma taught her a lot of things from Mistral culture, from table manners to cloth pattern symbolism.

“Mei made the same mistakes like you, by the way.” Li poured more sauce in her plate.

“Really? I thought she knew all kinds of table manners from all around Remnant.”

“She doesn’t know as much as I do about Mistral.”

“That’s a surprise.”

Li nodded. “And … I was wondering when we were at the bar, about how could you get along with Mei. Both of you are too different.”

“Most of the time, I make sure I know what she thinks and she knows whatever I think.” Anya chuckled. “Mei scolded me a lot too, you know. For being too reckless or too chaotic.”

“I think you’re getting along because both of you like to learn new things,” Li said.

Anya sipped her cold tea. “Hmm … now that you mention it. Maybe? We both have our own need to know as many things as possible.” Anya gently poked her sushi. “Though, we’re on an entirely different level. Like, Mei is the tuna sushi and I’m the egg sushi.”

Li took the egg sushi passed in front of her. “Have you tried the egg one?”

“You said they are for the last.”

“Yeah, but try it.”

Anya almost picked the sushi using chopsticks again, but then she remembered and picked it with her hand. She looked surprised after the first bite.

“It isn’t like any fried egg,” Anya said.

“Better than fried egg,” Li emphasized.

“Yeah ….” Anya took another bite. “It’s really soft and sweet.”

“Do you know it’s layered? Look.”

“Oh! It is! I didn’t notice!”

“Maybe you’re right to compare yourself with sushi. Both Mei and you have different … complexities? Different background, different purposes. But both are good in their own way, I think.”

“I never thought of it that way.” Anya nodded and ate another sushi. “That’s a good point.”

Li paused. She never had this kind of conversation with her mother, Yang, her teammates, her grandparents, or Mei. This was the first time. And even though it was unusual to use food as a way to put ideas and thoughts, it worked. Li kinda liked this conversation. It let her discover things without punching or being punched.

“Aah, now I know why Mei complained about you growing up.” Anya suddenly laughed.

“She isn’t taller than me anymore,” Li sighed. “Even with her shoes on, I’m still taller than her.”

“It’s not just your height. You’re stronger, more confident, and the way you stepped between me and Ignitia back then is something the small Li won’t do.”

“Well … things happened. I guess.” Li’s cat ears flattened on her head. ��Mei doesn’t like it.”

“She will have to accept it eventually.” Anya took another squid sushi.

“Anya, do you know squid has high cholesterol amount?”

“I … I don’t.”

“No, don’t put it back on the belt.” Li took the plate from Anya’s hand. “I’ll have one. Don’t take another squid.”

“Thanks.” Anya grinned. “See? You’ve grown up. I think seeing you grown up is too shocking for Mei. Someone she usually protects has become someone who can protect her. It’s not just about the height difference.”

“Really?” Li was relieved to hear that.

“That’s what I thought. If that’s not the case, let me convince Mei to believe that way.”

“There’s no way you can do that.”

“Who knows?” Anya grinned and took out her Scroll. “I’m in the mood to tease her now. Do you think she’ll make a fuss if I send her our pic together?”

“She will.” Li smiled.

“Great. Let’s do it.”

[satorisa]

in which Risa gets blindsided, twice, and decides to go with the flow for as long as it will have her.

inspired by this fic by @carebearos

...

Risa stands in front of the Starbucks by the station, checking her phone as the appointed time draws near. She had arrived thirty minutes early,  punctuality driven by the sheer insanity of the situation, dressed in an outfit she would almost wear to see Dark.

She must be out of her mind.

Satoshi invited her out for coffee before the long-awaited weekend, and she said yes without any hesitation. Had he asked before she attempted to treat him for the strawberry milk, she most certainly would’ve declined. But she was intrigued by the Satoshi who joked around, smiling and sarcastic, in those empty hallways after school in front of the vending machine.

Her curiosity might be the end of her, she internally grumbles, as she checks her phone again to see the time. Not even a minute has passed, and she groans before tucking her hands behind her back while she bounces in place. She can’t control the anxiety flowing through her body even though she knows that anyone who would make a big deal about this was busy and as far away from the scene of the crime as possible.

Ding!

She swings her phone back to her face to see a text message from Ritsuko with a selfie of her and some of their classmates. Someone had invited the class out on a whim before the last bell rang, literally right after she made plans with Satoshi, and so those who accepted are taking a day trip away from their small town. Takeshi’s right in the center with Ritsuko, hogging all the attention as usual, and Riku and Daisuke are in the corner of the picture, awkwardly smiling as if Ritsuko had caught them at a bad time.

Bless her best friend for giving her the DaiRiku content that fuels her life.

Risa’s about to reply to Ritsuko’s follow up message about missing her, but her phone rings again. When she sees a message from Satoshi saying he’ll be running a little late, she nearly drops her phone.

Somehow, in the span of an evening, she had completely forgotten that they had exchanged numbers after they confirmed their plans. And this friendly reminder nearly sent her into cardiac arrest.

She might actually die today.

And so, she goes back to jittering in place, garnering attention from passersby as she tries to mentally escape the situation that she’s in.

“Harada.”

The calm, monotonous voice snaps her back into reality. Satoshi now stands in front of her, his hair still damp, wearing a surprisingly snappy ensemble that somehow matches her own outfit.

She’s ready to eat her own foot.

“Sorry I’m late. Something had come up and—”

“There’s no need to apologize; stuff happens.” She smiles, mentally wondering what she’s channeling to be outwardly calm when she’s inwardly screaming. “Come on! Let’s go!”

The smell of coffee hits her when she walks in, and they fall into the short line in front of the cash register.

“What do you want?”

“Um…”

She looks up at the menu, mentally reeling at all the coffee choices. Matcha’s not too appetizing to her either, even if it is blended with enough sugar and cream to last her a lifetime, and she’s feeling lukewarm about everything else on the menu. Risa only ever goes to coffee shops when she’s out with her parents; she’d rather have bubble tea more than anything if she’s going out.

“I can order something for you if you’re having trouble deciding.”

“With your taste buds? No thank you.”

“I’m not going to order you coffee or anything like that. Starbucks just came out with their spring menu, so they have a cherry blossom cream frappucino—”

“That. I want that.”

Satoshi stifles a laugh behind his hand, but she can still see the upturned ends of his lips. She pouts. He’s not allowed to be amused at her predictability.

She digs into her purse to fetch her wallet. “Lemme know how much it is so that—”

“No need, Harada.”

The line moves, and they’re at the register. Satoshi orders and pays for their drinks before she can pay for herself.

“Today is my treat.”

She’s a little confused as to why he invited her out for no reason and decided to pay for—oh my god. Risa glances at Satoshi’s outfit, noting that it’s nicer than the time she’s seen him in casual wear, before looking down at her own outfit.

Oh. My. God.

…is this a date?!

How could she unknowingly go on a date with Satoshi? How could he even ask her on one when he knows that her heart belongs to Dark? Does she—

“Harada, this isn’t a date.”

She stops her mental deliberations before shooting Satoshi a concerned look.

Is he reading her mind or something?

“I just thought you’d like the frappucino is all. Please don’t overthink this.”

“Then why are you treating me?”

He shrugs. “I figured going to Starbucks with me was the last thing you’d want to do on the weekend, so it’s just a small gesture for your time.”

Risa smiles. “I really don’t want to keep being indebted to you, Hiwatari-kun.”

Satoshi smirks. “Just accept it and let it go, Harada.”

They sit in a table along the glass-lined wall of the store. Satoshi doesn’t say anything, quickly busying himself with his phone, so Risa looks outside, watching the bustling street until she sees him put his phone away in her peripheries.

“I have a question for you, Hiwatari-kun.”

“Shoot.”

“Do you actually like black coffee?”

He chuckles. “I do. You can only really discern the taste of the bean when it’s black.”

“So…you’d rather sacrifice sleep for coffee?”

Satoshi tilts his head down and attempts to cover the growing grin with his mouth. He fails, simply because he’s finding this amusing for some unknown reason, and eventually composes himself decently enough to still reply.

That stupid smile is still on his face, though.

“As much as I stay up, I, too, enjoy sleep like everyone else.”

“But isn’t black coffee just…black coffee?”

“The beans and how it’s brewed are important. If I’m craving some good coffee, I’ll grind the beans I have at home and make myself a cup of pour over. If I need to stay up, I’ll just have whatever I can get. After all, the only way to get through a shitty day is with a shitty, bitter cup of coffee.”

Risa blinks, trying to process what he had just said. Did he just—

The barista calls their order before she can even respond to what just occurred. Satoshi gets out of his seat and returns to their table, placing her drink in front of her while he sits down, already sipping on his americano.

“…who are you and what have you done with the Hiwatari-kun I know?”

The unrestrained joy that she’s seen thus far dissipates when she sees the far-off look in his eyes. Just like before, he’s receding away, just like a dream on the cusp of awakening.

For whatever reason, he invited her out today. And perhaps today, only today, is he allowing himself to let down those walls that she’s so familiar with. Risa doesn’t know what to think of the Satoshi in front of her, casually chatting about himself and joking around like they’re good friends, but she at least knows that she likes it.

As strange as everything is, she’ll play along with it just this once.

“This is where you’re supposed to laugh, you know, and not stare off into space as if you’re having an existential crisis.”

“But who doesn’t have a daily existential crisis?”

Risa laughs before sipping her drink, enjoying the sugar and milk that’s sure to lull her into an afternoon nap when she gets home. It’s the perfect thing to chime in the spring season, and she makes a mental note to drop by a corner store on the way back to see whatever seasonal items she can ration until next spring.

“How is it?” Satoshi asks.

“Good! Do you want to try?”

“I’m fine, thank you.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. One sip of that will give me a headache.” He sighs. “I don’t understand how you can drink that.”

“Because I’m here to enjoy life. That—” She points to the iced americano in his hand. “—is no fun.”

“It’s fun enough for me.”

“You’re boring.”

He smiles, a small smile, but it’s genuine. “Maybe I am, but I’m content all the same.”

Risa doesn’t quite remember what follows that. Perhaps she was so hung up over how calm and comfortable he was in that moment that it lingered, like a footprint on the sand, on her mind. Either that or all their smiling and laughing had blurred together and overwrote the moments in between.

By the time their conversation had ended, the sun had already set. She remembers almost inviting him out to dinner to prolong this precious moment, but she stopped when she glanced at the messages on her phone. Ritsuko and Riku were already on their way back; it was far too risky for them to be together any longer.

And when they walked out of the Starbucks into the cool, evening air, they unceremoniously said their goodbyes before heading their separate ways.

…

When she arrives at school Monday morning, it’s just like any other morning. She walks into the classroom and settles down into her seat, taking out her things for the first class of the day before hanging her bag on the side of the desk.

Ritsuko’s not there yet, and Riku’s still at lacrosse practice, so she takes out her phone, ready to check her social media when the door opens.

She looks up to see Satoshi walking into the classroom, hair slightly tussled, clothes slightly wrinkled, with that unaffected expression on his face. Their eyes meet, just for a second, but he doesn’t acknowledge her. He stares past her before heading to his seat, acting as if nothing happened.

As if they have no relationship. As if they’re back to what they were before.

With that, her dream ends, and she wakes up in the cold truth of reality.

[butididntpourthewhiskeys]

L O V E B O U N D  

“Familybound - Part II”

Guys, a BIG thanks goes to @absent-minded-swiftie for sending me this old piece that I’ve written once. I hope you enjoy reading it xx Happy Thursday

“You do realize though that this view is insane right? There’s literally no place affordable in this town with such a view, I swear.“ Cara mumbles amazed while standing in front of the big window fronts in Taylor’s living room. “Don’t be distracted by the fact that she acts like a normal person. This place is still not affordable at all.“ Joe mumbles from the wooden table at the end of the big room while looking into his laptop. Taylor, who still comfortably sits on the couch behind Cara, just rolls her eyes at her boyfriend. He thinks he’s so clever and funny with his little snarky remarks today. Cara slowly trots back to the couch and smiles at Taylor before sitting down next to her again. Taylor now looks out of the window again and sighs. It’s grey and cold outside. It’s that kind of weather that is not cold enough for snow but too cold to enjoy being outside at all. Plus the rain.

God, this really is England.

Cara just places her hand over Taylor’s, has clearly noticed how lost she has been in her own thoughts. “But I’m serious, Tay. He’s right. You’re gonna be fine.“, Cara tells her friend, sips on her cup of tea once more before placing the big grey mug on the wooden coffee table again. She then looks at Taylor who just nods silently, still not really believing what her friend tells her. The two girls were casually hanging out in Taylor’s living room, two cats wandering across the room and her favorite chill- out playlist filling the room with comfortable songs that are making this grey and cold day at least a bit more cozy and warm. Taylor, who has changed her posture with a sigh, just looks from Cara to her boyfriend who winks at Cara in response after overhearing the girls’ conversation. “Can you imagine the level of chaos in his life If someone sees me? I mean, I’m all in for going to the movies but..“

“Babe. We’re sitting in a darkened room with people who are focused on a massive screen in front of them.“ Joe interrupts her with a sigh, sounding a bit tired, while answering a couple of emails. He knows her well and he knows that she has the tendency to work herself up into situations that most of the time turn out to not be difficult at all. Cara just looks at Taylor and laughs quietly while stirring the spoon in her tea. “Your gentleman of a boyfriend is taking you to one of the shabbiest cinemas in town. The chance of being all alone in there anyway because nobody in this town wants to go there is outstandingly high, Taylor.“ the model mumbles amused before placing her empty cup of tea right in front of her again. Joe clears his throat with a reproachful undertone. Taylor looks from Cara to Joe and back at Cara and smiles confused. “You British people with all your inside jokes..“ she mumbles, clearly not amused that Joe and Cara both seem to have gotten the joke, but she didn’t.

“I’m taking you to Vue Cinema, which is.. not the most elegant choice of cinemas in town but there’re literally no people there most of the time, so..“ “But that sounds good.“ Taylor answers him enthusiastic, looks back at Cara who slowly pets Meredith next to her, clearly amused about the situation. “Yeah, I mean. It’s just really hilarious to think that he would probably never take any girlfriend to this shabby place but because he’s dating Taylor Swift he thought to himself ‘mhm, what is the most disgusting place in town? Oh right, that’s where I’m taking her to for date night‘“ Cara mimics and Taylor throws her head back laughing. It’s funny to think of the situation that way. Joe just sighs, clearly amused as well, but shakes his head dramatically.

“You’re an awful person, Cara Delevigne.“ Joe mumbles, still focused on his MacBook, desperately searching for the original copy of a script that his manager had just sent him yesterday. “I love you too, guys. But I’m gonna head home now.“ she casually answers, slowly let’s go off the cat that was just getting comfortable on the cushion right next to her. Taylor nods, fixes a strand of hair behind her ear. “You’re still more than welcome to join us tonight. Even though the choice of movie theatre might not meet your standards.“ Taylor jokes and Cara pulls her into a soft hug. “Thanks but I’m actually going onto a date tonight, so..“ Even Joe, who was casually sitting on one of the leather chairs with his grey pants and a white shirt now looks up from his laptop screen and widens his eyes, clearly impressed. Taylor looks at Cara just as surprised as her boyfriend and immediately reaches out to hold onto Cara’s arm. “What? And you’re telling me this now? Who? How? Details please?“ she says, clearly excited. Even Joe now fully turns around in his chair, grabs his cup of tea that has almost become cold by now and takes a sip.

“Spill the beans, honey.“ he jokes in an American accent, has lifted up his voice to sound like Taylor. Cara just rolls her eyes at Joe laughing while Taylor casually ignores him, way too focused on Cara in front of her. “It’s nothing special. I just met this girl in Miami last week and she’s in town, so we’re having a couple of drinks. Nothing more.“ she says and Taylor nods. “Okay, but tell me how it went, okay?“ she states and Cara casually nods before getting up. She walks past Joe and gives him a high five before saying goodbye.

He can still hear low noises of the girls in the hallway, way too focused on the email he’s about to send to his management team. A couple of minutes later, Joe still finds himself sitting on the exact same table, head in his hands, clearly overwhelmed by the amount of work that lies ahead of him in the next months. The digital calendar on his laptop is marked in so many different colors, all of them standing for the amount of flights, meetings, auditions and shootings he’ll have before Christmas. His stare drifts off to the big window at the end of the room. It’s slowly getting dark outside and the city lights of London are far away, almost blurry. The smell of Taylor’s candles has now finally filled the room entirely.

And he loves it. It smells like her.

Just when Joe was about to reply to another email of his manager about a fitting with some costume designer of the movie he’s currently starring in, he feels two hands slowly wrapping themselves around his torso. One over his shoulder, one around his chest and a warm face that is slowly being pressed into the side of his neck. He feels a soft kiss being pressed onto his skin and he immediately smiles silently. “Hey.“ he mumbles quietly and feels her slowly letting go off him. He automatically pulls his chair back and gives her access to fully sit down on his lap, sideways, and with both hands wrapped around his neck. “Hey.“ she smiles, still make up free and her hair in a little curly ponytail, right in her neck. She comes closer to him and kisses him softly, knows that she probably acts like a little child. Not kissing him for two hours while Cara came by was definitely too long for her taste. Joe smiles, both arms wrapped around her waist now. His work can suddenly wait. She’s the worst distraction he has ever known. “So when do you have to leave tomorrow?“ she asks quietly, looks at his face with a hint of sadness in her eyes. She hates the fact that he’ll be gone for two days. She hates it. And she knows how childish it is to create such a drama for herself, just because he’ll be gone for 48 hours. It’s childish. She’s well aware that there will come times when they’ll be separated for even more than 48 hours. It’s childish and immature yet she can’t help it. She’s addicted to him. To him and his beautiful character. His beautiful smile.

“I think I’ll get picked up at around 10am. So.. sleeping in. At least.“ he mumbles into her side, lets his head rest on her shoulder for a few seconds before pressing a kiss onto it, right over the burgundy shirt she’s wearing. Taylor automatically places her hand on his scalp, scratches him gently. She knows how much he loves that. “Yeah, sounds good.“ she yawns, still tired from this early morning, just as much as him. Joe then slowly looks up again, gently smiling at her. She looks cute when she’s tired. “What do you want to eat before leaving?“ he asks her, feels a bit hungry by now. Taylor’s eyes wander outside again. She’s clearly uninspired when it comes to her food cravings tonight.

“How about I get us something from that kebab shop we went to? The one where..“ “Oh my god, yes!“ she answers euphorically, realized just now that that was exactly what she was craving. He laughs at her sudden excitement and leans in for another kiss. “Let me put on some clothes and I’ll be back in twenty.“ he says and Taylor lets him get up, moves on his lap herself.

It takes even less than twenty minutes for him to come back from the cold. It’s fully dark outside now. Taylor and Joe both get comfortable on the antique wooden table in the spacious living room, both talk about their plans for the next weeks, discuss appropriate birthday presents for his Dad and laugh about a meme she has found on Tumblr. After having everything cleaned up afterwards, Taylor disappears upstairs to get ready for the movie theatre with him. Joe, who was texting a friend, looks up surprised as his girlfriend walks down the stairs. He can’t help but let out a few breaths of amusement. She wears a hazelnut brown wig that almost looks like as If she’s a redhead. Her grey shirt and her blue Jeans support this casual look. He gets up and examines her slowly. Taylor blushes. She feels ridiculous as always whenever she tries to pull off a disguise, being well aware that she most likely looks like she forgot that Halloween is already over.

“Say hello to your girlfriend Shelby.“ she then smirks at him, tries to not let him notice how uncomfortable she really is, standing there in front of him with this ridiculous wig. Joe can’t help but bite his lip though. It’s incredibly sexy to even think about her switching personalities and watch her wink at him in this red wig. He laughs, slowly touches the fake hair. “Hi, Shelby.“ he just mumbles with a smirk on his face. Taylor laughs at his facial expression. He really seems to like that look on her.

“I’ve never dated a girl with red hair.“ He admits and Taylor laughs. “Well, you see. You get to be with so many girls when you’re with me.“ She answers casually and he smirks.

“Ready?“ He asks and Taylor nods, right before grabbing her coat that is hanging loosely over the sofa. Joe and her slowly leave the house and talk to Brandon on the way to the cinema, joking about her wig and how she’s “Shelby Swoft” tonight, a British girl with a fake American accent. Before leaving the car, she has to ensure Brandon once more that she’ll be fine and that he can wait in the car outside. Joe and her quickly get out. A cold wind strikes her face and she shivers immediately. The movie has started already and therefore, it’s almost empty in the little hallway. Joe steps up to buy the tickets for them and Taylor just pulls out her phone. She’s still anxious whenever she finds herself in normal situations like these with him. She still has these little moments where she feels like an idiot, unable to remember that her disguise has worked multiple times before and unable to calm down. She takes a deep breath, answers to a text message from Martha, just to distract herself a bit. She then feels Joe’s arm on her back again and starts to walk to one of the auditoriums with him. He quickly grabs her hand again and smiles at her.

“Everything alright, Shelby?“ he whispers and Taylor responds with a nod. “Shelby’s cold but good.“ He kisses her cold hands one time with a smile on his face. It’s a reassuring smile. Because he knows that she’s nervous and he gets it. But at the same time, he’s just so proud that he can make her do these things. It makes him proud to think that life couldn’t be more complicated for her, yet everything becomes normal with him in it. Because that’s all he wants to be. A part of her life. A part of her happiness.

When they enter the darkened room, the commercials on the screen are slowly coming to an end. They sit down right at the side of the seating area. Taylor holds her breath. She looks around. There’re only a few people in the cinema, probably even less than ten. None of them have even looked up when they entered the room. It worked. It really worked. After quietly pulling off her coat, Taylor immediately reaches for Joe’s arm. He gladly pulls his arm around her and Taylor buries herself in his chest. She’s happy about tonight. It was one of his great ideas. And it worked. She couldn’t be happier.

“Thanks.“ she whispers and Joe looks down at her in confusion. The movie slowly starts but Joe looks down at his girlfriend, who’s cuddling herself now even more into his chest. “For what?“ He asks and she slowly comes up to kiss his cheek softly. “For making me to do these things.“ He smiles, slowly sinks his head to kiss hers. Feeling the wig under his lips is not the same. “Can I just say..“ he whispers and Taylor looks up at him. “Shelby is great but Taylor’s my favorite.“ She can’t help but laugh quietly. He smirks. “Lucky you, cause that’s the one you’ll be getting tonight. Shelby may do movie theaters but Taylor does a lot more other things..“ she teases, biting her lip. Joe smirks back at her, asks himself how this woman can go from angel to devil in less than ten seconds. He responds a quiet “sounds good.“ And kisses her again before finally settling down to watch the movie. Taylor in his arm and her head on his chest. That’s how it should always be, in his opinion.

________________________________________

A phone rings, at the end of the room. Taylor who’s still deep asleep doesn’t move, doesn’t realize that the ringing sound in fact is a thing and not just part of her dream. Joe on the contrary, realizes quickly that the disturbing sound is his iPhone that was plugged in at the other side of the room. He groans, already mad at whoever of his mates calls him in the middle of the night, probably drunk as fuck. He slowly lets go of his girlfriend who is still asleep in front of him. Joe quietly gets up. In just his boxers, he wanders across the room. He’s clearly confused when the caller ID shows an unknown number. Taylor suddenly stirs, confused about the fact that she can hear Joe’s low voice at the end of the room, realizes just now that he has left the bed. She sleepily scratches her head, then sits up a bit. It’s still dark in the room. Taylor turns her head.

02.21 am. Who on earth is calling him in the middle of the night?

Being certain that Joe will tell his drunk friends to stop calling him at this hour of the night, Taylor falls back into the pillow, closes her eyes once more. She then realizes that Joe sounds different, doesn’t talk the way he usually would talk to his lads.

In just that moment, Taylor feels unusually awake.

She sits up, holds the blanket onto her chest and sees him standing there. His hair still messed up from sleeping, his hand on his forehead. He looks shocked. Taylor swallows, immediately crawls out of bed and turns on the small night lamp. She slowly grabs his shirt that’s laying on the floor next to her side. Taylor slept in nothing but her panties after making love to him right before they went to bed last night. She slips the big white t- shirt over her naked body and walks up to him. He notices her now, seems way too distracted to look at her though. She quickly grants him a worried look and places her head next to the phone to understand what the other person is telling him while Joe just casually answers with “Yes, alright.“ and “Where are they now“. Taylor feels goosebumps on her skin. She suddenly has this horrible assumption that something might has happened to his parents. Or his brother? She feels her heart beating faster as he suddenly mumbles a “Can you give me the address, please?“. She quickly lets go off his arm where she was holding onto and watches Joe wander downstairs to desperately find something to write on. She follows him slowly, eager to know who’s calling him. As she finds Joe in the kitchen downstairs with a pen and an old receipt from Tesco, she remains right next to him. She can sense that he is agitated, remains as polite as always yet shakes his head in disbelieve every few seconds. Taylor then looks at the receipt. He has written down an address. Winchester. Isn’t that where Patrick went for his class trip? She swallows.

Patrick.

Taylor then looks at her boyfriend again, who just ended the call, aggressively throws his phone onto the counter right in front of him. “Who..“

“I can’t believe how stupid someone can possibly be..“ he shakes his head, clearly emphasized his ‘stupid‘ which just shows that he really is upset. Standing almost naked right next to him, Taylor just places her hand on his shoulder. “What happened?“ she asks again, can’t believe that he makes her wait since minutes to let her know what this phone call was about. “My parents aren’t in town so I.. I have to fucking pick up Patrick. They found weed and cocaine at the boys room and.. apparently Patrick is the only one who admitted that it’s his, so..“

“What?“ she caws again, fells like she misheard what he just said. She just looks at him and Joe is pale. She has never seen him like this. Obviously. The words “Patrick“ and “Weed“ and “Cocaine“ in one sentence do not make any sense to her. Not at all.

“Are you sure that it’s his? I mean..“

“Of course.“ he hisses, anger in his voice. He then, suddenly, realizes how his tone has changed while talking to her and then immediately looks at her, for the first time tonight. “God, I’m so sorry. I’m..“

“No, baby. It’s fine.“ Taylor assures him, can clearly see in the way he stands there that he feels like losing his mind. The thought that his little fourteen year old brother has slipped into things like cocaine clearly is a shock.

“We’ll just.. put on some clothes and pick him up and talk to him. Okay? I’m sure..“

“You don’t have to come with me.“ he says and looks at her, but she just lets out an ironic laugh. There’s no way she’ll let him drive over there alone. “Of course I will. Let’s just put on some clothes and..“

“It’s almost two hours away.“ Joe says, feels bad for Taylor already. She was so tired last night and the fact that she now has to drive four hours in a car with him just pick up his irritated teenage brother is making him feel bad. He loves how supportive she is, but this is something serious. This is something about his brother that she shouldn’t have to deal with. But the blonde girl in front of him just smiles calmly, places her hand on his cheek and leans up to kiss his lips sloppily. “It’s really fine. Really. C’mon.“ she says and rushes upstairs with him.

As soon as they enter her bedroom again, Joe pulls on a pair of jeans and a sweater. He doesn’t feel able to think straight right now, doesn’t know what to tell her. Is he disappointed? Yes. Angry? Hell yes. But most of all he’s worried. Worried about the youngest one in his family. Taylor does just the same. She silently puts on a pair of jeans as well as a grey sweater and grabs a burgundy colored beanie out of her closet. She puts it on, then shares a look at him. As crazy as this situation is, they both can’t help but laugh for a second. They’re matching clothes. Again.

“Do you want me to ask Brandon, or..“

“If It’s okay for you I would rather take my car because I offered them to drop off some other boys at their parent’s houses as well and.. I don’t know. It’s not going to be a convo I want to have in front of..” “No, It’s fine. I get it. I’ll ask him to stay behind us. Okay?“

“You really don’t have to come with me. I’ll be fine. Just go back to sleep and..“

“Shut up, Joseph.“ she shoots back, not even listening to whatever he’s going to tell her next, just grabs her phone that was on the night table next to the bed. He can’t help but feel an enormous amount of thankfulness while watching her storm off into the bathroom, brushing her teeth within a matter of seconds. It’s overwhelming to feel her support. To know that she’d drop everything just to take a drive with him, to the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night, to deal with his immature brother.

Taylor leans her head against the cold car window. She yawns quietly, her eyes focusing on the empty and dark road. Nobody is on the street. Only the headlights lighting up the road.

It’s quiet. No surprise.

This drive is definitely not one of the fun road trips they usually take through the English country side with music blasting loudly through the car. She slowly turns her head, looks at her boyfriend who’s driving. He’s silent, his face laced with a scowl. She has never seen him so angry and terrified at the same time. And she gets it. She absolutely gets it. Getting to know Patrick, Taylor knew from the very first moment on that he’s a good kid. That Patrick is insecure which is normal at that age but that he has his heart in the right place, just like Joe does. She can’t really believe that Patrick would consume something as dangerous as cocaine. Weed on the other hand is something that most boys have consumed before, even though it’s illegal. Her brother might have as well. But being fourteen definitely is too early. Way too early.

“Are you still cold? Should I gear up the heater?“ he suddenly breaks the silence, still focused on the road. Taylor just moves in her seat, slowly puts her hands on her beanie, fixing it. “No, I’m good. Do you wanna talk about it?“ she asks carefully. Joe swallows, then sighs. His right elbow casually placed on the car window while keeping his hands on the steering wheel. “I’m just.. confused.“ he says slowly. Taylor immediately reaches for his hand that was casually placed in his lap while driving just with one hand. She intertwines their hands and strokes the back of his hand slowly. She loves that about him. She loves the fact that he just simply opens up. There’re no mind games with Joe. There’s never silence or difficulties when it comes to him. He grants her clarity and openness in moments in which there had always been confusion with her Exes.

“Of course you are.“ she answers quietly, leaves him some space to clear his head. “I mean.. I’ve done weed. At.. sixteen, I think. And I’ve done stupid things like.. going drunk to school or bringing alcohol to my grandma’s funeral, but..“

“What?“ she suddenly interrupts him with a horrified but amused look. Even he has to smile lightly at her shock. She sometimes can’t believe the hilarious stories he tells her about his teenager years.

“But the thing is.. Patrick, he.. he knew exactly that some teachers have their eyes on him because he did stupid things last year, like.. skipping classes and cheating on tests and.. he’s literally on the edge of failing some classes anyway this year. So.. I just don’t get why he’d do this? My mum is going to.. she’s going to be so worried about him. I mean.. cocaine? Is he mental? Where the fuck does he even get this stuff at fourteen? What kind of a person would sell this to a child?“ he rants and Taylor tightens the grip around his hand. She feels how he suddenly becomes more and more emotional, clearly affected by his worries.

“Hey, Joe. Calm down.“ she says calmly, just quiet enough to make him take a deep breath. She has never seen him like this. Never before. He doesn’t even move his hand that is in hers, clearly glad that she’s there with him.

“First of all, we don’t know Patrick’s side of the story yet. We don’t know If it really was his or if he was just covering for some of his friends. So the first thing you should do is talk to him and let him tell you his side of the story before jumping to any conclusions. I know you’re worried but he deserves a chance to explain himself first and..“

“He deserves to get his ass kicked. That’s what he deserves.“ Joe just mumbles grumpily. Taylor sighs, looks at him and rolls her eyes. “Baby.“ she warns him.

“He’s gonna get expelled. The school’s gonna report him to the police. Do you know that he won’t find a college that accepts him If he has a drug report?“ Joe rants. Taylor stays quiet. He’s right. With everything he says. And telling him to calm down would be more than wrong. The situation is bad and she’s well aware of that.

“If that is the case, we’ll find a specialized lawyer. He’s fourteen. This is not the end of the..“

“What if he’s really into this shit? I mean.. what if he’s an addict? And that’s the reason why his grades sunk and..“

“Baby, stop.“ Taylor finally interrupts him. He seems to lose his mind slowly. She looks at him and he just sighs. She feels how he tightens the grip on his hand, squeezes her hand one time.

He needs her. He really needs her a lot right now.

“Whatever it is.. there will be a solution. He’s a smart and good kid and whatever the reason for this may be.. it’s just a mistake. Young people do stupid things and..“

“I’m so sorry that I’m dragging you into this.“ he slowly interrupts her. His hand still in hers, his tired eyes on the road ahead. She just shakes her head. She seems off. Joe looks at her quickly, but she looks away, out of the window into the darkness. They’re still the only ones on the road. The sound of the engine the only noise in the middle of the night.

“Did I say something wrong?“ he murmurs under his breath, not sure If he’s getting her wrong.

“Yes.“ she answers him, a lot more reserved than he would’ve wished. Yet her hand is in his. And she’s not letting go. Not at all.

“You think that me going with you to pick up your little brother means you’re dragging me into something?“ she asks him with an angry undertone. He doesn’t know what to answer her and he doesn’t have to because she simply continues talking. “It’s just.. you always include me in so many things when it comes to your family and I’m always so thrilled and thankful and then you say something like this. As if I.. as if I shouldn’t be included or..“

“Baby, you got this totally wrong.“ he immediately answers her, “I want you to be included no matter what. It’s just.. this is not one of these fun and.. and joyful family moments and I don’t want to scare you away or think worse of my brother or..“

“I would never, Joe. Never. I love them and I love you.“ she interrupts him with a shaky voice. She’s emotional. Joe turns his head and sees the look on her face. She doesn’t cry but she really needs him to know. Joe immediately raises his hand that was holding hers. He leads their intertwined hands to his mouth and kisses the back of her hand at least five times.

“I’m an idiot. I’m an asshole, tonight. I just.. I feel like going crazy. I’m so sorry that I made you feel as If you shouldn’t be included in this or.. as If you wouldn’t love me or my family as much as you do. I’m just sorry. About this drama and the fact that you didn’t get enough sleep because of my crazy family again. Love you, that’s all.“ he casually says and she smiles tiredly at him. Her hand still receiving some sluggish kisses while he’s focused on the road. It’s still pretty dark in the car and just the little lights from the dashboard of the car light up his face.

He’s so beautiful. She will never have enough of this. Of him. Of the way they can just talk about every argument and solve it with their open communication. No mind games. Just two people working it out. “You’re not an asshole. But I love you, too.“ she says quietly, almost a whisper. He looks at her one time again and smiles slightly. Taylor places her hand on his hair, scratches the back of his head a few minutes. She then leans in and kisses his cheek softly. Just when she sat back again in the seat that is now warm because of the heating system in the car, Taylor notices that he takes the next exit off the road.

“What are you doing?“ she asks, followed by a big yawn. “Refueling. Why don’t you sleep a little?“ Taylor shakes her head.

“No, I’ll try to stay awake now. If not I’ll feel even worse as soon as we get there..“ Joe stops the car as soon as they’ve reached the gas stop. The yellow petrol station light illuminating the car. She can now fully look at him again. His eyes are puffy. He’s so worried, she can sense that.

“Are you okay staying here, or..“

“Brandon’s right behind, I’m good.“ she smiles at him, tries to make him feel her support. He has been the sun on her darkest days for over a year now. He has pulled himself back to make her feel better, to support her so many times. Now it’s her turn. Now she can finally try and give back and be there for him. Now she gets to be the sunshine for him.

“Okay. I’ll be back in a minute.“ he says and leaves the car. Taylor watches him filling up the tank in the rearview mirror. He then turns around to Brandon, signals him that everything’s fine. Taylor yawns again. She then takes her phone and checks her mails. It’s only 9.30pm in Nashville right now, and her mom has sent her a video of Kitty playing with some of Olivia’s toys. She smiles. If only they knew in how much trouble Joe’s brother is at this moment.

The car door then suddenly opens and Joe sits down next to her again. This time a warm cup of coffee and a candy bar in his hand. “There you go, this is for you.“ he says and gives both to his girlfriend. Taylor, who’s still in her favorite sweater and her beanie hat, just smiles. “Oh, thanks babe. You never forget to feed me.“ she smiles and takes a sip of the coffee. That’s exactly what she needed. “Can I have a hug in return?“ he mumbles, was just about to buckle up again. Taylor smiles warmly. She immediately places the hot cup in the holder next to her and the candy bar remains on her lap. She places her hand on his cheek and gives him a soft kiss. He smiles. She tastes like coffee and her favorite Burt’s Bees chapstick that she always uses each morning after getting up. She then wraps her hands around his upper back and head, presses her face sideways into his neck. Joe takes a deep breath. He’s so glad she’s here.

“He’s going to be fine. I know it.“ she whispers and holds him tightly. She won’t let go. Joe then slowly pulls back after a while. He smiles at her thankfully. “And you know that I’m always right, so..“ Joe quietly laughs at her smart remark. She’s right though. That, he has to admit. “Correct.“ He smiles while starting the car once more. “You know what I just thought?“ she smirks as he slowly drives onto the driveway again, both eyes focused on the empty street and Brandon right behind them. “What?“ “This is going to be a good story we can tell when he’s getting married one day. Like, oh Patrick please don’t forget that one time we drove two hours to get you in the middle of the night, you know.“

Joe smirks. She’s right. “And who mentions that part about the weed then?“

“We’ll decide that later on. As long as no one mentions my little walk of shame in front of his friends yesterday morning..“ she mumbles, while sipping on her coffee and looking out of the window. Joe laughs. “God, I almost forgot about that..“ he laughs and she punches him softly. “I really hope his friends from this morning aren’t the ones that we have to pick up as well..“ she whines and he laughs quietly. “I don’t think so, babe. These boys’ parents are apparently gone as well and they all have to be at the headmasters office tomorrow morning so.. I was asked by the teacher to get them as well.“ he says and sighs. He really is more than annoyed about this nightly trip. “Did they call your mom as well?“ She asks while looking out the window and into the sky. It’s still dark but the sky has turned into a lighter shade of dark blue. The sun’s still far away from rising yet it’s getting later.

“No, just me. Because they only have my number, so.. Do you think I should call her?“ He asks and looks at her. Taylor sighs, her free hand reaching for his. “Not yet. I think you should.. talk to Patrick first. And then call them later. Everything else will just freak them out even more.“ Taylor says and he nods. As so often, she’s right. A calm silence overcomes the two. Joe keeps on driving and Taylor sips on her coffee ever now and then. She then looks onto the road ahead, enjoys the moment. As weird as it sounds. But they’re alone. Absolutely alone. Nobody distracting him, nobody watching them.

“I know this probably sounds wrong but.. this is nice.“ she says then, looks at him. He frowns quickly, confused but waits for her to continue. “You and me and the fact that we’re doing this together.“ Joe looks at her for a second and all he sees as he looks back at the road is her warm smile. Now he’s the one reaching for her hand. “Yeah. And I’d like to do these things together with you for a very, very long time.“ “So you wanna pick up our kids after they were found with weed on a class trip, too?“ she jokes and he smirks silently.

“Patrick will do that. We’ll be on a holiday then, trust me.“ He says and makes her laugh a little before continuing to finish her coffee.

________________________________________

“Baby?“ She hears his soft voice, suddenly opens her eyes. Her neck feels a bit stiff and the car isn’t moving anymore. She feels his hand on her face. The sun slowly begins to rise and it’s not as dark anymore as in the moment where her eyes closed. “Did I.. did I fall asleep?“ she mumbles, rubbing her eyes disoriented. “Yeah. We’re here. I don’t think you should come with me, maybe you can stay in the car? There’re a lot of teenagers in there and..“

“Mhm, yeah.“ she answers him and he quickly pulls in to give her a kiss. “I’ll be back in a minute.“

“Do you want me to drive home with Brandon so you can talk to him alone or..“

“I’d love if you were here, but you don’t have to..“

“I’ll be here. Now go in there and don’t punch anyone right away. Promise?“ she interrupts and grants him a last smile. He kisses her again, then slowly leaves the car.

“Promise.“

Taylor looks how he disappears from the parking lot. There’s nothing but huge bushes in front of her. She loosens the belt around her torso, turns around to get a better look of where they are. The hostel looks really nice, seems to be hidden in a little forest, far away from everything. The building though cannot be seen from the parking lot where he left the car. The only thing that can be seen though is the ambulance that has parked on the other side of the parking spot, right where the little road leads to the hostel. She swallows. What a crazy night. It takes exactly five minutes until she can hear footsteps on the gravel path. She turns her head and sees two familiar persons walking towards the car. One tall man with a deep frown on his face and one boy with his backpack that looks just as devastated as the other one. Taylor can’t help but smile. They look like twins.

The car opens and Joe sits down next to her. He’s tense. She feels it. Patrick seems to place his backpack in the trunk first. Taylor squeezes his hand quickly, doesn’t have to talk to communicate with him.

Are you okay?

Yes.

In just that moment Patrick enters the car, quietly sits down in the backseat. It’s still dark outside. None of the boys are saying a word.

“Hi Taylor.“ she hears a slow mumble from behind. She slowly turns around and looks at Patrick. He’s pale. He looks shocked. She swallows. “Hey.“ she says warmly, then turns around to face Joe again. His hands are glued to the steering wheel even though he didn’t start car yet.

“Where are the other boys?“ she asks and Joe answers.

“Getting their stuff.“ he answers quickly. Taylor nods. She shouldn’t say much more. This awkward moment is not really any of her business. She’s here to support Joe, but she shouldn’t start the awkward conversation that’s bound to happen.

“I’m not gonna ask this in front of the others so.. why did you do it?“ Joe asks. He looks angry. Disappointed. Taylor swallows, looks into the darkness of the bushes right in front of the car. It’s probably four in the morning. Way too early for such a conversation.

“Did what?“

“Do you think I’m stupid?“

“I didn’t.. take the cocaine. What did they tell you?“

“That they found weed and cocaine and that you admitted that it was yours.“

"I did but.. I didn’t take the cocaine. Really.“ Patrick says and Taylor freezes. She looks at Joe and he still seems tense. More tense than she’s ever seen him.

“Why do you have it then?“ Patrick doesn’t say anything. Joe turns his head.

“Speak up.“

Patrick still doesn’t answer.

“We drove two fucking hours to get your stupid ass and you don’t even feel the need to answer me? What a fucking ignorant..“

“Hey.“ Taylor interrupts him. He’s about to freak out and yelling won’t bring them any further. He looks at her one time and immediately feels how much she calms him with just one look into her eyes. He swallows. Then he looks back at Patrick. He still wants an answer.

“I can’t tell you. I.. I just didn’t take it. Trust me. I wouldn’t.“

“What about the weed?“

“We.. we just shared a..“

“Was it yours? Or did the others..“

“It was mine but we all brought some..“ Joe just shakes his head in disbelief. He can’t believe it. Nothing of what happened tonight. He looks outside the window.

“Are you even aware that this is illegal?“

“I am. I’m sorry.“ the young boy sighs, his voice still shaky.

“Why’s an ambulance here?“ Joe asks, then looks back to Taylor. She seems just as clueless as him, shrugs her shoulders silently.

“One girl drank too much and they had to call an ambulance.“ Joe looks back at Taylor and shakes his head again for the twentieth time tonight. He can’t believe how stupid these kids are. He simply can’t believe it. Taylor looks also shocked. She still remembers from her school days that sneaking beer into different school activities has always been a thing. But weed, cocaine and alcohol poisoning? This is an extent that was unimaginable during her school days.

“Where’d you get that stuff from?“ Joe then asks again, still sounding angry. Patrick doesn’t answer. Again.

“Did you buy it? Who sells cocaine to kids..“

“The cocaine isn’t mine, I just told.“

“Then what about the weed? Where did you get that from?“ Patrick becomes silent again. Taylor witnesses the tense atmosphere.

“There’s.. this guy at our school.“ Joe sighs. Taylor as well. Seems like Patrick isn’t the only one in that school who’s going to be in a lot of trouble.

“Who’s the owner of the cocaine if it’s not yours?“

“You don’t know them.“

“I want a name, Patrick.“

“I can’t tell you.“

“Say his fucking name.“

“I can’t.“

Taylor opens her mouth. The situation will escalate If they won’t change the subject as soon as possible. Taylor turns around, carefully faces Patrick.

“Did your friends bring some as well or are you the only one who got caught?“ she asks silently, seems much more calm then her boyfriend is at this moment. Joe instead just looks out of the window, doesn’t even face his brother anymore. But Taylor notices how pale Patrick is. His hands are shaking while he sits in the back of the car. She feels bad for him. Not because what he did wasn’t absolutely wrong, but because she knows that he’s a good boy and that he just made a huge mistake with this.

“No, we.. we all brought some.“ Taylor nods. At least it seems like he’s not the only one who did something stupid on that trip.

“Why’d you do it, Patrick? You.. you knew that some teachers would have their eyes on you. You’re gonna get expelled. There’s no way mum will find another school that has such a good reputation as this one. You’ll get reported. How.. stupid could you be.“ Joe mumbles and Patrick remains silent.

“I know and.. I’m so sorry. I just.. I’m so sorry.“ he mumbles out of breath. Taylor feels instantly bad for him. “That’s your problem now, not mine.“ Joe says, clearly more angry at him than Taylor is. She just looks at her boyfriend next to her. He acts inviolable again, which is just a mechanism to protect himself. He’s scared but he doesn’t want to show it. So scared that he reacts with anger. She knows him too well. This is his way of showing him that he cares.

“Did you cover someone by saying that the cocaine was yours?“ she asks the boy softly and turns around to face him once more. On one hand she knows that she should just sit back and shut up. On the other hand she wants to support Joe. He seems shocked and helpless, somehow.

“Answer her.“ Joe shoots at his brother.

“Yes.“ Patrick mumbles then whispering, looks down at his hands. Taylor shares a look with Joe. She knew it. “Who did you cover up?“ Taylor continues now. Her soft voice seems to make Patrick open up more than Joe’s more angry rants. Even Joe gets that now and remains silent to see how far Taylor can make Patrick open up. There’s still silence in the car. Just a few noises coming from the hostel that is on the other side of the bushes in front of them. Joe has turned on the car a few minutes ago, so that the heater is running again. He doesn’t want Taylor to get cold. The fact that she’s a part of this drama with less than two hours of sleep is bad enough.

“Chloe.“ he whispers, his voice shaky. He doesn’t look at Taylor nor Joe. Nobody says anything anymore. Taylor turns her head to Joe and they share a look. Of course. Your first love really does make you do the most stupid things in the world. And it’s safe to say that Taylor and Joe both made their own experiences with that. Just in that moment of silence, low steps along the gravel path can be heard. Two boys, who also seem pretty shocked and shaken up are walking towards the car. Taylor bites her lower lip. They must be super embarrassed that Patrick’s older brother is going to be the one who has to bring them home.

“We’ll talk about this later.“ Joe says quickly, right before the other boys open the car door. Taylor looks at him and smiles. It was nice of him to not let Patrick discuss the whole Chloe topic in front of his friends.

As the car door opens, two young boys who are probably fourteen or fifteen as well enter the car, and slowly sit down in the backseat of the car next to Patrick. The light inside of Joe’s car makes the boys’ faces more visible. They look just as shocked and rattled as Patrick does.

“Sorry about this, Mr. Alwyn.“ one of them mumbles, clearly aware of the fact that Joe had to drive about two hours just to pick them up. The other one starts to mumble a light “Sorry“ as well. Shaky voices are the only thing Taylor can observe from their mumbles. They seem way too nervous to properly speak up. Joe just sighs, starts the car slowly.

“I’m tired but not old. You can call me Joe.“ he answers and starts the car before rolling slowly across the parking lot. Taylor smirks at Joe, then turns around to face the kids one time and notices the suddenly even more shocked and confused looks from the backseat. She quickly realizes why, is definitely not as good in looking angry as Joe is, therefore smiles at the young boys softly.

“Hi, I’m Taylor.“ she says, then turns around again. None of the boys answer anything anymore. Joe, who’s focused on the road once again can’t help but bite his lip and hide a smirk. He knows all about the sudden silence coming from the backseat. They clearly did not expect to see Taylor Swift in this car tonight.

“Mate, is that..“

“Shut up.“ Patrick shoots back. Taylor and Joe look at each other and can’t help but giggle quietly while driving home.

________________________________________

“You have two more hours before school starts. So enjoy thinking about what you’ll explain your headmaster at school..“ Joe mumbles during a big yawn as soon as they enter the family house again. Morning has clearly broken and a grey layer of clouds has replaced the dark night sky by now. It’s not raining but it’s more windy and cold as usual. The perfect weather for this day. Joe drops the keys on the little drawer in the hallway, feels more than exhausted after these four hours of driving. The boys who also haven’t slept at all last night don’t really answer, just quietly disappear upstairs. Taylor closes the door, as she walks in at last, watches the boys disappear. She sighs. It’s been a long ride. And definitely not enough sleep for any one of them. Joe takes off his coat, quickly throws it over the rack next to the door. Taylor who’s still in her sweatshirt pulls off her beanie. Her curly and messy hair sticking up from her head. Joe smiles tiredly while walking into the kitchen.

“You want some breakfast? This one’s for you.“ he says and holds up the last homemade chocolate muffin that his mum had kept in the breadbox in front of them. Taylor just shakes her head softly.

“Nah, it’s too early. But thanks. Another coffee would be great though.“ she mumbles, clearly poorly looking before yawning loudly. “Don’t you want to go back to bed?“

Joe shakes his head, enters the kitchen quietly.

“I have to leave for the airport at 10am and I have to call my mum before that, I guess. Also, I’m not sure she’s going to be fine with leaving Patrick alone until next week as long as I’m gone. Tom is in Dover until next month and I’m gonna be back in town on Friday. Earliest. So I’ll have to ask her..“

“He can stay at my place until you come back. If that’s okay for your mom, of course.“ she says, looks at him while leaning in the doorframe of the family kitchen. He tries to fumble one of the Nespresso capsule into the coffee machine, turns around and leans against the counter behind him.

He looks at her with a tired face. He seems surprised though. Surprised and incredibly pleased, somehow, while waiting for coffee to be ready.

“That’s so nice of you to offer but you don’t have to babysit him. I mean.. after all, I understand If you don’t trust him enough to behave and..“

“No, I trust him.“ she quickly interrupts, “I mean.. I get it that you guys are shocked and trust me, I get why. It’s been a crazy night but I’ve known Patrick for a while now too and I’m still convinced that he’s a good kid and that he just made a huge mistake because he fell in love with the wrong girl but.. I’m not gonna think any less of him. And If it helps, he can definitely sleep at my place tonight. I just have one meeting tomorrow, that’s it.“

Joe just lets out a low breath, clearly smiling at her now. The tall man then slowly walks up to her. Her hair is still a mess and he can’t help but get addicted to this. This make up free face with her messy bangs that stick up into all directions, her puffy eyes and her beautiful lips. She’s just a masterpiece. Inside and out. Taylor welcomes him getting closer with opened arms, looks at him rather confused, not sure how she should interpret his smiling face. He then stops before her, places his hands on her hips, pressing her to him. He smiles back at her. Slowly.

“What?“ she whispers, too tired to really speak up. “I love you, you know that?“ he mumbles and Taylor just smiles brightly at him. These three words are all she needs to suddenly glow all over her face.

“Yeah, I know that.“ she answers shyly, sinks her head because she feels an obvious flush on her face. Joe then lets go off her hips, both his hands now wandering up to her face. One hand on her cheek, one in her neck. “Good.“ he answers, still smiling, before giving her a deep and gentle kiss. Taylor doesn’t move at all, her cold hands holding onto the sides over his sweater. She smiles at him once more as he pulls back. She doesn’t want him to leave. Not today. Not at all.

“So you’re gonna be back on Friday, huh?“ she asks and he nods. “Yup.“ he answers while holding her. He now comforts her head, strokes over her hair a few times while simply holding her in his arms.

“And today’s Wednesday.“

“mhmhm.“ he agrees again, a strand hair stroked behind her ear, kissing the little spot on her temple softly.

“So two nights without you? Rude.“

He laughs quietly at her remark, his lips still on her head. Taylor feels her hands holding onto his sweater still. She hates to let go. Not because she’s afraid that she’s holding him for the last time. But because this is how it should always be. Her in his arms. His smell in her nose. His lips somewhere on her hair.

“I’m so sorry, baby.“ he whispers. She feels goosebumps on her skin. She can feel his love in every word. In every touch. In every breath. If she’d ask him to run away with her right here, right now, he’d say yes. She just.. knows.

“Do you want to be alone when you call your mum? I can take a shower and give you some space If you want.“ she then mumbles into his sweater, slowly buries herself in his chest. She realizes just now how tired she really is, would love to take a two- or three hour nap in his arms again before he heads off to Paris without her.

“I don’t want any space. Especially not from you, silly.“ he mumbles in her hair, clearly just as tired as she is. Taylor smiles. That’s exactly the answer she was hoping for.

“Good.“

________________________________________

“It’s fine, really.“ Taylor says into her phone, smiles gently. It’s probably been the tenth time today that she has reassured Elizabeth that it’s not a burden at all to take care of Patrick as long as Joe’s gone. She can absolutely imagine that hearing news like these from your fourteen year old son are frightening. Especially when you’re on your long awaited vacation in Dubai. Far far away from England.

Taylor buries her face slowly in her scarf, glad she’s wearing her warm cashmere coat. She has even put on some make up after attending a meeting in town earlier, still feels incredibly exhausted after not sleeping at all yesterday night.

While sitting on the passenger seat of the big black range rover and with her phone on her ear, she turns her head to where Brandon next to her is looking at. A ton of teenagers and young adults leave the school. All in their school uniforms.

Taylor swallows.

Usually witnessing situations like these don’t just bring back horrible memories from her school days, but also mean chaos. Chaos, because a thousand teenagers noticing her in front of a public school would end in a lot of hysteria. Taylor has never been more thankful for tinted car windows than she is right now.

“The next flight back to London we were able to get is on Monday. But I already told Tom to come home as soon as he can, because Joe apparently is gone on Sunday again I think? I just don’t want him to spend too much time with his pals, right now. I think his new popular friends have not been the best influence lately, and..“

“No, I think you’re right. But Elizabeth, it’s really fine. I’m in town anyway and I have about five security people around my house who’ll drive him to school in the morning and pick him up and.. I’m gonna make sure he’s not gonna do something stupid. I’m actually at school waiting for him right now. I texted him that I’m picking him up, so.. we’re gonna be fine, don’t worry.“ Taylor reassures, looks out of the window. Still, there’s no Patrick among all these kids.

“God, Taylor. You have no idea how glad I am that you.. that you would do this for us. This really means a lot. Thank you so much, it makes me feel so much better knowing that he’s gonna be sleeping at your place and not doing anything stupid at these other kids’ homes.“ Elizabeth mumbles into the phone and Taylor just smiles. She can clearly hear that Elizabeth is emotional and Taylor totally understands. This is the first time since she has known Joe that his family really seems to need her. And she has never felt more honored to receive so much trust. From him and from his parents. So much trust that they would even let her look after their child, as long as they’re gone.

“I know and I think that’s maybe what he needs. I think it’s gonna be good for him to spend some nights away from home and his friends and I’m sure he’ll be alright. Should I ask him to call you when we get home?“ Taylor asks, notices for the first time that it’s slowly getting dark outside. It’s clearly winter already in London and November means that the days not just get darker, but also a lot shorter.

“No, I talked to him already for quite a while this morning. Maybe I’ll call him tonight. Thank you so much, sweetheart. We love you.“ Elizabeth adds and Taylor feels her heart sink for a bit. She’s loving Joe for almost a year already and this has been officially the first time that his mum really opened up. She feels touched and honored at the same time. He was right. His family somehow becomes hers as well. And it feels better than she has ever imagined.

“Love you, too. I’m gonna make sure he’s fine. Don’t worry too much.“ she smiles, receives a last thank you from Elizabeth and then hangs up.

“There he is.“ she quickly says to Brandon after spotting a young blonde boy walking out of the school and who’s just a spitting image of her boyfriend. She smiles softly. He looks just as tired and strained as she probably does. No wonders, he didn’t sleep as well and he must be shocked about the events that went down yesterday just as much as her. Brandon quickly gets out of the car, waves at Patrick who then quickly understands. After a few seconds he opens the door, quickly gets into the backseat of the car. “Hey.“ he mumbles, tries to smile politely at Taylor but fails. Taylor just bites her lip. He’s ashamed and embarrassed and this whole situation must be awkward for him. She just smiles warmly at him, looks at him taking off his huge backpack.

“Hey, how was it?“ she asks casually, as Brandon starts his car. Patrick just sighs, reaches for the seatbelt.

“Bad.“ he just answers and Taylor nods empathetically. “Did your headmaster tell you what’s.. gonna happen now?“ she asks carefully, looks out of the window.

The traffic at this hour of the day is crazy yet it’s beautiful to look at all these buildings in this part of town. So many buildings are already decorated for Christmas. She has to smile silently. Joe would probably hate it, always complains about how people literally jump from Halloween decorations to Christmas decorations within a couple of days. But she loves it. She loves this time of the year and spending it here in this old and beautiful town with the man she loves and his family feels like a healing process. A healing process for so many things.

“Not yet. He just said that there will be consequences. And that I have to visit year eight classes until my class comes back from the class trip next week. And they want an appointment with mum and dad next week..“ Patrick mumbles in his thick accent. He’s ashamed.

“Mhm, okay. Are you tired?“ she asks him, turns her head to look at him. "I’m fine.“ he answers politely and Taylor smiles.

“Well, I’m super tired and super hungry. So what do you think about Pizza? Or.. Chinese? Did you eat already?“ she asks him, tries to change the subject. She’s well aware that what Patrick did needs to be taken seriously. But at the same time, she’s well aware that she’s not his mother. She’s not in the position to judge him or to be strict in any way. She just wants to make sure he’s okay. And the pale teenager in the back of this car does not look okay at all. Not after last night.

“No, sounds good.“ Patrick answers, looks out of the window as well. “Great. Do you have homework?“ she asks and Patrick nods. “Yeah.“

“Okay, so why don’t we get your stuff, go over to my house and I’m gonna order some food while you finish your homework? Sounds good?“ she asks and turns around again. Patrick nods once more, even tries to smile at her politely. She can’t help but smile once more. Again, it just blows her mind. He looks just like Joe. And he’s just as polite and sweet as Joe is. No matter what mistakes Patrick has made, no matter how many bad decisions he has made. He’s a good kid. She just knows that.

________________________________________

"I don’t even know if there should be boundaries from my side of what I’m gonna say. Am I stupid? I just.. I feel so bad for him. He’s such a sweet boy and he just.. totally fell in love with the wrong girl and did things to impress his friends and gain popularity and you know me. I can’t be cold or.. or rejecting to him..“ she whispers, looks out of the kitchen door and peaks upstairs to make sure Patrick doesn’t overhear this conversation while sitting over his homework.

She’s now back in her comfy clothes. Something that she was bitterly looking forward to after her meeting. Her sweatpants combined with her orange fox slippers and her favorite sweater she stole from Joe’s wardrobe the other day make her feel more comfortable quickly.

“Why should you be rejecting to him, honey? I think it’s sweet that you feel responsible for him but you’re not his mother. You’re not the one making the rules. So relax. Treat him the way you want to treat him.“ Andrea assures her daughter from the other side of the phone line.

Taylor slowly opens one of the pizza boxes that were just delivered and nods.

“Yeah, you’re probably right. It’s just.. weird. I’m used to babysitting toddlers. But a teenage boy? Man, this is so difficult.“ she whispers, really doesn’t want Patrick to latch on this conversation. But Andrea just laughs whole heartedly.

“Teenage years are the most difficult years for parents, trust me. Especially with boys because they don’t open up at all. You’ll make that experience yourself when you have kids someday.“ Andrea says and Taylor sighs, smiles silently at the thought of motherhood. A crazy adventure she definitely wants to take, someday.

“God, I just wish Joe was here. I feel like Patrick hates staying at my place and.. I don’t wanna dare him to have a conversation with me. It’s so awkward.“ she mumbles, looks at the hot Pizza that’s smelling incredibly good. She’s tempted to take a first bite, but then stops herself. You’re not alone, Taylor. This is rude.

“Don’t be so nervous, honey. Just treat him normally and If you feel like he needs space then give him space. Also, Austin can ease things as well when he comes tomorrow. Boys and boys are a different thing.“ Andrea smiles, is just about to start her day while it’s already dinner time for Taylor in London.

“I know.“ she smiles, “Did Austin tell you when his audition will be over? I’ll tell Brandon to pick him up and we can all have dinner together.“

“Oh, that sounds like a nice idea. I’m not sure. I think you have to ask him again.“ Andrea answers and Taylor nods, slowly hears some footsteps coming from upstairs.

“Alright mom, I gotta go.“ she says, smiles at Patrick who slowly peaks into the kitchen. The light in the house was dimmed but the kitchen lights are fully turned on.

“Okay. Talk to you tomorrow.“ she answers. “Talk to you tomorrow. Love you. Bye.“ Taylor says and hangs up.

“Hey, come in.“ she then says quickly, signals the boy to enter. He slowly makes his way into the kitchen and Taylor opens the second pizza box. “Your super healthy dinner is ready.“ she says sarcastically, “I’m starving.“ she adds and smiles at him.

“Smells good.“ Patrick answers as shy as always. Taylor feels that he’s uncomfortable. Of course. Who wouldn’t be? He probably hates the fact that he’s standing in the Taylor Swift’s kitchen and is now damned to babysitted by her. Taylor feels herself become a little more insecure, tries to hide it by simply putting on a smile. It’s her trick. She does this in any kind of situation. Hiding insecurities is her speciality.

“Should we.. eat in the living room?“ she asks and Patrick nods.

“Sure. Should I get some plates?“ he offers.

“Yeah, of course If you want. They’re in the left cupboard.“ she answers and disappears in the spacious living room where she quickly turns on some lights, tries to let some of Joe’s clothes he left here yesterday disappear as soon as possible so that Patrick doesn’t feel uncomfortable. Knowing that his big brother most likely took all of his clothes off right here where they’re just about to have some dinner, is not something he needs tonight.

After a while, Patrick joins her in the living room, sits down on the couch next to where she is sitting. He carefully places the plates on the wooden coffee table in front of them. Taylor opens the pizza boxes once more and then offers him some pizza as well. He thankfully grabs one slice. Silence. Taylor feels uncomfortable and he surely does as well.

“Do you want to watch some tv?“ she asks, pretty sure that all he wants is probably not to have to talk to her. After all, watching tv is still the best way to not have to start a conversation with her. But to her surprise, Patrick shakes his head while chewing on the Pizza in his hand.

“No, I’m good. Thanks.“ he answers politely, still not really looking at her. Taylor sighs. Patrick then faces her. The atmosphere has gotten even more awkward than before.

“God, this is so weird.“

“I know.“ Patrick answers and the two look at each other for the first time today. Taylor starts to laugh and Patrick joins her.

“I’m so sorry that you’re damned to stay at my house now. I bet you’d rather be with your friends or..“ “No, not really. I like your house.“ he answers and she smiles, takes another bite from the pizza now as well.

“Oh, thank you.“ she answers, leans back and places her feet on the couch now to get more comfortable. “How did your friends’ parents react? Do they have to spend time with their brother’s girlfriends now too, or..“ Patrick smirks, focused on the pizza now.

He’s embarrassed. She feels that.

“Uh, nah. They’re pretty much grounded for the next four to five years. So.. same as me.“ Taylor nods.

“What did your mom say?“ she asks gently, doesn’t even know where that confidence comes from all of the sudden but she somehow feels like she has that connection to Patrick. She somehow wants to know how he feels. She cares for him. He’s Joe’s little brother.

“She’s.. worried, of course. And angry. I mean. I know how stupid that was. It’s..I’d undo it immediately if I could. My mum’s crying, my dad’s angry, Joe hates me. I..“

“He doesn’t hate you.“ she interrupts him immediately. She would love to give him a tight hug right at this moment, but she knows that he’s a teenage boy who’s not as touchy and clingy as she is. But seeing him sit there being so sad, almost hurts her. He looks like Joe when he’s sad. That frown line on his face being a replica of her boyfriend’s.

“It’s just.. they all think I’m the problem child now. And I’m sure that I am anyway, so..“ Taylor shakes her head. She knows exactly what he means but he’s wrong.

“I don’t think you’re the problem child. I.. I think.. you just have to be able to answer the question why you did it honestly to yourself first before explaining anything to anyone.“ she says, the young boy looking at her confused.

“I mean, If you consume weed because you and your friends wanted to try it, then that’s something different than being an addict. Same with other stuff like.. cocaine. If you risk your own safety for someone who’s an addict then.. maybe not cocaine is the problem but.. that person.“ she finishes, then bites her lip immediately. She doesn’t know whether she went too far with her speech, doesn’t know if any of this is even her business or whether she should even have an opinion. She looks at Patrick, who has just finished his slice of Pizza. He doesn’t look at her, seems incredibly interested in his hands all of the sudden while having his head sunk.

“She just wanted to try it. She’s not an addict.“ he suddenly mumbles incoherently.

Taylor swallows.

She never thought that Patrick would open up like this. She immediately nods. “I believe you.“

“She.. she doesn’t have a family like I do. Her parents don’t care at all. If she would’ve been the one who was found with the cocaine, she.. she’d be in a lot more trouble than..“

“I get it.“ Taylor just assures him. She sighs. He’s blindly in love and she wishes there was anything she could do about it. But she’s been there quiet a few times as well. Maybe not with cocaine but with other emotional damages she could’ve prevented if she had known what she knows now.

“But since she’s your girlfriend, why don’t you..“

“She’s not my girlfriend.“ he interrupts her, way more calm than last evening when Joe teased him with Chloe.

“But..“

“We’re friends. She.. she has a boyfriend.“

Taylor doesn’t say anything. Now she gets it. Patrick tried to impress this girl. Being young and in love makes you do crazy things.

“But why didn’t her boyfriend say anything..?“

“Cause he’s an idiot?“ he says quietly and Taylor just smiles softly. Patrick has clearly blushed, can’t really look at her anymore. Taylor just sighs. She rests her head on the cushion of the leather couch and just enjoys this moment of openness between them. She then looks at Patrick who sits next to her, scratches the back of his head in embarrassment. She knows that gesture. Joe does just the same all the time.

“I think.. it was a selfless thing to do.“ she says and he looks back at her again, still a bit flushed.

“It was stupid.“

“Yeah, that as well. But..“

Patrick looks back at her. She seems super opened about that whole situation and he likes the fact that Taylor does not talk to him as If he’s just a child. She treats him as if he was a grown up and never puts herself above him or acts like she’s in a parental role. He never thought he’d say this about any of his brother’s girlfriends - but her opinion really matters to him.

“But?“

“But I think that.. you’ll see someday that the right girl won’t put you in that kind of a situation. The right girl won’t make you feel like you need to jeopardize yourself in order to impress her. What I’m saying probably makes zero sense to you now but.. you’ll know what I mean one day.“ She says, simply looks at him. Patrick doesn’t respond anymore and Taylor is unsure whether her words really made him think or whether he thinks that she’s absolutely annoying.

After all, who’d want to have her advice when it comes to love and relationships…

“Yeah, maybe.“ He then answers, not really dares to look at her.

“I just.. Joe and my parents won’t see this like you do. You’re really cool about this but.. they won’t understand this. They just see what I did wrong and..“

“No they just see all these bad things that could possibly happen to you because they love you. They just want you to be save.“ Taylor interrupts him. She bites her lips. He’s still not looking at her and she’s not sure if she has gone too far. She never thought their conversations would evolve into such a deep and honest talk. Yet she worships this moment. They somehow got closer than she ever thought they would. “Yeah.“ Patrick mumbles then, looks up to her.

Taylor sighs and grants him a smile.

This was a long day. A long day for all of them.

“Do you want the last slice of the pizza? I think you need it more than I do.“ she says with a slight smirk on her lips.

“I guess so.“ he answers and takes a bite. Taylor leans down and grabs the glass of water that was right in front of her. It’s already dark outside and she’s sure that she and Patrick are definitely heading to bed after the pizza. 30 hours of being awake is enough for both of them.

“If I won’t answer you anymore it’s because I fell asleep with opened eyes.“ she yawns, slowly leans back. Patrick just laughs at her while chewing the tomato pizza, granting her that same mischievous smile she knows too well from his older brother.

“How do you Alwyns do that? Whenever Joe’s awake for more than 24 hours he behaves as if everything’s as good, as always. And now you look absolutely fine as well.“ she protests, wishes she could deal with lack of sleep as well as the boy next to her can.

Patrick smirks while taking a last bite.

“We’re Aliens from an island called Grand Britannia and we don’t need sleep. That’s the truth. He’s been lying to you this whole time.“ Patrick casually answers and Taylor can’t help but laugh.

She’s really surprised about how funny Patrick actually is. She should be surprised about this but the longer she thinks about it, the less she is.

Joe is just the same. He seems shy and introvert at first. But once you’ve won his trust, he opens up and makes you see his real self. His fun and talkative and bright self.

“I’m shocked. I have to break up with him now.“ she jokes and Patrick reaches for the napkin that is next to the now empty pizza box.

“Please don’t. His Exes were so annoying.“ he says suffering and Taylor smiles at his compliment yet feels a bit uncomfortable with this topic.

“Really?“ she mumbles, doesn’t know if she wants to know any further details.

“Yeah. His last one always came over and constantly made us all watch Gilmore Girls all the damn time.“ he sighs annoyed and Taylor bursts our laughing, covers her mouth.

She cannot believe Patrick spills the beans about Joe’s Ex as casual as this.

“Oh my god. I’m so sorry about that.“ she laughs.

Joe has told her a lot about his Ex and has mentioned that she was difficult. But the fact that she made his entire family that includes four men watch a show like Gilmore Girls really surprises her. Joe falls asleep almost every time whenever they watch dateline together. She could never see him watching anything more girly than that.

“Yeah.“ he answers, “You’re really cool though.“ the blonde teenager then slowly says. Taylor looks at him and smiles. This is the biggest compliment she has ever gotten from a fourteen year old boy. “Thanks. You too.“ she answers and they both smile quietly.

________________________________________

Joe takes a sip from his water bottle as the car stops.

He’s still tired. The six hours of last night sleep clearly weren’t enough.

Paris was challenging and fun but also exhausting. The second he can see the warm light coming out of the old building’s windows right at the end of Crescent Road is the second he feels all warm and tingly inside.

He’s home. He’s home where Taylor is.

Joe slowly opens the car door, thankful for his old A.P.C lambskin jacket that keeps him warm. It’s bloody cold in London this evening, a freezing breeze combined with a few raindrops hitting his face. He quickly walks behind the car, opens the trunk and grabs his suitcase. He thanks the driver, then quickly spots Brandon who’s waiting in a car in front of the house. He smiles at the big guy and waves. He never thought he’d get used to another person constantly looking after his girlfriend, but he did. Brandon’s presence not only makes Taylor feel better. It gives Joe a good feeling to know that she’s safe.

As he passes the gate and walks up the steps to the door, he can smell all kinds of herbs and candles already. He smiles. She surely has cooked something tonight. As he rings the little bell, Joe keeps on smiling. It’s crazy how the thought of being with her can even make him forget about everything that’s been going on recently with his family, with Patrick. She also made him forget about his upset mum who’s more worried than ever, for a second. She made him forget all his worries about his youngest brother. She can do that just with her existence. It’s crazy how much a single person can change your life entirely.

With a slowly changing look on his face and still standing in front of the closed door in the cold and windy London weather, Joe rings the bell for a second time.

Still nobody answers.

He feels worry rise in him slowly. Why doesn’t she open the door? Is she busy cooking or did something else happen? The events of yesterday night still affect him a lot. Patrick was supposed to stay at her house as well. What if something happened that he doesn’t know about? After all, he hasn’t spoken to his brother since yesterday.

Joe now takes a few steps back, slowly marches through the front yard, takes a look into the small window that leads to the kitchen. The light is on but nobody’s there. This is strange. Very strange. Suddenly he hears loud noises. Laughter. Definitely more than three people that laugh out loud.

Joe slowly walks back to his suitcase, opens the upper bag and takes out his spare key.

After a few seconds, he has entered her house and is still confused and curious what’s happening in here tonight. After closing the door, he places his suitcase in the hallway and takes a few steps towards the living room. He’s not just met with warmth and the smell of her amazing vegetable lasagna but also a lot of laughter. He continues walking, not sure what he’ll find as he reaches the living room.

He remains in the door frame surprised.

Taylor, Patrick, Tom and Rebecca, his brother’s girlfriend, as well as Austin sit around her wooden dining table. Just a few candles brightening the room, some wine in front of the adults and a mug with hot chocolate in front of Patrick. The fireplace is lit and the coziest atmosphere possible fills the room. They all seem to laugh whole heartedly about a video that Patrick just showed them on the iPad that he’s holding in his hands. Joe can’t even remember the last time he has seen Patrick so extroverted and happy. He seems to have gotten out of his nutshell more than he has ever seen with his parents or even with him. Patrick laughs and talks, goes on and on about a guy in this video and makes everyone around them almost cry in laughter. They all seem so captivated by whatever he’s showing them that they don’t even notice Joe, who’s still standing in the doorframe.

For the first time, Joe feels peace.

This view, this moment is more than he has ever wanted.

This room is filled with so people who mean so much to him and it’s been a long time since he has seen all of them so happy and carefree. All together. He then looks at Taylor who seems to recover from her laughs just now. Little tears are running down her face because she had to laugh so hard. She wipes them away with her fingers and Joe can’t help but smile at her. She looks so comfortable around his family. She has never been more beautiful than in this moment, clearly unaware that he’s watching her, smiling at Patrick and holding her hands in front of her mouth while laughing. He still remembers during her darkest days back when they spent days and days talking and laughing while being nothing more than friends, how she always used to tell him that he’s like a sunny day to her, somehow.

Today, she is his sunny day on this grey Friday night.

Patrick spent two days with her and he comes home to a united family, to laughter and happiness. He knows why and he’s still in awe how she does it. Whatever happens to them, Taylor reacts with love. No matter if it’s a huge fight between them or if his little brother gets caught with weed.

She reacts with love.

She is love.

While watching her carefully listen to some comment of Tom, Taylor suddenly meets his eyes and notices him. Her eyes immediately grow wide and she gets up from where she was sitting.

“Oh my god. Hi.“ she says, meeting him in the doorframe.

Still in his winter coat. Still in awe of this family situation in her living room.

“Hey.“ he just smiles and gets pulled into a tight hug immediately. But this time it’s not him who pulls back. This time he’s the one not wanting to end this hug. She notices that.

“Since when are you standing there.“ she laughs into his shoulder, and Joe finally lets go. His face is cold from outside and a few raindrops are still visible on his jacket.

“Not long.“ he smiles, then kisses her gently.

“Look who came over for dinner.“ she smiles, immediately drags him into the room to say hello to Austin and everyone of his family.

He takes off his jacket, hugs his older brother who he hasn’t seen in a while as well as his girlfriend. Then he walks to Patrick, who still sips on his hot chocolate and high fives him. The teenager seems relieved about this reaction. Taylor smiles proudly at him.

While sitting down next to Austin and catching up with him, Taylor places a glass of wine in front of Joe. She sits down again, right next to Joe. He smiles at her one time, then reaches for her hand while talking to Austin. Taylor follows the conversation, suddenly feels him squeeze her hand three times.

She doesn’t react, just tightens the grip of her hand.

I love you.

I know.

[shannie-writes]

Sweet Shop Bakery AU - Snippets

A/N: This is an AU I wrote several months ago while I was on my social media break. It’s a modern setting AU where Willow, Estrella, and Tania are childhood friends and they each own/work in a bakery together. Lots of feels and fluff and love, mixed with angsty times. I figured I would finally share it now that their official character sheets have been posted. This honestly was a blast to write and I hope you enjoy!

------

The jingle of the front door announced Edgar’s arrival as he stepped into the bakery, eyes raking along the shelves and glass cases before settling on Tania behind the counter. She was sitting on a stool, fiddling with a wooden puzzle cube. Giving Edgar the smallest of glances, she set the pieces down, spinning on the stool to face the kitchen.

“Will!”

“Yes?” The response was muffled under the distant sounds of machinery.

“Your date is here!”

There was a sudden silence followed by quick footsteps as Willow popped around the corner, peeking through the doorway. A small blush and smile rose to her cheeks as she met eyes with Edgar. Tania cleared her throat after an extended silence, giving Willow a pointed look.

“Oh, sorry.” Willow ducked her head and gestured at the small display stand, filled with treats, that stood by the register. “Mr. Bright, please feel free to take a sample. I’ll go wash up and get my purse.” She spun on her heel, rushing back out of sight.

“She looks excited,” Edgar commented lightly as he approached the counter, examining the samples. Intrigued by a colorful sugar cookie, he plucked it up and took a bite, savoring the way it melted on his tongue.

“She wouldn’t shut up about it all morning,” Tania grumbled. She slipped off the stool to place her palms on the counter, using it to brace her weight as she rolled onto her toes to stand as tall as she could. Despite her short stature and the fact that there was a countertop between them, Edgar could nearly taste the tension alongside the sugary scent in the air as Tania leaned closer, glaring up at him with icy eyes and furrowed brows. “I still don’t trust you. If she comes back with a single hair out of place, I will fucking end you.”

A smile rose to his lips at the threat, knowing it was all bark and no bite. He swallowed the last of the cookie, keeping his eyes trained on Tania’s.

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

---

“Welcome!”

Estrella’s bright voice rang clear through the shop. Tania could tell from the tone alone that it must not be a regular. The following conversation was too quiet for her to hear, but from the sound it was a man, the deep voice seeming to vibrate through the air.

Picking up the full tray of cinnamon buns, she carefully made her way to the front. Passing through the doorway, she peeked around Estrella at the man, nearly tripping over herself as her gaze stuck on him like a stray burr.

Carefully making her way to the case, Tania slid open the door and pulled the empty tray out to set it on the counter, dropping to her knees as she slipped the full tray in its place. Waiting for a second, she watched the man through the glass, feeling simultaneously sneaky and stupid as she ogled him.

He wore a dark leather jacket with orange lining, the white shirt underneath popping against both the jacket and his warm brown skin. A wallet chain hung along his thigh and she couldn’t help but trace it to the thick belt around his trim waist. Making her way up, she let out a slow breath through her nose at the sharp angle of his jaw and his deep blue eyes she would do just about anything to swim in.

He turned his head to face her, a small smile on his perfect lips and Tania jumped, looking away in a panic as she fretted over being caught staring.

“Tania,” Estrella said. Tania looked over, finding Estrella holding out a wax paper toward her. “He’d like one of the rolls.”

“Yes, of course,” she cleared her throat, taking the offered sheet to carefully pick up one of the cinnamon rolls in front of her, handing it back. She glanced at the man again, meeting his gaze through the glass and losing her train of thought. “They’re...really hot. I mean! They aren’t hot. They’re really fresh.” She could feel an embarrassed flush rise up her neck and the man’s smile took a turn towards amusement. Tania cleared her throat again and closed the case door, staying where she was at as Estrella rang him up. She didn’t want him to see her more than he had already.

The door chimed as the man left with his purchase. Not soon enough, in her opinion.

“Tania, are you okay down there?”

Tania tilted her head back to see Estrella standing over her, wearing a shit-eating grin. Tania cursed under her breath as she felt her blush grow warmer, burning her cheeks.

“Shut up.”

“He was cute, wasn’t he?”

“Just cute? Holy hell, that man was gorgeous. A fucking snack. A--” Tania clapped her hand over her mouth, knowing she was digging her own grave with each word she said. “Leave me alone, woman,” she said behind her fingers, glaring.

Estrella just laughed, shaking her head as she walked back to the register. Tania pushed herself up from her knees to her feet, grumbling to herself as she pulled her gaze away from the large front window, looking to see if the man was still in sight.

“Hey, maybe he’ll come back tomorrow,” Estrella said as seriously as she could before letting out a snicker. “Your rolls are addicting, after all.”

“Oh my god, drop it. I’m leaving.” Tania picked up the empty tray, using it to block her face from Estrella’s sight as she escaped to the kitchen.

---

Estrella let out a sigh as she set her glass on the patio table outside a cafe she and Seth were sitting at. She stared out at the crowds of people enjoying the warm spring day.

“What’s wrong, starlight?” Seth asked, giving her a pout as her eyes finally made it around to him.

“Willow’s been dating this guy,” she said, pausing to take a sip of her iced tea. “He’s really nice, quite a gentleman.”

“Mm, you say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“It’d be easier to dislike him for stealing her away from me if he wasn’t.”

Seth laughed, a light playful thing. “Someone’s come to snatch your mistress away?”

A smile finally split Estrella’s face and she rested an elbow on the table, pointing at him. “Hey now, she’s my wife.”

“Of course, that’s right. How could I forget. I’m the mistress.”

They both laughed and Estrella rested her chin on her hand, watching a cyclist pass by them on the sidewalk.

“I just don’t want her to be broken by some guy again.”

Seth leaned back in his chair, slipping his sunglasses up to rest on top of his head as he pulled out his phone. “What’s his name?”

“Edgar Bright. I’ve already looked him up. He seems clean, as far as I can tell. Smart guy, good white-collar job, utter gentleman to her. She deserves it, but something about him just doesn’t smell right.”

“Hmm,” Seth hummed, rapidly tapping his thumbs across his phone. He scrolled down the page he was on until he gasped. “I know this guy!”

Estrella straightened up, leaning closer. “What? Do you really?”

“Hmmph, this two-faced asshole. We went to highschool together. I wouldn’t forget that face. Pompous, comes from money, went off to some private university after graduating early. Good on paper, but would pull all kinds of pranks.”

Estrella frowned in worry. “What kind of pranks?”

“I mean, nobody could prove it was him, but he always wore this smug smile like he was getting away with shit. There was a thing that would happen once a month. Someone would get ‘Beaned.’”

“Beaned?”

“Their lockers would mysteriously get filled with jelly beans. And not the good flavors. Imagine opening your locker and flooding the floor with disgusting licorice jelly beans!”

She giggled, sitting back in her chair. “I don’t know, that sounds pretty harmless.”

“Oh, but the mess! And they would scatter around the whole school! By the time all the beans were found from the last month, it would happen again with a whole new flavor. And this guy loves jelly beans. I can’t think of anybody else it could have been.” Seth huffed and set his phone on the table, angrily sucking down half of his bubble tea. “This guy is bad news.”

Taking another sip, Estrella grinned at her boyfriend. “If that’s all, I’ll wait and see. People can change. Besides,” her voice dropped and she fluttered her eyes at him. “I seem to know someone else who is pretty two-faced.”

The cloud of irritation faded away as Seth narrowed his eyes in return, a pleased smile rising to his lips. “We both know how much you like it.” His smile turned playful as he added in a low voice, “Ms. Starlight loves it when Mr. Jekyll comes out to play.”

“Pfff.” She covered her eyes with a hand, peeking at him between her fingers. “You’re such a goof.”

“Takes one to know one.”

They continued with the light banter until their drinks were gone and Estrella had to return to the bakery. As she walked, she thought more on the enigma that was Edgar Bright. She would have to keep a close eye on him. Just in case.

---

Tania raised the lantern higher, watching with sick fascination as Estrella cleaned Willow’s cut. They were all hiding out in Estrella’s treehouse, the small space only just big enough for the three of them these days, the telescope and extra camping chairs temporarily pushed to the side.

Willow looked much better than she had a half hour ago, when she had scared Tania half to death, a pale vision standing outside her window with dried blood on her face and neck, Tania had snuck out through the window, holding Willow’s hand as she led them both across the street to Estrella’s house, knocking on her window in turn. Estrella took it better than Tania did, seeing them both as she pushed aside her curtains. She had gestured to the old treehouse, meeting them there with the lamp and a first aid kit, dashing across the dew-covered lawn in her nightgown.

None of them had said a word. They knew it wasn’t what Willow needed. It wouldn’t help the situation. They all knew what had happened. It wasn’t the first time, but they prayed each time that it would be the last.

Estrella finished patching up the cut over Willow’s right ear, placing a tender kiss to her temple. Willow took in a shuddering breath, a few final tears dripping down her cheeks. Estrella carefully adjusted Willow’s hair to cover the bandages. Tania set the lamp down, kneeling on Willow’s left side, reaching out to grasp her hands, doing her best to warm her up through the touch alone.

“Willow,” Estrella whispered, moving the first aid kit to the side. She settled her hands over theirs, gingerly resting her forehead against Willow’s brow, keeping eye contact with her. Willow’s dark eyes were bloodshot and puffy and trembling, but she didn’t look away. “We will always be here for you. Always. Someday, the three of us will find a place in this world where all this will be a distant memory. I promise.”

Willow nodded and Tania followed suit, squeezing her hands tight in agreement.

Estrella turned to sit on Willow’s other side and the three watched the full moon together through the gap in the wooden wall.

[tremendousartisanlover]

A Tale of Two Rulers: Royal Baby Chapter Twenty-Three

 A/N: Now we finally get to see the cameo of Skull Kid. This chapter is pretty much based off pages 186-187 of the ATOTR comic. 

Disclaimer: A Tale of Two Rulers is @figmentforms‘ original work. I’m simply writing this as fanfiction, nothing else.

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

Zelda woke up the next morning while Ganondorf is still asleep. She leaned over and kissed his forehead. He smiled as he opened his eyes. “Morning, handsome.” Zelda greeted. “Morning, beautiful.” Ganondorf greeted back. “I hope you’ve slept well.” she said, looking at him. 

“Of course I slept well.” he smiled, stroking her cheek. Zelda smiled and nuzzled into his big hand, “I’m glad, my love.” Ganondorf held her close and kissed her forehead. She blushed a bit as the couple smiled at each other. Then, they both got up and got dressed. Zelda struggles to close the back of her dress. 

Ganondorf helped her close it up. “Thanks, darling.” she smiled to him. “You’re welcome, my sweet.” he smiled back to her. Then, they started making their way to the dining for breakfast. Zelda holds Ganondorf’s hand as they walked. He held her hand a bit tighter just before they arrived. 

“You know something? Since before the baby shower, I noticed that Rinku has been acting odd lately,” Zelda pointed out. “Oh? Can’t say I have seen her behavior change much.” Ganondorf could tell Zelda is concerned about their daughter. “I’ve got a feeling that she must be hiding something.” she added. “Is she? That doesn’t seem like her at all.” “It’s probably just my imagination, but one time I heard voices in Rinku’s room a few weeks ago.” she said as they sat down. “I see. That is odd.” Ganondorf said before they began eating. 

“Definitely.” Zelda agreed. Later on after breakfast, Rinku walked into the foyer where Zelda is reading her book while enjoying a cup of tea. She asked,  “Hey, Mama. Can I ask you a favor?” Zelda looked at her, “Of course, honey. What do you need?” “Well, do you remember the other day I gave my friend a Triforce pendant, right?” Zelda nodded.

“His name is Skull Kid. So, I was wondering if I can borrow your piece of the Triforce so I can wish him back to life?” Rinku mustered up the courage to ask her mother for the Triforce of Wisdom. Zelda blinked a bit before clearing her throat, ““Hmmm..well, sweetie, that’s very nice, but first of all, I think you’re too old for imaginary friends. And second, you can’t just ask for my piece of the Triforce like that.”  “But, Mama, I didn’t imagine him. Skull Kid is real.” Rinku said before she pulled in Skull Kid to prove Zelda that he’s not imaginary. “Hiya, Queen-face.” Skull Kid said bashfully to the pregnant queen. Zelda gasped, frozen at the mere sight of him, “Oh... my God!” Rinku saw her mother’s reaction and chuckled nervously, “Well, he is pretty sneaky. For a dead person, that is.”

Zelda got a little confused, “Umm, honey, can I talk to your friend in private?” she asked. “Oh, by the way, before you go; about your other friend, he’s not real, is he?” Rinku replied, “Sure, Mama. I do have a writing lesson today, since I gotta do it..” Before she could leave, Rinku added, “Oh, you mean Kirby, the pink kid who swallows people to copy their abilities?” “Yes, him. Is Kirby real, too?” Zelda asked nervously. “Nope. I made him up.” Rinku answered before she went to her writing lesson.

“That’s good.” she said in relief. Zelda can barely imagine if that thing even exists. After Zelda composed herself, Skull Kid said to her, “Well, I’m, uh.. pleased to make your acquaintance.” “The pleasure is all mine, Skull Kid. So tell me, how long have you known my daughter?” asked Zelda. “About a few  thousand years, give or take.” Skull Kid replied to the queen. “Oh, I see..” she said with a small glare, knowing that he somehow known about Rinku being Link.

Skull Kid can see that Zelda has a feeling that she figured out that he knew. “So, you knew all along?” said Zelda as she stands up with her hand behind her back, with her Triforce piece glowing. “Of course I knew she’s Link. And I’d watch it with that spell if I were you, Queenie.” Skull Kid noticed Zelda’s hand glowing from behind her back. “I might’ve already known since Rinku and I first met, but I’m not gonna be a big blabber mouth and spill the beans for all Hyrule to hear.” She stared at him, “So you swear on my Rinku’s life that you’ll not let her find out she’s Link so soon and be breaking her heart? Because if you do, you’ll have me or my husband to answer and there shall be hell to pay. Is that clear?!” The undead boy gasped at the thought of being dealt with by Zelda and Ganondorf.

He pulled himself together before saying to her, “All right. Cross my heart and hope to die. (I’m already dead anyway) Besides, I wouldn’t dream of betraying Rinku.”  “Good.” Zelda’s expression changed to a little bubbly, now that she and Skull Kid came to an agreement. “Well, then, I’m glad we got this settled. Now, why don’t you run along, you..... sweet thing?” She waved goodbye to Rinku’s friend.  “Okay, Queenie. Bye!” He waved back to Zelda as he left the foyer with the fairy, Navi following behind. Zelda sat back in her chair and sighed in relief, now that her strange friend is gone.

Then after a couple of hours passed, Rinku is done with her writing lesson. Zelda was drinking more of her tea. Rinku went over to her mother, “Hey, Mama. I’m done with my lesson.” “That’s nice, sweetie.” Zelda motioned to the cookies on her tea tray, “Would you like to stay and snack on some cookies with me?” Rinku smiled, “Sure. I’m a little hungry.”

The queen smiles they started sharing cookies. “So, how was meeting my friend?” Rinku simply asked. “It went well, honey. He was quite a character.” said Zelda, trying not to tell her daughter what really happened. “That’s great, Mama.” Rinku is happy about her mother getting acquainted with Skull Kid. Zelda smiles and took a sip of her tea. “So are there any other projects you need to do today?” 

“I don’t think so. Just writing.” replied Rinku. Zelda said, “I see. What do you need to write about?”  “Just usual Hyrule History.” Zelda sets down her tea cup and said as she got up from her chair, “Well, if you like, we can go to the library and work on it together.” “Sure, Mama.” Rinku would love to have her mother’s help. Then, they made their way to the library. 

“Let’s go ahead and find the books you need before we get started.” said Zelda. “Okay, Mama.” smiled Rinku before they started to look around.  As soon as they found a few books, they got to the table and started working on the project. Zelda helped her the best she could. Soon, the project is all done. “Oh, goodness. It sure was a lot of work getting this done, but at least I managed to help you out, sweetie.” said Zelda.

“Yeah. I really appreciate that Mama.” Rinku said to her. “You’re welcome, sweetie. Now, why don’t you put your work somewhere safe in your room before dinner, okay?” Zelda smiled to the princess. “Okay, Mama.” She smiled back to her mother before she left the library. Zelda went to the bird librarian and said, “Excuse me, could you be so kind to put these books back in their shelves?” The librarian smiled, “Why, certainly, Your Majesty.” A while later, dinner was over and it’s nearly time  for bed. 

Zelda went back into the bedroom, wondering where her husband has been. Shortly, Ganondorf came into the room. “I’m sorry I am late.” “Oh, hi love. You got me a little worried. Rinku and I didn’t see you at dinner.” He replied to her, “Well, I was tied up with things today, making me late to join you for dinner. Must’ve been another meeting or something. I’m sorry to have you worried.”  “That’s alright. I’m just glad nothing bad happened.” Zelda said to him. “Of course not. There’s nothing to worry about, really.” 

 “Good.” Zelda smiled as she got into the bed. Ganondorf got undressed to only his pants and got right beside her. She cuddled onto him as they embraced each other. He then put his hand on her belly to fell their unborn child. Zelda moans to his touch as the baby kicked about. Ganondorf kissed her forehead, “Good night, you two.” 

“Good night, my love.” With that, they fell asleep the rest of the night.