#like sitting alone on a cliffside and watching the sunset

[novablisters]

I appreciate and even love the use of music and leitmotifs and scores and whatnot in film but I wish more movies/shows would utilize quiet. something about shows without constant music in the background is so peaceful, sometimes it feels empty but when it’s used right it just breathes more life into it. also I can actually understand what the characters are saying because they aren’t competing with background noise

[cloudsmateria]

shitty friend. cloud strife x reader

tw: almost smut, forbidden romance

summary: tifa likes cloud, you're pretty sure. and you've been worrying about him ever since you left midgar, until one night in costa del sol you catch him sneaking out, following him on the way in the rain. u might know what happens next.

a/n: guys let me know if you want more of this i might make into a longer thing.

You were stuck sitting at your balcony watching the breeze run through the palm trees, Aerith and Tifa were dead asleep behind you after the long day you had all just had. You should be dead asleep, but your thoughts got the better of you tonight, anytime you laid down your continuous, tangled threads of thoughts came crashing over you. Sector 7, Sephiroth, your parents, Cloud. You were worried about him. He’s been acting off, he’s always been off but now he seemed a lot more lost, frustrated, trying to cover his thoughts up. Even his falling out with TIfa was uncharacteristic of him.

The thought of him was a strange amalgamation of feelings, comforting and fuzzy, or worrying. You don’t know what drew you so much to him, how you felt wasn’t something since you were a kid. You wanted to get to know him as much as possible, to be around him as much as possible, feeling giddier when he gave you a compliment, a look, an anything. Earlier on the beach he came to talk to you, while everyone else agreed to head back, that 10 minute talk felt like an eternity by the sunset, it made you feel warm. 

He worried you beyond what was going on with him. What was going on with you? Why did you like him so much? You had a creeping suspicion it was a crush, but denial didn’t let you acknowledge it. It wouldn’t work. Surely he likes someone else. And you’re pretty sure Tifa’s been in love with him since they were children, that must have gone both ways, especially against you who he’s only known for a month. You groan, leaning your head back against the pillar attached to the balcony fence you were sitting on. The thought of him added to your dizzying thoughts. 

You heard a door quietly creek down the hallway, along with some light noises from the creakier, shitty floorboards, and coincidentally, Cloud walking down the steps of the exit and going for the slim path to the main roads. What was on his mind this time? You silently hop down from your first-floor balcony, quickly walking toward him as you watched him get on the segway, zooming off quite a bit ahead of you. You got on one too, following him to the edge of the touristy bit of Costa Del Sol, getting off when leaving the area. Suspicious? You originally weren’t intending on hiding but that changed, trying to figure out what was going on. 

He ended up walking to the large pond by the cliffside, empty, and quiet, leaning up by one of the boulders and looking the moonlight on the water. You walked out, him looking at you. 

“Hey.”

“Following me?”

“I was worried about you." You said, leaning next to him.

“Why are you still up?”

“A lot to think about.”

“Haven’t got a moment to ourselves since before the reactor.” He said with a sincere look, the buzz was there again. “What’s on your mind?”

“Well, I’m here to talk to you but… Just everything… Sephiroth. Midgar. Shinra. Tifa. Aerith… You.”

“You shouldn’t worry about me.”

“So why are you out here so late? What are you thinking about?”

He shakes his head, it’s sweet how much you care. “Nothing, just needed a breath of air. Wanted to be alone for a bit but clearly the Planet had different plans.”

“Maybe the Planet is giving you a sign… I know you and I can tell something’s wrong, and you’re not alone. You should talk to me.”

It’s quiet for a second, before he decides to speak. “I’ve noticed about you that too, you never talk about what’s going on in your head.”

“If I did then would you talk to me?” 

He hesitates, he can’t remember the last time he really opened up to anyone about what was going on in his head, his thoughts. He opened one suspicion to Tifa, and look where that got him. But something about you makes him think you’ll listen, you won’t think he’s insane, or weak, something about you puts his head to ease. “Yeah. Why not?”

“I was thinking about my parents in Midgar. I’m mostly worried about you. I can tell you’re low, and there’s a lot on your mind.”

“What about your parents?”

You laugh awkwardly, thinking back to them. No one knows about it yet, Tifa and Aerith knows vague bits, but not the whole story. “My mum went missing when I was 15, and my dad has been missing since I was born.” You said, adding the second bit trying to make a joke out of it. “I don’t really know what happened to my mum, she went missing in Wall Market when she used to do underground fighting for money.”

“I’m…” He was lost for words. “Sorry, that’s horrible.”

“It was a long time ago, all of us have lost our parents so it’s not anything special. I just wonder what happened to her sometimes, and my dad, apparently he was a lovely man but she didn’t talk about him much, I have a few photos and a few letters he wrote to me before I was born.” You looked at Cloud. “He was a SOLDIER First Class in Shinra’s All-Star team before your time, so I assume he’s part of the regiment that died, if my mum got a letter she didn’t tell me.” 

He opened his mouth, but no words came out, there was a distinct solemn expression on his face. “You don’t have to say anything.” You said warmly, with a light laugh. 

“I’m sorry, it’s hard.”

“It doesn’t affect me that much. I found Aerith a year later in Sector 5, then Tifa when I eventually moved to Sector 7. So…” 

He stopped leaning against the boulder, beckoning you to come with him, you get up, walking beside him. “I don’t understand how you just open up to people like that.”

“I’ve never told anyone before.”

“What?”

“Tifa and Aerith just know I don’t have parents, they don’t know the details. Telling people about my past freaks me since I’ve never said anything for so long. But I know you feel the same way, I see myself in you, that’s why I can tell you’re off. We trust each other, don’t we? With everything.”

“I trust you, entirely.” You smile broadly, bumping into his shoulder, and in a strange way he felt at peace, being seen for once. 

“So you gonna keep up your end of the promise?”

“I don’t know, it’s a lot.”

“Nothing’s too much, don’t worry.”

“This might sound crazy, but sometimes, I don’t know if my thoughts are my own, it feels like they’re someone elses. I feel like I get memories triggered from a life and I don’t know if they’re mine or not, it’s all jumbled up, and it’s making me feel insane. Some of my memories don’t match up with Tifa’s, inconsistencies when we were in Kalm with Sephiroth. I started to doubt her, and we got into an argument. I feel crazy. I get these headaches and-” His words started to speed up at the end, groaning in annoyance at his own thoughts, wondering why he didn’t feel uncomfortable saying any of this. 

“It’s okay.”

“I get these headaches like my head is collapsing in on itself, ringing in my ears, static and jumping in my eyes, around Geneva, around fires, just randomly, and I see Sephorith and he’s not there, I can’t touch him, but it feels like he’s there talking to me, taunting me. I can barely move, it hurts so bad. Recently, I’ve been feeling like I’m losing touch with myself and thoughts that aren’t me are taking over me, although I’ve been able to keep it under control.”

“That explains so much… Maybe it’s some kind of mako poisoning?”

“I don’t know, I don’t think so. What do you think?”

“I don’t think you’re crazy or insane. I honestly think Sephiroth is messing with your head somehow.” You both have made it to the gazebo in the middle of the large pond, you stop to look at him, holding his hand in both of yours, his head blanking out. “We’ll get through this together, don’t worry.” A heavy weight had just been lifted off his chest, to be without judgement for once, to just say everything out loud without being trapped in his own head, alone.

You see him smile, like he’s about to laugh. “What?” You ask. 

“You scare me.” 

“What?”

“I’m too comfortable around you, it scares me out. You have some like, mind control materia on you. It’s weird.”

You laugh. “I can say the same thing about you.” He’s looking down at you with soft eyes, the green in them feels like it’s moving, the moonlight making them shine brighter. You can hear water lightly rippling around you, and looking at him so closely seems to drown the rest of the world out. When you look up at him, he can see the glossy reflection of the moon in your own eyes, lighting up your face. Your heart picks up, starting to hammer in your chest. You catch onto yourself, turning away and clearing your throat, walking to the edge of the gazebo to look over the water. 

You’re getting the wrong idea. You only met him a month ago, you’re out of your mind if you think there’s anything between you two other than friendship.

“Want to head to the beach?”

“It’s so late.”

“We’re used to restless nights anyway, right? It’s not often we get a moment of quiet in Costa Del Sol.” He said, grabbing your wrist to turn you toward him. “We’ll only be 30 minutes.”

“That is such a lie, Cloud Strife.” However, you let him slowly pull you out of the gazebo, in the direction of the beach with a huge smile on his face. 

“You want to, I know you do.”

“You’re such a bad influence.” You say, rolling your eyes sarcastically, walking up beside him, half the way there, you feel a drop on your shoulder. Then two. The four. A few seconds later, a light drizzle. You look at each other and lightning flashes hitting only a kilometer ahead and immediately rain starts crashing down. He grabs your hand since the rain is too loud for you to hear him well, leading you past a tree that seems to lead to nowhere, behind it an entrance into the inside of a hill.

“What’s this?”

“Found it yesterday by accident.” You take a few steps in the dark path, passing through some vine. 

“A lifespring.” You say breathlessly, there’s a small body of water in the middle with a gap in the tip of the hill, rain falling into the pond, the grass, flowers, mako crystals around it, untouched. There’s another hit of lighting and thunder. “Guess I’m stuck out here with you now.”

“This is better than the beach anyway. The rain and thunder add something.”

“Of course, you’d say that, Cloud Strife.”

“Never make a joke again.”

You smile. “It’s calming in a way, I agree with you. I like it too.” There’s a spot beside the pond, close to the crystal cluster you lay in, looking up at the hole rain pouring through, Cloud sits next to you, leaning on his elbows and looking with you. Your eyes shift to him, looking at how his hair has dropped down, swaying back, still fluffy, his side profile is gorgeous too. You could sit there forever looking at him. It seems to click, like a switch in your head. Your heart feels full, your stomach is in knots.

He looks back at you, and he catches the look in your eyes, a light, loving expression. It makes his head go hazy.

His eyes dart back to the sky. He didn't like it. Didn't want to like it. It was a problem, an inconvenience, and yet, he couldn't find himself caring about that. It was an amazing feeling, the feeling he had, even though it scared him. The way your eyes glimmered at him, the soft expression on your lips. 

“Thanks for letting me open up to you, Cloud. It meant a lot.”

"You know I'll always be there for you, you don't have to thank me. If anything, I have more to be thankful for.” There was a moment. “How do you feel about me?”

"I think you're great in every way." You say, vaguely, you cheeks heating up. "I love being around you, you're a good friend. How do you feel about me?"

He hesitates, a pause before he answers, but something about you made him think twice. 

"You're great." You felt a tinge of disappointment but it's what you expected. 

He's looking at you. He wants to kiss you. No. No. Stop. This is the worst thing he could ever do.

"But you don't really see me as a friend, do you?" Fuck, fuck, fuck, he's onto you.

"Cloud, don't be an idiot. Of course, I see you as a friend."

"Then why did you look at me like that earlier?"

"Look at you like what?"

He laughed. "I'm not stupid, you know. You don't have to be embarrassed."

"I..." You didn't know what to say. But you didn't need to know what to say.

“Am I getting the wrong idea?” He said quietly. You shake your head, butterflies being unleashed in your stomach, as his face is so close to yours. He had to be the one with that mind control materia on him, because your head was spinning, before he could even think about what he was doing, he leaned forward and pressed his lips against yours.

The butterflies in your stomach went crazy, you felt like you were flying, his lips were soft, the surprise took you off guard. When he pulled away, the two of you were breathless. You know what you were doing was wrong, but it was already too late, and you were too hazy to care. You turn over, sitting on his waist, his hands drifting to your hips.

He pulls you down again and kisses you, his arms wrapping around your neck, pulling you closer.

 You were kissing him back, not thinking, letting your feelings take over, you felt amazing, so good, so happy, like your stomach was on fire. He felt the same.

"This is bad." You mumbled against his lips.

"Mhm."

"We can't do this."

"Uh huh." He was barely listening to a word you were saying. 

You kissed him harder. He was all you could think about, how badly you wanted him, needed him. You knew you shouldn't be doing this, you were friends. Nothing could ever happen.

And yet, you were kissing him.

When you finally pulled away, your heart was beating a thousand times a minute, your chest was heavy. You didn't want to get off him, he flipped over changing the positions, pressing his lips against your neck. 

"You're not a good influence, Cloud Strife." You said, breathlessly.

"I know."

He was kissing you like it was his last night alive, his hands were everywhere, running through your hair, on your hips, your thighs. And yet, the two of you were not satisfied, not for a moment.

The feeling of his body pressed up against yours made your brain foggy, you could feel his muscles flexing under your touch.

You were completely lost in each other, unable to tell where you began and ended. His hands coming up to your chest, slipping under your flimsy crop top. You put your hand over his, stopping him, getting hit with the first sensible thought. Tifa.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm sorry, we can't. We can't do this, I don't know what came over me."

"I... What?"

"We can't do this." You said. 

"Is there someone else...?"

"No, I’d be a terrible person, I can't do it, can’t do that to my friend..."

"To me?"

"No... Tifa likes you, I'm pretty sure. I just can't..."

"But..." He said, trailing off.

"I can't, and I'm sorry." You said. "You're great, I really like you, but I've already gone too far. “Fuck... I feel awful."

"Don't. I kissed you."

"Let's just... Forget about this, yeah? Just act normal." You tried to stand up, but he pulled you back down.

"I just don't understand, you want this. She's never said anything. Why should we ignore what's so strong between us?"

"But-"

"I'm not interested in her. This is right, us. Don't you feel it?"

"It's wrong, I'm not an option."

"Do you have feelings for me?"

"Yes, almost from the moment I met you and I didn't realise until now, because this can't happen. We're friends. We basically live with Tifa and Aerith, we can't go off complicating things like this."

"They don't have to know."

"Cloud."

"It's worth it, isn't it?"

"Fuck. Fuck. I don't know. I'm scared, and it's too soon, and I'm scared. We can't do this."

...

pt 2?

[webspinning]

the

😭🌱🎭💚❤️💙

Bananaberry, Coereba, Ikol, Alabastrine

(you dont need to do all of them if you dont want !! its alot sorry)

yippee! mild warnings for a couple mentions of abuse and depression, read at your own risk.

😭; Bananaberry - She doesn't cry easily at all, only when she's experiencing extreme sadness or anger- normally when something causes her to feel that way. Coereba - They sob over everything, especially books with sad sappy endings. Bananaberry is always confused by that. Ikol - Spent all his tears when he was young, as he likes to say. Rarely cries, and when he does, never anything more than a few tears unless he's having a legitimate breakdown. It's normally thinking himself into a depressive rut that makes him do that. Alabastrine - Doesn't really cry- she's not very empathetic, and doesn't consider her own issues enough to cry over. When she was little she cried a lot getting over her issues with her mother, though. 🌱; Bananaberry - Probably the time she first took May flying. It was shortly after she learnt to fly herself, which took her longer than usual since she didn't have anyone to teach her. She took May to the cliffside and they watched the sunset together. Coereba - When they were locked in their room for two days because they didn't behave at a family dinner. It's something they wish they could forget. Ikol - In a similar vein, one of many times Nighthawk threatened to straight up kill her to keep her in line. It happened more than once, but she remembers getting shoved against the wall and having a knife held to her throat most vividly. Not very many of her childhood memories are nice. Alabastrine - Also an unpleasant one, the occasion when her mother was attacked and very nearly killed by Iurus' guards. It's something she doesn't like thinking about. Makes her feel helpless and guilty. 🎭; Bananaberry - She's much softer around May and Coereba, willing to show a little more of her emotions. Baby is wary around strangers, especially other dragons. She's scared of them. Coereba - Very anxious around strangers, anyone they don't know very well, really. They're anxious in general but destress with Baby. Ikol - Well, if he had any friends, they'd be able to crack him open eventually. He's a hard cold bitch to almost everyone, and that does carry over to his loved ones, but he's slightly softer with them rather than it being a genuine hatred. Alabastrine - In the daytime working her job she's the picture of a perfect ditzy bartender- chatty, a little flirty, nice to the patrons. Nighttime, she takes up her claws and does dirty work. When he's speaking to her rebellion followers he's a lot more commanding and almost regal. Around loved ones Strina just lets himself be himself, which generally leads to a lot of rambling and being silly. 💚; Bananaberry - Someone to listen to her, even if they just tell her they understand. On the rare occasions she opens up, she isn't looking for advice, but moreso just someone to talk to. Coereba - Hugs, kisses, cuddles. Physical touch always makes them feel a lot better. Ikol - Being left alone. Edgy as it sounds, if someone understands that he just needs time to cool off - rather than pressing affection or comfort on him - he's going to like them even more. Though similar to Bananaberry, he just wants someone to listen when he does talk. Alabastrine - Good food, good wine, something to take her mind off the situation. ❤️; Bananaberry - Giving gifts :) she loves to gift people art and flowers, and when her loved ones make an effort in the same way it always makes her glow with happiness. Coereba - Huge physical touch enjoyer, loves to be pressed right up against Bananaberry. They get sad when she has to pull away because it's been too much time for her but understand she needs it. Ikol - Just sitting doing something with someone, even if they're different things, or making an effort to get into/be interested in something someone else likes. Alabastrine - Gifts, touch, displays of affection, and words. She's very loving and will express that in pretty much any way possible.

💙; Bananaberry - Yeah, she misses Reba pretty easily, but it depends on her mood. If she's not feeling good she can go a week or more without talking to them. Coereba - An hour is too long. Can they have another hug? It's okay if she just wants to twine tails, they need the touch. Ikol - No. Not at all. Alabastrine - Yes and no, they miss her but in a way where it doesn't really take effect. It'll be more a lot of thinking of her fondly/daydreaming about giving her hugs and words of love when they get home.

[senpiecakes]

A Love Not Meant to Be: Zhongli Part 1

Notes: I keep thinking about that one Tik Tok audio that’s like “you’re gonna love ‘em till the day you die” and my soul depletes every time. Also, slicing it into three diff parts cause it’s like 6k words.

Summary: Right person wrong time basically + reincarnation.

Warning/s: Angst no comfort, a lot of lore spoilers

Theme/s: Angst, no comfort, angst tropes.

Trope: Right Person, Wrong Time/Immortal x Mortal

(PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE listen to Glimpse of Us by Joji while reading)

Parts: Part 2, Part 3 (end)

This story began when Zhongli was still a young adeptus- only about a couple thousand years old and learning the ropes of his place in the world. Of course, he’s lived for a long while now and has already learned a few lessons here and there, so why not try and live among the mortals? To him, they were interesting beings with the short lifespans they tried to live to the fullest. He wanted to know what all the fuss was about. He had a lot of time in his hands after all.

Then there was you: the soon to be mortal that would pique his interest. You were ordinary: a mortal human living a peaceful life in a small village hidden deep within the mountains. When you encountered Zhongli, it was at the edge of a mountain. You never knew why a place like that would bring you comfort of all things. You spent most of your free time there, usually watching the sunset after a day's end of your simple little life. That was when Zhongli came in.

It was odd to see a human at that altitude at this time of day, alone of all things, during the setting sun where monsters would run rampant by night. Needless to say, Zhongli was baffled to see you sitting by yourself on a cliffside of a mountain, peacefully watching the sun go down after a day of work and mundaneness. He stared for a while, listening to you hum to yourself, the golden glow of the sun making you look all the more majestic. In his eyes, he’s never seen a human in this light. So simple, but so wonderful. You only noticed Zhongli’s presence when he stepped forward to approach you and you heard the faintest rustle of the grass against his garments. You had your fair share of sour encounters in this mountain, so you learned to be hypervigilant.

“Who’s there?” You question, turning quickly to see the man hiding shyly behind a tree. “Oh, hello, I didn’t mean to scare you.” You breathe a sigh of relief when you see him, but as soon as the man moved forward, you notice something odd. His eyes- a piercing golden gaze that shone like glimmers of gold against a thousand suns. He made you stop in your tracks. You knew instantly what he was, who he was. You’ve heard of this ‘person’ from your village elders; an adeptus, a dragon, called Rex Lapis. An adeptus? You think. Here? He approaches you and you almost stumble to your knees in a bow but the fear, the shock, and the amazement at the encounter only made you slack-jawed and frozen.

“... it appears you’ve dropped a sunsettia.” The man mumbles, holding out the fruit in his hand. You look down at his hand and back up at him. Zhongli smiles awkwardly and pushes the sunsettia forward.

“Rex… Rex Lapis.” You say, bowing cordially. Zhongli sighs and slumps himself up against the tree, taking a bite out of the fruit. 

“How very kind, and very brave, of you to address me in such a way,” he says with a chuckle. Zhongli moves and sits by your spot, staring out into the vastness of Liyue. No wonder you loved it here. “Come, have a seat with me.” You hesitate for a moment and think about fleeing but Zhongli only looks back at you and you jump to sit awkwardly by him. Both of you sit in silence for a while, you occasionally glancing at the man beside you. You had to admit, he was quite handsome; long dark hair fading into a warm yellow, flowing down his broad shoulders, framing his charming face so delicately. His eyes were an unusual shade of gold, comparable to the glorious sunset before you- were stone cold in stare but nevertheless very beautiful. You had never seen anyone like him, so needless to say you were mesmerized. 

“Are we enjoying the view?” The man pipes up suddenly, glancing over at you with a teasing smile. “The sunset is quite lovely too.”

“My apologies.” You say flustered as you look away. Zhongli stretches and lays back onto the grass.

“Needn’t be so nervous, I’m parading around as a human for a while and you may treat me as such,” He says. “With that, you may address me as Morax.”

“Morax,” You mumble back. “I’m Y/N.” Zhongli grins, not knowing that your name would be the one to torment him through the ages.

You soon found that your usual day to day routine was interrupted by the man that called himself Morax. The adeptus cloaking himself as a mortal soon stuck by your side for some odd reason. You’d see him early in the morning down the street being admired by the younger and older ladies of your village. He’d follow you around town with that aura of prestige that made you stand out, and you hated it. Worst of all, you found yourself being accompanied by this individual during your free time on that mountain. Zhongli never disclosed why, but he was fascinated by you, and you alone. Sure, he eventually found himself amongst the crowd of your little village with many personalities, but he wanted to spend his time with you more than anyone. You already made a good first impression with that feat you had with climbing up that mountain summit on your own, but it wasn’t your extraordinary abilities that captured Zhongli’s intrigue. Simply put, it was your ordinary-ness that made Zhongli want to know more. Sure, he had met a handful of humans with unnatural talents and exceptional abilities, but those were only for show to him- an attempt to gain the favor of a powerful adeptus. You, on the other hand, was so human, that Zhongli found himself drawn to how ‘life-like’ you were. How underwhelming life could have been, he never knew until he met you. He wanted to know about mortals, how they lived so freely but so constrained. Fate just happened to lead him to you.

The village found you charming. You cherished everything around you, or at least tried to, because you as a person grappled with the thought of death with more maturity than others. Death was terrifying, you knew that well, but at the same time you accepted it wholly long ago. That was until Zhongli barged into your life. The young adeptus didn’t have much understanding of the concept of death and decay. All of his companions lived long, prosperous lives, so why did he have to worry about death? And so, he sought for answers through you because you were a mortal after all. You had a tame life, and you’ll experience death, what’s more to it than that?

“It’s not that simple, Morax.” You sigh as he trails behind you during your usual traverse to the mountain.

“How is it not? I look knowledgeable don’t I? I’m sure I’ll understand.” He says as you quicken your pace. “Besides, you humans live short lives, what else is there other than living and dying?” Exasperated, you turn and breathe in calmly.

“It’s just not that okay? It’s easy for you to say because you Adepti live for thousands, even millions of years! For us, each day is a risk, you’re not guaranteed living for longer and you never expect to land on death's door. That’s why we try to live as much as we can, to experience as much as we can and learn so many things before we eventually pass away.” You say. “Besides, we’re not as sturdy as you are.”

“And you say that while climbing up a very dangerous mountain?” Zhongli retorts. You fluster and avert from his teasing gaze.

“That’s not the point, okay? I’m just trying to live my life.” 

“You are very charming, Y/N.” Zhongli says. You can’t help but flush at his words. “Still, you need to humor me more with this concept.” 

“Well, why are you doing this anyway?” You ask, settling yourself by the cliff side as Zhongli sits beside you. “Don’t you have more important duties to do for Liyue?” 

“This one is a duty,” he answers. “The understanding of mortality, the importance of it and the purpose of humans in our world.” He looks at you and Zhongli couldn’t help but stare. “And what better way for me to learn than to live amongst the humans?” He continues his gaze, studying your features intently. He’s never seen you in this light before; the sunset on your face, highlighting the irritation on your expression, your hair windswept by the breeze and the softness in your eyes when you turn to look at him. You’re so relaxed with him now- treating him as if he was anyone else- a person. Zhongli feels something surge through his chest- an odd sensation that he almost felt afraid, but enough to make him stand and back away from you.

“Morax? What’s wrong?” You ask. Zhongli breathes in deeply and calms himself, slowly turning to leave.

“I think my stay for now is overdue.” He says. You watch him go with a confused look. “I’ll see you soon, Y/N.”

It took a while for Zhongli to reappear. You found your days unusually quiet without him trailing behind you all day long with his ‘words of wisdom’ as he calls it. Other than that, you found the villagers asking more and more about the ‘mysterious handsome gentleman’s’ whereabouts. You never knew where he went, but you never worried about it too much. He was an adeptus after all- he can handle himself. However, you couldn’t help but worry a little. During those years when Zhongli was still young, he was powerful, but also reckless and stubborn. Only Celestia knows what he’s up to, and you thought that maybe he was just out and about with his other adepti friends fighting random monsters around Liyue. And only Celestia knew just how wrong you were.

Each sunset, for weeks on end, Zhongli would watch you come and go from your spot. He’d watch you sit, listen to you calming hum, he’d see you go and beat any monster that tried to get near you. He knew why he did this; Zhongli wanted to replicate that feeling on that day. That odd sensation in his chest, the heat rushing to his skin, why he felt so nervous and why you looked so… breathtaking. Even now, as he watches you do the same old routine, does the feeling only grow stronger, and by the gods it hurt more when he wasn’t by your side to ask you about it. He ruminated about his situation for a while, cursing at himself to feeling weak whenever he tried to return to you. The other adepti refused to give him answers, instead laughing behind their palms and prompting him to ask you himself. Zhongli thought he was being challenged- and he wasn’t the type to back down, but when the day actually came, when did he suddenly become so cowardly?

“Y/N!” Zhongli announces, suddenly appearing by your front door the moment you open it- first thing in the morning.

“Morax?!” You yell, nearly falling back at the surprise. “What are you doing?! And where have you been all this time?!” Zhongli doesn’t answer any of your questions. Instead, he steadies himself and looks at you intently

“I have a question for you, Y/N,” He says. “I think you’ll know the answer to this one.”

Oh? The ever-so-knowledgeable Zhongli not having an answer to a question? You were interested and nodded at him to continue. As soon as Zhongli explained his situation, your curiosity turned to dread. You listened to him basically confessing his love to you, how much it pained him when you weren’t by his side, the butterflies in his heart when he saw you, how he thinks you are one of the most remarkable people on Teyvat despite your ordinariness. His muscular form caved in a little, like a small child being caught with their hands in a cookie jar. His face was flushed and his eyes wandered, refusing to look at you. You stayed silent as Zhongli drew on his explanation, feeling every word sink into your skin like hot needles.

“I don’t understand what this is, Y/N,” Zhongli finishes, looking down at his hands as a wave of red bursts from his cheeks. “What is this that I’m feeling?” As soon as he looked up at you, a hopeful gleam in his beautiful amber eyes, your heart dropped to the pit of your stomach.

Oh… Oh no… 

You swallow dryly and try your best to be supportive. You really didn’t expect this to happen so early in the morning. An awkward smile reaches your lips as Zhongli looks at you quizzically.

“It’s called… love.” You say, feeling your breath being knocked out of your chest. “You know what that is, right?” You prayed that this wouldn’t happen. You never thought it would. Zhongli was an adeptus, the grand warrior god of them all, how could he fall for a lowly human being? However, it wasn’t uncommon for Adepti to fall for humans- you just hoped it wouldn’t be you. 

“Love,” Zhongli mumbles, a giddy smile on his face making you all the more worried and guilty. “I’m in love with you, Y/N.” As soon as his words reached your ears, dread washed over you like a wave. You didn’t want this to happen.

[alby-rei]

The Wandering Painter (Vincent x Reader)

a/n: It’s one thing to read about famous historical figures and about the lives they led. Living with them, though, has shown you new sides to them that no history book could ever do justice, starting with Vincent.

[Characters]: You, Vincent

[Word count]: ~800 words

[Tags]: established relationship, suitor habits, fluff, humor

~*~

Your beloved Vincent loved the outdoors, and he loved taking you out on long walks in an open field, by the cliffside, or through the forest around the mansion. One thing your outings had in common is that it was always easy for you to find each other. Walking hand-in-hand was a must, and if you were feeling particularly affectionate, he would be more than happy to link your arm in his.

However, that wasn’t the case when the two of you went to run errands in town together.

“Vincent?” You called out when you emerged from the grocery store.

You turned your head in every direction, squinting at every blond pedestrian on the street. You walked to the park, where the two of you split up to your destinations. You called out for him again, raising your voice a notch above the ruckus of the general public. You moved with the crowd in search. The sun was setting, and it would get much harder to find each other as more time passed.

“Oh… what was it called?” You wracked your brain for the name of the paint shop that Vincent mentioned on the carriage ride here. “Ah! There it is!”

You dashed into the store as well as you could while balancing groceries in your arms. A little bell chimed, and a kind old man greeted you with a smile, but there was no Vincent in sight.

“Bonjour, what can I help you with, mademoiselle?” he said.

“I’m looking for a man named Vincent, was he here earlier?”

“Oh, yes. He left, uh…” The man looked down at his watch. “15 minutes ago.”

You asked if he had mentioned where he was headed, but the old man shook his head.

“My apologies, but I didn’t catch a word past his thanks. His eyes must’ve caught something outside, for he rushed out as soon as he paid for his supplies.”

That made you worry even more. What could’ve caught his eye? Why was he in a rush? You recalled a peculiar day when you were sitting with Napoleon, and he described how he’d felt like someone was watching him—someone he knew from his past life. You wondered if Vincent was chasing a ghost from his past, as well.

You thanked the shopkeeper, and he offered to safeguard your heavy load while you went on your search. Feeling lighter than before, you marched out with a “Be right back!” and you returned among the Parisian crowd. The first thing that came to mind was to return to the park. After so much time had passed already, you figured he would wait for you there once he realized that you were missing.

The sun had set over the horizon, leaving only the afterglow sky illuminating the familiar mop of blond hair squatting next to a low-hanging tree branch. That didn’t look like a very comfortable position, but he held it diligently, nonetheless.

Vincent jumped at the feel of your hand on his shoulder, and his focused stare morphed into an apologetic one.

“MC! There you are,” he said.

“I should be the one saying that!” You answered, hugging his crouched form. “Where have you been?”

“I noticed this magnificent view of the sunset between the buildings,” he explained, dropping his tools to return the hug. “And I had to set up my easel and work quickly before it disappeared.”

Following his gaze, your eyes sparkled at the new colorful canvas on top of his suitcase.

“But then it got dark.” His shoulders drooped. “And that’s when I realized I had left you all alone! Please forgive me.”

He pulled back to look at you with frowning, apologetic eyes. You sighed deeply as you processed what he had said. So, he was safe all along. Guilt etched into your heart for ever thinking of scolding him for wandering off on his own.

“It’s fine, love,” you reassured him as you enveloped him in a tight hug once more. “I’m just glad you weren’t hurt chasing ghosts.”

“What...?”

“Nothing! What I meant was, don’t wander off like that without telling me first, okay?”

He nodded resolutely, “I promise.”

“Thank you, now let’s go back to the paint shop. I left all the groceries there before I came to find you.”

Back at the dining room, you recalled your little story much to everyone’s amusement, save for Theo who almost fainted when you jokingly said you’d “lost Vincent”. He rose to call for a search party, only stopped by the sight of his older brother sitting calmly next to him, oblivious to the hell that his wandering habit would have caused if left unchecked.

After this little incident, whenever Vincent found something that caught his eye, he’d excitedly call for your attention, so he can share his enthusiasm with you foremost.

[vinnival]

hihihi speaking of Phobos and Sheriff, idk if you do anything that's non-reader or s/o based but... Could you pretty please do a Phobos x Sheriff where Phobos sees Sheriff playing an acoustic guitar while the sun sets?? If that's alr,,, (p.s I love how you interpret/write Phobos it's so good-)

OMG THANK YOU SO MUCH ILYSM THATS SUCH A COMPLIMENT AHHH especially since I barely have a grip on his personality... idk it makes me happy when people say I write characters well

🔫🔫🔫 this is what sheriff is playing because I have zelda brainrot listen!!! listen while you read

Elvis Presley Type Beat

Phobos is used to the sound of silence, used to the sound of only him and his own thoughts. It's what brought him this far in life- contemplation in silence.

So when he heard Sheriff leave the building and noticed him bringing a guitar, he was mildly interested. He's never even SEEN the man play guitar.

He waited a few more minutes, examining his nails and making sure his bandages were in place correctly- then, he approached the door leading outside.

He heard the strums of a song through the door, and pushed it open quietly.

The Sheriff was humming slightly as he played, sitting on the edge of the cliffside all the while. Just ahead of him shine a beautiful Nevada sunset, the sun burning different pinks and oranges into the sky.

Phobos has never seen nor heard anything so... ethereal. He watched the other man peacefully strum away.

Phobos has never touched a guitar, let alone get lessons for it. So, this is one of the only times he is impressed by the skill of another.

He slowly walked over to the other, deciding to sit by him and just enjoy his songs.

Luckily, Sheriff didn't jump when he realized Phobos was there. He didn't cease his playing either, continuing to play the song he was currently playing.

He wanted to compliment the others' playing skills, but thats below him. He didn't want to talk, anyways, lest he ruin the moment.

He glanced over at the one in the cowboy hat, and they glanced back.

He couldn't resist the muscles of his mouth tugging upwards in a smile after the Sheriff shot him a bright grin.

Maybe they should spend time together like this more in the future.

[rocking-space-dragon]

Family Reunion

So, here’s the Fundy and Wilbur fic that I’ve been working on for the past while! It’s the third thing that I’ve written concerning the DSMP, and I think it’s the thing that I’m proudest of so far!

So uh...Enjoy!

Wilbur & Fundy, 4k words, TW : Violence, Cursing, Nightmares.

When Fundy opened his eyes earlier, he knew it was a dream before even getting out of bed. He’d learned to recognise the signs – a certain weight in the air, a heaviness that made it hard to breathe properly, and an overwhelming sense of being alone. A sigh rocks through his body as he climbs out of bed, rubbing his eyes – going back to sleep immediately never worked, after all. Instead, he makes his way to the door of his home and pushes it open, bracing for whatever came next. What he found, however, was the last thing he’d expected to see in his dreams.

L’manburg.

L’manburg, standing proudly in front of him, flag flying high up above, Wilbur’s flag. There’s a moment of hesitation as he steps forwards; as welcoming as this place should have been, it felt…wrong. There was no wind running through the tree despite the movement of the flags, no sound of people inhabiting the town. Still, he wouldn’t be able to get anywhere by standing here, so he takes a deep breath and begins walking into the city, head slowly turning from left to right to take in the sights – Nicki’s Bakery, his old home, even that massive tower in the background that always seemed to dominate the skyline. His paw runs along the wood of the buildings, the stone of the floor, crouching down to look at a flower growing by the side of the path in quiet contemplation before he continues on, looking for…something. Anything.

A flash of movement catches his eye as he walks, glancing across to see a figure walking through the streets, looking around slowly – a grey figure with a yellow jumper. After a moment’s pause, recollection catches up to him, and confusion about why he might be here is overwritten by the elation of finding someone else in this dreamscape besides the shadowy figure that he’d met in his first dream. Grinning, he makes his way forwards, holding up a paw.

“Hey, Ghostbur!”

When the figure turns around, however, there’s only confusion written across their face – white eyes set deep, heavy in a grey, spectral face, blue slowly running down their cheeks in thick rivers and pouring onto the ground beneath them, staining the frayed yellow jumper. In their hands they hold a broken leash, looking down at it before back up at the Fox in front of them. Around their neck is a red welt, and as they turn their head hangs slightly, as if they couldn’t quite keep it upright.

“I’m…sorry, do I know you?”

He ran. That’s all he could think to do – seeing his father’s ghost had initially been bad enough, but seeing that sallow face twisted into some kind of…whatever that was…he didn’t want to see it. When he eventually comes to a stop, it takes him a second to recognise his surroundings – the tunnel to Pogtopia. He takes a moment, standing and remembering his trek down this same path, clutching that diary close to his chest – the sight of his father, filthy and…different. The venom in his voice. The hatred in his eyes. He’s snapped out of his thoughts by a sound, however – a whistle, loud and piercing, that rings through the tunnels and echoes louder than it should, followed up by a bright light from behind him, the fox immediately spinning around to see the sight of a train filling the tunnel, speeding towards him.

His legs react before he can, immediately breaking into a sprint away from the train, hearing it getting closer and closer before his foot catches on one of the rails and he barely has time to spin around before it’s on top of him and he only catches a glimpse of someone at the front before- Suddenly he’s awake, heart pounding in his chest, tears streaming down his face and soaking into his fur as a sob chokes its way up and out of his mouth and his paws come up to clutch at his head. Another night, another horrible nightmare, denying him any rest and torturing with things that didn’t make sense. Why L’manburg? Why a train? Why anything?

He needed to do something about this.

Now, the fox stands, looking up at the ruins of the house that had once been his, rubble strewn around him as the smell of gunpowder, a far too familiar smell, lingers on the air with smoke slowly rising up into the air from the wreckage in front of him. His eyes are red with the tears that spilled from them twice in the same day, voice raw from the screams that echoed around the crater of what once was his home. His gaze turns, looking down at his hands, clenching and unclenching slowly before he slowly turns and sits on the edge of the steps, taking deep, shuddering breaths until his heart stops racing and he can feel the stone beneath his fingers. He was real. He was alive. This wasn’t a dream.

After a few minutes, he pushes up back onto his feet, brushing himself down and looking up at the sky – the sun was beginning to rise, and it’d be morning before long – not that he really had any reason to care. Still, it’d be nice to go and watch the sunrise from somewhere that wasn’t the smoking ruins of his home, so he takes a moment to think about where he should go – then turns towards the ruins of L’manburg. It’s a well-tread route, so he allows his mind to wander as he walks, thinking back on what he’d learned earlier today – his Father was alive? Not just alive, but 13 years older than when he’d last seen him, 13 years of being trapped in some kind of…limbo space. What did that mean for Wilbur? He’d been distant the last time he’d seen him, so thirteen more years without him…would he even remember Fundy?

…He hoped that wouldn’t be the case.

But, even besides the limbo, the fact that Wilbur had been lying to Phil…it just didn’t make sense, why wouldn’t Will want to tell Phil the truth about everything that’d happened? In his memories, Wilbur was so proud of his accomplishments, willing to fight and die for everything that he’d poured time into, everything that he’d toiled for, his blood, sweat and tears…so the thought of him lying and hiding the truth…it was hard to understand. He shakes his head, stepping forwards and onto the thick glass flooring atop the crater where the city had once stood, gazing down at the massive hole beneath him, as well as the plethora of bloody vines that spilled out from the bottom, wrapping around the huge replica of the L’manburg flag that sat at the bottom. His breath catches as he stares at the vines, thinking back to the events barely a week prior – the death of Foolish, the Betrayal from the Eggpire, the idea that he might lose another canon life to someone he thought of as a friend in an underground chamber…

He barely manages to wrestle his gaze away from the vines, shaking his head to clear his thoughts and hugging his jacket a little tighter around his body, pace quickening towards his destination. He didn’t want to be around this place any longer than he had to be. Eventually though, he’s made his way to his destination – Tubbo’s docks. Somewhere that he’s actually got…good memories. With a smile, he makes his way to the edge of the docks, sitting down and letting his feet dangle into the water, slowly trailing through the gently lapping waves and thinking about the last time he was here – fishing with Philza, talking about the things that he missed doing with Wilbur. Even just the thought is enough for tears to prick at the corners of his eyes, but they’re quickly wiped away as he turns to watch the sun slowly rising above the Horizon, bathing him in the warm glow of the early morning.

Sadly, that warmth doesn’t last.

The sound of footsteps slowly echoes out, the creak of the wood beneath boots, and the slow drag of a cigarette before a voice cuts through the air like a sword through a chest.

“I’ve missed seeing the sunrise, honestly. Sunsets are pretty, but I’ve always loved seeing it coming more than going.”

He didn’t want to turn around. He wanted to squeeze his eyes shut and stay where he was sitting until he could open them again and everything would be okay, and his father would still be dead and he’d be getting a proper night’s sleep…but he knew that wasn’t going to happen. Instead, he takes a deep breath, slowly turning and looking up to see the face of his father, weary but alive, a streak of white running through his otherwise messy brown hair, gazing out across the water towards the rising sun as the faint glow illuminates the two of them. For a moment, the world seems to stop, as the Fox’s eyes run across that face, searching for something, anything that could answer the dozens of questions that were cycling through his head – and yet, all he could see was the face of his father looking back. The same face that’d shown him love and animosity in equal measure, the same face that he’d seen gazing out from the crack in the cliffside towards L’manburg as it crumbled around him. For the first time since he’d heard the news, it truly hits Fundy – this wasn’t a prank, or a mistake, or anything of the sort.

His Father was alive.

He didn’t know what to feel. Part of him was happy, part of him was scared, part of him was utterly furious, but all of it seemed to blend together in his chest into a tightness that gripped at his heart, staring up at Wilbur as if waiting for something, anything to break the silence.

“What, no hug for your dad? Cmon, it’s me!”

Anger. Anger was DEFINITELY the emotion he was feeling now, as he stands up, facing his father, and slaps him across the face hard enough to send him stumbling back, wide-eyed, cigarette dropping from his mouth and onto the docks below. He could feel tears pricking at the edge of his vision again, paws balled up into fists as he stares him down, clenching tight enough for his claws to dig into his palms.

“A hug? A FUCKING HUG?! How dare you! How- I can’t fucking believe you! You think you can just waltz back into my life like nothing ever happened? Like I didn’t watch you die before you BLEW UP MY HOME?! What the fuck is wrong with you?!”

He could feel the tears running down his cheeks again, trailing through his fur and staining his cheeks for the third time that day – claws digging into his paws deep enough to hurt, but he didn’t care. He wanted to hurt, he wanted to take that pain and throw it back at the man who’d dared to walk back into his life

“Do you have ANY idea what I – what you put EVERYONE through? What kind of problems you faced, what you left behind? Because, funnily enough, we didn’t get to run away from our problems like YOU did! Like you did when you left everyone behind, when you left ME behind, like you always have, time and time and TIME again!”

“…Fundy, I-“

“No! No, I don’t want to hear it! I don’t want the first thing that I hear from you to be excuses! I don’t! I...”

His shoulders slump as the anger slowly drains out of him, unclenching his paws with a wince as blood trickles from the palms of his paws, slowly turning back away and sitting down heavily on the edge of the porch to gaze at his reflection in the water.

“Do you know what it’s been like, trying to live after your death? I could always tell, y’know! The way they talked, the way they acted, it’s like part of them blamed me, because I was your son, and you were…gone, so they turned to me. And there I was, trying to figure out what the FUCK I was supposed to do next!”

He sniffs, wiping at his nose with the sleeve of the jacket that he’d been given so very long ago, clearing his throat as he continues.

“I spent some time with Phil, since…we never really got to spend time together when you were alive, and we talked about you, but I could…there was always a part of him that was searching for you in me, and that seemed let down when he couldn’t find it. Just like everyone else, when you disappeared, and they tried to fit me into the space you left behind.”

One foot trails through his reflection, scattering it with ripples of water, only to watch as it reformed to show the face of his father standing behind him. There’s a faint creak of wood as the edge of the docks shifts, and Wilbur sits down beside him, looking out across the water – though lacking the smug, proud smile that he’d been wearing earlier, instead replaced with a more contemplative expression. The sound of the ocean lapping against the supports of the dock fills the silence, along with sound of the wind blowing past them – before Wilbur speaks, quietly.

“I…Fundy, I…” He clicks his tongue for a moment, struggling to find the words to say, before sighing.

“I’m not going to pretend I was a good dad. Fact is, I’d say I’m probably one of the worst, and that’s partially because I thought I was doing the right thing. See…when I was a kid, Phil was…distant. He cared, sure, but he was always looking for the next project, the next adventure, and It…meant that he didn’t always pay the most attention to me. Not intentionally, he didn’t mean to neglect me, but…well. So, I did what any kid would do – I tried to impress him. I tried to wow him with everything that I did, so that he’d stop and look at me and go ‘wow, that’s great, Wilbur! I’m proud of you!’.”

He chuckles at that, reaching into his pocket and drawing out another cigarette, soon lighting it up and blowing out a plume of deep blue smoke.

“But, of course, the problem with that was…every time I fucked up, suddenly it felt that much worse. It was bad when Phil didn’t notice that I’d messed up, but…when I messed up and he DID notice, those were the worst parts, because then it felt like I’d just fucked up an opportunity to show him that I WAS worth his attention, and I was always scared that’d be the moment he decided I wasn’t worth it any more…”

He wipes his eyes on that battered brown coat, and Fundy realised that he’d never seen his father crying before. That he’d never heard about what his life with Philza had been like before. His mouth opens to say something, but he closes it quietly as Will continues.

“And then I made L’manburg, and I would send Phil all these letters, telling him about Tommy and the Van, and the battles and the Independence and…about Sally, and about you. And he’d respond, and tell me how happy he was that I was doing something, and making something myself, and then…” As he speaks, his face breaks out into a grin, gazing out as if reliving those same moments, those same years, only to freeze for a moment, falling into a sad smile as he takes another drag

“Then Schlatt happened, and the election happened, and…and I didn’t want to send Phil any more letters about what was actually happening, because…because I was a failure, Fundy. I’d failed at the one thing he’d finally been consistently proud of me about, and the thought of what might happen if I’d told him that, terrified me more than anything else.”

His gaze turns, looking upwards at the steadily brightening sky, rocking his cigarette between two fingers as his smile falls slowly off his face.

“So, I lied. I lied and I lied and I told him everything that I wished was happening, and in those letters I wasn’t a failure, I wasn’t a disappointment, I wasn’t a villain, I was his son, Wilbur, this great, confident, never-say-die figure who…I don’t know was ever real in the first place. And then…he showed up, and every lie came crashing down like the room around me, and I…I told him to kill me, because I was the villain, Fundy, and I was so, so scared that if I stayed alive, that me, that Wilbur that he knew in the letters would vanish. I thought…”

He takes a moment, hands sliding down to tightly grip the edge of the dock, tears running down his face as he grits his teeth through the smile “I thought that if I was dead, then maybe he’d never realise what a disappointment I really was.”

The silence that hangs in the air is thick enough to cut with a knife; even with the ambient sound of the docks around them, it’s thick enough to be suffocating – and it’s only broken as the man releases his grip on the dock below.

“…But, that was selfish of me. I was…SO obsessed with what Phil might think that I didn’t think about other people, that I didn’t…think about you. See, I…wanted to make myself the villain because I figured that if I was the villain in your story, then at least you’d hate me, and that’d somehow be easier than watching you realise I wasn’t the man – wasn’t the father you wished I was. ”

He takes another long drag, blowing out smoke into the cold morning air, smiling weakly and shaking his head slowly

“I still remember when you showed up with that book, and I could see you searching for the Wilbur that you knew, that you were hoping to find back then. I was…a terrible person, in Pogtopia. Y’know, I-“

“…Is that why you always called me your little champion?”

“What?”

“Because…because of Phil. Because you said he was always busy and never really paid attention to you – is, is that why you always called me your little champion? Because you were trying to make sure that I never felt – that I never felt the same way you did growing up?”

“…I mean, maybe. Maybe that was a part of it, but…I called you my little champion because that’s what you were to us. Our brave little champion, the hero of a new nation, our son – you, Fundy. Even without a nation, you’re still my little champion.”

How long had it been since he’d heard that? How long since those words had been spoken about him? However long it’d been, it was long enough for a sob to claw it’s way out of the Fox’s chest, paws running up through his fur and rubbing at his face before turning to face the man next to him, tears streaming freely down his face, dripping onto the wood below. His paws grab at the man’s chest, pulling him in to look at him – to look at his son.

“Why the FUCK would you think that I’d EVER want to hate you?! I don’t care if you’re a villain, or a hero, or a disappointment, or whatever! I never wanted any of that! All I ever wanted was for you to be proud of me! Because you’re MY DAD!”

Those last two words are more of a scream, as Fundy buries his face in his father’s chest, years of unspoken words spilling from his body in deep, shaky sobs, digging his claws into Wilbur’s coat and holding onto him tightly

“All I ever fucking wanted, everything I did…I just wanted you to be proud of me…because I’m so fucking scared that if you’re not, then…nobody else ever will be…”

His hands tense for a moment, lifting up, as if scared to touch the fox currently buried in his chest - only to reach forwards and pull him in tightly, wrapping his arms around him in a hug

“Oh, Fundy…I’ve always been so, so proud of you, of everything you’ve done, of how strong you’ve been…and I’m here, now…my little champion…I’m sorry I was gone so long.”

Tears roll down the face of the man sitting on the dock, holding his son close; letting him sob into his chest, clutching his coat like he never wanted to let go, so scared of the idea that if he did, he might never see him again. His arms pull the fox in close, holding him tightly – as if one hug could make up for so, so much lost time, though he knew it couldn’t. Still, it was a start – and as he sits on the dock together with him, the hues of the morning light steadily fading to blues, he begins to sing a quiet song – one that he’d once sung with his wife – and his son, in quieter, happier times.

"My little champion, what's to say to you? You have my eyes, you have your mother's smile When you came into the world you cried. And it broke my heart…”

[rohad93]

Moonlit Masquerade: High in the Mountains Pt 2 (final)

After lunch, they rolled Luz's tree into camp to sit next to the firepit, and once it’s slotted in place Viney gives Luz a break and uses the axe to hack the limbs off the tree flush with the trunk for them to sit on later

Once it’s done Luz flops back on it longwise and sighs in relief, arms and legs hanging limply over the sides of the trunk. Her arms feel like jelly and she can already feel the sore spots that are sure to be raised up blisters on her palms before the day is through. That always looked so much easier in every movie she’s ever seen; she should know by now that movies make everything look easier. She closed her eyes and let herself go limp, she was tired and it was only late afternoon.

The cool air has chilled the sweat on her skin and goosebumps are raised all across her arms, making her shiver, but she’s still wet and doesn’t want to put her flannel back on till she’s dried.

“We’re going to take a walk.” She hears Emira call and she can only guess that she means her and Viney.

She feels more than she hears the presence suddenly next to her. She’s pretty sure she already knows who it is, but it’s confirmed when a cloth is being wiped across her forehead, and as exhausted as she feels she still has the energy to smile and open her eyes to look up at Amity who is dabbing at her forehead, brows furrowed between her eyes.

“Happy now?” she asks, distracted, as she carefully wipes at her face and neck.

“Yes,” She grins and lets herself be fussed over for a minute. When Amity is satisfied Luz hauls herself up to sit next to her and takes the cloth from ber and wipes down her arms before pulling on her flannel. Gus hops onto the log and Willow sits next to him.    

“Luz, can you teach me how to fish?”

“You guys fish on the Isles.” she cocked her head.

“Yeah, but we do it with magic, I want to learn the human way.” He grins. “I even got this human fishing device from Eda!” He runs over to his bag and digs through it, almost disappearing inside it before pulling out a disassembled fishing pole. “It’s got these three sticks and a string, is it some kind of net?” He holds it out to Luz, looking at it. It seemed to be in pretty good shape, unlike some of the things in Eda’s human trash pile reserves.

She took it and popped it together, much to his fascination.

“It’s a fishing pole, you put bait on this hook and throw it into the water and wait for fish to bite it,” she explains, handing it back.

“Oooh… show me?” he whispered, looking up at her.

“We need water…”

“There’s a river not too far from here, just a little way down the mountain,” Willow said.

“Let’s go. ” Luz grinned and they followed Willow down the trail away from camp till they found themselves standing on the bank of a river.

"So, how do we do this?" Gus asks.

"Well, first we need some bait for the hook…" Luz hums, as she starts digging through the bushes before she finds what she's looking for and comes back with a bug in hand and hooks it before standing back. "Now just throw the hook out in the water."

He whips it back and everyone ducks out of the way as the hook flies around, trying not to get stabbed before he flings it into the water with a gentle plop

"Now what?"

"Now we just wait, eventually, maybe, a fish will bite it and you reel it in." She shows him the small spinning handle and Gus gives it an experimental twist.

"Ooh.."

They sit on the bank next to him and wait.

While it's not the most interesting thing to watch, it is at least relaxing and Luz dips her fingers into the water. It's cold and makes her fingers tingle. Amity sits next to her leaning her shoulder against hers and Willow contents herself with some flowers still growing beneath one of the trees. Gus looks fully concentrated on his task watching the place the string disappears into the water.

Luz feels like she's about to fall asleep when Gus shouts.

"It's moving! He jumps up and the end of the pole is bobbing rapidly.

"Reel it in!" Luz grins, jumping to her feet. Gus jerks back on the pole, spinning the reel before it jerks forward almost yanking him into the river. Luz grabs him, digging her heels into the dirt, and still, they're sliding forward. Amity and Willow grab them and the pole bows dangerously.

Gus jerks back and with a splash, something breaks the surface of the water. Something big and scaly with legs and a mouthful of teeth.

"That's not a fish!" Willow shouts and Gus drops the pole as It moves toward the shore.

"Run!" Amity yells and they turn and dart back into the woods.

They don't turn to see if it gives chase, they just run until they're back at camp, panting and gasping.

"Fishing… is more dangerous than I expected," Gus wheezes.

"No more, 'fishing like humans'," Willow pants, and they all nod.

They wander around the woods near camp for a while after, doing their own things, exploring the different nooks and crannies, but stay clear of the river.

Amity and Willow are looking at some rare plant Willow found and Gus is jotting down some notes about his attempt at fishing the human way.

Luz wanders over to sit on the cliffside at the far side of camp, legs dangling over the edge. The sun is starting to set over the boiling sea between the ribs that tower over the much smaller mountain they have chosen to climb, it’s cold in the shadows, but as the sun moves, it throws their camp into the long orange rays or twilight. She closes her eyes and despite the cold air, the dwindling rays of the sun on her skin keep her warm.

"Mind if I join you?"

She opened her eyes and looked up at Amity standing over her, hands clasped behind her back and smiling down at her.

“I never mind.”

She settled down beside her on the ground, and leaned back on her hands, staring out at the forest and sea stretched out in front of them, blanketed in the warm, golden red, yellows, and oranges of Autumn.

“Having fun?” Luz asked.

“Other than the monster in the river and worrying about whether or not you’re going to chop something off with an axe?” she asked with a little grin. “Then yeah, wonderful,” she said. Luz nudged her with her shoulder.

“We didn’t get eaten and I didn’t chop anything off so…”

“Yet…,” she mumbled, looking at Luz out of the corner of her eye and grinning. Luz stuck her tongue out at her and Amity rolled her eyes.

“I’m glad you were able to come, this has been a lot of fun already!" Luz grinned at her, lacing their fingers together behind them

"You three could have gone without me if I could 't go," she said.

"And leave you all alone, mi amor?"

"It was just a couple of days, Luz." Amity huffed at her. "We're quite capable of doing things separately."

"Yeah, and if you didn't want to go we might have, but I wasn't going to go without you when I knew you wanted to go," she argued, frowning. Amity smiled at that.

"Thanks…," she mumbled, and Luz brightened. They watch the sunset, talking quietly until it's all but dipped behind the horizon.

When Emira and Viney wander back into camp Gus tells the two older teens his epic story of witch versus beast at the river, with a few embellishments of course.

They cook and eat dinner around the fire after which Luz pulls so.ething out of her bag she's been saving for such an occasion. She couldn't believe her luck when she had found these in a pile of Eda's human trash reserves.

"As is human camping tradition, I'm going to introduce you to the ancient Human art of roasting marshmallows!" She held up a bag of white objects for everyone to look at. "Everyone grab a stick!" Gus nearly tripped over himself racing to find a stick, he was always ready to learn more things about humans.

She handed out the marshmallows and showed them all how to roast them. Amity set her ablaze right off the bat and Emira snatched Viney's perfectly cooked one when she wasn't looking, while Willow squished hers experimentally between her fingers.

"These are amazing!" Gus said, wide eyes as he shoved a second in his mouth.

"Better enjoy them now then, you guys don't have them here, so who knows if you'll ever have another one," Luz said, sticking one on each end of her two-pronged stick and holding it out over the fire, watching Amity glare at a second one she had turned to charcoal out of the corner of her eye.

"Eda hasn't had any luck with finding a new portal?" Willow asked and Luz shook her head, turning her marshmallows.

"Nope," she said, popping the 'p'. "But I mean… I'm not really worried about it." she shrugged.

"You don't want to go home?" Viney asked as she stuck a second treat on her stick for herself, shooting her smirking girlfriend a look.

Luz made a face and Amity or one of her friends was just about to jump in and change the subject when Luz shook her head.

"Honestly?" she asked, looking up. "Not really. I miss my mom… but that's the only thing I miss…

"What about your friends and stuff?" Viney cocked her head.

"I didn't have any."

"Oh… bummer." Is all the older girl can say.

"It's okay." She blows the flame off the marshmallows and holds the stick out to Amity, who blinks at it before smiling at her and taking one and popping it in her mouth. She hums delightedly at the sugary, smokey, treat, making Luz grin.

"What else do humans do when they camp?" Gus asks around a mouthful of marshmallows. Luz leaned back and hummed, pulling her marshmallow off the stick.

"Well, usually telling scary stories around the campfire is one, but the stories we tell are usually about things that actually exist here, like ghosts, and werewolves." she laughed before shoving it In her mouth.

"Ooh, I know one…" Viney grinned.

They took turns telling stories well into the night, and she laughed at Gus's

"The DMV?" She snorted.

"From the stories I've heard about humans, it's apparently a terrifying place!" He defended. She only snickered.

At some point she noticed Amity shivering a little and she shrugged off her flannel and draped it over her shoulders. Amity blinked, looking up as the warm material was laid across her cold arms. Luz just smiled at her.

Everyone else was too engrossed in Willow's story to notice them.

"Thanks," she mumbled quietly. "Won't you get cold?"

"Naw, I'm okay," she whispered back, even if her arms were already starting to chill.

Amity hummed, frowning to herself before scooting closer on the log to lean against her.

The warmth pressed against Luz's side was rivaled only by the one that was now filling her chest. She smiled to herself as she wrapped an arm around her girlfriend's back, holding her close.

After a while, they decided to call it a night.

With 'good night's' all around Gus and Willow disappeared inside their tents.

"I'm going to change," Amity said to her before standing and disappearing inside their own.

Emira mumbled something to Viney before doing the same.

"Hey, Luz, can I ask you something?" The older girl asked once they were alone.

"Shoot"

"You said you didn't have any friends in the human world, how come?" She cocked her head questioningly.

"Oh…," Luz said.

"If you don't want to talk about it…" Viney started.

"No, it's fine." She held up a hand. "I was a weirdo." She shrugged. "No one wanted to hang out with me 'cause they thought I was weird." She frowned.

"You're not weird… well, any weirder than the rest of us," the older girl chuckled, and Luz laughed too.

"Well, I'm still pretty strange for here too, mostly just because I'm the only human, but I'm kind of a freak by human standards, I guess."

"Meh, humans don't know what they're talking about." Viney snorted.

"Heh, thanks…"

"Luz"

Luz craned her neck back to see Amity, standing outside the tent. She was changed into her pajama pants and a t-shirt, with Luz's flannel, pulled on over it and her hair was down. Something about both those things made her heart beat a little faster in her chest.

"You can come change."

"Okay. Night, Viney," Luz said as she stood.

"Night"

"I'll be quick," Luz promised her before ducking into the tent and quickly changing into her own new pajama pants Eda had bought her. She shoved her jeans and boots into the far corner of the tent before poking her head out.

"Bedtime, mi amor." Luz grinned and Amity rolled her eyes but climbed in.

The tent rattled a little as they shuffled into her sleeping bag, something else Amity had forgotten along with her tent. Not that Luz minded at all as she snuggled up behind Amity, wrapped around her like a koala.

"Comfortable?"Amity asked, and she could practically hear the grin in her voice.

"Mhmm" Luz grinned.

It was quiet, the only sounds coming from the woods and their breathing, but after a little bit there was a noise coming from somewhere across the camp and Luz opened her eyes in the dark.

"Do you hear that?" she whispered.

"Yeah…"  if she listened hard enough she could almost hear what sounded like her sister and Amity had a terrible thought and groaned.

"What?"

"Pleases, please don't let them be having sex…," Amity mumbled to herself, not intending for Luz to hear, but the choking sound against her neck that followed the quiet plea told her she had.

"I hadn't even thought about that…," Luz mumbled, burying her now hot face in Amity's neck. "Not with the rest of us around…"

"I'd never put anything past my sister…" was the quiet, annoyed reply.

Luz couldn't help but laugh loudly at that, despite how embarrassed the idea made her.

"Hey, some of us are trying to sleep!" Gus's voice cut across camp, and Luz quieted herself.

"Sorry!" She yelled. Then the whole camp was quiet again and Amity sighed in relief.

"Good night," she mumbled.

"Night, mi amor," Luz mumbled snuggling into her back.

It didn't take long before they were out.

~ ~

Luz woke to the blue-gray light of early morning trying to light up their tent. She blinked groggily up at the ceiling, somehow she had rolled over onto her back in the night and now it was Amity wrapped tightly around her.

She really had to go to the bathroom…

She also didn't want to wake Amity...

Slowly, inch by inch, she managed to slide herself out of her girlfriend's grip. She grumbled, curling up in the empty space Luz left.

She chuckled quietly to herself and pulled the blanket back over her.

Luz crawled quietly out of the tent when she finally managed to extract herself from Amity’s hold and yawned, stretching her arms out over her head.

She took her jeans, and boots, and ran to the bathroom.

The air was crisp and cold, the sun was only just beginning to rise, casting long tendrils of light snaking across the ground, between the trees, casting shadows over the camp.

When she came out she reached up to rub her fist against an eye, trying to wipe away the last remnants of sleep. As soon as she does, she winces; her whole upper body is stiff and sore. Everywhere from her shoulders to her forearms aches.

“The tree was a mistake…,” she yawned, squeezing one of her sore biceps.

“Feeling it today, huh?” A voice chuckled and Luz glanced over toward the firepit where Viney was sitting on the log, poking at the newly rekindled fire.

“Oh yeah,” she grumbled as she walked over and plopped down on the trunk.

“Been there…” Viney nodded, scratching the back of her head. "You need some numberries. They actually grow wild around here, they're pretty tasty, and they dull your pain a little, I used to use them back before I started in the healing track after a hard day, couple will do ya, but hey, didn't peg you to be an early riser."

"I don't always get out of bed early, but I'm usually awake." She shrugged. It was a little chilly out here without her flannel, but there was no way she was going to be able to pry it off Amity, not that she would want to. She'd looked so cute and warm in her shirt.

She'd need to watch it, or it might disappear like the hoodie Amity had all but claimed as her own, like, a month ago; she knew she probably wasn't getting that back. She moved back to the bag sitting outside their tent and pulled out a dark green, long-sleeved shirt, and slipped it on over her tank top. "What are you doin up?"

"I'm always up with the sun," Viney says when she comes back and plops herself back down on the log. "I usually have to get up and help feed the beasts before school." She shrugs. "... and Em snores." She grinned and Luz barked a laugh, quickly trying to stifle the noise since all their friends were still sleeping.

They sit there a while as the sun slowly rises up over the trees, talking about their shared classes and anything that comes to mind.

"Emira told you about me and Amity before the fight with those guys in the illusion track, didn't she?" Luz asks and Viney nods.

"Yeah, actually, I knew back before you guys even started dating, She told me about Amity's crush on you, and she kept me up to date as you played secret admirer after she figured out it was you." she chuckled, her girlfriend could be a bit of a gossip, but there had been no one else for her to tell.

"Of course… man, everyone but me did know." Luz shook her head, smiling ruefully to herself.

"Eh, don't beat yourself up about it. It took a while to figure out that Em wasn't just trying to play a joke on me or flirting that way she does with everyone." Viney waved a hand. That did make Luz feel a little better.

She made a face, looking back at her and Viney's tent before scooting closer to her friend and leaning in.

"Can I ask you something?" she asked quietly. Noticing the change in the younger teens' demeanor, Viney just nodded, leaning in close.

"Does Em talk to you about their…. family life?" she asks, unsure. Viney frowned, also glancing at the tents.

"Their parents, you mean?" she asks, just as quietly, and Luz nods. "Sometimes, yeah. It's a… touchy subject, ya know?"

"Tell me about it… What do you think? I've never met them," Luz questions.

"Me neither, and I don't think either one of us would want to if we can help it. I don't hear very good things about mama Blight."  

"Me neither…" Luz frowns.

"As for what I think, I think that all three of them are put underway to much pressure and stress. They're supposed to be perfect all the time for everyone and I know how much it weighs on Em." Viney sighed, leaning back to stare into the fire.

"Yeah… I mean,… she makes Amity dye her hair to match the twins… who does that?!" Luz snarled, throwing out her arms, wincing as her muscles protested the quick movement.

"Yeah, I heard about that. Em felt really guilty about it," the older girl said.

"I just wish… I could do something, anything to help make it better…," Luz mumbled, laying her forearms across her knees and slumping forward.

"I feel ya, but the thing is, we would only make things harder on them, this one's beyond us," Viney tells her, and Luz slumps further, grunting an agreement, she knows exactly how the underclassmen feels. There isn't much she wouldn't do to help Emira somehow. So she does what she can and it seems Luz needs to be reminded of what she does too.

"Hey, maybe there's nothing you can do about mama and papa Blight, but you gotta remember all the stuff you do do." She smiles and Luz looks up at her questioningly. "Em's told me she can't remember the last time Amity seemed so happy as she has since you two started dating. You give her a place to go, someone to talk to. Someone who loves her just for how she is, not what she has to pretend to be. Seems to me you make her pretty happy already."

A smile works its way onto Luz's face at that. Viney is right. Amity's home life is beyond her, she knows that, but she's there for her girlfriend, always; and Amity knows it.

"I guess you're right. She makes me happy too." She looks up at and Viney is grinning back at her.

Scratching and rustling from behind them make them both turn to look. Luz's pale violet tent is rustling and swaying. Then the zipper comes undone and Amity climbs out, hair still down and wearing the flannel shirt open over her sleeping clothes and barefoot. She looks around, squinting against the harsh sunlight that is now shining over the trees onto camp until they land on Luz.

Luz smiles at her and Amity pads over and plops onto the log next to her on the opposite side from Viney and leans her head tiredly on her shoulder, wrapping an arm around hers and Luz grins and presses a kiss to her head.

"Buenos días, mi amor," she mumbled against her hair. Amity hums, seeming to think for a few seconds before mumbling back.

"Mañana"

Her accent is thick and stilted and it makes Luz snicker under her breath most days but this morning it only makes her feel warm and fuzzy. Amity tries to work Spanish into her speech more every day to remember, and practice and Luz doesn't think Amity knows how much that means to her, to have even just one person with whom she can talk to in the language, even if it is more akin to speaking to a toddler with Amity's current level, but it's progress.

"Not awake yet?" She grinned and Amity grunts, huffing against her.

They stay there a while as the rest of the camp begins to wake and emerge from their tents.

There's a lot of grumbling and groaning as they get moving but everyone is well and wide awake after breakfast as they head off hiking in the woods.

It's a beautiful autumn day as they climb over fallen trees and large rocks, taking pictures of the view with their scrolls.

Luz drags behind some, her body aches after her tree chopping yesterday.

They stopped to rest at one point when Viney walked over.

"Still feeling it, huh?" She chuckles as Luz grunts. "Here" she holds out her hands, sitting in her palm are a handful of dark green berries with little white spots. "Found you some numberries. Should dull you some." She drops them into Luz's open palm.

Luz glances at her girlfriend who is talking to Em and Willow. She knows she's not supposed to just eat things, but it's been quite some time since she had a reaction to anything and Eda, and Lilith was probably right, her body's finally becoming used to the different foods on the Isles.

She pops them in her mouth and chews, as promised, they are pretty tasty.

"Thanks, Viney," she says after she swallows.

"No prob"

They get back on the trail, heading back in the direction of the camp.

It's about a half-hour later, when they're almost there that she starts to feel weird, and says as much.

“I feel weird…,” she mumbles, pulling her hand free from Amity's and laying it over her stomach. Amity looks at her and frowns. Sweat is starting to bead up on her forehead and the skin between her eyes furrows.

“You don’t look well…,” her girlfriend mumbles as they stop.

Her limbs don't hurt anymore, they actually feel kind of rubbery, which should have been her first clue that something isn't right, but by then she feels disconnected; strange.

Especially when her vision starts to swim in pretty, bright colors, that make her giggle.

Amity blinks at her and is immediately concerned when she laughs to herself and is staring off into the air with an awed face.

"Luz?"

“Huh?” she looks at her, but she doesn’t really seem to see her.

“Are you okay?” she asks, but Luz’s attention is already elsewhere, looking up in the trees in wonderment and she stops, looking up at the cliffs they're passing by and she sees what Luz sees.

A griffin nest, with baby griffins in it. She can see the wheels turning in Luz's head; but not quick enough.

She mumbles something that Amity can’t hear and then darts forward and is climbing up the rocks toward the nest.

“Luz!” Amity shouts, making everyone else turn back to them.

Luz fumbles over the rocks, scrabbling her way up the stones, completely deaf to her friends shouting at her from the ground. She has the suddenly unquenchable desire to pet the little creatures in the nest, who appear to her as bright little blots of color.

“What is she doing?” Emira asks Amity as she looks up at her sister’s girlfriend with wide eyes.

“I…”

“Uh-oh, she’s going after those baby griffins!” Viney sees the newborns straight away, and where there are baby Griffins a viciously,  protective mother is sure to be close behind.

“What, why!?” Willow shouts turning to Amity.

“I don’t know!” Amity shouted back. “She said she didn’t feel good and then she started acting strange.”

“Babe, grab her!” Viney turns to Emira, who draws a spell circle and casts a lasso of blue light, tossing it around Luz. She yanks her off the cliff face, flinging her into the grass before they can even think of trying to catch her.

“Luz!” Her friends shout as she smacks into the ground and rolls to a stop a few yards away in the grass.

"Sorry!" Emira shouts and Viney winces at that landing.

Before they can even make it to her she pops back up like she’s spring-loaded, making them jump back and they can see it now. Her pupils are blown wide, nearly pushing out all of the brown.

"Whoo, dizzy…," she mumbles, looking around at everything like it's the first time she's ever seen it.

They glance at each other worriedly, taking their eyes off her just long enough for Luz to go take off running down the trail.

"Luz, stop!" They call, giving chase. They forget just how fast the human is as she speeds down the trail, but she seems uncoordinated and stumbles a little over rocks and roots. Emira gets close enough for her fingers to brush the back of her collar but then Luz seems to right herself and darts out of reach, heading straight for their camp.

"She's so damn fast!" Emira huffs as they chase.

"Tell us about it." Willow's grumbles as they give chase.

She gets ahead of them enough to get out of their sight and when they burst back into camp she's hunkered down over the fire pit, looking at the small flames still burning in it with fascination.

She looks up as they run toward her shouting and jumps, running straight through the flames, scattering ash and ember as she stumbles.

Not even seeming to notice that the cuff of one leg of her jeans is now on fire.

"She's on fire!"

"Stop drop and roll, stop drop, and roll!" Gus is shouting as they continue to chase her, but Luz doesn't notice as she zips back into the woods with the group on her literally, hot trail.

The flames lick up to her knee, spreading with the wind she's creating as she runs.

"Someone do something!" Amity yells, she knows her abominations would be much too slow to catch her. Willow tries to grab her with vines, but Luz is moving too erratically between the trees for her to get a grip on her.

Gus tries to create a clone but Luz jumps right over it as it lunges at her.

"No wonder she was so good at grudgby!" He yells.

Viney draws a large orange spell circle and Puddles flies through.

"Grab her, Puddles!" She points and the griffin runs ahead of them, right behind Luz,. But then she makes a hard turn just before the beast can grab her In its beak.

Willow suddenly knows where they are and throws up a wall of vines, forcing the fleeing girl to change directions just the way she wants her too. Heading straight for the river.

Luz zigzags between the trees almost out of sight when she disappears completely followed by a loud splash.

"Shit" someone shouts as they finally catch up to find Luz thrashing around in the river. They grab her flailing limbs and drag her back onto the shore, she fights them, stringing together half incoherent Spanish and English sentences, but at least the fire is out.

They finally manage to drag her back onto the bank and she tries to take off, but Willow and Viney grab her.

"Luz, relax, it's us!" Gus says and her name seems to catch her attention and she goes limp, giggling to herself.

"It was wet," she snorts before bursting into full-blown laughter. Everyone just stares at her wide-eyed.

"We need to get her back to camp…," Emira finally says, and Willow and Viney nod, dragging the blitzed-out girl along behind them. She can barely keep her feet under her now and stumbles along limply as they guide her.

"What is wrong with her?" Gus looks at his still giggling friend, concerned, she's looking at her hand and snickering as she flexes her fingers like she's never seen them before."This isn't a human thing is it?"

"I've never seen her act like this," Amity says and bites her lip.

They get her back to camp and she's still sopping wet, dripping onto the dirt.

"You need to change clothes before you catch your death," Willow tells the spaced-out girl, tentatively releasing her grip.

"Hmm," Luz hums, seemingly thinking about this, and then starts to pull her shirt over her head.

"Not here in front of everyone!" Emira barks, face turning red.

But Luz doesn't seem to hear in her state and tries to pull it over her head, but the wet material gets stuck and she starts to flail like she's being strangled and Amity and Willow grab her, pulling it back down over her head.

"Hola" Luz just giggles once her head pops back out of the hole.

"Someone's going to have to help her change or she's going to strangle herself…," Viney says and Gus nods in agreement, then all eyes turn to Amity, who flushes bright red.

"Me?!" she yelps.

"Well, if anyone's going to shouldn't it be you? You're her girlfriend," Emira says, crossing her arms.

"I… I never… we…," she stammers, face turning red.

"Gus shouldn't," Willow starts. "And I don't think she'd want any of us to help her if she were in her right mind." She points out reluctantly, the others agree.

"She's going to freeze to death if we don't get her changed soon." Viney frowns.

Amity knows that's true, even though her face is still bright crimson. She glances at everyone before looking at Luz, who is still looking around with wonder at everything, making grabbing motions at the air at something only she can see while Willow holds her in place with vines to keep her from running off again, but she's started to shiver violently, teeth chattering as she stands there, the cold air chilling her, and Amity resolves herself with a sigh. As embarrassing as this promises to be she'd still much rather suffer through it and have her girlfriend alive.

"Em, grab some clothes out of her bag, and I need a towel…," she grumbles and Emira hurried off to grab the clothes. Viney spins a finger and a towel drops into Amity's hand. "Gus, can you make a curtain? I'm not going to fight her in the tent..."

The boy nods and in a flash of blue a circular stand with a curtain hanging from it appears.

"Ooh… magia." Luz looks at it with open wonder even as she stands there in Willows grip, quaking. She reaches out and pokes the curtain uncertainly.

Emira comes back, but the clothes in question, Amity recognizes as her own.

"She didn't have any other clothes in her bag." She shrugs, Amity just sighs as she takes them. They were only supposed to be out here a couple of days, it makes sense Luz didn't pack much. Luz has started to grow taller than her over the last few months, but they're still roughly the same size, it will do.

"You can do this…," Amity mumbles to herself, slinging the clothes over her shoulder and grabbing her zoned out girlfriend, who is still fascinated by the curtain, by the arm, Willow releasing her vines, and pulls her behind it.

"Okay, Luz…, we need to get you changed…," she says, and her face brightens at the words.

Luz turns her dilated eyes to her and blinks, seeming to think even though she's shaking from head to toe, dripping water, and part of her jeans burned away up to the knee.

"Naw" she shakes her head before her attention drifts elsewhere and Amity's embarrassment is somewhat tempered by the annoyance that spikes in her.

"Okay then…" Amity frowns, eyes narrowing and she grabs the hem of Luz's soaked shirt and starts to pull it over her head, that seems to bring her out of her temporary lulled state and she starts to thrash her arms, shouting in incoherent Spanish from inside the wet material and trying to pull away as Amity tugs it over her head despite her fighting.

"Luz, just take your clothes off!" She barks.

Outside, everyone else watches the curtain shake and rattle with the struggle, and sounds of the yelling, and muffled Spanish.

"I kind of always figured she'd be rough…," Emira snickers to herself and Viney elbows her, but is smirking too.

Gus and Willow listen to the struggle, concerned and embarrassed in equal measure.

Amity finally gets the shirt off, leaving Luz in her tank top.

Her once white, now all but transparent tank top and Amity's face burns as she looks away, but this proves to be a mistake, and Luz dashes for the curtain.

"No!" she shouts.

Amity lunges for her before she can run out and wraps the towel around her head, stopping her in her tracks.

"Just let me help you, damnit!"

It takes twenty long minutes of constant wrestling to get Luz dried and changed into her pants and sweater before she lets go and the human dashes out of the curtain.

She doesn't get very far before vines wrap around her and lift her off the ground. She's shouting in Spanish much too quickly for any of them to understand anything, not that they would understand much anyway.

"Sorry, Luz," Willow says to her.

Amity shoves the curtain aside, looking like she just stepped out of a wind storm, clothes askew and hair a mess, with Luz's wet clothes in hand, and face such an ultraviolet red they're afraid she's about to pop as she turns to Emira.

"We will never speak of this again," She hisses and Emira just nods, holding up her hands, doing her best to fight the grin that threatens to split her face. Amity walks over and lays Luz's clothes over a rock in the sun to dry.  

Luz has started knawing at the vines wrapped around her like a feral animal trying to escape.

"What is wrong with her?" Gus frowns, watching their friend.

"It's like she's been drugged." Emira crosses her arm as they watch her struggle in vain. Eventually, she'll tire herself out; they hope.

"Did something bite her?" Willow wonders.

"She didn't say anything…" Gus scratches his chin.

"Did she eat something?" Amity asks, rejoining them.

"Eat?" Viney asks, and they all turn to her. "I gave her some numberries earlier when we were hiking because she was really sore from yesterday, she ate a handful, but those wouldn't do this." She holds a hand out to the human, slobbering all over the vines as she repeatedly sinks her teeth into them, growling.

"Luz is human, things that are fine for us to eat don't always agree with her system…, she knows better than to just eat things," Amity groans, face in her hands.

"I think it's safe to say numberries are one of those things…," Willow says looking up at their friend, tearing at bits of the plant with her teeth, and Amity sighs, summoning her scroll, tapping a note on it titled simply: 'Luz's allergies' and types numberries in after lactose, bramblewheat and ghoul peppers, before spelling it away.

"What should we do?" Gus asks, looking up at Luz, who's given up on trying to knaw her way free and is simply resting her face on the vines, panting.

"Plants taste funny…," she mumbles, smacking her lips and staring off into space.

"Well, she doesn't seem to be poisoned, just tripping," Emira observes.

"We can probably wait it out," Viney agrees, reaching out to scratch Puddles' head. "Let's make lunch, I'm hungry and we might be able to dilute it some if we feed her," she suggests.

They agree and leave Luz strung up in the vines while they make sandwiches. Amity quickly makes one for Luz and Willow lowers her enough to reach before going back to making her own.

"Eat this, Luz," Amity says, trying to draw the tripping girls' attention as she holds up the sandwich.

Luz looks at her, and she can see that her pupils are still blown wide, taking up most of her eye. She's looking intently at Amity, like she's never seen her before, despite the debacle behind the curtain.

"Eres tan Bonita…," she mumbles with wonder, and Amity pinks, sighing but the corners of her mouth tick up. Luz has mostly been speaking in Spanish since she started freaking out, so Amity tries something else, trying to recall the right words.

"Por favor, come, querida."  She tries holding up the sandwich, hoping that's right.

Luz looks at it a second before opening her mouth and taking a bite. Amity manages to get her to eat all of it without much fuss, her rapidly turning attention locked on her for the moment. Somehow, when she imagined feeding her girlfriend, this wasn't exactly what she had in mind.

Once it's gone she joins the others to eat herself. They watch Luz carefully, bringing her closer to the fire to stay warm. She seems to be getting drowsy now, and within a few minutes is asleep, face down on the vines.

They check her periodically to make sure she isn't dead.

"So, do we tell Eda about this?" Willow asks looking around at everyone.

They all glance at each other.

"No"

~

It's dinner time when Luz starts to wake.

She squints against the harsh orange light of the setting sun. Her head hurts, hell, her whole body hurts, and her mouth is dry like she's been eating cotton balls. She smacks her mouth and looks around.

Her friends are scattered around the camp, doing their own things. Amity is the first to notice she's awake and quickly walks over.

"Are you, you again?" she asks tentatively. She can see her pupils have returned to normal size.

"What happened?" she mumbles and Amity sighed in relief before hot anger wells up in her gut.

"You ate numberries and spent half an hour tripping out!" she shouts and Luz winces as she starts to remember her little… episode, including Amity having to help her change and she turns red.

Hearing Amity yell, the others all come over and Willow releases her, she stumbles a little, her legs are asleep. She stares at the ground as they all look at her.

"Luz, are you okay?" Gus asks her.

She nods, looking up at him.

"I think so…"

"Hey, it's okay…" Emira starts and Amity turns on her.

"It is not okay!" she snaps and they all wince. "She knows better than to just eat things!"

"Amity, I…" she starts, rubbing her arm, but Amity just gives her a dark look before spinning on heel and stomping away. Luz deflates at that. Emira just pats her shoulder before following her sister to where she's now sitting on the far opposite end of camp not looking at any of them.

"I'm sorry, guys…," she mumbles sadly to her three friends.

"She's right, Luz. You could have seriously hurt yourself," Willow sighs and frowns at her, looking disappointed, and Luz shrinks further as the plant witch turns and walks away. Gus looks between them and nods but mouthing 'sorry' before he follows her.

"I feel bad, I'm the one who gave them to you." Viney scratches the back of her head. Luz shakes her head.

"No, you were just trying to help, they're right. I know that sometimes foods affect me weird, and I ate them anyway… this was all my fault…"

It's now that she notices that her leg really hurts and looks down, pulling up the leg of the pants to see that her left calf is burned in places.

Viney winces at it.

"Oof, let me patch that for you." She offers and Luz nods.

She draws a spell circle and a first aid kit appears and she applies cream to her burns and wraps it up.

"Thanks…," Luz mumbles, and Viney nods before moving jerking her head over to the firepit.

Luz reluctantly follows and plops herself down on the log, where she stays.

Dinner is a quiet, awkward affair, with Amity not talking or even looking at Luz from the other side of the fire. Everyone talks very little and unsurprisingly, most of them decide to turn in a little early.

Amity disappears into their tent and Luz stays where she is, sitting in front of the fire, knees pulled up to her chest. The other four look at each other uncertainly.

Emira frowns, but knows better than to get involved in this couple's dispute as she stands to go to their tent, Viney follows, shooting Luz a look over her shoulder.

"Luz, do you want to sleep with me?" Willow asks when it becomes apparent that the human is not going to be welcome in her and Amity's tent.

Luz just shakes her head but never looks up from the fire.

"No, thanks, Willow," she mumbles.

Gus and Willow share a look and the boy just shrugs before they go to their own tents, bidding her goodnight.

Luz sighs once she's alone. She hates when any of her friends are mad at her, especially her girlfriend, but she deserves it. She did something stupid. She could have easily gotten herself killed, not to mention severely embarrassing Amity and worrying her.

She picks up a stick and pokes at the fire for a while.

She's not sure how long it's been, but at least a couple of hours as she watches the flames die down to embers and curls up as the cold bites at her. She can see her breath in the low light of the fire. This is just part of her atonement she thinks, so no matter how cold she gets, she stays right where she is.

And Viney wasn't kidding. She can hear Em snoring from across the camp.

She's so engrossed in beating herself up she doesn't hear the tent zipper, nor the quiet footsteps approaching until Amity is standing right next to her in her pajamas, arms crossed.

"Are you going to sit out here all night?" she asks, making Luz jump and look up at her, but seeing that gold gaze she usually adores glaring at her, she turns back to the fire and nods.

"You're going to freeze." Amity huffs. She'd heard Willow offer up her tent and assumed Luz would accept, but as she laid there, unable to sleep, she had heard soft shuffling and peeked her head out to see Luz still sitting by the all but dead fire.

"I'll be fine," she says quietly, making no move to rekindle the fire much less move, and Amity can see the soft shaking of her shoulders.

Amity sighs to herself.

"Get in the tent, Luz," she says. That does make Luz lookup.

"I'll be fin-"

"Just get in the tent!" she snaps with a quiet hiss, knowing their friends and her sister are asleep.

Luz hunkers down at that but stands, the last thing she wants to do is make her girlfriend madder at her than she already is.

She quickly shuffles into the tent, Amity behind her as she zips it up.

She lays on her back and Amity lays on her side, facing away from her. They stay that way, quiet, for a long while.

The few inches between them feels like a chasm, Luz can't even begin to figure out how to bridge.

She sighs, glancing at the back of Amity's head.

"I'm sorry…," she says quietly, figuring Amity is asleep by now.

But then she hears her sigh and sees a pink spell circle appear, followed by a gently glowing light orb before she turns over to face her.

Amity is looking at her tiredly.

"Why? You know you're not supposed to just eat things you've never had before without someone to make sure you're okay."

"I know, I'm sorry… I haven't had a reaction in a while, I was hoping my body was finally getting used to stuff…," she says quietly, half shrugging.

"That doesn't mean you should risk it. This is what Eda was talking about, you can"t do stuff like this on a guess!" Amity bites and Luz looks away. She can't stand that scolding look. "Luz, you set yourself on fire and almost drowned today!" She hisses and Luz flinches.

Amity sighs again and reaches up to cover her eyes with her hands.

After a few long, silent moments, Luz glances at her and blinks. Amity is shaking and in the dim glow of the light spell, she can see the faint, shiny trails of tears dripping down her girlfriend's face.

She flips onto her side and doesn't hesitate to take hold of Amity's hands and gently pull them away from her face.

Her eyes are filled with tears as she looks back at Luz's wide, surprised gaze.

"You can't be so careless with your life!" she chokes.

Luz wraps her arms around her and finally pulls her close, Amity, burying her face into her neck and sniffling as she clutches the fabric at her back in her fists.

"I know… I'm sorry for worrying you, Amity. I'll be more careful from now on," she says into her hair. "I promise," she mumbled solemnly.

She holds her tightly, rubbing her back until the crying stops.

~

The atmosphere in the camp is much more relaxed the next morning when it seems Amity and Luz have made up. Nothing makes for a more awkward situation than when your couple friends are fighting.

They make quick work of breaking down camp before packing up and heading out.

Their parents are at work, so Emira heads off with Viney on Puddles, waving as they fly off.

Once they reach the bottom of the trail, Gus and Willow wave before they head off on their own, leaving the couple alone as they trek back to the owl house.

Amity's hand is wrapped in hers as they walk along in the cool morning air.

Luz has been quiet though, thinking. She truly needed to start making more effort to think about things before she did them. She wasn't just thinking about herself anymore, but how things she did affect Amity too, and realizes she would be just as worried all the time if Amity was more like her.

"I'm going to think more before I do things from now on," she says suddenly, making Amity look up at her.

"I know," she says, squeezing her hand.

"Also… I'm sorry about the … having to help me change thing…," she says quietly, scratching her pink cheek awkwardly with her free hand.

Amity turns red at that.

"It's okay…," she finally says after a second. "I couldn't let anyone else do it…," she mumbles

Luz chuckles a little at that.

"Yeah… I don't think I could have looked any of them in the eye ever again…," she admits. "Especially Em or Gus…"

"Like I was going to let Emira do it…," Amity huffs, and Luz really laughs at that, making Amity smirk.

Eda is standing out front, sweeping the stoop when they walk out of the woods and she looks up at them and grins.

"Hey, how was camping?" she asks, leaning on the broom and looking between them.

They glance at each other quickly.

"Fine!" they both say quickly, and Eda just blinks at them.

[leafs-lover]

Because Two People Got Drunk: 23

Series Masterlist

Chapter 23

Summary: Your trip in Greece is coming to an end; conversations of the future and the state of your relationship ensue.

Warning: Swearing, smut, oral sex (male and female receiving), kind of public smut but not really?

Word Count: 7200

“What do you think Ollie is doing?” you ask the next morning while looking into the closet for clothes.

“He is having a bath” Fred exclaims showing you a picture of Oliver in the bathtub at his parents’ house, bubbles surrounding him as he has a huge smile on his face. “Mom said when she turned her back to check on the pancakes he reached into the batter bowl to pull out a blueberry. The entire thing spilled on him so now he is having a bath.”

You both laugh as he shows you the pictures of your son covered in batter “he loves his blueberries” you say.

“Get dressed in something comfortable we have some walking today. But wear a bathing suit underneath” he places a quick kiss on your cheek before walking out of the room.

A few minutes later you are sitting in the passenger seat of the rental car, Fred’s hand gently resting on your thigh as he drives along the cliffside roads before stopping in a parking lot. You step out of the car and you and Fred begin the hike up to Akrotiri, his hand laced with yours.

Akrotiri is a village established in the Bronze Age as a fishing and farming village. A few centuries later the area had expanded into significant trade port with Cyprus and Minoan Crete. There is evidence of foreign pottery and copper discovered; indicative of the sophistication of the settlement. There is even paved streets and evidence of a drainage system.

When you arrive you see the village is built on the slopes of a hill, and has a view of the Caldera cliffs. In 16th Century BC there was a series of earthquakes which alerted the community of the possible eruption. The members of the community fled the area leaving behind many of their possessions. A volcanic eruption occurred and the town was covered in volcanic ash which preserved most of the settlement.

Archaeologists have been excavating the area since 1967; there is a path that connects the excavation site to the current town. Inside the excavation area there are walkways suspended above the remains. You explore the village and some of the buildings open to the public. The walls are decorated in magnificent wall-paintings, and there is a large majority of ceramic scattered around.

“This is incredible” you say looking around at the excavation. “Being in a place that is this old makes you really realize how small we are.”

Fred’s hand rests on the small of your back and he kisses your cheek “yeah how our lives are just a small moment in time.”

After a few hours you and Fred make the journey back to your car. He drives to a beach that has a few other patrons scattered around it, but is relatively quiet. He pulls out a blanket from the trunk and some sandwiches he had packed away, setting up a picnic on the beach.

After eating you sit on the blanket watching the deep blue water slowly crash against the shore. “You really are amazing” you say resting your head on his shoulder “you planned an incredible trip, all the details and I had no idea. Like genuinely zero clue you were doing this, you always surprise me.”

“I know I really am the best” Fred jokes placing a hand on your leg “let’s go swim” he says. You look to him and see that the heat is causing beads of sweat to fall down his forehead, glistening in the sunlight.

You both stand up and Fred peels his shirt off leaving him in his bathing suit, you smile as you breathe him in, his chiseled chest and broad shoulders. You step to your tip toes and kiss him, placing your hand lightly on his chest. Fred’s hand lightly touches your back as he kisses you back. You deepen the kiss bringing your other hand to the back of his neck. Fred pulls away, causing you to groan in displeasure. “Senere Kære, er vi ikke alene” he chuckles as he pulls your shirt over your head.

You step out of your shorts as Fred grins seeing you standing in your navy bikini. “Fuck your gorgeous” he says as he scans up and down your body. Your bikini hugs you in the right places, hangs low on your hips; your chest is practically popping out of the top. His eyes are locked on your chest as he pulls you in close to him placing a passionate kiss on your lips. He runs a finger up your side, playing with the knot on your bottoms while his other hands slide down your back stopping on your butt. You pull back slightly and whisper his words “later dear we are not alone” back to him.

He laughs “when did you start learning Danish?” he questions.

“Well my boyfriend kept saying things in Danish and I never knew what he was saying. So I decided to start learning the language. But so far I only know a little bit, still a lot to go.”

“Hmm, is that so?” he questions against your lips.

“My boyfriend and son are Danish; I figured it’s important I learn some. This way I can talk with some of your family members, It’s a part of you and Ollie and any other kids we have, so it should be a part of me too.”

“You are something babe” he mumbles kissing you.

“Also when you start to grumble under your breath in Danish about something I’m making you do I want to know what you’re saying” you joke.

“No idea what you’re talking about” he says staring at you with a smirk on his face.

“Really?” you question. “I remember a lot of grumbling and Danish being said when it came to hanging pictures in the living room. Wish I could have known what you were saying then.”

He looks down at you with his golden brown eyes, lingering as he grins down at you. “I don’t remember that at all” he says kissing you causing you to laugh into the kiss. You pull away and move into the water, you wade in the warmth occasionally stealing kisses. You spend a few hours on the beach before retreating to the hotel.

“You ready yet” Fred calls from the living room. You can see him in the living room sitting on his phone; he has called out to you 3 times already.

“You said we had to leave at 6:30, its only 6:20 so I still have time babe” you reply poking your head around the corner.

He turns his head to look at you “its 6:24 and you aren’t dressed. You aren’t going to be ready on time” he groans.

You walk away laughing and head to the bed where your dress is laid out. A few minutes later you exit the room in an emerald green satin maxi dress. It has adjustable spaghetti straps that crisscross at the back and has a mauve, red, peach, and green floral print. It has a high, fitted waist, with a flowing maxi skirt with a high front slit.

Fred hears you coming and stands up putting his phone in his pocket. When he finally sees’s you his jaw practically drops to the floor.

“Wow, you look incredible” he says walking over to you placing his hands on your hips. He gently kisses you on the lips “absolutely incredible.” You wrap your hands around his neck and kiss him back, “I still have 2 minutes to spare” you say when you pull back.

You turn around to walk when Fred pulls you back towards him “you’re missing something though elskede” he says. You shoot him a confused glance as Fred reaches into his pocket, and pulls out a small red jewelry box and hands it to you. You examine the box, noticing the gold border and Cartier painted across the top.

You look at Fred, and he smiles while raising his eyebrow at you while you open the box. Inside is a pair of white gold brilliant-cut diamond earrings. The main stone is surrounded by multiple smaller stones. The light shimmers off the diamonds no matter the angle you look at them.

“Freddie” you whisper “this is beautiful. It’s too much though.”

“Nothing is too much for you” he says. Your eyes finally meet his and you stand on your tippy toes kissing him. You bring one hand up into his hair and grip the back of his neck, while his hands slide around your waist. Your tongue dances in his mouth when you finally pull away.

“I’m going to put these on then I’ll be ready” you say walking to the mirror. You change the earrings with the ones you are currently wearing; Fred walks up behind you kissing your neck.

“They are stunning” you say clasping the second one. Fred runs his hands up your arms “just like you” he says kissing your cheek. You turn around and wrap your hands in his hair pulling his face closer to yours as your lips connect. Your hands grip his red hair, as he leans down, hands cupping your ass.

Your hands tangle as the kiss intensifies, you rolling your hips eliciting a soft moan from Fred’s lips. You finally pull away, you’re both gasping for air. A smile spreads across your face while you bring a hand up and wipe some lipstick you left on his lips. He glances to the clock behind which says 6:31 “told you we’d be late” he grabs your hand and leads you out of the room.

“Wow, look at this, it’s breathtaking” you say looking out at the view from the table. Fred booked you a table at an amazing romantic restaurant during sunset; it has dramatic views of the caldera and the deep blue Aegean sea.

“Yeah it is, but you even more beautiful” Fred says grabbing your hand and giving it a light squeeze.

“You are ridiculous you know that?” you joke rolling your eyes.

“I just don’t know if you know how beautiful you are” he says sipping his red wine.

“I mean you only tell me 5 times a day”

“Oh, I should be telling you more than that” he says causing you both to laugh.

You fall into a casual conversation as you sit at the end of the outdoor patio enjoying your dinner. You sit and watch the beautiful sunset, after dinner the waiter returns to your table to clear your table.

“Can I interest you in some dessert?” he asks returning to the table. You think back to the menu, and remember reading about the pies and cakes earlier. If the desert is half as good as the entre you know you are in for a treat, your mouth begins to water.

Without even waiting for your response Fred says yes and orders you the chocolate cake with caramel drizzle. “You know me so well” you say smiling at him.

“No you are just predictable with deserts, chocolate.”

A few minutes later the waiter returns setting down the plate with two forks.

“Oh this is amazing” you moan taking a bite of the decadent cake. Fred leans over the table and says in a hushed tone “I can’t wait to make those sounds later.”

Your eyes go wide, feeling wetness pool in your core. Fred keeps his eyes locked on you, a devilish grin on his face as he takes a small piece of cake on his fork.  After swallowing a piece of cake, he sets his fork down and wipes the side of his mouth with the napkin.

He stands up, pulling you with him. He places a hand on the small of your back leading you out to the car. His hand slides down to your ass as he reaches around you for the door handle. Before opening the door you turn around and pull him against you.

Fred presses you against the car, his hands squeezing your hips tightly. You roll your hips into his, one hand squeezing his side the other firmly gripping his bicep. One of his hands slides to the high slip on your dress, pushing its way through the fabric. You bring your leg up and bend it, further exposing your skin.

Fred’s tongue continues to swirl around in your mouth, his large hand slides up your thigh, pushing through the slit. His finger grazes over your clothed core when you giggle and pull back. You hear Fred take a deep breath, before his mouth attaches to your neck.

“Freddie” you moan.

“Yes dear” he mumbles nipping your neck.

You playfully attempt to push him off you, but he overpowers you pushing you against the car chuckling against your neck.

“Babe come on” you groan as he sucks on your sweet spot one hand firmly squeezing your ass.

“Someone might come” you moan feeling his erection press into your pelvis.

“So” he says a finger slipping under your underwear.

“Ohh” you moan feeling him lightly graze your folds. “Our hotel is 10 minutes away” you say gripping his wrist pushing him off you. Fred smirks at you before re-adjusting himself and opening your door.

When you finally return to the hotel room Fred immediately pins you against the wall, his mouth attached to yours. Your hand untucks his shirt and makes it way to his hard stomach before finding his treasure line. Fred reaches down and grabs under your thighs, hoisting you up.  Your mouth doesn’t leave his as he walks over to couch sitting down.

You sit on your knees and grab the hem of his shirt and pull it over his head before reconnecting your mouth to his chest. One of Fred’s hands slides up gently caressing your ass. His other returns to the slit of your dress, and begins to caress the exposed skin. He moves his hand to the zipper of your dress but before he can you slowly slide off Fred and onto your knees in front of him. You hear him mumbling in Danish as you start to undo his belt. After removing his belt you undo his pants and slide them off his large thighs.

Your hands slide up his thighs as you place soft kisses on his legs. Your hand begins to palm him over his boxers; you can feel his erection straining the thin fabric waiting to be freed. You gently toy with the elastic before looking up at him. You lock eyes and you pull them off, Fred lifts his hips to help you. As the fabric comes down you hear his hard cock slap against his stomach.

You bring your eyes down to look at it, precum dripping from the tip causing you to lick your lips. The tip is red and throbbing as you bring it to your mouth, licking him up. Your hands gently slide up and down his thigh as you place soft kisses on his cock. You open your mouth and move to take him in. You look up to him and Fred groans as you take him in your mouth. You start slow, gently bobbing on him, using your hand to take what your mouth can’t fit.

Your hand and mouth work together as you continue slowly bobbing on him. You pull your hand down to his thigh and begin stroking them up and down as you take more of him in your mouth. You continue your motions, taking more of him each time.

After a few minutes of having him in your mouth, you increase the pace. You hollow your cheek to take all of him; his hand comes to your hair moving it from your face. You look up at him through your lashes, locking eyes as he hits the back of your throat.

Fred rocks his hips, causing you to gag slightly as some spit dribbles out of your mouth. Some of your hair begins to fall in front of your face; Fred slides his hand in your hair pulling it into a ponytail behind your head. You continue sucking on him and stroking his thighs.

“Babe…I’m gonna…I’m” he starts to mumble. You feel his thighs tighten indicating he is almost done and you gently squeeze on them. You swirl your tongue around him a few times before you deep throat him and feel his warm cum hit the back of your throat.

You continue sucking on him until he stops. You lick him up and pull your mouth away and stand up. Fred pulls you into his lap and wipes some off your chin. He brings his finger to your mouth and you open it, swirling your tongue around his finger.

“Fucking hell” he says as you continue to suck on his finger. He pulls his hand from you and stands up throwing you over his shoulder; “Freddie” you squeal. He carries you down the hall to the bedroom, bringing a hand up to smack your ass. You giggle as he throws you on the bed, quickly crawling on top of you.

Today is your fourth and final full day in Santorini. The trip has been amazing, you and Fred have spent the days exploring the beautiful island learning about the history, and the nights tangled in the bed together. You fly back tomorrow at 3pm, so you plan on exploring the capital tomorrow.

You are in a light sleep when you begin to feel light kisses being placed on your core. Your eyes flutter open when you feel a tongue slip inside your walls. You look down and see a shirtless Fred lying on his stomach, your legs hooked over his shoulders; his hands gripping your ass.

A soft moan escapes your lips and you feel Fred smile between your legs. He gently licks the outside of your slit, tasting your juices. Fred moves his tongue from your left to the right dragging it across your entrance in the process, eliciting a sharp breath from you.

His tongue presses further inside your walls, his beard rubbing against your thighs. His hand slides under your shirt up your stomach along your rib cage, and along the outer edge of your breasts. He continues sliding his hand up and down the same trail a few more times getting closer and closer to your nipples each time, grazing your areolas.

He begins circling your breasts with his hands, occasionally pinching your nipples as his tongue applies more pressure. He begins exploring inside of you, finally pressing his tongue as far in as it could.

You begin to feel the ball building in your stomach, as you take in a few sharp breaths. Fred eases up the pressure, becoming gentler in his motions, earning a whimper from you as you were getting close to your release.

His tongue doesn’t move from you, continuing to fuck inside you with it. Your hands grip the bedsheets as his nose brushes against your clit. Your breathing becomes deeper; nipples are hard while beads of sweat develop on your forehead and neck.

You rotate your hips slightly, and clench your legs around his head. Fred increases the pressure, pinching your nipple.

“Holy shit” you moan; Fred increases his rhythm. Your orgasm washes over you; your knuckles go white as you tightly grip the sheets, your walls tense against his tongue. Fred doesn’t move, his tongue continues to thrust inside of you as your breathing becomes normal.

Fred releases your legs, and crawls up your body on his elbows. Sweat has gathered in sections across your body and you stare back at him with a smile on your face; you see some of your juices on his chin and in his beard. Fred closes the gap and kisses you; you taste yourself on him sliding your hands up his biceps as you scratch his back.

“Good morning” he mumbles against your lips.

“Definitely is a good morning. You should wake me up like that every day” you say kissing him again.

“I’ll see what I can do” he mumbles kissing your collarbone.

“You order breakfast?” you ask smelling the dark roast coffee.

“Mhm” he hums sucking on your neck his hand sliding under your shirt “breakfast is the most important meal skat.”

He lowers himself and begins kissing the exposed skin of your stomach eliciting soft moans from your lips. Your stomach growls loudly causing Fred to groan and laugh; “I guess you need to eat” he says crawling away pulling you out from under the duvet.

After breakfast you head to Mesa Pigadia a small, quiet beach with large pebbles and dark blue, crystal-clear waters where you take out some kayaks along coast. There is the occasional patron on the beach, but the area is relatively quiet. You pass by the red and black sand beaches along the way to some sea caves. “This is amazing” you say taking his hand as you step out of the kayak, “how long have you been planning this for?” you question.

“Not too long, just a couple weeks… or months” he says kissing your cheek.

“Is that all?” you question raising your eyebrow at him.

“Well I wanted this summer to be special, so I brought you to the place that I thought might compare to your beauty” he says placing a light kiss on your lips. “It doesn’t by the way” he whispers in your ear causing you to roll your eyes. Fred pulls his shirt over his head, leaving him in his bathing suit. You smile seeing his tanned and firm upper body.

“You know once you have the girl you can stop with the cheesy lines” you joke. Fred laughs wrapping his arms around your waist “not a cheesy line, it’s the truth” he places a soft kiss on your forehead. He hands you a snorkel and you strip down to your bathing suit before jumping into the clear blue water, Fred following behind you. You see the colourful coral and vibrant fish while you explore the caves. As you are swimming you feel Fred touch your arm, he points to your side, you follow his gaze with your eyes and you are taken back.

You see a 4 foot loggerhead turtle swimming a few feet away. It has a reddish-brown shell as it glides through the water with ease. You and Fred float in the water staring at it for what feels like forever but likely was only a minute before it swims out of view. You both pop up and Fred pulls out his mouthpiece “that was amazing!”

“I can’t believe we just saw that, that was incredible!” you say as Fred pulls you close and places a kiss on your lips. Your hands grip the back of his neck as you continue kissing him, floating in the calm waters of the cave. Fred pulls back “want to head back?” he questions. You nod as you swim back to the kayaks.

You step up onto the shore, water dripping down your sun kissed skin. You walk up to Fred and lock him in a deep, passionate kiss “we should get back” he whispers his hands lightly placed on your waist.

“You sure” you whisper, your hand sliding down his treasure line over the front of his bathing suit, you palm over him and feel him begin to harden under you. Fred grips your wrist and pushes it off of you, a grin on his face. You smirk at him; standing on your tippy toes you kiss Fred. Your hands snake into his hair, pulling his head down to you; you push your hips forward feeling him through his bathing suit.

His hands on your hip push you back onto flat feet, you grin up at Fred who pulls you in closer to his chest. “You’re lucky there is nothing in here for me to bend you over” he growls into your ear.

His hand slides down your back, under your bathing suit. He starts to stroke your bare ass as he begins sucking on your neck, a whimper leaving your lips. Fred grins before leaning down to kiss you, you feel his hands wander your body and don’t even notice what he is doing until you feel your bottoms hit your feet.

Your eyes go wide and you pull away from him slightly. Fred sucks on your bottom lip, as he brings a hand to your folds. He toys with the entrance, gently opening them up as you moan. He slips two fingers in and begins pumping them, your head falls back and Fred bites the newly exposed area of your neck.

“Fred…what if…what if someone comes” you barely manage to say as he thrusts his long fingers in and out. He uses a leg to spread your legs a little wider, bringing his thumb up to press circles into your clit.

“You should have thought of that before you teased me” he replies increasing the pace.

“Fuck” you mumble as is quickly pumping inside you. You rock your hips to increase the friction and hear Fred chuckle. He continues to fuck his fingers in and out of you and slips a third one in. The third finger brings you to the edge of your orgasm, the ball building in your stomach.

“Babe” you whine your hands gripping onto his biceps, trying to brace yourself for what you know is about to happen.

“You gonna cum?” Fred asks but you know he knows the answer. A whimper leaves your mouth as you feel your walls begin to tighten, just as you are about to fall over the edge everything stops. Fred pulls his fingers from you and wipes them on his bathing suit.

“What?” you ask unable to form a clear sentence. Fred steps away and over to the bag and pulls his shirt over his head.

“You think you get to do whatever you want. You think you can tease me all day long, well two can play at that game.” Before you have a chance to respond Fred kisses your cheek and hands you your clothes “sucks doesn’t it?”

You pull away; Fred has a large grin on his face. You stand there for a moment locked in a staring contest. Fred steps closer to you and places his mouth beside your ear “you can try to take care of yourself, but it won’t be the same. We both know you can’t take care of yourself the way I do, but if you want to try I’m not in a rush.”

He doesn’t move, his breath on your neck sending goosebumps down your spine. You consider his words, and you know he is right. You can get the job done yourself but you know it won’t be the same. And the fear of someone showing up is concerning to you. You take a step back from Fred who is still smirking at you; you shake your head and huff in disapproval before shimmying your wet bottoms back up your legs and throwing your clothes over top.

Fred smiles, knowing he has won and helps you get into your kayak to make the journey back. When you return the kayaks Fred stops at a small café on the way back to the hotel to grab some sandwiches and salad to eat back at the hotel.

After you finish eating on the patio you head inside to shower the salt water off of you. You curl your hair into beachy waves and apply your makeup in a natural fashion. You stand in your wrap trying to pick something to wear when Fred walks out from the bathroom. You watch him walk by, his towel hung low on his hips, water dripping down his abs. His wavy red hair is damp, and you can tell he hasn’t brushed it yet, merely running his hand through it to pull it from his eyes.

“You know you could wear nothing and you would look amazing” he mumbles wrapping his arms around you playfully pulling at the strings of your robe.

You laugh lightly “you say that because you love it when I wear nothing.”

“Very true, but I do love you in everything and anything. I ordered dinner, so you have 20 minutes babe” he kisses your cheek and places a light slap on your ass. You squeal and jump slightly while Fred walks to the other side of the room to his dresser. You turn around to say something but in that moment Fred drops the towel from his waist. You see his large thighs, his tan line from his bathing suit; and his butt, that is a lighter colour in comparison. You have the urge to walk over and cup his ass when he bends over to pick out a pair of boxers from the bottom drawer. You can see part of his member as it hangs before he stands up straight pulling it out of view.

Your eyes slowly walk up his back, before finding his eyes staring back at you. A devilish grin has spread across his face; you feel your cheeks immediately go red.

“I see you like it when I wear nothing too” he grins before pulling his boxers up over his toned ass. You turn away to your clothes as you hear Fred getting dressed behind you. You use all your willpower to not turn around and look at him because you know if you do you won’t be able to stop yourself. You hear silence and you finally will yourself to turn around and see that he has left the room.

About 10 minutes later you walk out to the balcony and see Fred in a tight white button up shirt tucked into his khaki pants. Your breath catches in your throat as you move toward him. Fred hears your heels and looks up “every day you get a little more beautiful” he says kissing you. You are dressed in a white and blue floral romper, it has thin straps with an intricate crochet overlaid on top. “But if we’re being honest I prefer you in nothing” he growls in your ear.

“Same babe” you whisper.

You sit outside eating dinner and drinking wine together when Fred moves to the food cart the hotel left earlier and places a decadent piece of chocolate cake on the table. Before sitting down he pulls you into his lap. He takes the fork and feeds both of you the cake, your mouth waters the entire time. But not because of the cake but the man that is feeding you.

He scoops the last piece on the fork and moves to feed it to you, but quickly puts it in his mouth. He slowly pulls the fork from his mouth as your jaw drops “Frederik I can’t believe –“ before you can finish Fred locks you in a deep kiss. You can taste the cake on his lips “you know what calling me Frederik does” he groans.

You move to place soft kisses on his neck below his ear “I don’t know what you’re talking about” you mumble sucking on his neck “Frederik.”

Fred abruptly stands up; you practically fall off and burst out laughing. Fred picks you up throwing you over his shoulder carrying you to the bedroom. You reach down to grab Fred’s ass, but before you can he brings a hand up and places a smack on yours causing you to squeal. When you reach the bedroom he throws you onto the bed and quickly is on top of you.

He rests his hands on either side of your head. He leans down locking you in a passionate kiss. Based on the playfulness of the last few hours and the 3 bottles of wine you have consumed you expect it to be rushed and sloppy but find it to be soft and tender. You moan into the kiss as his tongue dances in your mouth.

One of your hands slide under his shirt feeling his muscular back. Your nails lightly drag up and down his back as he begins lightly sucking on your neck. Your hand moves around to his chest and you begin unbuttoning his shirt. Fred’s right hand slips down to your leg and gently begins drawing circles on your thigh before slipping it up under the hem of your romper shorts. He lightly strokes his fingers over your clothed core.

Your back arches as you push his shirt off his shoulders. Fred brings his hand up and pushes your straps off your shoulders. He helps you slide out of your romper, placing soft kisses on your chest and stomach. Once he has removed your romper he kisses your neck while undoing your bra. Your hands explore his bare muscular back. Once he has removed your bra he begins to gently massage your breast before bringing his mouth down the suck on the other one.

“Fred" you moan out as your hands slide down to his belt making quick work of the buckle. When you unbutton his pants he lifts away and rids himself of them and his boxers leaving himself completely exposed. You lean on your elbows and stare at him. You look down at his hard cock while you lick your lips; you see the leaked precum and think about is having him in your mouth. “Not tonight baby” Fred says pushing you so you are lying on your back and pulls your panties down your legs “not tonight baby”

He returns to the bed, lifting your legs over his shoulder while lying down on his stomach. He stares into your dripping cunt; you feel his breath on it as his beard grazes your thighs. He licks a stripe up you and mumbles “fuck you’re so wet baby.”

“You do this to me baby” you say causing Fred to groan loudly.

He continues placing light licks on you for a few minutes before he brings two fingers and slowly slides them into you. You cry out as he begins to slowly thrust in and out of you, while sucking on your clit. Your hand falls down to his hair as he continues to gently pump in and out of you.

You can feel your ball beginning to form deep in your stomach, but you know it will take a while at this speed. Fred knows it too, but he doesn’t pick up his pace. His fingers slowly curl in and out hitting your spot every time. His mouth slides from your clit into your folds as he licks inside you. “Taste good too" he mumbles.

At that moment his pace picks up his fingers being thrust into you. “Fuck" you cry out gripping his hair tightly. The ball in your stomach is close to bubbling over and this encourages Fred. His thumb massages your clit as his fingers pump in and out hitting your sweet spot every time.

“Cum for me baby” he says. You bring a hand up and start playing with your perked breast. Fred sucks on your pubic bone, as his fingers continue pumping inside you.

Your orgasm comes crashing over you; you grip his hair while your toes curl. Your orgasm is long, and Fred doesn’t stop his hand until you have finished. He pulls his fingers from you and replaces them with his mouth.

You wince at the feeling, still sensitive from your first orgasm. He gently licks up your juices and places light kisses on your thigh and stomach. Your breathing has steadied and you have regained enough of yourself; you attempt to push Fred to his back.

You want him in your mouth, want to taste his precum, but Fred doesn’t let you.

Instead he crawls back up, placing his hands on both sides of your head. He leans down and kisses you passionately as your tongue swirls with his. Your hand attempts to grab his shaft, but Fred grabs your wrist. He brings it above your head, before grabbing your other. He holds both of them above your head with his left hand and uses his right to line himself up.

You can feel him poking at your entrance, and as he slides in he leans down locking you in a deep kiss. Your walls being stretched by him causes you to moan into the kiss as he begins to set a slow and steady pace.

He pulls his face away from yours, looking into your eyes while thrusting into you. Every time he bottoms out before almost pulling fully out. He slams back into you.

His eyes are dark as he continues the pace, his forehead pressed against yours. Normally the slower pace wouldn’t have you reaching your high, but the feeling of him deep inside you, hitting your g-spot has your second orgasm of the night approaching.

“Freddie" you moan arching your hips into him. You want nothing more than to feel his biceps under your nails but he still has your hands pinned above your head. He lowers his face and kisses you, while keeping his pace. Your orgasm continues to build.

“You close babygirl?” he whispers in your ear, although you know he knows the answer. You open your mouth to answer but no words come out only filthy sounds.

Fred lifts his head to look at you; a devilish grin has spread across his face. “Words babe, use your words.”

You moan again as his hips snap into you, but you finally manage to whimper “yes.” His mouth latches on your nipple sucking on it. Your back arches as you move in tandem with him. Your orgasm is right there and as you are about to let go Fred whispers “wait for me babe kay?”

You groan loudly, unsure if you are able to meet his request “you can do it skat" he says still thrusting into you. You lift your hips trying to push Fred to his high soon and it works, you feel him getting sloppy.

Your eyes snap closed from the feeling of trying to hold back, the pleasure becoming too much. You keep them closed trying to focus on breathing so you don’t release without him.

“Open your eyes (Y/N/N)” he says as you feel him stuttering inside you “for me babe.” You muster the energy to look at him as soon as you look into his eyes your high comes. You are unable to control yourself as you spasm around him.

Fred’s dick immediately twitches and you feel his warmth spills deep inside you paining your walls white. When you both finish Fred places light kisses on your nose and forehead.

He releases your hands, and runs his hands through your hair “I love watching you” he whispers as he lays on top of you but somehow you feel like that isn’t what he really wants to say.

You begin to lightly stroke his shoulder and bicep as you doze off. You wake up a few minutes later when you feel the bed shift. Fred leaves and walks to the bathroom; he comes back a few minutes later in his boxers. He has a damp cloth and gently cleans you up, placing soft kisses on your stomach at the same time.

When he finishes he finds a t-shirt for you and pulls it over your head. He lies on his back, you tucked tightly into his arm as you begin to doze off when you hear him whisper “jeg elsker dig.” 

“What was that babe?” you mumble.

“Mm, oh nothing. Go to sleep babe.” 

The next day you wake up early, and are sitting on the large living room couch drinking coffee while on your phone.

“What are you doing babe?” Fred asks sitting beside you. 

“I’m using google translate” he raises an eye brow at you. “Well as you know my boyfriend speaks Danish and I’m trying to learn it.”

“Mhm, I might have been told that” he says, his finger touching your shoulder.

“Well I don’t know everything so I still need to google some things. But I don’t know how things are spelt in Danish.” 

He laughs as you continue “I did figure out what smuk means though, you’ve been saying that one for a while.” 

“Well you are very beautiful dear” he replies. 

“I’m trying to figure out what you said last night. Actually you have said it a few times now. Something like jeg elesek, jeg du ekelse. Something like that I think.” 

He looks at you and smiles saying “jeg elsker dig.”  

“YES! How do you spell that?” you place your coffee on the table and be begins to spell it out, as soon as you press the translate button and you look up at him. “Freddie” you say softly as you shift to sit on his lap.

“I have loved you since you came to Denmark 2 years ago” he whispers. 

A big smile comes across your face “I’m gonna butcher this but…jeg elsker dig.”  

He smiles whispering “close enough” he pulls your face to his as he kisses you, but you hold back not fully leaning into it. Fred senses this and stops, looking into your eyes. 

“Babe what -?” 

“Remember when Auston visited us?” Fred nods. “You made a comment…uh…said something about having another baby.” 

Fred takes a deep breath “yes I remember” he replies. 

“Did...Did you uh- did you” you trail off before Fred finishes your question “mean it?” 

“Yeah” you whisper. 

“Of course I did, wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t. I want more babies with you; I mean how could I not? Our first one is the best. I told you a couple nights ago I want see us with more kids. Do you want more kids?”

“Of course I do Fred, our first one is pretty great and I love seeing you as a Dad. Watching you with Oliver makes my ovaries explode” you say not looking at him. “But do you want another one now? You said something not using birth control and putting another baby in me.” 

Fred chuckles lightly “Okay the alcohol might have made me not say it the best way. But yes babe I want another baby with you. And I’m ready whenever you are.” 

“You don’t think 2 young babies will be hard? Oliver isn’t even two yet.” 

“Oh I know it will be, but I know if anyone can handle it, it’s us” he pulls you in and places a light kiss on your lips. “No pressure babe. Can be now, 6 months from now, 2 years from now. Just let me know when you’re ready.”

He leans in to place another light kiss on your lips “it’s your body, and you are the only one of us using birth control. So whenever you want to get off it just let me know.” You bring your hand up to this side of his face deepening it before finally pulling away as you whisper “okay.” 

“Is that okay I’m ready, or okay I‘ll let you know when I am ready?” 

Green dress:

The earrings:

Your romper:

Next Chapter

[daybreak-academy-fanfic]

[Kingdom Hearts] Pinkie Swear

Summary: Written for @khuxweek, in which a day before the War, Brain takes Sabrina (OC) someplace special.

Rating: K

Word Count: 1,931 words

If you liked this story, please reblog!

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There are very few times when I can look at a fellow Keyblade wielder and think 'Yes, this one has a heart so strong, they could move mountains one day.' I felt that way with each of my fellow Union leaders when I met them. Even Ventus who, even then, felt like an anomaly but still had promise of something greater. It was one of these few people I was actually close with before the Keyblade War. Her name was Sabrina- which apparently meant princess. Go figure.

. . .

The air was filled with electricity in the days leading up to the Keyblade War. After Ava gave her speech (one that no one had really expected, let alone how serious she was during it), the youngest of the Dandelions in both age and recruitment started to get antsy. Except for her. Brain wasn't able to see her during training much because Ava frequently helped the newer recruits than those who had been there for awhile. He wasn't one of the first Dandelions- but he could remember when he could recognize a face or two if they crossed paths during regular missions. Now there were so many Dandelions that he couldn't pick them out on a normal day without some help.

When Ava disappeared, the Dandelions were beside themselves. Should they still train? Should they go to the promised place to depart now too? Some still came to Fountain Square to train with each other. Others continued with their missions as already set by their Union leader, becoming invisible in crowds. If the line between who was and wasn't a Dandelion hadn't been blurred before, it was nonexistent then. Brain was one of the Dandelions that skipped out on coming to train in Fountain Square. Instead, he'd pester Sabrina into going somewhere else where they trained together. To say it caused a small conflict in the constantly disagreeable girl was a bit of an understatement.

“What if Master Ava comes back?” she once asked him as she attempted to side swipe him with her Keyblade. He dodged it without a problem. His hat was a bit askew, but she gave him time to adjust it. “She meets with the Dandelions like normal and finds that all of them ditched her.”

“Not going to happen.” Brain assured her with a shake of his head. He took his Keyblade with both hands before rushing at her. Sabrina leaped out of the way, then parried his attempt to get her from behind. “Master Ava would tell us to resume Dandelion training if she comes back.”

Sabrina raised an eyebrow. “If?”

Brain gave a soft chuckle. Of course Sabrina would be able to read between the lines. She was good at that. Master Invi couldn't have asked for a smarter member of her Union. Brain took firm hold of his Keyblade again to attempt a front attack. Sabrina also saw that coming- their Keyblades letting out a loud clang when they connected. Brain didn't let up. Instead he pressed their Keyblades close enough to each other that he could have tilted his head to touch her forehead.

“You're smart.” he told her. “Do you really think we'll see Master Ava again before the war?”

There was a small, subtle twitch in the corner of the girl's mouth that illustrated she did not. Seeing it, Brain finally let up. He even put away his Keyblade- an act that surprised Sabrina a good degree.

“I think we've had enough training for today,” he then told her, “How about we take a break and go for a walk. It's a nice day today.”

Sabrina recoiled. Brain was trying to make it less obvious that his mind was on something else. That constant fidgeting of his fedora was a dead giveaway. The girl had known the other boy for, what? A good six months? She could tell when he was hiding something from her, as little as it happened so far. Sabrina parted her lips a little to say something, but shook her head.

“Fine.” she agreed with a flick of her wrist. “It better not be someplace dumb like Fountain Square or Agrabah. I've had enough sand in my shoes to last a lifetime, thank you.”

Brain couldn't help it, but he gave her a wide smile.

. . .

As far as I knew, I was an only child. I always saw the younger wielders as equal peers than subconsciously channeling some kind of lost 'big brother' instinct. That was the funny thing about Sabrina- she was the first wielder to actually make me want to protect them more than just an equal partner. I'd tease her about wielders that seemed flustered by her growing beauty. We'd eat lunches together and promise to meet up after missions to relax. More than once we'd sit on a bench, watching the sunset, and that girl would lay on me to safely drift off to sleep. We had keys to each other's houses too. It wasn't until far later (and far too late) that I realized we weren't friends; we were family.

. . .

“You're going to hurt yourself.”

“Haven't yet. So if you'd like, let me just break my neck in peace.” There was a pause, then the prudent addition of, “You're not in charge of me.”

Brain let out another laugh. He tried to hide how much he was keeping an eye on her by adjusting his fedora every so often. Walking along the high stone fence was an act of defiance and proof of how balanced Sabrina thought herself to be. Did that stop Brain from being ready in case she tripped? Of course not. Why would it?

“Where are we going anyway?” Sabrina questioned as she looked at her own steps than Brain himself.

“How do you know we're not going to fight some Heartless?” Brain asked right back.

“Because you're usually more protective if we were. Fussing around with elixirs and potions and stuff. Especially if you think that it's going to be a big one.”

Brain was quick to hold the rim of his fedora a bit lower over his face. “I'm not that bad.”

“Sure, sure.” the girl shrugged off. And so she remained on the fence as they continued to walk along. It was quite awhile before they reached the end of it- while also being quite close to where Brain wanted to take them.

“I dare you to flip off.” Brain smirked as Sabrina stood with her toes to the end of the fence. For a moment, you could see the child consider doing just that.

“Nah.” Sabrina said with a shake of her head. Instead, she hopped down- making sure that she bent her knees to lessen the impact. Even if it wasn’t the flair Brain had teased her on, it was still a bit presumptuous in its own way.

“Come on,” he laughed, “We’re almost there.”

Sabrina gave a nod as she followed him. It was a silent walk for the rest of the way, not that either of them really minded. They finally reached their destination with ease; a field that overlooked most of Daybreak Town. This particular area having a cherry blossom tree growing near the ledge with its roots exposed on the cliffside. Sabrina was quick to lean against the tree before sliding down to sit. Brain took a spot next to her, but remained standing. A warm breeze kissed their skin as they relaxed in the tree’s shade. It was beautiful. Memorable, even. But it was here that Brain had to tell Sabrina something important.

“The war is going to happen soon.”

Sabrina blinked, then looked up at Brain with a look of displeasure. “How do you know?” she questioned.

“Master Ava told me.” he replied without looking at her.

“Liar.”

Brain looked down and smiled at her “It’s true! Swear on my life, Wabi-Sabi.”

He had expected her little grunt of doubt.

“Even if I believed you, what does that have to do with anything?” the child then spat as she crossed her arms.

“I want us to make a promise.” he then said, taking a seat next to her. “A blood pact, if you will.”

Sabrina gave him something that crossed a stink eye and a glare. “What are you talking about?” she questioned, even scrunching her nose up.

“Since I know the Keyblade War is coming, and you know the Keyblade War is coming, then let's promise to meet up after.” he offered. He nudged her a bit to say, “We'll meet up where we usually do. Assuming Daybreak Town made it through the end. Deal?”

“And where are we meeting if Daybreak Town doesn't survive, smarty pants?”

“Our Chirithy will figure it out.” Brain playfully shrugged. “They'll still be with us, and they can go pretty far without us too, so it shouldn't be a problem.”

The girl gave him a small raise of her eyebrow before considering his offer. As she thought it over though, the more her face started to fall into one of conflict.

“Are you really sure that it’s going to happen?”

“I would never lie about this, Sabrina. You know I wouldn’t.”

Sabrina looked up at Brain. His sincere, almost scared, face caused a lump to form in her throat. He wasn’t teasing this time. He meant every word that he was saying. Making up her mind, Sabrina sat a bit straighter before holding up her pinkie finger.

“Pinkie swear.” she told him- her voice filled with authority.

For a moment, Brain just stared at her. Then a smile started to form on his lips. He brought up his own pinkie to link with hers, and after the two gave each other an affirming nod, Sabrina launched herself at Brain to give him a tight hug. The gesture had been completely unexpected, but he didn’t oppose it. Instead, he held her tight as neither wanted to let go.

. . .

I never really read the Book of Prophecies that Master Ava gave me before Darkness started to meddle with our new world. Or rather, show itself while we tried to figure out why we were in a digital Daybreak Town than the real one. It took me a greater part of a day to read through it. At least, it took me a day to go through the pages that detailed various enemies from the past, future, and now present. Everything else in the Book? Well, I wouldn't call it useless. At the same time, I wouldn't call it helpful either. The Master of Masters had written the Book in ways that spoke of ambiguity and a less than set in stone mentality. One part of the Book could have changed, and the rest could be rendered moot.

She wasn't in there. Strelitzia was never brought up too. What will become of my fellow Union leaders -my friends- is just as uncertain. There are small sections where I believe they are mentioned, but the wording of the Book… It's not obvious. It would take another generation to decipher just who or what it is referencing to begin with. If that.

I just want to know where she is. I need to know if she, like Streltizia, met a poor fate before the war. We're just kids. We all were. I just… I just want her to be safe. She's my little sister. She's the only family I've known. At the same time, I fear giving in to the same heartbroken rage that Lauriam is struggling against. Just… let her be safe. That's all I ask… Please.

[vannminner]

Admin: And if you are open to prompts, may I request something tender like Honey braiding Elsa’s hair for the first time? Elsa experiencing the sensation of letting her guard down to her lover for the first time. Possibly getting emotional? Cram it with mushy kisses if you wish haha. Thank you, I adore your work!

-

A branch snapped in the distance. Elsa turned over her shoulder and a small smile tugged at her lips. 

Honeymaren, fists held tight in frustration, grumbled quietly to herself. She removed her foot from the branch. Her nose wrinkled, and she grit her teeth. 

“Plan not going as anticipated?” Elsa teased. 

Her expression softened. Having been caught, Honeymaren’s shoulders relaxed and she approached the cliffside where Elsa sat. 

“You are always sneaking up on me,” she defended. “-just once, I’d like to be able to make you jump out of your skin.”

Elsa laughed. “You know, that is not the smartest idea... Magic hands, remember? Your plan might end with you freezing permanently into some elaborate ice sculpture of my creation.”

Honeymaren rolled her eyes. “You wouldn’t dare.”

Elsa’s attention diverted back to the clearing below. 

It was dusk. The sky flooded with waves of pink, purple, and vibrant oranges. Along her fair skin, Elsa’s complexion painted with colors from the setting sun. Waves reflected off of her, transforming Elsa into mother nature’s living canvas. Honeymaren couldn’t help but stare. 

Slowly, she came to sit besides her. Elsa’s legs drew up into her chest and her feet braced against the rock. Honeymaren mimicked her posture, taking her arms and wrapping them around her own knees. 

“So,” she sang. “What brings you all the way out here so close to supper?”

Shrugging, Elsa’s eyes fixed to the sunset. “Thinking...” she hummed. “It is quiet up here. I needed some time alone to gather my thoughts before heading back down to the village.” 

Honeymaren’s spine pulled straight. Her brows lifted. “Oh, I’m sorry... I should have asked before joining you! I just, I’ll- I can go?” 

She drew up from the rock and made moves to slide away. 

Elsa’s hand caught Honeymaren’s forearm. “No, stay.” she requested. 

Honeymaren considered her briefly. Elsa was looking at her now, her wide eyes almost pleading with her demand. She waited. Elsa didn’t remove her hand. Finally, with a nod, Honeymaren relaxed and returned to sit with legs crossed beside her. 

She reeled in a deep breath. “So... what were we thinking about, then?” Honeymaren asked. 

She pulled away from Elsa. Honeymaren placed her chin in her hand, as her elbow braced against her knee. 

“Arendelle.” Elsa answered shortly. “My sister, to be more specific.”

Honeymaren frowned. “You are missing, Anna. I have noticed you are acting a little different lately.” 

Her head drew into a slow nod. “I didn’t mean for you to pick up on it. I love it up here, I do, but sometimes it hard being so far away from those you care about.”

“Tell me about it,” Honeymaren teased. “Now you know how I feel when you take those long, extended trips to Ahtohallan.” 

Elsa giggled and pushed her shoulder into Honeymaren’s arm.

“I’m kidding!” she grinned. “It’s okay to miss, Anna. I am certain she misses you, too.”

Her lips pulled to the side. A steady frown drew to Elsa’s face. “It is the little things, you know? I miss our nights reading together in front of the fireplace, and midnight snack runs, where we would sneak danish from the pantry without Gerda seeing. Or even the mornings when Anna would come into my bedroom, and brush my hair for what felt like, hours... There are the little moments from our days that I now feel I took for granted.” 

Honeymaren shook her head. “You didn’t take them for granted. You speak as if you are treasuring those moments, right now, and it is really sweet to have you share them with me. And, I promise you, despite the distance, you will still have new moments worth treasuring. As always, you are too hard on yourself, Elsa.” 

Elsa had turned silent. Her thoughts traveled away with the layers of coloured sky before them, and she continued to frown. 

Honeymaren’s expression came to echo Elsa’s. She watched her, feeling a bit helpless that she could not pull Elsa from her stupor. Elsa often dealt with her issues on her own. Honeymaren knew this about her. However, this behaviour was much different than she had come to experience, herself, while growing up in Northuldra. Here, she had always been a part of the village. People moved about their days as a single unit. Honeymaren relied on her people, and they in turn, relied on her. Just once, Honeymaren wanted to show Elsa that she could rely on Northuldra, too. She was a part of their community now, and that came with all the benefits.  

“Here, scootch in.” Honeymaren moved onto her knees.

Elsa’s eyes snapped to her. “What did you just say?”

“Move up.” she tried again. “Scootch in so I can fit behind you.”

“Oh, um...”

Elsa wanted to question her, but something kept her silent. She did as Honeymaren requested, feeling a surprising warmth spread through her waist when Honeymaren slid in at her back. 

“What are you doing?” Elsa asked. Hands moved in softly at her neck. 

“Relax, would you?” Honeymaren scolded her, hiding behind a tiny grin. 

She pulled Elsa’s hair from her shoulders and splayed it against her back. Very gently, Honeymaren’s fingers stoked through each strand. Elsa had gone rigid at the sensation, but after a moment, she began to relax. Her back arched and her shoulders rolled. Elsa leaned her head further into Honeymaren’s hands. 

“That feels nice.” she commended. 

“Well, hang tight. I’ve only just begun.”

Honeymaren’s fingers massaged against her scalp, and she drew her nails down from the top of Elsa’s hairline. Center section in hands, Honeymaren slowly began to braid. 

Her movements were gentle. “You are very good at this.” Elsa felt herself grin. 

“I’ve braided a head or two.” she nonchalantly replied. “There are a few children around here that also enjoy, my magic hands.”

Elsa giggled. “I see what you did there.”

“Thanks,” Honeymaren boasted. “I will be here all night.”

A small sigh pulled from Elsa’s lips. Honeymaren’s fingers had accidently brushed at the base of her neck. 

“Does that hurt?” she worried. 

Elsa gave a small head turn. “Not at all- quite the opposite, really...”

“Good,” Honeymaren moved nearer to Elsa’s back. Warmth trapped between them, and she felt Elsa shiver in response. “I wouldn’t want to hurt you.”

“You could never.” she defended. “It’s not in your power.”

Honeymaren didn’t respond. Instead, she finished off Elsa’s center braid before starting in on a second one, just below the hilt of her ear. 

“How did you know this would help take my mind off Anna?” Elsa asked. “You always seem to know how to make me feel better. You must have a gift.”

Honeymaren fought a blush. “You said, Anna likes to brush your hair. I thought, perhaps, by doing this I might be able to bring a little of Arendelle to the forest for you. I don’t know how, or why I make you feel better. I just know I don’t like seeing so sad.”

Silence filtered between them. Honeymaren tied the two smaller braids together, and pulled the center one over where they conjoined. The rest of her hair had been left loose. Honeymaren ran her fingers through the blonde waves, setting them flat against Elsa’s back. 

She was sad when she finished. “There,” Honeymaren feigned a grin. “They’re perfect.”

Elsa wished she could see. Thinking quick, she crafted a small hand-mirror out of ice and angled it over her shoulder. There, she saw the intricate, yet delicate braids Honeymaren had made for her. 

In her white gown, with her shoulders exposed, Elsa felt almost elegant. 

She smiled softly to herself. Elsa pulled the mirror to her face and stared at Honeymaren through the reflection. 

“You’re perfect.” Her lips curled slightly. Elsa was teasing her, and so her eyes turned sheepishly away. 

The mirror suddenly dissipated into thin air. Elsa spun against her rear and turned to fully face Honeymaren. 

She stared back at Elsa. Her expression was curious. There was the spark of something lingering on her lips, that Honeymaren could not identify. It had Elsa’s blue eyes shining brighter than the darkness surfacing behind them. 

“What?” Honeymaren finally asked. 

Forgoing words, Elsa leaned forward. She watched for any sign that she was crossing an unspoken boundary between them. Elsa inched closer towards her face, and she rest her hands on Honeymaren’s knees. 

Honeymaren didn’t move. She’d stopped breathing. Air caught in her lungs and her eyes drove, just a fraction too wide. 

She froze completely when Elsa’s eyes closed. Excitement and panic danced in unison beneath Honeymaren’s shirt. Elsa’s lips brushed against hers- only once, and then she leaned back onto her hands. 

“I’m sorry,” Elsa whispered quickly. Her wavering gaze returned. “I... I have wanted to know for sometime now, how that might feel...”

Honeymaren coughed. She cleared her throat. A steady blush surfaced along her chest, drove up her neck, and settled on her cheeks. 

“I, um, how did it feel?” she stammered. 

Elsa smiled. She shrugged, turning away. “It was... nice.” she dutifully nodded. “I... I liked it.”

“Good.” Honeymaren’s hands pulled into her lap. “I, uh, liked it a lot too.”

She sat back to mimic Elsa. Honeymaren drew her feet between them and pulled her hands behind her waist. Unfortunately, she was closer to the edge than she remembered. Her fingers slipped, weight falling over the curve of the rock, and Honeymaren tumbled backwards onto the ground. 

When she looked up, Elsa was there, looking down at her. She stifled a laugh behind an open hand. 

“Are you alright?” she asked. Elsa stretched down to her. 

Honeymaren’s blush darkened as she stared at Elsa’s waiting hand. When the embarrassment faded, she shook from her shock. She accepted the gesture, and allowed Elsa to pull her back to her feet. 

“I am- I’m fine, surprised, but.. fine.” she blinked rapidly.

“I probably should have given you a warning of some kind... instead of throwing myself at you,” Elsa laughed before continuing. “-but what fun would that have been?”

She slid from the rock, feet landing beside Honeymaren’s. Her face lit with humour.

Honeymaren’s jaw tipped, and she shook her head. “Just another item to add to the list of things I will get you back for someday.”

Elsa shrugged. “You seem to be trying, however, stealth does not always appear to be your strong suit...”    

Rolling her eyes, Honeymaren took Elsa’s hand. “Just you wait, princess. You won’t know when, you won’t know how, but one day I will catch you off guard, and you will be sorry.”

Giggling, Elsa squeezed her palm. “I won’t hold my breath.”

-

Note: I love the idea of Honeymaren being frustrated by Elsa’s constant, sneaking up on her. As we have seen before, Elsa is rather clueless. She is often taken by surprise, while lost in her thoughts. It was fun dabbling with the headcanon that- while Honeymaren is a hunter with unprecedented stealth skills, she cannot sneak up on Elsa; try as she might.

-

Cheers,

-M. 

[mariahschoices]

Beloved

Pairing: Katsuki Bakugo x Reader/OC

Word Count: 3902

Theme: Fluff/Smut

This is part 2 of this story: https://mariahschoices.tumblr.com/post/189983728802/unloveable

You couldn’t help the shock to your system, as Bakugo admitted that you had been right all of those years ago. Surely there was some misunderstanding.

“I may be a top hero, but being on top isn’t everything. It took me a long time to realize that, actually. I think...” he paused, seeming to realize how out of character he was acting by admitting his unhappiness to someone who he barely knew.

You gave him a soft smile. You didn’t really feel sorry for him, after all he had all of the ingredients he needed to make a great life. You figured he was just too much of a stubborn ass to seek out what he really needed to find true happiness in life.

“It’s actually my birthday today,” he continued, changing the subject to more optimistic topics.

“Oh, sh- shoot! I’m sorry. I’m sure you have better things to be doing today than sitting here with me. Thank you again for meeting up with me. I’m sorry for taking time away from your birthday plans-”

“Actually, meeting you for coffee today was my only birthday plan,” he interrupted with a grunt, peeling the drink label off from his coffee cup as a distraction.

You couldn’t believe what you were hearing, but you supposed it made sense considering the somber mood than emanated from the man.

“Well, if you want, I mean I’m sure you’d rather do something with your friends, but...” you bit your lip slightly, feeling compelled to ask to hothead to hang out, even though you felt it was probably against your better judgement.

“We can do something together. Hang out. Whatever you want. I’m still on leave from work since I’m in recovery, and I haven’t done anything fun for a while,” you admitted, a slight blush smattering across your cheeks at your confession.

Bakugo seemed to mull over your words for too long. As you were about to take back your offer in an effort to save face, Bakugo mumbled his response.

“Okay.”

Okay? You could work with “okay.” Hell, it was more than you had expected from him.

“Okay,” you repeated at him, sealing your decision with a small smile.

________________________________________

Bakugo was an avid rock climber, and even though you were terrified of heights, you agreed to let him pick the activity for the two of you. It was his birthday, after all. He had his personal fair share of ropes, carabiners, and other various equipment, choosing to forego a climbing gym in favor of the open air. Upon arriving cliffside, he finally seemed to notice the nervous buzz that continued to grow around you with each passing moment.

“Everything okay?” he eyed you, gauging the terrified look in your eyes with mostly amusement, sprinkled with a mild dash of concern.

“Yea, I think so. I’ve never done this before. I’m actually terrified of heights.”

You avoided all eye contact with him at your admission, choosing to stare at his shoes instead. They were black with an orange “X” across the top, matching his hero costume. He must have had them custom made.

“Tch. Shitty woman! Why would agree to do this then?!” he started packing up his climbing materials, conceding that this excursion probably wasn’t going to happen anymore.

Without thinking, you reached out, grasping his muscled forearm to halt his actions. You hadn’t thought he would take your feelings into consideration. It had surprised you, and you decided that you wanted to do this for him.

“No, no. Please. I want to do this with you,” you pleaded, looking into the endless red pools that were his eyes.

“Fine, we’ll do the short side of the cliff, then.”

Without another word, he gathered his things and headed down the dirt path to your new destination.

Once you arrived at the designated area, he paused to strap you into a harness, snap on your helmet, and make sure that everything was thoroughly secured before getting himself ready. His quick and efficient movements warmed your belly and caused a stinging pink blush to overtake your cheeks. You had to pinch your inner arm to get yourself under control. He probably just didn’t want to have to deal with the likely outcome of having to scrape your mangled body off the ground later if he risked letting a novice like yourself get geared up on your own.

Bakugo coached you through the entire experience, a soft look of pride on his face as you reached the top of cliffside. The wooded area you were in was well known for its breathtaking views of the river valley, and hiking was something you were much more comfortable with. Bakugo stashed your gear in his backpack as you agreed to hike further up to get a better view of your surroundings.

By the time the two of you reached the top, the sun was starting to set, and the beauty of the landscape that surrounded you nearly took your breath away. The moment seemed to bring a sense of peace and hopefulness that you hadn’t really felt since your husband passed away. You regretfully had isolated yourself from your work, your family, and your friends to mourn your loss alone until you had finally decided to seek help.

Bakugo interrupted your silent reverie. “So, twelve steps, huh? Not that it’s really any of my business, but is there anyone else you need to apologize to?” Bakugo asked curiously, unable to keep the question inside of him any longer.

“Actually, just one,” you blushed, wondering if you should admit the truth to him. “I didn’t really get into much trouble in school, and I got married so young that there wasn’t too much that occurred for me to have any need to apologize. I guess I’m pretty boring,” you admitted, almost ashamed as you compared yourself to such an accomplished man as Bakugo.

“So, who then?” he continued, unknowingly prying into a memory that was directly related to the man himself.

“Monoma,” you chuckled, preparing yourself for Bakugo’s reaction to your admittance. “I punched him actually, back at U.A. Gave him a fat lip.”

“Holy shit, you’re serious? What did that idiot do to you?” Bakugo couldn’t contain his shock that such a sweet, er, boring extra had done such a thing, though it had probably been deserved, considering who it was.

“Erm,” you bit your lip slightly in hesitation, “well, it was about you. He said that he was better than you and that you’d never achieve anything with your head so far up your-” you stopped before you could embarass yourself any further, risking a glance at Bakugo.

The soft colors of the sunset reflected in his eyes as they stared down into your own, a soft smile overtaking his face at your confession. You really were something else. Though his birthday hadn’t gone anything like he’d planned, he was grateful for how it’d turned out.

________________________________________

By the time the two of you approached the base of your climb, the moon and stars were already out. You were both covered in a sheen of cooling sweat, and your stomach rumbled with hollow rebellion, so loud that Bakugo himself could hear it. A genuine chuckle erupted from his chest, surprising you.

“If you’re hungry, I can feed you. A reward for facing your fear.”

Bakugo was eternally grateful that it was already too dark outside for you to see the tips of his ears turn red. He couldn’t believe that he was inviting you back to his apartment, even for the innocent enough reason as to fill your stomachs.

“Uh, sure, if you don’t mind? I mean I could pick something up on the way home if you’d rather-”

“I hope you like it spicy,” he interrupted your protest, thereby deciding your plans for the evening.

________________________________________

After the two of you reconnected, you found yourself spending more and more time with Bakugo. He surprised you with how considerate and caring he could be. it was a side that you had never known before, even though you had grown up alongside each other. His good mood from spending time with you began to bleed out into his work life as well, causing him to blow up less during interviews, and public opinion polls were even starting to place the hero above his long-time rival, Deku.

Bakugo supported your sobriety, and you found each other to be a pillar of strength whenever days were particularly hard, whether that be with work or your personal lives. He helped you get to point where you were ready to go back to work, and he even began inviting you to hero events where plus ones were encouraged. Being in your company made the otherwise unbearable evenings seem almost fun.

On one such evening, Bakugo watched from afar as you loaded up your plate with bite-sized appetizers. You looked breathtaking in your elegant dress, your soft face framed with tendrils of hair that completed your stylish updo. Kirishima interrupted Bakugo’s ogling as he followed his line of sight, giving a knowing shove to his shoulder.

“You’ve got to tell her, man.”

“Tell who what, Shitty Hair?” Bakugo grunted, distracting himself by rendering his attention to the band that played on stage.

“You know who, and you know what. And you can drum better than these dudes after a double shift patrolling, so don’t try to act like you’re interested.” Kirishima continued, effectively serving to shut him up. ‘

“You two spend all of your free time together. We haven’t even had a guys night in months. It’s time, man.”

“I don’t want to fuck this up, man. She was married, after all. She’s.... different. I feel different when I’m around her.”

Kirishima’s eyes darted across the room, finding his wife standing beside you, engaged in gossip and weighing in on what dishes were your favorites. “I know exactly what you mean, man. I found someone who made me feel different too. And you know what I did? I married her.”

________________________________________

Bakugo was no pussy. He knew Kirishima was right, and he knew that he had to confess to you. You were an amazing woman, and if he didn’t at least try, he knew someone else would. He tried to ignore the fear and anxiety that rattled his insides. He knew that you cared for him, but he didn’t know to what extent. And he had never wanted more with a woman. He never wanted to walk beside of someone - to belong to someone, and have them belong to him - the way that he wanted with you. The new feelings threatened to overwhelm him.

You had agreed before that night’s event to stay with Bakugo at his apartment after the evening commenced. The event wouldn’t be over until late, and since both of you planned on having a few drinks, he didn’t want to risk you trying to make it back to your place on your own. The overwhelming need to protect and care you had convinced him to make the offer, even before he’d decided to admit his feelings to you. He just hoped he wasn’t about to ruin things.

You sat at his kitchen island, watching as he poured a drink for the both of you. His own would be a dose of liquid courage, and you simply wanted to enjoy yourself now that you were in the safety of his apartment.

You always felt safe around Bakugo. Safe and happy. You felt feelings around him that you hadn’t felt in a long time. You watched as he made his way around to the other side of the kitchen island. His suit jacket had been removed, and the top two buttons of his white button-down had been undone. You couldn’t help the feeling of warmth that spread within you from the center of your body, making its way outward and making you feel too hot, still in your formal dress.

“Bak-”

“I have to tell-” he interrupted, stopping you from probably saying something that you shouldn’t. You couldn’t help the way that being around him like this, being beside of him all night like you were his, was making you feel.

“Go ahead, sorry,” you encouraged him to continue.

“I hope I don’t make you uncomfortable by saying this, and you don’t have to say anything back, but... I have feelings for you,” he admitted, getting it all out without even taking a breath, as if taking a pause would deter him from admitting it. Seeing that you didn’t look upset, he decided to continue.

“These last months, spending time with you, have been the happiest times of my life. I feel like I can be myself with you. A better version of myself. You... make me better,” he finally finished, a blush overtaking his face as he paused to take a long swallow of his drink. There. At least now his feelings were out in the open for you to do with as you pleased.

“Bakugo-” you started, not really knowing what to say as his feelings took you by surprise. You could have never in your wildest dreams imagined that he felt the same way that you did. The hard, unyielding, “doesn’t need anyone” hero, Mr. Ground Zero, wanted her? Maybe even loved her?

“You don’t have to say anything. Please. We’ve both been drinking. I can take the couch, you can have my bed, or if that makes you uncomfortable....”

“Bakugo-” you interrupted. He seemed like he might be spiraling. You’d never seen him like this. It was absolutely adorable, and you decided to put the poor man out of his misery.

“Bakugo,” he stopped, letting you finish what you had to say. “I feel the same way. I’ve loved spending time with you and getting to know you better. I want you,” you smiled, your eyes twinkling as you gauged his flustered reaction with adoration.

He made his way to your side of the island, taking your face between his hands, softly holding onto you as if you might break or disappear at any moment. He leaned in to taste your lips, causing you to softly gasp against him. He seized the opportunity to slip his tongue between your open mouth, causing it to slide against your own in a battle for dominance.

Your own hands acted without thinking, reaching out to touch his chest, his broad shoulders forming a solid wall in front of you. Your fingers slipped to touch his bare skin where his shirt was unbuttoned, and he let out a deep groan from within. You could feel his heart battering under your right hand like a drum, and you knew that your own heart matched his, in a combination of nerves and excitement that this was finally happening.

He drew back to look into your eyes, and was met with a look of pure lust as he took in your slightly opened mouth, panting and gasping for air. His hand moved around to the back of your head, tangling in the soft strands of your hair and pulling it undone with a gentle tug.

“I want you. Can I take you to bed?” he urged, his voice taking on a husky tone that caused heat to pool into your underwear.

Quickly nodding in response to his request, he picked you up off of the stool you sat on, his strong arms holding onto you as if you were light as a pillow. Your legs wrapped around his body as your hands continued their journey, making your way down his arms and feeling him up, causing a cocky smirk to grace his handsome face.

He leaned in as he made his way into the bedroom, pressing his lips to your neck to gently suckle the skin there, causing a gasp to tumble from your lips.

“You are so fucking beautiful,” he whispered to you, causing you to redden even more than the actions that the two of you were performing.

He released your body, causing you to land softly on his bed. You were overwhelmed with the smell of him. Knowing that you were in the safe space where he laid every night, and thinking about what you were about to do in said bed, caused a sinful warmth to overtake you body, filling you with need for the man in front of you.

Bakugo crawled on top of you, a knee between your legs and the other resting outside of them, causing a delicious pressure to graze against your heat. He continued to kiss down your neck and across your exposed collarbone.

You untucked his dress shirt from his pants, pushing your fingers up and under to graze his chiseled abs. Fuck. You wanted this man and he was entirely too clothed right now. You pushed his chest, and having not expected it, he fell onto his back with a soft thump against the mattress. You straddled him, making quick work of the buttons on his shirt, revealing his naked torso to you. You leaned down to mimic his earlier actions, leaving a trail of kisses down his neck and chest. You could feel him grow harder underneath you, the thin material of your dress leaving very little in a way of a barrier.

Your body started to act out on its own, softly grinding against him as his erection pressed into your thigh. His hands slid under the bottom of your dress, grazing your entire body with his fingertips as he pulled to soft material over your head, leaving you in nothing but your lingerie.

His eyes drank you in, and the look he gave you caused your core to throb. You unzipped his trousers, palming him through his underwear before you shuffled down the bed to pull his pants from his legs. The massive tent in his underwear caused a thrill of excitement to rush through you, a fresh wave of wetness joining your already damp underwear.

You crawled back up his body and you started to kneel, intending to remove the last barrier between you and his naked body, until his hand moved up, grazing against your inner thigh to softly cup your wet panties. He gently rubbed against you, causing a needy moan to escape your lips as he leaned in to whisper in your ear. “I’ve let you take control for long enough, baby.”

He shoved his knee back between your thighs, flipping you over with ease as he leaned down to kiss your breasts, covered in the thin lace of your bra. Your nipples pushed against the fabric, and his lips gently bit down on them, locating them with ease, causing you to let out a long moan. His fingertips teased their way into the side of your panties, finally touching your bare sex and momentarily grazing where you wanted him the most.

He lifted his fingers back up to his lips, tasting your sweetness as he closed his eyes to savor the flavor. As he reopened his eyes again to look at you, he looked almost as if he were a man possessed. Driven by love and lust, he ripped your bra and panties off as if they were made of paper.

He made his way between your thighs, nipping and biting the soft skin along the way, before taking a long slow lick across your entire slit. He kissed the skin there as if he were kissing your mouth, making love to your pussy and letting you know just how long he had wanted to do this to you. He slid his tongue in and out of you, drinking down your essence as it spilled from your body. He moved his mouth up to gently suckle your clit, swirling circles around it and flicking back and forth with gentle pressure.

He leaned up to insert a finger into you, feeling as your body clamped around the digit. He massaged you from inside, adding another finger to prime your needy body for his cock.

He leaned over you again, coming face to face with you as his fingers continued their actions, kissing your lips as his hard member grazed against your lower belly. You threw your head back as your climax suddenly took over your body, causing a fresh wave of wetness to coat his fingers. You couldn’t wait to feel him inside of you.

He looked into your eyes again, asking for final permission, which you answered by grasping your hand around his firmness. You pumped him a few times, lining him up with the center of your body. He leaned down, pushing into you as you leaned your head back with a long moan. He groaned as he pushed himself all the way into you, feeling as your body clenched around him, still recovering from your recent orgasm. He nuzzled against the side of your face, kissing your lips and neck as he began began to move.

It was like his body was made for you. You were so deliciously filled, and as he began to pick up the pace, he held his hands under your hips to grip your ass, your body meeting his thrust for thrust. Your whole body was shaking in pleasure, and he felt himself rabidly losing control. He released one side of your body to reach the front of your body, massaging your clit as he continued to thrust into you, causing another orgasm to crash over you, your body squeezing him as he groaned out in pleasure.

“I’m gonna cum,” he grunted out, his movements getting sloppier as he chased his own release.

“Cum, Katsuki. Cum in me.”

His name leaving your lips with such sweet, sinful desire pushed him over the edge. He pushed one final thrust into you before he emptied himself inside you.

He leaned over the side of your body, remaining inside you as you each caught your breath. He rolled over onto his back, wrapping his arms around you to carry you with him, your head laying on his chest. You couldn’t contain the emotions that you felt for this man.

“I love you, Katsuki,” you whispered, thinking back to that day in the lunch room, and about just how wrong you were. “You’re not unloveable, you are my beloved, and you mean so much to me.”

He couldn’t help the tears in his eyes at your words as he leaned up to kiss the top of your head to utter his response. “I love you, too.”

________________________________________

After the two of you had had a chance to catch your breath, you took a shower together, taking turns under the stream of water to wash each others backs and sneak little touches here and there, gradually getting each other worked up all over again. You stepped out of the shower, drying off with a towel and dressing yourself in one of Bakugo’s shirts, which was more like a dress on you.

You made your way over to the bed, snuggling into his side as he reached around, cheekily grabbing a handful of flesh. You looked up at him from under your eyelashes, softly touching his cheek as you engaged your quirk, slowing down time as the two of you consumed each other.

“No need to rush, Katsuki. We only have forever.”

[doc-pickles]

livin’ for the hope of it all

Fun Fact: This is probably my favorite track from folklore (betty is a close second and they’re actually connected in the same storyline) so I created an AU College Sweethearts Jolex storyline just for this. I also needed to change things up because my fics for this week were feeling repetitive, but the good news is that I actually love the storyline and this piece!

(And while we’re at it, shout out to @odd-birds-and-booksellers for beta reading this and helping me clean this up for y’all. ILY and you’re the BEST!)

Also oops I slated this as angst and that just absolutely did not happen. It’s pretty fluffy but uh warning the ending is not happy… at all… So sorry about that.  So without further ado, the folklore fic that stole my whole entire heart!

But I can see us lost in the memory

August slipped away into a moment in time

'Cause it was never mine

And I can see us twisted in bedsheets

August sipped away like a bottle of wine

'Cause you were never mine

“Alrighty boys, can I get anything else for you?”

“Yeah how about your number, sweet cheeks.”

Jo rolled her eyes, used to the degrading remarks she would often get as a waitress in the greasy diner. The table of young boys didn’t bother her, they were a dime a dozen working in a college town and it was a sure bet that one of them would say something stupid or degrading to Jo.

Ignoring the comments and laughs from the table, Jo began to walk away but didn’t get very far. The boy closest to the edge had tugged her arm hard enough that she went flying backwards, landing in his lap as one hand came up to hold Jo in place against him. 

“Aw come on baby, don’t you want this,” the boy was speaking directly into Jo’s ear, a clear attempt at seducing her that was failing miserably. She tried desperately to squirm out of his grasp, but he only held her tighter. “I can show you a good time.”

“Hey dick wad, it doesn’t take a genius to realize that the lady doesn’t wanna talk to you,” a gruff voice sounded above Jo, the speaker holding his hand out to help Jo up. She took it with a grateful smile and stood, wiping off her apron while he continued to stare down the table of now terrified boys. “And don’t forget to tip generously.”

Jo watched in amazement as the man went back to his spot at the counter, eyes trained on the newspaper before him. She rounded the diner once more before walking behind the counter to stand in front of the mystery man, refilling his coffee as she eyed him. 

“Thanks for doing that. Those losers can’t take a hint sometimes,” Jo offered her hand to the stranger, a small smile on her face. “I’m Jo, by the way. I’ve never seen you around here before.”

“Alex,” the man shook Jo’s hand, a crooked grin appearing on his stoic face. “I just finished med school last month, I finally have time to eat breakfast and enjoy a Thursday morning.”

Jo’s response was cut off by her boss yelling at her, her hand coming up to wave to Alex before she bolted to the other end of the diner. Her eyes flicked back to him once or twice, always finding him staring back already. The small action left Jo with a near constant blush on her cheeks. 

By the time Jo makes it back around, Alex is gone. His empty coffee cup sits on top of a $20, which she grabs with a grin. A corner of the newspaper rests on top of the bill, neat block printing across it that makes Jo’s cheeks flame once again. 

‘If you get sick of stupid frat boys, give me a call.’

+

“I hate to say it, but you might be better at darts than me,” Alex let out a chuckle and grabbed his beer, taking a long swig from it as he turned back to Jo. “You have nothing better to do than practice your aim?”

After her shift at the diner, Jo had sat in her car and hesitated all of thirty minutes before calling Alex and asking him to meet up with her at the bar down the street from her apartment. Nerves flying all around her, Jo had finally made it down to Red’s Bar and Grill, meeting Alex with a wide grin and the first round of beers on her tab. 

“Mmm I practice between classes and work,” Jo rolled her eyes, throwing another dart and hitting just outside of the bullseye. “I’m about to start my last year of school at UI. Architecture degree, the boring stuff.”

“Hey hey, I don’t judge,” Alex shrugged, eyes glinting with amusement. “I’m sure that doodling buildings is just as thrilling as cutting people open.”

Jo let out a laugh, her eyes roaming appreciatively over Alex for the first time. He wore jeans and a t-shirt that hugged his arms and torso, the dark blue bringing out the flecks of gold in his eyes. The low lighting in the bar didn’t help Jo as she tried to concentrate on anything besides the way Alex looked at her, cheeks flushing as she imagined his hands running over her body. 

“Oh you should see me in class, I’m the only woman in my major so,” Jo blindly threw her final dart at the board, relying on Alex’s shocked expression to tell her that she had hit close to her mark. “Had to find something to beat the boys at, keep their egos at bay.”

Satisfied with the dark look that came over Alex, Jo swigged her beer and took a step towards him, her fingers trailing over the collar of his shirt. She’d held back through the three rounds of beers and the pizza they’d shared, but she couldn’t keep her hands off of him any longer. 

“I don’t wanna be too forward but,” Alex finished his beer with one gulp, one hand moving to rest on Jo’s hip. “You wanna get out of here?” 

“I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life,” Jo breathes out, pulling Alex down to kiss her chastely before letting go and walking towards the exit. “Come on, Doctor Handsome. Let’s go.”

+

Two weeks after their first date, Jo is scrambling during the morning rush to touch each of her tables and makes sure they’re all taken care of. It’s just her and her boss Nancy working this morning, so she’s really busting her ass to make sure that she makes good tips. A hand reaches out, swiping her arm delicately and makes Jo sigh in relief. She was so used to the gentle brush against her arm that it felt like second nature at this point.

“Hey you,” Alex’s voice is soft, something that Jo can barely hear above the rush of the crowded restaurant. “Long morning?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe, Katie called out sick so there’s only two of us,” Jo groans as she reaches for the coffee pot to refill Alex’s cup. “I have the next two days off though so I’m just trying to make it through this stupid shift.”

Alex’s hand reaches out and grabs her wrist, holding it for the briefest second before letting her go with a grin. Jo can never seem to control the way her heart beats out of time around the man she just met, but she can’t say she hates the feeling of her heart fluttering nervously. 

“How about we drive to the lake and spend a day or two up there,” Alex shrugs, as if the idea of spending a few days away with Jo is the most natural thing in the world. “Just the two of us. I’ve got some camping gear and a hard top for the pickup. We’ll make a weekend out of it.”

Jo’s eyelashes batted against her cheek, eyes roaming over Alex with a focused stare. They hadn’t labelled whatever it was that they were doing (sleeping together, spending nights stargazing in the back of Alex’s truck, meeting up almost every night to drink cheap wine and order whatever takeout was offering a deal, actually just sleeping together) but spending a few days alone was something entirely different. Spending a few days alone was real. 

“You know what,” Jo laughed, leaning forward to peck Alex’s cheek. “Let’s do it. Let’s get out of this hellish town, god knows we both need it..”

The crooked smile that appears on Alex’s face made Jo’s heart stutter again, the look ingrained in her mind so well that she thought she might be able to paint it from memory. 

+

“I haven’t been up here in years, I didn’t realize how beautiful it was,” Jo stood at the edge of the small cliffside overlooking the water just a few feet down. Alex stood behind her, arms wrapped around her waist and head propped against her shoulder as they both admired the beginnings of the sunset reflecting on the water. “I’m glad we came up here.”

“Me too, I’m glad I get to spend some time with you,” Alex turned Jo around, his hands squeezing her waist as he kissed her gently. “And I’m very sorry about this.”

Before Jo could respond to him, Alex had lifted her off the ground and jumped off the small dirt cliff, plunging them both into the icy water of the lake. When she resurfaced, Alex was already laughing at her shocked expression. 

“You’re gonna pay for that, Karev,” Jo laughed, feet treading water as she swam closer to him. “Oh you’re so gonna pay for that.”

Alex seized the opportunity in front of him, quickly wrapping his arms around Jo and pulling her body flush with his. His lips meet her neck as she tries in vain to squirm away from him, loud peels of laughter escaping Jo as she let herself relax into Alex’s embrace. 

It’s hours later when they’re laying in the back of Alex’s truck, eyes glued to the sky as they lay wrapped up in one another in a pile of blankets and pillows. There’s a discarded wine bottle next to them and the last embers of the fire they’d built are still glowing. It’s peaceful and quiet and Jo doesn’t think she’d ever felt so relaxed in her whole life. 

“The stars look way brighter out here,” Jo noted as she rested her head against Alex’s chest, eyes closing as he ran his fingers through her hair. “I wish I could stay here forever. It’s the perfect spot.”

“Well this truck bed is uncomfortable as hell so I don’t think us living in the woods would be great on your back,” Alex chuckled as Jo’s hand hit his chest with a soft whap. She sat up then, reaching for her overnight bag and digging through it. “What’re you doing?”

“I got you something! It’s not much but,” Jo pulled out an immaculately wrapped box and handed it to Alex with a wide grin. “I figured it might be handy when you become a hot shot doctor.”

Alex cocked an eyebrow at Jo, before unwrapping the box and popping it open. Inside laid a wrist watch, a silver watch face mounted on a thick leather strap. Jo revelled in the crooked grin on Alex’s face as he took it out and handed it to her, silently asking her to latch it onto his wrist.

“It’s vintage, I found it at a thrift store the other day and I couldn’t resist buying it,” Jo gushed as she adjusted the strap against Alex’s wrist. “I read somewhere that most doctors want to keep a watch on because they’re easier to check and more reliable than digital. And it helps with counting seconds an-”

The rest of Jo’s sentence melted away as Alex pressed his lips firmly against hers. Jo couldn’t help the smile that overtook her, a giggle escaping quietly as Alex leaned her back and pressed her into the truck bed.

“Thank you, you’re more than I deserve,” Alex kissed Jo once more before moving his lips to her neck. “Maybe I can show you how much you mean to me.”

“Mmmm that sounds like a fun way to end the night,” Jo giggled as Alex moved his lips further down her body. “A really fun way to end it…” +

Once the thrill of their spontaneous weekend trip wears off, Jo is surprised at how normal her relationship with Alex feels. It’s August now, Alex’s short break between med school and the start of his internship nearing an end. He had applied all over the country, but the county hospital had been the only one to accept him. 

“I didn’t hear back from Hopkins, Mass Gen, Seattle Grace, or UCSF, but they were all long shots anyways,” Alex shrugged, slinging his arm around Jo’s shoulder and bringing her closer to him on the ratty couch in her apartment. The movie they had chosen rattled on in the background, neither of them paying much attention to it. “Besides, staying here means I get to hang out with you all the time.”

Jo leaned into Alex’s embrace, eyes closing as she relished the feeling of his heartbeat pounding steadily in her ears. She’d become so comfortable in spending so much time with Alex that she didn’t know what she would do when he began to work long nights and days at the hospital. Of course, her own classes would begin in two weeks and then who knew where the two would land up. 

“Mmm yeah I don’t think I can let you go even if I tried,” Jo felt Alex’s hand slip into her own, squeezing gently as he kissed her head. “I’m pretty sure I love you.”

Jo didn't register the hitch of Alex’s breathing, she didn't even notice that he was staring at her so intently. She had dozed off in his embrace, head heavy against his chest as he watched her carefully. He only moved when his phone began to vibrate in his pocket, stepping into the other room so he wouldn’t wake her. 

“Hello? This is him. Umm yeah, yeah absolutely. I’m definitely interested. I can be there, I will be there… Three days? Yup. Not a problem. Sorry, I didn’t catch your name. Thanks Doctor Webber, it’s been a pleasure. I’ll see you soon.”

+

“I have to take this stupid Calculus class and I can’t drop it and I already hate it,” Jo groaned as she plopped into the seat next to Alex. It was a Tuesday morning and the diner was near empty, allowing Jo a few minutes to breathe easy. “Honestly, I’m not excited to start classes next week. I’ve been absolutely exhausted the past week and I would rather just sleep until graduation.”

Reaching over, Jo grabbed Alex’s toast and took a bite and then returned it to his plate. She looked at him curiously, watching as he stared deep into his coffee cup and didn’t flinch at her quick action. Alex usually swatted her hand away when she stole his food, or at least said something to her. In fact, she didn’t think he had spoken more than a brief hello to her all morning. 

“Are you okay? You seem off today,” Jo rested her hand on Alex’s shoulder, a pang of relief coursing through her as he leaned into her embrace. “What’s up? You stressed about your internship? Because you’re going to do great.”

“No it’s just,” Alex heaved a sigh and turned to Jo, his normally bright eyes a dull brown. He looked sad, upset almost, but Jo couldn’t tell why. “You know I love you, right?”

A brilliant smile took over Jo’s face, a distinct glow coming about her as she leaned her forehead against Alex’s. 

“Of course I do,” Jo pecked Alex’s lips quickly, one hand coming up to rub his cheek. “I love you too. You’re pretty special, you know that?”

Alex responded with a nod, leaning up and kissing Jo once more. She left the seat next to him after that, checking on her tables and refilling coffees before heading back to him. Alex was shrugging his coat on as she walked up, coffee cup drained and bill paid. 

“Heading out?”

“Yeah I got stuff to do,” Alex pulled Jo in close, lips meeting hers in a kiss that was much more passionate than what he’d normally reserve for the diner. He pulled back and stared into Jo’s eyes, a look of longing filling the dark orbs. “I meant what I said. I love you Jo.”

“I love you too,” Jo whispered back, leaning up and kissing Alex once more before patting his chest and stepping away from him. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning, I’m working a double today. Bye Alex!”

“Goodbye Jo,” Alex stood a moment longer in the doorway of the diner, watching Jo carefully as she flitted around the dining room. He took a deep breath and pushed the door open, stepping out into the cool August breeze. 

+

“Hey pretty girl, where’s your hotshot boyfriend now? Dipped out on you?”

Jo tried as much as she could to tune out the catcalls and insults flowing from the rowdy table of boys behind her. What she would give for Alex to come swooping in to save her like he did that first day they’d met, but she knew that he wouldn’t. She hadn’t seen him in so long, the August weather turning darker and colder as the months shifted to autumn. It was November now and between classes and the diner, Jo barely had a spare moment to think of the man she’d fallen in love with. 

Except that she did. 

Every minute of the day all Jo could think about was Alex and how much she missed him. His phone number had been disconnected, his apartment was cleaned out, and she hadn’t seen his beat up red pickup truck since it was parked outside of the diner the last day she’d seen him. She’d even gone down to the county hospital to look for him, but a nurse had informed her that there wasn’t anyone under his name working there, much to Jo’s dismay. 

She knew she was being stupid, that Alex and her had just had a fleeting summer romance and she needed to let it go. There was not going to be a magical reunion like the beginning of Grease, there would be no singing and there would be no happy ending for Jo. But she couldn’t let Alex go, she didn’t think she would ever be able to.

“You need to calm down, I know there’s a lot going on, but you are not helping me out,” Jo sighed, eyes closing as she took a moment to press a hand to her protruding stomach. “I know you get excited when we’re here but today… I can’t deal with the constant kicking of my bladder little boy.”

You know when you’re already down and out and then something comes along and just knocks you flat on your ass? That’s exactly what Jo was experiencing. After spending two weeks straight crying over Alex and insurance commercials and the grocery store being out of strawberry ice cream, she’d finally realized that her period was late and that she just might be carrying the child of a man who didn’t want to be found by her. Three stupid plastic tests later confirmed just what Jo had thought: Come April of next year, she would be a mom. 

“We’ll get through today and all the days coming,” Jo sighed as she spoke to herself, a few tears slipping out and dragging down her cheeks. “It’ll all be okay, things will change for us.”

[mystic-kitten-writer]

❀Masterlist❀

Copyright © 2019 Mystic-Kitten-Writer, inc. all rights reserved. No reposting, modifying, or translations of any kind are allowed. Thank you for your cooperation.

AN: All stories are available to read on Ao3, Wattpad, and Quotev.

❤ Buy me a coffee? ❤

♡ → Smut [M]   ︳❀ → Fluff   ︳☂ → Angst

✎  →  In-Progress    ︳✓ → Completed

BTS

Disclaimer: The stories written, regarding any of the members, are for entertainment purposes only. These stories are in no way real-life reflections or expectations of them. Please respect and support them ♡

➳ Kim Seokjin

“Flutter;” ♡ ❀ ✎ Short Story [M]

AU: Greek Mythology (Mini-series)

Pairing: Kim Seokjin x Fem. Reader

He wasn’t just in love; he was head over heels, wholly consumed by a burning passion. The way you twirled in the flower fields, giggling innocently as you tugged him along. He loved you, and he knew, that now was the time. “Seokjin…?” You whispered, puzzled by his face of concentration, but he just smiled, brushing his hand against your flushed cheek, “My butterfly – my wings.” 

AN: Part of the Greek mythology AU (3rd installment)

LINKS: Prologue ︳01 ︳02

➳ Min Yoongi

“Orphic;” ♡ ❀ ☂ ✎ Short Story [M] 

AU: Greek Mythology (Mini-series)

Pairing: Min Yoongi x Fem. Reader

Your voice haunted him; eerie, yet beautiful; soft, yet sad. His eyes studied you; the way your lips moved, fingertips drumming. It’s been like this for God knows how long. The both of you, sitting side by side, under the moonlight. And every night, when you returned to Hade’s domain, a part of him yearned. An unexplainable wanting to have you by his side, not only under the moon but the sun as well. You dusted off your dress, the both of you staring at each other, wanting to speak, but too shy to utter the words that were screaming in your minds. Love. ‘A love worth dying for’ – he thought.

AN: Part of the Greek mythology AU (6th installment) 

LINKS: Prologue ︳01 ︳02

➳ Jung Hoseok

“A Taste of Honey;” ♡ ❀ ✓ Short Story [M]

AU: Greek Mythology (Mini-series)

Pairing: Jung Hoseok x Fem. Reader

The Greek Goddess, Aphrodite, wanted nothing more than her favourite honey-nymph to experience the power of love. So after pulling a few strings, the Goddess promises Demi-God, Jung Hoseok, an offer he can’t refuse; “sweeter than sweet.” he purred into your ear, your cheeks flushed watching the way he licked his fingers with delight, “Oh little bumblebee, you’re going to be my breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the rest of my life.”

AN: Part of the Greek mythology AU (1st installment)

LINKS: Prologue ︳01 

➳ Kim Namjoon

“Teach Me;” ♡ ✓ Short Story [M]

AU: Greek Mythology (Mini-series)

Pairing: Kim Namjoon x Fem. Reader

You were everything Namjoon sought after; sexy and intelligent. He watched the way you balanced on your tippy toes, ass sticking out as you placed the dusty books back in their spot one by one. He licked his pouty lips, a grunt leaving him as his hand brushed his growing bulge. He could already see it, the way you squirmed underneath him, your moans. You were stuck up, always acting better than everyone else, but not anymore. He was going to teach you a valuable lesson; you may be the boss of this library but he was the boss of you.

AN: Part of the Greek mythology AU (2nd installment)

LINKS: Prologue ︳01

➳ Park Jimin

“Ménage à Trois;” ♡ ❀ ✎ Short Story [M]

AU: Greek Mythology (Mini-series)

Pairing: Park Jimin x Fem. Reader x Kim Taehyung

Taehyung shoved his slender digits into your mouth, watching the way you sucked with desire. “So eager kitten.” He grunted, his free hand grazing the silky material across your eyes. Jimin chuckled, feeling the way you trembled on his thigh, “You love it when we ruin you, huh, princess?” Taehyung snickered, “Of course she does because she’s ours.” And they were right - you belonged to them just as much as they belonged to you — love. Funny how it works.

AN: Part of the Greek mythology AU  (4th installment)

LINKS: Prologue ︳01 ︳02

➳ Kim Taehyung

“Ménage à Trois;” ♡ ❀ ✎ Short Story [M]

AU: Greek Mythology (Mini-series)

Pairing: Park Jimin x Fem. Reader x Kim Taehyung

Taehyung shoved his slender digits into your mouth, watching the way you sucked with desire. “So eager kitten.” He grunted, his free hand grazing the silky material across your eyes. Jimin chuckled, feeling the way you trembled on his thigh, “You love it when we ruin you, huh, princess?” Taehyung snickered, “Of course she does because she’s ours.” And they were right - you belonged to them just as much as they belonged to you — love. Funny how it works.

AN: Part of the Greek mythology AU (4th installment)

LINKS: Prologue ︳01 ︳02

➳ Jeon Jungkook

“Pearl;” ♡ ❀ ✎ Short Story [M]

AU: Greek Mythology (Mini-series)

Pairing: Jeon Jungkook x Fem. Reader

Jungkook swallowed hard – mesmerized by you. You were unlike any other mermaid. You didn’t sport a vibrant tail, nor were you seeking to woo him like the others. Instead, you sat alone at the cliffside with a melancholy smile as you watched the sunset. “Don’t waste your time on her,” Poseidon muttered into his ear, “They’re far more splendid mermaids to bed – and she isn’t one of them.” But Jungkook shook his head. Your silver tail, dark locks – you were different. And Jungkook found himself speaking, “Good thing she isn’t worth your time, means you won’t miss her when I make her mine.”

AN: Part of the Greek mythology AU (5th installment)

LINKS: Prologue ︳01

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Disclaimer: I do not own any Avatar characters besides any original characters I have created.

AN: Any stories that include ‘Limerence’ in the AU means that the story connects/refers to Limerence.

➳ Zuko

“Limerence;” ♡ ❀ ☂ ✎ Long Story [M]

AU: Adult-Verse (ATLA Post-Canon)

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang)

Limerence: (n) the state of being infatuated with another person. The moment their eyes locked they knew - the flames within him twisted while the water within her turned. It was a connection, a connection that would lead to love, adventure, and drama.

AN: For clean version view Wattpad or Quotev. German translation available via Wattpad (has obtained permission to translate).

LINKS: Prologue ︳01 ︳02 ︳03 ︳04 ︳05 ︳06 ︳07 ︳08 ︳09 ︳10 ︳11 ︳12 ︳13 ︳14 ︳15 ︳16 ︳17 ︳18 ︳19 ︳20 ︳21 ︳22 [M] ︳23 ︳24 ︳Bonus pt.1 [M] ︳25 ︳26 ︳27 ︳28 ½ ︳28 2/2 ︳29 ︳30 [M] ︳31 ︳Bonus pt. 2 [M] ︳32 ︳33 ︳34 ︳35 [M] ︳36 ︳ Bonus pt. 3 [M] ︳37 ︳38 ︳39 ︳40 ︳41 ︳∞

“Public Bedding Ceremony Teasers:” snippets [M] 01

“Breakup” (Request); ☂ ✓ Short Story

AU: Limerence

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang)

LINKS: 01

“Ruined Orgasms”; ♡ ✓ Short Story

AU: Limerence

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang)

LINKS: 01

“Everyone Wants to Work Here” (Request); ♡ ✓ Drabble

AU: Limerence

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang)

LINKS: 01

“Middle of a Meeting” (Request); ♡ ✓ Drabble

AU: Limerence

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang)

LINKS: 01

“Tea”; ❀ ✓ Drabble

AU: Limerence

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang)

LINKS: 01

“Fulfilling” (Request); ❀ ✓ Short Story

AU: Limerence

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang)

LINKS: 01

“Blood of a Virgin” (Request); ♡ ✓ Short Story

AU: Limerence, Vampire AU

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang)

LINKS: 01

“Royal Concubine” (Request); ☂ ✓ Short Story

AU: Limerence, Royal Concubine AU

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang) & Zuko x Mai

LINKS: 01

“The Cookie” (Request); ❀ Short Story

AU: Limerence, Modern AU

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang)

LINKS: 01 ︳02

“1950′s” (Request); ❀ Short Story

AU: Limerence, 1950′s AU

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang)

LINKS: 01 ︳02

“Sexual Torture” (Request); ♡ ✓ Drabble [M]

AU: Limerence

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang) x m. guard

LINKS: 01

“Quarantine” (Request); ❀ ✓ Drabble

AU: Limerence, Modern AU

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang)

LINKS: 01

“Perfect” (Request); ❀ ✓ Drabble

AU: LOK, Limerence AU

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang)

LINKS: 01

“Cookie Dough;” ❀ ✓ Short Story

AU: Limerence

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang)

LINKS: 01

“Vampire King” (Request); ❀ ✓ Drabble

AU: Limerence, Vampire AU

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang)

LINKS: 01

“CEO Zuko” (Request); ♡ ✓ Drabble [M]

AU: Limerence, Modern AU

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang)

LINKS: 01

“Yue’s Heat” & “Zuko’s Rut” & “Mate” (Request); ♡ Drabble [M]

AU: Limerence, A/B/O AU

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang)

LINKS: 01 ︳02 ︳03

“Sweater Weather” (Request); ❀ ♡ ✓ Drabble [M]

AU: Limerence

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang)

LINKS: 01

“Drunk Yue” (Request); ❀ ✓ Drabble

AU: Limerence

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang)

LINKS: 01

“Beauty Mark” (Request); ❀ ✓ Drabble

AU: Limerence

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang)

LINKS: 01

“Old-Age LOK” (Request); ❀ ✓ Drabble

AU: Limerence

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang)

LINKS: 01

“Yue Passing from Old-Age” (Request); ☂ ✓ Drabble

AU: Limerence

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang)

LINKS: 01

“Long, Lush, Hair” (Request); ❀ ✓ Short Story

AU: Limerence

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang)

LINKS: 01

“Pot Brownies” (Request); ❀ ✓ Drabble

AU: Limerence, Modern AU

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang)

LINKS: 01 ︳02

“Caught Jerking” (Request); ♡ ✓ Short Story [M]

AU: Limerence

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang)

LINKS: 01

“Yue’s Birthday Surprise” (Request); ❀ ✓ Drabble

AU: Limerence

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang)

LINKS: 01

“Yue Jealous” (Request); ❀ ✓ Drabble

AU: Limerence

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang)

LINKS: 01

“Food Kink” (Request); ❀ ♡ ✓ Short Story [M]

AU: Limerence

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang)

LINKS: 01

“Zuko & Yue Taking a Bath” (Request); ♡ ✓ Drabble [M]

AU: Limerence

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang)

LINKS: 01

“Jealous” (Request); ♡ ✓ Drabble [M]

AU: Limerence

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang)

LINKS: 01

“Time of the Month” (Request); ❀ ✓Short Story

AU: Limerence

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang)

LINKS: 01

“Izumi Standing” (Request); ❀ ✓ Drabble

AU: Limerence

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang)

LINKS: 01

“Kiyi and Winter Baking” (Request); ❀ ✓ Drabble

AU: Limerence

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang)

LINKS: 01

“Lost in the Gardens” (Request); ❀ ✓ Short Story

AU: Limerence

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang)

LINKS: 01

“Two Birds, One Stone” (Request); ♡ ✓ Short Story [M]

AU: Limerence, Yuko & Azue AU

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang) & Azula x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang)

LINKS: 01 ︳02

“Insecure” (Request); ☂ ✓ Drabble

AU: Limerence, Yuengko AU

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang) x Aang

LINKS: 01

“Caught in the Act” (Request); ♡ ✓ Drabble [M]

AU: Limerence, Yuengko AU

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang) x Aang

LINKS: 01 ︳02 ︳03

“Walking in on Rough Sex” (Request); ♡ ✓ Drabble [M]

AU: Limerence, Yuengko AU

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang) x Aang

LINKS: 01

“Morning Bliss” (Request); ❀ ✓ Short Story

AU: Limerence, Yuengko AU

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang) x Aang

LINKS: 01

“Blowjob Pairs” (Request); ♡ ✓ Short Story [M]

AU: Limerence, Yuengko AU

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang) x Aang

LINKS: 01

“Morning Sex” (Request); ♡ ❀ ✓ Short Story [M]

AU: Limerence, Yuengko AU

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang) x Aang

LINKS: 01

“A Drizzle in the Gardens” (Fanart); ❀ ✓ Drabble

AU: Limerence

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang)

LINKS: 01

“Butterfly” (Fanart); ❀ ✓ Drabble

AU: Limerence

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang)

LINKS: 01

Zuko & Yue After a Break-Up (Request); ☂ ✓ Reaction/Imagine

AU: Limerence

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang)

LINKS: 01

Long-Distance (Request); ❀ ✓ Reaction/Imagine

AU: Limerence

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang)

LINKS: 01

“Threesome” (Request); ♡ ✓ Headcanon [M]

AU: Limerence

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang) x Mai

LINKS: 01

“Curiosity” (Request); ♡ ✓ Headcanon [M]

AU: Limerence

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang) x Suki

LINKS: 01

Yue’s Birthday (Request); ❀ ✓ Imagine/Headcanon

AU: Limerence

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang)

LINKS: 01

Zuko Yandere (Request); ♡ ✓ Headcanon [M]

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. Reader

LINKS: 01

Zuko’s Sexual History (Request); ❀ ♡ ✓ Headcanon [M]

AU: Limerence

LINKS: 01

Kinks (Zuko) (Request); ♡ ✓ Headcanon [M]

AU: Limerence

LINKS: 01 ︳02  ︳03

Positions (Zuko) (Request); ♡ ✓ Headcanon [M]

AU: Limerence

LINKS: 01

Boobs or Ass (Request); ♡ ✓ Headcanon [M]

AU: Limerence

LINKS: 01

ATLA/LOK Timeline (Izumi) (Request); ❀ ✓ Headcanon

AU: Limerence

LINKS: 01

Kinks (Ying Yue Jiang) (Request); ♡ ✓ Headcanon [M]

AU: Limerence

LINKS: 01

PDA (Request); ❀ ✓ Headcanon

AU: Limerence

LINKS: 01

When Zuko Fell in Love (Request); ❀ ✓ Headcanon

AU: Limerence

LINKS: 01

Getting Together After a Break-Up (Request); ☂ ✓ Headcanon

AU: Limerence

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang)

LINKS: 01

Soft Zuko (Request); ❀ ✓ Headcanon

AU: Limerence

LINKS: 01

Birthday (Request); ✓ Headcanon

AU: Limerence

LINKS: 01

➳ Aang

“Too late” (Request); ☂ ✓ Drabble

AU: Limerence, Yuaang & Yuko AU

Pairing: Aang x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang) & Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang).

LINKS: 01

“Insecure” (Request); ☂ ✓ Drabble

AU: Limerence, Yuengko AU

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang) x Aang

LINKS: 01

“First-Kiss” (Request); ❀ ✓ Drabble

AU: Limerence, Yuaang AU

Pairing: Aang x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang)

LINKS: 01

“Stars” (Request); ❀ ✓ Drabble

AU: Limerence, Yuaang AU

Pairing: Aang x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang)

LINKS: 01

“What If?” (Request); ☂ ✓ Drabble

AU: Limerence, Yuaang AU

Pairing: Aang x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang)

LINKS: 01

“Caught in the Act” (Request); ♡ ✓ Drabble [M]

AU: Limerence, Yuengko AU

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang) x Aang

LINKS: 01 ︳02 ︳03

“Morning Bliss” (Request); ❀ ✓ Drabble

AU: Limerence, Yuengko AU

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang) x Aang

LINKS: 01

“Walking in on Rough Sex” (Request); ♡ ✓ Drabble [M]

AU: Limerence, Yuengko AU

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang) x Aang

LINKS: 01

“Doubles Blowjob” (Request); ♡ ✓ Drabble [M]

AU: Limerence, Yuengko AU

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang) x Aang

LINKS: 01

“Morning Sex” (Request); ♡ ❀ ✓ Drabble [M]

AU: Limerence, Yuengko AU

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang) x Aang

LINKS: 01

Kinks (Aang) (Request); ♡ ✓ Headcanon [M]

LINKS: 01

Boobs or Ass (Request); ♡ ✓ Headcanon [M]

AU: Limerence

LINKS: 01

➳ Azula

“Two Birds, One Stone” (Request); ♡ ✓ Drabble [M]

AU: Limerence, Yuko & Azue AU

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang) & Azula x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang).

LINKS: 01 ︳02

“Lil’ Bunny” (Request); ♡ ✓ Drabble [M]

AU: Limerence, Yuko & Azue AU

Pairing: Azula x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang).

LINKS: 01

➳ Sokka

Boobs or Ass (Request); ♡ ✓ Headcanon [M]

AU: Limerence

LINKS: 01

Kink List (Request); ♡ ✓ Headcanon [M]

AU: Limerence

LINKS: 01

➳ Mai

“Threesome” (Request); ♡ ✓ Headcanon [M]

AU: Limerence

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang) x Mai

LINKS: 01

“Royal Concubine” (Request); ☂ ✓ Short Story

AU: Limerence, Royal Concubine AU

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang) & Zuko x Mai

LINKS: 01

➳ Suki

“Curiosity” (Request); ♡ ✓ Headcanon [M]

AU: Limerence

Pairing: Zuko x Fem. OC (Ying Yue Jiang) x Suki

LINKS: 01

➳ Gaang

“Limerence AU’s/Shipping Reaction” (Request); ✓ Drabble/React

AU: Limerence

LINKS: 01 ︳02

Zuko and Yue having a Baby (Request); ❀ ✓ React

AU: Limerence

LINKS: 01 ︳02

The Aftermath of the Lost Bikini Top (Request); ✓ React

AU: Limerence

LINKS: 01

“Fluff” (Request); ❀ ✓ Drabble

AU: Limerence, Lima AU

Pairing: Fem. OC x Fem. OC (Lia x Kima).

LINKS: 01

How the Gaang Views Yue (Request); ❀ ✓ Headcanon

AU: Limerence

LINKS: 01

Adult Heights (Request); ✓ Headcanon

AU: Limerence

LINKS: 01

Ages (Request); ✓ Headcanon

AU: Limerence

LINKS: 01

Limerence Headcanons (Request); ✓ Headcanon

AU: Limerence

LINKS: 01

Avatar: Legend of Korra

Disclaimer: I do not own any Avatar characters besides any original characters I have created.

AN: Any stories that include ‘Limerence’ in the AU means that the story connects/refers to Limerence.

➳ Iroh II

Birthday Surprise (Request); ❀ ✓ Drabble

AU: LOK, Limerence

Pairing: Iroh II x Fem. Reader

LINKS: 01

Boku no Hīrō Akademia/ My Hero Academia

Disclaimer: I do not own any Boku no Hīrō Akademia/My Hero Academia characters besides any original characters I have created.

➳ Dabi (Touya)

“Eden;” ♡ ☂ ✎ Long Story [M]

Pairing: Dabi x Fem. Reader

It seems he managed to wander into a garden, and he was starving for a taste of that forbidden fruit. And now that he got a taste, he was not going to let go. His fingertips were engraved with sin, burning her skin with every touch, chin dripping of her sweet juices. “Fuck.” He grunted under his breath because he knew – this was more than just a quick taste.

AN: Slow updates until Limerence is fully completed.

LINKS: Prologue ︳01 ︳∞

“Snake”; ♡ ✓ Drabble

AU: Snake Hybrid

Pairing: Dabi x Gen. Neutral Reader

LINKS: 01

Shall we Date? - “Obey Me! One Master to Rule Them All”

Disclaimer: I do not own any Shall we Date? - “Obey Me! One Master to Rule Them All” characters besides any original characters I have created.

➳ Lucifer

“Rose;” ♡ ✓ Drabble [M]

Pairing: Lucifer x Fem. Reader

AN: A small Diavolo cameo~.

LINKS: 01 

Writing - Tips/Tricks/Advice

Disclaimer: I am not a professional writer, nor, do I have an education in such background. These is merely tips/tricks/advice that personally help me write my stories.

➳ “How to Write Smut;” ♡ ✓ [M]

LINKS: 01

➳ “Writing Style;” ✓ 

LINKS: 01

[marrella-splendens]

hinchinbrook

it was getting into mid-july, so for a little walk outside valentine only needed to grab a relatively light jacket and gloves. after weeks of seemingly unending clouds, the sky had finally opened up, and seeing as she was off-duty at the moment, nothing was stopping her from spending a few precious moments at her favorite sitting spot. beverly and myrtle were both up at the top of the light, cleaning off the fresnel or something. it was about 7pm, but at this latitude at this time of the year, that still gave them a good two or three hours of leeway before sunset. she'd check in on them later. daisy, however, had been sick with a particularly tenacious cold for the past several days, and she sniffled pathetically from her bed across the room. she turned over on her side, watched through the dark sweaty bangs covering her eyes as valentine prepared to go out.

"you're going out, val," she mumbled blearily. it was phrased like a statement, but something in her intonation was questioning.

"yup," she replied. "s'clear out. I'll draw you a picture of it, if you want. hell, see it yourself if you can get out of bed before the clouds roll back in." daisy just groaned, and rolled back over. barely a minute went by before valentine could hear her snoring again. that was probably for the best.

pulling on her cleanest wool hat, she stepped outside, taking a deep breath of the fresh air. the sun hung low in the southwest. it'd be skirting above the pacific for a little while yet. she fished a pair of bent aviators out of her pocket, and thought about how stylish she looked, at least for a lighthouse keeper. she slowly trudged along the path, making her way to just behind the outbuildings next to the cliff.

while the island was known for having a few rather nice beaches, valentine actually appreciated being able to watch the ocean from up here. it felt safer, and knowing the mercurial nature of these waters, she needed all the comfort she could get. it was bad enough thinking about the earthquakes that had hit, back in the late twenties, that had forced a slight relocation onto sturdier ground. for now, though, everything was calm and quiet and stable. she found her favorite spot, a nice clean tree stump, and pulled out her notepad as she sat down.

from somewhere up and behind her, she heard a dull thump followed by the muffled sound of uproarious laughter. she clicked her tongue disapprovingly, but if bev and myrtle had fucking broken something again, they probably wouldn't be laughing. not this hard, anyway. as long as they were working, and not getting... distracted, again. she shook her head.

the first part of a drawing, at least for valentine, was the ever-important date at the top left corner. she was known for meticulously dating all her notes, regardless of their pertinence to her work, here. it calmed her down, to know when things happened, to have it all sorted out in her head. she mumbled to herself as she scribbled, "july fourteenth, nineteen seventy two." and with that, she was free to get to business.

the vista itself was not always, well, terribly majestic. she was certainly used to it, staring out at the horizon, watching where the ocean met the sky. what was interesting was... yes! there. over the course of a minute or so, she started to see a shape appearing, a vague blob that barely passed for any kind of seafaring vessel at this point. she dutifully sketched it, however, making note of the time, drawing it again and again as it crept more into view. based on its size and apparent heading, it was an oil tanker, slowly lumbering its way up to valdez. like just about all sea traffic, around here.

on more interesting days, the atmosphere might present her with a fata morgana, allowing her to see incoming ships from farther away, as images and inverted images of ships, stacked on top of one another, bent their way around the horizon to her. she liked to watch those, as the shapes tended to waver and adjust rapidly. gave her more things to sketch.

as the tanker moved along and back out of sight, valentine started to sketch all the little clouds that still persisted after the veritable blankets, that had entombed them until today, finally decided to part. she liked the shapes they made, little wisps of icy cirrus, here and there. playful, almost; forming lines and waves and gentle curves as the wind rolled them around, distorting and reforming them. the sun, moving more laterally than anything, continued westward, starting to hide a bit behind the trees, and casting long shadows everywhere.

the chill was starting to set in. nothing at all like winter, but cold always seemed to find its way to you regardless. she rubbed her hands together, stood up and ran in place, and did her best to warm back up. she knew that if she wanted she could go back in, have some coffee. maybe check up on what the girls were doing, or perhaps not doing. but she felt compelled to stay. as if to drive the point home, a large flock of seabirds soared past overhead, and val was already back to her notebook, doing her best to do justice to the beautiful forms that nature was kindly presenting to her. she barely noticed when the light came on, behind her, starting to blink lazily, casting occasional shadows here and there. the sun had finally fled the scene, leaving the sky a deep, almost uniform blue.

somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew her work shift was going to start, soon. with daisy out of commission, the few short nighttime hours would be left to her, and her alone. it was about when she had this thought, thinking about sitting around, checking on things, staying awake all night, that she started to hear something. something hissing, from behind her. immediately her mind raced; what kind of wildlife lived here that could make a noise like that? she knew there were bears around, and wolves. stuff like that. but hissing? it almost sounded like some kind of gas leak, but they didn't even have that out here. she forced herself to turn around.

at first, besides the sound, nothing at all seemed particularly amiss. the lights were on in the main building; she even saw a silhouette in the window for just a moment that looked like bev; nobody else she knew had hair quite like that. she looked around, into the woods. nothing but spruce and hemlock stared back at her. and then she thought to look up.

almost directly above her, an entire constellation appeared to be falling out of the sky. at least, that was her first impression. she sat down on the dirt, incredulous, forcing her hand to continue what it had been dutifully doing for the past couple hours. shaking from cold and a creeping sense of fear, she did her best to render in graphite what her eyes hardly believed they were seeing. suspended above them, hanging in the indigo sky, about a half dozen fireballs burned through the air, in formation. she would have thought they were moving, as they left fiery trails in their wake, wisping off in streams of burning red and orange and green, but none of them even appeared to be moving.

it was difficult to take her eyes off them, even to draw. the hissing noise grew louder, and ever so slightly, the fireballs began to move, circling almost, seeming to burn away in some nonexistent wind. she found she could barely move, or open her mouth to speak. her eyes wide, she wanted to scream, to call for help, to at least call somebody to witness this with her, but she only felt her eyes well up with tears. they left trails of biting cold down her cheeks, in the slight breeze, but she could not move her hand to wipe them away. the image of the fireballs burned into her, leaving ghostly trails on her retinas. the noise was unbearable, so loud she thought the ground would crumble away underneath her, that the cliffside would finally fail and she'd be dragged down with everything into the maw of the pacific.

the fireballs were close now. if they had been made of fire, she surely would have felt some heat off of them; they were about level with the top of the lighthouse now. surely the ladies inside could see this, or at least hear it! but if they did, they did not come running outside, to check on her. the sound was absolutely unbearable.

suddenly, without any apparent prompting, one fireball broke from the group, approaching her. surely now her diaphragm would produce a scream, but all she heard was her own voice, croaking in her throat. she was holding on her her pencil so hard she thought it would crack. she looked, stared up into the fireball, as it filled her vision, and for a moment, she thought she saw something staring back.

when she woke up, it was dark. the stars were out, glowing beautifully; jupiter hung right over the horizon, bright enough to leave a faint trail of reflection on the water, which seemed relatively calm. there was no noise, no more hissing, not even the slightest breeze. and she was sitting on her stump again. hadn't she gotten up? she wasn't sure. it took a few more moments to notice a presence next to her. "hey val, you alright?" asked the vague blob in her peripheral. myrtle, based on her voice. kinda raspy.

valentine turned her head, as if submerged in tacky glue. "uhhh..." she began to answer. she realized, though, that she didn't know what to say. wasn't sure if she had just been dreaming. "you didn't happen to, um." she felt stupid. they'd laugh at her for this, no doubt. "there were, uh. some shooting stars. did you see those?"

myrtle just chuckled, and patted her on the shoulder. "I was inside, remember? cmon val, you're cold as ice, and we need some relief. let's get some coffee in you, alright?" valentine didn't resist as she was led back along the path, back indoors. she couldn't really complain; she had almost started to forget what warmth felt like. once her fingers stopped burning, she carefully pulled her notebook out of her pocket, flipped it to the latest entry.

a half dozen very shaky fireballs.

she closed it and tucked it back into her pocket. she had work to do. daisy, from her bed in the corner, laughed to herself, and managed to pull her body up into a sort of halfway sitting position. it looked uncomfortable, but daisy didn't seem to mind at all. in fact, if you had asked her, valentine would have said she seemed completely healthy again, if it weren't for the ugly crust of dried snot around her nose and at the corners of her mouth. she looked right at her. right into her eyes. and seemed, almost, as if she was about to speak, but instead only winked, and climbed back underneath the blankets.

two days later, she died, without having said another word. they buried her near the edge of the woods. bev even liberated a decently sized gravestone from near the cliffs, careful not to fall down herself. they did what they could for her. when valentine was due to return home again, later that summer, she knew she wouldn't be coming back. she'd find another line of work. something less remote. only a couple years later, the lighthouse was automated, making their jobs obsolete anyway.

valentine didn't even hear about the lighthouse again until 1981. she had been chatting up some members of a tanker crew, in a little dive bar in anchorage. the windows were drafty as all fuck, and they huddled together near a space heater, telling stories about life on the sea. the guy next to her, matthew, brightened up when she mentioned cape hinchinbrook. "ya worked there, huh? ya don't say. useful light, yaknow." she chuckled to himself, and his companion, and older guy named chuck, just grunted.

"don't even start about that nonsense, matt. we can hear it coming a mile away," he said, looking like he might spit at the thought.

matthew brushed it off. "cmon, it's a good one. now, val, it's really funny, not long after you left, we were passin' there, as we used to do, and it was gettin' kinda late in the evening,"

"christ," groaned chuck, as he got up to get another beer. "fuckin' sick of this shit. call me back over when you've got somethin' original to spout off about."

"anyway!" matthew laughed, "it was... I think it was seventy three. we go past and, at first I think it's just a star, right? a bright star. but it's moving! circling around the lighthouse, like it fuckin owned the place! almost looked like, I dunno." he started to look discouraged. "like somethin' on fire, I guess. anyway, they say it's 'uninspired' or some shit. but I swear to you."

valentine took a drink. "just the one, you say?"

honestly, matthew just looked relieved to not be laughed at. "yeah," he said. "just the one."

[slothgiirl]

Shadowplay part 9

When you land, the sun's still out and bright. Just the way you imagine California to be. There's a small building hope of beaches and ice cream right out of the airport. 

Of course, you hadn't accounted for customs. And another round of security checks. And then having to wait around for a checked bag. It's been nine hours and neither you or Alex are willing to make much in the way of conversation. Trading an exhausted smile as he nabs the suitcases off the baggage carousel. 

You are tired. Legs all cramped up. Water has never sounded better. That's definitely why you let Alex intertwine his fingers against yours, holding your hand as he gets hold of an uber. You don't even protest the cost of an uber. Just add that to the perks of agreeing to this whole charade. 

Stretching out in the car as you sit in traffic, you can't help but snipe, "can't believe I came all this way for this lovely view. So worth it."

Alex laughs, rubbing the bridge of his noes before his gaze settles on you. Has heat making its way up your cheeks. "Let's just set these bags down and grab a car love," he says, a plotting gleam in his eyes as he smiles at you, "Can't let your first night in LA go to waste."

"Alex," you instantly start, "I was only joking," though you doubt he isn't aware. Or that any protest of yours will stop him now that he's got a plan. "You could buy my love with a good coffee right now." You rub the sleep from your eyes.  

"Coffee and a view," he promises. 

"Do you even have a car in LA?" He didn't in London. But then the old city was a terrible place to drive in. The tiny roads. The sheer amount of people. The tub was the way to go. 

Nothing like the vast  Californian highway. 

He grins, "and a motorcycle."

"Of course you do." You shouldn't be so surprised. You can't get enough of the sea as you drive up into the hills. The ocean as blue as the trees are green. The streets are more empty and soon enough you pull up on the side of a hill. It's by far not the largest house you've driven by. 

They're all over the place. Some trying hard for the Versailles aesthetic, while others wouldn't look out of place on a minimalist instagram. 

No. Alex's house is very him. The exterior resembles an English country house. A proper one not the ones poshos call houses but are really mansions. There's the american touches that make it much too neat to be charming. Larger than his home in england but then again it is the states. 

Alex unlocks the door, dragging the suitcases in by himself despite your attempts to help. 

"Can I," you ask him, gesturing at the blinds. 

"Make yourself at home," Alex responds easily, already kicking his boots off.  

You open the blinds, letting the light in. You try and take things in. The kitchen isn't as sparse as the one in london. But then again, he'd lived here with Arielle. So probably her influence. But that's where it ends. 

The movie posters, ranging from Jean Luc Goddard to Raging Bull and landing on Tarantino, hanging on the walls are all him. Alex has selected enough movies to watch on your couch for you to know as much. you had never let him forget how boring you found Jean Luc Goddard and Stanley Kubrick. 

A vintage record player sits by the TV. The couch a deep navy suede, and as rectangular as modernism allowed. It was hard to picture Arielle having met her. 

He'd either gotten rid of any touches she'd left behind in the past eight months. Or there had never been any. It must be hard to have broken a relationship off and before the years was up, your ex is getting married. 

There isn't even a thing layer of dust though he hasn't been here in months which means he hires someone to clean his home. A detail you're not surprised Alex, as meticulous as he is, didn't overlook.

"What do you 'fink," Alex asks, watching you from the hallway having changed into a white dress shirt and a navy blue blazer that was less saville row and more Saint Laurent. Always such a clothes horse. Which would've bothered you if you hadn't been the same. After all, you'd changed into a chloe dress before you'd landed.

"I think nothing beats a classic double breasted blazer," you tease him, sinking down into the couch, letting your words hang in the air as Alex scoffs, affronted. "And I don't think I'm moving from this couch ever again." 

Laying down felt better than sex after a nine hour airplane ride.

"Not even for coffee," he asks, walking over to met you, looking down as you lay in his couch, amusement clear in his wide eyes. 

"You'll have to bring it. Sorry not sorry at all actually."

Alex laughs, placing his knee by your legs as he hovers over you. From there, it's easy to reach your arms up, curling yours hands over his shoulders as you scoot over. He takes it for the invitation that it is, laying down next to you. 

While the couch is wide, it's not that wide. There's not a part of your body that isn't brushing against Alex. And yeah, never getting up again. 

You close you eyes, falling asleep with ease. Alex being there with you was so normal. So right. You shirt, your hands loosely around his neck. You don't miss when he shifts close to you, deliberately  Just as confused about the thinning boundaries between you both.Where did the lie end and begin. 

Alex rests his cheek against your hair. And you relax into his chest. It's too easy. 

And you can't. 

You can't confuse yourself more than you already are. Is he just this comfortable in your friendship? Or is it more? 

With a great reluctance, you sit up, pulling away from him. Your heart deflating as you do. "So about that coffee," you wiggle your brows. 

Alex smiles softly, looking up at you from hooded eyes, all the pomade in his hair keeping it intact through an airplane flight and laying down and all the times he goes to run his hand through it. "You only ever want me for me coffee."

You try and fail to keep a straight face as you utter, "I'm like a sugar baby but with coffee. A coffee baby." Alex drives a Pontiac down the LA streets. It fits the aesthetic he's carefully cultivated. Not that you stop from teasing him as all the modern cars lap him. "Oi," he complains, "leave me car alone and drink your coffee!"

"Never," you laugh, watching the city go by. You had no clue where you were headed, but were enjoying the ride. Drinking in the sunset as the city lights came on. Skyscrapers sit surrounded by highways. Dozens of cars flood the lanes, but no where near as slow as they had been earlier. 

You roll the window down. 

Alex skirts by the city, turning the volume up on an Zeppelin album. You would have guessed he'd head into the city. But the man was a hopeless. He loved nothing more than to do something lowkey and unexpected. It was often far more comfortable. From going with you to lunch in the park or finding a tiny out of the way pub out from the city center. 

"I love listening to lemon song while I work," you comment, cracking your knuckles. This was the longest you'd gone since high school without hand sewing. 

"No crooked stitches?"

"Never. I'm too pro for that son." I say using my best american accent. Which hello, you so were. Alexander McQueen himself got his start on Saville Row. Not just anyone worked there. 

Alex turns, looking over at you, with a laugh. Streetlights casting a halo over his features.  

"Eyes on the road Turner."

"I can do two things at once."

You roll your eyes. "Wear your sunglasses too while you're at it." 

"If you insist love," he grins, reaching for the pair tucked into the sun visor. You giggle, shaking your head. You sip at your cup of coffee, smiling as you do. This was all so easy. But- 

Taking a deep breathe you resolve to enjoy your time in Los Angeles together. To enjoy your trip up to Northern California without over thinking things. Especially right now that you two were alone. 

You'd already played the part with his other two friends. It had been easy once you got started. And it was Alex. 

You could-you are going to talk about this with him once you go back to London. Get your feelings out of the way and make sure Alex is on the same page. It's the tension you were getting tired of. 

Alex takes you out of your thoughts as he reaches over and takes your hand in his. 

You squeeze his hand right back, meeting his smile with one of your own. The drive up the side of a hill is dark. But it's worth it as you pull up to a building at the top. You recognize it vaguely from movies. Slate white with a manicured lawn and a view of the city. It's quiet this late. But not completely abandoned, and yeah that makes sense. Observatories seem like a nigh time activity.

You'd expect nothing less of Alex. 

"Well you delivered," you grin,jumping out the car as soon as it's parked and stretching your arms above you before tossing the empty coffee cup into the nearest trash. The building draws the eye. Who knows how much cleaned has to be done to keep it pristine. 

"Did you doubt me love," Alex asks, following behind you as you walk towards the overlook, excitement running through your veins. Or maybe it was just the coffee kicking in. 

You shrug, faking nonchalance before Alex catches up besides you on the path. His hair looks especially shinny in the light like an oil spill in water. You tell him as much. "-I do appreciate the commitment though," you admit. Even at night, the California air, though cool, was pleasant even clothed in a summer dress. 

"Leave me hair alone," Alex utters, looking at the ground bashfully. His back rested against the stone wall separating your from the cliffside. The city was breath taking. All the glittering lights like stars. And things were always prettier from far away as Monet had proven. 

"You're right," you smirk, as you take in the enormity of the city, "it's too easy. Got to challenge myself." Lights filled your eyes and it was your first night in London all over again. Nothing charmed the more wistful part of your heart than a new city. 

The highways filled with cars as usual. The hollywood sign looking as tiny as your pinky. The promise of tomorrow filling the night. 

You lean forward, hands gripping the stone tightly as you sigh contentedly. All the tension ran out of your limbs. This had been the right choice despite the mess Sam was convinced you were getting yourself into. Not that she'd tell you not to: too invested in the drama of it all.  

You glance over at Alex, about to make a witty remark about his deep romantic streak. The soul of a cheesy lover who would prefer About Time and 27 dresses above Kubrick if he just let himself. If he stopped trying so hard to be the artist the magazines claimed him to be. 

But he isn't looking at the city. 

Alex is drinking in the sight of you. Eyes brimming with emotion: the very same thoughts he could never translate into words, that had him turn to writing in order to make sense of himself. 

Your breath hitches and suddenly Los Angeles seems incredibly distant and unimportant as you turn with your entire being towards him. The fluttering in your pulse absent as you meet his dreamy gaze head on. There's a assured core of emotions in your heart that keeps your heart beating evenly. 

Its with resonant understanding that you look at this man who was all the more attractive for you knowing him. 

Knowing that he took his shoes off inside without prompt. Who always argued over who'd pay the check out of his own sense of companionship and not a misguided attempt at gender norms. Who folded the blankets back up in the morning as you rushed to work in the morning. 

It filled you up inside. 

Alex takes a deep breathe in, taking a step into you. Your breath mingling with his. 

His hand reaching up to cup your cheek. Grip solidifying as you acquiesce, relaxing into his hold. 

No matter what happens later on. You want him in your life. As a friend. As a lover. You cannot imagine losing this connection. A rarity you'd come to realize in adulthood. A resonance you'd developed with Sam since childhood. That you lacked with so many of your adulthood friends. 

Alex. 

Alex fucking Turner. 

He rests his forehead against yours, closing his eyes.

Letting out a sigh.