#ofc i have to wait until phase 2 but at least there is light at the end of the tunnel!!

[the-travelling-witch]

I HAVE BEEN HEARD!!!!

please be furina please be furina please be furina please be furina please be furina please be furina please be furina please be furina please be furina please be furina please be furina please be furina please be furina please be furina please be furina

[generational-atrophy]

OMG! I WAS LOOKING THROUGH UR BLOG CUZ MY HETALIA PHASE IS BACK AND WAS LIKE "I LOVE THIS WRITER SM WHERE ARE THEY" AND BOOM!

So request, if that's okay, the main 8 with a reader who cries during confrontations and or arguments. An imagine where ofc the main 8 says something hurtful and reader just covers their ears because 1.) Ears do be sensitive and 2.) It causes them to shut down completely

Can we know how they'd handle it plus how it'd go? Ty 💜

hetalia main 8 saying something they regret in an argument

2.8k words ~ gender neutral headcanons

tw: they say hurtful things, and are kind of assholes in general lol

America - Alfred F. Jones

“I’m better than this. Why’d I keep someone as seriously uncool as you around?!”

Even as you immediately begin turning away from him, curling into yourself for comfort, Alfred would be less than sympathetic. If you’d ever doubted how self-centred he could be, this was more than enough evidence to prove it.

“What? What- just- don’t do that! You’re the one who started this!”

It’s unlikely he’d let up even after the tears start. He’s really that callous when he feels hurt. After a few tense minutes of silence broken only by your quiet whimpering, he’d start tearing up too. Not from guilt, seeing how much he hurt you. But instead from how he’s only now realizing he has to put his own feelings aside to take care of yours.

He’d approach you like a rabid animal, a lump stuck in his throat as he tries to say anything to get you talking again.

“Listen, it’s uh- not that serious. I’m sorry, ok? Let’s just… like- do something else?”

His comforting consists mostly of trying to get you out of your own head. Once it’s been long enough that you’re less scared, he’d take your hands away from your ears gently and kiss your cheek. If you’re sensitive to other things, he’d wrap his jacket around your shoulders and turn off the lights until you’re up and talking again.

“See? Not that hard, just like I said. Good job, babe…  let’s just keep going like this, yeah?”

Somewhere, past all of the self-absorption and pride, he does have a heart. And that heart will immediately take you out to get ice cream. It’d take him a while to admit fault (and I mean real responsibility, not just his usual “sorry not sorry, move on,” schtick,) but maybe once your tear stains have dried, he’d realize what an ass he’d been.

England - Arthur Kirkland

“G*d, you’re pissing me off already! Just- fuck- get out of here if you hate us so much!”

Like usual. He’s desperate to just leave as soon as there’s conflict. It may be annoying, but at least he’s only doing it because he knows how awful he is when frustrated. 

If you don’t take up his offer to abandon the conversation, he will. You’d have to be seriously struggling to keep him with you in that moment.

“Trust me, everything will be much, much worse if I stay…”

He’s always acting like that. It’s like his conscience disappears when he speaks, but only returns when he’s already said the hurtful thing. Never taking responsibility, always panicking and leaving just as your tears start to fall.

But, the more you tell him how much that hurts, the more he might be willing to stay.

It’ll take him a while to be able to choke out a cowardly “sorry,” but at least he’ll stop trying to push you away at every occasion.

“Wait- don’t cry so much love, I’m- I… I didn’t mean it. Ok? Is that better?”

It’s impossible for him to keep arguing once you’re truly upset. Instead, he’ll take you by the hand to the kitchen so he can start making tea for the two of you. In that silence, he encourages you to speak whatever awful thoughts you’re repeating to yourself. He’s just trying to get you in a comfortable environment again at that point.

Quiet affirmations are the only things he’ll bring, looking at you sympathetically and still holding your hand tight while you talk about whatever you want to. Whether that be something completely random, insults towards him, or actual constructive discussion is up to you.

At the end of the night, he’ll apologize. Not well, mind you, but enough to dissuade you from whatever hurt you earlier. All that matters to him is that you don’t go to bed upset.

“I’ll do better next time… or- I mean- I’ll do my best to… not be like that… again. Promise.”

France - Francois Bonnefoy

“But is it that impossible for you to put in some effort? It’s just… embarrassing to be with you right now!”

He’s always been a fighter for sport. When he argues with you, it’s not to prove a point. It’s probably not about anything he actually cares about either. He honestly just does it for fun. To him, arguing is how you really get to know someone.

So when you take his words to heart and, in the worst case, start crying, he just really doesn’t know what to do.

“Merde, darling, you know I wasn’t being serious! Come on now, don’t take it so personally…”

He may grumble about how he didn’t want you to get so upset, but at least he’ll still calm down and quit pushing you. Whatever tension there was before will dissipate as soon as he sighs, making his way over to you and wrapping you in his embrace. Unless that makes you even more uncomfortable, in which case he’ll just grab your favourite blanket and gently drape it over your shoulders.

“I am so sorry I made you so upset, I really didn’t mean it. You’re wonderful to me, always so stunning!”

For as long as you need him to, he’ll apologize over and over again, playing with your hair and wiping away your tears as delicately as he can manage. He may be just as upset as you are when he realizes what he did, but he’s shockingly good at compartmentalizing that when you need support.

But, if you focus too much on how he hurt you, he might start crying too. He can’t help it. Ignore him.

Either way, he’s there to hold you and validate you in whatever you might be feeling at that moment. Be as irrational as you need to be,  he understands the urge well. And either way, he’ll just nod along to anything you say and insist it’s everyone else's fault. Including his, unlike basically every other man.

“How can you expect to survive when you hold all of this in? Please, always come to me even with small things, we share everything as lovers, yes? I cannot bear to see you as upset as this…”

China - Yao Wang

“Can’t you act your age? How do you expect anyone to put up with you like this?!”

As soon he says it, he knows that was an awful thing to say. He doesn’t need you to tell him, he can tell just by your expression that it was too far. You didn’t deserve that, he told himself.

But that doesn’t mean his ego is gonna let him give in so easily. Even if he was an ass, he still can’t let himself give up “authority” in a fight.

“Agh- that’s not… its not what I mean to say, alright?! So just… pretend I did not….”

If you quit fighting, instead becoming more upset, he’ll really struggle to calm down instead. Like, yes, he knows he should be trying to make you feel better, but that’s- he just doesn’t want to! He entered this fight with a purpose, and just because you’re crying doesn’t make that purpose any less important!

“Why won’t you argue back?! Aiyah, I knew you were childish but-”

Then he cuts himself off. Does he want to be the bigger person and apologize? No. But will he do it if you stop crying? Yes.

He’ll rest a hand on your arm and suggest in the gentlest voice possible that the two of you should go for a walk. Maybe the fresh air will help both of you clear your heads. He doesn’t know what must’ve happened to him to make him say all of those things either.

“I don’t think those thoughts, tiánxīn. I’m sorry I said it, I was upset but… I still should have known better.”

For as quickly as he’s willing to take responsibility, he’s not as much good at the “getting you out of breakdown” stage. Hopefully, you’ve already communicated with him about that so he knows to stop being so loud and trying to touch you. He’ll do whatever you request of him, but what’s best for you in that moment is probably not his first instinct.

“I’m sorry I was being such a huge ass. I love you, I promise.”

Russia - Ivan Braginsky

“You think you are special? I can beat sense into you just like I can them!”

Good luck getting him to understand that you can’t just threaten people within the next few hours. It will not work. When he’s angry, he really doesn’t care about feelings. Just about getting you to cooperate with whatever he says.

He may usually think of both of you as equals, but when you start seriously challenging his authority while he’s in a bad mood, it’s impossible for him to not be cruel. It’s always just better to leave than let him spiral and hurt both of you in the process

Although, he (obviously) would never actually put his hands on you. He just acts like a big baby and’ll stomp his feet and tell you whatever will get the most reaction out of you.

“Любимый, won’t you come out? I’m very sorry, I promise… can’t we just talk?”

But if you do remove yourself from the situation, he would never chase after you and force you to keep being in that awful environment. He knows better than that at least.

The moment you turn away and refuse to engage with his childishness, he’s already planning how to get you to forgive him. For as callous as it seems, your disapproval hurts him more than anything else. He would come to you on his knees, snivelling and pleading,  if that was what he had to do just for you to look at him again

The moment you let him in though, he just rushes over and captures you in his arms. He would dry your tears as gently as he could, treating you like you were made of glass.

“Куколка, куколка, you know I never mean any of that, right? I’m sorry, sorry, please- please, forgive me? If I kiss it better, will you forgive me, любимый?”

He’s so pathetic. Ask anything of him in this state and he’ll do it without hesitation. Unless it’s staying away physically. He’ll be quiet and let you ignore him but don’t try to push him away or he’ll get whiney. If you stress that it isn’t personal enough, maybe he’ll let it go though.

North Italy - Feliciano Vargas

“Why aren’t I good enough? You always abandon me, like-  like I’m nothing! Why do you hate me!?”

The moment either of you pick a fight, he’s already sobbing. Sure, he can argue with his brother for hours, but you matter to him in a much more vulnerable way. If you’re at all upset with him, he instantly feels like you don’t like him any more.

But when he feels attacked, he attacks just as much. In his subconscious, it’s always easier to push you away than have you abandon him yourself. That doesn’t result in very productive conversations, though.

“You’re just pretending you love me! You’re a liar, I- I know it!”

When you start crying along with him from all the awful things he’s said, two things can happen.

One, he cries harder, interpreting your hurt feelings as being an admittance to what he accused you of. Why would you be crying if it wasn’t from guilt, and why’d he say that when he so dreaded it being true?!

Or two, you’ll tell him about how truly terrible it feels to have him think those things about you, and he’ll snap out of it. His overwhelming emotions make him incredibly selfish at the moment, so he truly hadn’t considered how you felt from all of that.

Then he immediately lowers his voice, giving you plenty of space until you feel up to talking again. 

“Oh… I’m sorry! I didn’t- you wouldn’t do that! I know that, you know that, so just- I’m sorry! Please, forgive me, amore mio dolce!”

He pulls you into a hug immediately, keeping the two of you as close as physically possible as he whispers promise after promise of his love. Until your tears dry, he won’t stop strangling you with unabashed affection, doing anything he can just to get you smiling again.

The feeling of guilt is not something he’s used to. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that he’ll start crying again too.

“If I ever make you feel bad again, please shut me up, please! I can’t take the thought of you so hurt by my words!”

Germany - Ludwig Beilschmidt

“My word should be more than enough for you to shut up already!”

It’s exceedingly rare that he ever loses his temper around you like that. Normally, you’re the one thing that can always calm him down. Just looking at your face makes his chest fill with butterflies, drowning out whatever dark thoughts he’s having.

So, needless to say, he immediately regrets snapping at you. Immediately.

“Wait, no- no, I didn’t mean to say that. I didn’t mean to. It’s not true, just- just stupid, I’m sorry, liebling…”

Whatever you two were arguing about is instantly forgotten as he rushes over to you and takes your face in his hands. It just breaks his heart to see you hurt, much more at his own actions. You don’t have to worry about him taking responsibility, he would never try to dodge the guilt of making you cry.

It’s not the first time he’s lost control, and he knows it’s his fault. But maybe if he takes you in his arms gently enough, rocking you back and forth as you cry into his shoulder, it’ll make it a little easier for you.

But if you just need a silent moment to yourself, that’s perfectly fine too. He’s autistic, so he certainly understands the feeling and will happily provide you with whatever comforting items you request.

“I’m sorry… you didn’t deserve what I said. I love you, please tell me you know that…”

Even if you pretend you weren’t that upset by it, Ludwig wouldn’t let it go like that. If he gets to his breaking point like that, whatever fight you were having is put aside for the night. Now all that matters to him is that the two of you make up and get back into how things were before as soon as possible.

Expect him to be beating himself up for a while though. He just wants you to know how sorry he is, how much he regrets snapping at you, even if it does seem a bit excessive. But he’s just had too many people he cared about leave to not make a whole thing out of it.

Japan - Kiku Honda

“Don’t you have any sense of personal space? You are like- choking me with all of… you! I can’t stand it!”

He’s a logical man. That’s one thing he always tells himself. Never, not even when he’s emotional, does he say things he doesn’t mean. Was the way he said it less than perfect? Yes, of course, he can’t believe he had just acted so impolitely, especially to someone who he cares so much for. But he still… meant what he said.

But, for the first time, as he watches your face break slowly, he’s not so sure of himself. Whether he meant it or not seems suddenly so inconsequential compared to the thought of hurting you. He… upset you? That wasn’t supposed to happen.

“Ah- why are you crying? What is wrong? You… you- it will be… alright, you know? You are ok!”

Wait- no, don’t cry more from that! He has absolutely no idea how to comfort you, but if he really has to, he’ll do his best. Although it’s a little difficult for him to resist drawing your hands away from your ears, he’ll do his best to just let you have your process (no matter what that means for you.)

Before you can even hear him coming closer, you’re suddenly drawn into an intimate hug. His hand drawing your head underneath his and kissing the crown of your head so lovingly, it's almost like another person possessed him as he turns so soft just at the sight of your tears

Would his pride usually reject this? Yes, but, it’s certainly not the first time he’s had to put that aside for you.

He’ll sputter generic apologies, purposefully hiding his grimace as he forces himself to forget about whatever you two were arguing about before. Well, at least for now. Most likely he’ll bring it up not long after, but in a much more… non-confrontational way.

“Let us go do something else instead, hm? You’ll only get more upset like this, and I want that as little as you want it.”

On one hand, he’s a little annoyed he had to put aside his own gripes to calm you down. But on the other hand, he hates conflict. Anything that gets you guys back to normal is worth it, especially if otherwise you’ll be crying in his arms. That’s his absolute nightmare.

[serowotonin]

𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐨𝐞 | k.k.

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ a serowotonin christmas special ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

✲︎— you and kenma have had feelings for each other for far too long without doing anything about it. kuroo, with the help of some mistletoe, finally decides to step in and hurry things along...

⊰ pairing ⊱ kozume kenma x gn!reader

⊰ genre ⊱ fluff, crack(?)

⊰ word count ⊱ 1.2k

⊰ type ⊱ hcs + scenario

⊰ tags & warnings ⊱ pining, mistletoe, matchmaker!kuroo, unedited, no caps:D

author’s note. its almost 3AM. i still don’t feel sleepy but my bren ded

you’ve had a crush on kenma for the longest time

and, unbeknownst to you, so has he

ofc you two never seemed to realize this cuz… thats just the way you were??

kuroo knew tho,, bout kenma’s crush and had an inkling that you may like him back

he also almost “accidentally” let it slip a few times in front you

kenma always did smth to either shut him up or divert your attention elsewhere so you wouldn’t hear what kuroo was saying

poor kuroo he just wants to be that helpful senpai and see his two cute kohais get together

after a few too many “slip-ups” around you though, kenma made kuroo swear not to breathe a word of his crush to you

and kuroo reluctantly obliged,,,, but this boi still had a few things up his sleeve 😼😼

christmas time came and, as usual, everyone was abuzz with holiday fever and stress for the upcoming exams:,(

now during exam time, kuroo would often invite kenma to his house to study (even tho they’re in different grades) and this year was no different

except,,,,,, for some reason that some reason being kuroo you were also there??

kuroo and kenma were just sitting there talking about you when, coincidentally, the bell rang and they opened the door to you

“ah glad you could make it y/n ~” kuroo said in a playful tone upon your entrance

kenma knew he was up to something and few moments later, he was proven right

“actually now that you’re here, i got an errand i need to run. you two enjoy studying i’ll be back real quick;3”

you & kenma: “wAIT WHAT?!??” *internally panics at the thought of being alone with each other*

you: “sooo...👉👈”

kenma: “....👉👈”

let’s just say the two of you actually managed to do some a lot of studying cuz you two felt too shy to do anything else 

when kuroo came back, he couldn’t say he wasn’t surprised. he knew kenna would’ve been too shy to initiate anything but he figured you might’ve at least had the confidence to say smth

but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ guess you two were more similar than he thought

that just brought him to phase 2 of his grand plan to get you two together

which was to be carried out at the christmas party after exams...

exams were finally over and you felt like a weight had been lifted off your heart. of course, even though the weight of exams were lifted, the weight of… other things, still anchored your heart. as you combed a hand through your hair, you tried your best to ignore those anchors. they weren’t something you were brave enough to do anything about anyway.  

one last look in the mirror and you deemed yourself good enough to leave the house. you weren’t wearing anything fancy or special for the night’s event; just a simple holiday sweater and classic blue jeans. you grabbed your things and headed out, texting your friends telling them that you’ll meet them at the station in a few minutes. 

seconds later, you felt your phone vibrate and pulled it out.

kenma: y/n, are you going to the christmas party?

you: yep, im on my way to the station rn actually.

kenma: oh ok.

you wondered what he wanted, your brain already coming up with tons of possibilities. you quickly shook them out of your head and texted him back.

you: how bout you? are you coming too??

there was a slight delay in his reply and you had to shut your phone to navigate through the small crowd in front of the station. your friends spotted you first and quickly made their way to you. you all boarded the train and found yourselves a few seats towards the back to sit on. checking your phone for the time, you saw Kenma texted back.

kenma: yeah i have no choice. kuro’s making me go TT

you: lol poor you. im sure it’ll be fine tho 

kenma: mmm he’s probably going to ditch me once we get there

you: i’ll stay with you if he ditches you then hahahha

he didn’t reply for a few seconds and internally you were lowkey panicking. as the train came to a halt, your phone lit up again with a message.

kenma: i’ll be glad if you did (:

you started grinning to yourself but before you could type a reply, the train doors opened and you had to pocket your phone to navigate through the crowd leaving and entering the cabin. 

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ . ⊹ . ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

the gym was brightly-lit with streamers of all colors, sizes, and fluffiness adorning the walls. a standard-sized christmas tree stood in one corner with a large number of what you presumed to be placebo presents arranged neatly around it.

your eyes scanned the groups of students until finally landing on a lone boy with hair that seemed to shimmer under the christmas lights. to most others, he seemed quiet and reserved. he wasn’t easily approachable, to everyone else at least. 

you walked over and easily struck a conversation. to you, kenma wasn’t someone someone hard to approach or talk to. he was kenma afterall. what was hard, however, was trying to hide your blush every time he smiled at you, trying to keep a neutral face whenever he said your name, and most importantly, making sure your crush on him was not in any way obvious to him.

oblivious to you, he was trying hard to do just the same. and oblivious to the both of you, kuroo had already completed preparations for ‘phase 2 of getting kenma and y/n together’. 

dont give the man too much credit, “preparations” is just a fancy way of saying he found some mistletoe

lucky for kuroo, you two were exactly where he wanted you to be —standing face to face in a quiet corner of the beautifully decorated gym. 

like a large cat sneaking up on it’s prey, kuroo silently made his way towards the two of you.

“hEY ! y/n, kenma,” he said nodding to each of you respectively. “enjoying the party?”

before either of you could answer, kuroo continued talking.

“oH would you look at that.. it seems you two have been caught under some mistletoe~”

he waved his hand holding the mistletoe just above your heads as the both of you started blushing furiously. 

“cmon, you two know what you have to do~ :3” 

you couldn’t think straight. one moment everything was fine with you and kenma, and the next, some big bloke pops up out of nowhere ruining your peace of mind.

nervously, you glanced at kenma. he was staring at the ground with visibly red cheeks. kuroo kept poking him while he attempted to swat kuroo away. of course that didn't work, but it did make you swoon a bit because damn if kenma wasnt really cute right now…

taking a deep breath, you thought to yourself ‘why the heck not?’. before you had the chance to properly think, you took two steps forward and gave kenma a quick peck on the cheek. 

“oh come on y/n,,, you can do better than that~” kuroo teased. 

not even attempting to hide your blush or embarrassment anymore, you looked at kenma and saw he, too, was as red as his volleyball uniform. what struck most was the way he looked back at you. his eyes seemed to mirror yours perfectly. both searching the others for something to just push you off the edge and admit to each other how you felt. 

it seems you two found it as you both leaned in for another kiss, a proper one. 

— ✲︎

author’s note btw remember how kuroo had an “errand he needed to run”. yes that errand was coming to give yours truly some cuddles;3 ditch exam review to sleep-n-cuddle bitch ψ( ` ∇ ´ )ψ

[katherinewilliams221b]

For A Greater Good 14/18

not my gif just the text. Some Things Are Meant To Stay Hidden

Summary: Kate Williams, young healer and member of the Order, joins Durmstrang’s staff at Dumbledore’s request. Her mission? Find a   Death Eater and survive long enough to tell the story. Set in 1996.

Pairing: Charlie Weasley x ofc/mc

Masterlist

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5]

[Part 6] [Part 7] [Part 8] [Part 9] [Part 10]

[Part 11] [Part 12] [Part 13]

-

5 months ago,

“You must stop at once.”

“Where is it, Karkarov?” The former headmaster looked around before returning to the conversation. 

“I don’t think you understand what you’re getting yourself into…”

“You dragged me into this ten years ago! Finish what you started.”

“I had the time to meditate about it, and now I implore you to do the same if you don’t want to end up dead.”

“He is looking for you, you know? And He’ll find you, eventually. You’re nothing but a coward. I bet the British Ministry of Magic would appreciate knowing where you are. It will take just one owl to inform my contact there.”

“Don’t try to pretend you haven’t sent someone to find me. You thought I would be so stupid to hide in the castle?”

“Tell me how to find Grindelwald’s room and you can slither back to your secret spot.”

“What do you expect to find there?”

“Something He might want.”

Karkarov scoffed.  

“What did he promise you? The resurrection stone, it’s not real. You won’t find it there and He doesn’t have it.” 

“They exist!” Agitated, the teacher approached Karkarov. “They exist and they are in that room.”

“You have no idea what you are doing.” Contemplating if he should give away his secret, he decided to put some fear in the teacher’s eyes. “Do you know how I left that abominable place they call Azkaban?”

“I know. You sang like a bird.”

“None of the names were useful to them… but perhaps the new ones will. If you behave, I won’t mention yours.”

The teacher grabbed Karkarov’s arm and exposed his mark.

“You don’t deserve this.”

“And you will never get it.”

Both of them drew out their wands as a warning.

“Who ‘s that?” Asked Karkarov.

The teacher turned and frowned at the image of Flavia Hodges leaving her classroom.

“You told me everyone was at the quidditch match.” Hodges turned and when she saw them, she was left frozen in place.

“Her sight is not her best ability but…”

“Take care of it.”

--

After helping Cassandra and Leron leave the classroom unseen, Kate wandered the corridors of the castle instead of going to prepare the activities for her class the following week.

Nor did she go to see Corentin, knowing that they had a project pending that they could not delay any longer.

She wanted to go home. She had had enough of the whole thing, and the possibility of not being able to return in a near future scared her. How much longer was the nightmare going to last?

A pair of eyes were on her, she sensed it, and tried to appear as unbothered as she could. The attempt at discovering who was watching her through legilimency failed, so she turned around to check her back. There was nothing out of the ordinary, just students coming and going.

As she turned to continue on her way, she came face to face with Kent Jorgensen, who only glanced at her before looking around.

“I’d like to talk to you. Not here. There are too many prying ears.”

Kate knew that Cassandra would tell Jorgensen that someone else knew the secret that they had managed to keep hidden, but she didn’t expect it to be so soon. She followed him to the front door, and they went outside. “A walk?”

“To the greenhouse.” The phrase came out as a command rather than the suggestion she had in mind.

“To the greenhouse, then.”

They walked silently the short way to Kate’s workplace and when she closed the door behind her, Jorgensen finally spoke.

“So you know.”

“Yes.” She put on some gloves to protect herself from the bite of the fanged geraniums and started placing the pots on the central table, side by side, unconsciously creating a barrier between the two. She grabbed a spray and casually started to take care of her plants.

“I think I owe you an apology.” Jorgensen commented, looking around. “You have made a very interesting place out of that old building. Where did you get the umbrella flowers?”

Kate stopped spraying the geraniums and looked him straight in the eye. “Why do you owe me an apology?” Jorgensen lowered his head.

“I misjudged you. I thought you were here for him. When... what are you doing?”

“Yesterday I gave them gumbumbles to eat. If I don’t clean their teeth, the treacle can wilt them.” While Jorgensen was talking Kate had opened a drawer and pulled out some forceps she put in the mouth of one of the geraniums so she could sprinkle a greyish substance inside.

“Leron is not conscious when he is under the influence of the Billywig. When I heard that Flavia had suffered these ‘accidents’ I thought... I was afraid for him.” Jorgensen frowned as he saw Kate put her hand into the geranium’s mouth.

“The tongue must also be cleaned,” she simply said. When she finished with that plant, she left her gadgets on the table. The time for evasion was over.

“I apologise to you too.” Jorgensen looked surprised. “I thought you were behind Flavia’s accidents.”

“And why would you think such a thing?”

“Well... you must admit that you didn’t look innocent when you talked about it.”

The professor put his hands behind his back, “So Rhode really didn’t bring you here to take him away?” Kate shook her head, hoping he would believe her.

“I’ve already told Steiner. Rhode doesn’t know anything, and if she finds out, it won’t be because of me.”

Kate continued her routine, taking care of each of the geraniums while Jorgensen eyed at her.

“He’s always been like that, you know? His wife’s death only made it worse.”

“Steiner told me you don’t want to send him to a hospital.”

“She doesn’t want to. I’ve been flirting with the idea since the day he hit Micael.” He paused, and Kate looked up as she sensed a deep sadness. “He’s my friend though, nobody knows him better than us.”

“I understand what you mean.”

“Losing the people you love is a heavy pain. As if a rock bigger than you were crushing your chest. It’s our responsibility to learn to get rid of the weight that keeps us from moving forward and go on our way with a little bit of dirt in our pockets, to remind us of what we have experienced.”

As Kate put the pots back and cleaned the soil off the table while taking glances at him. Jorgensen was left pensive for a moment and continued to speak, perhaps to himself, in a monologue he wished would help him clear his head.

“Leron took refuge in a familiar place, a dark place where he could neither see nor feel. A decision that is taking its toll on him.”

Kate sat down on one of the benches, the table still keeping the distance between them. Better that way, she thought, despite the situation with Jorgensen had taken quite a turn, she didn’t trust anyone in that school.

“Is there anything else you want to ask me?” He questioned.

“I know he’s meeting someone in the woods.” Jorgensen’s eyebrow shot to his hairline, “With whom?”

“With his supplier, of course. The Billywigs are not native to this area. That man is very elusive. Every day I fly over the forest to find him, but by the time I get down he’s gone. I have never managed to catch Leron with billywigs in his hand because he used to hide them here before entering the castle”.

Kate pondered this new information for a long time. She couldn’t imagine how she would feel if any of her friends were going through a similar situation, and she couldn’t find anything to tell Jorgensen that would help him in the least.

“It must be very difficult,” she finally said. The professor nodded and rolled up his sleeves, revealing some red scratches.

“Cassandra told me you saw one of his light episodes. But if he’s got over three billywigs in him... things get a little twisted.”

“Do you think he will get over it?”

“I’m hoping he will.”

--

“As we have already discussed, obtaining hybrids comprises two phases; we have already made enough crosses and we have a pure line of umbrella flowers. The next step will be to cross them again, this time with fanged geraniums”.

Kate tapped her fingers against her thigh, waiting impatiently for the class to finish. She placed a pot on the greenhouse table, with a seemingly calm geranium.

She gave several instructions on how to treat it, pointing to the teeth and thorns as points to watch for, and let them experiment on their own.

She put her hand to her chest, following the dragon-shaped silhouette of her necklace through the clothes. In a short time it would all be over.

The thought grieved her too. Over the months she had developed a special affection for these children and not only because she feared they would run around in the same hallways with a loose Death Eater, but because she genuinely liked them.

And Corentin. Oh, what would she have done without him these months? He was being of great help in her mission; both investigating and being the only thing that prevented her from collapsing completely.

“After transferring the pollen, don’t forget to cover the geranium pots.” She said almost shouting, so she could be heard among the voices of the children.

When they heard the castle bell, Kate practically pushed them out of the greenhouse, closed the door and shot out to the castle, throwing a  “See you on Friday!” Over her shoulder.

It was the day. The day Corentin and Kate agreed to start the trip to Grindelwald‘s room. Kate was a walking ball of nerves; not only for the excitement of investigating secret parts of a magnificent castle, but she would also be alone and probably in the dark.

“Here you go.” Corentin whispered, handing her the complete map.

The week prior, Kate and Corentin had done their best to find a way through Nerida’s painting. They racked their brains thinking about it until the only solution left was to find another way.

It didn’t take long for them to follow the path that led to the room and discover, to their great surprise and a touch of concern, that the starting point was a well-known place.

The library.

Now all that was needed was to find the how.

Behind the wall guarded by the librarian’s desk, Kate and Corentin were hiding in the dark.

Corentin looked at the stairs that led to the first floor of the tower where section C of the library was located. “It’s impossible for you to go up. The path ends here.”

Kate inspected the opposite wall, noticing nothing out of the ordinary. “Do you think it will have a Muggle mechanism like the painting?”

Corentin hummed, but did not answer the question.

With steady hands, Kate began to probe the stone in search of something; she did not know what, but something.

She gasped when a strange sensation ran through her body. In one corner, the wall had stopped being material to the touch and her fingertips disappeared.

She quickly reached out and looked at Corentin. “I have seen this spell before. There is... there is a door in a tower that cannot be opened. I went through it to go to a teachers’ meeting.”

She tested the wall again, this time inserting her arm up to her elbow, and took it out again, confirming her theory.

“I felt air on the other side.”

“Good luck, then.”

Kate wielded her wand a little harder than usual and with a long sigh after nodding to Corentin, ventured deep into the building.

It was not completely dark. A light could be seen in the distance. She made her way with the light emanating from her wand to the first torch. The path had narrowed in her wake without her noticing, and the space she had to manoeuvre had become limited.

The map had not yet blurred, but she didn’t risk losing it completely, so she approached it delicately towards the fire.

There was at an intersection with two possible directions and she took the one on the right as indicated on the map. The one on the left led to some stairs that went up to the first floor.

The passage became even narrower, forcing her to turn sideways and walk facing the wall. As she moved forward, she heard voices near her. They were not obvious; the sound was lost in the stone, but she could tell that she was just behind the advanced duelling classroom.

A sound of an explosion startled her, and there, pressed against two walls, she held her breath, thinking, irrationally, that the entire structure would collapse, leaving her buried and forgotten forever.

Her rational part of her brain understood that it was just a spell that had bounced off the wall, confirming that Libor Marek was on the other side.

Without wasting any more time, she kept going, as she could, the long way until it widened.

She took a deep breath and stopped.

The map was almost gone, but the last lines indicated that she had to go down the stairs right in front of her. Kate began to descend with little enthusiasm and soon reached the last step. It was on the same level as the castle kitchens.

Her footsteps echoed around her, and she wondered if anyone could hear her.

Suddenly, something else reverberated on the walls of the passage. A metallic, dry and very short sound almost imperceptible were it not for the fact that she was walking very slowly.

She stood still and waited.

She waved her light back and forth, but there was no one with her. As she moved one foot to begin her expedition again, she heard it once more, this time recognising the sound as something she should have avoided.

Behind her, part of the wall began to fall out of place; a seemingly endless stone wall closed off her path, and when she thought she could only go forward, she realised that she had been hopelessly trapped; another wall closed off the passage.

She folded the now-empty map as best she could and kept it up her sleeve so she could approach the wall freely. She cursed when she heard the noise again.

The walls began to move towards her. Kate frantically searched for something to help her escape the fate that awaited her in a few minutes. With her wand between her teeth, she groped the wall that was pushing her back and with wide eyes watched as the second one was getting closer and closer to her back.

She tried to stop them with a repelling spell, but the space was getting smaller and smaller with every second. In desperation she continued to touch the stone that was oppressing her and for a second her hand sank.

As fast as she could, she went through the rock the same way she entered the tunnel system in the library, and appeared on the other side. Several torches lit up part of the way.

Behind her, the two walls met, raising a cloud of dust that made her cough. Now there was no turning back.

She lost track of time as she walked. The corridor was long as it crossed the castle from side to side. Luckily for her, she didn’t need to have her wand lit. With several torches at her disposal, she turned right, where a flight of steps would bring her closer to her goal. When she reached the top, she was left in the dark again.

The feeling was strange. She was not on the main floor, but neither was she in the depths from which she had come.

With a last glance at the paper, she turned left, venturing out on the last stretch of the journey.

The tunnels drawn on the map were disappearing, but Kate had already reached her destination. She stopped at the crossroads and lit up the area with her wand.

To her left was the long awaited gate and to her right, stairs to the first floor that reached a dead end. With the map erased and no torches nearby, she sensed that that was the space where Nerida’s painting was.

With a deep breath to calm herself down, she took the metal mop and pulled, discovering that the door was open. Thinking that the last stretch to her goal had been suspiciously easy, she ventured into the room.

She immediately covered her nose and mouth with her sleeve; decades of dampness and pestilence had accumulated in the room, and the fact that the only point of ventilation was the door she entered would not help the situation.

She felt around the nearest walls and found a candlestick. Waving her wand very delicately so as not to overdo the size of the flames, she pronounced, “Incendio”.

She was startled when all the candles in the room lit up in an electric blue, revealing several disturbing elements.

She took two steps back, closing the door with her back in the process.

Recovering her temper, she approached the first thing that caught her attention: a large glass cylinder that almost reached the ceiling, filled with a green liquid that was most likely stagnant water.

A skeleton of a creature which could perfectly well have been a snake or some type of sea serpent, rested on the bottom surrounded by smaller bones. She wrinkled her nose and looked away to the rest of the room.

Just to the right of the tube was a desk filled with sketches and writings. It was not the only place where there were scrolls, though; the walls were practically wallpapered with drawings and notes. The Deathly Hallows symbol was obsessively drawn all over the place.

At the door, Kate recognised the map of Nerida recreated with several pieces of paper.

She focused on the desk where there were more documents. She frowned at the particularly dark drawings of creatures that were not exactly human, but Kate could not recognise what they were.

On one sheet of paper the word ‘Inferi’ was written.

Above the desk and completely covered by scrolls was a world map, with some pins in certain places. A small piece of paper was written on it: ‘Peverell?’

She surrounded the chair that stood in her way and came to a shelf full of jars; some empty and others with ingredients for potions.

She touched something with her foot and almost jumped up to the ceiling.

A crystal ball rested on a complex system of tubes and wires that she could not identify. With the hit, the ball vibrated for a few moments and Kate held her breath.

Relieved when the ball was finally in place, she bent down to read the label attached to it: ‘Erik Aaberg.’

“No...” She sighed. She had found the place where he had captured the obscurus.

On the ground there were more drawings, this time of several children with detailed descriptions.

In the silence, she heard her own saliva coming down her throat as she imagined how Grindelwald chose his victim.

Beyond the system that once contained an obscurus, she glimpsed the feet of a black lectern she had never seen before.

She conjured up lumos again so she could see better and stood up to read the scroll that rested there.

Curious.

It looked new, and the layer of dust was not as evident as in the other objects. She unrolled it and began to read.

Alecto Carrow

Amycus Carrow

Walden Macnair

Lucius Malfoy

Narcisa Malfoy

Isidora Gonore

Thorfinn Rowle

Antonin Dolohov

Cyprus Raynott

Malina Hadwise

Corban Yaxley

Gaspar Avery

The list stopped there, but the trembling of her jaw did not. She recognised several names: Corban Yaxley had become friends with her grandfather many years ago, after he had dealt with a plague of acromantulas in the mansion where she lived as a child; Lucius Malfoy, a man from the Ministry who would not leave Mr Weasley alone, his son was studying with Charlie’s brother; Cyprus Raynott! Her father’s workmate, and the person who had come to Durmstrang to find Igor Karkarov.

She recognised Dolohov’s name from the newspapers; he was imprisoned in Azkaban for being... a Death Eater.

Would... would it be possible that... all of them...

But she couldn’t warn anyone. Not Mr. Weasley, not her father, not anyone from the Ministry. As safe as the Durmstrang post was, such a letter would be easily intercepted, and even more so if someone was waiting for it. Because that list was unequivocally what the school’s Death Eater wanted to find at all costs.

She could try to communicate via her patronus, but she had refused to learn that spell from Dumbledore, not only because she had only managed to cast her patronus once in her life but because she considered it a dangerous way to send messages.

She read the list again, but none of the teachers appeared on the paper.

An unknown sound left her frozen in place. It wasn’t footsteps or voices, but like a crackling sound around her. No, it was as if someone was writing beside her; it was a sound of a quill on paper.

She instinctively took the scroll to her ear, and the noise became more evident.

She waited for a few seconds and out of nowhere, just below Gaspar Avery, a new name appeared that made her blood run cold.

Severus Snape.

Her breath was laboured, and a heavy sensation pressed against her chest. She looked around frantically, wondering what her next step might be. She did not want to leave the room behind, but she could not stay there long either.

She rolled up the scroll again and tucked it up her sleeve in a hurry. With one last look at Grindelwald’s belongings, she headed for one of the candlesticks to extinguish the flames. As she blew, all the lights went out.

She closed the door behind her and cast some protective incantations to make it at least more difficult to enter. She checked the doorknob twice and slipped through the shadows into the dead-end corridor.

The wall was cold to the touch, there was only stone, but there had to be a way out that did not go through the hapless maze that she had come from. She murmured ‘lumos’ and bent down to look for the mechanism that had opened the painting, but this time she was on the other side of the wall, so she had little hope.

She felt a buzz as she ran her hand along the bottom of the wall which intensified as she reached the third from the right.

Practically lying on the floor, she looked for a way to operate some mechanism that would open the door. By applying a little pressure, she could feel the ‘click’.

She thought she saw the wall light up suddenly, with a blue glow that disappeared in the second, but when she got up the wand had come near her face so she didn’t give it much importance.

Nothing.

What had made that sound?

When she touched the wall again, she thought it had been a fatal mistake: she felt a pull in her stomach and a force that pushed her forward. Her hands went through the wall first and touched something solid again, the painting, which as she continued to be consumed by the castle, opened up as she pushed it.

In less than a couple of seconds Nerida Vulchanova had spat her out of the bowels of her fortress and from the ground, relieved that she had not hit her head, she saw the waves that had been created on the stone as she passed solidify again. The painting closed and Nerida watched her from the heights.

“Thanks... I guess.” She said to the painting.

She crawled a little until she was leaning against the wall and massaged her arm. The hidden object burned against her skin. She had to go to her room immediately and hide it; or take it with her at all times; or say ‘thank you very much’ to Rhode and leave in the first carriage to London.

To her left was an armchair which promised to be much nicer than the floor, and she mustered the courage to get up to it.

Just when she had caught her breath, someone came through the door. The shelves prevented her from seeing who had entered, but she did see the figure standing at a display case.

Effectively putting her own feelings aside, Kate sensed contradictory feelings in the stranger; a deep sadness, helplessness, confidence, arrogance.

She stood up, alerting the intruder. The teacher’s long earrings swayed as she bowed her head.

“Miss Williams, what brings you here?” Yankelevich commented casually. Kate approached the teacher, not to engage in conversation, but to find out what she was looking at so gloomily.

“I like to come here. It’s a quiet place.” She glanced at the display case and read the plaque of the largest trophy there was. Lena Yankelevich.

“My sister. Magnificent seeker.”

Libor Marek came through the door creating a great din, and both witches turned around. Kate took advantage of that to go to the door and say goodbye quickly, without stopping to wonder why there were so many people in that room and with the name of her former potions teacher hammering into her brain.

--

[Part 15]

A/N: you have no idea how hard it was to write this chapter lmao.

Tag List: @am-i-space​ @eldritchscreech​ @cazreadsstuff​ @meteora-fc​ @the-navistar-carol​

[cloveroctobers]

SEBASTIAN “SEB” KATSAROS —

IG bio/info: @/s3bgl00m | 17.4k followers | i hate it here. i hate my username name too. Listen to my podcast wth my mate here...open.Spotify.com/podcast/?!.doomngloom

28 years of age

Born & raised in Liverpool, England...don’t ask if he’s met the Beatles he will completely ignore you if you do

Music shop owner in the heart of town

It’s called, “Kicking Kettles”

loves collecting vinyls, cassette tapes, & cds sorry, what did you expect?

His mother is a children’s illustrator

She’s Ashkenazi Jewish

His father is a graphic designer

And is from Nafplio, Greece

They’ve been separated for about a year now, with seb’s father living in France

His mother was skeptical on dating around while she was in a place of uncertainty in her marriage but with a deep discussion with her husband, then her children, she slowly went forward just to see what was out there & found that she wasn’t sure if she’d be open permanently with other beings

Seb was similar to his mother in many ways...

Has a older sister by 2 years named, Xenia...she’s very bossy, a busy-body, & is very vocal. The opposite of seb

she used to beat up guys just for them to turn around and ask her out on dates, a few of them tried to bully seb but Xenia was not having that ofc

very close to his family, even if things are a little off between mum & dad

I feel like he went through a buzzed hair phase & when he finally made the choice to start growing out his hair, going on 4-5 years now, everyone seemed to approve

Even if they didn’t? It be no matter, sure he’d feel a little awkward if someone he cared about didn’t like it but he was sure they would get over it OR get used to it

The hair only comes out when he’s showering or going to bed

His best friend who’s a barber (and a bit of a douche) tells him he’s got to let his hair breathe more often or he’ll have breakage, seb doesn’t think it’s that serious? He’s not sure how much longer he’ll keep the bun now anyways...

This same friend encouraged him to get a “Pompadour” haircut & seb’s never been so offended before in his life, “I wouldn’t want to look like the rest of you knob-heads.”

Anyways, he takes care of his hair the best way he knows how and it seems to work for him...some slightly expensive haircare products here and there & a trimmer & he’s good to go

When he first started growing his hair out, he felt like he needed to go to the salon to know how to manage it. After awhile he learned how to do it on his own + you save $ that way

uses his hands to talk or holds one hand in the other when having a conversation since he doesn’t know what to do with his hands exactly

He’s a chapstick kinda guy who always loses his before he can finish it (been there)

Absolutely loves Japanese food and eats it almost everyday

Japanese Mayo is the superior condiment, bill can stfu!!

probably watches anime

owns a bunch of vans, beanies, and hoodies

smokes hookah every now & then but isn’t too crazy about it

canon: catlover! I feel like he would have a Sphynx, Abyssinian, Ocicat, or oriental shorthair + was over the moon when his baby had babies !!!

He wanted to keep all 5 of the kittens but knew he probably couldn’t, at least not forever but he was going to wait until they were all at least a few months before he decided to put them up for adoption...which sucks but would ultimately be the best choice, maybe???

tried eyeliner again outside of the villa & finds pencil or pomade is better than the standard liquid liner

likes black nail polish but is slightly embarrassed to be seen out with it, it’s the same thing with the eyeliner...he’s not that confident

the guy is a huge blusher & he despises the fact that his face betrays him 80% of the time

often gets nosebleeds

loves red wine especially if it’s on a rainy day and he’s home to fully enjoy it, he feels like he’s on his grown man shit when he does so

I feel like he’d be a fan of the umbrella academy & thinks it’s way better than stranger things...him & nick have argued over this on doom n gloom!

Five is his favorite

Everything he owns is in either black, red, gray/grey, or green

His main phobia is emetophobia (fear of v*mit) & he won’t share why, that’s just what it is

Introvert!

Canon: he’s not a Aquarius

So wtf r ya? Nick & I would like to know plz

Virgo sun? + Taurus moon? + Pisces rising?

I feel like he’s one of those people that feels the need to bring a backpack with him everywhere and you can imagine it to be black ofc

“Who tf are you Linus? But with a backpack?” His sister often jokes (I do this with my sibs, both of them love carrying backpacks. Me on the other hand? I don’t have time for the shit)

He drives a shitty car from the 90s that’s Engine sounds as if it’s about to blow

but 100% perfers to drive his moped, Atticus around

played football (soccer) growing up to help get rid of his asthma

Cannot sleep with the tv on or any form of light around him, it has to be completely dark & quiet!

He’ll only do so if it’s with Genevieve since you know they’re trying this whole long distance thing out

Are one of those couples that will fall asleep on the phone/cpu together

Genevieve might be the, “no you hang up first” & seb will actually hang up the phone and get into bed lmao

Just for vieve to call back like?!! “I can’t believe you’ve done this!

“Well you said—

“Never mind what I said, sebz!!! It’s extremely rude...”

his last relationship before Genevieve lasted 6-8 months (there was a time when he felt like he was unsure if he was still in a couple with that person, isn’t that a shame?)

his love language is acts of service, he’ll do things for you to ease your worries out of love and not obligation so that you feel valued as his partner & I believe he wants this in return as well

I think he’s a bit of a worry wart too when it comes to certain things even if his exterior might show him trying to hide it

He was super nervous to get his first tattoo on his chest, “if words fail, music speaks” but he found that the slight pain was worth it? And quite nice! then he kept going back monthly and soon enough his arms were completely covered

mum hated it, her baby boy was becoming a man! (It’s not like he’s almost 30 but you know how moms are)

Deff has a collection of silver rings, he’s tried out necklaces but he thinks he looks better with his rings

The slit in his brow came from trying to squeeze thru the broken patio glass door with his sis as if it were some booby trap (not exactly, but a safety hazard forsure!) & a piece of glass fell from above slicing his brow and left him with 4 stitches

Secretly into watching those dating shows before and after experiencing it himself

people he enjoyed seeing on the Telly from previous seasons: jen, jake, talia, erikah, lottie, Noah, Carl, Kassam, Priya, & Hannah

AJ is his best girl friend (besides vieve) they FaceTime quite a bit & chat shit to each other on the daily

Feels like she fits in well with his friend group, which just contains his barber friend — they put up with his banter & give it right back to him but he can also be vulnerable & comfortable with those around him so that’s always a plus

It’s the same with nick, except they share a hobby together, their podcast & that’s what seb wants to keep it as, a hobby, for fun & giggles yet nick is thinking about getting paid for what they do. He thinks it’s a great idea whereas seb doesn’t want this to turn into a career/chore

He’s perfectly happy at kicking kettles

He feels strongly about his stance while nick is on both sides

They’ll figure it out, soon.

How are things outside of the villa & since the boat party? They all have a group chat that they randomly speak up in, in the beginning they would do morning and goodnight texts but that became tedious so they settled for either or. Or simply just checking in to see how each other’s days went with seb secretly being the most curious to everyone’s days

Things are awkward between him and Yasmin, he kinda avoids talking to her tbh & not because he doesn’t want to...its just yeah it’s not the same with him and aj where they can easily move forward, it feels like pulling teeth with Yasmin since they’re some what similar & it seems like she’s waiting on him to take the lead on fixing some imagined issue they have with each other? It’s weird idk

Lives in a cramped studio apartment, it works for him so he doesn’t need any inputs thank you

celeb crushes? Demi lovato, Hwasa, Amanda Seyfried, & Birgundi Angel Baker

as for music? Sleeping with sirens, pierce the veil, teagan & Sara, the pierces, panic!at the disco, all time low, twenty one pilots, x-ambassadors, awolnation, jon bellion— listen when atl dropped? Seb felt like he was reborn okay?! , Japanese breakfast, & great grandpa

Anthem = The Postal Service, “Such great heights”

[ladyreapermc]

Catching Feelings 2/? (Keanu x OFC)

Summary: AU in which Keanu is down on his luck after he comes to Hollywood trying to be an actor. To earn some money, he joins this app for escorts and meets Steph, a rising star who hires him to try to forget her ex. Neither of them are expecting to fall in love and all the problems it brings.

Previous chapters: 1

Author’s notes: Thanks everyone for the comments on the first part. I’m glad you liked. Here’s the second chapter.

Wordcount: 4115

Warnings: prostitution and smut (D/S undertones).

“How was it?” Were the first words Keanu heard when he stepped into the apartment he shared with his friend Scott.

Well calling that place an apartment was actually being charitable since it was basically a tiny little studio in a building that was falling apart in one of the seediest areas of Los Angeles. But it was a roof over his head and all Keanu could afford so there was no point in complaining.

“It was…” he trailed off, setting his helmet and jacket by the door and dropping on the ratty couch beside Scott. It was really all he could say about what happened the night before.

When Keanu sighed up for Mars and Venus, he wasn’t expecting it to be quite like this. Selling his body – and no matter how many times Scott told him that he didn’t really have to have sex with his clients, that was how Keanu saw it – just made him feel dirty, but he was completely broke and there weren’t too many places willing to hire a high school dropout whose only real skills were riding motorcycles, playing bass and acting.

Scratch that. Apparently, he couldn’t even act, because that had been the reason why he came to Los Angeles in the first place. He had done fairly well back in Toronto, appearing in a couple of TV specials and movies. It wasn’t much, but it got him an offer to be in a Disney movie, which to a 21-year-old guy with big dreams had sounded like an amazing offer.

So, Keanu cleared his savings, packed his stuff and moved to Los Angeles expecting to take on Hollywood. When he arrived, he found out the movie deal fell through and he was left with nothing. Fast forward six years and Keanu was still down on his luck. He gave up on acting altogether and just tried to get by, taking any jobs he managed to find. That was how Keanu met Robert and Brett and Dogstar happened.

It was currently one of the high points of his life. They were still on that phase of begging bars and clubs to let them play and barely making anything out of it, but they were good. Maybe they could make it. Keanu just had to hang on for a while longer.

Hence the whole Mars and Venus thing. Scott told him how much he would make in a date and Keanu was shocked. Sure, a subscription was expensive, but if he really could make at least 2k a date, Keanu should able to pay his bills, move into a better apartment, maybe even get a proper place for the band to rehearse and work on their music, maybe even record a demo…

Scott said it was pretty easy. Most of his clients were middle-aged women that just wanted something pretty on her arm to show off to her friends. Or a companion for the night. It was completely up to Keanu if it would turn into sex or not. So, Keanu signed up even if it still made him feel cheap. Not long after that, he got an invitation.

He had been so nervous when he got to her house. The last thing Keanu expected was to meet actress Stephanie Walker, who looked as awkward as he was. He certainly didn’t expect the night to go quite like that. It was fun and light and wonderful, and the sex had been mind-blowing.

In the morning, however, Keanu woke up to the sound of his phone. It was confirmation of payment. His bank account, which only had 2 dollars for the last two weeks had a few more zeros in it.

The sight of it made him Keanu feel ashamed because he really enjoyed Steph’s company. He liked her. It felt almost like a first date, but reality finally sunk in. It wasn't a date and Keanu just became the kind person that slept with people for money.

He sneaked out of her house while Steph was still asleep, embarrassed, disgusted and confused. Keanu expected the ride back would help clear his head, but he was still feeling the same way as he got home.

“Did you charge extra for staying over?” Scott asked, and Keanu’s only reply was a headshake. “Rookie mistake. Always charge extra for spending the night,” Scott instructed. “How much did you make?”

Keanu just handed him his phone, moving to the kitchen to get himself something to eat even if his stomach felt queasy.

“Not bad.” his friend whistled. “Now, here’s what you gonna do: get some of this money and buy yourself a suit. Nothing off the rack either. Something good, that fits you well. You never know when they’ll want to take you to a gala.”

“No, man. I’m done with this,” Keanu replied. “With this money, I can get things going and maybe…” he trailed off with a hopeful sigh.

“Suit yourself.” Scott had a doubtful look on his face but just shrugged, disappearing into his room without another word.

Keanu really thought he was done with Mars and Venus. He stayed away for two weeks, but between paying for the studio so Dogstar could finally record a demo and some idiot backing into his bike and messing up his exhaust, the money he made from his date with Steph was over too quickly. Everything was so damn expensive in LA.

So, he reinstalled the app discovering he had missed several invitations while he was offline. With a knot in his chest, he upped his price from 2k to 3k and waited. Soon enough Keanu had new invitations.

Another week passed before Keanu got another invitation from Steph. He thought he would never hear from her again because she shouldn’t need to pay for company or sex; but there it was, her name flashing on his screen during rehearsal.

Keanu knew he shouldn’t. He had been thinking about her no-stop for the last few weeks, watching her movies like a lovesick boy with a crush. He should stay very far away from Steph.

“Hey Ke! Are you gonna do this or not?” Brett called with an expectant look.

“Yeah. Just a sec,” he replied distractedly as he accepted her invitation.

---

This time, when Keanu arrived in front of Steph’s house and rang the intercom, she immediately had the garage gate open so he could bring his motorcycle inside, which he appreciated. His Norton was his most prized possession along with his bass. And Keanu couldn’t afford to lose it.

He parked it next to her car once again and took off his helmet to look at her, trying to ignore the fluttering on his chest. She had cut her hair. When they first met, her chestnut locks fell to her back, now it hung above her shoulders and it really suited her. It drew even more attention to her big brown eyes, which looked full of hesitation.

“Hi,” he said, getting off his bike and her lips quirked into a small smile.

“Hi. Thanks for coming.”

Once again they stood awkwardly in front of one other, not knowing what to say or do. Keanu cleared his throat and buried his hands in his jacket pockets.

“I didn’t expect to hear from you again,” he admitted, gaze on his boots.

“Yeah… I just…” Steph trailed off with a sigh and Keanu noticed her eyes were reddish and a little puffy like she had been crying.

“One of those days?” Keanu offered, curious but not wanting to pry and she just nodded, leading the way inside.

Right away he noticed the house looked different, the biggest change had been all the photos of Steph and her ex-boyfriend had disappeared from the walls, as well as some of the framed movie posters she had. By the door, he could see a box full of stuff with her name written on the side.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out she probably went through that difficult moment of returning her ex’s stuff and getting her own back. No wonder she had a bad day.

“You like Chinese?” she asked, taking his jacket. “I was gonna order in.”

“Yeah. Love Chinese,” Keanu assured, taking a seat on the couch as she placed the order. After that, she sat down as well and a strange silence hung over them, tense and awkward and Keanu raked his brain for something to say.

“How about we watch something?” Steph suggested and he could hear in her voice she felt just as weird as he did.

“Sure.”

She grabbed the remote, flipping through channels until she froze as a picture of her ex-boyfriend was splashed over the screen.

Action movie hero Kevin Miller is seen again with Victoria’s Secret’s model Gisele Anderson. The couple was spotted leaving one of the most exclusive clubs in LA. It was only a little over a month ago that Miller was dating the Hollywood rising star, Stephanie Walker…

Keanu gently took the remote from her hands and changed the channel. He glanced over at her, noticing her eyes welling up.

“How about some Netflix instead?” he offered, and Steph nodded as he turned on the streaming service and browsed through her selection.

“Wow! You really like procedural dramas and cop thrillers, huh?” Keanu teased trying to nudge her out of her funk. She only gave him a watery smile and a shrug.

“I like to try to figure out who did it.”

“Yeah? Let’s see how good you are,” he said, picking a random movie and pressing play. Steph just snorted, but they settled more comfortably on the couch side by side, their arms brushing every time one of them moved.

As the movie progressed Keanu felt both himself and Steph finally relaxing, the conversation flowing a little easier as they joked and argued about the movie. When their takeout arrived, they spread Steph’s order on the coffee table.

“Did you order for two or twelve?” he teased, looking over the amount of food in front of him and Steph chuckled and shrugged.

“I like to have options,” she said, pilling her plate with a little bit of everything.

Keanu did not expect such a tiny thing like Steph to be able to eat that much; and making the most indecent sounds too.

“Stop looking at me like that!” she said over a mouthful, her eyes crinkling with her amusement. “I spent four months off carbs. I’m making up for the lost time.”

“I can see that. Do you want me to give you the room or something?” he asked with a playful grin. “Because it almost sounds like you’re making love with that noodle!”

Steph snorted a laugh, cheeks turning pink and Keanu grinned. She had a very nice laugh and the most perfect smile. Kevin Miller was a complete idiot for letting her go.

“I don’t sound like that at all,” she replied, sticking her tongue out at him.

“You’re right. It’s much throatier,” Keanu said, sipping his beer and smirking as the flush on her cheeks turned brighter. “And bossy.”

“I’m not bossy!” Steph argued, sounding a little embarrassed. “I just know what I like, and I try to make sure my partner knows too.” She narrowed her eyes at him, her own lips drawing onto a smirk. “If memory serves, you were very much into it.”

“I was,” Keanu said, meeting her gaze. “Still am.”

This time the tension that lingered between them wasn’t awkward, just heavy as they sneaked glances at each other throughout the rest of dinner and movie. Keanu wanted to move closer and touch her; have Steph in her arms, but there was a little voice in his head reminding him that this wasn’t real. She didn’t even know his name.

“Is everything ok?” she asked, and Keanu looked over to see she had a frown of worry. Maybe something had shown on his face.

“Yeah. Just fine,” he lied, combing his fingers through his hair and looking away. “What do you want to do now?”

Steph paused for a moment and Keanu could see she was searching for something to say. He hoped she wanted him to stay.

“I guess we should call it a night,” she said at last and he sighed, schooling his features so his disappointment wouldn’t be too obvious. Keanu put on his jacket and followed Steph to the garage. The awkward silence of unspoken words heaving on them.

“It’s a beautiful bike,” she commented, running her hand over the tank.

“Do you know anything about motorcycles?” he asked perking up at her interest.

“I just know they look awesome.”

“Do you wanna take a ride?” Keanu offered. It was a way to prolong this and for once he had his spare helmet with him.

“Let me grab a jacket and shoes,” she replied, smiling brightly and Keanu felt his heart speeding in his chest. That was all he wanted.

When Steph came back Keanu could see the excited glint in her eyes as he helped her put on the helmet, adjusting the strap under her chin before she climbed behind him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and he could smell her perfume surrounding him as he started the bike and took off.

Keanu didn’t want to scare her, so he kept it under the speed limit as he rode the roads of Hollywood Hills, but as he noticed her delighted laugh every time he took a sharp turn, he dared to put a little more speed, her hands tightening around his waist.

“That was amazing!” Steph exclaimed as they stopped at the shoulder of the road where tourists usually parked to take pictures, but at that time of the night it was completely dark and deserted; the only light sources were the stars and his bike.

She stood there, hair messy from the helmet, cheeks flushed from the ride, with a wide grin watching the city lights in the valley below and Keanu’s breath caught in his throat. Even though he loved to watch that view, all he could do was stare at her.

“Thank you, Charles,” she said, looking up at him.

“Keanu,” he blurted out before he could stop himself.

“What?” she asked with a cute little frown of confusion.

“It’s my name. My real name.”

“Oh,” she paused for a moment before her expression shifted into a smile. “Then thank you, Keanu.”

---

“Where did Charles come from?” Steph asked as they sat across each other in a diner she claimed had the best milkshake in Los Angeles.

“It’s actually my middle name.”

“Keanu Charles,” she said almost as if trying it out. “Sounds good. I don’t think I ever heard that name before. Keanu.”

“It’s Hawaiian,” he explained, swirling his chocolate milkshake. “Means cool breeze over the mountains.”

“That’s really nice,” she smiled around her straw and he had to look away so he wouldn’t think about how her lips had looked wrapped around his cock. “How did you end up with a Hawaiian name?”

Keanu took a deep breath, pushing his drink aside as he launched himself into the story about his father and the rest of the family; how he came to LA and ended doing what he was doing. He didn’t share that with many people, but he wanted to share it with her.

In turn, Steph spoke a little about her own family; how she always showed a talent for dancing and acting from a young age and her mom pushed her into doing all the auditions. She told him how she quitted at thirteen because she wanted to have a normal life. She didn’t come back to it until after college, where she discovered she did really love to perform, but on her own terms.

Once again it felt just like a perfect date and when they finished their shakes, which Keanu made sure to pay for, he brought her back home walking Steph to her door.

“I really enjoyed tonight,” she said with a soft smile as they paused outside.

“Me too.” He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and cupped her cheek before he bent down to kiss her. She tasted like strawberries and it was the best thing in the world.

Steph wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer until their bodies were pressed together as they explored each other’s mouths. Their first time had been all about frantic need. Their kisses were hard and bruising. This time, even if the same hunger and heat lingered, there was a softness to it. Almost affection.

“Do you want to come in?” she asked against his lips. Keanu grinned and nodded, letting go of her only long enough for Steph turn around in his arms. He kept peppering kisses over her neck as she giggled and struggled against the lock.

They were back in each other’s arms as soon as they were inside, kissing and touching and peeling their clothes off on the way to the living room. Keanu paused for a moment to look at her, drinking the sight of her beautiful body and he didn’t think he ever wanted anyone as much as he wanted her.

He took a step towards Steph, but she stopped him with a hand on his chest. Keanu met her gaze in confusion, finding in her eyes a heated look that made his cock throb.

The hand on his chest trailed up almost teasingly until it buried in his hair and she took a handful of it, her grip firm with just a little edge of rough that made him hiss and goosebumps of anticipation rise on his skin.

“Kneel,” she ordered, using her hold on him to push him down and Keanu obeyed, looking up at her through his lashes as Steph smirked. “You look good like this, on your knees for me.”

She rested against the couch’s arm and spread her knees. Keanu almost whimpered as he saw her soaked cunt glistening in the low light of the room. He licked his lips and met Steph’s eyes again.

“You wanna taste me?”

“Yeah,” he breathed out, his voice shaky with need. He was so hard it almost hurt. “Please.”

Her expression turned into a gorgeous sly smirk as she tugged on his hair, bringing him closer until his mouth could reach her and Keanu ran the flat of his tongue over her slit, making Steph moan.

“You don’t come until I do,” she said, rolling her hips against his mouth. “And no fingers this time.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he mumbled against her.

There was a certain thrill of letting her command him like this, tell him exactly what to do and how. It made him hot with want and eager to please her. Make sure Steph was satisfied. He explored her cunt with his tongue and lips, paying attention to every spot that made her breath hitch or dragged a moan out of her.

He sucked on her clit with just the lightest scrape of teeth and Steph rocked her hips and pulled him even closer, grinding against his face. Keanu was having a hard time breathing and his jaw was starting to ache, but he could see the way her thighs were quaking and hear how she was panting; how her hands kept tightening against his scalp. Knowing he could make her feel this good was urging Keanu on, stroking his own desire as he flicked the tip of his tongue against her clit again and Steph groaned.

“Yes! Just like that. I’m so close,” she panted and he kept his rhythm steady, digging his nails on his thighs to keep himself from touching, his dick aching and leaking in need.

Soon he felt the way her entire body tensed, her thighs pressing against the side of his head as she came crying out his name. Keanu lapped hungrily at her juices, he could get addicted to her taste. He only stopped when Steph tugged on his hair again, pulling him away from her.

Keanu looked up, noticing her flushed face, sweat making her hair stick to her cheeks, a lazy, pleased smile tucked on her lips. She looked even more beautiful like this.

“Good?” he asked with a lopsided grin.

“Fucking perfect,” she said, bringing him closer until he was on his feet again and towering over her. “Deserves a reward.” Steph caught his lip into a dirty kiss that almost felt like she was chasing her own taste in his mouth.

At the first touch of her hand on his cock, Keanu moaned hips thrusting forward at their own accord desperate for more but Steph kept her motions slow and gentle, running her thumb over the head spreading the precum over his length.

“Steph, please…” he gasped, feeling her smirk against his mouth.

“Please what?” she asked, pulling back to look at him.

“Let me fuck you,” Keanu wasn’t ashamed to admit he was begging. He just needed to be inside her and he didn’t care what he had to do to get that. “Please, ma’am.”

“Good boy,” she grinned at him, pressing a quick on his lips. “Condom.”

Keanu moved away long enough to find his discarded jacket, reach for his wallet and grab the condom he kept it there. His hands shook as he rolled it on himself and moved back to Steph, waiting for her next command.

She gestured him to come closer, stand between her legs and Keanu obeyed, stroking himself to get some relief. Steph fixed her perch on the arm of the couch, making sure she had enough balance before she hooked her legs around his hips and pulled Keanu closer wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

They both moaned when his cock glided over her slit. Keanu squeezed his eyes shut, resting his forehead against hers, his fingers digging on her hips in the effort of not thrusting into her, not until she said so.

“God, you’re desperate for me, aren’t you?” Steph caressed the side of his face gently.  

“Yeah,” he gasped, his breath mingling with hers. “May I?”

“Yes,” she said, her hand stroking him again, before lining him to her entrance. “Slow.”

Keanu nodded and forced himself to slowly thrust into the delicious tight, wet heat. He knew Steph was doing this to drive both of them crazy and Keanu was close to losing it. Pleasure coursed through his body, making his mind dizzy with want.

Finally, he was all the way in and Steph shifted a bit for a better position sending sparks of pleasure through Keanu, making his hips snap up to meet her and she grinned at him.

“I love how full you make me feel,” she said, meeting his lips for a soft kiss. “Come on, baby. Fuck me.”

He didn’t need to be told twice. Keanu hiked her legs up to his waist and pulled back, almost all the way out before slamming back in, groaning as the movement made heat build on the pit of his stomach, her walls throbbing and fluttering around him.

Steph held onto his shoulders, letting him do all the work since she didn’t really have much leverage to meet his thrusts. Little cries of pleasure spilled from her lips as she leaned her head back, exposing the beautiful column of her neck and Keanu kissed and nipped gently, careful not to mark her smooth skin.

He got lost in sensations. The feel of her around him squeezing his cock almost as if trying to keep him close whenever he pulled back. The wet sound of their bodies meeting mixed with their groans of pleasure. The smell of their sweat together and the taste of her skin. The sight of her blissed-out expression as Keanu fucked her into incoherent pleas of more and faster.

Keanu was so focused on Steph, on making sure she was enjoying herself that his own orgasm took him a bit by surprise. He held her close, burying his face against her neck, grunting and panting and she held him through it, petting his hair.

Once he caught his breath, he met her gaze with a frown.

“You didn’t…” Steph just smiled.

“Takes me a while to come again after the first,” she said, kissing his cheek. “It’s ok, Keanu, I enjoyed it.”

“No, it isn’t,” he said pulling back from her and going on his knees again. Steph just chuckled, brushing his cheek. “I want you to feel good and I’m not gonna stop until you do.”

“Okay,” she replied with a grin. “Get to work then.”

xxx (tbc) xxx

Go to chapter 3

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[boogiewrites]

A Girl Walks Into A Bar 2

Characters: Declan Harp x Bella (OFC)

Word Count: 3600+

Summary: Frontier Modern AU. Declan is a bar owner and local urban legend with a reputation he’d like to leave in the past. Bella is a rough around the edges, low key sweetheart that isn’t from his part of town. After meeting with the help of some bad luck and perhaps a touch of fate, how far will their undeniable chemistry take them until their histories catch up with them?

Warnings/Tags: Language.

Positive feedback is MUCH appreciated! Reblogs, likes, asks and comments feed me to write more! Let me know if you’d like tagged in my work.

Click on my screenname then go to Mobile Masterlist in my bio for my other works and chapters. (Had to do this since Tumblr killed links, sorry.)

You lay in your bed for over an hour looking at your phone. You weren't surprised you were having trouble sleeping, the two of you were very old and close friends at this point. With there being a man you barely knew in your living room, just on the other side of the wall you were staring at, you were even less surprised you couldn't sleep.

So you kick off your covers and move quietly to your door, your feet in thick knee socks, wearing leggings and a pulling a large hoodie over you before you click open your door. You peak your head around the corner of the wall, trying not to be obvious.

He's sound asleep, looking entirely unbothered and you found it comforting in a way. At least he felt safe around you, that was something. What you'd give to be able to fall asleep in a strangers house without reservation. But if you looked like him you'd be scared of less too. It's not like you'd learned to defend yourself and worked out just for the vanity of it, after all. From the intimidating vibe the men outside the bar were giving you, you're guessing that he looked the way he did for many of the same reasons.

You see you haven't woken him and when a small snore and grunt make their appearance your nerves ease as you see he has no intention of doing anything besides sleeping and he's apparently doing well in his endeavors currently. You rest your hip against the doorway, watching him.

The night is biting cold, you can feel it creeping into the house from the window, the heater balancing out the warmth of the room. You can see him in the warm orange glow of the light of it, his relaxed face looks soft, despite the hair that covered it and the scar marking his brow. He looked hard but not menacing, which seems like a very difficult thing to achieve for a man looking the way he did. You wouldn't deny he was handsome, how could you? It was the heat that rose to your face when your eyes first met that made you admit it to yourself. You were working on trying to admit when you found a man attractive, having learned too many lessons the hard way in your youth, you now found it hard to trust men. Well, hard to trust just about anyone. You'd buried yourself in your hobbies which turned into a career, keeping your head low, focusing on yourself and being independent of your past. Perhaps you needed to start working on a new phase of accepting new people into your life. This polite and kind man seemed like a decent place to start. His friendship would even come with a bar, and thus even more new people to meet. You weren't sure if you were ready to make new friends, but a part of you knew that you would never be fully ready and perhaps the universe was intervening, making you walk into that bar yesterday to give you a push in a new direction.

You eventually fall asleep, telling yourself this Declan Harp wasn't going to kill you, he wasn't going to try anything in the middle of the night and you eventually grew tired, meditating to tell yourself it was okay to relax enough to fall asleep. And eventually, you did.

You wake up to your work alarm and you groan, smacking at the phone in annoyance. Work? No. Not today. Not after yesterday, not with this snow. You call Karen and tell you aren't coming in. She doesn't seem surprised in the least. Apparently, the weather was bad where she was too, there'd already been cancellations on appointments today so she wasn't worried, it's not like you missed work often anyway.

You still didn't hey nearly enough sleep, but you were used to functioning at this capacity. At just before nine you creak your door open, peaking out just the same as the night before, but now you could see a lamp was on. He'd already put up the bed, bless him, sitting snuggly on the couch with a blanket over him, scrolling through his phone.

You move into his view, running your fingers through your sleep-tousled hair before stretching and tugging back down your hoodie.

"Mornin' Bells." his voice is deep and gritty and sounds like honey being poured over whiskey stones looks. You let out an involuntary grunt as it hits your ears, clearing your throat to cover your reaction.

"Morning, Dec." you grumble, another yawn coming as you walk slowly into the kitchen. You figure if he can already manipulate your name, that you could do that same to his. He doesn't seem to mind as you can feel him watching you walk by.

He doesn't mind the nickname, but he's actually gotten distracted by how you look this morning. It having been dark in the bar and through the night, and you wearing layers he didn't get a close look at you. But now, sunlight in through the frosty panes he couldn't help but follow your lower half as you stomped sleepily across the room. Seeing a clearly strong thickness in your thighs that rested under an ass of the same description, just peaking out from beneath the bottom of your hoodie. "I didn't keep you waiting too long did I?" you say a little louder, your own voice deep and slow from sleep still.

"Nah." you hear groaned as the couch makes a similar noise as he rises.

"Not been up even thirty minutes. Just checking my phone out of habit." he shrugs, but you don't see it, pushing his phone into his pocket, wearing a tank top that you guessed was under his t-shirt from last night and his jeans.

"Mmmph." you nod in response, hearing him walk into the kitchen. "Want breakfast?" you ask, your eyes half-lidded and blinking slowly.

"After those sandwiches last night I'd be an idiot to say no."

"Mmm." your lips purse as you rest your hands on the counter, leaning against it. "Flattery, huh?" you let out a low rumbling chuckle. "This early?" you quirk your head at him.

"You warned me you'd be mean this morning..." he raises a brow and you know he's being a wonderfully intuitive person, making sure he defused any situation before it even started.

You give him a closed mouth smile. "So you're smart too, huh?" you finally give a laugh, another low rumble from your chest as you move to the fridge.

"My actions would usually speak against that." he grins, looking down at the wooden floor. "But I won't turn down a compliment." his head shakes slightly, his hair moving back and forth over his face as it hangs down.

"Breakfast burrito alright?" you ask, looking at the contents of the fridge and finding yourself not wanting to make anything from scratch.

"Fuck yeah. Sure." his voice is full of amusement and more than a bit of hunger.

You lean into the freezer, picking the pre-made burritos out of their container, all individually wrapped, part of your meal prep you tried to keep up with. "Big boy like you'll eat two I imagine." an amused smile on your lips as you push the buttons on the toaster oven to heat them up. "You make these too?" his voice sounds impressed.

"Yeah, I like to make them ahead of time. Easy to grab before I go work out in the mornings."

"Ah. Makes sense." he gives a thoughtful nod, finally moving from his position of leaning on the doorway to the table. "What's in 'em?" he asks, chin in his hand, watching you move about the kitchen, starting the coffee.

"Uhh...lots of veggies." you nod. "Eggs, goat cheese, bell peppers, mushrooms, spinach, pork sausage, some salsa." you name off things as you back and forth from the counters on opposite sides of the room, one with your coffee, tea and appliances, the other with the stove, toaster oven and sink, the fridge sitting daunting between the two, cabinets on either side of it.

"Sounds almost healthy." he laughs, still low and easy going, rumbling around his chest before escaping from his smiling lips.

"Could be a lot worse." you nod and sit a glass of water in front of him, sitting in the chair closest to him at the round table that took up one half of the kitchen. You look out the double patios doors for a moment, your fenced in backyard covered in deep snow. "I figure...with as much as I drink sometimes, and my tendency to eat really unhealthy greasy junk food late at night, I can try to eat well the rest of the time." you look over to him and shrug, rising when the coffee pot beeps.

"Not a bad approach. I feel like somedays I only work out because I eat so much." he laughs at himself, chin still in his hand as his eyes follow you.

"Can't relate." you laugh with a shake of your head. You make your coffee, setting it on the table. "How ya take it?"

"Fuck it, just black this morning."  you give a stern nod and comply.

"Take your coffee much like yourself." you chuckle to yourself, his brow furrows in amused question at you as you sit down. "Straightforward. Dark. Strong." you let out a laugh, your nose wrinkling as you take a sip.

"What's your's say then?" he asks with a quirked eyebrow.

You hum in thought, looking into your mug. "Bitter base with enough artificial sweetener to make it tolerable." you let out the first shoulder-shaking laugh of the day.

A grin spreads across his face. "I heard artificial sweetener is bad for you, you know." he says with no scolding, still teasing you.

"Alright, mom." you chuckle into your mug. "I'll be sure to add my emotional shortcomings to my list of things to work on. Try for more raw sugar and less aspartame." you smirk.

"Oh shit, I didn't mean it like that." you can see his posture stiffen.

"Don't worry Declan, no offense taken." you shake your head and give him a genuinely warm smile that eases his nerves. "Stick around me long enough you'll start to understand my fucked up sense of humor. I'm always like this." you grin at yourself, standing to get the burritos from the small oven after it dings.

You slide the plate in front of him, just as last night he doesn't hesitate to attack your offering. "So you meal prep...and you said you work out..." he says between bites." Do you do competitions or anything like that?" he asks.

You grin as he makes contented noises as he eats. "Oh, no." you laugh. "I just like lifting weights. I like being strong." you nod, taking a bite yourself now. "You clearly workout, you do competitions?"

He laughs, a mouthful of food before forgetting his manners. "Nah." he shakes his head. "Kind've comes with the tough guy territory," he explains with a slight shrug. "Bar owner, ex-member of a biker gang. People try to start shit with me a lot." he rolls his eyes.

"Makes sense." you add to show you're listening. "Ex biker? I didn't think they let people out of those things?"

"Well these guys did. After all the shit I've done for them, sorry, all the shit I still do for them, " he chuckles, "You tell them you want out, they listen." his eyebrows raise with his explanation. So he certainly seemed to be someone you wouldn't want to fuck with and his words back up this theory. He was becoming more and more intriguing the more he spoke. "I saw the vests and patches on the guys out front that gave me a hard time, I was hoping I wasn't going to walk in and someone tries to make me ride bitch with them." you joke.

"Oh ignore them." he moves his hand dismissively. "They like to act all tough but they won't give you any trouble. Not with me around anyway. One of them so much as insults you, you let me know. I'll set 'em straight." he gives you a friendly wink.

"What if I'd rather set them straight myself?" you grin.

"Well if you think you can take them, go for it babe." he chuckles, "I won't stop ya."

"They behave better when you're around?"

"Yeah. They know I don't want all the violent bullshit in my bar. Not like I can totally avoid it, kind've comes with the territory.  We get too much flack as is with stereotypes. Don't want to attract the wrong kind of people ya know? I don't' want to deal with that bullshit anymore."

"Very smart and professional of you." you say supportively.

"Can I get that in writing? You do reviews?" he laughs, finishing his burritos. Taking down two in the time it took you to eat one.

"The Trading Post. 5 stars. Personal chauffeur service. Personal attention and great fuckin' music. If you love the smell of years of liquor being spilled into old wood floors, you've found your new local." you let out a slight giggle.

He opens his mouth to retaliate against your comments.

"That was all meant to be a compliment." you push your chin into your chest.

"Ah, I see." he nods slowly. "Good thing you came in then, wouldn't want to lose you to one of those gentrified gastro pub's that keep popping up."

"Now my friend Charlotte, that's more her scene," you explain, taking the plates to the sink. "She took me to one once, not my style." you shake your head, "I like dives. I like age and grit and rough around the edges. Dark and rugged...that's more my style."

You turn to face him, he's already standing, stretching and letting out a roar of a groan as he does so. You can't help but notice the line of skin exposed from the raising of his shirt, warm tan skin with a light dusting of hair that you blink rapidly to forget. Don't go getting distracted by a nice body, that's never done anyone a bit of good. Even though this body seemed to have a good brain inside it, you'd wait to hold judgment until you'd known the man at least 24 hours.

You look at the clock on the wall as he smacks his lips and rubs his neck.

"Salt truck should've ran by now. Let's see the verdict, shall we?" you shrug and walk past him to the window in the living room. "Good news!" you lilt, turning quickly to let him know the roads were salted but he's already towering over you, peaking out of the curtains above your head. Jesus, he was tall. You bet he was around a foot taller than you and you can't help but feel physically intimidated standing in his shadow. Who would be stupid enough to mess with this guy?

"House arrest over." he laughs.

"Salt trucks ran, sun's out, you've got four-wheel drive...you should make your break to freedom before another front moves in." you look up at him with big blinking eyes, he meets them with a warm smile, seeming to study your face for a moment before moving to the couch to grab his t-shirt.

"You need a ride anywhere?" he asks, pulling on his boots.

"Thanks but no." you shake your head. "I'm not going anywhere today." you frown but not in a sad way as you move to the front door.

"Well...in case you do..." he says, leaning over the small desk in the hallway by the door, scribbling down something. "There's my number. The buses suck shit in my part of town so don't think you're gonna be bothering me."

"Written down instead of texted. Old fashioned. I like it." you give him an approving nod. You pull your phone from your pocket, entering in the number and texting him your name. He puts on his coat, seeing the numerous locks on your front door, trying not to be obvious as he thought about why'd you have so many. Three deadbolts seemed a bit much but...you were a woman who lived alone.

"I'm not as cool as you so I just texted it to you." you shrug.

He flicks the screen with his thumb. "Bella Fiore." he grins. "So that other half is Italian huh?" That explains the olive complexion and dark hair he thought. He'd known you were half Irish but only the light freckles on your cheeks that he could see now that you weren't wearing makeup, and your green eyes gave any illusion to the heritage.

"Afraid so." you grin.

"Well..." he lowers his head almost as if he were bowing. "Thank you, for letting me stay. For real. And you fed me...twice! So I owe you." he chuckles. He brings you in for an unexpected hug, but you certainly weren't going to fight him. You'd seen him do the same to the girl the night before so you still don't feel like he's being forward with you.

"Just repaying you for dealing with and taking care of my drunk ass last night." you say, noticing that distinctly masculine smell that's unique to every man, his being particularly pleasant to your senses as your fae rests on the soft leather of his coat.

He let's go, an inviting smile on his lips as he looks down at you. "I don't get many people as cool as you coming into the bar so don't be a stranger, alright?"

"And miss out on more of that Ale? Don't be stupid, Declan." you give him the same kinda smile back before unlocking the door and opening it for him. "You be careful!" you say loudly, holding your hand over your eyes to shield it from the white reflecting off the snow-covered street. He waves before getting in his truck to leave and you watch him depart from the living room window.

The house felt oddly empty now. "Oh hello baby." you coo as Robert appears, rubbing against your ankles. "Got distracted feeding someone else and left you out huh?" you baby talk him, scratching under his chin as you carry him to the kitchen. He meows and purrs, not seeming to be angry about it.

So you feed the cat and place the heater back in your room. You sit on the edge of the bed, wondering how to spend your unexpected day off. You figure you'll check in with Charlotte, your oldest and best friend.

"Hello?" you hear the usual weariness in her voice, having just had a baby.

"Hey mama." you try to sound cheerful to offset her exhaustion.

"Hey." you hear her yawn.

"Didn't wake you up did it?"

"Ugh, no. I've not been to sleep."

"Sam being a booger still?"

"He's not stopped since conception." she hums in amusement at herself.

"I had a great night and I thought you might want to hear about it."

"Please. Yes. Let me pretend I'm not covered in spit up and breast milk and that I've showered in the past two days. because I have a life still."

She had been living vicariously through you as of late. It had been the other way around previously. She'd found a banker, a nice enough dude to marry her and those were all things that felt not in the cards for you. Rich guys she tried to set you up with just really didn't seem down with what you were offering, but then again, you weren't really looking to be anyone's wife. You'd agree to a blind date and it'd end amicably but there'd never been any follow-up. Rough around the edges was a polite phrase you'd heard one too many times now to describe yourself.

"Well I went to a new bar, I'll have to take you eventually, it's rustic and strangely endearing."  you pick at the cat hair that's gathered on your hoodie from where you carried Robert around. "And I met this really nice guy."

"You're kidding." she says flatly.

"Nope. He even stayed the night last night." you say suggestively, purposely leading her on and she bites the bait hook, line and sinker.

"HE WHAT?!" she shouts. You hear the baby start crying. "Oops." she says in a tone that shows she's only disappointed with herself. ------- Declan arrives back at the bar, Mike's already there dealing with deliveries.

"Back late I see." his eyebrows raise as he looks down on a clipboard.

"Got snowed in." he gruffs out.

"Mmmm Hmmm. Yeah, sure ya did." he chuckles.

"I very literally did." he responds flatly.

"And how was the girl? What was her name again?"

"Bella." he says, a small smile on his face as he takes his coat off and hangs it on a hook in the back room.

"Ah. Bella. Pretty name for a pretty girl." he says, checking off his list. "And how did Miss Bella treat ya last night Mr. Harp?" he grins.

"Nothing happened that would warrant that tone being used." he shoves his shoulder as he passes him with a chuckle, moving over to a pile of boxes.

"If nothing happened then how was she? Not had a woman we didn't already know in this bar for ages. You two seemed to get along really well, actually." he inquires.

"She's..." he pauses, a tilt of his head in thought. " She's really nice actually. And cool." his eyes narrow in thought.

"Oh goodness, nice and cool? Such aggressive descriptors from you about a woman." Mike cackles.

"Shut up Mike." he grunts, still grinning to himself as he lifting the boxes to carry to the walk-in fridge.

@vale0413

[sakuurae]

85 questions tag !

Tagged by @wtf-taeyong, and thanks again for the tag ! ^~^

rules: answer these 85 statements about yourself, then tag 20 people.

Last…?

1. drink - Water with lemon !

2. phone call - My mum

3. text message - My boyfriend, haha. Were just online shopping together

4. song you listened to - Gods plan by drake lMAO

5. time you cried - Idk like a few days ago when i watched wolf children again with @taeyxong

Ever…?

6. dated someone twice - Naaah bruhh. I cant repeat mistakes haha.

7. kissed someone and regretted it - Nopee

8. been cheated on- Lmao (sadly yes)

9. lost someone special- I suppose so

10. been depressed- We all feel depressed at times

11. gotten drunk and thrown up- Happens way too often ! 

fave colors

Omg this messed up the number format but ... pastel pink, pastel yellow, and white

in the last year have you…

15. made new friends - Definitely—on this site as well as in person ! ^~^

16. fallen out of love - Nope ! 

17. laughed until you cried - All the time. I laugh easily at a lot of things so imagine what im like when something is actually hilarious

18. found out someone was talking about you - Yeah ! But its okay, it doesnt matter because people who know you the least always talk the most about you !

19. met someone who changed you - Definitely, @ loving bf

20. found out who your friends are - Alway knew and we stuck together since senior year of hs

21. kissed someone on your facebook friends list - I dont even have a facebook

general

22. how many of your facebook friends do you know irl - I really dont even have a facebook and i also wouldnt add people i dont know in person

23. do you have any pets - nO but i want to claim my cousins dog. She has a white shiba

24. do you want to change your name - Nope ! Its a present from my parents so id never : )

25. what did you do for your last birthday - My friends and i got a hotel room for the night and partied in there

26. what time did you wake up today - Like 07:00

27. what were you doing at midnight last night - Sleeping lol

28. what is something you can’t wait for - Summer plans !

30. what are you listening to right now - Back to you by selena gomez

31. have you ever talked to a person named tom - No ? But ill reserve this for the day i meet tom misch lmao jk

32. something that’s getting on your nerves - Nothing really ! Things have been really placid

33. most visited website - Youtube and google drive !

34. hair colour - Light brown to blonde but im going back to pink

35. long or short hair - I have medium lengthed ! Its by my ribs

36. do you have a crush on someone - Yeah who else

37. what do you like about yourself - I like my personality !

38. want any piercings? - I dont want any more : ) i have seven and i regret getting that many and i honestly believe it was just my experimental edgy period ahaha. I dont even wear earrings anymore

39. blood type -  ???

40. nicknames - Every time i see this question i cry. Just make more puns already omg. Rae is a nickname, billy rae cyrus, raenglish major, sun rae, raeddy, furrae ... help.

41. relationship status - Taken !

42. zodiac - Leo

43. pronouns - She/Her

44. fave tv shows - I dont watch tv !

45. tattoos - I have one on my back and its a minimal outline-like drawing of dolphins hopping above waves. (It really isnt extra at all lol it looks like someone with a great steady hand drew it with a .38 pen on paper)

46. right or left handed - Right

47. ever had surgery - Nope

48. piercings - Sadly seven

49. sport -  Im all in for basketball these days, but in my other tags ofc i stated ping pong and badminton, etc.

50. vacation - Heck yeah i just got off one

51. trainers - ???

more general

52. eating - Nothing but im probably going to drive for ice cream

53. drinking - Water like always

54. i’m about to watch - Nothing ?

55. waiting for - My motivation to kick in so i can write soulmate ten more

56. want - To be happy ! ^~^

57. get married - I want to !

58. career - Professor, definitely. I want to make each class meeting more extra than the previous

which is better

59. hugs or kisses - Hugs are nice, but so are kisses

60. lips or eyes - Eyes

61. shorter or taller - I dont really mind to be honest. I care about personality way more before physical qualities. It just matters whether or not youre happy with the person and for me, looks isnt needed ! They fade away over time, but a good heart doesnt : )

62. older or younger - Doesnt matter to me either, but no huge age difference for me, haha

63. nice arms or stomach - Doesnt matter either

64. hookup or relationship - Relationship because my hoe phase is over

65. troublemaker or hesitant - I aint bringing a trouble maker home to my parents

have you ever

66. kissed a stranger - It can happens

67. drank hard liquor - It isnt deemed a party to us unless theres hard liquor lol so yes

68. lost glasses - LMAO yeah i got new ones recently. Theyre the trendy circular ones

69. turned someone down - Yeah

70. sex on first date - Nope

71. broken someone’s heart - Yeah but im sure they grew from it the way i grew from heartbreaks—we all do

72. had your heart broken - Oh yeah

73. been arrested - Nope !

74. cried when someone died - Yes

75. fallen for a friend - Yeah ! Feelings cant just be prevented; people cant help how they feel often ! Usually when i crushed on someone i would just tell them and if i get rejected then i move on, and if not then we start something. My bf was a friend i fell for really hard and i told him, and then we ended up together : )

do you believe in…?

76. yourself - Always have to !

77. miracles - No ?

78. love at first sight - No, but attraction is !

79. santa claus - When i was five lmao

80. kiss on a first date - Not for me, but it happens !

81. angels - ? :x

other

82. best friend’s name - Lucy and i made jokes of her being lucy from fairy tail a lot before. Now all we do is watch miraculous ladybug and cry

83. eye colour - Brown

84. fave movie - I guess iron giant; i dont watch much movies

85. fave actor - Dont have one !

Tagging: @taeyongtime @taeyxong @jungwxoo @jencto @amorenjun @okmica

Only if youd like ! ^~^ Maybe thisll serve as a break from writing, haha