#ok now tag barrage sorry

[pocasu]

🩵myunato ohse🌾

[finniestoncrane]

❓😤 for arkham riddler ofc

Im such a slut for this asshole im sorry-

Green

arkham!riddler x gn!reader/jealousy bub me too, i am the sluttiest for him, he is my flame, my muse 💚 minors DNI!! 🔞 500 words, cw: jealousy, kind of suggested threat requests are closed • kofi link • minors DNI • tag: finnie500

“Ok, don’t mess this up. I mean, you’re not going to. You’re Edward Nigma. You don’t mess things up unless you mean too.”

He stood in front of the mirror, teasing his hair back as neatly as he could, licking his thumb and pressing it, hard, to his cheek to rub away the stains. He groaned as he picked at the torn vest he wore. At least his shirt was in one piece, albeit filthy. It didn’t matter though, he was fine, he was cool, calm, collected.

Or at the very least, he was prepared.

At the sound of you entering his workspace, he took a deep breath and left the room, walking slower than usual, he noted, as though he weren’t excited to see you. As though his heart wasn’t beating so fast he thought he might faint. Before he turned the corner, he stopped to breathe again. He was sweating, losing whatever semblance of control he had left. You knew him well enough to know he was volatile. But usually his outbursts came in the form of anger, distress, frustration. He’d never really experienced a desire to let loose a barrage of compliments and declarations of feelings for someone before.

He’d held it in long enough though, and he’d built up the courage, or no…the brain power, he had to make time for this out of his more important work after all, to finally tell you how he felt. He felt silly, but in a good way. Like he might make a fool of himself, but that it would be beneficial to do so, a notion he had never considered before in his life.

As he braced himself for contact, he suddenly realised he could hear your voice, along with another, talking and laughing. No one visited him. He stressed over who might have come to the door to speak with either him or you, before realising he could just as easily take a look.

And so he was faced with you and whoever the hell it was that you were now leaning into, placing a kiss on their cheek, one to their lips, before waving goodbye with a stupidly doughy face.

“Visitor?”

You jumped at his words, not noticing he was there.

“Edward…I…no. A…friend.”

“Friend? That’s quite a close friendship.”

You smiled, blushing lightly.

“More than a friend. But it’s…new…so it doesn’t have a name.”

“Hm…and does it have a name?”

“Edward, be nice.”

But he’d already resolved not to be. He had been waiting his turn, patiently finding the right…time…the right words to explain himself to you. The late nights together, the way you knew how not to irritate him, a skill so few people possessed, himself included sometimes. You were absolutely perfect, and there was no way he was going to let someone else benefit from you.

“I’m not telling you anything, Edward. You’ll only do something weird!”

You walked out of the room, leaving him alone, his fists clenched and teeth gritted.

Not weird…criminal maybe, but not weird.

[khaleesiofalicante]

So this is going to be a barrage, sorry in advance!

1. So, I re-read the story cause it seems I can't get enough of the pain. And Jaden is giving me Armand from AMC's Interview with the Vampire vibes. Like taking advantage of an emotionally and mentally compromised person. Never leaving them alone to figure out you're fucking with their head. And its because you're actually just obsessed with their ex. Jaden is actually all about Max, the way Armand is actually all about Lestat. Which just makes Jaden scarier.

2. Since the book was entirely David's perspective and the show is more Max's, I'm assuming the audience reactions are going to come out on Max's side this time. If so can we see the #JAVID tag die in this universe? And or everyone falling in love with Max and becoming obsessed with seeing #MAVID back together.

3. I'm sad that Lance is going to have to fix his family. That's too much for a kid.

4. Does Jaden not want Arthur to watch the show because it shows Max in a sympathetic light?

5. Jaden seems super possessive of Arthur which i kind of get. But I'm wondering if David gave the ok for all those public social media posts. I thought they wanted to keep the kids out of the public eye?

6. I know everyone makes jokes about Jaden taking the method acting too far. But I can't understand how he just seems to have no empathy for Max? You play him on screen, you know the pain he went through. Now you have everything he so desperately cherishes. Why are you so obsessed with getting in the way of what's left of his relationship with his child? He comes across as kind of psychotic.

7. Is David in therapy? Since writing the show itself is a form of therapy for him, should we expect everything to implode for him with its end?

8. Did David actually buy a house with a pool for Max without realizing its for him?

9. David never answers if he loves Max, is it because he doesn't know? Or like he mentally can't even go there?

10. Is there a new Mavid fic coming in the future or can I dare hope for a sequel to this because I don't think any amount of closure will be enough unless we see them heal, be together again and Jaden get his comeuppance.

Oh but I love this. I think I can answer/respond to *some* of them. Let's see. Let's go!

I loved this comparison! I don't know a lot about Armand but i immediately got a bad vibe from him so now I'm concerned...

Most definitely. I mean we've already seen this. People recognize Max on the street all the time. Everyone tells him how much they love the show. There is a reason it's popular. It's because they lie to Max (or Michael rather). We'll have to wait to see the hashtags.

I think Lance can try. But Lance is also different from Rafael (if you've read TLND). He wants to help his family but he is also VERY good at setting boundaries. We'll see.

You got that right. I'm not sure it's a spoiler, but yes. Jaden knows if Arthur watches the show, he will like Max even more. So, he prevents it.

He doesn't post about them all the time. I don't think he got permission for that last post. We know he does shit like this all the time. Like how he spoke to arthur about acting even when david said no.

Astute observation. There are characters like Mallory who are very overtly messed up. But Jadens are more dangerous. Because we are friends with them....we date them. We don't know they are actually fucked up.

He was in therapy for a while after the 'accident'. He doesn't go to therapy in the present. Max does.

Maybe? It's definitely possible.

:)

I said this in the very beginning. IALS is not like TLND. It's not about closure or everyone finding their happy ending or finding ways to heal. I don't want it to finish it with a bow on top or anything. And I'm improvising this story, remember. I have no idea if yall will be satisfied with the ending or not. But one thing i will not do is make the ending perfect or 'realistic' or whatever. It's gonna end how it's gonna end hehe. But yes of course we will see Mavid again if i get inspiration for another fic.

[sadnesslaughs]

Onboard every spaceship that exists, there is only one true rule: never let a human near any of the weapons systems. You are the captain of a ship under attack and are heavily wounded. To grasp at your last chance of survival, you let one of your human crew go into the control room.

(A response to a writing prompt)

Pirates, it was always pirates. There was a golden rule in space. Never let a pirate sneak up on your rear, or else they’ll grab your booty. A phrase that humans found oddly amusing, for some strange reason.

Artaz held his wounded side, keeping his grey blood from oozing out of the hole, searching the ship for anyone that could take control of the weapons. While he preferred to control their firepower, with the nasty wound splitting his flesh, he had to hand over the reins.

“Sala, I need you in the control room now. That last barrage broke off a piece of the flight controls and embedded it into my side. I’ve removed the control stick, but I need to close off the wound it left.” Artaz pressed his finger against the comm button in his sector of the ship, hoping the pirates hadn’t knocked out their communications yet.

“Captain, unless you want us to be as naked as a drunken Kiaqa, I need to keep these shields up. Find someone else to fire back, and quickly. We haven’t got a lot of juice left in these shields. A few more blasts like that and they’ll be blowing both us and our booty up.”

“Snnnrk. Hahaha.” A third voice snickered on the communicator, trying to hold back their laughter. When they realized they had their comm on, they gave an apologetic greeting. “Hey, sorry, didn’t know I had this on. Um, yeah. Come and get patched up. I’ve got the Aid-All going and everything. Not sure why we even need a doctor like me on this ship. I spent years studying alien biology only to be replaced by a machine. Speaking of booty. Did you know-“

“Not the time, Tim.” Artaz sighed. The human doctor always sprouting off random medical facts, partly because he had nothing else to do. He was their doctor, on a ship that had an Aid-All robot. He was essentially a bench warmer. Someone that would be tagged in on the rare chance the robot was broken, or the surgery was too complex for someone that only thought in 1s and 0s.

“What about Tim? He’s not doing anything at the moment.” Sala suggested, gripping the handles of the shield pulser. Her voice straining as she gripped the handles harder, pushing more energy into the weakening barrier. “We need to fire back. Now.”

“Tim, report to the weapons room. You passed basic combat training, didn’t you? Fire back in the standard P-1 formation. The weak point of their ship is the underbelly. If you can weaken the shield, a well placed Treao rocket should be enough to break apart their ship.”

“Awesome. I’ve never actually gotten to try out real combat before. Ok, I’ll be there in a second. Let me grab my headphones.”

“Headphones?” Both aliens said, equally confused by that. Regardless, neither was in a position to complain. While Artaz had been told to never let a human near the weapons system, he assumed it was just some typical anti-human thing that his superiors had. Humans were the newbies of the galactic world and as such, they hadn’t quite earned their stripes. So, it made sense that no one would trust them with the most important position on a ship.

While Aid-All healed his wounds, Artaz watched the security camera footage of the weapons room, keeping an eye on their counterattack. Even while the Aid-All whirled and stitched his flesh shut, he didn’t wince, never breaking eye contract with the little monitor in the medical room.

Tim sat in the chair, setting his headphones on. With his headphones on, he made a few adjustments to the seat, making sure it would fit his smaller frame. With comfort out of the way, he hovered his hands over the control panel, focusing on the job at hand.

Artaz didn’t have much hope for the human. He had never fought an actual battle before. What chance did he have of learning on the spot? Still, maybe if the gods were kind, they would fire a lucky shot off. When the first shot fired, it blew open a small gap in the pirate’s shield. It was a clean shot, but the hole was far too narrow to fit a missile through. It was like threading a very precise needle through a tiny hole. That’s why it was the perfect gap for the doctor.

The alien didn’t even feel any pain from Aid-All’s rough stitching, too, in awe of what the human was doing. Tim gave the ship controls a slight shove, turning the ship on a side angle, nearly throwing everyone to the floor. Thankfully, the gravity booster kicked in, pushing everyone towards the ground, keeping them from getting tossed into the walls or ceiling. With the ship on this new angle, he fired a single missile, penetrating the gap and blowing apart the pirate ship, sending pieces of metal throughout the void of space.

“Incredible.” Artaz muttered, as the ship turned to its normal angle, allowing everyone to move again. Artaz didn’t even wait for his wound to be fully stitched, dragging the Aid-All robot with him, going to congratulate the human. Standing behind him, Artaz smiled. “Human, today you’ve become one of us. I admit, I had my doubts about you, but you’ve made me a proud captain. You not only stood up to the task, you excelled in it. Thank you.” He placed a hand on Tim’s shoulder, startling the human.

“Huh?” He took off his headphones, looking at the embarrassed captain. “Sorry, did you say something?”

“Yeah. Good job.”

“Thanks captain.”

Artaz tried to figure out why humans weren’t allowed in the weapons room. They were perfectly capable of performing in space battles. Was this old anti-human mindset still that strong?

“I love how powerful you feel when you fire a weapon. It’s a rush. These are way stronger than the missiles we have on Earth. Did you see how blue it was when it exploded? What a rush! I can’t wait to do it again.”

“Tim, your heart rate’s far higher than it should be. Please sit down and drink some water.” Aid-All said, still attached to Artaz’s side, continuing its duty.

“No, I feel alive. Can I do it again? What about that moon? Can I blow that up? No one lives there. A little missile fire? Please?” Tim begged, clasping his hands together as Artaz learned the reason humans weren’t allowed in the weapons room. Adrenaline.

Humans got too much of a rush from the alien weaponry. The feeling was only comparable to what someone like Zeus would have felt as he threw mighty bolts from Olympus. A feeling of raw strength that leaves most hungry for more.

“No, we need you as our doctor. Please, return to your quarters,” Artaz said, patting Tim on the back. Tim reluctantly left, although not before running his fingers along the controls one last time, whispering that he would be back. When Tim left, Artaz spoke to Aid-All.

“Please begin the weaning process for the human. Give him weapon related games to play until he gets over this rush. Thank you.” Artaz said, as the robot finished its job.

“Will do, sir. Goodbye.” The robot rushed down the hallway, chasing after Tim, while Artaz returned to the flight controls, preparing to do some quick repairs to the damaged component.

[adventuresinwonderlust]

Title: Studio Session

Pairing: Idol! Yoongi x reader  

Warnings: smut, fluff, oral (f) receiving, unprotected sex (wrap it up folks)

Rating: 18 and over

Permanent Tag List: @mochilicious-yoongi​ @heyimtavia​

You grip Yoongi’s hand tightly, leaning into his shoulder as the barrage of camera flashes surround you both. You groan at the thought or tomorrow's headline on Dispatch, whining at how once again another date night is ruined by nosey journalists trying to get front page news.  

You both finally make it safely to the car, Yoongi assisting you into the passenger seat, braving the crowd alone to get to the driver's side. He enters the car in a huff, starting the engine and honking on the horn for the crowd to back away. “I suppose they are happy to get run over.” He grumbles, arm gripping the passenger chair as he veers out the back windshield, backing out of his parking spot slowly. You look over at his stoic expression, wanting but deciding not to ask if he’s ok.

You arrive back at the Hybe building and up to Yoongi’s studio. He plops down in his chair, releasing an aggravated sigh, his fingers typing furiously on his cell phone. He places it down on the panel in front of him, swiveling in his chair to face you. “I’m so sorry jagi. Are you ok?” You look up at him and nod. “I’m fine. Why are you sorry?” He trots forward in his seat, gripping your knee, squeezing gently. “Another date night ruined. I know you're thinking it. I'm sorry, I really though I kept everything under wraps. I have no clue how the fans found out, let alone those journalists. You must hate dating me.” He pouts, looking down at his hand around you knee.

Your eyes widen and you rest your hand on his cheek, lifting his face to meet your gaze. “I love you so much. I don't care about fancy dinners at a fancy restaurant. I much prefer it being just the two of us here in your studio or under a bridge. Why don’t you play me something you’ve been working on?” He chuckles, turning to look at his new setup. “No, I don't want to make tonight about work.” “It’s ok Yoongi. I want to hear what you’re working on. Please.” He takes in a deep breath and trots himself back to his equipment. He opens his laptop and scrolls through his latest works. “This one I’ve been working on recently but I’m not really happy with it. I feel like, its missing something.” He complains from behind the hand covering his mouth.

“Well now you have to let me hear it so I can tell you how horrible it is.” You tease, moving to sit beside him on the desk. He laughs freely, his teeth on display as he clicks play. The track soon filling the room, followed by Yoongi rapping free style. “I’m just fooling around. This isn't the finished product.” He explains. You nod. The track ends quickly. “Play it again.” You nod. He plays it again and you listen more intently now. A sly smirk spreads across your face, a dirty thought entering your mind. You remove your foot from your slide, biting down on your bottom lip when you bring it up to rest on Yoongi’s thigh. He looks down at your roaming foot, swallowing hard when you wriggle your toes against his belt. “I know what's missing.” You whisper. “What’s that?” He inquires, grabbing your ankle to move your foot to the other thigh, spreading you wide so he can sneak a peek under your skirt.  

“Me.” You shrug. Yoongi wheels himself forward, “Is that so?” He questions, reaching behind you and pulling out a small black recorder. He places its beside you on the desk, raising his brows attempting to test your resolve. You simply glide your hand over your thick thigh, lifting your skirt to reveal your blush thong to him. He licks his lips, pressing record on the device before sliding towards you. He lifts your other leg from the floor, forcing you to sit completely on the desk, resting your feet on the arms of his studio chair. Before long, he dips his head between your thighs, shoving your panties to the side.  

He licks your slit with the whole of his tongue, parting your lips with his fingers, to reveal your hardened clit. He wraps his pout around your nub, sucking on it, humming happily when you moan out loud. Your legs fall wide, your hand digging into his hair when he rolls his tongue quickly along your sensitive bud. You moan freely, hoping the small recorder is catching every sensual sound that leaves your mouth. You buck into Yoongi’s face, feeling your walls quake with the threat of your impending orgasm. He moans into your cunt, entering you with two fingers and rubbing along your g-spot. You pant wildly, fucking Yoongi’s face now, your orgasm building quickly. “Yoongiiii-ahhhh.” You cry out, white waves of pleasure coursing through your body. You are a panting mess when you come down from your high. Yoongi licking his lips and fingers, stands, frantically undoing his belt. You look over at the recorder, reaching to stop it. Yoongi stops you sliding it over and shaking his head at you.  

He lowers his pants and underwear just enough to free his fully erect cock, moving forward to kiss you hard. You reach down to stroke his length when it stabs into your belly. Yoongi moans into your mouth, grabbing and squeezing your ass before spinning you around. He lifts your skirt, slapping down on the plump flesh of your bum. He grips and spreads your cheeks to reveal your swollen pussy to him, leaning his hips forward until just his tip enters you. “So, pretty. So, tight.” He whispers, pushing his full length into you now. You both groan at the feeling, Yoongi reaching up to tug your shirt down, your full breast spilling out into his large hands. He begins to thrust into to you hard, teasing and tugging at your pert nipple. “Ah, jagi, you always feel so good around my cock. Tou...touch yourself, I need to feel you cum around my cock.”  

You moan at his neediness, reaching down to rub at your swollen clit. You move your hand faster to keep in rhythm with Yoongi’s desperate thrusts. “Yoongi, so close.” You mewl, feeling your cunt become slicker the closer you get to climax. Yoongi releases a long wild groan, the lurid sounds of your copulating surely turning him on. Your body gooses and your head prickles and soon you feel the buildup of your release. “That’s it jagi, cum for me.” He pants, feeling your walls quiver around him. “Yoongi, Yoongi. I'm cumming!” You cry, rubbing your clit quickly and roughly as Yoongi fucks into you wildly. “Jagi, fuck, that’s it, milk my cock. Fuck, I’m cumming.” “Yes, please fill me up.” Yoongi grunts unabashedly into the studio, his head falling back, then dropping onto your back. His thrust soon slow, although he remains inside of you until his cock soften and falls.  

He reaches under the desk for a box of tissue, yanking a few out and cleaning you up. “I love you.” He whispers, kissing your forehead and then your lips. “I love you too Yoongi.” “I promise, I'm going to figure out how to have the perfect date.” You laugh, pulling him close. “Don't worry about that you silly man.”  

A week later, Yoongi asks you to meet him at a local restaurant. You enter surprised to find it bustling. You move through to the back to find Yoongi sitting in the back with his cap low and mask high. “Wow, incognito much?” You giggle, leaning in to tug his mask down and kiss him. “I promised I would figure something out.” “Will you eat with your mask on?” You tease. He laughs, digging into his bag. He pulls out his headphones, plugging them into his phone and handing them to you. “Here listen to this. I fixed the track.” You place the buds into your ear and Yoongi plays the track from the studio a week before, only this time there is an undertone. You squint to hear what it is, since it's so faint you could miss it. “Play it again.” You instruct. He does as he is told, a smirk planted on his face. You concentrate hard, hearing a faint familiar pant just below the bass. Your eyes widen and you look over at Yoongi, who smiles wide. He tugs the bud from your ear. “You were right jagi, it was missing you.” “You’re such a perve! If your fans hear this...” “Don’t worry jagi, its very faint. Only we know what it is, but I have to say I enjoyed it so much. When do you think you can come back and join me for another studio session?” “Never! You have enough on that one recording, I’m sure.” “I could never have enough of you.” He bites his bottom lip, leaning in to kiss at your neck.  

[eliemo]

Solitary

Summary: Logan wakes up. He wasn't supposed to this time.

TWs: aftermath of a suicide attempt, implied/referenced self harm, self hatred and self esteem issues, hopeful ending

Notes: Mind the tags pls, I wrote this with no plan at like 1am. Platonic LAMP

When Logan woke up, the first thing he registered was a splitting headache, white hot pain spreading down his head to his spine like his skull was being snapped in two.

The next was the pulsing agony in both of his arms, shooting up to his shoulders with a sudden intensity that made him gasp before he could stop himself, only to be met with another stabbing pain in his throat.

“Hey hey hey, easy.” A vaguely familiar voice filtered in from somewhere nearby, but Logan was pretty sure the pain would only worsen if he opened his eyes to look. “Easy, Lo. You’re safe, you’re ok.”

All Logan was able to manage was an awful sounding croak. He felt someone running their hand gently through his hair, another holding the side of his face.

“Breathe, kiddo. You’re ok.”

Patton. A bit of the rising alarm faded when he recognized the moral side’s voice, but something still pulled at his chest when he realized how scared Pat sounded. What was going on?

“Can you open your eyes?” Patton asked, soft and concerned right beside his ear. “We really miss you, Logan.”

Patton’s voice broke a bit at the end, miserable and pleading, and that was enough for Logan to risk pain that came with the sudden light, making another weak noise in the back of his throat as he pried his eyes open, surprised and a little frustrated over how much effort it took.

Like he’d warily expected, the barrage of light did feel like someone was repeatedly taking a knife to his eyes, but it wasn't nearly as intense as he’d anticipated.

It took a second for everything to come into focus, but when it did Logan could make out that he was on the couch in the living room, a dark blue blanket draped over him, the curtains closed over the windows to keep the sunlight out of the dim room.

Patton was crouched beside him, fingers still running through Logan’s hair, slow and gentle. Virgil was perched on the other end of the couch, eyeshadow smeared and staining his face with dried black tears.

Roman was standing beside the armchair just a few paces away, looking like he’d just been startled out of his seat, face pale, eyes wide and shiny.

They all looked...awful. They looked about as bad as Logan felt right now.

“Wh-what?” It hurt to talk, voice raspy and shaking, but the confusion was only making his head hurt more. “What’s happening, I—”

“I’ll, uh- I’ll get him some water,” Roman said hastily, failing to hide the worried glance he sent Patton’s way. “Hang in there, Teach.”

Roman was gone before Logan could say anything, and his gaze wandered instead to Virgil who was still planted by his feet, shifting anxiously where he sat, glancing between Logan and Patton like he was waiting for someone to speak.

Luckily Roman wasn’t gone for long, hurrying back into the room within seconds and practically thrusting a glass of water in Logan’s face.

He moved to sit up and take it, only to hiss at the pain shooting up his arms at the tiniest of movements, falling limply back onto the cushions.

“Don’t use your hands, honey,” Patton said, a second too late. “Here, let me help you, ok?”

Any other time Logan would have protested. He was perfectly capable of drinking a cup of water by himself. But right now all he had the energy to do was give a tiny nod and let Patton help him to sit up.

He didn’t have the energy to fight, keeping his aching arms under the blanket and letting Patton bring the cup to his lips. The cold water eased the pain in his throat somewhat, even if it took a frustratingly long time for Logan to swallow a few sips.

“There you go,” Patton said when he saw done, and Logan hated how overly gentle the other side was being with him. “How’re you feeling?”

“Fine,” Logan said, despite how badly everything hurt. “What...happened?”

He saw the three of them exchange worried glances among themselves, trying and failing once again to hide it from Logan. His head was still too heavy to remember what had put him in this position in the first place, but their concern was only worsening his rising anxiety. Or maybe he was just picking up on some of Virgil’s distress.

The anxious side shifted again, brows drawn together as he looked Logan over. “Do you not...remember what happened?”

Logan took a moment, squeezing his eyes shut and swallowing against the lump in his throat, taking a moment to catalogue his aching body, his headache, and the searing pain shooting up his arms.

“Was I...injured?”

That was apparently the wrong thing to say, because Patton immediately burst into tears. To his dismay, Roman and Virgil’s eyes started welling up at the same time.

Oh, god. Logan was even less prepared to deal with their emotions than he usually was.

“Is that…” he trailed off, swallowed, and tried again. “Is that a yes?”

Patton only began crying harder, and before Logan could try to apologize the moral side was throwing himself forward, arms wrapped around Logan as best he could, sobbing loudly into his chest.

“Patton, I—”

“I’m so sorry!” Patton wailed, only further growing Logan’s confusion. “I’m so sorry Lo, I’m so sorry! We didn’t- we didn’t know! I swear we had no idea!”

“Let him take a moment to wake up, Padre,” Roman said, still hovering anxiously. He and Virgil were being much quieter about their distress, but both of their faces were soaked with tears. “But we...we really are sorry. Gosh, Logan we’re so so sorry.”

Logan screwed his eyes shut again, still coming up blank when he tried to connect the dots. “What...what on earth are you apologizing for?”

“For not realizing you felt that way, Lo.” Virgil moved to put a hand on Logan’s leg, refusing to look the logical side in the eyes. “Jeez- you’re family and we never...we never noticed.”

Patton was still bawling into his shirt, Virgil tightened his own hold, Roman began pacing as he tended to do when he was stressed, and Logan still had absolutely no clue what was going on. Why wouldn’t someone just tell him what had happened?

“Patton...” Logan stopped, first from the pain that came with raising his hand to touch Patton’s shoulder, then from the shock of seeing his arms. “I—”

“Don’t look, baby,” Patton said, gently guiding his hands back under the blanket like Logan hadn’t gotten a clear view of blood stained bandages wrapped around his arms from his wrists to his elbows. “You’re ok.”

His arms were...had he...?

Roman cleared his throat, and Logan looked over at the sound. The Prince held a wrinkled piece of paper in his hand, crumpled and a little stained, and the writing Logan could just barely make out was suddenly alarmingly familiar.

“We, uhm. We found your note.”

And just like that it all came rushing back- the overwhelming pain, the emotions, everything spiraling out of his usually so strict control as he finally let everything out onto a flimsy piece of notebook paper.

He’d lost control, no longer able to see a better way out. All he’d been focused on was the horrible pain in his arms soaked with blood that signified an ending he hadn’t even been sure he really wanted.

It came back in a fragmented blur, and Logan abruptly remembered that he wasn’t supposed to have woken up.

Oh. Oh no.

“I am...so sorry,” Logan said, at a loss for what else to do. “It was never my intention for you all to—”

“Your intention was pretty fucking clear,” Virgil snapped, and Logan was taken aback by the hostility in Anxiety’s voice. “Jesus Christ, Lo! What were you thinking?”

“Virgil,” Patton snapped, but the wavering in his voice overshadowed any vehemence. “That’s...let’s calm down, kiddo. Ok?”

Virgil wiped his eyes with his sleeves, shoulders hunched as he crossed his arms and stared at the ground. Logan’s chest squeezed, guilt and panic overwhelming.

“How long was I...asleep?”

Patton gave a shaky sigh, going back to running his hands through Logan’s hair. “Since last night. It’s...I think three in the afternoon now.”

Logan’s stomach dropped, and the pain in his arms flared up again as he struggled to sit up, only to fall limp against the back of the couch. He’d been out all day, forcing the other sides to stop what they were doing and look after him.

He couldn’t imagine how much damage and stress he’d caused. The one thing he’d been trying to avoid doing any more of.

“I’m very sorry,” Logan said, forcing his voice to remain steady. “My intentions were not to be an inconvenience or cause any unnecessary stress. I will attempt to get back on schedule as soon as possible and—”

“Get back on schedule?”

Logan couldn’t remember hearing Virgil yell like this, shrinking back into Patton’s arms before he could stop himself, the anxious side having stood up from the couch, eyes wide and brimming with new tears.

Logan cleared his throat, struggling to speak with his heart hammering in his chest. “I...apologize for—”

“You think we’re upset over the schedule?” Virgil snapped, flinching when Roman moved closer to put a hand on his shoulder. “We’ve been sitting here for hours waiting for you to wake up after you tried to kill yourself and you think we’re upset because we’re behind schedule? Are you fucking serious, Logan?”

The screaming eventually dissolved into ragged sobs, and Logan watched as Roman gathered Virgil up his arms and pulled him close, the anxious side burying his face into the Prince’s chest.

Roman hadn’t stopped silently crying, silent tears sliding down his cheeks as he pressed his nose to Virgil’s hair, trembling with the strength it took to hold back his sobs. And Patton hadn’t let go of him, half of Logan’s shirt soaked with the moral side’s tears.

He hadn’t...expected this. Any of it.

Honestly, Logan hadn’t expected anyone to even notice his absence at first. He supposed they might not have known he’d...passed at all if he hadn’t been found before he’d finished.

He'd expected them to be mildly agitated when they found out he was gone, a little annoyed that he’d taken such drastic measures instead of continuing to ignore it and move on for Thomas’s sake. They'd have to make their schedules themselves now, and his death would likely push a few things back.

Things might be a bit less efficient without him but...they’d realize it was for the best eventually. They would be happier without him around. The air would be lighter.

It would be quieter. They wouldn’t have to constantly hide their annoyance every time he opened his mouth.

They wouldn’t have to deal with him at all anymore.

He hadn’t...expected anyone to be upset over the thought of losing him. He hadn’t even succeeded, he was perfectly fine, and every single one of them was in very clear distress.

“I am...very sorry,” he tried again, wondering if all he’d managed to do was ruin things irreparably. “I never wanted to upset any of you.”

“It isn’t about us,” Patton said, reaching over to quickly squeeze Virgil’s hand. “It’s not about our feelings. It’s about yours.”

“No, Virgil is right. It was selfish of me to—”

“It wasn’t selfish,” Virgil said quickly. He pulled away from Roman, just enough to look at Logan. “It’s not...it wasn’t selfish, Lo. It wasn’t your fault.”

Logan frowned, because that...was an exceptionally strange thing to say. Especially when he had every right to scream until his voice was hoarse. “Of course it was. I did it to myself. I was fully aware of what I was doing.”

That made Patton tighten his hold and Virgil’s gaze drop to the floor, but Logan didn’t falter. It was the truth. He wasn’t going to make excuses or pretend to be ashamed. He’d been convinced it was the right thing to do.

Roman suddenly sighed, trembling and quiet, the only one able to meet Logan’s eyes. “Sometimes our brains tell us things, Lo. They aren’t true and they’re awful but it’s...hard not to listen. You just need some help quieting the thoughts.”

“My thoughts are...perfectly rational,” Logan said, despite the situation. “I was simply mistaken. I thought I was doing what was best.”

“You thought we hated you!” Patton was crying again, sobbing with nothing holding him back, and Logan suddenly couldn’t bring himself to look at the note left on the coffee table. “You thought...Lo, the things you said—”

“I was wrong,” Logan said curtly, even as a prickle of dread settled in his stomach. “I was...I was wrong, wasn’t I?”

He was a bit taken aback by how quickly the three of them burst into affirmations, all of them suddenly crowded around him, holding him close as gently as possible. Keeping him safe.

“We love you,” Virgil was saying, and the anxious side had somehow managed to half commandeer his lap, his arms wrapped around his Logan’s middle. “I love you, Logan, I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not...your fault,” Logan said, wishing his arms didn't hurt quite so bad. He couldn’t even attempt to hug anyone back. “I shouldn’t—”

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Roman spoke up, placing a gentle but grounding hand on Logan’s back. “I know it feels like you did, Teach. I know. But you didn’t.”

“I tried to...I- I thought—”

“You’re in a bad place and we didn’t notice,” Virgil said, barely audible from where his face was pressed into Logan’s shirt. “That’s our fault. We- I should have been there to help, I didn’t know you—”

“I was attempting to hide it.” Hiding it had become normal. He’d hoped it would all simply go away, or fade away to the background at the very least if he just pretended.

But it had only grown worse, leaving him feeling empty and numb and hurt each time he was ignored and talked over, each time an argument went a little too far, each time he felt like a burden for simply speaking his mind. For having a thought in the first place.

He’d thought they hated him. He thought they hated the sound of his voice, his presence in their lives, his existence. A bitter part of him had wondered if they’d celebrate his death before erasing him from their memories entirely.

He hadn’t been able to say it aloud. But he’d finally been able to sit down and put it all on paper, finalizing it into one last goodbye.

Logan has been stupid. Logic had failed, and he’d done something irrational.

If he couldn’t even do his job well enough to keep himself alive, what even was the point in keeping him around? Thomas might be better off without him after all—

“Logan.” Patton was right in front of him now, warm hands on Logan’s cheeks, effectively cutting off his spiraling thoughts. “We’re here now. We’re here and we know.”

Logan curled his shoulders and nodded, the thought equally comforting and terrifying. He’d never planned on having to face the consequences of this decision. Of his awful, irrational feelings.

“We’re gonna help you kiddo,” Patton continued. “You’re not alone, Logan. You never ever have been. I’m so sorry you thought you were.”

Logan swallowed, alarmed at how tight his throat was becoming, vision quickly becoming blurred. “I...I don’t want to cause any pointless stress. We’re all busy.”

“We’re worried about you,” Patton said softly, never letting go of Logan. “You worry about the people you love. You worry about family.”

“I...” he paused, closing his eyes as the tears finally spilled over. “I wasn’t...sure that I was.”

Virgil lifted his head and frowned, but Logan refused to look down at him, staring blankly at the wall instead. “You weren’t...what? Family?”

Logan didn’t respond, didn’t jump to correct the assumption because he...couldn’t. He’d questioned his place for so long, somewhere along the way he’d begun assuming nobody cared. That it wasn’t a question for anyone else.

The heartbroken noises from the other three sides made him flinch, and he melted into their touch as they rushed to assure him once again, hard as it was to focus on anything they were saying.

He’d been so stupid. How could he have mistaken this for anything but love?

“You’re family, Logan,” Roman said, holding him from behind with his head now rested on Logan’s shoulder. “You will always be family. I’m so sorry it got this bad.”

Logan wasn’t sure when he’d started letting himself cry in earnest, but now that he’d started he couldn’t stop.

There were three pairs of arms around him, holding him close while he trembled and sobbed and tried to force out apologies that kept getting caught in his throat.

He’d been selfish, and he’d upset them all so much but…

But he’d been so hurt. He’d felt so hurt for months and none of them had noticed. Nobody had asked. He wasn’t angry, he knew they would never have left him like that if they could have known. But it didn’t change the fact that it had happened.

But it was...going to be better now. Logan wanted so badly to believe it was going to get better.

“We’re going to fix this,” Patton said, and Logan’s eyes slipped shut when the moral side once again began playing with his hair. “We’re gonna be right here, Lo. We’ve got you. It won’t ever get this bad again.”

Logan felt himself drifting back to sleep, the pain fading to a dull ache in the background, and he didn’t try to fight against it. His chest was still heavy, mind clouded with distorted thoughts and doubts, and he knew none of that would disappear the next time he woke up. He wasn’t naive enough to hope it would.

But he had a way to fix it now. A way that wasn’t quite so final as his original plan.

And his family would be there when he woke up. He didn’t have to do this by himself anymore. He didn’t have to be the only one trying to fix this.

Logan believed them. He wouldn’t have to do it alone. Never again.

[mickey-gomez]

Two wills

GIF by @disaster-and-disgrace​

Chapter 4 of The Weekend in Georgetown.

Warnings/tags: Lots of angst, some fluff, hints of smut, fighting, swearing, mentions of marriage, talks about trauma, implied panic/anxiety attack. 

Word count: 2706.

A/N: Ok so lots to unpack in the last section of this chapter. I wrote the prequel series works before I wrote this, so it might not make the most sense. Plus it’s a little rushed. But I tried to give the best outline in the story that I could. I hope it all makes sense now and more so as the series goes on. But for this; imagine you and your ex in a room together and everything comes spilling out, whether you want it to or not. I promise the next chapter will be less angsty and include more smut. Enjoy!

Also covers the Twice - Little Dragon of @storiesofsvu fall bingo. But I feel like it’s cheating? Idk. 

You knew who had entered your apartment, before the key had even entered the lock. The alarming amount of missed phone calls and text messages had alerted you as soon as you’d cracked a single eye open to look at the screen. 

The bedroom door closed loudly behind you as you tugged the rest of your sweater down to cover your exposed stomach, the intruders jumped in their spots in the hallway, causing all three of you to shriek in fright at the startling disturbance. 

“What, you can’t pick up your goddamn phone now?” Abbie Carmichael drawled out in annoyance as she caught her breath. “Why aren’t you dressed? Show starts in an hour” 

“What, you always let yourself in when I don’t answer? That key is for emergencies, Carmichael.” You snarkingly quipped in return.

The look she leveled in your direction forced a change in your tone, it was a look that told you she was unimpressed and demanded an explanation. “Also.. sorry I kind of forgot..” you meekly ended your statement, praying for the two of them to swiftly leave. 

“It was an emergency! I needed to make sure you were alive, and most importantly to get the tickets.” She yelled, running her hands through her unruly locks, expressing a shuddered breath before she continued. “How could you forget? We’ve had this on the books for months!” she turned on the kitchen lights, finally turning to face you properly, crossing her arms.

The sudden light made you wince as your pupils dilated to adjust to the brightness, and your hand came up to rub your eyes. The two of them raked their eyes up your form, noting your disheveled appearance and mannerisms. 

“First you miss dinner, you don’t answer the phone, I let myself into your dark apartment, you all of a sudden forget about the concert, despite us planning it months ago..”

“Hi” Serena murmured against your cheek as she leaned forward, placing a kiss in greeting there. Her eyes looked over your shoulder as she slowly retreated, taking notice of the closed bedroom door. She glanced back to you and then to the two coats in the hallway, a knowing smirk plastered on her face. She cleared her throat, interrupting Abbie’s verbal barrage. 

“Tickets in the kitchen drawer or your desk drawer?” she asked as she pulled away, turning her head in the direction of both surfaces. 

“Kitchen” 

-- 

Rita in the meantime had gotten out of bed, padding into the wardrobe to get dressed, the loud tones had distressed her. Her mind wandered as she thought of the fact that someone had just let themselves into your apartment, someone with a key. Was there someone else in your life? She felt naive to think that you’d too been celibate since your demise, of course you hadn’t, and she couldn’t have expected that of you.

The sounds of high heels on the wooden floors travelled through the apartment, the noise travelling through the cracks of the doorframe. Her hand lingered on the wood, gripping it tightly under her fingers, craning her head to meet the crevices in the frame, straining to hear. There were loud voices and an all familiar southern drawl, she let out a breath of relief at the sound, which manifested itself in a laugh. She opened the door and the sound caused the three of you to hastily turn your heads. 

Rita was met with wide eyes as she entered into the open plan living space. It wasn’t like you had intended on hiding Rita away, you just wanted a brief reprieve of privacy for your weekend, wanting to fill Abbie in at work on Monday instead. 

“Ahh so this is the source of your sudden retrograde amnesia” Abbie exclaimed, her eyes darting hastily across the space between you and Rita.

Serena was the first one to pop the growing and charged bubble, the silence was thick and fraught. She crossed the room to pull Rita into a chaste embrace in greeting. Abbie silently mouthed questions at you, her eyes wide and curious, before she pushed off the kitchen island to hesitantly greet Rita. 

The silence hung over the four of you for a few moments before Serena graciously clasped her hands together, the clapping startling all of you. “Right well we’ll get going. Won’t we Abs?” 

“Umm.. no we will not” Abbie spluttered, her desire for gossip ringing through her words and their enunciation. Her eyebrows raised in your direction as her mouth hung open. 

“Yep let’s go” she tugged Abbie by her arm back to the door. 

“I expect the full story” 

“Monday” you declared with a wide eyed expression, trying to close the door, Abbie pushed her foot in the way, blocking you, as Serena put her hands on her shoulders, trying to pry her from the entrance. Your eyes were shooting daggers at her, willing for privacy, she laughed at your reactions, the way your face twitched with the urge to be polite and the underlying urge to tell her to fuck off. 

“None of this ‘Oh I don’t know it just happened’ bullshit you’ll try to pull”

“Monday” you repeated through gritted teeth, shooing her away. 

“With coffee, I expect good coffee too. None of that garbage you brew in your office..” her voice filtered out as Serena managed to drag her away and back down the building hallway. The door clicked shut quietly and you briefly shook your head at your friend’s antics before turning back to your wife. 

“Now.. where were we?” You asked as you turned back to Rita. She had a bemused and bewildered expression on her face, trying to make sense of it all. You had been vastly hesitant to show her, to let the two of them know she was there, that you were back in each other's lives. The persistent and gnawing anxiety latched onto her mind, unwavering as it sept and wove itself through her inner most thoughts. They had been lingering since Friday night, and she hesitated in wanting to question you on it. She had only just gotten you back, never ready to let you go, ever again.

-- 

“So what’s the deal with that?” she finally asked, her unrelenting anxious curiosity getting the better of her. 

“With what?” 

“Well Abbie has a key and the three of you seemed awfully chummy” 

“Oh baby stop worrying so much, you’ll give yourself more wrinkles” you jeered, shooting her a wicked grin. 

“You’re such a bitch” she chuckled

“We both have keys to each other's apartments, for emergencies, collecting work files, things like that. It made sense after I moved up because she’s only in Dupont Circle.” 

“So there’s not some polyamorous thrupple situation going on?” 

“You’re kidding right?” you scoffed, instead of answering she simply raised her eyebrows in your direction, you sauntered over to her, extending your hands to roughly push her onto the lounge. You climbed on top of her, your thighs resting on her sides, you brushed the hair off your face and looked at her through hooded lids, running your tongue over your bottom lip before you answered her silent set of questions. 

“You know I don’t like to share” you breathed out, and she didn’t meet your eyes, her hands fiddling on her lap. She didn’t take the lubricous and carnal bait you’d tried to entice her with. You grasped her by her chin, your fingers lingering on her jaw as you forced her to look at you. 

“I just want you all to myself for the weekend, no interruptions. I thought I’d be able to get rid of her quickly and I didn’t want to have to deal with her chaotic and hyperactive energy when I only get you for seventy two hours.” You spoke, trying desperately to regain her attention, she sighed and closed her eyes tightly.

“Hey, look at me.” and after your second reiteration of those three words, she finally opened them with your sombre tone, the vigour in her eyes made you shudder.

“I wasn’t trying to hide you away, I love you so fucking much, and I just wanna stay wrapped up in you, just us.” You ran the tips of your thumbs under her eyes before you continued to speak.

“There’s so much we haven’t even touched on yet, so much left to unpack, that I just want us to be together to work it out, no prying eyes, no curious ears, no meddling mouths. Can you understand that?” and she nodded slowly at your soft words, her hand meeting yours, squeezing lightly in affirmation. 

-- 

Your fingers traced over her knuckles, fingertips running over the rings there, making indentations on your skin with the sharp stones. You smiled to yourself as you felt the diamonds encased in the jewellry, your mind casting back to your wedding day.

The memories were rapid and fleeting, like an old slide projector, clicking and turning with every spare second. You vividly remembered how beautiful she looked, her hair perfectly curled and swaying with the wind, the dampness in her expressive eyes as you exchanged your vows, the toothy smile as you said ‘I do’. 

“Where’s yours?” she hummed, the sound of her words breaking your lull. She had been watching you intently when you’d laid your head on her chest, your fingers seeking out hers. She had watched the way your eyes had cast over and knew your mind was replaying over the day. You looked up to meet her gaze, and tried to register what she had murmured, your eyes now focusing on the present, the memories fading from your vision. Rolling over, you pulled yourself from her chest and the bed, walking into your robe, opening the top drawer to seek out the answer to her question. You placed the two pieces in your palm and climbed into her lap, you unclasped your closed hand, producing the rings and you both smiled softly. She delicately drew a circle with her fingers in your palm before plucking them away, she studied them intently for a moment before your outstretched hand entered her view. 

You locked misty eyes, and she slowly slid them onto your ring finger, one at a time, gliding them down the soft skin until they met at the base. When they joined together in their final and ultimate resting spot, you both let out shaky breaths, swallowing the rising and stout lumps in your throats. 

“Home” she expelled with a shuddering breath, her eyes trained on yours. 

“Home” you nodded softly in agreement, closing the gap between you both, meeting her lips in a soft and yet equally profound kiss. 

--

As the evening wore on, the two of you had started to talk. It had felt constructive at first, both of you being open and honest after all this time. It had felt constructive until the inevitable had happened.

She was the first to breach the subject, prodding you, knowing that if you didn’t start to revisit the underlying issues and rupture the barriers, that it would ultimately be your downfall in six weeks time. It would unravel you when you were finally under the same roof once again, sharing the same bed, the same four walls. 

“God this is just fucking like you! You never let anything go!” you screamed across the room at her, your hands roughly tugging at the roots of your hair in sheer frustration. 

“Well we can’t just go on ignoring the massive elephant in the room. He died and you blame me for it” she shook as you both yelled back and forth, your voices growing hoarse. 

“I don’t!” the shout leaving your agape maw as soon as she spoke. The whole exchange was rapid and immediate, a whirlwind of frantic words and thoughts between you, all of it echoing through the room, rebounding from the thick walls. 

“Yes you do!” A shaky breath left her throat before she continued. “You can try and tell me that you don’t. But we both know you do, otherwise you wouldn’t have spat it at me last year. You questioned me to no end about that night, like it was a goddamn interrogation. Like I was a perp.”. The tears she had been holding back now began to cascade down her heated cheeks.

“Do you not think I do the same every waking moment?” A loud and expletive breath left her throat as she pressed her index finger to her own sternum. “That whatever you feel in your heart I don’t feel in mine?!”

“He wasn’t your dad though, was he?” it was undeserved and you knew it as soon as it left your mouth, but the spiteful part of your ego had shown itself. She had hurt you, and that unmellowed part of your being wanted to hurt her too. 

“That’s so unfair and uncalled for. You know how I felt.. fuck how I still feel about him” it was like a knife cutting through her, and she struggled to hinder her strangled speech. 

An extended moment of silence passed between the two of you, before either of you spoke again. The sounds of her sobs first broke the silence, your words and tone soon thereafter.

“Stop talking about him” you rasped, your voice wavering.

“Why? Because it’s too hard? I’ve got news for you, you can’t go on in silence like this, shoving it all down, battering yourself over all of it. It’s going to kill you.” She drew a quick and laboured breath before continuing. “None of us saw it coming. And instead of dealing with it, you retreated again.” She was exhausted, the yelling and screaming across the room had wounded her, it felt like a battle for you both, your eyes and throats raw, drowning as you struggled through the combat. She took a quick and shallow breath before she continued. 

“Do you know that your own mother rings me in the middle of the night in tears because she’s so worried about you? We’re all so fucking worried about you all the time!” She wiped the tears falling from her eyes before continuing, and you felt yourself being swallowed whole. “I see her and your aunt every other week, take them to dinner.. and they constantly ask about you.. how you are, ‘cause you won’t talk to them, you won’t talk to any of us! I only get little tidbits from Alex and Liv in the courthouse hallways.” She ran her hands over her exhausted and frayed face. “So the answer is always that you’re ‘good’, because I’m too scared to confront what’s actually going on with you, what’s been going on for a while.” 

“You left, not me. I was too damaged for you, wasn’t I? And you stand there so sanctimonious like and put it all back on me. Cause I was the problem all along wasn’t I?” Your voice wavered with hoarseness as you yelled back at her.

“You wanted me to move and uproot our whole lives..” 

“Yeah and you wouldn’t do it because I was always second fiddle to your career. It’ll be the same now won’t it? I can’t believe I let myself think for one second that this time it’d be different.” you cut her off before she could even finish, unwilling to hear her out, you’d travelled down this path six months ago, and you didn’t want to bear witness to her excuses anymore. 

“I can’t talk to you when you’re like this” she sighed heavily, running her hands over her face out of utter complete debility and frailness. 

“Go on, leave then. Get out!” you were rocking back and forth on the edge of the bed at this stage, your sobs uncontrollably fleeing your body in rapid succession, you felt your lungs constricting as you rocked, your breaths shallow, and your throat compressing. The four walls of the bedroom had felt comforting with her this weekend, but now they felt like a prison. 

“No. I’m not leaving you. I love you too much to leave you like this.” her resolve softened as she took in your frantic movements, you were desperately trying to protect yourself and she choked out a loud sob at the sight, her hand covering her mouth as the tears fell. 

“Love? You throw that around like it doesn't even mean anything anymore. Just fucking leave! Leave me alone!” You had begun to pace the room now, like an animal in a cage, and your wrath and indignation radiated off your body.

She came up behind you, wrapping her arms around you tight, pinning you to her. “I love you. I love you. I love you. I’m not going anywhere.” You struggled against her, your hands clawing at her arms, willing to be free. You fought her until you let the tears cascade down, your innermost demons and emotions flowing and rocking through you both as she held you tighter.

You both collapsed against the bed, her lips on your head, pressing soft kisses there as she tried to soothe you. “I know. It’s ok. Let it all out” she hummed into your hair.

You eventually turned in her arms when her grip softened, bringing your head to rest on her chest. Both of your tears had tired eachother out, and so you laid there like that for a while. Rising and falling in tandem with the others' breaths, holding each other close, clinging onto hope and any semblance of faith. Was it two wills? One mirror holding us dearer now. 

[ggidolsmuts]

Chocolate Love - Iz*One Yuri

Tags: Food play, temperature play, multiple orgasms, creampie

It's a slow Sunday afternoon, and the Italian place you frequent is absolutely crowded with people eating brunch.

"Hello, my name is Yuri, and I'll be your waitress for today!" You look up from the menu to see a cute girl smiling at you through her bangs, her long brown hair falling well past her shoulders. She looks very frazzled, struggling to keep up with the barrage of customers coming into the store.

"Hi Yuri, it's crazy busy isn't it, how are you?"

"Thank you for asking! Yes, it could be better, it’s like a fiesta in here! What would you like today?"

"Any recommendations?"

"Well, the carbonara pasta is very popular here, as is the lasagna. I personally like the seafood pasta best though."

"Yeah? I'll have the seafood pasta then."

"Good choice, I heard it's great." She fires you a wink. "Would you like anything to drink?"

"Sparkling water please."

"Great, I'll be right back with your water!" She says as she rushes back to the kitchen.

"Take your time, I'm in no rush!" She fires back at you a smile and an "OK" sign appreciatively. You pull out your favorite novel and start reading, but you don't get very far before she comes back soon with your water and a nervous look.

"Here's your sparkling water. Unfortunately the kitchen is slammed right now, so it'll be about a 30 minute wait for your pasta, is that okay?"

"Yep that's no problem."

Her smile of relief is wonderful, her eyes disappearing into half-moons. "Thank you so much for being understanding, is there anything else I can get you?"

"Yes, I need to get you a break somehow." It was cheesy, but she was too cute to resist.

"Aww thank you!" She slaps your shoulder lightly. "I appreciate it, I'll be back with your food as soon as it is out!" She leaves you in a hurry once again, and you flip open your book and continue from where you left off.

Time flies when you're reading a good book, and you're so engrossed in it that you don't hear Yuri come back with your food at all. She has to tap you on the shoulder before you notice her smiling at you.

"The book is that good? Here's your food, sorry for the wait!"

"Not at all, I could've kept waiting for longer, the book is that good!"

"Thank you for being so understanding, please enjoy your meal!"

You finish the pasta, it really was quite good. You put in a follow-up order, asking for a cup of cappuccino. You return to your book, but soon your attention is pulled away from it as you hear a angry shout a few tables over.

"What the fuck, look what you did!" You look over and see Yuri standing next to a customer, whose shirt is a smattering of white and brown. Yuri is still as a stone, her expression frozen in one of horror and shock.

"You piece of shit, look at my shirt, do you know how expensive this is?!" The customer's face gets redder and redder in anger.

"Hey, there's no need for that type of language, it was a mistake." You rise from your seat, making yourself heard. The customer makes their way to you.

"Why do you care, mind your own damn business!"

"It looks like you have my coffee all over your shirt, that's my damn business." Yuri bravely steps between the two of you, apologizing profusely to you and then the customer.

"I'm so sorry, I spilled your coffee, I'll be right back with another." She turns to the raging customer. "I'm so sorry, please accept my sincerest apologies!"

"I want to speak to your manager!"

"What seems to be the problem?" A well-dressed middle aged man makes his presence known, apparently the manager.

"Your useless waitress here just spilled coffee all over my shirt! I want the restaurant to comp my meal and pay for my shirt!"

"I'm afraid that's not possible, an employee of mine saw you stick your leg out and trip her deliberately. I will also not allow you to abuse my employees, please leave the premises immediately."

"You have no proof!"

"As a matter of fact, he does, you see those cameras?" You point out the security cameras filming the dining area.

"I- fuck you all!"

"Leave before I call the police." The customer leaves in a huff, flipping a bird at you all before storming out of the restaurant.

"I'm so sorry sir, thank you for helping Yuri, please allow me to get you another cappuccino."

"Not at all, and no need, it was well spent on that shirt. If I could settle that bill that would be great."

"Very well. Yuri, be sure to give him the employee discount, you should go home for today after that, I'm sorry you had to hear that." Yuri nods before running off, seemingly on the verge of tears.

"That is very gracious of you, thank you."

"You're welcome, thank you for your understanding, have a good day."

You return to your seat, and soon Yuri comes back with your check. You pay with your card and she comes back with the receipt.

"Hey, you're off after closing out my check right?" She nods at you, her expression sad and glum, her eyes already red with restrained tears.

"Do you... want to grab some coffee? That asshole took mine, and I feel like you could use one too."

"I... sure, that would be great, thanks." She gives you a weak smile as she hands you your card.

"Awesome, I'll wait for you outside."

You fiddle with your phone, growing a little anxious waiting. Is she crying in the staff locker room? Did she have second thoughts about it and give you the slip? Luckily those thoughts are dashed as you hear her voice behind you.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, I went to go apologize to my manager." You turn around and see Yuri dressed in a cute but daring red top, paired well with white shorts that really show off her slender legs, really opening your eyes to how gorgeous she is.

"Wow, the waitress uniform does not do you any favors."

"Sorry, I didn't plan on doing anything after work today, so..."

"You really need to stop saying sorry today, you look amazing!” Yuri turns a shade of pink, blushing at the compliment. “So, coffee?" She nods her head in response. You lead the way, showing her your favorite coffee shop. You order another cappuccino for yourself.

"What would you like?"

"I'll have an iced Americano."

"Sounds good." The two of you pick up your coffees and find a place to sit. Yuri still seems to be in a down mood, brooding as she prods at her drink with the straw.

"You okay?"

"Yes, it's just been a shitty day."

"Let's do something then, is there anything you want to do? Take your mind off things."

"I have ice cream at my place, do you want to-" She stops herself, looking at your eyebrow, raised almost to the sky. "No no, nothing like that! I kind of just want to curl up and watch a movie or something, if you don't mind that..." You break out into a smile, laughing at Yuri's awkwardness.

"Of course, lead the way." The petite girl seems happier at the prospect of ice cream, and she leads you quickly to her place.

"Make yourself comfortable, I'll be right back." Yuri heads into her bedroom while you look around her apartment - it was simple in furnishing, but had many small touches that highlighted the flair and preferences of their owner. Her sofa was cushy, and you find yourself sinking into it as you wait for her.

"Much better, would you like something to drink?" Yuri comes out in a simple t-shirt and shorts, swapping out her contact lenses for glasses - she looked like the perfect girl-next-door.

"Water would be great, still please."

"Hah, as if I had sparkling water. I'll be back with ice cream too!" She comes back quickly with two bowls of ice cream and cups of water. The two of you settle on her couch as she pulls up the K-drama of the month. Being your first time watching it, you watch with some interest. Yuri was completely engrossed, gasping with every outrageous action the actors made, and squealing when they finally kissed, doing this all between taking big bites of ice cream. The drama finishes eventually, and as you make to get up and perhaps take your leave, Yuri closes the distance to you, cuddling up to you as she chooses what to watch next.

"That was good, let's watch a movie now! You're not going to leave are you?" She looks up at you, leaning on your shoulder. Her eyes were wide open, her lips sticking forward in a slight pout, looking absolutely adorable. There was only one answer.

"Sure, why not?"

"Yay! Let's watch this, I heard it was good." Unfortunately for the two of you, Yuri's sources were wrong, and the movie was a complete bomb. You feel your eyelids slowly droop, and it appears that Yuri is feeling the same - as you raise your arm to gently wrap around her shoulders, she snuggles deeper into your body with a happy "Mmm..." You look down, watching her chest move slowly up and down, the young woman falling asleep. You enjoy the warm embrace of sleep and allow yourself to doze off too, the movie running itself to completion eventually.

--Two hours later--

You wake up, somehow finding yourself on your back. A weight was on your chest. You rub your eyes, greeted by the sight of Yuri smiling on top of you. You feel her gentle curves press delightfully against your body.

"Oh, you're awake? Let's eat more ice cream." Before you can say a word she gets up off you, returning with a bar of chocolate ice cream... and laying on top of you again!

"Yuri? What are you doing?"

"I'm eating ice cream." Her gaze is fixed on you, your gaze stuck on her and the ice cream wrapper she is slowly peeling off, revealing the chocolate bar underneath. She takes a bite sensually, licking the chocolate off.

"It tastes good oppa, you should try it!" She suggests, holding the bar out to you. You lean forward to take a bite, but she pulls it away from you. "Like this!" She teases you, taking a chunk off the bar and holding it in her mouth instead.

You close the distance between the two of you, taking a too-large chunk of the ice cream as you kiss her. You immediately regret it, the sudden chill stinging your teeth, and you break away. "Ah fuck that's cold!" You mouth hangs open, trying to let the cold out, before it is sealed once again by Yuri. Her tongue invades you, instantly warming you up, the heat of your tongues quickly melting the left over ice cream in your mouth.

"Mmmm... chocolate tastes better coming from someone else's mouth..." She wipes the little bit of chocolate syrup remaining on your lips with her thumb before sucking it clean with a pop.

"I really want this, but are you sure? You've had a rough day." You ask, trying to get her to save yourself from lust.

"I want you, you've been so nice to me the whole day... I like nice guys, plus I could use the stress relief. How about it?" You are powerless against any of Yuri's requests, and you hug her tightly to you as you easily sit up, allowing her to rest in your lap, hugging you like a koala. She takes off her glasses, allowing you to gaze into her round and sparkling eyes. You kiss her with need, and she reciprocates with desire, the twinkle in her eyes replaced with a shroud of lust.

Yuri feels a drip of liquid on her hand, and notices that the ice cream bar is melting. "Wait oppa, let me finish this ice cream first..." As she bites down, you take it from her, causing her to messily bite off a chunk of the ice cream bar before you throw it in a bowl on the table.

"Hey! You made a mess, look at this, I'm all chocolatey now, what are you going to do about it?"

"Well, I'll have to clean you up then." Your hands go to the bottom of her t-shirt, and you quickly help her out of the dirty clothes. Your eyes widen at the fact that she isn't wearing a bra, but you don't get much time to think about it before she pulls your head down. You dive at her neckline, kissing and licking the leftover chocolate on her chest. Then you go lower.

"Oh! You're good at cleaning... I think I'm still dirty though." She dips her fingers in the bowl of half-melted ice cream, smearing her breasts with them, leaving a swirl around her nipples before thrusting them in your face.

"Oh no, this calls for more cleaning!" You oblige, enjoying Yuri's perky and now tasty breasts. You make sure to clean her chocolate covered nipples too, licking and sucking them clean before teasing her with your fingers. "I think your shorts are dirty too."

"I agree!" She hastily gets off you, shrugging out of her shorts.

"Woops, looks like your panties are dirty too!" You joke, putting a little bit of melted ice cream on her panties.

Yuri leans in, whispering hotly into your ear. "That's nothing... but I am wet." She slides the fabric off her legs, throwing it at your shirt. "Oh no, I think your shirt is dirty too!" You lift your arms, helping her remove the shirt before you get up and remove the rest of your clothes.

"Delicious..." She licks her lips as you reveal your naked body to her. She kisses you greedily, her hands roaming your body - you share in her need, your hands feeling all of her petite and slender body. The two of you naturally end up lying on the couch again, this time with you over her, gently pushing her into the couch.

"To think you were such a clean and cute waitress... I think you could be a bit dirtier." You take the popsicle stick with the last bit of chocolate ice cream on it and press it against the bare skin of her crotch, just above her slit.

"Ahh! That's cold!" Yuri squeals at the sudden coldness. You quickly replace the chill with the heat of your lips and tongue, kissing and licking right above her pussy, replacing her squeals with moans, her shivering replaced with quivers of pleasure.

"Ah, some of it is still there, let me clean it up for you." Yuri's soft moans are replaced with louder groans when you clean her folds, your tongue swiping over her heat, gently flicking her clit, sending sharp jolts of pleasure up her spine.

"Oh oppa, lick me more!" Her vocalizations get louder and louder as you lick her faster. Her hands find your head, pushing you down into her. You feel her fingers grip you tighter and tighter, curling and twisting your hair almost painfully. Sensing that she is close, you pull away from her, looking at the flushed and bewildered face of Yuri.

"Fuck oppa, why did you stop, I was so close!"

"I think you've been very dirty, both outside and... inside." As you finish your sentence, you slide two fingers into her wet pussy, feeling her walls pulse around you, so close to orgasm. Whimpers flow out of her as you tease the young woman further.

"I think this is clean enough, or are you still dirty?"

"I'm still dirty... deeper in."

"Here?" Your fingers delve deeper in her, curling a little.

"D-deeper!"

"What about this?"

"Just a little bit more..."

"Here?" You prod against her walls further, the texture a little different from before.

"Oh yes, right there, please oppa!"

"Let me clean it for you." You vibrate your fingers in Yuri, repeatedly stimulating her sweet spot, driving her quickly to the edge of climax.

"Fuck me oppa, please, don't stop, don't stop!" Her breaths grow shorter and harsher, her body twitching with pleasure - with a final plunge you push your fingers firmly against her g-spot. Yuri jerks and arcs her back off the couch, as if your fingers single-handedly lifted her upper body. With a clear and loud cry your name leaves her lips as you literally push Yuri to orgasm. You hug her arcing body against you, kissing her breasts as your fingers keep moving inside her.

You continue to finger fuck her trembling body while hugging her, not letting her relax against the couch. She is reduced to chanting your name while you fingers slosh in and out of her drenched and slick tunnel. You watch with satisfaction as Yuri cums a second time with a huge shudder, coating your fingers with even more honey before going limp in your arms, panting heavily to regain her breath. You pull your fingers out of her, licking them clean in front of her unfocused eyes.

"Wow, I think you taste better than chocolate." She blushes before smiling cheekily back at you.

"Oppa, I think your cock is dirty, you need to clean it somewhere."

"Oh? And where should I clean it?"

"Well you just cleaned me down there... put it in me, I'll clean it for you!"

"I don't know..." You feign reluctance, teasing your head at her entrance.

"Come on, please fuck me already!" Yuri gives voice to her need, and you're more than happy to satisfy her hunger by piercing her, your cock filling her smoothly with a thrust. The two of you moan out your pleasure for the other.

"You're so tight!"

"Nnngh you're so big... so much bigger than fingers..." She whimpers. You hold yourself still in her, letting her get used to you.

"Mmm... okay, let me try to clean you." Even just holding yourself in her drives you insane as you feel her walls rhythmically clamp down on you firmly before relaxing, sending waves of pleasure through you.

"You feel so good... fuck how are you so good?" You speak your thoughts out loud, moaning like you were fucking her, except you have not moved in her at all! With a devilish grin Yuri kisses you before whispering in your ear.

"It'll feel even better when you start moving."

You don't need any encouragement, and soon you are pounding Yuri into the bed, your hips crashing into her petite frame. She tries to time her walls clenching on you with your thrusts, but she soon gives up, her voice ringing throughout the apartment as she enjoys the sensations of you pumping into her hard and fast.

"Yes, fuck me, keep fucking me! Oh, oh, oh, I-I can't, I'm cumming!" With a shriek Yuri curls up against you before flexing and arcing against you hard, her whole body coiling and uncoiling like a spring. Her velvety muscles grip you tighter than ever, and you feel a wave of fluids cover your already slick cock. You kiss her rosy pink lips, slowing your pace down, watching her body wriggle and writhe from the aftershocks of her most recent orgasm. But even the slow pace can't stop your rapidly approaching climax.

"Yuri, I'm close, where should I cum?"

"Do you know what my favorite pastry is?"

"Cream pie?" You ask hopefully, making your desires known, so close to orgasm you're not sure you can pull out.

"No, that's a lame- Mmm! Answer..." She moans as she feels you speeding up, unable to control yourself. You shut your eyes, trying to stave off your orgasm for as long as possible. You feel her kiss your neck before continuing.

"But you're close, it's cream puffs... go ahead, fill me up." With her last words you feel the pleasurable rush and relief of not having to hold back any longer, and you bury yourself deep in her before cumming.

"Fuck, Yuri!" You flood her tight tunnel with cum, turning her insides from pink to white. Her walls massage you instinctively with every orgasmic thrust, in time with your throbbing cock, sending the last few bolts of pleasure through your body. You hear Yuri whine and groan in satisfaction as you collapse on top of her, feeling her warm body rock up against you, trying to extract all the pleasure she can. You nuzzle in her neck, feeling her pant against your body. The two of you lay there for a while, basking in the afterglow of a good fuck.

You get up off her and admire her body and your work, your seed slowly seeping out of her slender body.

"Damn... you really filled me with cream... I haven't felt this full... ever!" She gasps as she continues to feel herself drain on to the couch.

"So can I call you my little cream puff next time?" She throws her t-shirt at you in reply.

"Ugh I'll deal with the couch later, I'm so sticky from the ice cream." She gets up, but not before shaking her pert butt at you. "I'm going to take a shower, want to join me?"

You follow her to the bathroom and hug her from behind, making sure she feels your cock returning to hardness. You kiss her neck, slowly pushing her against the bathroom wall. One of your hands winds and wraps her long hair into a grip, gently pulling her back, while the other holds on to her slim waist.

"I don't know, we seem pretty clean to me, we shouldn't waste water... I think we need to get dirtier first."

A/N: I definitely went a little overboard with the food stuff lol, thank you for reading!

[boltwrites]

Slow And Easy

Fandom: The Legend of Korra Pairing: Bolin / Reader (AFAB, gender neutral) Rating: E Tags: Pegging, First Time Bottoming, Praise Kink

Anon Requested: currently h word for bolin. if ur comfortable with it PLEASE write abt bolin getting pegged 😌

A/N: Anon I think you dropped this: 👑. This was very fun to write, I went a little crazy with it, since it’s 2.6k of pure smut. Can you tell I love top!reader yet?

A/N 2: Sorry for the repost everyone! This wasn’t showing up in the tags, so I had to post it again. I apologize for any inconvenience!

By clicking read more you verify that you are at least 18 years old

“Bo, you have to relax for me,” you breathed, nipping gentle at his neck before pressing soft kisses to his jaw. Bolin shook under you, tilting his head to let you at more of his neck, but every time your strap rubbed against his thigh his breath hitched.

“’M trying-“ he assured you, but he voice had the edge of a plead, as his pulse raced under your lips. You smiled against his neck, shifting so that your leg pressed between his own thighs, his cock warm against your hip as he canted into your body.

You knew he was nervous. He had admitted to you when you brought up this idea that he had never bottomed for anyone before. You knew you had to take extra time and care with your precious boyfriend, to make sure he was safe and comfortable. You wanted nothing more than for him to feel perfect and loved in your arms, so you were going to take your time with him.

You rocked against him one last time, just to hear him moan low in your ear, before you were kissing down his neck, sucking a mark into his collarbone before your lips trailed lower, across his broad chest. Your hands followed, tracing along his sides, feeling how strong and firm his body was beneath you, even as his heart raced and his chest heaved with his already labored breathing. You licked a stripe over a nipple and Bolin keened above you, pressing into your touch. He was so pretty, you could hardly stand it, but you had promised yourself not to move too fast.

You kissed lower, over his stomach, leaving open-mouthed kisses as Bolin’s breath caught in his throat, his muscles twitching under your ministrations. Your fingers traced his hips, before settling on his thighs, squeezing light as you took a break, resting your cheek on his hip just to look up at your beautiful boyfriend.

Bolin was red all the way down to his chest, and once you stopped your barrage of kisses, he glanced down at you before quickly looking away with a low moan. His hips rolled, and you knew exactly where he wanted you to touch.

“Please, Y/n-“ he all but whispered, his hands reaching down to tangle in your hair. You leaned into the touch as he tugged lightly, humming at the stimulation, but instead of complying, you sent him a devious smirk back.

“Not yet, baby,” you replied, kissing at his hip. Bolin groaned, his head hitting he pillow with a soft thud. You chuckled against his skin – he could be so dramatic, but you couldn’t complain – he was adorable nonetheless.

You continued your journey down his body, your hands sliding between his thighs, purposefully avoiding his hard dick, instead spreading his legs and kissing over his hip, down his thighs. His breath hitched as you nestled your face between them, sucking a mark high on his leg as he whined, tugging at your hair to will you higher.

You finally gave in to his desires, lifting his legs over your shoulders for a better angle before you licked a long, slow stripe up his dick. Bolin keened above you, arching and trying his best not to crush you as you kissed over his tip. You loved how reactive he was, and took the opportunity to reach for the lube you had tossed on the bed earlier, slicking your fingers as you mouthed along the side of his length, only leading to more needy noises, the fingers in your hair tugging harsher.

“Bo, are you ready for me?” you asked, pressing a single finger against his entrance. Bolin’s eyes snapped wide open, a shaky breath rattling his frame before his jaw set, his head turned to the side. He tugged at your hair gentle, biting his lip and nodding. He was so cute, but you wanted to hear him say it.

“Let me hear you,” you offered, soft and gentle. Bolin nuzzled into the pillow, canting his hips towards you, pressing back against your intrusion despite how deep he was blushing.

“Yes, I’m ready, please-“ he pleaded. You grinned, pressing a kiss to his hip before pressing your finger in, slow and easy, so his body could adjust. To take the edge off the strange sensation, you used your free hand to guide his cock to your mouth, pressing your lips to the tip as you took him slowly. He was thick and heavy in your mouth, and you moaned soft as you slid your lips lower, pushing your finger in further as you went.

Bolin cried out at the twin sensations, his thighs pressed tight against your ears, his nails scratching against your scalp. You hummed against his weight in your mouth, gazing at him through your lashes. He was a wreck already, and you loved it.

“More-“ he groaned, canting his hips again, his whole body shaking with the effort. And who were you to deny him?

You pressed a second finger against him, alongside the first, taking him deep as you pressed in. His dick twitched in your mouth and you sucked upwards, applying pressure that made him keen and relax against the intrusion, until you pressed into him deep, scissoring your fingers to stretch him.

Bolin moaned, almost pained for the amount of sensations you were bombarding him with. You gave him one last bob of your head, more to feel his weight and heat than anything else, then released him with a pop, gasping as you rested your head against his thigh, instead focusing fully on finding his prostate.

He whined in protest, but the noise turned to a moan in an instant as you thrust your fingers out and back in, searching for the spot that would make him keen. You tried again, and again, biting your lip in concentration, until finally-

“Y/n!” Bolin’s body went taunt, his hips twitching involuntarily as his thighs squeezed you, back arched as he gasped out the loudest, most attractive moan you had ever heard. As soon as it left his mouth, he covered his lips with a hand, eyes wide with embarrassment and shock. You shook your head, pressing against the spot again just to see his eyes roll in the back of his head as he bit the meat of his thumb.

“Bo, I want to hear you,” you demanded, rocking your fingers in and out gentle but firm, repeatedly thrusting against his spot as he writhed under you, caught between moaning and trying to stifle his noises.

“You sound so pretty, baby, please-“ you begged, because he was so beautiful like this, laid out under you, and he was especially pretty when he moaned so loud for you, so needy. At the praise, Bolin removed the hand from his face, instead clutching his sheets in a white-knuckle grip.

“Please-ah!” Bolin cried out again as you pressed into him, his hips thrusting, his dick falling heavy against his stomach as he fucked into nothing. “Y/n, please, I’ll be good, I just need-“

“What do you need, baby?” you asked, cool and collected as you pressed a chaste kiss to his thigh, his hip, spreading your fingers more as you thrust out of him, curling them just right as you pressed in, slower now, just to see him shake.

“More! I need more, please, fuck me-“

His voice was gruff, and it cracked as he spoke, probably from the effort of holding in all his moans. You grinned against his skin, offering one last kiss before you pulled back.

“You are being good for me, aren’t you? Can you do one more thing for me, Bo?” you asked, nuzzling against him. He nodded violently, clutching at the sheets.

“Yes, anything, anything for you-“ he promised, his legs shaking with need as your fingers stilled inside of him.

“I want you to ride me.”

His eyes blew wide, his lips parted in shock.

“I-I don’t-“

“I know you can do it, baby. I’ll help you. We’ll go slow, and you’ll look gorgeous in my lap.”

Bolin blushed dark, biting his lip and nodding again. He was so shy, whenever you asked to look at him, or told him he was beautiful. You always wanted him to feel gorgeous, wanted to let him know exactly how much he drove you wild like this.

“O-OK,” he stuttered, pressing his damp curls into the pillow as he hid his face. You kissed his thigh one last time, before sliding your fingers out of him. He groaned, and his body shuddered at the loss, but you knew he wouldn’t be left wanting for long.

It took a moment to switch positions, as Bolin’s arms buckled under him, but you helped him onto your lap, directing his hands to the headboard to give him some stability. You slicked the strap, holding his hips as Bolin hovered over you, shivering from the attention.

“Slow and easy now,” you encouraged. “I’ve got you.”

Bolin’s breath was shaky as you pressed the tip against him, and you felt him tense.

“Relax, baby,” you rubbed gentle circles into his hips, “You’re doing amazing.”

He shuddered under your touch, the praise encouraging him to slowly lower his hips onto you. He gasped as he sank lower, his thighs shaking as the strap pressed deeper, knocking the wind out of him by the time he was fully seated. His strong arms, fully capable of holding him up, gripped weak at the headboard.

“Oh, that’s perfect, baby, just like that. How do you feel?”

“I-“ Bolin’s words caught in his throat as he rocked his hips forward and then back, all but collapsing on top of you. You pressed your hands against his chest, supporting him as a moan was all but ripped from his throat.

“Oh, it’s- it’s a lot,” he admitted, his voice low and shaking with his effort. “In a-a good way.” The blush was still ripe on his cheeks, over his ears and down his chest, but as he canted his hips back against you, the embarrassment fell away, leaving only desire as he met your gaze.

“Good,” you breathed. Oh, he was so pretty, his curls sticking to his forehead, his whole body covered in a light sheen of sweat. As he rolled his hips, grinding against you, his cock bounced against his stomach, and the muscles of his stomach and chest flexed as he ground his hips down. He was so very pretty.

“Ready for more?” you asked, gripping at his hips, sliding your hands a little lower to squeeze at his ass. Bolin nodded, never ceasing his gentle rocking.

“Lift yourself up slow. I want to see you fuck yourself for me,” you breathed. You couldn’t hide how much this was affecting you. It didn’t matter that you weren’t receiving direct physical pleasure from this – the way Bolin was so eager to take you, and the look on his face was more than enough to take your breath away.

Bolin bit his lip, but nodded, straining as he used the headboard to help lift himself up. He whined at the feeling, before letting go and falling back onto your lap. He let his full weight do the work, and he cried out, spearing himself on you far too quickly.

“Bo, easy-“ you leaned forward, worried. You didn’t want him to hurt himself, but when you met his eyes, all you saw in them was lust, his pupils blown.

“I got it-“ he assured you, moving one hand to your stomach to balance himself as he slid up, this time with a steadier drop as he fucked down. After a few more slow, steady strokes, Bolin dropped down and moaned, his whole body shaking. You smirked at him, sliding your hands up and down his thighs.

“Oh yeah, Bo, right there,” you encouraged him, but he didn’t need it. He cried out when he lifted again, dropping down at that same angle. He legs were shaking as he steadied both of his hands on your stomach, bouncing up and down on the strap, shivering and moaning with no filter. You guided him with your hands, wrapping over his hips, and the next time he pressed down, you thrust up to meet him, and he cried out so loud, his thighs collapsing out from under him.

“Y/n, fuck, please-“

You knew he couldn’t keep this up, and he didn’t have to. You took initiative instead, wrapping your arms around his waist and flipping the both of you over. Bolin practically sobbed as you manhandled him, pressing the strap deeper, scrabbling for purchase as his nails raked over your shoulders.

“You ready for me, baby?” you asked, hooking one of his knees over your elbow for a deeper angle. Bolin groaned at the stretch, wrapping his other leg around your hip.

“Oh, Y/n, yes- ah!” he cried out as you pressed in, his back arching as the new angle pressed against him easier, sending him into shivers as he clutched at you, moaning low and loud.

“You look so pretty, baby boy,” you mumbled, pressing close to him as you thrust in and out, picking up speed as you made sure to keep your angle steady, hitting his spot every time. Bolin pulled you closer, moaning your name, arching beautifully into your pace. His strong arms shivered as you gripped at the sheets, using them as leverage to fuck him harder.

“You take it so well, Bo,” you breathed, kissing at his neck, sloppy over his jaw and cheeks. He keened at a particularly hard thrust, rubbing his neglected dick against your stomach. “I love you so much, Bo, so very much,” you kissed him deep, swallowing his moans as his mouth opened for you. He was a wreck, unable to do more than just let you take him, and you did. When you pulled away, he gasped for breath, struggling for words.

“Lo-love you-“ he stuttered, completely lost in it as you speared him again and again. He was so perfect, and you wanted him to feel as good as possible.

You wrapped a hand around his cock, and he almost screamed, throwing his head back into the pillow with surprising force. You had to lean back for a proper angle to get the job done, but it was worth it to watch as Bolin struggled to keep his composure, losing himself on your strap.

You fucked him deep as you worked his dick, slow and even, twisting at the tip, until his breathing was ragged and he was gripping at the sheets, crying your name over and over as the tension built, his hips stuttering as his body warred between thrusting into your fist and grinding down against your strap.

Finally, Bolin arched high and you thrust into him hard once more. He moaned, face pressed into the pillows as he came in thick, hard bursts, painting his chest as you worked him through it, slowing your hips until he was done, sticky, panting, and completely exhausted in your bed.

“Good?” you asked, a twinge of a tease in your voice as you smirked at him. Bolin could barely open his eyes to look at you. He opened his mouth to answer you, but no sound came out. He was toast.

You giggled at him, your gaze full of love. You couldn’t have asked for a more wonderful, adorable, boyfriend.

[wefoundloveunderthelight]

The Love Cruise - by GleefullyCaptainSwan 

Read on AO3: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7

Or on FF

Tagging:   @teamhook @kmomof4 @stahlop @lfh1226-linda

Chapter 7: A Sky Full of Stars

Emma’s eyes squeezed shut as the door creaked closed behind her, letting the latch click quietly in place. She quickly toed off her shoes, setting them down softly in her closet, grabbing a pair of pajamas and tossing them over her head in the darkness of her room. She tiptoed toward her bed, pulling back the covers just as the table light clicked on.

“You did not think you could disappear all night and then try and sneak into bed without an explanation, did you?”

Emma’s shoulders sagged forward with a groan. “I’m not sneaking, I just didn’t want to disturb you.”

She turned to see Ruby sitting up in bed with her arms crossed in front of her.

“We waited for hours for you to show up tonight. Where were you?”

“I’m not a child, I just didn’t feel like dancing.” She sat down on her bed.

“So, you were just out, walking until…” She looked over at the clock. “Oh my God, Emma it’s 4am.” She leaned toward her. “Is that a hickey?”

Emma’s hand instinctively went to her neck. “What? No, of course not.”

“Emma, I know a hickey when I see one, and that one is right above your breast.” Emma looked down, seeing the reddened bruise above her breast line, she blushed, remembering Killian’s mouth sucking on her flesh earlier this evening. “You’re blushing. Oh my God, Emma, who is he? Have I met him? Holy shit, did you have sex?”

“Ruby my God, would you stop with all the questions.”

“Well, I know it wasn’t Graham, cuz he was with me all night asking questions about you. And I thought you didn’t like this Walsh guy?”

“Eww no.” She answered in disgust.

“Ok, so it’s not Graham and it’s not Walsh.”

“I’m not talking about this.” She grinned, lying down on her pillow, and pulling the blankets up over her neck.

“I can’t believe out of all of us, you’re the first one to get laid out here.”

“Good night, Ruby.” Emma protested.

“Emma you have to tell me something, anything.”

“I suppose I should thank you.” Emma laughed.

“Me? What did I do?”

“If it hadn’t been for those condom’s you gave me, tonight would have never happened.” She turned over toward the wall, a smile growing on her face. “Though I’m out now, so I’m going to have to get more from you.”

“Emma, oh my God, I gave you a packet of five.”

“Night Ruby.” She heard her friend mumble and turn off the light. She was sure she would face a barrage of questions tomorrow, but tonight she needed to sleep, her body exhausted, her skin still on fire from the memory of his mouth, the touch of his hands, and the warmth of his body.

~*~

Killian managed to get to the bridge an hour later than he normal would have. “Evening Captain.” His first officer greeted him as he reached the bridge at 4 am.

“Evening, Smee. I apologize for my lateness, I was…” He paused. “Delayed.”

“No problem, sir, it has been quiet tonight.”

“Get some sleep sir, I have the helm.” He dismissed his first mate, taking a seat in the Captain’s chair and staring out at the moonlit water. He was still hours from sunrise, his favorite time of the morning. He should be tired, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep even if he tried. His mind was still on Emma, he had only just left her, but he longed to still be holding her, snuggling into her blonde locks, breathing her in as she nestled into his embrace.

He needed to do something, show her that the night had meant something to him. Beyond the carnal activities she had provided, he enjoyed spending time with the woman, talking to her, getting to know her.

Was that what he was doing with Emma?

Did he intend to get to know her, did he want to continue to know her past these next 8 days?

“Excuse me, Quartermaster?” The man turned toward him. “You are younger than me, you must have experience with members of the opposite sex.”

The man looked at him questioningly. “Yes, sir. I suppose I do.”

“Excellent, if you wanted to tell a woman that you had a pleasant evening with her, without also scaring her off, what would you do?”

“Flowers are always nice, Sir.”

“Flowers, why the bloody hell didn’t I think of that? Thank you, Mate.”

Killian scribbled down directions with a note to Emma and sent it with the Deck Cadet to place the order with the florist. He may not have intended to “hook up” with anyone on board, but he’d be damned if he was going to be anything but a gentleman, now that he had.

~*~

“Can you get your manager or something because I need this taken care of?” Emma stood firmly at the desk, holding the large painting in her hands.

“Yes Ma’am, one moment please.” The woman disappeared behind a door and returned with the man who had approached Killian the night they first met.

“How can I help you Ma’am?”

“As I was explaining to her, this painting was delivered to my room and I need to return it to the owner.”

“I’m sorry, was it delivered to your room by accident?”

“Well, no, it was gifted to me by another guest, but I don’t want the gift.”

“Can’t you just return it to the person who gave it to you?”

Emma exhaled, “I would love to, but seeing as I don’t know his last name, nor do I want to interact with him again, I would prefer you do it.”

“Alright, so you don’t exactly know who the guest is, but you want me to find the guest and give them back this painting?”

“I know who the guest is…well I know his first name.” She paused. “Look, I don’t want this damn thing, do you? Cuz I’d be happy to just give it to you.”

“Is there a problem here?”

Emma squeezed her eyes shut when she heard his voice behind her, spinning around she smiled up at him. “No problem, I just need to get rid of this damned painting, and as I was telling these two, I only know his first name, but I need this to get back to him.” She shoved the note that Walsh had left with the painting into Killian’s hands.

“And as I was just telling the lady, if we don’t know the guests full name then we…” Robin was explaining.

Killian crumpled the note in his hands. “We will take care of it.” he added quickly.

“Exactly. Wait, what?” Robin turned toward him incredulously.

“Please take the information she has, and we will make sure to find the mysterious suitor to return the artwork. If you’ll both excuse me, I have a tour to attend.” Killian nodded to Robin, and then met her gaze, passing the crumpled note back to her before winking and walking toward the atrium.

Emma pushed the painting across the desk, smoothing out the note to lay on top of it, “As you can see by the note, his name is Walsh. I have to go.” She turned and ran off in the direction Killian was headed, ignoring Robin’s protests behind her.

She caught up to him as she turned the corner opening into the large atrium. “Killian.” He turned toward her.

“Emma.” He said with a grin. “Sleep well?”

She bit her lip, “Very.” They began walking through the atrium. “Thank you for assisting back there, I just can’t have that painting in my room anymore.”

“Well at least he didn’t lie in his note to you. You are very beautiful.”

She blushed, “That was not the point.”

“Of course not.” He paused his steps, coming to a halt. “I apologize for needing to leave, but I really do have a tour.”

“I know, I thought I would try and warn you first, I’m in the tour, with my friends.”

“Oh, I see.” He stammered out nervously.

“And my brother.” She added.

“Oh my, and do they…”

“Know that I spent the evening being ravished by the Captain? No.”

He smirked, “Ravished, you say?”

She felt her cheeks heat up before she ran off ahead of him to join her group who were getting an introduction from the ships Cruise Director, Regina, who was leading their tour.

Her friends were waiting for her at the tour start location. “There you are, I wasn’t sure if you were going to skip out on us again.” Will whined as she approached him and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

“And miss seeing you, never.” She saw Belle standing next to him and smiled.

“I convinced him to take a scuba lesson with me tomorrow.”

Emma peered at Will. “Oh really? I am impressed, you told me you would never do something that required you to breathe under water.”

“Oi, don’t rub it in, I’m still not happy about it.” Emma winked at Belle as he continued to complain.

“Good morning ladies and gentlemen, I am your Captain, Killian Jones and I’ll be joining your tour today, Ms. Mills does an excellent tour and I try and join when I can to answer any of your questions.” His eyes were directed at her, his smile spreading across his face before he quickly looked away. “How many of you have been on a cruise before?” When there were not many hands raised, he laughed. “Seems we are all newbies.” He paused.

“Oi, you mean you’ve never Captain’d a ship before?”

“Not a cruise ship, no, my last job was just a small skip, but before that I was sailing battleships, I can assure you, I am quite experienced and it’s much easier to sail a cruise ship when there are no enemies lurking around the corner.”

“Like pirates?” Will responded and Killian chuckled.

“I haven’t seen any pirates on the waters since we set sail, I’ll be sure to alert you if I see any.”

Emma jabbed her elbow into Will’s side, “Stop harassing him.”

“If we have no more questions, I’ll let Regina lead the way.” She followed him down the hallway, Regina pointing out different parts of the ship, Killian stopping to answer all the questions they had. Regina was a very experienced tour guide, but she preferred her private tour with Killian better.

When they got to the bridge, Emma wandered through the area, stopping to remember the kiss she shared with the Captain at the helm.

“I bet you get all the ladies being a Captain.” Will continued to barrage Killian at every step.

She watched as his head dipped, a blush darkening his cheeks as Regina spoke. “Generally, the Captain is much too busy with the duties of the ship to chase women.”

“Is it against the rules for a Captain to date his passengers?” Ruby flirted in the Captain’s direction.

“It is definitely frowned upon and a rule the Captain employs with all of his crew.” Regina answered once again.

“Too bad, he’s hot as hell.” Her friend whispered into her ear.

“Shh.” Emma looked up to see Killian grinning at her before showing Will how to steer the ship. She could feel her ears burning, pulling her hair over them to hide the blush.

The tour continued to the back of the theater, Regina providing her background as an entertainer on her previous ship while everyone watched the crew building a large staircase for the show that evening. Emma saw Killian standing at the back of the group and quietly made her way beside him.

“A Captain who doesn’t follow his own rules? Interesting.” She said softly.

“It is quite scandalous.” He said, staring straight ahead. “In fact, I broke many rules just sneaking you down to my quarters.”

Her head shot up to meet his eyes, a smirk deviously planted on his face. “You are a bad boy.”

“I am behaving quite terribly indeed. Perhaps we should end this at once?” He sang softly in her direction.

“Considering you have already broken so many rules, it’s not like obeying them now will change anything.”

“Are you suggesting I continue with this disreputable behavior?”

“That depends?”

“On what, love?”

She started to walk back toward her friends before glancing in his direction, “Whether or not your balcony is involved.” He licked his lips and Emma’s heart rate increased as she joined her group, trying to ignore the pounding in her chest. She was playing a very dangerous game.

What was it about this man that made her feel so bold?

“You said you sailed a battleship before, were you in the Navy?” Emma tuned back into the conversation as her brother approached Killian.

“Aye, I was discharged a little more than two years ago.”

“Must be crazy going from a ship like that to a luxury liner. Sailing in the line of duty is much different than doing so for pleasure I would assume.”

“Aye, but there is still much to be done. In the Navy we fight for each other, we sail to survive. Out here, I carry precious cargo that needs to be tended to. Either way, my job is to ensure the safety for all onboard.”

“My brother is a cop, so you are speaking his language.” She joked, inserting herself into the conversation.

“A very commendable profession indeed.” Killian added with a nod.

“Our friend, Graham over there is a Sheriff. Been trying to set my sister up with him all week. She needs a little law and order in her life.”

Emma paled and choked out a laugh. “Ok, enough information David, I’m sure Kil…the Captain is not interested in my love life.” Killian’s devious grin had her nervously shifting on her feet, her arousal making her uncomfortable.

“Good luck in your endeavors for your sister, David.” Killian nodded in her direction and went back to the larger group.

As soon as he was out of range, Emma slapped her brother on the arm. “Oh my God, don’t tell everyone you meet that you are trying to hook me up with random men.” Emma scolded her brother.

“Come on Emma, live a little. Graham would be very suitable for you.”

“That sounds like a code word for boring and not at all interesting to me.”

“Not everyone can be a criminal whisking you off your feet into a life of danger and intrigue.”

She narrowed her eyes, “I made one mistake, that doesn’t mean I need you to control my life going forward.”

He stepped back, “You’re right. I’m just trying to find you a nice man.”

“I can do that on my own.”

“You have a type, Emma. And it’s not usually good for you.”

“I appreciate that you care about me David, I do. And I love you, but please let me handle my own love life.”

“What love life? You avoid men like the plague, I’ve yet to see you interact with anyone on board this ship. I worry about you being alone and Henry not having a father as he grows up.”

“Woah, look, I’m here to have fun, which by the way, I am, thank you for asking, but I’m not here looking for a dad for my kid.” She knew her brother meant well, but he tended to go overboard when he was playing the father figure role. “David, you’re supposed to be here for fun too, not babysit me. You don’t have to take care of me.”

“I know, you’re right. I just want to see you happy. You deserve that. You do so much for Henry, I want you to have something for Emma too.”

“I appreciate that. And I have been talking to people on this trip. You aren’t with me 24/7.”

“Oh really, and who would you be talking to, is it this Walsh guy I keep hearing about?”

“God no, not him. But maybe I’ve been enjoying time with someone, but we are most definitely not going to talk about it.” She winked at him and then grabbed him by the hand, dragging him back to the group.

~*~

Killian managed to get through the rest of the tour unscathed, doing his best to avoid any additional awkwardness with Emma. When the tour ended, he parted ways with the passengers, reluctantly leaving Emma with her friends, joining Regina in the atrium.

“Very well done, you give a great tour.”

“Thank you, I’ve trained hard for this job, it’s nice to hear someone appreciate it.” He laughed lightly, walking toward the Purser desk to check in on Robin. “However, maybe next time you should work on not making eyes with the passengers.”

“I beg your pardon. I was not making eyes at anyone.”

She scoffed. “Whatever you say, Captain.”

“There you are.” Robin announced, popping up at the desk. “How the bloody hell am I supposed to find a passenger with no last name.” he looked up and saw Regina standing next to him. “Hello, love.”

“Good afternoon, Robin. Please tell me what reason we have for trying to find a passenger with no last name?”

“No need, I can find him, I’ve seen him around.” Killian interrupted.

“How do you know who he is based off his first name, there has to be more than one Walsh on board, how can you be certain it is the man who gave this woman a very nice painting?”

“Let me worry about it.” He picked up the painting from behind the desk.

“Do I want to know what any of this is about?” Regina asked.

“I’m not sure I want to know what this is about.” Robin complained.

“For once it’s not you that’s acting shady, Rob.” Regina smiled in Robin’s direction, which caused Killian’s eyebrow to rise in surprise.

“I can if you want me too.” Robin flirted leaning into the counter as Regina tapped her fingers on the desk.

“Maybe after a few drinks.” She turned toward him, ignoring his questioning gaze, and walked away.

“Um, suddenly she’s calling you Rob?” Killian inquired.

“Why do you know who Walsh is? And does this have anything to do with you not attending the crew party last night, or that blonde woman I keep finding you with?”

Killian tapped his ear, realizing it was better for him to retreat than continue his discussion. “Fortunately, I have Captain duties to perform, so I will see you later, Mate.” He shouted over his shoulder, carrying the painting with him as he whistled a tune.

~*~

“Ruby says that you’re a bouncer at the bar you guys work at?” Emma looked up as Graham spoke. She was sitting nervously alone with the man at the bar. Everyone conveniently coming up with plans they had as soon as the two of them sat down at the table.

“Um, yeah, I know it’s not as cool as being a Sheriff or a cop, but I like it.”

“I have never really thought of my job as cool. Frightening at times, but never cool.” He paused. “It doesn’t really give me a lot of time to do things on my own, like date or have a life.”

“Yes, trust me I understand that. I’m not sure if everyone told you, but I have a son at home, he’s six.”

“I think I heard David mention him in passing. That must be difficult to handle on your own.”

“He’s a great kid, and everyone helps out, honestly I don’t know what I would do without my friends. Ruby and her mom babysit all the time. David is always helping out with yardwork and repairs, August gives me time off for parent teacher conferences, soccer games, and Will…” She chuckled thinking about all the times that Will had stepped in to be the father figure Henry needed when he didn’t have one. “Will has been the best friend anyone could ever ask for.”

She smiled at him, he was very attractive, friendly, and she could tell he was an honest and good man. But Emma wasn’t interested in him no matter how much she tried to seek an attraction like her brother and Ruby kept pushing for. Maybe it was because he was too settled, too secure in what he wanted and had in his life. Emma knew that wasn’t fair, she should want that in a man.

“It’s nice to get help from those around you. Perhaps you would have room for others who would be interested in participating in your life.”

“I’m gonna stop you right there, Graham. You seem like a really nice guy…”

“But…” He laughed.

“I’m not really looking for a relationship, I’m not in that place in my head. And you seem like the kind of guy that would want that, and that’s great, any girl would be lucky to get that from you, but that’s just not me.”

“Ah. The kiss of death, you’re giving me the it’s-me-not-you-speech.”

“I’m sorry, that sounds awful. I’m really not an awful person.”

“No, you’re not. Just very honest, which I appreciate.”

“Have I told you how great Ruby is?” She laughed. “Because I have stories for days about why she is deserving of a nice guy like you.”

“Your friend is very nice, honestly the only reason I came over to talk to your group in the first place was because of her, but then she kept talking about you the whole time that I got the impression she wasn’t interested.”

“That sounds like Ruby. She’s always willing to push the good guy to me, despite her own interests.” He looked around the bar awkwardly. “She usually goes to the pool for a late swim on the lido deck about this time.”

“Oh, did I make it that obvious?”

“No need to apologize, please, you won’t offend me if you suddenly feel the need for a swim.”

He excused himself politely with an eager look on his face and Emma headed back to her room, exhaustion finally hitting her from lack of sleep from the previous evening. Turning the corner to her room she spotted Will and Belle exiting his room. When they passed her in the hall, Will’s face was red from embarrassment. “Enjoy your evening you two.” She teased.

“Goodnight Emma.” Belle adjusted her hair, tucking her blouse back together.

She clicked her card at her door and opened it into her room. The first thing she spotted was the giant bouquet of flowers and she groaned as she shut the door behind her. She was going to find out where this Walsh guy was staying and give him a piece of her mind.

She sniffed the flowers, yanking the card from the plastic stem. They were beautiful. Sliding the card from the envelope she peered down, bracing for the next creepy thing Walsh would say to her, only to be surprised by the sender.

“A sky full of stars, and he was staring at her.”

Until we meet again, CJ

Emma stared at the flowers, her heart racing. She lay back on her bed, staring at the card in her hand, a smile on her face reserved only for Captain Jones.

[calypsoff]

Ninety Three. Part 3

That talk with Mel is something I needed, I needed to speak to someone that knows Robyn as much as they do. Mel is relying on me to bring her back, I mean I feel I can do it but then again I feel like Robyn is very much adamant in telling me to fuck off, several times too. Mel said I need to be on her level, I can’t be trying to tell her she can’t do something when she is like this. I really wish Robyn told me this, told me how she is feeling so I could help her get through it. I think Robyn felt alone, like you can have a room full of people but still feel alone and I think she felt that because I was being an idiot. I wasn’t thinking straight, I never do but that video of Robyn. I need to look at it actually, I just had a shower and got some clothes on. I am praying and hoping she is where I think she will be, I am assuming she will be in the casino and if she is with other men, I need to not bite because she is going to do everything in her power to make me get annoyed. TMZ loaded up and the first thing I see is Robyn, they are are saying she attacked me, and I don’t like that because it was never that, my wife isn’t violent. Tapping on the article, this is very much defamation of name because that is not it. Tapping on the video and waited for it to load, I am not happy that this is happening. She doesn’t deserve this; she isn’t a bad person. Watching the video and seeing that she did hit my shoulder or whatever, but she was angry that I said her dad and it kind of works out, it’s bullshit. I don’t want to tell her that this was said. She doesn’t need it, but I need to stay by my wife, she means the world to me. I have let her down, I have always known she was vulnerable when it comes to men in general and her dad, it’s crazy how much it’s affected her.

Sitting atop of the pool table, I want to address the situation because it seems like in the article it states that she was with other men, looks like I was jealous of that and we argued, that didn’t happen. It’s crazy to see what they put but I want to shut down these rumours, it’s spreading thanks to that toxic ass page. Pressing record on my phone, fixing my Snapback “what’s up, I don’t like to get involved in these kind of scenarios or politics to do with things that go on, my life or whatever but I don’t. It’s come up on that wack ass blog TMZ a video of me and my wife, lies are being told. We were talking and she did hit my arm or whatever, but it was playful, she was a little tipsy whatever. But it’s all lies, we are good in our marriage. My daughter is just better, and we don’t need to see that kind of shit, or those rumours being said, we come to Vegas to have fun. Our marriage is fine, we are good. God bless that my daughter is good so yeah, I just want to address that we are fine and that my wife isn’t the vicious person y’all making her out to be, I was fully aware she was speaking to men so there was no issues or arguments about that” shaking my head “we good over here” stopping the recording and adding it onto Instagram, adding a caption ‘y’all need to leave me and mines, I don’t fuck with the shit y’all be saying’ pressing send on the post, I will protect my wife on god, I will fuck up anyone for her, that’s my girl. Now I need to find that wife of mine, I want to call her but then I don’t think she will pick up because of my name being shown, if I don’t find her I’m gonna be panicking. I am worried for her, she is drinking and smoking so much too, like smoking excessively. I need to do this, I need to control my mouth and be there for her, she needs me, and I wasn’t even seeing it.

I put on a shirt and made my way down to reception, I need to know where my wife is and they will know, obviously they will. They see everything and they knew she was here earlier, I huffed out making my way to the reception. The lady looked at me and she was going to say hi, but I just cut her off “my wife, Rihanna? Where is she?” I sound abrupt but I am not the mood for all the nice talk, I just need to see my wife and see how she is “I can show you” why is it everyone knows where she is, is my wife making that much of an issue, this is concerning to know actually “right this way sir” walking behind her, she seems so kind about it but I am wondering if Robyn is causing a scene “is everything ok?” I have to ask; I am nervous. Robyn is so sly and is running off constantly, she isn’t just nobody either “not at all, just she was getting harassed by a barrage of people and we had to bring in extra security but please, it’s not bother” oh god, I am nervous now. Walking into the casino I can see where she is, the group is gathered and it’s not a show. I just need to not kick off either, I get very protective of my wife too “that way sir” she gestured, nodding my head walking off towards the crowd. She is on the slots machine and is being stared at by people, I dislike that because she doesn’t need all eyes on her either. Looking around and seeing phones out “watch out!” I spat, people started to move to the side and then recording me “don’t push sir” I will knock this nigga out, he better let me through right now before I cause a scene in this place, I do not care for anyone “let him though, that’s Chris” another security guy came forward, he let an oh “sorry” he let me through, nodding my head walking by him. Robyn clapped her hands together “I won again” Robyn looked at me, she is wearing my snapback “I can see” moving the snapback back a little, kissing her forehead “I can see you are winning, as you do” pulling the snapback down, looking around us, there is so many cameras around us, they have literally blocked off the whole section because of Robyn, she really doesn’t care, she is staying here and having fun “what you doing” Robyn is searching my pockets, then she dug her hand in my pocket “these” she grabbed my cigarettes “ok” I mumbled, my phone started ringing in my pocket “you good yeah?” I asked, Robyn nodded her head smiling at me. Looking down at my phone, Robyn wrapped her arm around my torso “what’s up?” I asked, it’s Mel “she is in the casino, they are tagging her on Insta” Mel is spying from afar “yeah I am here with her now, thanks. I will update soon” I don’t know what to do, there is so many people here. So many prying eyes too.

Robyn is playing Crabs, I say play she is trying her best and the whole crowd is cheering but I am so protective of her, I am just thinking on what to do. She hasn’t said much to me at all “I done good?” Robyn asked, nodding my head “always” nuzzling the top of her head, licking my lips looking around. I just hate this, it’s so compact like everyone is just here and I feel judged. I feel our marriage is being judged; I hate this. I want this to just stop but I can’t make it stop, I need to take action. I am so protective of Robyn, I feel like she is vulnerable, and I didn’t see it at first but I do now, she is so vulnerable “Rihanna, you good at playing Crabs” someone shouted, I smiled looking over at the person “I am good at a lot” Robyn said, her voice is husky as hell, all that smoking is getting to her “what that mouth do?” my eyebrows knitted together, looking at whoever said that “ask my husband, I just sucked him off in the penthouse suite” I had to do a doubletake at Robyn, the whole crowd just busted out laughing “don’t be speaking on my mouth nigga, go ask ya father” Robyn added “don’t come for me nigga, don’t do it!” everyone cheered, Robyn is being called volatile and she is being recorded shouting this, I just feel stuck on what to do “shall we go to the suite?” I said in her ear “you can get me a blunt, make me one” she turned to me, taking in a deep breath and then sighed out.

Robyn turned away from the Crabs table with the blunt in hand and her cocktail “I want to go now” when she moved the whole crowd moved with her “where you going?” moving back from the Crabs table “let’s go to the club” licking my top lip “erm” I paused, I don’t even know what to say. Nodding my head and leaning down to Robyn hugging her “how about we go to the suite, you can do your hair and stuff. Look all cute for the club” pressing a kiss to her cheek moving back, Robyn nodded her head too “you right, ok let’s go then” following behind Robyn, we can finally go to the bedroom and just talk, I don’t know how to even bring the questions up about everything. I caught some arm that reached forward trying to grab Robyn’ shoulder “the hell” pushing it away, the security is rushing us out and I just moved to the side of Robyn. She is so calm about everything; she doesn’t even care that we are getting mobbed. She doesn’t even know what is being said about her, I am here trying to save her. I just want to protect my girl, she is going through a lot and I want her to be happy, I think I haven’t helped with her at all. I am so bad, I am a bad husband to her, but she needs me to be there for her, I can only love her.

We got to the bedroom and Robyn went straight to the room, she wants to get dressed for the club. The club I don’t really want to go too, I don’t even know where to start at all. Answering the call from Mel, she has been so supportive right now. She has been ringing to check “hey” I answered “just thought I would ask how you are? You seem very nervous about this; you seem a little scared. Robyn is just closed off Chris, don’t mind her. She will break that mask; I just know her” she is so confident “can you come?” I don’t know “no, you need to be the one to do it. She do what you need to do, anyways. I got Rylee actually, she is doing so well. I am so glad to see her in high spirits” I miss her so much “thanks for checking on me, I just feel so stuck. Robyn hasn’t really let go of Rihanna; I can tell. I will go upstairs and see to her, thanks” disconnecting the call, I appreciate Mel for this. I understand what she means by she wants me to do it but I just feel like she would do a better job, I do feel bad because I know that Robyn be there for me to build me up so can’t I do this for her, how useless am I to even think someone else should do this. I don’t mean it in a bad way but it’s hard, I don’t know how to approach the situation.

Walking into the room and all I can hear is Robyn’ phone going off, like it’s been none stop but all she is doing is getting ready. She is really ignoring everything “you good?” I asked what I asked before, I can’t help but say the same thing “are you? I was the one that left you in bed” she sniggered, knowing full well what she did but I won’t make it an issue “erm yeah I am” the phone started ringing again, making my way to the phone, looking down and seeing Jay Brown name. Rejecting the call, picking the phone off to turn it off “I am fine, it’s been a while you know” the phone switched off, placing it down “you remember that time when my dad took us to go and watch Space Jam?” Robyn looked up at me “I do, why?” she is miserable “it just made me laugh because erm, that time I wanted to sit with you, and you ended up letting my dad sit in the middle? Like what, but the bonus of it all is that my dad paid but then you were sick after the hot dog” Robyn groaned out “oh yeah, that was bad” she nodded her head and froze “and your dad was holding my hair back, yeah. He is so sweet to me” she agreed “yeah he was, I’ve always wanted to be like him. Like my dad, just a good man. But I don’t think I actually am, I think I am not the person he bought up, you know. You said I am just like your dad, and at first I was so caught up on it thinking it was a bad thing but me and your dad have something in common. We both hurt you and let you do, and I apologise for that. I do a lot without thinking and what I did and how I have been acting was bad, I will forever be sorry for that” putting my head down “men are trash” I expected that “I don’t blame you for that Robyn” looking up at her “you say we should talk; I enjoy our talks. At night” stuffing my hands in my pockets “talking to me about me, asking me how I am, asking me what I am doing, telling me what I need to do. You have asked me how I am, how I am doing. I have my own issues and you have been there for me to console me but I haven’t thought of you, I can’t say I understand how that feels, to be abandoned by a parent” Robyn doesn’t like it “I don’t want to hear it” she got up from the seat “but I do, I am not Monica where I will say you know what your dad should be like, I want to hear you Robyn. What happened to Rylee was never your fault, I know these words won’t heal you, but it wasn’t” she stared at me “Rylee needs you” I said in a whisper “the same girl that sleeps only when you sing to her, I bet she is wondering where her mommy is, you know she is because her eyes light up seeing you, she needs you more then me Robyn, I know that. Rylee adores you” Robyn put her head down, she was quick to run to the bathroom, maybe I can keep pushing her to break and she will talk to me.

[sunarintoes]

Dear Whovever: [Kenma]

Synopsis: You and Kenma are both best friends and youtube gamers however you want to be more than just best friends so you decide to ‘man up’ one day and write a heart felt confession in a minecraft notebook before then putting it in Kenma’s personal chest.

WC: 3K

TW: slight swearing :)

[Episode one]

[recording in 3… 2… 1… start!] 

“Hey gamers, Kodzuken here with Tulip-but-make-it-yellow! I've done a few Minecraft videos with Tulip before, but thought I'll start a new series that will be posted every Monday.”

“It's called Minedays with Tulip and Kodzu”

“I- no, Tulip. I'm not sure what we’re gonna call it. But you guys will know- obviously since it's the title of this video.”

You whine and pout into the monitor, “Kodzu I think Minedays is a cute name.” 

Instead of replying Kenma rolls his eyes and hits you ingame. “Should we introduce the challenge and get it started?”

“Yeah that's a good idea!” 

“Well, it's about eleven am right now, we have until eleven pm to build a Minecraft house from a random topic,” he pauses and moves to the side to point to a sectioned spinwheel, “on this bad boy,” whacks the spinner, “we have eight different themes, in a sec I’ll spin it and whatever it lands on will be what we have to build.”

You let out a high pitched ‘hmm,’ “I feel bad for Kuroo and Hinata, they’re both going to have to edit twelve hours of footage down to 10 minutes!”

Kenma chuckles, “fifteen minutes actually.”

This time you roll your eyes. “Hurry up and spin it you fool! I want to get buildinggg” 

Smiling, Kenma moves back a bit and spins the wheel, after thirty seconds full of anticipation the wheel finally stops and its small arrow is pointing at- “Yes! Cottage core theme!” you yell out while Kenma groans. 

“Really? That's lame why couldn't we have ‘Lucifer’s Bedroom’?” 

You poke your tongue out to the monitor - which Kenma could see, after all, you are in a Discord call with him. “Don't be sad just because you're prancing in my turf…. Looooooser!”

Kenma playfully glares towards you, “You’re on! See you in twelve hours!”

Unfortunately, the difficulty of building a cottage core house in the woods - in survival mode, proved more difficult than planned. 

“We spawned in a desolate area huh? Barely any flowers!” you hear Kenma make a sound of agreement as you sink into your comfortable ‘gamer’ styled chair. 

“Don't tell me you've given up? Just because you can't find any flowers?” 

You scowl at his cocky tone however your mood does a one-eighty when you suddenly get a good idea. “Ok everyone! I know what I have to do! I'm going to restart in another place because this isn’t working!”

Kenma makes a sound of surprise, “you're restarting? It's been an hour already-”

“Yeah and we have, like... eleven more.” Kenma sighs in response, “better get a move on.”

For the most part, the two of you kept quiet - not wanting to let the other know how well you were doing. However one look at your phone only to see that your twitter has blown up, you decide to take a short break, after all it has been four hours of you sitting on your ass playing Minecraft. Once you open Twitter you're met with a barrage of tags and mentions - all of which screaming ‘KenYn’ and ‘Kodzutulip.’ You felt heat rise to your face, you - yes you, Ln Yn with the online alias Tulip-but-make-it-yellow, has a big, fat, humongous crush on your best friend and fellow youtuber - Kenma, aka Kodzuken aka the cutest guy in the world. To make it worse - or better, you couldn't really tell, was that many of your viewers shipped you with him - as did his viewers. 

You are of course, happy with this but you can’t help but wonder if Kenma feels the same way, does he feel weirded out by all this shipping content? Does he find it uncomfortable? Does he find it unsettling to be shipped with his in-real-life best friend?

“Hey Yn?” Kenma calls softly, “you've been looking at your phone for the past ten minutes and your face looks sad.”

You instantly look up to meet Kenma’s face and try to find the right words to say, “I… I’m just kinda tired and eventually got distracted!! Sorry Kenken!”

Kenma visibly cringes at the old nickname - the one you gave him in primary school, “if you say so… better get your head in the game though - my mansion looks epic.”

Your eyes narrow, “mansion? The theme is cottage core!” Kenma quietly chuckles in response, “a mansion can still have a fairy aesthetic, you should know that”

You huff in faux annoyance as you place your phone away and ‘get your head in the game’ just as he requested. “Be prepared to be crushed! I am the cottage core guardian!”

There are ten minutes left to your’s and Kenma’s excruciatingly long Minecraft challenge, your ass hurts from sitting on it for almost twelve straight hours - including bathroom breaks. When the buzzer rings the two of you step back from your respective buildings and make your way to the starting point - which had been marked by a stack of 20 or so dirt blocks. 

“Well that was twelve hours of eye straining torture,” you say as you stretch your arms. 

“You're tired already?”

“Kinda… I can't wait to go to sleep after this.”

“Weak, I’m playing Battlefield as soon as this is over.”

You roll your eyes and scoff, “this is why you look like a living corpse in the morning…”

Kenma looks you dead in the eyes and with a completely serious face he says, “yeah but you love it.”

You choke on your spit at his boldness, “y-yeah I guess.” 

If you were being honest, you were not the best at reading people and it was dark in Kenma’s gaming room, the only light coming from his three screen/monitor computer setup, but you think you see a light blush creep up to his cheeks. And you hate it, you hate when he says things that make your heart flutter, you hate it when he just sits there and the digital glow accentuates all of his delicate features, but what you hate most is yourself. You hate yourself because you have fallen in love with your best friend, you hate yourself because you know he doesn't like you back and you hate that you continuously give yourself a sense of false hope. 

“Yn… you want to stay up and game with me don’t you? ”

You sheepishly look to the side, ‘mayhaps.’

Kenma sighs looking at you with a soft face as he whispers “then I won’t play Battlefield and I’ll go to bed and so will you, ‘kay?”

You smile tiredly at him, “sounds like a deal.”

“We'll get back on at the same time tomorrow and we’ll do the final part of this video - the reveal. Until then.”

You smile and wave at the camera “cya soon~”

[recording over]

After your call with Kenma ended you got ready for bed but for some reason, no matter how tired you were, you just couldn't fall asleep - your mind was screaming obscene ideas that you couldn't help but contemplate. At first it was just wishful thinking but then came a thought that refused to leave, ‘confess.’ 

It was a tempting thought, but how? Surely you couldn't just say ‘hey Kenma I've liked you since high school lets date!’ yeah no, that was a horrible idea. Maybe if you confessed with some originality he would be more likely to accept but for now, you were going to do your best to go to sleep.

[Episode two]

[recording in 3… 2… 1… start!] 

In the morning you woke up feeling refreshed and excited for the day to come, Kenma had texted you and asked if you were feeling up to recording the reveal from last night and episode two today and of course you said yes. 

The video goes on without any troubles and soon you find yourself staring at the computer screen at eleven once again. 

“Remember to like, subscribe and comment below on who you think won this round.” Kenma’s voice is soothing - if you had to describe it you would say that it is silky like honey and smooth like dark chocolate; or maybe you would just say his voice is perfect. Kenma waves to the screen monitor, “hello? Earth to Yn! Are you dead or something? You look like a zombie.”

It takes a while to register, you weren’t really paying attention to the words he said as you were more interested in the way he sounded. You sit up and smile into the camera, “I'm awake… thanks for caring!”

He scoffs and swivels in his chair a bit, “I don't care about you, you're just my idiot best friend and flatmate.”

You playfully narrow your eyes, “well this idiot flatmate of yours helped you bake apple pie so you wouldn’t starve to death!”

“Hmmm, I guess. Well I'm going to head off. I'll see you later.”

You smile softly, “yeah I'll see you later, i'm just gonna stay on for a while.”

Kenma looks at you with an intrigued expression, “you're going to stay up longer? Better not be in this world, that's cheating. Want me to stay up with you?”

You roll your eyes and giggle, “it's all good I want to fix my house up in the other world. I'll see you tomorrow.”

He sighs, “if you say so.”

[recording over]

Your chair rolls back as you stretch, “maybe I should confess to him through a Minecraft journal…” you jump up. “Thats it! Thats a great way to confess! Its original and Kenma would appreciate it…. If he accepts my feelings that is…” 

You groan and slump back down into the chair, “maybe it’s best if I don't confess at all. No! I've wanted to do this for years! If he doesn't like me back it's all good! Maybe I just won't do this on a stream!”

You reach over to the bench and pull up your phone, “who to call, mmm ok let’s call Alisa I’m going to need some emotional support!”

“Hey gamers, Kodzu here in another Minecraft live stream, today we’re just in mine and Yn’s regular world and i'm going to build a house - a cottage to be specific,” he pauses and looks at the comment section; ‘no Yn isn't here right now, no Yn won't be joining this video, no I didnt know shes streaming at the moment, yes my favourite food is apple pie, yes I have a calico cat, no Yn is not my significant other, yes we are just friends.’ Kenma moves back and takes a breath, “wow you guys sure are interested in Yn huh? Maybe I should get them in more videos, might get more views that way,” he laughs a bit.

“Let's start off by heading to my base, I have the materials I’ll need there- oh uh what's this?” Kenma pauses as he stares at the foreign object, “I don't remember having a written book in my chest… maybe Yn went in here and put it in?”

Kenma stares at the book for a while before he opens it, only to be shocked. The comment section notices the blush on his face and continue to spam him with questions:

[kodzusbabe]: what's in that diary!!

[Kenmastan]: hahAAAHHA LOOK HE’S SO RED IN THE FACE

[piefacecutie]: ^^ omg you're so right @/Kenmastan hes so cute 💓

[Kenmaxyn]: I hope it's a confession!

[ynhater]: @/Kenmaxyn from who? Cause I didn't do it and I'd be the only one for Kenma oppAr

[kennismaken]: I hope it’s Yn! They’d be such a cute couple

[applepudding]: umm? Kodzu! Why did he get up and leave??

[ynhater]: babe come back!

[Kenmaxyn]: OMG MAYBE IT WAS YN !!!!

After your late night call with Alisa, you decided it would be best to just do it and then ignore Kenma for the day - well, not ignore him per se, just simply decline all his Discord calls and Facetime calls so you could put off being rejected a little while longer. You woke up with a throbbing headache that you could only blame yourself for, after all you are the dumbass who stayed up until God knows when just to write a heartfelt confession. Eventually the angst of waiting for a message from Kenma overwhelmed you and here you are now; streaming Overwatch to get your mind off of a certain someone.

“Ah no! Cant believe that stupid Hanzo got me! What a pain!” you frown at the screen and let out a sigh, “the round is over… bummer. Well while we wait an eternity for the next round I guess I should answer some of your questions… oh? I didn't know Kenma was streaming, no I’m not dating him… “ you feel your heart sink as you read the next comment; “what do you mean Kenma ran away after reading a book? Was he unhappy?”

The next moments felt like a blur, your heart was heavy and you felt tears well up in your eyes and somehow you missed the sound of someone breaking into your apartment and then your bedroom. Within a second you feel someone wrap their arms around you from behind, your body tenses up but immediately relaxes when you recognise the perpetrators scent; sweet yet salty, like caramel toffee.

“Kenma! W-what are you doing?”

“I like you too… I have for so long.”

Your eyes widen and it doesn't take too long for a smile to appear on your face, “I'm so glad to hear that.”

You feel him smile into your neck as his embrace tightens, “finish up your livestream so we can talk please.” 

“You don't need to tell me twice!”

It is eleven at night once again, but this time you’re not sitting alone in your gaming chair, instead you're sitting on Kenma’s lap - in his gaming chair as he slowly runs his hands through your hair and softly kisses your neck.

“So everyone’s pretty much freaking out over us huh?” you hum in response, “we’ve been officially together for what? Five hours?”

“Correct you are.”

You smile and hold up your phone while you continue to cuddle into him, “smile baby, I want the whole world to know that you're my player two.”

[Bonus - the love letter]

Dear Kenma,

This must be so strange - finding a journal in your chest. 

I have wanted to tell you this for quite a while and I guess I have never found the write words to say; or the right way to for that matter,

But I love you

I have loved you since our first year at Nekoma

It's been a while hasn’t it?

I'm sorry if this inconveniences you, makes you uncomfortable or makes you never want to see me again; 

Just let me continue for a little while longer because I need to get this off of my mind.

I love your smile - especially the rare one where you really smile, where your eyes crinkle and your cheeks begin to hurt 

I love your voice - it’s smooth and silky, like honey being spread across bread

I love your scent - it reminds me of salted caramel,  I can never get enough 

I love your mind - the way it works to make me laugh, make me calm and all else

I love your lips - not necessarily in a sexual way, but more so in the way you talk and speak, they move softly and slowly in a way only your lips could move in.

I love your body - how although you're hunched most of the time you still possess a fine elegance in the way you move. How at times it reminds me of a graceful swan floating down a lake. 

I love your hands - they are so pretty and dainty and soft, I want to hold them all day and all night

And most of all;

I love you

I love you in your entire

I could go ahead and pick the parts I love most and least but then you would no longer be you

I love you in your entire

Flaws and all

I know this may not be the most romantic, especially considering you’re reading this through Minecraft and I've never done this before but I had to let you know

Love 

Yn

Taglist: [open] @ladyrenart

note: sooo this is another style that i tried and i have mixed feelings about it :) also if you can’t tell,,, i’ve never written a love letter before :’)

[cranehusbands]

evening glow

Crypto | Park Tae Joon/Pathfinder; unrequited crushes; canon compliant; apex rarepair week; 1791 words

a/n: honestly writing so much makes me feel like i’ve been posessed by the ghost of productivity. and at this point im not even gonna complain. day 4 of rarepair week!

cryptfinder was like... my original crypto ship, all the way back in season 3. idk why it got me so bad.. it just makes me really soft, i love the “someone will die” “of fun!” dynamic they have, and how crypto is like soft for only one (1) person and thats his robot. its cute

day 4 of @apex-rarepairweek, jealousy, is right here! enjoy!

likes < reblogs, any comments in the tags are appreciated

ao3 mirror in the reblogs!

Preview: Elliott was insecure, yes - he was the kind of man to trip over his own tongue and his whole thought would come crashing down with him - but he was intelligent, an efficient engineer and people person, an excellent businessman who knew what made people tick. He wasn’t a bad looking man either. He had a nice smile, the kind that lit up his whole face when it was genuine, the kind that made his eyes smile with him. And when he wasn’t wearing that god awful jumpsuit, he was almost attractive, well built and taken care of, putting a lot of effort into making Mirage as real as possible, though he was about as real as a gaudy, faux gold rip-off. But as Crypto watched the bar, where he was working pouring drinks, frantically guiding the much taller, clumsier robot, his eyes were not on Elliott.

With his coat pulled up to hide his face, and knuckles shaking from the grip on his glass, Crypto couldn’t tear his eyes away from the bar just in eyesight from his little corner seat even if he tried. They were supposed to be out here celebrating at the Paradise Lounge, with somewhat professional businessman Elliott kind enough to offer the champion squad free drinks (begrudgingly, to even him, which Crypto was incredibly smug about at the time, but almost thankful for now) after a great game that day. And sure, it was fantastic; a last-minute scan from Hack let them get the drop on the final squad, an EMP blast slowing them down just enough to catch them in the field of Anita’s Rolling Thunder barrage, while Pathfinder led the final assault and gunned the final guy down in his usual unnervingly cheerful way. He should have been happy about another win under his belt - it was enough to get people to stop asking questions about his skill, and sudden appearance in the games. But he wasn’t. He just kept staring at the bar.

 Elliott wasn’t an idiot. He knew that, despite his own insistence. No, Mirage was an idiot, but Mirage also didn’t have anything to hide. Mirage was a one-note, total bumbling fool, who Crypto was sure would short-circuit if he thought about anyone but himself. But Elliott was not that. Elliott was insecure, yes - he was the kind of man to trip over his own tongue and his whole thought would come crashing down with him - but he was intelligent, an efficient engineer and people person, an excellent businessman who knew what made people tick. He wasn’t a bad looking man either. He had a nice smile, the kind that lit up his whole face when it was genuine, the kind that made his eyes smile with him. And when he wasn’t wearing that god awful jumpsuit, he was almost attractive, well built and taken care of, putting a lot of effort into making Mirage as real as possible, though he was about as real as a gaudy, faux gold rip-off. But as Crypto watched the bar, where he was working pouring drinks, frantically guiding the much taller, clumsier robot, his eyes were not on Elliott.

 Now Pathfinder was an interesting case. A MRVN unit with slightly more awareness than the average one, though that was often misplaced. He was a lost soul, somehow finding his home in murder, where he made fast friends and fans alike, though that was never what he wanted. Still, he didn’t seem to mind, his demeanour never changing - he had that shrill ‘Hi, friends!’ drilled into the back of his head by now… but at least that was a hole to get all the fog out, when his own head was the worst place to be. He was almost thankful for it, in fact. He thought back to the game that day, the way Pathfinder looked over to him, the screen on his chest lit up with a warm, celebratory yellow, as he gave an excited wave, before his attention turned to Anita for a fistbump. He soon turned back, and offered Crypto the same, metallic fist… which he took, and returned the gesture, almost laughing at the way the robot seemed to rock back and forth in excitement. It was… cute, almost warm, not like his cold exterior… not like Crypto. Pathfinder was warm. Pathfinder was cute.

 And Pathfinder was over there, sharing his warmth with everyone else.

 Over the thumping bass of the music too loud to distinguish, he was almost sure he heard a gentle crack of glass, and even though he knew that he would never be strong enough to shatter it with one hand he still flinched with a start, checking his hand for any loose liquor that had spilt, before rubbing it against his coat. So maybe he was just a little jealous. Slightly. But was it because of the attention that the robot was receiving tonight, or was it because he could live so free, not bound by the bars of paranoia? It was absolutely insufferable. The hacker slowly held onto his glass again, taking a final drink and knocking his head back before placing it down quite harshly, enough to get a few heads to turn, before he shuffled out of the booth and stood to his feet, beginning to head towards the door.

“Hey, hey, Crypto, where you goin’?” From the bar, Elliott looked up, taking his eyes off of Pathfinder for the briefest of moments. 

“Home. Thanks for the free drink, Witt.”

“At least stay for another one, c’mon. I’m teaching this bag of bolts how to- wait, Path, no! Ah, dammit- not on my pants, you stupid-”

“Sorry, friend, these glasses are so small in my hands it’s hard to see when it ends.” The robot placed the whiskey glass down on the bar, excess spilling onto the counter as Elliott tried to clean the rest of the alcohol off of his leg with the towel over his shoulder.

“It’s- OK, then don’t hold it, it’s fine.”

“But you-”

“I have tiny human hands! I can do that! You’re… clumsy, and that’s… it's fine.” He gently patted Pathfinder’s small face with a hand, before turning his attention back to Crypto, unable to see the way his fists were clenched in the pocket of his coat. “One more. On me? C’mon, new guy.”

He gritted his teeth. The bar was loud, too many people were here as it was, he had already pushed the limits of what he wanted from tonight. Crypto opened his mouth to say no again, but he caught Pathfinder’s eye, staring at him from just behind Elliott, glowing in his warmth and kindness. The hacker closed his eyes, and sighed, pulling up a stool and sitting down at the counter, ignoring the bartender’s successful fist pump only to himself. This wasn’t for his benefit, anyway.

 After watching the trickster fumble a little more to try and help Pathfinder a little more, only resulting in more drinks spilling on himself and the floor, he was slid a hastily made glass of whiskey, before Elliott excused himself to go clean up in the bathroom - “keep the bar warm but don’t serve anyone, got it, Path?” he’d specifically instructed, to which Pathfinder seemed to ignore as he turned his attention to a couple of patrons trying to haggle drinks for free through flattery. It worked, bless his heart, as he managed to keep the pint glass steady under the nozzle, handing it to the woman who shot a flirty remark that flew right over his head.

He laughed from over his glass, taking a small drink, gagging at the aftertaste but doing his best to cover it by coughing and covering his hand with the side of a clenched fist, just as Pathfinder returned.

“Elliott knows so many great friends, I really like working here!”

“Ya, you… seem to fit right in.”

“Do you really think so?” He seemed to genuinely appreciate the comment, perking up a little bit. “Do you think I’d look nice in a bow tie and suit? Elliott has an image to maintain, after all - I wouldn’t want to ruin it for my very best friend.”

An image of tackiness and gaud, Crypto wanted to say, but he bit his tongue. “Do you even know how to tie one?”

“No!” The confirmation was said with such cheer that it almost made him smile a little. “Why, do you?”

He blinked. “...Ya.”

“Can you show me?” If the robot was anymore animated, he would have twinkles in his optic from his excitement. 

Crypto looked away, practically burying his face into his coat. “I… maybe.”

“Promise?”

“...Mhm.”

Pathfinder was practically glowing again with excitement, clapping his hands together, enough for Crypto to glance back over and bask in the warmth for a moment.

His shoulders lost their tension, he physically relaxed, and as the robot rambled on, divulging way too much about himself and his goals, he found himself… interested, and intrigued, offering insight as a man who was looking for someone just as hard, hardly noticing as one by one people filtered out, the other Legends heading home until it was just the two of them, and Elliott, closing up the bar.

 “You two good to get home?” He asked, twirling the keys to the Paradise lounge around his finger.

Crypto nodded, flinching a little as Pathfinder slapped a hand down on his shoulder.

“Crypto promised to share a taxi with me! I’m so excited!”

The trickster raised an eyebrow, a small smirk forming on his lips. “Oh yeah? Check you out, kid. Making friends. Wasn’t so hard to get that stick out of your ass, huh?”

“Ip dakchyeo.”

“Yeah, you too, buddy.”

The hacker zipped up his coat again and looked away, shoving his hands in his pockets and continued to wait at the door, for Elliott to usher the two of them out, and lock up, heading to his car and leaving the two of them, alone, in the glow of the streetlight and Pathfinder’s presence, as he quietly bounced in place.

“Are you not cold?” The robot asked, looking down.”

“Ah, I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Mhm.”

Pathfinder blinked, before nodding to himself, taking off the warm scarf around his neck and tying it around Crypto’s, making the hacker flinch again.

“Wait, I said-”

“It’s OK, I don’t really need it.” He gently tied it, expertly creating a small bow from the side, where it practically drowned Crypto’s face. “It looks nice on you, friend!”

He swallowed, looking down at his feet, and mumbling a thank you, enough to satisfy the other legend to take his attention away. Once he did that, Crypto dared to bring up his hand, running his fingertips across the softest tartan he had felt in a long time, and the light smell of motor oil that lingered to the fabric.

 The taxi soon arrived, and the two of them got in, Crypto silently cursing Elliott to himself for not offering them a ride. It certainly would have made things a little less awkward. Did he know too much? The look he gave him certainly seemed like a catch on. He wasn’t here to make friends. He knew he wasn’t. But the draw of some people, or robots, was almost too much for him to bear, it seemed, as Pathfinder talked his ear off for the entire journey, voice more like music than white noise as Crypto stared out of the window, assessing his thoughts in the night, the evening he realised that maybe, just maybe, he liked Pathfinder.

[diary-of-deadweight]

Friendship anniversary.

Pairing: Tenya Iida x reader

Summary: what started out as a idea pitched at 3am turned tradition, Iida is planning something big with the help of Deku and Uraraka.

Iida paced within the comfort of his own room, arms behind his back as he racked his brain of what to get you for friendship anniversary, which was slowly creeping nearer the longer he spent a majority of the free time pacing with no dice. It was a beyond infuriating task as your someone who values the thought put into a gift rather then the price tag; hell he could give you a notebook and you would love it as if you were gifted a car instead. Iida wanted to give you something you’d love even if the price is above the budget you agreed on way back then.

So he visited the local jewellery store at the weekend and saw something he’d think you would absolutely love as it reminded him of your beauty and how much it has blossomed over your years of friendship, not just physically but personality wise too, he bought it and kept it in his desk since then but for Iida one gift wasn’t enough as you always managed to get him two gifts he absolutely loved which is why he was currently pacing in his room.

He was trying to come up with another gift he’d knew you would like.

sad thing was that he didn’t know what to get you as he already bought you the latest movies and the latest manga of your favourite anime; one punchman which was a true tale about a bald hero and his immense strength, speed and agility along side his dream of meeting a strong enough opponent who can toss him around a bit before knocking them around abut himself with a single punch, for your birthday and previous friendship anniversaries that he was left to his own devices this time round.

A knock upon the door pulled him from out of his brainstorming session, striding over to the door to see who was in need of his assistance during this dire time. “Hey Iida.” The class rep was greeted by his dear friends, Izuku and Uraraka, “do you wanna head to the mall with us?” The Brunette asked. “I’m sorry but I’m currrntly facing a task that requires my full attention right now, so I’m gonna have to decline your offer.” Iida informed them before closing the door on them, ready to get back to his scheduled brainstorming only to find his friends sat upon his bed made him do a double take between the door and them in befuddlement that went unnoticed by the two. “What’s troubling you Iida, we are your friends and friends help each other,” Ochaco nodded her head vigorously at Midoriya’s statement, “so we shall tackle this issue together.”

Iida sighed, shaking his head in disbelief at his friends persistence of wanting to aid him and decided that three heads were ultimately better then one and he was in desperate need of an idea so what could go wrong? “It’s mine and (y/n)’s frienship anniversary coming up and I’m struggling to think of another gift to give them.” He day himself on the other side of Midoriya, leaning his back against the cold wall. “So what is the first gift you got them?” Ochaco tilted her head to the side, her bob haircut followed suit with her moment.

“An Swarovski crystal necklace.”

Izuku and Ochaco gasped in surprise, sharing a look before looking back at Iida, “Doesn’t (y/n) hate expensive gifts because a Swarovski Crystal isn’t cheap.”

“I know, I thought that if I tell them that it reminded me of how beautiful and unique our friendship is that they wanted to preserve it forever.” Iida explained, blushing slightly when Uraraka cooed at how cute it all was that the bluenette must’ve thought she misinterpreted it as something albeit romantic but waved it off as accidental. “Why don’t you show them how much they mean to you.” Izuku suggested with a shrug, Iida thought about it and sure enough took interest in the idea, “what do you mean by that Midoriya?”

“I mean that you should create a slide by slide presentation on all the great moments you’ve had together.” The curly emerald haired male expanded upon his idea, “add some videos if you have any.” Ochaco added for the hell of it, already excited to see the finished product that they both free balled ideas that Iida either shot down due to being unrealistic to pull off or liked as it was something that could be easily accomplished.

This went on well into the afternoon and they decided that the plan was ready to go and went down to celebrate with Katsuki’s cooking as they dragged their limbs that felt like they were 100 pounds heavier with each step they took.

Timeskip

When the day finally arrived Iida was practically sweating bullets and his nervousness kicked into overdrive as he couldn’t seem to hold the USB without his hand violently shaking that he decided to place it within the safety in his pocket along side the necklace so he didn’t loose and or drop it anytime soon. He looked up at the clock upon the wall, sapphire gaze setting upon the illumonesent scarlet numbers which flashed repeatedly:

‘8:30am’

It wouldn’t be long until you would wake up and head down to the common room for breakfast and your morning cup of tea/coffee, you were a grumpy little shit without it as many of the class found out first hand. So the tall male setted off out the door and down to the common room like a bolt of lightning and began setting up everything whilst leaving his friends Uraraka and Midoriya to inform the rest of his classmates why most of the common room will be sectioned off into a blanket fort, they insisted in helping him set up to which he declined but appreciated their offer as this day was primarily for you and him specifically after a 3am conversation.

So he was thankful that no one was down in the common room as a majority of them were heavy sleepers and wouldn’t get up until like 10 am whilst people like Katsuki and Kirishima were early worms and would get up the millisecond the sun rose and do some morning training which gave Iida the chance to litter the floor with wisteria petals, whip out a old theatre screen from the closets (I don’t know the fucking name to them ok.) a little projector that he could connect to the computer and did a little test run beofre giving the room a satifying nod just as a ‘ping’ noise came from his phone.

It was a text from Midoriya.

‘Hey Iida are you ready cuz (y/n) is heading towards the staircase right now, Uraraka tried to stall them a little to give you extra time but it failed badly.’

Iida smiled at how kind his friends are to stall time for him, he responded back with.

‘Thank you Midoriya I’m already set up with relatively ease but I appreciate the help.’

After he pocketed his phone a voice from the stair case he knew almost instantly.

“Oh my god...Iida,” he turns around to you with a softened look, “is this all for our special day?” He wordlessly nods, “it’s beautiful.” He watched your wide eyed expression as they wander around the decorated section as if you were walking through the snow covered streets of Musutafu as you came from a *cough* fictional *cough* country where snow is rare; unable to speak which gave Iida mixed emotions as half of him believed it was out of disgust while the other half believed that it was out of shock and amazement at his efforts of making today the best friend’s anniversary in recent memory, something he hope you both remember years from now.

He wandered over to you, resting a hand upon your shoulder that made you jump slightly, you turned to him with an almost unreadable expression, making IIda’s worry increased by a fraction.

“(Y/n), do you like it?”

“Like it? Like it? Iida I love it!” You exploded with joy as you hugged the male as tightly that he swore he couldn’t feel his lower half beofre finally deciding that it was time to show you the gifts so he tapped you on the shoulder to signify for you to release him, which you did as you watched him as he made his way over to the computer, pressing play as a video began playing from the projector that began with some emotional music whilst pictures of you and Iida flashed before your eyes while every once in a while bold lettering would spread saying the sweetest shit like:

‘Under a cherry blossom tree three years ago stood a person I had no idea would later become my best friend. Someone I couldn’t possibly live without or be away from for an extensive period of time without worrying about their well being but I know that they know I only mean well when I do so.

‘But as of this year, 2020, I had troubles trying to think of what to get them as I would spoil them rotten under the radar which’ll most definitely earn me a scolding later today. If it wasn’t for Izuku and Uraraka for giving me this idea during my time of stress, I don’t know what I would’ve done.’

Before another barrage of photos and videos of you both either inside or outside the academy, being either falsely stern at each other and laughing about it seconds after or just pulling funny faces at the camera.

‘So I decided to take their idea and make a presentation on how much (y/n) (l/n)’s frienship means to me so I’m going to summarise it on a sentence before the next section of pictures cuts in.’

You chuckled at this.

‘(Y/n)’s friendship means everything to me and I would never trade it for anything.’

So as the last load of pictures and or videos came to an end one last paragraph showed itself over an uncomfortably zoomed in picture of your face such drew a hysterical laugh from your lips, a sweet release from all the crying you’ve been doing through out it all as nostalgia swept you off your feet and carried you down memeory lane of each individual picture and or video. You truly didn’t know where you’d be without having this sapphire eyed male beside you...you truly didn’t.

‘(Y/n). Your friendship was and always will be the greatest thing I’ve ever experienced and I hope that even well into adulthood we still uphold this tradition for as long as we can, I never wish to loose the unique relationship we’ve built overtime due to the lack of communication, it’s something I’d be stupid to give up, so I hope you enjoy the next gift that, honestly costed a pretty penny but was most defiantly worth it as it symbols out frienship and how it’s so unique it had to be crystallised. Happy friend anniversary (y/n), here’s to many more’

- Tenya Iida.

Tenya then knelt next to you as he hands you a small box, gesturing you to open it with a nod of his head as he wiped away the tears that had gathered within his eyes over the presentation and the waves of nostalgia that wished over him and how even through the worst of days you both stuck together like gorilla glue.

You opened the beautifully presented box to see this:

“A Swarovski Crystal?!” You exclaimed as you dangled the necklace in front of your blurry eyes as you admired hoe it glistened under the light, “Tenya Iida, you beautiful bastard help me get this on please.” You sniffled as you unclasped the necklace, handing it to Iida who sat himself behind you, shifting hair out of the way as he clasped the necklace as you felt the center price rest upon the middle of your chest as you gazed down at it in awe, wiping away the tears that cascaded down your cheeks like a waterfall as you were riddlers with emotions that you just thought ‘fuck it’ and tackled Tenya into a hug as you cried into him; saying how you didn’t deserve such a friend as loyal as him and thanked him for being born, how blessed you were to have him in your life which made Iida collapse into a heap of tears himself, while unknownst to you, the rest of your class stood on the stair way, smiling at your sweet moment before evacuating the area to give you both some privacy.

Later down the line you and Iida may or may not have gotten married later on in life and would be spending your third anniversary underneath a familiar cherry blossom tree, the same exact one where you first met all those years back.

[wedreamedlove]

[FIC] K I S S

Rating: T Characters: Li Zeyan, Xu Mo, Bai Qi, Zhou Qiluo, Reader Word Count: 12,428

Tags: Nothing explicit. Kisses. Minor jealousy. Tension.

Summary: You wake up in a white room. Fortunately, it doesn't seem like you're alone because you see four familiar men. Unfortunately, the room is sealed and no one has any idea how they got here. The only clue is a door that won't open and a piece of paper with the word "KISS". Uh oh...

You wake.

Oh, but not all of a sudden. It’s more of a slow, gradual awakening where your consciousness is pulled up to the surface from wherever it was buried.

You come to feel that your head is resting on something firm and it makes you furrow your eyebrows, shifting a little, because you’re certain your pillow isn’t this hard.

The thing below you moves when you do though and then you hear a voice.

“—Chips!”

It’s a familiar nickname from a familiar voice and you crack open your eyes, squinting against the brightness, to see Zhou Qiluo looking down at you. The stiffness in his body relaxes when he sees that you’re really awake, but concern still lingers in his eyes as he checks you over. One of his hands ghosts over you, skimming your shoulder, side, and hip, and that’s when you realize you’re lying down with your head in his lap.

“How’re you feeling? Nothing hurts? Can you get up?”

Although you’re taken aback by this barrage of questions you reassure him that you’re fine and sit up without his help.

You look around your surroundings.

Pure white.

That’s your first impression. Your second impression is that it’s not actually pure white, because you can see where the white walls join together to form a room. However, you’re not sure how the shadows are being cast since there’s no clear light source here. It hurts your head to think about it too hard though and so you look away to the spots of color that stand out in this inorganic space.

There, pacing the length of one of the walls, is Bai Qi. He looks like a caged wolf with the amount of tension radiating from his frame as he strides from one end to the other but, when his eyes catches yours the moment he feels your gaze on him, you see his steps slow slightly and the tightness in his body loosen. Bai Qi checks you over with a look and then returns to pacing after he’s sure that there’s no problems with you.

Moving on, you see Li Zeyan standing in front of a large wooden double door. He’s standing there stiffly with a subzero expression on his face and if looks could kill then the door he’s glaring at would have been microscopic rubble already.

He also feels your eyes on him and glances over. The heavy look on his face doesn’t lighten when he sees you conscious though and instead he makes a flat comment. “You’re quite something to sleep for so long in a situation like this.”

Before you can say anything, a calm voice breaks in and defends you.

“Even though there were no visible injuries, we don’t know if anything else happened. That unconsciousness was abnormal.”

You turn your head to see Xu Mo standing just a few feet away from you and Zhou Qiluo. He has a gentle smile on his face, one that deepens when you look over, but his eyes are cold when he casts his gaze over the room and stops on the door. For some reason, you feel a dangerous air around him in the way he’s standing there motionless with a hand in one of the pockets of his customary lab coat.

“How are you? Does anything feel strange or out of place?” He asks.

You try to lighten the atmosphere by saying this room and everyone being here is strange. It earns you a snort from Bai Qi, a chuckle from Xu Mo, and a laugh from Qiluo. Li Zeyan only looks over without an expression. But the invisible pressure from him makes you clear your throat sheepishly and ask for clarification on where this place is and why everyone’s here.

“No idea. We all woke up here at the same time, despite going to sleep at different hours,” Bai Qi is the one who answers you.

“You were here as well,” Xu Mo anticipated your question, “However, you were unconscious no matter what we did until now.”

There is a pause as you mull over that oddity.

Then Bai Qi continues on. “This room is 20 meters by 15 meters, all the walls are solid, the door is locked, and our Evols aren’t working.”

You’re shocked to hear him drop the word Evol here, but a quick look shows that no one else is confused or surprised. It seems that everyone here is in the know about Evols and about each other.

“Time has stopped. But, as Bai Qi mentioned, it isn’t from me,” Li Zeyan adds. He tilts his hand to show his frozen wristwatch to you.

“We haven’t been here long enough to determine if we can grow hungry or thirsty though,” Xu Mo cautions.

The small relief you feel at hearing time is stopped disappears immediately at Xu Mo’s words and your concern rises again. You look over at Qiluo who has been quiet up to now.

“Sorry, I woke up here with nothing but these clothes,” he gestures at his casual wear, “I don’t have my phone or computer with me.” You understand he’s telling you that he has no way to get access to anything inside or outside this room. Despite his words though his smile is reassuring and he rubs your back with a hand that was placed there while you were listening to the others.

You ask everyone what the plan of action is now then.

There is a heavy silence after your question is asked.

“I don’t know.” Bai Qi breaks the silence but his words are low and tense, and the muscle that jumps in his cheek shows how hard he’s clenching his jaw. He glares at a random spot on one of the walls.

Xu Mo sighs, “We can only continue to look for clues here. Maybe now that we’re all conscious something will have changed.”

Qiluo verbally agrees while Li Zeyan doesn’t object, which means he’s given his tacit approval. Qiluo stands up first before you and then offers you a hand. You take it without reservation, feeling a small comfort from his warmth, and get pulled easily to your feet. When you thank him, he flashes a smile at you that disappears when he seems to realize something.

“Oh! Guess now that you’re up, I don’t have an excuse to be lazy anymore. I’m going to have to help look around.”

It’s clear that Zhou Qiluo cracked a joke to put you more at ease and you cover your laugh with a cough as he slides a hand into his pocket and strolls off to one side of the room, examining the walls. His nonchalant act is so good you’re almost put under the illusion that he’s walking through a museum and looking at artworks on a wall instead of being trapped in a white room and staring at blank walls.

During this time, Li Zeyan has gone from glaring at the double door in front of him to studying the walls beside the door too. Bai Qi is still pacing on his side and looking intently at the corners where the walls join together to form the room. Meanwhile, Xu Mo hasn’t moved from his position a few feet away from you, close to the center of the room, observing everything in a quiet manner.

Everyone seems to have covered what to examine and so, for a second, you flounder and wonder what else you can do. But you’re driven by the need to contribute somehow; it doesn’t sit well with you to stand around and be useless, especially since you were unconscious earlier. Looking around again, you decide to start with the most obvious thing in the room.

You announce that you’re going to look at the door.

“It’s been checked and it’s locked,” Li Zeyan informs you. It doesn’t look like he expects anything to have changed even if you look at it. But he also doesn’t do anything to stop you.

Neither does anyone else, so it seems safe enough to approach the door. You know them all well enough to be certain that someone would have stopped you if it was deemed dangerous.

You go up to the door. It’s bigger than you expected and becomes even larger as you get close. The wooden double doors loom over you and you would need to tilt your head back if you wanted to see the top, but right now you’re looking at the engravings on the door. There’s carved grooves that cover the entire surface of the door and, even when you step back to look at the door in its entirety, they don’t seem to form any patterns. The grooves curl, swirl, connect, and break apart without any sense. Maybe they’re just some sort of abstract design?

Since you’re not getting anywhere with the grooves you put that out of your mind and focus on another part. There are two handles in the center of the double door; one handle for each door. Makes sense. Li Zeyan told you the door is locked, but you decide to double-check anyway. There’s no harm in doing that.

But it happens the moment you touch one of the handles.

There’s a brilliant flash of light and, right as you make an exclamation of surprise, an arm wraps itself around your waist and hauls you back. You collide into a hard chest and, next thing you know, you’re being held a few feet away from the door.

A piece of paper flutters down into the spot you were just standing at.

All these events happen within seconds of each other.

Your heart pounds from the sudden rush of adrenaline, much like the rapid heartbeats you feel from the person behind you. The firm muscles of the arm around your waist relax as the person adjusts their hold on you and that’s when you realize you’ve reflexively grabbed his arm with both hands.

Releasing him, you’re about to turn around to see who grabbed you when you hear Bai Qi ask, “Are you OK?” His breath stirs the hair at the top of your head and his words come out breathless.

You tell him that you are.

Bai Qi’s arm around your waist tightens for an instant before he releases you. He doesn’t step back though, his chest a solid heat against your back, and his hand hovers nearby just in case you need help. But, despite being shaky from the surprise, you can still stand on your own.

You quickly look around to check on everyone else.

Zhou Qiluo is frighteningly still, as if he’s a coiled spring ready to explode into action at the slightest provocation, and it’s only when he sees you unharmed that he releases his tension and rocks back on his heels. Xu Mo’s eyes are focused on your waist, his expression completely blank, but when he realizes you’re looking at him he gives you a relieved smile and then moves his gaze from you to the door.

On the other hand, the severe look on Li Zeyan’s face barely changes even after he sees that you’re safe. Instead, when he strides over to the spot you were pulled away from and picks up the paper on the ground to read it, the frown on his face deepens even more if that’s possible. Every line on Li Zeyan’s face screams with rage and you’re surprised the paper hasn’t spontaneously caught on fire.

“What’s it say?” Qiluo is the one who asks.

Li Zeyan doesn’t answer and his hand spasms, as if he’s thinking about crushing the paper. But he ends up handing it roughly to Xu Mo who comes up beside him.

Xu Mo reads the paper and you see a furrow appear between his brows.

Seeing the two of them react like this makes you anxious and this time you’re the one who asks what it says.

Xu Mo looks up at you, pauses like he’s choosing his words, and then tells you, “It only has the letters K, I, S, and S.”

You blink.

Then your brain starts spinning and puts them together. K, I, S, and S. KISS. Kiss…? Wait, that kiss? No, no way. You clear your throat, feeling silly for even thinking about something like that in this situation, and ask if those letters are an acronym for something.

Qiluo rubs at his chin, looking thoughtful. Li Zeyan still looks darkly displeased, glaring at the door again. You tilt your head back to peek at Bai Qi’s expression only to see that he’s turned his head away to the side, but his ears are a faint red. Okay, no help from this one.

Returning your attention back to Xu Mo you see him shrug, and you find yourself taking a second to appreciate how elegant he makes that look, before he says, “That is one possibility. Or it could simply be what it literally means: contact with the lips.”

Somehow, you don’t think you’re imagining the weight of all the men looking at you…

An awkward - at least for you - silence falls upon the room. Everyone is deep in their own thoughts.

But then Zhou Qiluo claps his hands, shattering the silence. “I’ve got it then!”

There’s an easy smile on his face that clears away your worries and you walk closer to him to ask him excitedly if he’s cracked the code. It looks like even without a computer, he’s still the amazing KEY.

Qiluo gives you a puzzled look, “Nope. I was thinking we should test the obvious and move on if that doesn’t work.”

Huh?

Before you can ask him what he means Qiluo grabs your arm, tugs you into him, and leans in. You hear a shout from behind you, but you don’t have time to pay attention to that when a soft sensation brushes across your forehead.

… Huh!?

You blink and then realize you’re staring blankly at the dip between Qiluo’s neck and collarbones. Did he just kiss you? You raise your head and see him looking down at you with bright blue eyes, as tranquil as a cloudless sky. He grins, flashing one of his canines, and you feel your cheeks heat up. It’s not so much the fact that he kissed you that makes you embarrassed, but that he did it in front of everyone else.

He releases your arm when you take a hurried step back. Looking over your shoulder, you see Bai Qi a few feet away with a foot forward, like he was in the middle of coming over to you and Zhou Qiluo but abandoned the idea; he switches between glaring unhappily at Qiluo and looking towards the double doors.

It turns out that Li Zeyan and Xu Mo are also staring at the door.

You and Qiluo follow their line of sight, but nothing seems to have changed with the double doors. It looks the same as always.

But Xu Mo notes, “There was a flicker of light.”

“Mn,” Li Zeyan gives a noise of agreement.

So… it is a kiss in the literal sense then? You voice this thought out loud, but no one has an answer. Xu Mo looks contemplative though.

And then Li Zeyan walks up to the door, catching everyone’s attention, and tries the door again.

Clack. Still locked.

“Maybe it’s me? Since I gave the kiss?” Qiluo brings up. He doesn’t seem to notice, or maybe he just shrugs off, Li Zeyan and Bai Qi shooting him narrowed looks and walks up to the door beside Li Zeyan to try the handle.

Clack. Nope, still locked.

The hope that rises in your chest plummets instantly and settles like a rock in your stomach. Your shoulders drop and, even though you know you shouldn’t be surprised it isn’t that easy, somehow you were hoping it would be just that easy.

Xu Mo comes over to you at this point and asks, “May I try something?”

You look at him helplessly because what answer other than “yes” is he expecting? If you don’t let him try then wouldn’t you and everyone else continue to be trapped here?

The corner of Xu Mo’s eyes crinkle in amusement like he read your thoughts and then he picks up your hand in both of his, raising it so that he can press his lips to the back of your hand. His lips are slightly dry and cool against your skin and, to your surprise, he doesn’t pull away after kissing your hand. Instead, he raises his eyes - and your breath stutters at the way those deep, dark-colored eyes glance up at you beneath long lashes - and looks towards the door.

You gather your scattered attention and look over as well to see that the double door has lit up. To be precise, it’s only the top left section of the double door that has a purple light, and even then the light barely covers a strip of the door and flickers like it’ll disappear at any moment.

In fact, the light does disappear in the next second and, just as you make a small exclamation of surprise, you feel Xu Mo push up your sleeve with a hand. You look back at him to see that he’s already raised his head from your hand and then he drops his lips onto your inner elbow. You jerk back reflexively, startled at the contact, but with one of his hands still holding yours and the other holding your arm you’re firmly restrained.

He breathes, and you think you can feel the ghost of a smile against the crook of your arm when you tremble. You hope your goosebumps have gone unnoticed though.

This time the purple light races across more of the door, following the myriad of grooves, but it still only covers a small section of the door before it disappears again when Xu Mo pulls away.

As Xu Mo lowers your hand, humming in thought, you try to work out the meaning behind these lights and the door.

Then he reaches for you again—

But someone grips your elbow and, with a sharp tug, you’re sent stumbling backwards. A broad back soon fills your vision and blocks your sight of Xu Mo.

“That’s enough.” Li Zeyan’s voice is terrifyingly low, like two tectonic plates deep in the earth grinding against each other.

“Is it?” Xu Mo’s words come out serene, but there’s also an unknown quality in them that draws the air around these two men tight with tension. You peek around Li Zeyan to see that Xu Mo’s lips are curved into a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. “You know as well as I do there’s one more thing to test.”

“No.” This time it’s Bai Qi who barks this out and you turn your head to see that he’s come closer, one hand clenched into a fist beside his leg.

Xu Mo glances between him and Li Zeyan.

You’re sure it’s not your imagination that the tension in the air now feels like it’s sparking towards an explosion. You look over at Zhou Qiluo, trying to find help to defuse this situation. You don’t know how Xu Mo’s words rubbed Li Zeyan and Bai Qi the wrong way, but it’s certainly not going to help anyone if these three get into a fight.

However, you find that Qiluo is watching the three of them with an unexpectedly sharp gaze. It’s only when he notices you looking at him that his eyes soften and he gives you a reassuring smile. You dart your eyes between the three men and then back to Qiluo, making it obvious that you want his support before you do anything. But Qiluo’s smile turns mischievous and he puts on an affected helpless look, shaking his head. You narrow your eyes.

While you have this silent conversation with Qiluo though, Xu Mo speaks up, “I believe both of you are misunderstanding me.” He spreads out his hands in an innocent manner.

Li Zeyan and Bai Qi don’t respond.

This time you’re unable to withstand the pressure building around these three, feeling a cold sweat trickle down your back, and so you quickly ask Xu Mo for clarification. What is he testing? And what else does he need to test?

Li Zeyan angles his body towards you, disapproval in his dark eyes. But it’s impossible to take back your words.

Xu Mo’s attention settles on you. “I don’t believe we would be wrong in assuming that the more light there is on the door the closer we are to solving this puzzle. Zhou Qiluo’s kiss on the forehead compared to the two kisses I gave covered the most area. However, the lights from both our actions disappeared the moment we withdrew. Putting aside the difference of area covered by the lights, if the two of us have the same instantaneous disappearance of light I would like to see if there is a difference when we change the initiator of the kiss.”

You give him an admiring look. Geniuses really do have quick minds. Xu Mo smiles at you, catching your eyes.

So, you just have to kiss him then? You voice this out loud, and then realize how that sounds. Clearing your throat, flustered, you clarify yourself and ask if it can be anywhere like the cheek or something? Xu Mo’s smile deepens at your correction.

“No,” Li Zeyan rejects this. If his voice gets any colder, you imagine you’ll be able to see icicles forming on your clothes.

“It doesn’t have to be me,” Xu Mo calmly says, “Zhou Qiluo and I both lit up a different section of the door. It wouldn’t be a stretch to believe there are two other sections that correspond to you and Bai Qi.”

Wow… what a sadistic door. This thought crosses your mind even as you look up at Li Zeyan, since he’s standing closest to you and the one who vocally rejected this. You ask him if he doesn’t want to get out of here?

Li Zeyan looks back at you in silence with a gloomy expression, gaze sweeping across your face.

You endure it and point out that it wouldn’t hurt to try, unless he has a better alternative? The five of you can’t continue to remain here.

His eyebrows draw together, forming a deep furrow, but he still doesn’t say anything. So, before you can wilt underneath the displeasure he’s exuding you decide to just go for it. Placing a hand on his shoulder, you stand up on your tiptoes to kiss his cheek.

At least that was your plan.

However, Li Zeyan takes a reflexive step back in surprise, which breaks your balance, but as you find yourself tilting over he steadies you immediately with hands on your waist. Your lips miss the mark of his cheek though and land on the underside of his chin.

“You…!” Li Zeyan’s eyes widen.

You take a second to appreciate catching the normally composed CEO off guard before you turn your head to check on the door. By the time you look over the light is already disappearing from the top right section of the double door though. Fortunately, the disappearance is not instantaneous and you can see how the red light races backwards through the grooves. It almost seems to make out some sort of illustration, but the light is soon gone and the illusion of an illustration disappears back into a confusing mess of engravings.

“That covered more than Zhou Qiluo’s kiss did,” Xu Mo notes.

“It also lasted longer than yours, and I’m guessing mine,” Qiluo adds.

While those two are discussing this, Li Zeyan releases you like a scalded cat and takes another step back, lips thinning into an upset line. You stumble at the sudden lack of support but then Bai Qi is beside you with a steady hand.

“Are you OK?” He asks you in a quiet voice.

You tell him you are, but you don’t miss how he shoots an unhappy glare at Li Zeyan. Li Zeyan isn’t even looking at him though, or you for that matter, and you try not to let that bother you. Not only does Li Zeyan have a poker face, which always makes it impossible for you to guess his thoughts, but he also seems to have a mercurial mood around you. In one moment you’re praised and then in the next you’re called an idiot.

But, in any case, now isn’t the time to solve what’s bothering Li Zeyan. You put him out of your mind and focus on the present situation. By now, you don’t need anyone to tell you what this means. The light lasted the longest when you were the initiator of a kiss. The location of the kiss being the underside of Li Zeyan’s chin covered the most light but it still wasn’t everything. So, there’s only one possible answer this is all heading towards.

Why is it a kiss on the lips though? Every other thing that was done should technically count as a kiss too, right?

“Do you want to argue semantics with this room?” It’s only when Li Zeyan replies to you sardonically that you realize you said your thoughts out loud.

Xu Mo clears his throat and, when you and the others look over to him, he has an arm folded across his chest with the other arm raised to press a lightly curled hand against his lips. You recognize this pose as one he takes before he starts a lecture.

“I’ve been considering this, ever since we established how we all appeared here after falling asleep. That perhaps this room is a shared space between us all. This door is distinctly linked to us and, as for the definition of a kiss, the first thought an adult would have towards one is of a romantic nature. You would only consider the technicalities of a kiss after thought or if you were trying to find a loophole.”

You and Qiluo must have been thinking the same thing because he voices your thoughts. “If you’re trying to say that we’re all sharing the same dream, then couldn’t we just think really hard to change things? Or wake ourselves up?”

Xu Mo shakes his head. “Therein lies another question: just who is the master of this dream? All of us equally? Some more than others? Or just one of us?” He extends a hand and spreads his fingers, turning it back and forth in front of him. “If this is a dream then the detail is outstanding, enough to trick the perception. Because of that, I also believe it is too late now. Much like seeing an elephant in a room and then being told it doesn’t exist, some part of your mind will always accept this as an immutable fact, no matter how hard you try to convince yourself otherwise.”

“That’s a detailed explanation,” Bai Qi comments in a neutral tone.

Xu Mo gives a closed-lip smile. “My field of study is neurology after all.”

Suddenly Qiluo’s eyebrows shoot up in realization and he grins mischievously. “So, seeing as a kiss is needed to solve this door, doesn’t that mean someone here is having naughty dreams?”

Right after these words Li Zeyan and Bai Qi stiffen and then you see blue eyes land on you. The others seem to follow that line of sight to you one after another. Excuse me!? You don’t need a mirror to know that you’re red underneath everyone’s gazes because your cheeks burn with heat. You shake your head vehemently, denying Qiluo’s words. It’s just as likely to be the other way around, with you as the innocent one and everyone else here being the dreamers!

As you throw everyone else under the bus without scruples, in the corner of your eye you see Bai Qi turn to the side, hand rising to cover his reddening face. Li Zeyan spits out the word “childish”, appearing offended by your insinuation, while Xu Mo hides his laugh behind a cough.

Qiluo nods with a serious expression. “True, true. I don’t know about the others, but at least I know I’m not the master of this dream or else this place would have—”

You say his name loudly to interrupt the rest of his words. Zhou Qiluo raises both hands in surrender, laughing. “I was only going to say this place would have bags of chips! Sorry, sorry, I’ll stop teasing. Don’t be angry, please?”

You try your hardest to hold onto your glare, but your twitching lips gives away your amusement. The uneasy atmosphere that had settled when Xu Mo was talking disappears as if it has never been there to begin with.

However, this doesn’t last long and the gravity of the situation reasserts itself.

So… it looks like a kiss on the lips really is the way to get out? You bring this up again for clarification, but also hoping someone came up with an alternative answer.

But no one offers another solution.

Just as your eyes start to dart around, skirting around the men here, Bai Qi spins around and stalks over to the double door. “I refuse to believe there isn’t another way out.” He presses the handle down and pulls. Hard.

Of course the door refuses to open, but he continues to struggle with it. Despite giving Bai Qi an unimpressed look, Li Zeyan still walks over to his side and re-examines the door while discussing things in a low voice. Xu Mo watches them.

Meanwhile, Zhou Qiluo catches your eyes and tells you, “I’m happy to go along with whatever you wanna do.”

You jokingly ask him what he’d do if you decide to stay here then.

Qiluo answers without missing a beat, “No problem! I’ll treat it as a vacation. Aah, honestly, the only thing that’d make this a paradise is if there was food here… and maybe more privacy.”

You don’t catch his last words, too busy covering your startled laugh when he plops down in an exaggerated action and falls backwards to cross his arms behind his head. Again, you can’t help but be amazed by how Qiluo can make this blank and eerie room feel like a normal place.

But, in the end, you decide out loud that you’d like some time to organize your thoughts and everything you just learned.

Seeing that no one has any objections, you go over to the other side of the room and crouch down, dropping your sight to the ground. So, are you really going to kiss all four of them to get out of this room? Do you even have a choice? It doesn’t feel right to drag your feet on this when the answer is right in front of everyone. It’s just a kiss, right? But all of them? And in the same room?

As your thoughts spin around and around, you feel tempted to clutch your head and groan. If this really is a dream then why can’t it be simpler? For example, placing everyone in a different room. Why does the difficulty level feel like it’s set on extra hard!?

Wait.

If this is a dream then doesn’t that mean nothing matters? Maybe no one will remember this when it’s all over?

“Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man.”

You’re startled out of your thoughts by Xu Mo’s voice which flows into your ears like a calm stream. It looks like he came over to your side at some point and, after you look up at him, he takes a seat beside you, sweeping his lab coat back with an arm so that he doesn’t sit on the underside.

It doesn’t take any time to identify the words he quoted. They were from Zhuang Zhou, a Chinese philosopher back in the Warring States Period. You say this out loud.

Xu Mo touches your head, giving it a stroke. “Correct. He was of the thought that there must be a distinction between him and the butterfly; however, it is impossible to distinguish between dreaming and being awake. Perhaps this will never be known until a person reaches enlightenment. Then, in this event of not knowing whether we are in dreams or reality, should we not treat all our dreams as a state of reality? What you feel, experience, and learn exists regardless of the form of the world.”

You must have accidentally said your earlier thoughts out loud on how, if this is all a dream, then nothing matters. So, does Xu Mo mean that because any place is indistinguishable between dream and reality you should treat everything as real and do things with sincerity? It is said that a life without regrets is an important thing.

You tell Xu Mo that you think you understand what he’s getting at. To be true to yourself, right? You can’t help but smile at how this seems like another version of his very first advice to you. To trust in your instincts.

Something ripples across the surface of his eyes as he stares at you.

You clear your throat, feeling a bit flustered when he doesn’t say anything, and ask him if you got it wrong.

He blinks, looking a bit surprised at himself before he smiles. The gentle expression softens the weight of his attention. “No, you’re right. You catch on quickly.”

Xu Mo reaches out again, as if he can’t help himself, to rub your head. But this time, although you accept his praise with a self-satisfied “hehe”, you ward off his hand to protect your hair from getting mussed. He can only withdraw his hand with a helpless upturn of the corners of his mouth.

During this lull in conversation, you take a look at the other three men. Zhou Qiluo was sitting up from his previous position lying on the ground and watching you and Xu Mo; he tilts his head, glancing between you two, and mouths a question to you, asking if things are OK? He must see your confusion at his question because Qiluo points at his head, making you realize he must have seen you guarding your head from Xu Mo. You quickly nod and smile for added reassurance.

Then you search for a certain police officer in this room, reminded by Qiluo’s concern. Fortunately, because Bai Qi is still testing the double door, it doesn’t look like he noticed your small exchange with Xu Mo or he would have come over (you remember some notable incidents at your shooting sites); but it does feel like Bai Qi is about to resort to force. Meanwhile, Li Zeyan has moved onto scrutinizing the grooves in the door.

“Are you hesitant about kissing everyone here?”

You jolt at Xu Mo’s astute question and, as you turn to him, your shoulders rise to cover your awkward expression. Is it that obvious? You ask him this, but you know he’s always been able to read you like an open book.

“It’s a natural reaction in this case.”

So he’s also aware of how this room’s request is outrageous then. You don’t hide your sigh or the way you hang your head. Why is it you? Hey, wait. You perk up your head and look at him again, pointing this out. Why IS it you? Sure, the light lasted the longest when you did it, but no one’s tried out other combinations with each other.

Xu Mo raises an eyebrow and pokes your nose. “Silly fool, what do the four of us have in common here?”

You scrunch your forehead in thought, going through things like their occupation, their age, their physical features, and their hobbies, but they’re all too different from each other. The only thing they have in common is… Oh. You. Not to mention, some of them don’t even seem to know each other, or they’re just surface-level acquaintances with each other.

You duck your head down miserably again, probably looking like a turtle drawing back into its shell.

“You don’t need to think so much. I’m certain everyone understands that these are extenuating circumstances.” Xu Mo chuckles and comforts you with these words.

Right… right. It’s like giving CPR or something. You latch onto this thought and say it out loud.

However, Xu Mo gives you a troubled smile. “I don’t think that would be wise. Remember, this room is seeking a kiss. If you convince yourself that you’re not giving a kiss then you may not fulfill the requirements.”

… Inwardly, your mind does its best impression of “The Scream” by Edvard Munch. Could that even happen!? You picture the scenario of working up the courage to kiss one of them only for it not to count. You’re struck with the urge to clutch your head again. Such a sadistic room! Xu Mo has a point about getting it done right the first time, so that you don’t have to do it over again. Honestly, it doesn’t feel great having to play by this place’s rules but there also doesn’t seem to be anything you or the others can do about that.

You breath in deeply, hold the air in your lungs, and then send it whooshing out together with your hesitation and embarrassment.

Following this action, you spring to your feet and turn around to Xu Mo to hold out your hand, telling him that you’re going to do it then. It’s just one kiss, right? Well, four in total, but one for each.

Xu Mo looks up at you from his seat on the ground and you’re struck with how uncommon it is to see him like this. The sourceless light in this place shows his thin lips clearly, along with his defined cheekbones, proud nose, and the elegant sweep of his brows; altogether, these features should make Xu Mo appear aloof from the world, but the gentle curve of his jaw and the way a smile hangs on the corner of his lips transforms his atmosphere. Whenever he smiles at you, it feels like a layer of softness settles over him. However, despite the light illuminating everything, it cannot seem to penetrate the depths of his eyes, framed by long eyelashes. Like deep pools, every now and then you can catch a glimpse of a rippling purple in his eyes, but it’s a royal purple so dark that it comes off as black.

This all happens in a moment before he takes your hand and gets to his feet, although on his own without your help. However, as he stands up, you find yourself needing to tilt your head back to keep eye contact with him and suddenly the presence around him, which was restrained, seems to envelop you when he’s at his full height.

The smile on Xu Mo’s face deepens. “How would you like to do this?”

Your expression stiffens on your face. Does he need to ask this? Confirming every step just makes this more awkward! But then you catch the mischievous glimmer in Xu Mo’s eyes, making you send him a disapproving look. You tell him briskly to close his eyes and lean down.

He obediently does so, chuckling.

You reach out to grab the lapels on his coat and then pause. You only need to lean up and kiss him on the lips, but you know you’re not imagining the prickling stares from the other three men at your back and, with the deliberateness of this set up and Xu Mo’s earlier question, the mood has gone strange!

Not that there was a mood to begin with…

Realizing that you’re trying to delay the inevitable with your tangential thoughts, you keep your voice nonchalant as you tell Xu Mo that you’re going to count to three. He gives a short hum of acknowledgment.

One.

Two.

Three.

… Xu Mo, with his eyes still closed, gives a helpless smile. “Should I be the one to count instead?”

You agree that it’s probably a better idea if you aren’t the one counting.

“One… two…” he counts at an even pace, “three.”

The end of his count catches you with hands tightened in his lapels, but feet glued to the ground. You clear your throat self-consciously, telling him that he counted too fast and you weren’t expecting that so you weren’t ready yet.

Xu Mo opens his eyes with a soft laugh and then before you can react he exchanges positions with you, stepping around you so that his back is to the others, blocking their vision, before his lips descend onto yours.

You startle at the cool sensation that touches your lips, eyes closing instinctively, and try to pull back but his hands have settled at the back of your head and waist to hold you still. Quickly, you remember the purpose of this kiss and tentatively move your lips against his. Is this good enough for the door? You’ve kissed Xu Mo, right? And, even though you’re covered by Xu Mo, you can’t help but be aware of the other three men.

However, just as you think this, a sharp pinch makes your eyes fly open to see half-lidded dark eyes watching you. You realize distantly that the stinging sensation from your lips is because this man nipped you; but the majority of your attention is pinned by his gaze. Those eyes are the eyes of a beast. Hungry. Covetous. And is that not a look of exultation from a hunter catching their prey?

Surprise and a faint sense of alarm at this alien look on his face makes you tremble. You open your mouth, but only get out the first syllable of his name before he cuts you off.

“Don’t think about anything else. Just pay attention to me.”

Xu Mo’s voice is low and you don’t have time to react before he overwhelms you.

His tongue seizes the opportunity of your parted lips to intrude into your mouth. He explores this intimate part of you without any reserve, sliding his tongue against your teeth, stroking the sensitive roof of your mouth, and entangling your tongue and trapping it beneath his. You can’t keep up with this assault, feeling completely at his mercy and an indistinct pleasure fogs your head. Even though his lips and hands are cool, your warmth is shared to him and gradually both your temperatures rise.

Xu Mo’s hand flexes on your waist and then, with a tug, you’re pulled right up against his chest, which is broader than you expected. Turns out his clothes make him look more slender than he is in reality. He straightens up, forcing you to rise onto your toes and to lean against his chest. Next, he tilts your head with the hand that’s in your hair and deepens the kiss.

Through the hot haze of sparks that tingle through you every time he moves his lips against yours, you feel a desperate need for oxygen; but he doesn’t budge even when you push at him. Instead, Xu Mo presses his mouth even harder against yours. Like he’s trying to devour you. Or like he’s trying to keep you as close to him as possible. You blindly try to breathe but just end up swallowing the combined saliva in your mouth.

Finally, when you’re pretty much resting against him and clutching at him to stop yourself from sinking to the ground on shaky legs, he pulls back.

Xu Mo’s cheeks are flushed a faint red and his chest is rising and falling faster than usual, although not to the extent of how you’re gulping for air. Still, this is probably the first time you’ve seen him so disheveled.

When you blink past the mistiness in your vision you notice that his eyes are dark to the point where you can’t even see a hint of purple. But then he blinks, eyelashes sweeping down, and when they raise his expression has returned to its normal gentleness. His eyes are as serene as an undisturbed lake.

Xu Mo tidies your hair with meticulous care, smoothing out the area where he had been holding your head, before he moves on to fix your disheveled clothes.

It’s at this point that you come back to yourself and step away quickly, fixing the rest of your clothes yourself with a flustered expression. You can’t seem to look at Xu Mo directly and, as your eyes dart around, you exclaim in surprise when you happen to look past him to the double door behind him. You take a few steps past him to get a closer look. He follows your line of sight and also turns around.

The top left section of the double door has lit up in purple light, and bright and dark shades of the color fill in the numberless grooves on the door. From your position, where you can see the door in its entirety, you realize you didn’t see wrong during the moment you kissed Li Zeyan. The light and grooves do make an illustration and in this case you can see a tortoise shell outlined in a royal purple, while the rest of its body is in a purple dark enough to be considered black. The neck that comes out of the tortoise shell is sinuous and long, like a snake, and it curves partially around the shell so that its head rests on its back while its webbed feet are tucked underneath its body. The half-lidded slitted purple eyes of the turtle-snake watches everyone in this room with a solemn presence.

This is Xuanwu, the Black Tortoise of the North.

You glance between the illustration and Xu Mo, curious as to why this holy beast of water appeared for him on the door, only to see that he’s staring at the illustration with a narrow look. But when he feels your gaze on him, he turns to you with a small smile.

“Interesting.” He doesn’t add anything more to that statement.

Then Zhou Qiluo clears his throat.

You startle at the noise and you’re abruptly reminded of everyone else’s presence. The other three are looking over in yours and Xu Mo’s direction and you fight back the embarrassment that burns beneath your cheeks. You reassure yourself that Xu Mo was blocking everyone’s sight, so it’s not like they saw anything, and even if they did this whole situation is an emergency. You’re just doing what you need to do to get everyone out of here.

Qiluo looks at Xu Mo, who is standing somewhat behind you, and something you can’t make sense of passes between them over your head. But soon enough those bright blue eyes return to you and Qiluo comes up to take your hand and lead you a few steps away.

He changes his grasp on your hand so that he’s holding both of your hands in his and then grins. “My turn.”

You unconsciously squeeze his hands out of nervousness, making him tighten his own grip, but the smile on his face doesn’t change. He just watches you patiently. For some reason you feel like you should apologize, but you don’t know what to apologize for or why you’d need to apologize.

Your eyes dart around his face, taking in the casual but artful way his blond hair falls over his forehead. It almost seems to glow gold in the light of this room like a miniature sun and, paired with eyes that are as clear as a sky without clouds, you find yourself relaxing from the warmth and security he gives off. His smile widens, flashing a glimpse of one of his canines, when he feels your hands lose their tension and he runs his thumbs across the backs of your hands.

“Yup, that’s right. Relax, relax.”

Qiluo suddenly leans in and you shut your eyes reflexively, expecting to feel him kiss you.

Except you feel his lips skim across your forehead instead.

Confusion fills you, but before you can open your eyes another kiss lands on you. This time it’s between your eyebrows. Then kisses land on your eyelids. Then your nose. Then your cheeks. Each kiss is like gossamer, brushing against your skin with a light, ticklish feeling. Qiluo continues to drop this tender rain of kisses on you everywhere but your lips and behind your closed eyes you can see flashes of yellow. You don’t need to actually look to know that the double door is probably lighting on and off like fireworks every time Qiluo’s lips touch and leave you. The sight probably looks ridiculous and the image of this makes you laugh.

“That’s more like it. I love your smile.”

You’re not given any time to respond to his whisper before you feel his smiling lips press against yours.

Zhou Qiluo deepens the kiss without any fanfare. His tongue slides in through your parted lips and wraps around yours, inviting it back into his mouth, and the searing heat there startles you. He raises your hands to drop them on his shoulders before he slides his hand around to your back, pressing between your shoulder blades, while the other grips your hip and draws you into him.

He sucks on your tongue and the rush of pleasure that blazes through your nerves makes you miss how he slides a leg between yours until it’s already there. You’re helpless beneath his lack of hesitation and intensity, feeling like you’re sweltering in this fire he set. Then the hand between your shoulder blades descends, following the curve of your spine, and the scorching trail his touch leaves makes you arch your back. In your dazed mind you’re not sure if you want to get closer to him or escape the burn of his hand.

But a small part of you recalls that you’re still in public and so you squirm, wanting to pull back out of embarrassment and for air. Qiluo lets you draw back but, as your mouths separate, his tongue continues to follow yours, leading into a wet open-mouthed kiss. You can feel the flush on your face deepen, undoubtedly turning you even redder, and you clench your damp hands on his shoulders in a panic.

The tight line of muscles below your hands shifts as Qiluo leans forward again to seal your mouths together and, for an instant, you think you can feel the ghost of a smirk. His tongue gives one last lingering caress against yours before he pulls away slowly, as if reluctant to leave. There’s a thin trail of spit between your lips and his before he swipes his thumb across your lips, breaking the line and wiping away the wetness that lingers on your mouth.

Zhou Qiluo’s eyes are like blue flames and you feel yourself shiver at his gaze. Did he always look like this? There almost seems to be a flicker of a steely shadow behind his eyes before the fire there dies down and warmth returns to his eyes, softening his features into something familiar.

“I knew you’d taste swee—”

You slam a hand over Qiluo’s mouth, eyes wide open. He’s not supposed to say those things out loud! You chide him and feel him shake with soundless laughter before a wet sensation swipes against your palm.

Did he… did he just lick your palm!?

You glare at him and the playful look in his eyes. It’s the last thing that erases the strange feeling you had from earlier and returns him back to the Zhou Qiluo that you know.

“The door is lit.” Li Zeyan’s words strike like a whip, shattering the atmosphere between you and Qiluo.

You startle at that and drop your hand from Qiluo’s mouth to push against his shoulders, wanting space. He slides his leg out from between yours and pulls back his hands with a pout. You turn your head to determinedly look at the door and step away, fixing your clothes.

This time the bottom right of the double door has lit up. The grooves are predominately filled with a yellow light but there are also shades of orange and red mixed in. The illustration this time is of a bird with its wings outstretched in a flourishing arc, looking like it may take flight at any moment, and the way the three colors shimmer gives the illusion that there are flames dancing on the edges of each of its feathers. The stunning blue eyes of the bird watches everyone from its majestic pose.

This is Zhuque, the Vermillion Bird of the South.

So, according to this room, Zhou Qiluo is associated with the holy beast of fire. You’re sensing a theme from this door and you think you can guess what the other two sections will reveal.

Speaking of the last two…

Li Zeyan has such a dark look on his face that you nearly take a step back.

You decide to go to Bai Qi instead, although he doesn’t look happy either. There’s a deep furrow carved between his brows and his jaw is set as fixed as a stone sculpture. He even has a ferocious look in his eyes as he stares at Zhou Qiluo and Xu Mo.

Nevertheless, you tentatively approach Bai Qi and call out his name. For a second, you feel like the air around him is abnormally sharp, which shouldn’t be possible since he can’t use his Evol, but then Bai Qi moves his gaze - or more like rips it away - from the others and when his eyes land on you the dangerous look in them fades into a warm amber.

He steps forward to meet you and holds you lightly by the shoulders, examining you as if he’s afraid you’re injured somewhere. Then he opens his mouth and says, “You don’t have to do this.”

You blink at him, surprised. Is he really saying this at this point? Isn’t it a bit late?

His expression doesn’t change when you point this out, still serious. “If you want to stop now then you can. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. We can always figure out another way to escape from here.”

The solemn sincerity of his words wrap around your heart like a gentle embrace. You smile from the bottom of your heart, thanking him for his concern but tell him that this is the quickest way and you’re okay with this.

Bai Qi continues to look uncomfortable but he dips his head in acknowledgment of your choice. He doesn’t move apart from this though and you realize you’re going to have to be the one to do things around here. So you lean up with a heartbeat that picks up from nervousness, gripping the front of his shirt for balance, and kiss him.

His hands stiffen on your shoulders before the stiffness slips out of his frame and he wraps his arms around you, cradling you securely into his chest and slanting his mouth against yours.

Bai Qi’s kiss is pleasant. His tongue swipes, almost tentatively, against your lips and he seems more interested in mapping out the shape of your mouth than anything else. Sometimes he caresses your lips with his, changing the angles, and other times he’ll catch your lip and graze it softly with his teeth before laving over it with his tongue.

These caresses make you unconsciously tighten your grip in his clothes, wanting to get closer to his warmth, and when you press up and fleetingly touch the tip of your tongue to his he freezes. Then he deepens the kiss with more confidence. Bai Qi eases himself into your mouth and savors you in a melting, languid movement as if he’s memorizing everything in this moment. He seems attuned to your every reaction because, just as you’re about to push against him when you feel your chest tighten from a lack of air, he pulls back to rest his forehead against yours, nuzzling you in a subconscious act.

Both of your quickened breaths land, scorching, against each other’s mouth for a moment before Bai Qi straightens his back and you find yourself blinking up at him with dazed eyes and lips reddened from his focused attention.

Upon seeing this expression of yours he stifles a groan in the back of his throat, which vibrates in the lack of space between your bodies, and then the next thing you know he presses a hot kiss against your forehead and embraces you solidly into his chest. You make a small noise of surprise, both at his action and when he presses his chin down on the crown of your head. His arms are wrapped around you like steel bands and they stop you from getting out of his hold.

You call out his name in confusion, still sounding breathless.

“Just a moment…” he breathes out, “Let me hold you just a moment longer, or I won’t be able to control myself.”

You’re not quite sure what he means, but you can hear the growl of violence beneath his words and your heart jumps as your thoughts immediately turn to the others in the room. Even though you’re aware that everything you know about Bai Qi from his high school years was a misunderstanding, his reputation didn’t spring from nothing. It’s all too easy to imagine the bloodbath that can happen in this enclosed room if Bai Qi decides to turn his repressed tension, which you can feel in his bunched muscles, into physical action. Hurriedly, you wrap your own arms around him and soothingly pat his back.

Right when you feel him relax you hear Xu Mo clear his throat.

You instinctively jump and try to step away from Bai Qi, but he doesn’t let you go. His arms tense for one, long second before he sighs heavily enough to stir the hair on your head and reluctantly releases you. He gives you another look over, as if confirming you’re presentable, before he steps aside.

You carefully don’t make eye contact with Xu Mo, Zhou Qiluo, or Li Zeyan and instead look towards the double door.

The lit up illustration that appears in your eyes doesn’t surprise you much. In the bottom left section of the double door there are alternating portions of navy blue and an ice blue so luminous it could be mistaken as white. A blue light outlines these colors and corrals them into the shape of an enormous tiger with rippling muscles. The tiger has one paw raised with its claws unsheathed, looking like it can tear its way out of its section with ease. Its mouth is open in a soundless roar that almost seems to shake through your bones.

This is Baihu, the White Tiger of the West. The holy beast of metal and a symbol of strength and military force. You can understand why the room would pick this one for Bai Qi.

Three out of four sections of the double door are now illuminated. There is Xuanwu, the Black Tortoise of the North, lit up by Xu Mo, in the top left square of the double door. Zhuque, the Vermillion Bird of the South, lit up by Zhou Qiluo, is in the bottom right. Then there is Bai Qi’s tiger which you were just looking at in the bottom left.

It doesn’t take a genius to know what will appear in the top right section.

You look over to Li Zeyan just as he so happens to shift his gaze from the door to you and you feel yourself freeze. He looks… very unhappy. There’s no emotion on his poker face, but you think you can see frost spreading out on the ground from his feet. Of course, nothing like that is actually happening but the air still feels several degrees colder over there.

For an instant, you wonder if you chose the wrong order. Maybe it would have been better to go to Li Zeyan first? But that might have killed your courage right there and then and you’d never have gone through with this. At least, in this case with him being last, you’re propelled by the feeling that you have no choice but to finish things since you’ve come this far and you’re this close.

You shore up your resolve and then head over to him.

Li Zeyan’s blank expression doesn’t even flicker as you come close to him. He tilts his head to look down at you.

You stare up at him.

He doesn’t seem to have any intention of making things easier for you, but the thought of placing your hand on him to go onto your tiptoes to kiss him like you did Bai Qi makes you falter. It’s not like you haven’t touched Li Zeyan before, however it certainly isn’t with the same ease you’d reach out to the others with. This isn’t even mentioning how displeased he is right now.

You can’t continue to stand here in this deadlock though! You rack your mind, trying to think of a way to ask him not to mind you when you grab him for balance so that you can kiss him, when Li Zeyan unexpectedly opens his mouth and breaks the silence first.

“Is this what you’ve decided?”

You laugh, startled, after you hear his words. Li Zeyan’s forehead wrinkles slightly and so you explain that Bai Qi asked you a similar thing earlier. Your answer now is the same as then. You’re sure and it’d be silly to stop now at this point.

Li Zeyan’s eyes darken the more you speak and a heavy pressure seems to exude from them, unbeknownst to you.

You go to finish off your reasons by pointing out how he’s the last one too, but Li Zeyan interrupts.

“—Idiot.”

Indignation rises up within you. His insult is uncalled for! Especially when you’re doing this to help everyone.

But, just as you open your mouth to complain, you feel Li Zeyan grab your chin in an unyielding grip and then he leans down and kisses you.

It’s a bruising kiss. All you can sense is that Li Zeyan is furious. He presses his mouth down against yours, domineering and oppressive, and squeezes the fingers he has on your chin, turning the grip just shy of painful. You knock his hand off and retreat a few steps with a reflexive exclamation. It didn’t actually hurt, but it wasn’t comfortable either. Out of the corner of your eye you see light flash on the double door and then disappear.

“Li Zeyan!” “CEO Li.” “Zeyan!”

The other three men have already reacted, saying his name in warning.

You move before you even think, somehow knowing that if you don’t stand between Li Zeyan and the others there really will be a brawl in the next few seconds. Bai Qi’s eyes are narrowed in a ferocious glare and he looks like he’ll pounce over at any moment. Qiluo has a cold expression which you’ve never seen before on his face and it sends a chill down your spine. Even Xu Mo has lost his smile and he’s clearly showing his displeasure.

You firmly tell them that you’re fine and you can handle this. You’re going to discuss this privately with Li Zeyan.

When you turn back to him, he’s looking over your head at the others without any expression before he returns his gaze to you.

You point at him and then go on a tirade about how you know he thinks you’re dumb for doing this. You know he doesn’t want to kiss you, but letting you kiss him is a small price to pay for an easy way out, right? He doesn’t want to waste his time being stuck in here, right? Even if time seems to be stopped in this room, who knows what will happen if you and everyone remain here. He can think of this whole kissing business as being bitten by a cat or something and he doesn’t need to take his anger out on you. You end your speech by crossing your arms, frowning at him.

“… Idiot,” He simply spits out.

Idiot, idiot, idiot. Is that all he can say!? You ask him to explain himself.

Li Zeyan presses his lips together, looking mulish, and for a second you think he will keep silent; however, he looks past you to the others again and then orders them, “Turn around.”

It comes as no surprise to you, when you glance over your shoulder at them, that no one listens.

“Turn around!” Li Zeyan growls.

You jump a little because it’s extremely rare to hear Li Zeyan raise his voice like that. But the three men have focused their attention on you instead. You give them a nod and reassure them again that you’ve got this.

Bai Qi looks extremely reluctant but he seems to trust you and turns around. Zhou Qiluo has a frown on his face and doesn’t hide his concern, but he still turns his back albeit stiffly. Xu Mo scrutinizes you and Li Zeyan for a few more seconds before he turns around.

You look at Li Zeyan. He watches you back.

There’s a lull of silence.

You prompt him. Well? Is he going to explain what he means by calling you an idiot?

Li Zeyan clenches his jaw, as if he’s struggling over whether to answer or not, before you see his shoulders drop with resignation. It’s such a small movement that you would have missed it if you weren’t staring at him so hard. Finally, he speaks in a low voice which sounds dragged out of him. “Who said I was angry at you? I’m displeased over this situation. I would have found another method, and there was no need for you to do this.”

You blink.

Is he… upset that you didn’t believe in him?

You take another look at Li Zeyan with this new perspective and now you can see the steely protectiveness and determination in the depths of his eyes. He stands before you with an upright posture, unbowed by the demands of this room, and undaunted by this situation everyone is in. Calm, steady, and reliable. These three words pop into your head when you’re reminded of how you can always rely on him, despite his occasional thorny remarks, and you find yourself dropping your defensively crossed arms.

But still, even though you recognize and appreciate his concern now, you’ve made your decision. He needs to trust you with this like he trusts your business ventures. You smile wryly to yourself, remembering all the times he’s scolded you on subjects for a shoot and the aid he sends you in spite of his exasperation.

You meet Li Zeyan’s eyes steadily and explain to him that you want to do something to help too. You’re not one to stand around and with such an obvious answer in front of everyone - which is clearly working - how can he expect you not to do anything? If you were really against this then you wouldn’t have done it. He should know how stubborn you are (a huff of laughter escapes Li Zeyan). So, can he trust you here?

His eyes sweep across your face. You stand resolute in front of him.

Li Zeyan’s lips turn down with his displeasure but he accepts your decision with a short, “Fine.”

He reaches out to slip his fingers beneath your chin again, tilting your face up, and then leans down. You close your eyes and tense unconsciously, remembering your earlier experience, but this time his touch is gentle and so is his kiss when he presses his mouth against yours before you can react any further.

His lips are a light touch on yours and it’s a complete contrast to his previous kiss. You feel his other hand grip your upper arm, but then he makes no other movement. Somehow, even though he initiated the kiss, you can tell he’s letting you decide what you want to do next. In response, you tentatively kiss him back.

There’s an elusive taste that seems to enter your mouth from this kiss and so, before you know it, you lick his lips. Li Zeyan breaths in sharply, parting his lips, and you take this opportunity to slip your tongue inside, too caught up in trying to figure out this faint taste. His mouth is… sweet. Huh. It’s unexpected and reminds you of the pudding he makes.

Li Zeyan’s hands tremble at your entry, but then you feel him slide his hand from your upper arm to your back and spread out over your shoulder blade. Instead of pulling you into him though, he steps closer to you. Meanwhile, the hand underneath your chin shifts to cup your jaw; his palm is warm against your skin and his fingers, when they brush the area behind your ear, leaves a trail of pleasurable tingles that make you shiver. He lets you explore his mouth to your heart’s content, his tongue patiently following yours.

It’s a slow, unhurried kiss and, at the end, he suckles your tongue tenderly before giving one last lingering kiss to your lips when you both pull back. You open your eyes slowly and your breath catches at how Li Zeyan’s eyes blaze as he looks at you. His eyes flick down to your mouth again and you catch him swallowing hard.

But then Zhou Qiluo breaks the moment. “The door’s glowing!”

You turn your head to the completed double door and, like you expected, you see Qinglong, the Azure Dragon of the East, in the top right section of the door. The long sinuous dragon, silhouetted in burning crimson and with deep blue scales that seem to glimmer red, almost seems too much for its section as it curls around itself in tight loops while its four arms, topped with five sharp claws, dig into the borders around it. However, its antlered head is raised grandly to stare down imperiously at everyone in the room. It is effusive with dignity and presence.

Qinglong, the holy beast of wood, and often a symbol of imperial power. You can only shake your head in wry amusement at this illustration representing Li Zeyan.

In the next moment, a loud click echoes through the room before the handles on the double door seem to move on their own. The door opens, exposing an extremely bright white space. You can’t see past this blinding light to whatever is beyond this door.

Just as you’re about to ask everyone for their thoughts on this new development, you hear Li Zeyan make a startled noise. You whip your head back to him to see that he’s disappearing, starting from his feet. You cry out in alarm.

“Don’t.” Li Zeyan holds up a hand to stop you from coming closer. “It doesn’t feel dangerous, but you still shouldn’t get close.” The in case it is dangerous is left unsaid.

You clench your fists, worried but unsure of what you can do, and cast a desperate look at the others.

Xu Mo is already examining this phenomenon with a serious expression. He relaxes a few seconds later though and tells everyone, “I believe we’re being returned to our original locations.”

Maybe it’s due to the unexpectedness of this situation, but no one questions just how Xu Mo knows this.

Li Zeyan takes one more glance at how his lower half is pretty much gone before he looks at you and takes a step closer somehow, even though you can’t see his legs now. “Come to my office tomorrow at ten o’clock sharp.” He only gets this out and reaches out to lightly brush his knuckles down your cheek before he disappears entirely.

You barely have time to process this before you’re drawn into a strong embrace. “I’ll be at your place to pick you up tomorrow.” Bai Qi’s voice rumbles against your ear and you feel him squeeze you tightly before he also fades before your eyes.

In his stead, Zhou Qiluo is already there and he grabs your hands. Despite the fact that he’s also disappearing, and that everything below his waist is gone already, he still has a relaxed and bright grin on his face. “Post what you dreamed about to your moments. I’ll do the same and we can see if we really shared a dream.” He winks at you and then disappears.

You expect to see Xu Mo next, but you blink in confusion when you don’t see anyone. Looking around, you see that he’s still standing in his original spot even though half of his legs are gone.

His eyes catch yours and he admits, “I made a mistake.”

Huh? You jolt with alarm, asking him if he means he’s wrong about everyone going back to where they came from?

He shakes his head, a deep smile appearing on his face. “No, I mean I made a mistake in being your first. I should have made myself your last.”

It takes a second for you to realize what he’s talking about and, just as embarrassment floods your face, Xu Mo disappears with a chuckle.

The room is now empty except for you.

You look down, expecting to see yourself start to fade, but nothing happens. Uneasiness fills you as worst case scenarios flash through your mind, like being the only one trapped here forever. But then you remember the open double door and the blinding white space. Could that be an exit too?

Hey, why did everyone else get to be transported but here you are forced to manually leave? You complain inwardly even as you cautiously move to the door.

Even when you’re right in front of the open doors you still can’t see through the glaring light. However, there doesn’t seem to be anything else you can do or anywhere else for you to go. You take another look around the room, confirming that it’s still empty, and at yourself, confirming that you still aren’t disappearing, before you breath in deeply to calm your racing heart.

You step through the door.

[always-anxious612]

Magic in the Air: Chapter 3

Description: Roman is struggling. Logan pushes a little too far. Things don’t go well to say the least.

Pairings: roceit, analogical, eventual intruality, platonic drlamp

Warnings: panic attack, sharp objects, yelling, small injury mention, crying (let me know if I missed something or you want something tagged)

Word Count: 2,913

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8,  Chapter 9

It had been a couple of weeks since Roman had discovered his magic and with Logan’s help, he had actually progressed quite a lot. He could actually manage to lift and control a few small objects on his own now, though he still tended to at least rattle a few objects when he got startled or overly excited. Virgil, who had at first sat in on Roman’s lessons with Logan to make sure nothing went wrong, now found himself going simply to watch the two test what Roman could do. Everything was going great. Virgil would even say things had been going better than ever. He should have known better to think the peace could last. And the first hint should have come yesterday morning at breakfast…

“Ok, Roman. You’ve done quite an exemplary job so far at learning how to control you’re magic. I was thinking that we could perform an experiment or test if you will.” Logan proposed.

“What kind of test?” Roman questioned, ignoring his brother’s jealous grumblings at the mention of his magic.

“Well, I’d just like to test your skills if you don’t mind. I’ll explain it more later this evening when we have another session.” Roman looked slightly wary, but his nod was determined. As Logan let an excited smile flit over his lips, Virgil felt a twist of apprehension squeeze his gut. Strange, but not unusual for him. With an annoyed sigh, he shrugged it off.

Then another hint that afternoon when he’d been attempting to help Roman for a quiz he had in his next class.

“You know, you’re lucky that the university is only like five minutes from our house for the amount of times you run back here to get one of us to help you cram.”

“I can’t focus when I study by myself.” Roman pouted making Virgil roll his eyes.

“Let’s just get started.” He grumbled. They studied for about two minutes before Roman got distracted again.

“Hey, Virge?” he started, staring blankly at the wall in front of the two. “Did you think my prop looked ok?” That—was not what Virgil was expecting.

“Roman, of course. Your prop was beautiful.” Virgil assured, remembering the highly detailed book Roman had turned in a few days after he discovered his magic.

“Hm, thank you.” He replied quietly.

“What brought on the sudden doubt, Princey? You were pretty proud of it when you showed it to us a couple weeks ago.”

“Oh, um, the results came out today. I—didn’t win. I wasn’t runner-up either. The winner and runner-up were both superb, though. They deserved it. I’m surprised you didn’t see the announcement. You should have heard about it in your art class this morning.”

“I was working on a set design for the play all morning. I didn’t bother listening to announcements. Sorry, Ro. For the record, your prop was amazing.” Virgil couldn’t shake the feeling that something else was bothering him, but he tried to shake it off. He was probably just reading too much into things again. Roman offered a half-smile at the compliment before looking at the clock.

“Oh crap, I have to go. I’m gonna be late!” he groaned, scrambling to collect his things. Virgil only laughed, still trying to ignore the growing pit in his stomach.

Then, after Roman and Logan got home from classes, there was one more hint. One more chance that he could have actually listened to his gut and spoken his thoughts. How he wished he actually did that.

“Ok, Roman,” Logan began looking at his notes from the past weeks, “The test shouldn’t be too hard to accomplish, but I want to push your limits a little.”

“Push my limits?” Roman questioned, tone bordering on nervous.

“Yes. You have demonstrated remarkable control the past few lessons and have adapted to your special skill quite well. However, so far we’ve only been having you move or float one or two items at a time. I would like to test just how many items you can levitate at a time.”

Virgil chewed his lip at Logan’s words. Of course, the plan was brilliant. It would help them know how much control Roman really had and what his limit was, but…Virgil couldn’t help the odd feeling gut. Especially when he glanced at Roman and saw a flash of apprehension in his eyes. But…it was normal to be nervous. I mean, he was about to really test his ability for the first time after all

“You sure you want me to unleash all of my amazing skills, Lo?” he chuckled, hiding his nerves with practiced ease. Logan only sighed and rolled his eyes, though a small smile briefly flitted over his lips.

“Quite sure.” He replied.

“Ok. Let’s get to it, then.”

Honestly, after that, everything had actually been going ok. Roman had had about ten objects in the air and was balancing them all pretty well. Unfortunately, he did seem to be struggling with holding everything. Which wasn’t a problem until Logan tried to add two more items.

“I can’t Logan.” Roman had protested, trying not to remove too much of his attention from the other stuff.

“Fine, just one more then.” Logan pushed.

“Logan, I can’t.”

“Roman, how do you know if you won’t even try. The most that will happen is you drop all of the items, which we made sure weren’t breakable for this exact purpose.”

“I don’t know, Lo. Maybe you should let him stop here.” Virgil jumped in, the odd feeling in his gut becoming sharper than ever. Too bad he listened to it too late.

“If we don’t push the limits of what you can do, how will you ever learn? It’s just one more item Roman.” Logan insisted.

“I—I can’t Logan. I can’t do it. I can’t—I can’t do anything. Just stop” and just like that everything fell apart. Instead of dropping everything, though, things started to fly through the air, matching the intensity of Roman’s emotions.

           Virgil had felt it. All day he had felt that something was wrong. All the hints that Roman wasn’t having the best day were there. He could have prevented this he knew he could have. He should have noticed how wary Roman looked when he Logan mentioned setting up the test that morning. He should have seen the insecurity behind Roman’s shrugged off disappointment when he didn’t win the prop contest. He should have paid more attention to the fear that flashed across Roman’s eyes when Logan told him what the test was. But he didn’t. And now, all he could do was grip the sofa as objects swirled violently around him. He couldn’t see where Logan had hidden but he knew Roman was at the center of the tornado of stuff.

“Roman!” he tried yelling over the sound of crashing and clanging. “Roman calm down.” But if anything, the barrage only increased. Virgil was just trying to think of a way to make his way to Roman to calm him down when he saw Logan out of the corner of his eye. He was huddled not very far away from Virgil in the corner of the room. The look of fear in his usually calm and collected eyes made Virgil’s heart twist with fear of his own, but not as much as the sharp shard of glass flying directly at Logan did.

“Logan!” Virgil screamed, not thinking as he lunged to get in front of his friend. He tensed, fully expecting to be impaled by the glass, but…nothing happened. That didn’t mean—Logan couldn’t have somehow still gotten—Virgil hesitantly pulled away from where he had landed on Logan’s chest, scared of what he would find. He definitely didn’t expect to find a strange clear dome surrounding them both, glowing a soft purple.

“V-Virgil.” Logan whispered, staring at the glass that had dropped right outside the dome.

“Wha—” Virgil started, dumbfounded

“Protection magic.” Logan gasped, looking back up to him, eyes wide. “Virgil you have magic. You have a special skill. Protection magic. Making shields in any shape in order to protect. It was most likely triggered by your fight or flight response.”

“I—I what?”

Logan was about to answer when another object slammed into the wall beside them right outside of the dome that Virgil had apparently created.

“We have to get to Roman.” Logan said instead. Licking his lips nervously, Virgil nodded in agreement. If he could just keep the shield up, they could get to Roman and calm him down. Luckily, Virgil’s adrenaline was still high, and the flight or fight response Logan had talked about apparently picked fight. He could do this.

“Follow me, Logan.” Virgil instructed, getting up and taking a tentative step forward to see if the dome would move with him. Thank God it did. In no time, they were to the center of Roman’s literal emotional mess, only flinching a few times when things flew against the side of the shield. As Virgil neared Roman, he could feel the dome starting to flicker. He was calming down a little after all. The center wasn’t nearly as bad as anywhere else. Almost peaceful, actually…like the eye of a storm (a few small objects whizzing past the only exceptions). By the time Virgil knelt in front of the panicking actor, the dome was completely gone.

“Ro. Roman, listen to me.” he began, trying to keep the urgency out of his voice “Just take a deep breathe. We—”

“Roman?!” a frantic yell made Virgil’s head whip toward the front door where Dee had just come home. That meant Patton and Remus would be home soon too. They needed to hurry. Virgil quickly turned his attention back to Ro, believing that Dee would be smart enough to keep his distance and find some cover while he and Logan tried to calm Roman. Apparently he thought wrong because soon Dee was right next to them, though his face was littered with quite a few small cuts and a couple of forming bruises. As much as Virgil wanted to yell at him for doing something as stupid as diving into a tornado of flying objects, he focused on trying to get Roman’s breathing regular. After a while of breathing exercises, encouragement, and (after getting hesitant permission) comforting hugs, Roman’s breaths evened out, though he had started crying quite hard somewhere in the mix.

“That’s it, Ro. Deep breaths. You’re ok.” Virgil soothed as softly as he could over the noise around him. After one more deep, calming breath, Roman collapsed sobbing into Virgil’s chest and everything else seemed to collapse with him. Everything stopped mid-motion and came crashing to the ground, leading the way to a silence that seemed extremely misplaced after all the racket.

“’M sorry.” Roman muttered, pulling away from Virgil after he had calmed down his sobs a little.

“I—I was just having a—I was struggling with—I didn’t…I didn’t have a great day and I, um, I got scared when I couldn’t handle everything and stuff flew out of control. I’m sorry. I’m s-so sorry.” He managed between hiccupping breaths.

“No, Roman, it is I who should apologize. I believe I got so carried away with the excitement of doing experiments that I did not stop when I should have. I shouldn’t have pushed you when you are the one who would know your limitations the best.”

“Ro, next time you have a bad day, love, you should really try telling someone. It can help, I promise. I—I used to bottle things up too, but I’ve learned that it doesn’t do anything but let the pain build up until it’s forced out in a less than ideal way.” Dee stepped in, cupping Roman’s face gently. Roman leaned into the touch even as a blush tinged his cheeks.

“Thank you.” He whispered.

“Of course, darling. You know we all support you. We love you, Roman. M-Me especially. The—The love part, I mean.” Dee replied, not moving his hand from Roman’s face. Wait…did Dee stammer? Virgil raised an eyebrow at the two. Of course, Roman’s affections were obvious, but Dee had always been a master at hiding his true feelings.

“Um—what? Y-You?” Roman breathed confused. Dee nodded leaning closer and moving so that he was cupping Roman’s face with both hands. Both of their faces were flushed bright red as they hesitantly leaned closer and—Ok that was enough for Virgil. Trying his best not to ruin their moment, he grabbed Logan’s arm and made a quiet but hasty retreat as the other two finally melted into a kiss.

“They had feelings for each other?” Logan gaped, glancing back at the blushing pair.

“Logan. Roman has obviously been into Deceit for a while now. I wasn’t sure about Dee, but I suppose it looks like he returns the feelings.” Virgil snorted, heading to the kitchen to make some tea.

“Oh.” Logan replied, glancing at the broken glass and debris as he followed Virgil.

“We should clean up.” he pointed out

“We will, Lo; but first let’s just relax for a second. A lot happened just now.”

“Right.”

Something in his tone made Virgil glance up, eyeing his friend carefully. He had adopted his normal neutral expression once again, but Virgil knew better. He could see the guilt tinging his expression. Setting down the two cups he had just gotten out for the tea, he sighed and turned to face Logan fully

“You know that wasn’t your fault, right?” he assured. Logan just stared at the floor.

“Lo—”

“If I hadn’t pushed him so hard, he wouldn’t have…This wouldn’t have happened. It was foolish of me to let my excitement get the better of me.” Logan interrupted, with a hard edge to his voice.

“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with being excited.” Virgil urged. He honestly loved seeing Logan so excited. It was rare to see that light in his eyes. It was rare seeing him express much emotion in general other than a brief flicker of a smile or a flash of something in his eyes.

“And Princey—Roman was already having a bad day. You may have added the thing that made everything boil over, but trust me, I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t have taken much to do that anyway. If anybody is to blame. It’s me.” Virgil confessed guiltily.

“You?”

“Yeah. I mean, I felt like something was off with Ro the whole day. All the signs that he wasn’t ok were there, and I just—I don’t know I had a feeling that something was wrong, but I didn’t do anything. If I had just talked to him…I don’t know, I could have helped. I could have stopped this.”

Logan’s silence was all it took to convince Virgil that he really was to blame. He should have spoken up earlier.

“I should apologize to him. This is all my fault.” He whispered, glancing back to the living room where Dee was now holding Roman close and rocking them back and forth.

“Falsehood.”

“What?”

“Falsehood. It is not your fault, Virgil. There was no way for you know that he was doing so badly, no matter what you felt. Roman is an excellent actor, after all. And even if you had talked to him, Roman is also very stubborn. There’s no guarantee that he would have told you what was wrong or that it would prevent all of this. And—And I shouldn’t have pushed him so much; but I—I suppose that there was no way I could have known how bad he was either…” Logan swallowed thickly before continuing “There is no use dwelling on the past right now, anyway. The fact is that we couldn’t prevent it, but now we can learn from it. I believe it’s good that Roman finally got his feelings out, even if it did cause quite a bit of destruction. Now we can help him and learn to recognize when he’s not feeling the best.”

Virgil nodded hesitantly at his words, before impulsively throwing himself at Logan’s chest. Neither of them had always been the most “touchy-feely” type, but Virgil couldn’t help himself. He needed a hug. After a second of surprise, Logan hugged him back tightly and Virgil sagged in relief.

“And thank you, Virgil.”

“Thank you for what?” Virgil asked, voice muffled from where he was still buried in Logan’s chest.

“For saving me. If not for your forcefield…well, just thank you.”

Virgil glanced up at the softness in Logan’s voice, leaning away from the hug slightly.

“Anytime, Lo. Th-Thank you too. For, you know.”

Logan smiled softly and nodded with an odd look in his eyes before, surprisingly, pulling Virgil back into the hug.

“I love you.” Logan whispered squeezing him tight. Virgil’s breath caught in his throat at the words, his face burning just as bright as Logan’s probably was judging from the heat radiating from his face. But still, he couldn’t help the smile that made its way to his lips as he squeezed Logan just as tight.

“I love you too, Logan.”

His new magic, the mess, and the rest of the world could wait. Virgil was perfectly content to stay in Logan’s arms. Perfectly content to soak in the words they’d just confessed. Perfectly content to—to be in love. And in love he certainly was.

 Taglist: @catolicabuena, @look-ma-im-on-tv, @its-always-the-witching-hour, @sure-i-exist