#one small edit I made (both in this chapter and ch 1)

[ifacotarwasgood]

CHAPTER 4 - page 1/?

original word count: 2843

revised word count: 1521

click for ch 4's full comparison document.

original:

I didn’t know how the wooden hilt of my hunting knife had gotten into my hand. The first few moments were a blur of the snarling of a gigantic beast with golden fur, the shrieking of my sisters, the blistering cold cascading into the room, and my father’s terror-stricken face. Not a martax, I realized—though the relief was short-lived. The beast had to be as large as a horse, and while his body was somewhat feline, his head was distinctly wolfish. I didn’t know what to make of the curled, elk-like horns that protruded from his head. But lion or hound or elk, there was no doubting the damage his black, daggerlike claws and yellow fangs could inflict. Had I been alone in the woods, I might have let myself be swallowed by fear, might have fallen to my knees and wept for a clean, quick death. But I didn’t have room for terror, wouldn’t give it an inch of space, despite my heart’s wild pounding in my ears. Somehow, I wound up in front of my sisters, even as the creature reared onto its hind legs and bellowed through a maw full of fangs: “MURDERERS!” But it was another word that echoed through me: Faerie. Those ridiculous wards on our threshold were as good as cobwebs against him. I should have asked the

revised:

Wood rasped my palm. When had I grabbed my hunting knife? Cold blistered through the room, and my eyes watered as I fought to make sense of the chaos. My sisters’ shrieks. A terrified moan. My father? Despite my heart’s wild pounding, I had to try to protect them, even if my hunting knife looked laughable compared to the shape filling the doorway. It had a wolf’s face, a snarling mouth revealing yellow fangs. A crown of horns jutted from its forehead. And while the beast was tall enough that I’d barely come up to its shoulder, it moved with a quick feline grace. Faerie. Had I been alone in the woods, maybe I would’ve fallen to my knees and hoped for a quick death. But I didn’t have room for fear, not here. My bow and quiver, which held the ash arrow I’d cleaned from the wolf’s body, were across the room—past the beast. But its thick neck looked like a good home for my knife. Hackles raised, the beast roared. It took me a moment to realize it wasn’t an inhuman sound but a word. “Murderers!” “Please,” my father said weakly. “Whatever we’ve done, we did so unknowingly—” I snatched a dinner knife off the table and brandished both it and my hunting blade before me. No iron in sight

[writeonwhiskey]

the skz house: ch 9

a/n: So excited to get this one out to you guys! I hope you enjoy it 😁Thank you again to @cloverstayy for the beautiful graphic 🩵 she's amazing and is on insta & tiktok under the same name.

edit 1/22/24 - I have changed a few things around, this was previously chapter 7, but will now be chapter 9. Stay with me people!

Summary: Welcome to Sigma Kappa Zeta, the most popular fraternity on campus. When you, down on your luck and looking for a place to live, see their ad for ‘IN-HOUSE STAY’. You're one of the four girls chosen and find that your duties for the rest of the school year will be cooking, cleaning, and pleasing your assigned house members: Hyunjin & Bang Chan.

Chapter Nine: Of Halloween and Hallways

It’s now approaching the end of your first month at the SKZ house. Hyunjin still has not pressured you to move further, but you have continued to explore each others bodies more. Whenever you’re with him, kissing and cuddling in bed, you both allow your hands to roam freely across each other. He’s made it clear that you have control of the reins with him. You enjoy the power—getting both yourself and Hyunjin worked up, kissing, touching, fondling, just to back off. Maybe Chan’s sadism is rubbing off on you a bit. 

Speaking of Chan, your nights with him since offering your submission are always like rolling a 20 sided die. You might be teased, you might get fucked, he might be sweet, but more often he’s rough. He does seem to make some kind of effort to not come off as a dick, however there is definitely still a wall between you two. You feel more comfortable conversing with him, though it’s usually just small talk and nothing remotely deep. 

Lee Know’s birthday passes on Wednesday, October 25th and everyone celebrates with dinner, drinks and dessert. You and Allie helped Felix bake him a chocolate cake (they wouldn’t let you add arsenic, which was a bummer).

It’s now Saturday, October 28th—the day of the Halloween party. The morning of is spent with everyone moving throughout the house making sure their appointed tasks are complete. As evening approaches, your excitement for the event grows—everyone has kept their final costume reveals a secret and you can’t wait to see what they have all come up with. 

Your main goal is to have a good time and possibly, finally have sex with Hyunjin. But, oh, sweet girl, you have no clue what the night has in store for you. 

6:00pm

All of the decorations and finishing touches have been put in place. There are spiderwebs and bats strewn across the ceiling in the living room, a couple skeletons are seated at the dining room table that’s surrounded by floating candles, severed hands and feet rest on surfaces throughout the home, spiders of various sizes adorn the walls, and there’s even an animatronic Pennywise in the in the guest bathroom guaranteed to scare people shitless, but, hopefully not literally as that will just be a nightmare to clean. 

6:30pm

The kegs arrive and are carted off to the basement and backyard. You’re setting up the snack table, putting out the orange and black paper cups, plates, and napkins when you hear a commotion coming down the stairs. 

“This is stupid,” the familiar voice of Lee Know grumbles and you immediately smile.

“I can’t believe I’m wearing a dress,” says Changbin.

Two weeks ago you challenged Changbin and Lee Know in beer pong—winner got to choose the others Halloween costume. You had Hyunjin on your team and came out victorious.

“I don’t look that bad,” comes the voice of Seungmin. 

Seungmin you challenged in a game of pool, same stakes. You’re shit at it, but he sank the 8 ball early and thus, you had all of them right where you wanted.

You turn around to face the stairs as they finish making their way down and bring your hand to your mouth to cover your laugh. They really committed…and their assignees had obviously helped put their looks together, from the makeup to the faux cleavage.

“The Sanderson sisters have come to SKZ house,” Han announces, pointing and laughing at the trio.

Changbin is dressed as Mary—eyebrows drawn on pencil thin, lips crooked and painted red, with a black wig shaped like a witch’s hat. Seungmin is Sarah—thick, dark eyebrows and eye makeup and a long, blonde wig. And the beautiful Lee Know is Winifred—copious amounts of blush on his cheeks, red lipstick only on the middle part of his lips, red wig and, of course, the look wouldn’t be complete without the trademark buck teeth. 

“BoooOOOOOoook,” he wails as he enters the living room and everyone fucking loses it. 

7:00pm 

You finally have a chance to shower and get changed into your costume. It took you a while to decide on what you would be, but Hyunjin suggested an idea to play off what Chan is going as and you went along with it. 

With your dress, corset, fishnets, calf-high combat boots in place and make up complete, you make your way back downstairs. The regular lights have all been turned off so the house has a darker feel to it, but there are various purple, red, and orange lights throughout to compliment the decorations and mood. 

Hyunjin is sitting on the couch and offers you a look of appreciation when he sees you. You can only giggle at his costume. He’s half-assed it, for sure, but he still looks adorable. He’s wearing his regular clothing and has a headband on with pink ears, a pink bow tie, and a pink pigs nose covering his own. He turns around to show you the squiggly tail hanging near his butt. 

“Cute,” you tell him. 

“You look way better,” he says, pulling you close and lifting his pig nose to kiss you on the lips. 

You look around the living room and survey everyone’s costumes. Han is dressed as Jack Sparrow, Felix looks like a man being taken by an inflatable alien and Allie is dressed as an agent from ‘Men In Black’. Jeongin is Woody from Toy Story and Charlotte is Jesse, they’re adorable. Rhiannon has decided to play along with Seungmin and Changbin as the Sanderson sisters and dressed as Binx, wearing all black with cat ears and whiskers, she even popped in some yellow cat eye contacts. 

You don’t see Chan though and you’ve been dying to know what he’s put together. You excuse yourself from the room and check for him in the kitchen, but he’s not there either so you make your way to the basement. 

It’s dark there as well, but lights have been added to each step to prevent anyone from falling. The lighting in the room is purple and a projector casts various Halloween themed images against the walls in slow, spinning rotation. 

Chan and Changbin have their back to you as they struggle to get the dry ice machine working. 

“Need any help?” You ask, and they turn to look at you over their shoulder. 

Changbin’s eyebrows raise at the sight of you, followed by a nod and thumbs up thrown in your direction before he turns his attention back to the machine. 

Chan turns around to face you, smirking as he takes in your costume. The first thing you notice on him is the amount of skin showing on his upper body and the slash-like wounds that have been added to it. You look from his bare navel up to his eyes and arch an eyebrow. It’s definitely not what you had expected but holy fuck does the sight of him make you want to let him do despicable things to you.

In his ears he has one silver stud earring and the the other is shaped like a fang. On his upper half he’s wearing a furry, grey vest that has a hood with a realistic wolf’s head attached to it. On his lower half he has on a pair of black boots and low hanging, ripped black jeans with black Supreme boxers peeking above the top. His hands are covered in grey, furry gloves with nothing but his finger tips out. 

“Little red, eh?” He asks, looking you up and down. 

Your costume consists of a dress that is white at the top (frilly and off the shoulders) then turns red near your hips accompanied by a black bustier that’s squeezing your insides together and pushing up your breasts. A red cloak is also draped around your shoulders, tied in a delicate bow across your clavicle. The fishnets and combat boots add a sexy, grungy feel to the look.

You pinch the sides of your dress between your thumb and forefinger, extend your right foot back and curtsy.

9:30pm

You hate to admit that Seungmin was right. Actually, you would never admit that. However, telling people the party began at 7:30 ensured they actually started showing up around 8:30. Everyone is now scattered throughout the first floor, basement and backyard.

You start the night off with a shot to calm your nerves from being in the house full of so many people. You also can’t help but feel like a hostess, wanting to make sure the snacks and drinks are never empty. You make sure the best costume voting station has pens and paper. You refill bowls of chips. Changbin follows behind you as you refill the drink dispensers to slip more alcohol into it. You eye him carefully and shoo him away from the one dispenser clearly labeled as non-alcoholic. Not everybody wants to get shitfaced tonight. 

When you’re not playing hostess, you float around from room to room. With all the housemates here, you always have someone to wander off and talk to, which is comforting. You spend some time cheering Lee Know and Allie on as they reign over the beer pong table. You listen as Jeongin engages in a conversation with a group of girls, talking about needing models for an upcoming project. He has his arm wrapped around Charlotte’s waist as he addresses them, and she looks so out of her element, but leans onto him for support.

As far as you’ve seen, the boys really live up to the rule about not sleeping with anyone else outside of the house. Jeongin could probably pull any one of those girls in that circle, but he’s making it clear he has someone and is not interested. 

Felix really did put himself in charge of the music and made a master playlist that’s blaring throughout the main floor. You spend some time with him in the living room, watching the people mingle and dance. Later you join Seungmin and Rhiannon in the backyard, sitting around the fire pit with a couple of others.

11:30pm

The house is fucking packed. With the music so loud, people’s conversations sound more like shouting matches. You take another shot with Hyunjin and snack on some of the Halloween-themed food that was catered. There are several giant, soft pretzels shaped like spiders, stuffed peppers that look like Jack-O-Lanterns, witch hat shaped calzones, white chocolate covered strawberries that look like ghosts, cheese wrapped with prosciutto and a green olive in the center to make it look like an eyeball. You’re delighted with the selections you and the girls made. 

Eventually, you duck off from a conversation with Han (who, after two drinks is taking his role as Jack Sparrow a little too seriously), to head to the bathroom on the second floor. You bypass the yellow caution tape blocking upstairs to let everyone know it’s off limits, and head up. It’s dark and the lighting has been changed to red, making it feel extremely eerie. 

Once in the bathroom, you quickly relieve your bladder and wash your hands. When you’re done, you stay inside for a bit longer than necessary, just needing a moment of silence. You can still hear the music bumping and people chattering, but it feels calmer in here. You lean against the counter, check your makeup and adjust your costume. The corset is tight around your chest—but it does look good. You bounce, tipsy enough to giggle at the sight of your boobs jiggling in the mirror. 

There’s a knock at the door that snatches the laugh right out of you. 

“Yes?” You call out, wondering who it could be. The girls would have walked right in, but no one else should be up here. 

There’s no response, so you open the door, ready to tell off whoever it is. 

“Second floor is off—“

The first thing you see is a wolf’s snout. 

“What are you doing?” You ask Chan, shutting the light off to the bathroom. You place a hand on his chest and force him backwards into the hallway.

You move to drop your hand from his chest, but his fur clad hand stops you, keeping it in place. 

“Just making sure nobody else was up here,” he shrugs. 

He places his other hand on your waist and pulls you to him. 

“Hmmm,” you hum, looking up at him skeptically. “Did you find anyone?”

“This costume,” he switches gears and releases your wrist, not allowing you time to call him on his bullshit. You can smell the alcohol on his breath, but he’s not drunk.

His eyes trail down to your cleavage. He brings a hand up to trace lines back and forth across the top of your breasts with his finger.

“So you did wanna play dress up with me?” 

Your eyes drop to his fingers touching you. You don’t want to give him the satisfaction of saying yes.

“It was Hyunjin’s idea,” you reply.

“Oh?” He cocks his head to the side. “Those are two different wolves though—from the three pigs and little red.”

“And?” You counter.

His hand slides up from your breasts to your neck, giving it a gentle squeeze. You are slowly growing accustom to the feel of this. You were shocked the first time he did it—there must have been an intense look of panic on your face because he eased up his grip and assured you he wouldn’t hurt you. It’s odd to think you trust him more sexually than in your everyday life, but he’s shown you enough when fucking you to let you know it’s all meant to be pleasurable in some way—sometimes for both of you, sometimes just for one of you. 

“You guys never clarified what wolf I am,” he says.

His hand drops from your neck to yank down the fabric and reveal one of your breasts. You look down the hall, a look of shock plastered to your face, but there’s no one in sight. He doesn’t seem like he would care, even if there was. When your eyes meet with his again, he’s staring right back at you. Daring you to protest.

He pushes the wolf head off and it falls to his back. His dark, curly hair is stuck to his forehead after having it on for so long. You lean back instinctively as he lowers his head to take your nipple in his mouth and let out a surprised gasp. 

“Chan,” you say, gripping his bare waist. 

He swirls his tongue around your nipple and bites it, eliciting another gasp from you. He releases your nipple and stands up straight, cupping your breast as he makes a declaration you’ll never forget.

“I wanna be Red’s wolf.”

No smirk, no smile…it doesn’t feel like he’s joking or teasing you. Does he mean it?

Your hand shoots up to his neck lightning fast, pulling him down and crashing your lips to his. He spins you both around so your back is now against the wall as he kisses you. You roll your body, pressing your hips against his as his tongue clashes with yours. 

He leans back for a moment, biting his furry glove with his hand to pull it off so his hand can feel you completely. When his lips are on yours again, his other hand takes hold of your neck once more, squeezing it as you slip your tongue in his mouth and he sucks it in further.

With his now glove free hand, he lowers it to rub at your fishnet covered thighs. His hand inches higher beneath the hem of the dress until it’s right between your legs. But then he freezes.

He breaks the kiss, still gripping your neck. His thumb rests on one side, pointer finger directly on your chin, and the other three are on the opposite side. He pushes your head up, pressing your head to the wall as you both catch your breath.

“Is shark week over yet?” He asks, cupping your pussy. 

You start to repeat the phrase back to him, but chuckle as the realization hits you. The last three days you had been with him you were nearing the end of ‘shark week’ as he just called it. He had kept his distance, for the most part, aside from an impromptu morning blowjob before he trotted off to class on Tuesday. 

“Yes,” you breathe in response. 

His thumb and pointer finger squeeze your jaw, lowering your head and allowing him to recapture your lips. He resumes moving his other hand, hooking two fingers between the fishnets and the side of your underwear. He sucks on your bottom lip as his fingers rub your pussy, feeling how wet you are. He groans into your mouth as his fingers circle between your lips.

“I wanna fuck you so bad, Red,” he says, breaking the kiss once again.

He withdraws his fingers and brings them up to his mouth, popping them right inside and sucking your juices off. You watch him through lustful eyes, loving how fond he is of your taste. He’s not even remotely communicative with you but in these small moments you share, you understand all you need.  

He pulls his other glove off and tosses it aside before dropping to his knees in front of you and bringing both hands to where the fishnets are at your crotch, poised to rip them apart. 

“Chan!” You yell, grabbing his wrists. “I’ve only gotten to wear this for three hours, the party isn’t even over yet.”

“So?” He says, breaking his wrists free of your hands with ease. 

“So, relax.” You say, taking hold of his wrists again. “And wait.”

He drops his hands and sits back on his heels, looking up at you. With only the red light illuminating the hallway, his gaze feels ravenous. Perhaps he does not like you telling him what to do. You second guess your word choice…maybe you should have added a please in there. You shift your weight from one foot to the other as his continued silence makes you anxious. 

When his hands move back to your thighs, you don’t even try to stop him this time. Resisting is futile. You always give in to the pleasure. They slide up beneath the hem of the dress again, but instead of ripping them, he respectfully finds the waistband of the fishnets. His eyes never leave yours as he hooks his finger inside them and slowly pulls them down, dragging your underwear with it. 

You bite your lip to keep from smiling. So maybe he disregarded the part about waiting, but he did at least grant your request to not rip them. He has a smug look on his face, seeing your reaction. You avert your gaze down the hall, wanting to check that the coast is clear but also wanting to keep him from seeing how much of an affect a small act of kindness from him makes you feel. 

The hallway is still empty. 

You look back to Chan and pull your dress up and out of the way. He uses one hand to keep the fishnets and underwear pulled down as the other guides your leg over his shoulder. And as soon as he leans forward, taking your pussy in his mouth, you know you wouldn’t fucking care if the entire party walked up here right now.

You squeeze your eyes shut as you roll your hips, pushing your pussy against his face so he can properly devour you. The music downstairs is muffled, but still mostly drowns out the sound of him slurping you up. He replaces his mouth with his fingers, playing in your wetness. He uses his thumb to rub circles around your clit as you grip his hair with your free hand. 

“Fuuuck,” he drawls, pressing his thumb against you harder, watching your hips move in response. He slips his fingers inside of you and swaps his thumb and mouth again. 

Your eyes snap open at his words and your hand forces his face against your pussy even more. You had already declared you belong to him the first time he fucked you. Hearing him say it, hearing him claim you drives you wild. 

His fingers pump in and out of you rapidly as his tongue licks up and down your pussy. You put your head back against the wall, moaning at all the feelings. His fingers inside of you, his mouth on you, being in the hallway where anyone could come up and see you. But most of all, being his. 

“Please, Chan,” you say, feeling so fucking turned on you think you might burst.

He detaches his mouth and stands up, causing your leg to fall from his shoulder, and reclaims your mouth. You can taste yourself on his lips as his fingers keep thrusting into you. His other hand finds it way back to your neck, squeezing it harder than before. 

“Please what?” He asks, lips pressed against yours.

You keep your eyes on his as your hips fuck his fingers back, whimpering. You reach your hands between you, undoing the button on his jeans and pushing the zipper down. You slip a hand beneath the waistband of his boxers and grip his cock, feeling how hard he is.

“I need you,” you force out with his hand still around your neck and he grins. 

He knows how he makes you feel and he loves it. Seeing you desperate and needy, begging him to fuck you. 

Before he has a chance to, you see someone step onto the landing from the corner for your eye. The thought of being caught and the reality of it are two very different things. 

Chan reacts so quickly, turning to shield you, lowering his hand from you neck to pull your dress up and cover your breasts. You drop your dress and pull your fishnets and underwear back up. You peek over his shoulder to see who’s come up.

It’s Han. 

He sees you two, but he doesn’t say anything. He opens the door and walks into his room, but a moment later his head pops back out, adorned with his pirates hat and he throws a grin in your direction. You flip him the middle finger and he disappears fully into his room.

You press your head to Chan’s chest. Maybe he does care about people seeing you exposed and he just talks a big game. You don’t want to ask, though. He might just take it as a challenge. 

You lean your head back to look up at him and he chuckles, wrapping his hand around your back and pressing your hips against his. You can still feel the bulge of his cock.

“Let’s go back downstairs,” you say, taking a step away from him as you come back to your right state of mind. You need to clear your head—maybe get another drink, maybe get some fresh air. 

“Will you stay with me Sunday?” He asks suddenly, pulling his zipper back up.

Your eyebrows raise in surprise. You hadn’t expected him to concede so easily, nor ask you to stay with him. You had yet to spend a Sunday with him. In all honestly, you didn’t think he cared much for you to be there. But maybe he’s only asking since he didn’t get to fuck you during the week and feels like he needs to make up for lost time or something. 

“Maybe,” you reply.

Sunday is your day. It would mean a lot, to you, for you to choose to stay with him. What would it mean to him? 

He buttons his pants as you pick up his discarded gloves from the ground and hold them out to him. 

“Maybe?” He repeats skeptically, eyeing you as he accepts the gloves with one hand. 

His other hand—the one that had been inside you—he brings to his lips and sucks his first three fingers into his mouth one by one. He’s silent as he puts the gloves back on, mulling over your answer. 

“Okay,” he finally says. 

“Okay?” You repeat him this time. 

The dark look in his eyes makes you feel as though it’s not okay.

“Sure,” his tone is now sickly sweet and you find it unnerving. “I’ll be back down in a sec.”

12:15am 

The keg in the basement has been tapped already. Changbin and Chan work to move the one from the backyard down there with the help of a few other guys. It looks like a disaster waiting to happen and you don’t want to watch. You spot one of your friends that you stayed with after the breakup hanging in the kitchen and talk with her for a bit. You let her know you’re fine and have found a place to stay—sparing the specifics, of course. 

1:00am 

All the housemates and a good majority of the guests crowd around the living room as Felix MC’s, to hand out best costume awards. Much to your chagrin, Changbin, Lee Know and Seungmin win best group. Some guy dressed as Elton John in his bedazzled LA Dodger outfit wins most like the original. A girl with a literal UFO floating above her head and lights streaming down wins most creative. Sexiest female goes to a girl dressed as a skimpy Mario. Sexiest male costume goes to none other than Chan—he celebrates by taking two shots back to back. You’re close enough to notice a small dribble that’s trickled down to his abdomen and you’re tempted to get on your knees and lick it off in front of everyone.

After the prizes—gift cards and alcohol—are handed out, the crowd disburses throughout the house. You stay in the living room with Hyunjin and Felix as Felix gets the music going again. 

Hyunjin wraps his arm around your waist, holding you to his side as Despacito plays. He’s smiling down at you with glossy eyes and you can tell he’s definitely had a couple cups of the Changbin-spiked punch.

“Dance with me,” he says.

“Hell no,” you spit back, shaking your head. “I’m not anywhere near drunk enough for that.”

“Well, drink up,” he says, moving your hand with the cup to your mouth. 

You take a large gulp but still shake your head again. He takes the cup from you and finishes it off, sitting it on the table next to Felix. You protest as he pulls you to the middle of the living room where others are dancing. You’re struck with a wave of embarrassment, covering your face as he dances around you. He moves freely and easily to the beat, tongue caught between his teeth with a smile. He stops behind you and puts his hands on your hips, moving you from side to side with him. 

He spins you in a circle, then brings you back against him, rocking his hips backwards and forwards to the music, guiding yours in sync with his, holding you firmly to him. You want to feel mortified, but you’re smiling and laughing. You’re enjoying yourself. As you always do with him. He wraps his arms around your shoulder, pulling your back flush against his chest and kisses your neck.

“Y/n?” You hear your name called and as your eyes snap up to the person who said it your smile immediately drops.

Your ex. 

Hyunjin still has his arms around your shoulder, holding you against him, but he stops moving and looks up at your mood killer too. 

“Who’s that?” He asks.

“My ex,” you tell him. He straightens up, but doesn’t remove his arms from you. 

Your ex walks closer to you, not even glancing at Hyunjin behind you.

“Can we talk?” He asks. 

1:45am

You’re hesitant. You don’t walk to speak to him, not now when you’re having such a good time.  You also don’t want to cause a scene, though.

You tap Hyunjin’s arm around your shoulder and he releases you. You gesture for you ex to follow you and lead him through the kitchen to the backyard. There are people out here too, but it’s not as crowded. You fan yourself when you hit the fresh air—you hadn’t realized how hot it had gotten inside with all the people, combined with the alcohol and dancing. 

“What’s going on with you?” He asks in an accusatory manner. 

“Nothing?” You respond, not sure what he means. 

“I saw you a few weeks ago with one guy, now you’re dancing up on some other dude?”

“You keep asking these questions as if you’re entitled to answers,” you snap at him. “You wanted to break up with me. You wanted to see other people. You don’t get to say shit about what I do.” You step closer to him and jab your finger into his chest each time you say ‘you’. 

“Is this where you’re living now, then?”

You sigh, shaking your head. 

“Listen, I think closure would be good here…but this is not the way.”

“I told you I wasn’t looking for closure.”

You let out a wry laugh.

“I’m not going to sit around waiting for you, if that’s what you’re wanting. I’m single. I’ll do whatever and whomever I want.”

His jaw clenches as he glares at you. 

“And I have no intention of ever being with you again.” You add. “So, either leave me alone and enjoy yourself at the party or get the fuck out if that’s too hard for you to do.”

You throw your hands up at him and shake your head before opening the sliding glass door and walking back into the house. He follows you inside, grabbing you by the arm to stop you before you reach the living room. You turn to face him, snatching your arm back. 

“So you give me shit about wanting to see other people, but now you’re living in a house with these frat bros?” He arches an eyebrow.

You shrug. He becomes more annoyed at your response. 

“You’re fucking them aren’t you?” He spits, stepping closer to you, leaning down so you can hear him over the loud music. He grabs you by the arm again, dragging you to him.

You put a hand on his chest and struggle to push him away, feeling everyone’s eyes on you. You’re certain the music is still blaring, but it suddenly feels extremely quiet.

“You’re fucking all eight of these squinty-eyed motherfu—“

Your fist connecting with his jaw cuts him off. You don’t know what’s come over you to react in such a physical way, but you’d be damned if you let him finish that sentence. 

The next few moments happen in a blur.

He yanks you closer, seething, as he opens his mouth to say more disprectful shit. But someone wraps their arm around your waist and pulls you away from him and at the same time, someone else shoves your ex. Then Chan is standing between you and him, facing your ex. You can’t clearly hear what he’s saying over the music and the erratic beating of your heart, but they look to be exchanging some heated words. Your ex looks furious with Chan in his face, acting like the literal big, bad wolf. 

You look back to see who’s grabbed you—it’s Seungmin. He’s holding you close, but his eyes are locked on Chan, waiting to see if he needs to get involved. 

Hyunjin and Felix come into the dining room amidst the commotion. He walks behind your ex and places a hand on his shoulder. Your ex shoves his hand off, says one last remark to Chan then storms out of the room. Hyunjin follows behind him to make sure he leaves. Felix puts a hand on Chan’s chest to keep him from following. He forces Chan to look him in the eye to hear whatever he’s saying. 

Changbin storms in, coming from the basement a little too late, but still looking ready for a confrontation. All while dressed as Mary Sanderson. The sight sends you into an immediate fit of laughter. 

The partygoers go back to their own conversation as Changbin approaches you, Chan, Felix and Seungmin. 

“Why didn’t you ride your vacuum?” Seungmin says to him. “You would have gotten here sooner.”

“He’s lucky I was late,” he huffs. 

Chan turns away from Felix to face you and Seungmin releases you from his grasp.

“You okay?” Chan asks, softly. 

“I’m fine,” you tell him, wiping at a stray tear as you regain your composure.  

Chan lifts your chin up with a finger so you’re looking him in the eyes, possibly wanting to make sure the tears are from laughing. 

You nod your head, reassuring him. 

“Nice job, slugger,” Seungmin says, ruffling the top of your hair. You swat him away and wince as your hand comes in contact with his arm. He laughs at your pain. “I’ll get some ice.”

He disappears behind you towards the fridge. 

Chan gently takes your hand in his and brings it up for inspection as you weakly wiggle your fingers. 

“Can you make a fist?”

You squeeze your hand together the best you can but it becomes painful before you can make a complete fist. 

You hear Chan take a deep breath. He closes his eyes, hand still holding yours. 

“Tell me I shouldn’t go after him,” his eyes snap back open and they are brimming with rage. 

“Don’t,” you plead. 

“I wouldn’t lose,” he says, rubbing his thumb across your fingers. He’s here, physically, in front of you, but it seems like his mind is already out the door. 

“He’s not worth it,” you shake your head. 

He readjusts the wolf on his head and nods, as if trying to convince himself you’re right. 

“Go to Seungmin, put some ice on it.”

He lets go of your hand and heads for the basement with Changbin.

3:30am 

You’ve apologized profusely to the members and the other assignees, hoping the altercation with your ex hadn’t put a damper on the night. They assure you it’s alright—they all seem more concerned that you’re okay, and it makes you feel warm and cared for.

The house has mostly emptied, Seungmin and Jeongin are getting the last few stragglers out. Changbin and Hyunjin are supposed to be helping clean but Changbin, drunk off his spiked punch, is cradling Hyunjin’s face in his hands and loudly alternating between calling him the cutest piglet he’s ever seen and asking him to ‘oink’. Hyunjin is cackling, trying to squirm away from his touch, but he’s no match for Changbin’s strength.

Chan, Jeongin and Han come up from the basement and shut the light off behind them. 

“Everyone’s clear from down there,” Han says, removing his pirate hat.

Chan has his arm around Jeongin’s neck as Jeongin supports his stumbling steps. 

“…and that’s why you’re my baby,” Chan is saying to Jeongin.

“Okay, hyung, okay. I’m your baby forever,” Jeongin is smiling widely, amused.

He must not get to see their chapter president like this often. 

You’ve never seen him like this. 

“Y/n,” he says with a smile when his eyes fall on you.

He shakes free of Jeongin and walks to you.

“What did you do to him down there?” You ask.

“We had to keep him from going after that guy—he’s at least responsible enough to not drive drunk,” Han tells you. 

His words give you some pause. You would never want to condone any further violence, but…had Chan been ready and willing to fight over you? 

Chan hugs you from behind, head hanging over your shoulder.

“You should probably take him upstairs,” Felix says, taking the stack of paper plates you’ve amassed and tossing them into the trash bag he’s holding. 

You step to the side and drape Chan’s arm around your neck, holding on to it with one hand as the other holds him by the waist. 

He lets you walk him up the stairs, giggling to himself as he concentrates on taking one step after the other. 

“Do not fucking fall. I’m telling you right now I can’t save you,” you warn him.

“Yes, ma’am,” he giggles again, putting his other hand on the rail to grip as he walks.

Once in his room, finally, you ease him onto his bed and he immediately splays out flat on his back. You kneel on the bed to get his costume off and he lets you remove his gloves, and vest without putting up a fight. However, when you get off the bed to place them on the dresser, he protests

“Come here with me,” he whines. 

“You need to sleep it off, Chan.” You tell him, softly.

“No,” he pouts, sitting up on the bed, swaying. He looks like he’s concentrating every fiber of his being on holding steady. “Come here.” 

There’s more demand to his voice the second time. You sigh and walk towards the bed.

“Don’t do that,” he chides.

“Do what?”

He mimics your sigh.

“Like you hate me or something. Don’t hate me,” he turns to look at you with sad eyes and pout once again firmly in place on his lips. 

“I don’t hate you,” you tell him truthfully, crossing your arms in front of your chest as you sit next to him on the bed. “You’re just always so hot and cold with me. I don’t know how to be or feel when I’m around you. I’m in a perpetual state of conflicting confusion with you.”

You choose to be honest with him about your emotions. You do want him to know how it feels, but you also wonder if he’ll even remember any of this tomorrow.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbles, leaning to the side to rest his head on your shoulders. “I have to be this way, y/n.”

You furrow your brow at his response. Why on earth would he have to be this way to you? You shake him off of you and he sits back up on his own, leaving his head hanging. 

“Why, Chan?” You ask angrily. He doesn’t budge. “Chan. Look at me!”

Your sharp tone of voice causes his head to snap up.

“Why?” You ask again, softer this time. 

“It’s just easier this way…I don’t think I cou—“ he starts but trails off and shakes head, unable to finish.

“Chan, please,” you plead with him. “How is this easier? Easier than what?”

He shrugs and places his head in his hand. A silence falls over the room as you wait to see if he will respond. He doesn’t, and it angers you. 

“Why would you choose me,” you start slowly, “if you’re so determined to treat me like an object you own when everyone else in this house can be both friends and lovers, fuck buddies, whatever the hell you want to call it with their assignee. Why is it so fucking hard for you?”

“I couldn’t let you end up with anyone else,” he says, words muffled by his hands.

You sigh. Again. You’re desperate to know what he means, to get some kind of clue about why he keeps you at arms length. Why he wants your full submission but refuses to let you get closer to him. You wish he were sober. It's even more frustrating that even when he’s drunk, he’s not spilling out helpful information. It’s the most of an explanation you’ve ever gotten out of him, though, but talking to him like these feels useless. He’s too heavily guarded. 

He looks up again and turns to face you.

“Stay with me tonight?” 

What is he trying to do to you? It’s the second time tonight he’s asked you to stay with him. And the way he looks right now, annoyingly adorable, you want nothing more than to grant his wish. But it’s infuriating to think that this isn’t the real him. Or if it is, why the fuck can’t sober Chan be the same? If you give in to him like this, after he’s explained nothing yet expects everything from you, you will lose even more of yourself. 

You find logical ways to justify your shared intimacy and lack of anything else, telling yourself that it’s part of the gig as an in-house stay. But what happens if you start to choose him and his behavior doesn’t change? Will you become upset if he continues to treat you the same?

“It’s Saturday,” you say finally, standing from the bed. 

He pouts again.

“It’s Sunday, actually.” He corrects you. 

He stands, taking a moment to catch his balance. He reaches for your hand and brings you towards him. He rubs his finger over the back of your knuckles. The pain from the punch earlier had mostly subsided after icing it.

You think back to Chan’s actions in the kitchen, how he immediately sprung to your defense. It’s as if he wants to be the only one who can get away with mistreating you. 

“We’ll just sleep. Stay with me.” He asks again, bringing your hand to his mouth and placing a soft kiss on it. Your stomach flutters at the sight. 

“No,” you say defiantly, shaking your head. “That’s not how it works.”

“It works how we decide it works,” he counters, placing his hands on your hips and looking down at you. 

“No, Chan…not like this.”

“Fine,” he mumbles, dropping his hands from you. 

He turns away from you and walks towards the corner of the room—to your bed. He grabs your pillow and hugs it to his chest as he walks back to his bed. 

He’s acting like the cutest fucking brat you’ve ever seen and yet you still want to slap his face. How had his parents put up with this? Maybe shipping him off to the states for school had been in their best interest. He would have been a handful, and spoiled rotten. You can almost guarantee it.

He climbs into his bed, holding your pillow as he gets comfortable. You stand watching him. You want to go to him. You want to curl up behind him, to hold him. To share a bed with him for the first time. But you can’t keep setting yourself up for failure. If you do that tonight, what happens tomorrow? He won’t treat you any different and you’ll be upset you let yourself fall for it. 

“Goodnight, Chan,” you say, turning for the door. 

He grunts in response as you turn the light off and exit the room.

On your way downstairs, you stop to listen and see if anyone is still cleaning in the kitchen but it’s dead quiet so you continue to Hyunjin’s room. You make it back to the room and see he’s already knocked out. You contemplate waking him up but decide against it. Any mood you had for fooling around is gone. 

You rid yourself of your costume piece by piece and climb into bed with Hyunjin in just your underwear and a shirt. His body adjusts to your presence, as it always does, and you snuggle in to him. What started as a promising night that could have ended with some fun—with either Hyunjin or Chan—turned out to be quite the opposite.

[ read chapter 10 here ]

a/n: I am struggling so much to keep Chan in check. I want him to just give in an be the bestest boy ever, but then it'll be a rush and the story will end sooner. So, let's ride this out together.

taglist: @iflmho / @skzstaykatsy / @blackhairandbangs / @ayoitschannie / @idunnomanmynamewastaken / @charmer-c / @ihatemen55 / @channiesprincess / @channniesslefttt / @jiwoos-babygirl / @krayzieestay / @kayleefriedchicken / @sunnyhonie / @cotton-candycloudz / @lubsungie / @conwunder / @puckmaidens / @ashleighland / @hyunjiinnnn / @bmnyy / @ihrtlix / @maqqiekwon / @hynxnelly / @teti-menchon0604

[wardenparker]

Bones Full of Words, ch 10

Javier Peña x plus size reader Co-written with @absurdthirst

“He pleaded so much that he lost his voice. His bones began to fill with words.” ― Gabriel García Márquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude

Javier Peña had no way of knowing for certain the American journalist he sometimes sees sniffing around the embassy for her stories is also getting information about the narcos from the same girls that he is. After Helena is brutalized by sicarios, it is that same journalist who comes to take her away and look after her -- giving Javi reason to pause and reconsider his opinion of the woman he had previously not considered as anything more than eye candy.

He has no idea that once she has walked fully into his life, he will be battling with himself over whether or not he should stop her from walking out it of again.

Rating: E for Explicit! 18+ Word Count: 8.6k Warnings: *Blanket warnings for this series: sex work, time period appropriate sexism, cursing, alcohol, food/eating, talk of weight or size, fatphobia, internalized fatphobia, self-esteem issues, canon typical violence* Violence, kidnapping, physical violence, descriptions of injuries sustained while being held captive, fear of mistreatment, certainty of death, canon typical violence, gun violence, death by gun violence. Summary: The longer you are missing, the more desperate both you and Javier become, in your own separate ways. When he finally gets break in his investigation, all hell breaks loose. Notes: Another high violence warning for this chapter! And once again it's all canon-typical. This chapter is fast paced, I hope you like it! (As usual, I apologize for an errors I may have missed in editing.)

Ch 1 ~ Ch 2 ~ Ch 3 ~ Ch 4 ~ Ch 5 ~ Ch 6 ~ Ch 7 ~ Ch 8

The guards have been ordered to leave you alone tonight.

That happens every night, but tonight they seem to be obeying.

The window in the little bedroom is barred, but Escobar ordered a desk to be brought up for you a few days ago and it has made the place feel a little less like a prison. The simple writing table and uncomfortable chair face the iron-clad window so you can see the moon rise up, and you've figured out that you're somewhere in the mountains judging from the terrain you can see for just a little while before it becomes too dark to make out any details.

On the one hand, your survival depends upon writing this article for Escobar. He has given you just a few more days to complete the project and you promised him a partial draft by the morning.

But on the other? You know that a tray with your small dinner will be brought up soon, and all you can think about is those nights that you and Javier had actually been getting along. Sitting on the couch in his apartment while you shared it, watching a movie and eating whatever dinner you made. The times you thought he might have been warming up to you. The times you felt certain that you were falling for him.

He had tried to protect you and it had ended up with him in danger. It had ended up with you kidnapped and held captive. And Javier with not only a price on his head, but the intention of luring him here to save you.

It was well intentioned. You're sure of that now. But hell if it didn't backfire.

Pablo had very generously provided pads of paper. Lined and unlined because he did not know which that you preferred. Stacks of them, along with an entire box of No. 2 pencils sharpened enough to write but not enough to be used as a weapon on an unsuspecting guard.

In his opinion, you were now being treated exceptionally well. And maybe you were? Considering you have never been kidnapped or held prisoner — sometimes at gun point and sometimes not — ever before, you have no frame of reference. The fact is, you’re a prisoner in constant pain from early beatings. The ribs that were at best bruised and at worst broken by being kicked hard by men wearing thick boots hurt with every breath. The hunger pains are only barely kept at bay. The constant of terror your body is in has had you in fight-or-flight mode since the cafe.

And yet sitting at your little desk thinking about Javier hurts more than any of it.

Tapping the pencil on the pad, you wonder if anything you write will make it out of this place. You won’t. It’s almost guaranteed at this point and yet you still want your words, your thoughts and feelings to be known.

There is a chance, however small it may be, that your pages may outlive you. And if that’s the case, you have to at least try to leave something worthwhile behind you. Not just the real article detailing your experience and Escobar’s true nature. But something of yourself, if you can.

Taking out a fresh piece of paper, the only thing you want to write in this moment comes pouring out into the page.

Dear Javier…however this letter finds you…

******

Hollow eyed with deep, purple circles under his eyes, Javi puffs on a cigarette as he waits for the call. Hes probably lost ten pounds over the past four days and he knows that he’s days away from being pulled out of the field. The only reason he hasn’t is because Noonan doesn’t know it’s his soulmate that is the missing journalist. He’s done something he isn’t proud of, but it might work out.

He sits and stares at that phone for what seems like hours on end. When it finally rings he's a rattlesnake jumping on its prey, snatching up the receiver on his office desk immediately.

“What do you have?” He is practically spitting out his sentences, knowing that it’s already risky enough to have him call into the office, even if it is the Medellín office. Someone could track it, and he doesn’t put shit past the CIA and the Marines now that he’s thwarted them getting their hands on Elisa.

The voice on the other end is far more amused than Peña is, and a small chuckle of amusement as his expense can be heard before the caller pronounces one word very clearly. "Pamplona." He says, and the line goes dead.

Slamming the phone down, the chair rolls back into the wall with a hard thud. “Pamplona!” he shouts, grabbing his jacket and racing out the door. “She’s in Pamplona!”

"Fuck." Steve dumps the coffee mug in his hand into the sink instantly and grabs his jacket from the chair next to him in the break room. He'd lost track of how many pots they'd had between them this week to keep going, but whatever informant Peña had managed to tap has finally come through. "Does Carrillo still have that chopper ready?"

“Shit.” Javi plunges his hand into his jacket to pull out his cell phone. “She’s got to be in that house in the jungle.” The Search Bloc had located several potential targets, here and Pamplona but they had pulled back until they were sure. Javi couldn’t risk your life rushing in half cocked.

The mountains and jungle on the northeastern corner of Colombia weren't a place that they ever had to go or deal with, except to track down possible labs. The safe house in the jungle that had only just been located was a crap shoot. They had no idea what they were running into. "We'll get her." Steve intones seriously, unable to process any other outcome to his partner now that they actually have a lead.

“We have to.” Javi is re-energized by the flimsy grasp on a lead, although he’s told Berna exactly what he will do to him if he’s leading him into a trap. And he means it. “I want every soldier we have on that mountain within five hours.”

Carrillo is out on the landing with the chopper's crew when Peña and Murphy burst out onto the concrete, and he catches the wild look in Peña's eyes from ten meters away. "We're going." He tells his men, before jogging across the expanse to find out what the lead is.

“Pamplona.” Javi tells him. “She has to be in that house in the jungle.” He has half formed a plan by the time he reached Carrillo and he starts to explain. “I’m leading the breach team. I want to surround and enter simultaneously. Covering all exits. This bastard isn’t dragging her off into the jungle.”

Carrillo exchanges a glance with Murphy, debating fighting Peña on his determination to lead the operation, but both men know they would be just as insistent if it was their soulmates being held for five days instead of his. So Carrillo only nods. "Perimeter team will keep the safehouse contained. We've clocked the property at five acres but we can cover that area."

“Fucker might have tunnels leading from the house.” He reminds the man, as if he doesn’t know. “Any outbuildings have to be covered or occupied.”

"The only good thing is that it isn't close enough to the ocean to have to cover that, too," Murphy huffs, hustling along with them into the further helicopter. The team is big enough to warrant two large helicopters and he hopes it will be enough.

Javi grunts, but he is the first one jumping on the helicopter as soon as he is close enough, not even bothering to put on the bullet proof vest before he is jamming on the headphones to let him talk to the pilot to start barking orders.

Carrillo and Murphy are better outfitted right away, and Murphy sits with a modicum of patience beside his partner before shoving the tacvest into his hands.

Javi frowns as he looks down at the vest before he looks at Steve. “Put the goddamn thing on, Javi.” Steve shouts in his hear through the microphone and he huffs. Ripping off the headphones to strap the protection over his torso.

The trip would take hours, even in the air. Dealing with the mountains would make a direct flight more treacherous or else cause the trip to be longer to avoid dealing with the peaks. But with Peña barking orders to the pilot, they all knew short and dangerous was going to be the way to go. Now they had to hope Escobar hadn’t been tipped off about their search.

Javi checks and rechecks his pistol. Wanting to make sure that everything is set as he waits. Every second spent in this chopper brings him closer to reaching you and he’s about to wear the clip out ejecting it every few minutes.

Murphy's hand comes down over the pistol with a stern expression on the blond's face. "If you need to fidget with something, pick something besides your gun," he recommends, though his tone borders on making it an order.

“Fuck you.” Javi grunts, but there’s not the normal heat behind it that there would be. He holsters the weapon and picks at a loose thread on his jeans. “If you find her before I do, protect her.” He manages to choke out, worried about what condition you might be in.

"Of course." Despite never having actually met you, Steve and the others have all been looking at photos of you for days on end now. They could pick you out of any lineup without effort. And Steve knows that if it were Connie in that safe house instead of you, he'd be acting the exact same way.

“ETA ten minutes.” The update from the pilot makes Javi tense, leaning forward and looking out the open door of the chopper. “Fuck. I hope she’s not thought no one was looking for her.” He murmurs, although he’s mainly talking to himself right now.

"She has to know you would try." Steve would find it incredible if you expected anything less out of Peña. You can't think that little of the man, even if you don't like him.

“She didn’t think much of me.” Javi admits, frowning as he stares into the dense jungle below him. “She might think I didn’t even notice she was gone.”

"I doubt that." Murphy shakes his head. "From the way you tell it, you're too much alike for her to think that about you."

“She thought I sent Helena into that op. That I sent her in to the slaughter.” He confesses, having never told Steve any of this.

"Jesus." Murphy sighs, raking one hand through his hair, and wipes the other down his face. "Please tell me she found out you didn't."

“Helena told her.” He still doesn’t know if you believed her, always wondering if there was some doubt in your mind. If that’s why you seemed to pull away every time you got closer.

"She will know how hard you worked to find her." Carrillo promises. He knows even less of the story than Murphy does but he knows how important this is. How Peña has wrung himself dry to get to his soulmate.

He needs to get to you first. To make sure that you are alright. He knows you are alive, that small relief checked religiously every few minutes. His skin is raw where your tattoos sit and he knows that he seems insane. Hell, he might be.

When the chopper starts to descend just minutes later, the team is ready. Vests on, weapons in hand, and orders given. The safe house is a massive estate with a sprawling mansion and grounds that could support a large party or wedding without surrendering a single extra blade of grass, but the most important thing is that they can see movement below them as the helicopters zero in on their destination.

When the mansion comes into view, Javi can’t help but wonder which window you are at. Are you being kept in a room? Where? Are you conscious? Bruised? Worse? His stomach rolls, nearly throwing up when he imagines you on a filthy mattress, bloody and broken.

It's barely before dark, but there is enough sunlight to move by. Murphy has turned stoic beside his partner and the SearchBloc soldiers are tense with the possibility of actually finding Escobar down there. The expansive grounds will present a problem, but not one they can't handle.

Time seems to slow down. The helicopter lowering down and there is a lone guard who comes out of the house to try to shoot at the aircraft. The shots from the rifle beside Javier barely registering with him as he jumps out of the belly of the craft three feet off the ground and starts running.

It is chaos inside the house.

Escobar was not prepared for an aerial assault. He had readied himself and his guards for Jeeps to come barreling through the jungle. Helicopters were not in his game plan.

The guards who had prepared assault stations at each possible entrance to the grounds are left desperately scrambling to realign their defensive positions and the plan to funnel the gringo DEA agents through to the center of the complex where the house lies is suddenly moot.

They can and will come from anywhere, and that leaves the sicarios running for cover immediately.

“Son of a bitch!” Escobar hisses as he ducks down at a window, watching as a man jumps out and starts running towards the mansion. Shooting anything that moves. It must be your Javier. Even if he is too far away to see his face clearly. “Boss!” One of his men bursts through the door. “We have to leave! They have the place surrounded!”

“Bastards!” Escobar throws the nearest object, swiping a large vase off of a table and sending it hurtling to the floor. This is not what he planned. It’s not what he was prepared for. He’s just glad Tata isn’t here. “Go. Up the path and make sure it is clear.” He orders, already halfway out the door to issue orders to the rest of his guards. There is a precious bargaining tool in this house but he is not sure what to do about it.

Under Javier’s lead, the charge is quickly made towards the house. Steve shouting curses behind him, but he doesn’t pause to let his partner catch up. Too intent on getting inside. The door is kicked in and sicario shot right inside. He recognizes the man, one of Escobar’s. They are in the right place. Shouting your name, he charges inside.

The other guards inside the house scatter, several of them not far or smart enough to get out of the way of the invading rescue party. Through the shouting , cursing, and gunfire, one sentence makes its way above the cacophonous din: “Where’s the bitch?”

Javi hisses, angry that they would refer to you that way as he fires off several rounds. Hoping that means you have been tucked away safe.

The door of your room is always locked when you’re in it. You assume they go through it every day while you’re ‘interviewing’ their boss, but at night it’s locked from the outside with you in it.

That door had been locked for all of five minutes when the commotion started. Your window facing the jungle showed nothing out of the ordinary but out of nowhere, like lightning striking from the sky, the sounds of mayhem had come from the other side of your bedroom door.

The jolt in your gut of hope almost made you sick, but fear came with it so overwhelmingly that you found yourself scrambling around your room at an adrenaline-fueled pace to pull every note out of its hiding space and cram them all into the binding of your one notebook to carry them out if you are allowed to survive.

Maybe it’s him. The hope in your heart says. Maybe he found me.

The door bursts open after a moment, guns and men waving them flooding into the room with Pablo in the center of the chaos. "We are leaving!" He shouts, anger and fear warring in his eyes as he spits on the floor and motions for the men to take you.

They don't want to, each of them looking towards the door and the sounds of a fight downstairs. Rushing forward to grab you and knocking the notebook from your hands, pages scattering on the floor.

The impulse is as sudden as it is powerful. There isn’t time to bind you, and the two guards who grip your arms to drag you from the room are reticent. That’s probably the only reason that it actually works.

In a rush of chaos, as Escobar and half the guards are already most of the way to the stairs, you sharply snap your arms out of the group of the men on either side of you and shove them as hard as you can in opposite directions. Run is the only thought in your mind, and you take off down the hallway at a sprint. Knowing you have to push past Escobar if you go for the main stairwell, you pivot and make a break for the back stairs that you were dragged up after your first night in this hell hole.

“Bitch!” Escobar shouts, hurling a gun towards you since he can’t very well shoot you and lose the leverage you give him. “Get her!” He screams at his men, shoving them back down the hall towards you even as he ducks down to see what is happening through the slats of the stairs. The window to escape is closing.

“Fuck you, hijo de puta!” It’s a miracle you can think of anything to say, but screaming obscenities at Pablo Escobar as you make your escape will be one of the proudest and bitchiest moments of your life if you survive.

The only problem, you realize as you go careening down the hallway after dodging the gun he through in your direction, is that you don’t actually know how to get around this house.

You just have to hope you find the right door that leads to the back stairwell.

******

Javi’s entire frame of mind narrows down to what’s in front of him. His blood pounding so loudly in his ears that it’s all he can hear. Even the gunfire sounds like it’s underwater. He ducks behind a pillar when someone takes a shot at him, hissing when the sting of plaster peppers his skin, but he looks around to the staircase and sees that it’s clear. Waiting a beat before he is rushing through the chaos to take the stairs three at a time, pushing his long legs to eat up the distance and ignoring the burn.

The house is a maze. A sprawling hallway twists in front of him with a dozen doors just in his line of sight, almost all of them closed. The gunfire downstairs and the sound of Carrillo shouting seem far away as his mind races and his feet move even faster.

He has to check every room. Wasting precious seconds and hissing out a curse when he kicks the doors open and doesn’t find anyone inside. Until a room halfway down the hall. This one has signs of someone having been here. A chair kicked over and papers scatters on the floor. Javi rushes into the room and sweeps it quickly for threats before he bends down to pick up the papers.

The chaotic mass of scribbles doesn't look like language at all, but as he shuffles through a few pages he finds some written out carefully in a now-familiar hand. After days of staring at your journals and notes, he would recognize your handwriting in his sleep. Javi shuffles through the papers quickly, heart beating double time to see how busy you've been and barely skimming the pages, until one word catches his eyes.

His name.

Dear Javier…however this letter finds you… It's more than likely that , if you ever do get to read this letter, Escobar has already had me killed. Maybe he even did it himself, just to prove a point. Although I'm not sure what that point would be. I hope, at whatever stage of your life you're reading this, that you can forgive me. We're too alike and that's how I know that if I had just said something instead of being angry with you, everything that happened between us would have been different. I know that you tried to protect me by keeping me in your apartment with you. I know that you tried to look out for me and that I couldn't see the gesture for what it was. You were trying to protect me because you thought it was your duty. I was upset and stubborn because I found myself falling in love with you. I'm sorry about that, too. But hopefully, with my scars and my tattoo gone from your body, you can start over. Find someone that you actually want to be with, without my interference. My existance should no longer be a burden to you now that I'm gone. If I could have wiped the slate clean and set you free of me, I would have. I guess that's the only good that will come out of any of this. A pack of pages are numbered. They look like scribbles, but they're not. Take them to one of the secretaries at the embassy and she can translate them. It's my account of everything that happened here over the last five days. The real story. Not the article that Escobar kidnapped me to write. Please honor my memory by getting it to my editor. I know you know how. I'm sorry, Javier. I didn't mean to fall in love with you. It made me into an idiot and you never wanted it at all. I hope you can be happy now.

Your name is scrawled across the bottom, punctuated by a pencil point on the paper.

“Goddamnit.” His heart aches, feeling like it is ripped out of his chest as he stares at your inner thoughts, your feelings. Feeling like he has failed you. He can’t, he has to find you. You were here and you are still closer than you’ve been in the past five days.

Screaming and a burst of gunfire tear his attention away from the page in his hands, and Javi doubles back only for a second, to scoop up the fallen pages in a crumpled heap and shove them inside his vest to make sure you and your words make it out of this place. He dashes out into the hall again, determined to find you, when he hears a familiar voice – and English – coming from far away.

"Fuck YOU, motherfucker!" Can be heard clear as day. Followed by two gun shots.

His heart stops. Completely screeching to a halt in his chest and his blood pressure shoots up so high he’s dizzy as he launches himself down the stairs. Terrified that he’s going to find your crumpled body on the ground. Yelling your name as he barrels forward.

He slams his way through a half open door at the end of the hall that leads to a winding staircase. Slamming down every step with reckless abandon, he makes it halfway before more screaming meets his ears. Spanish this time, but the voice is just as ferocious and familiar.

"Stop or I'll shoot!"

 It takes half a beat extra of your stuttering heart to recognize the face peering down at you over the railing, and your shaking arms all but drop the gun in your hands to the ground – right at the feet of the sicario who had been coming at you seconds before.

"Javier?"

It's him. It's actually...it's really...he came to save you...

His knees buckle, hand on the railing the only thing keeping him from collapsing. He murmurs your name, holding up his weapon and tucking it into his pants before he is stumbling down the stairs to you to scoop you up into his arms. “Are you hurt?” He rushes out, his hands running over your body before he is pulling you into his tac vest covered chest briefly before he is leaning back to check you over again, as if he is in disbelief you are here. “Fuck, I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

“Careful.” You hiss in pain when he squeezes you against him, managing a weak smile because you refuse to admit defeat in any way — regardless of the fact that tears started streaming down your face the second he wrapped his arms around you. “I’m pretty banged up but I’m okay I think.” Maybe. A bullet might have grazed you while you were running but you’re going on pure adrenaline right now.

“Are you-“ he can’t say the words, but his hand cups your cheek as he looks into your eyes, hating the fatigue and fear that he sees there. The trauma that has been imprinted on you. It’s something that would never leave you and it’s his fault. “Did they—”

“No.” You shake your head slightly, knowing what he’s feared. What you feared. That you would be treated like Helena was. Or worse. “No. He didn’t let them.”

The air rushes out of his lungs in relief and he pulls you against his chest again. “Thank God.” He closes his eyes for a moment, needing to ground himself so he can get you out of here. But right now he needs to hold you.

“Javier…” If he holds you like this any longer you’re going to just break down sobbing and you can’t do that yet. You can’t let yourself fall apart just yet. There is too much left to do. Just because he’s here foreseen mean it’s over. “He’s here. He’s here somewhere. You can get him—”

There’s a moment where he’s tempted. Pulling back, his head twists towards the door and his eyes narrow. Almost convinced that he could leave you here and hunt him down. Until he feels you tremble. The slight shiver that runs through your body snaps him back to reality. “Come on.” He takes your hand and shakes his head. “My only goal is to get you out of here.” He states. “They can get Pablo.”

The first floor of the house is in shambles when he pushes the nearby door open to pour you back into reality. Shot up and ransacked and destroyed in every conceivable way, the place looks like the set of an action movie after the hero has given up all hope and the bad guy seems to be winning.

Half a dozen men in tacvests and military green are moving to and fro, but Javier moves you steadily through the melee while the adrenaline keeps you moving easily.

Javi keeps you close, when you are outside, he immediately guides you towards the helicopter. “Duck down!” he shouts as the blades nearly drown him out.

Even if he didn’t give you the instruction, you would have followed his motions and ducked deeply to get under the blades whirring overhead. But he bundles you into the helicopter and hands you a headset, and by some miracle the things actually manage to drown out the sounds of the damned blades above you.

He doesn’t leave your side, even though his partner is still inside the mansion. He knows that Carrillo will watch his back. “Get us out of here!” He tells the pilot, watching the lawn between the helicopter and the house. The pilot will take you off to where the vehicles are waiting, coming back for the rest of the team.

“Sir?” There pilot looks back at him, confused by the unexpected order.

“Take us to the rendezvous site.” Javi orders again, frowning as he leans over you to strap you into the seat. He has no clue if you’ve ever flown in a helicopter and the last goddamn thing he needs is for you to fall out.

“Yes, sir!” The pilot takes the reputation as gold and starts to lift the chopper off the ground, sending you directly and unsteadily into Javi’s arms again.

You stare at the mansion as the helicopter lifts into the air. As if you are trying to reconcile where you were with where you are. He doesn’t say anything, doesn’t know what to say right now. Doesn’t know if he can find the right words so he stays silent.

It isn't until the house on the hill – much less intimidating than thinking of it as the mansion on the mountain – has drifting out of sight that you feel like you can breathe again. Instead of a blanket of relief it feels like the air has been sucked out of your lungs. Like the gasping emptiness left behind by vacuous shock jolts your body into taking another breath when you hadn't even realized that you were holding it before.

You shake with it. With the sharp feeling of something fresh and free. And with the wracking sobs that follow as soon as it begins to settle on your shoulders that the whole thing is really finally over.

He hears it in his headphones. The quiet cries and his fingers itch to reach for you again. Unsure if you would push him away or accept him. “It’s okay.” He promises softly. “You’re safe.”

"I— " Gasps and sniffles and wrenching sobs all mix themselves up with attempts at speaking and you end up doubled over with one hand cradling your stomach and the other reaching out to clutch his like an anchor. Every quake of sobs hurts but you can't keep them in, too overcome with the ending of the whole ordeal to be able to control the flow of emotion.

“You’re safe, you’re safe.” He repeats it over and over, like reminding you will help. His hand curls around yours and he leans over, pressing close and hugging you as you hug yourself. “Let it out, sweetheart.”

You have no idea how long you sit there, carefully buckled into the helicopter's seat and half leaning into Javier's side and chest, except to know that you've landed somewhere. The jolt of the aircraft is undeniable but it hardly means a thing against the shaking of your body as you succumb to almost a week's worth of literal torture and captivity and let the stress out in what is surely only the first of many ways.

“I’ve got to get you off the helicopter.” He murmurs, his voice right in your ear through the headphones. “There are trucks waiting for us.”

"I should— " Even when you can string words together again, you still don't bother lifting your head. "I should probably go to a hospital."

“You’re going to.” He promises. “We will get you transferred into a truck and take you to the hospital to be checked over.”

"You..." Managing to force yourself to look up at him, the measure of disbelief mixed with the fear and broken hurt in your eyes is staggering. "Found me?"

Your eyes kill him. The knife slicing deep and twisting in his heart. The disbelief and the surprise. Like you had expected him to just shrug and continue on like you weren’t a piece of him. “I wasn’t going to stop until you were found.”

"If you had come with me..." Trailing off again to sniffle away fresh tears, you're about to tell him that it was Escobar's plan to entrap him by taking you when your eyes fall on the crumpled edges of papers stuffed under his bulletproof vest. In the corner of one, you recognize the letter that you wrote to him and flinch. "My— um— my papers. You found them?"

“I did.” Javi reaches in and he pulls out the papers that he has scooped up, but he keeps the letter you wrote, tucking it aside before he hands them back to you.

Your voice drops again, and you push out a shaking breath. "He wanted me to write his story," you tell him, eyes flicking back to his pocket as he stuffs that one sheet of paper away. "An article, I mean. To make him sound like a saint."

“He’s fucking insane.” Javi shakes his head, frowning and glancing towards the trucks. You haven’t moved and he’s not going to change the subject until you are good and ready to leave to helicopter. You deserve a minute to process all of this.

"I know." The way you exhale and the nod of your head could be mistaken for a laugh, but he knows better. "I just spent five days listening to him talk at me every waking hour of the day."

He wants to sigh in relief that it was just talking, but that would undercut the seriousness of your situation. Something he couldn’t do when he had been so goddamn worried. He had actually thrown up a few times from the mounting anxiety and fear rolling around inside him. “Now you can tell your story.” He tells you, eyeing the papers. “Exactly how you saw things. Win that Pulitzer.”

It would be an unnecessary insult to tell him that Escobar talked about the story winning a Pulitzer, too. The difference was his point of view was full of the utter bullshit he fed himself. “I just…want it to be over,” you murmur quietly, despite reminding yourself that from a very technical perspective, it is.

“Let’s get you to the hospital.” He unclips the seatbelt, but he doesn’t move, waiting for you.

It takes a few seconds, but when you move again you hold steady to Javier’s arm and gratefully accept the help extricating yourself from the helicopter. Apparently the rendezvous point is just outside — or maybe just inside — a town somewhere and he has used the hospital’s helipad as a landing sight. All you have to do is go inside. “Probably good planning,” you admit, hissing slightly when you put pressure on your left foot. When did that get hurt?

You stumble forward and Javi is leaping up, wrapping his arm around you and pulling you towards him. Wanting to take the weight off your foot since you hissed.

How do you tell him that this is the safest you’ve ever felt in your life? It’s impossible and too much and so utterly dramatic. But you nearly fucking died. And if you had, you know your biggest regret would have been how you treated him. So you lean in to his embrace gratefully instead, and brace yourself on his arm. “Thank you” will suffice for now. He doesn’t need to know how badly you need him at your side right now.

You stumble again and Javi clenches his jaw in anger that you are so weak, so hurt that you can’t even support yourself. He jerks to a stop and bends down to lift you into his arms with a grunt. Straining slightly but managing it to quickly hurry you inside the hospital.

The transition from helipad to wheelchair to emergency room is a whirlwind. Javier gets you inside and seen faster than you even thought possible, and you wonder how many times he flashed his badge when you weren’t looking to get people to move you up the line or examine you faster. Within what seems like just a few minutes you’re in a hospital gown and being wheeled into a cat scan room with Javier standing outside the window watching like a guard dog.

His phone has been ringing nonstop, but he ignores it. He knows Steve and Carrillo are fine, although Pablo probably slipped away. He doesn’t care about that right now. He can’t focus on that until the doctor tells him that you are fine. Completely fine.

That conversation won't come, unfortunately, but the doctor looks both surprised and exhausted when he finally comes back from reviewing all of your tests over an hour later. You and Javier have been sitting in your little bay of the emergency room in silence purely because you don't really know what to say.

"You were lucky." The doctor tells you honestly. "Your ribs are bruised, not broken. The gunshot wound was superficial, and your ankle is only a hairline fracture. Aside from the internal damage, I might be willing to send you home after we got your ankle set, but we are going to admit you to keep an eye on you for a day or two. We're going to have to take care of the internal bleeding and start getting you eating and resting comfortably again." He looks between the two of you with doubt, but asks anyway. "I understand you're coming out of something traumatic, miss. Will your guard be staying with you?"

"He's my soulmate." The word is thick on your tongue, but the utter truth of it feels so freeing. It feels right. And more importantly, it feels safe. "And he'll be staying as long as he's able." That much is up to Javier. But at least now that the hospital knows your soulmate status, they won't have a problem talking to him about whatever medical care you need.

Shocked that you admitted his connection to you, Javier glances back at you and then at the doctor. Horrified by the causal way he has listed off your injuries even though he’s nursed his own wounds from this fight against Escobar. “I will be staying.” He tells the doctor, frowning at the man heavily and motioning towards the hallway. “Can we talk outside?”

"Of course." The older man nods to your polite before stepping outside the room with Javier and closing the door behind them.

Javi props his hands on his hips. “What aren’t you saying?” He demands.

For one moment the doctor shifts uncomfortably, but given the relationship between his patient and the man in front of him, he won't be breaking any sort of laws in disclosing more concerns. "She is incredibly weak. Dehydrated and seems as though she went through quite a beating. More than one, if I am judging her injuries correctly. Whatever happened to her went on long enough for her body to go in and out of starvation modes, so I would call her malnourished, as well."

“Goddamnit.” Javi hisses, pressing his fingers against the bridge of his nose and wishing he had his hands around Escobar’s neck right now. He would kill him and take pleasure in watching the life fade from his eyes. A chilling thought but it’s true. “She was kidnapped by Escobar five days ago.”

"Then she is lucky to be alive." The doctor notes gravely. "Two days was a generous estimate. I expect it will be longer than that, but I did not wish to alarm her."

He sighs and nods. “Okay. Whatever it takes.” He tells the doctor. “She-“ he doesn’t need to explain why he would say that. “Yeah.”

"If she can, she should rest." The doctor advises. "I will order more tests and have her moved to a room upstairs. A nurse will be in to take her full medical history." Only a glance passes between the two men but the doctor, apparently satisfied, nods and moves away with purpose.

Now that he knows what is going on, Javi pulls his phone out of his pocket and sighs as he calls Steve back. Not eager to hear the disappointing news that Pablo escaped.

"Peña!" Steve picks up on the first ring, shouting his partner's name down the line in frustration. "I assume you got her out? You fuckin' disappeared on us, man!"

“She’s in the hospital.” He doesn’t apologize, because he’s not sorry. “They are admitting her. Might be here for a few days. Tell me you shot the son of a bitch?” It’s a thin hope, but he asks it anyway.

Murphy huffs a long suffering sigh. "He got away," he admits to his partner, voice round with regret. "We managed to get one bastard alive. Carrillo hauled him in for questioning. The rest either got shot or got away. I've secured the safe house and we're sweeping the place now." He pauses, chewing on his lip, before he wipes a hand through his hair. "How is she?"

“Dehydrated. Internal bleeding. Malnourished.” He growls the last word angrily. “Son of a bitch knew she was my soulmate, Murphy. He starved her for some kind of sick pleasure while forcing her to write some bullshit article painting him as a victim of the United States.”

"At least you've got her back." Murphy swallows and shakes his head, but his partner can't see it. Can't see the utter relief on the other man's face that Javier Peña didn't almost lose his mind and his soulmate all in one go. "I'll let the boss know you're staying in Pamplona until she's released. Keep me updated and I'll let you know if we find anything useful here."

“Yeah.” He ends the call and shoves his hand through his hair. Leaning against the wall and blowing out a sigh of relief. Even as the guilt still weighs down on his shoulders. At least you are here to hurl insults at him and blame him for your experience.

When he finally opens the flimsy door to come back into the space you flinch slightly, but blow out a long breath. "Sorry..." You murmur quietly. "It's going to take a while before I can remember it's not one of them coming through the door."

Javi swallows, nodding slightly. “I understand.” He rubs his hands on his thighs and slowly moves towards the seat he had been in before stepping outside with the doctor. “They are getting a room ready.”

"What was the doc afraid to tell me?" There must have been something, but you assume if it was truly bad they would be rushing you into surgery or mentally preparing you for the inevitable.

“You might be in here for more than a couple of days.” He shrugs like it’s no big deal even though concern still spikes through the fatigue. The adrenaline he has been riding has been tapped and he’s about to crash.

"I figured." It stings that you couldn't just be told outright, but if your body is as broken up as you feel like it is, a few days would have made that doctor a miracle worker. Sitting back on the mobile emergency room bed, you let out a long breath and just stare at the IV in your arm for a while before you look back up at Javier. "I'm glad you're staying." It's honest, at least, and you're going to do your best to be more honest. With yourself and with him.

He gives you a bewildered look, like he would be anywhere else? "They didn't get Pablo." He figures you deserve to know that, even though he knows you would rationally assume that he had escaped. "Right now we have him for kidnapping an American citizen, torturing you." What he doesn't say is that he would be damned if he was going to leave you unprotected, to give that bastard a chance to sneak in here and take you again or kill you.

“I wrote everything down for you.” Obviously you would — and did — but being honest about the fact that it was for him is a measure further in trying to just tell him the truth. “I figured that even if I didn’t get out…” Don’t think about the fact that Escobar got away. Don’t think about it. He can’t get you here. “I wrote down names, descriptions, direct quotes. Anything I could.”

He looks down at his hands, frowning slightly at the revelation. “You did good.” He murmurs. “I’m just— I’m sorry it took so long to find you.”

“It could have been worse.” Instinctively, your hand touches his for a measure of comfort and you leave it there for a few long seconds before thinking better of it and readjusting. “I got his version of model treatment for a prisoner.”

“Clearly.” Javi snorts, his hand burning where you touched him and he wants to reach out again but you had pulled away. His fingers curl towards his palm. “It was like a fucking vacation at an exclusive resort.”

“Compared to what it could have been?” You meet his eyes, however reluctantly, while both of you picture Helena in his guest bed after the torture she endured. “I’m lucky he wanted something from me.”

He has to look away, so goddamn guilty for his part in your suffering. He leans back and closes his eyes. “Yeah.” He sighs. “You’re lucky.” He can admit that, and that just makes him feel worse.

The stubborn part of you refuses to be the one offering him comfort when you’ve just been through literal torture, but the ache in your heart is a stronger pain than everything else you’re feeling. “I just want to be healed enough to go home,” you murmur, laying your head back on the upright gurney.

Even though he has been ready to argue for you to leave this country, it hurts to hear you voice that. The needle like piercing of his heart making him grimace slightly and he opens his eyes again. Watching you as you now have your eyes closed. “You will.” He promises, leaning forward and taking your hand again. “I’ll put you on that plane myself.”

“Thank you.” The warm surety of his hand makes you quake again but you hold on tighter. You need The steadiness of him almost more than you need air. “You saved my life.”

“It’s my fault your life was ever in danger.” He admits it quietly, his voice cracking slightly, giving way and turning raspy. “This is my fault. All of it. You were right about me.”

“Hey.” You open your eyes and squeeze his hand again, ignoring the gruesome way it makes the IV stand out in your arm, and breathe out a sigh. “I wish you had told me you didn’t want me living somewhere else. That’s all.”

“Didn’t think you would -“ he sighs. “I was trying to keep you safe and I put you in danger.” He changes what he was going to say, not even sure what words were going to come out.

“If I had listened to you and taken someone with me, I might not have gotten taken that night.” There has been time to reflect on it. Time for you to realize that neither of you was right. That both of your stubbornness came into play here. “The only person to blame in all this is Escobar.”

“Bastard.” He growls, clenching his jaw in fury at the man who had ordered you taken and abused. “I’m going to get him. Kill him, put him behind bars. He’s going to pay for everything he’s done.”

“I know you will.” There is no doubt about that in your mind. Not when he managed to find you in that hell hole. He can and will do whatever it takes.

“You need to rest.” He squeezes your hand gently. “Do you want something to eat? I think I saw a machine down the hall.”

“Yeah.” Nodding slightly, you’re reticent let go of his hand but food sounds amazing. Everything went down right before your one chance at food today. “Please?” When he stands, you find yourself very nervous to let him out of your sight again. “Just, um…come right back? Please? I don’t want to be alone for too long…”

“Give me two minutes.” He nods, knowing that you are skittish right now. “What’s your favorite candy bar?”

It’s a small question, but the idea of something that didn’t come out of Escobar’s safe house kitchen sounds incredible right now. “Anything with caramel,” you tell him, swallowing more thanks.

“You got it, sweetheart.” He almost smiles, nodding again. “I’ll be right back.”

******

There are more tests after you're brought to your room, and dinner is sent up – instigating a small argument with Javier when you insist on sharing because he needs to eat too but won't leave your side again. Eventually you had both simmered down again, just asked for the kitchen to send up something additional for Javier, and settled in. You don't even remember falling asleep.

At whatever point you drifted off, Javier hadn't woken you. Or even moved you. Because now he's the one sleeping —  sitting up in the chair beside your bed, holding your hand, with the tv on the wall muted and subtitles ticking across the bottom of the infomercial. Whatever he had had on is over now, but his hand is still fiercely in yours.

Exhaustion had crept in. After so many long, sleepless nights pouring over every lead again and again, Javi can finally sleep. He hadn’t at first. Determine to stay awake and watch over you, but he had drifted off after crying. Having a moment where he had broken down as he held your hand, you sleeping peacefully. He had needed it. Thanking God after so many years of not talking to him for taking his mother, for sparing you.

The purple under his eyes looks a little more dramatic like this. With him sleeping so peacefully and so deeply beside you. He had worried. He had worked to find you. He had stormed a fucking safe house to find you. And suddenly you can't see anything but the irony, thinking about how you had taken care of Helena in his apartment while she continued to love him deeply. The man that you had blamed for her circumstance, and some might blame for yours. But none of that was true. Javier had rescued both of you, and if you could turn to Helena now you would tell her how entirely and devotedly you agree with her feelings for this man.

Your fingers twitch, flex, in his hand and he frowns. The brow creasing in his sleep and his thumb brushes over the back of your hand. Seeking to soothe you, even in his unconscious state. His body twists slightly in the uncomfortable chair and he murmurs your name.

"I'm right here." It's just a whisper, but you murmur it and gently rub your thumb over his hand the way he did to you. "Sleep, Javi. I'm right here."

Javi sighs softly, his body relaxing just a bit and he squeezes your hand in his sleep.

It feels impossible. But then, so is how you met him. And so is what you just went through. So is the fact that you’ve survived. It’s all impossible. It’s all complete and utter madness.

Which is why you hold his hand a little tighter for now. And let the tears fall freely all over again while you lie there and watch him sleep. So that when you’re back home, missing your soulmate and wondering if he’s finally found the happiness he’s been missing, you’ll remember that you didn’t always fight. There were times when you and Javier Peña genuinely cared for each other, too.

So it’s okay to still love him. Because you know, in this quiet moment, that you always will.

------

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[nyarlathotep-thecrawlingchaos]

I did the thing guys

I did another CHAPTER GUYS

I DID IT

Gods I love being able to write on an actual computer again. My glorified typewriter. So happy.

So here we are, chapter two!!!!

My poor socially awkward lil swordsman bb I lub hims

Strawhat Stowaway

Chapter 2

Ch. 1 link

Little bit of hurt/comfort, slow burn, silly, fluffy, will be trigger warnings in later chapters but not this one

Wordcount: 3.2k Taglist thingy that I just had to edit in because I forgot I'm so sorry: @dimplewonie @hearts4zoro @kawennote09

After an alcohol drenched Halloween party at your friends' dorm, you wake up to find yourself in a strange place. This might not be quite as alarming...if not for the fact that it's an entirely different world, enshrouded with pirates and strange magic.

♬♫ Desperate Guy - The Fratellis ♫♬

Hear me now, hear me now, there’s nothing very much I wouldn’t do to catch your eye

And you can’t see me now, see me now, there’s just so many things I’m haunted by

He heard Nami offering to loan you a change of clothes as he crossed the deck, but that was drowned out by your words from minutes earlier, still echoing around Zoro’s head; your cheeky smirk while your eyes passed over him, blatantly checking him out.

I’d settle for a date.

Zoro had been on his own for a few years before meeting Luffy. He’d had a handful of one night stands, but this was new. You had appeared out of nowhere, less than an hour ago, and now you were flirting with him—and all he had managed to do in response was stare at you and stammer like an idiot.

You had to be joking.

You were probably joking. You seemed like the type, already had been joking around a little about the gravity of your situation, taking it in stride instead of shutting down in fear and defeat. That was pretty cool in itself. You definitely had resolve.

And you seemed pretty smart. And pretty hot—

“God dammit,” he grumbled under his breath, rolled his eyes at himself as he entered the small cabin with the hammock stretched across from one wall to the other. He pulled his t-shirt off a little more aggressively than he intended and tossed it at the hammock, digging through his belongings for a new one. He had to get a hold of himself; you had made one little comment and he was acting like an idiot.

“…seem to be taking this pretty well.”

“I mean, I can’t really do anything about it if I don’t even know how I got here.” He glanced sharply toward the doorway when he heard your and Nami’s voices drawing nearer, crossing the deck as he pulled out a black shirt and red haramaki. “And I’ve never been on a ship before, so that’s pretty cool once you get past the existential dread.” You glanced through the doorframe as you were passing by with Nami, meeting his eyes for a moment, and he was pretty sure you smirked again and glanced across his shirtless torso before disappearing past the view of the doorframe. “And I’m not complaining about the views, either.”

Yeah, you had definitely smirked again.

The swordsman could do little more for a long moment than stand there staring at the doorframe, frozen in place, gritting his teeth and twitching slightly. It was like you were intentionally trying to get him flustered—and he had to growl a few swears under his breath as he shook out his shirt and pulled it over his head, because damn it if it wasn’t working.

“Hey, Zoro!”

Zoro jolted in alarm halfway through straightening his haramaki, jerking his head to look over his shoulder at Luffy.

Hanging upside down in the doorframe, presumably by his feet from the deck above, given he was holding his straw hat in place with both hands.”Hey, how come you’re red?”

“I’m not red,” he said through his teeth, adjusting his waistband.

“Uh…yeah you are,” said Luffy slowly, tilting his head.

Zoro rolled his eyes. “The hell do you want?”

“Oh, yeah—what’s the deal with the stowaway?” Easily distracted as ever, Luffy launched into a tirade of excitable questions. “Where’d she come from? Did you talk her into joining the crew yet?”

“Yeah,” Zoro scoffed, fixing his swords in place at his hip. “Crew therapist.”

“Whoa, seriously? That’s great!”

Zoro stared at the self-proclaimed captain for a long moment, raising an eyebrow at him. “That…that was joke.”

“Aww….” Luffy frowned, swinging back and forth in the doorframe like some strange clock pendulum. His frown turned thoughtful after a few seconds. “What’s a therapist do, anyway?”

“Give advice for money, apparently.”

“Sounds weird.” He finally dropped down, flipping over to land on his feet in the doorway and straightening his hat before tucking his hands behind his neck. “Could be useful, though. Good for morale.” He gave a resolute nod with that brief assessment, hitting his fist into his opposite palm. “We’re recruiting her.”

Zoro just gave a sigh and shook his head in borderline disbelief—though only borderline, because this was Luffy, and he had already come to expect this level of childlike impulsiveness out of him. He turned to the side to move past Luffy in the doorframe. “Good luck with that.”

Though there really wasn’t much else you could do right now—no one had any idea how you had ended up on the ship, and there was at the present no way for you to get back to where you came from. You were, in a word, stuck.

“Oh, come on, you have to help, too.” Zoro rolled his eyes as Luffy clapped him on the shoulder. “You’re my first mate! And besides, you’ve talked to her more than anyone else.” Luffy nodded as they reached the deck railing, hopping up to sit there. “That’s your first official assignment as my first mate—recruiting a crew therapist.”

“Yeah. Sure thing, ‘Captain.’”

There was really no point in telling Luffy that they weren’t a crew—it fell on deaf ears. Zoro really didn’t have any major issue following him at this point; Luffy had more than proven himself an able fighter against both Buggy and Kuro; had, even if half of it was purely luck, managed to procure them a ship, and protect said ship against a Marine vice admiral. Even if his methods weren’t exactly conventional…they had worked. No one could deny that.

But it was a little more of a stretch to recruit you, when it was pretty clear that you didn’t even want to be there.

And yet you seemed pretty cozy with both Nami and Usopp when you emerged back onto the deck with them, the three of you looking at some rectangular device in your hand. The gaudy costume tricorne hat you had been wearing when you showed up was now on top of Usopp’s head, and you had changed into a black patterned tank top and dark shorts, and at this point Zoro was just doing his damnedest not to even look at you.

“…makes calls, plays music, takes pictures,” you were saying, as the other two stared over your shoulders at the device in clear bafflement. “You really don’t have anything like this here?”

“Den den mushi, but all they do is make calls,” said Nami. “But this thing is—” She shook her head, laughing. “This is weird.”

“Hey, can I—?” said Usopp, holding his hand out, and you shrugged and handed it off to him. He laughed and pushed himself between Luffy and Zoro at the railing. “You guys gotta see this, it’s a cell phone. Hang on, hang on—”

Zoro looked over at the device, his brow furrowing as Usopp tapped at it—and then all three of their faces appeared on the front of it.

“What the f—?”

“Whoa…” Luffy waved his hand in front of it, and the picture on the device mimicked him perfectly. “That’s so cool!”

“Yeah, and you touch this, and…” Usopp tapped a circle toward the bottom of the device. “And it makes it into a picture—”

It—how—?!” Luffy grabbed it from Usopp, gawking at the picture of the three of them. He looked between it and Usopp and Zoro, eyes wide as saucers. "It—it just—? So cool—”

“Yeah, and it saves it, look…”

Usopp touched the device, pulling his index finger across it, and the picture changed to one of him, you, and Nami, with Usopp openly gawking and Nami staring at you in alarm while you seemed to be giggling at their shock. Zoro tilted his head a little as Usopp went on scrolling through pictures, tuning out his explanation that it operated via some weird otherworldly magic called a “battery.” The majority of the pictures seemed to be of you, or of you with other people, maybe family and friends. There were quite a few of you with a younger girl that resembled you a great deal, and just as Zoro had opened his mouth to ask about it, he abruptly found himself unable to form any words at all at the sight of the next picture.

And barely managed to catch the device when Usopp dropped it in equal shock—and barely caught Luffy by the back of his shirt when he nearly fell backwards over the railing.

There was no denying at all that Zoro was more than a little red in the face now—why the hell were there pictures of you naked in the thing?

You and Nami exchanged a glance as Zoro stared off to the side and held the phone out at you, mumbling some incoherent apology that was somewhere between sorry and didn’t know. You made a weird sort of strangled squeak in your throat when you glanced at the screen, and Nami gave a snort of laughter as you shoved it back in your pocket.

Luffy recovered a great deal more quickly, turning and flopping over the railing. “Can we go eat now? I’m starving.”

“What else is new,” Nami commented.

Down on the docks below, Luffy set immediately to his plans to recruit you onto the crew, explaining how they definitely needed a crew therapist for the sake of keeping up morale on long journeys, and you seemed more amused than anything at his antics. “What we really need is a musician, a pirate ship has to have a few good musicians. Can you play music?”

“Well, I played the flute in band when I was in high school,” you said, frowning a little.

“Perfect! Have you got one?”

“Ah…didn’t think to pack one before I got isekai’d into this shit-show, sorry.”

He tilted his head like a curious puppy. “Ise-what?”

“N…never mind,” you said, shaking your head. “Not important.”

Still, he was undeterred, practically buzzing with questions—what was high school, how did this “band” thing work, sports games, what sports? Soccer? As you explained the basics of the sport, also explaining that you weren’t sure because you didn’t exactly play it yourself and Usopp chimed in that he was kind of an expert at it, Zoro lingered behind the three of you, still trying to get the mental image of you sans clothes out of his head, to absolutely no avail—the picture seemed to have imbedded itself into the back of his eyelids.

“You look like a tomato.” He glared over at Nami at her snickering as she pointed between his face and his hair. “Red and green—”

“Shut the hell up,” he growled through his teeth

“She said you turned red when she asked you out, too.” He rolled his eyes when Nami elbowed him in the arm. “So the big bad swordsman doesn’t know how to talk to girls, huh?”

“Shut. Up.”

It normally wasn’t an issue for him, but for some reason it was quickly turning into one with you. How forward you were being about flirting when you had only laid eyes on each other for the first time barely an hour ago, how you had that little smirk any time you did—and that picture definitely hadn’t helped at all. Nami wasn’t exactly wrong, then. You definitely were having an effect on him that he wasn’t used to, but being taunted about it wasn’t going to do him any good.

Nor was nearly walking headlong into you the second that he entered the restaurant, his hand shooting out in reflex and grabbing your waist—and letting go just as quickly.

“Uh—sorry.”

But you were far too busy staring straight ahead as Luffy and Usopp spoke to the host, a little pale in the face, to even seem to notice or hear him. He gritted his teeth a little when he heard Nami give a small snort of laughter behind him, and that did seem to snap you out of your trance, as you looked at her sharply. You leaned to the side a little toward the other girl, eyes still glued to the fishman host, as you whispered, “Wh—what exactly is that?”

“That…” Nami glanced between you and the host, lifting an eyebrow. “You’ve never seen a fishman?”

“I don’t think we have those where I’m from,” you muttered through your teeth, and Nami had to cover a laugh with a put-on cough at your borderline panic. “They—they just—what, half fish half man?”

“Kind of,” she said. She approached the host herself when Luffy and Usopp tanked at their attempt to get a table at the evidently overbooked restaurant, and slipped him a small stack of berry notes, changing the man’s tune quickly. “They’re really not much different from humans,” she said quietly as all of you followed him down the stairs and into the dining area. “They can breathe underwater, though.”

“Can they?” you said, a little weakly.

The host led the group to a large, rounded booth, and Luffy hopped into it first, shifting over to the opposite end. Usopp took the next seat, followed by Nami and you. Zoro glanced between either end of the booth, decided he was probably better off not sitting that close to you, and made to sit down at the end of the booth by Luffy.

And promptly realized that this was going to be impossible with his swords at his right hip, as he got the sheathes briefly stuck between the booth and a few pillars situated next to it. He jerked them back out quickly.

“I’d be happy to check your swords for you, sir,” the host said pleasantly.

He glanced at the man—and briefly at you as he heard you giggle, your hand curled over your mouth to muffle it.

No choice, then. Great.

“I got this,” he said shortly, heading over to the opposite end of the booth. He sat down heavily, adjusting his katana, and made a point of not looking toward you again. The host left you with menus and a promise that your waiter would be with you all shortly, while Luffy leaned toward Usopp and wondered aloud what kind of food they had here.

Zoro, flipped open his menu and set immediately to seeing what kind of drinks they had—because dear god did he need one.

He kept mostly quiet during the brief wait, listening to the others and you discuss the menu. Discuss the restaurant. Discuss the crew—as Nami pointed out once more that they weren’t actually a crew, and Luffy brushed it off as he always did. You seemed more and more interested, and you honestly got along with everyone like you had been there for far more than just the last hour or so, joking around and laughing with Nami, calling Usopp out on one of his bullshit stories without any hesitation at all.

Maybe Luffy wasn’t too far off the mark in trying to recruit you.

The idle chat at the table was interrupted by a commotion at another end of the dining room by a couple of diners arguing with each other, a pirate and a marine lieutenant, with the situation being abruptly diffused by a waiter quickly knocking out both offending parties.

And, of course, Luffy already had the spark of recruitment in his eyes as the waiter approached the table and set down a plate of rolls, speaking in a curt tone.

“Hi. Welcome to our shitty restaurant, where the only thing worse than the ambience is the food.” Luffy made a grab for the plate without any hesitation at all. “My name is Sanji, what can I get for you?”

“One of everything, please,” Luffy said through a mouthful of bread,”

“Any drinks?” he said, glancing around the table. “One of our signature cocktails to help choke down your meal?”

“Giving us the hard sell, huh?” said Nami, leaning back and stretching her arm across the backrest.

Zoro glanced over when he heard you chuckle a little—and back at the waiter as his eyes flitted between you and Nami, his tone and expression shifting immediately as a smile curved at his lips.

“Apologies, ladies. Didn’t see you there. Would either of you care for an apéritif to start? We have several rare Micqueot vintages in stock.” Luffy and Usopp both looked between you and Nami, and Zoro just crossed his arms, waiting for the idiot to finish. “Or perhaps you’d like a glass of Umeshu? You know…something sweet for someone sweet.”

And the audacious bastard winked.

Nami raised her eyebrows. “Something wrong with your eye?”

“Just blinded by your beauty.”

“I don’t know about my friend here, but I’m not really into sweet things, sweetie.” The waiter’s attention immediately turned back to you, and Zoro glanced over at you as you spoke up—as you leaned forward on the table, curling a hand under your chin, fluttering your eyelashes. “Whiskey for me. Lowball, on the rocks,”

So flirting was your thing, then.

Zoro cleared his throat loudly before the guy could fire back. “Waiter, can I get a beer? And something for my friends.”

“Two beers,” said Usopp. “I usually have three, but—”

“And a milk,” interupted Luffy, raising his hand.

“Water,” said Nami shortly.

“Three beers, one water, one milk, and…” He turned his attention straight back to you again—you, still leaning forward with your elbow on the table, your chin resting against your knuckles, your lips curved into a small smirk. “One whiskey, on the rocks? Any particular preference, madam?”

“Whatever vintage you recommend,” you replied coyly—and then you winked.

And his smirk only widened at that as he turned to leave. “Right away, madam.”

Zoro glanced over at you slowly, his eyes shifting between you and the departing waiter, lifting an eyebrow. You rolled your eyes over to him, still smirking. “Yes?” you said, waiting for him to respond.

“Nothing.” He rolled his eyes—it still seemed very much like you were doing this on purpose, toying with him just to get a reaction.

And if you were....

He rolled his eyes back over to you, “Madam,” he said sarcastically. “Forgive my rude behavior, madam. Would madam prefer her whiskey in a crystal glass, or would a golden bowl be more madam’s style?”

There was a fair bit of chuckling around the table. Nami nudged your shoulder, and you leaned to the side, your smirk widening into a grin as she whispered something behind her hand into your ear. You straightened back out, your eyes glinting with mischief as you met his gaze and laid your hand lightly on his bicep.

“Aww, you’re not jealous, are you?” And you only leaned in closer, laying your temple at his shoulder and fluttering your eyelashes again, and he immediately regretted opening his mouth as he felt his face heating up. “Should I tell our handsome waiter that you wanted to be flirted with too?”

“Wh—what—”

And the chuckling around the table turned into hearty laughter, as you pulled away and leaned toward Nami instead, leaning into each other as the pair of you more or less cackled at your quip.

He was taking all of this way too seriously—and the sight of you laughing like that, despite how desperate your situation was, made him smile a little. Made him laugh a little himself, tilting his head back against the backrest of his seat at the booth, and speak up amid the laughter, almost affectionately.

“I hate you guys.”

[vanishedinvain]

𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐩

summary: the night before anthony and simon's duel from benedict's perspective.

warnings: angst, anxiety

a/n: wc: 546. this is a cut scene from ch. ii. of perfect all-american bitch, my benedict bridgerton x reader series where benedict becomes the viscount, but can be read as a standalone since this is a flashback sequence! despite how long the chapters already are, that's after i've spent a full day editing them lol, so i'm thinking of posting scenes that i've cut/would've liked to include in the main story but wasn't super relevant to the plot (like this one)

Benedict and Colin exited the study feeling about a decade older than when they walked in. Anthony had provided them grimly detailed instructions on what to do in both of the worst case scenarios. The two younger brothers congregated in Benedict’s bedchamber to go over the logistics one last time. 

Colin was to remain on guard at the home. He would arrange for a hired hack to be at the house to transport Anthony to either the docks or the hospital. He needed to keep Daphne from interfering, their other siblings away from any violent sights, and their mother calm.

Benedict needed to contact the solicitor to secure their financials. They would need to give notice of either death or disappearance to the people of Aubrey village and to Parliament. They might have the Bow Street Runners called on them in a few days time. Benedict might have to arrange for the funeral and a casket and—

Oh dear, the room was spinning.

Benedict had been running through the list in his head for the past few hours, his cursed version of counting sheep. Colin was snoring on the bench at the foot of the bed, occasionally bumping against the frame. 

Colin seemed a great deal calmer than Benedict. He seemed quite sure that the duke would yield, or that they would both fire their pistols wide. Perhaps, he was truly that optimistic, if a bit naive. But perhaps, he was only putting up a front. Because when Benedict suggested Colin go back to his own bedchamber once they were through, his younger brother had insisted he was too comfortable to move.

It was a bald-faced lie if he ever saw one. Colin was taller than Benedict, which meant his legs were scrunched up when he was horizontal on the bench. But he managed to fall asleep anyway, and Benedict draped a spare blanket over him before retiring to bed himself. 

And truthfully, Benedict did not want to be alone either. If this was their last night of normality, he would rather spend it together than apart. He laid staring at the ceiling until the first streams of sunlight threatened to breach the inky sky.

It was time.

They made their way down to Anthony’s study. This would be Colin’s post; close enough to the main entrance to execute his tasks, but hidden away from the staff, and more importantly, their mother.

Benedict clasped a hand on Colin’s shoulder; he hoped the gesture came across strong and reassuring, but Benedict felt more like he was grasping onto a life-jacket.

Colin was still boyish, the baby fat not quite melted off his face, and looked entirely too young to be dealing with this. He mirrored his brother, also grabbing Benedict’s shoulder. “This whole affair will all be over in a few short hours,” Colin said with a small smile.

Benedict couldn’t bring himself to agree as it would be disingenuous. There was something peculiar in the air this morning, as hokey as that sounded. Something just wasn’t sitting right with him, but he couldn’t put doubts in Colin’s head. 

He was the older one, so act like it. “The only way out is through,” he said with the solemn resolve to bring this business to an end.

why was this cut? as much as i liked exploring the relationship between colin and benedict (tbh i love getting the chance to explore any bridgerton sibling relationship hence why beneloise got a whole prologue), but 1. i was approaching a ridiculous word count and 2. it didn't entirely make sense for benedict to start the story from the night before.

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[hbyrde36]

Times Like These (The Anniversary Edition)

CH 1 CH 2 Ch 3 Ch 4

Chapter 5: Under Pressure

WC: 7049 | AO3 link

TW: Mentions of past homophobic abuse

“I- I think so?” Robin said.

Eddie shook her gently. “Robin, the two of you basically share a brain at this point. If you think you know, then you know.”

“Okay, yeah, I'm on it!” She said, nodding rapidly as she ran from the room. He could hear her feet flying all the way up the stairs and into Steve’s bedroom.

Eddie cradled Steve’s face in his shaking hands. “Stay with me Stevie, please? Just hold on.”

Robin came charging back into the kitchen less than a minute later, cassette in hand. “I’ve got the tape, but I can’t find his Walkman!”

“Shit.” Eddie cursed, remembering too late that it was probably out in Steve’s car like it had been in the last loop, but they couldn't risk wasting more precious time retrieving it. “Just put it in the living room stereo and crank the volume.” 

In seconds a familiar baseline began to filter in from the other room. 

🎵Pressure pushin' down on me🎵

🎵Pressin' down on you, no man ask for🎵

🎵Under pressure that brings a building down🎵

Eddie almost had to laugh.

“Under Pressure? Little on the nose don’t you think, big boy?” He murmured to Steve under his breath. 

Robin rushed back in, worrying her bottom lip as the song continued to play.

🎵Watchin' some good friends screamin' Let me out🎵

🎵Pray tomorrow gets me higher🎵

🎵Pressure on people, people on streets🎵

Eddie kept waiting for Steve to snap out of it, for there to be some kind of reaction but there was nothing. He wasn’t responding, but he wasn’t floating either—It was the only indication he had that they were doing something right. It would have been reassuring except that the song was almost over and he didn’t know what would happen when it reached its end and they were forced to stop and rewind the tape.

“Come on, come on, come on.” Robin chanted, staring intently at Steve’s face, looking–just as Eddie was–for any small change. “Why isn't it working, Eddie? Why won’t he snap out of it?” 

He didn’t reply to her, he had no answers to give. All he could do was plead with Steve, beg him not to leave them like this. 

“We can’t do this without you. You gotta come back, man.” Eddie’s voice cracked, tears threatening to spill down his face but he forced them back. “You have to fight your way out.”

Robin latched onto his back, adding her own cries to his plea. “Don’t do this to me Dingus, please. I’m not raising these kids without you. We need you—I need you. ”

Eddie’s heart sank as the final notes of the song played, but just when the rhythmic snaps started to fade out Steve sucked in a sharp breath, and his beautiful eyes returned to normal. He pitched forward hard as he came back to himself, but Eddie was right there to catch him and slowly lowered them both to the floor, half cradling the other boy in his lap.

Steve whimpered, letting out the most heartbreaking sound as he wrapped his arms around Eddie's shoulders, holding onto him right back—gripping him hard enough to hurt. Eddie couldn't have cared less, he’d take the bruises. No force on this earth could have made him let go of Steve right then, or vice versa.

“It's over.” Eddie said softly, reaching for what he could say to reassure Steve that he was safe now. “You’re on the floor in your kitchen with me and Robin. I don’t know what he showed you, but I promise you it wasn’t real.”

Robin fell to her knees beside them and added herself to the pile, her body shaking with the force of her own sobs. Steve removed one of his hands from its vice grip on Eddie and grabbed onto her as they all rocked lightly together. 

“This is real. Me and Eddie are real. We’ve got you.” Robin added.

Eddie whispered words of comfort into Steve's hair over and over again. There was nothing else he could do for him except to just be there. He knew Vecna liked to take your worst moments and twist them into something even more awful and devastating—to use your worst fears against you, and Steve had lived through a lifetime’s worth of trauma in just the last few years alone, leaving him with no shortage of bad memories to choose from.

The three of them remained huddled together on the floor for a long time, until Steve finally quieted. Still, Eddie didn’t want to let him go. He was sure Robin didn’t want to either, but the clock was ticking. There was no guarantee that Vecna would lay off for any long period of time. They needed to get Steve’s music back on, now, and get him a tape made as soon as possible.

Robin seemed to arrive at the same conclusion he did, and pulled back from the group hug swiping roughly at her face. “He- he’s gonna need his Walkman. Steve, where–” 

“His car,” Eddie answered for him. “I’m sorry… I didn’t remember until–”

“It’s okay.”

Robin sat back on her heels and looked thoughtfully between the two of them—Eddie looking back at her, and Steve still hiding his face in Eddie’s chest. She nodded to herself once and stood up, brushing herself off. 

“You got him?” She asked.

He felt terrible. He knew he should be the one to go. Get the Walkman, do the tape, all of it, and leave the two best friends to console each other, but this was his worst fear come to life—that his changing something had resulted in someone else getting hurt. It should have been him, not Steve.

“Yeah, Buckley. I got him.”

Robin bent down and pressed a kiss to the top of Steve’s head, pausing in silent debate for a moment before doing the same to Eddie, and went to take care of business. 

Finally Steve sat up a little, no longer needing to be completely held up. His eyes were red-rimmed, swollen, and he looked exhausted. 

“I know you’re not okay, so I won’t ask stupid questions, but is there anything I can do?” Eddie asked. 

“Help me up?”

“Sure thing, sweetheart.” Eddie said, the pet name slipping off his tongue so easily and naturally that he almost didn’t realize he’d said it. Not that it mattered given the circumstances. He didn't have the energy to care just then anyway. There would be plenty of time to panic about it later. 

With help Steve managed to get to his feet, though it was obvious that he was still a bit shaky. 

“Think you can make it to the couch, or do you want me to carry you?” Eddie asked. He honestly intended for it to come off as a joke, but even as he said it he knew he would have done it had Steve asked—had he needed him to.

Steve rolled his eyes but that didn’t stop Eddie from noticing the slight flush creeping up his neck. “I’ll manage.”

The blush continued to spread, pinkening his cheeks as Eddie led him into the other room with a guiding hand on his lower back for support. 

Once he’d seen Steve safely to a seat, Eddie joined Robin on the floor where she was surrounded by blank tapes looking lost, which was fair. The Harrington's sound system was a little intimidating if you were only used to a standard radio. He patiently showed her what the kids had done the night before to make Chrissy and Max's tapes—where to load each cassette, which buttons to press, and in no time they were making progress on Steve’s very own mixtape.

Steve was quiet while they worked, and the longer it took the more he seemed to withdraw into himself as he stared off into space. 

-

Just over two hours later it was done, both sides of the cassette were full of back-to back-recordings of Under Pressure. 

Robin excitedly ejected the tape and popped it into the portable player, walking it over to Steve and placing the headphones over his ears herself. He took the player from her with a weak smile and pulled his knees to his chest, going right back to gazing at nothing as the music played.

She caught Eddie’s eye and the two of them shared a worried look. He opened his mouth to say something reassuring, though he didn’t know what, when the sound of the front door hit their ears.

It had to be the girls coming back from their mission to find Fred, but the noise still put him on alert, and he only relaxed when he heard Nancy—already talking before she and Chrissy had even rounded the corner to the living room.

“We couldn’t find Fred. He wasn’t home, and neither were his parents. We checked the diner, the library, even stopped at the school in case he went in to work on the paper. I just can’t imagine where…” She trailed off, finally looking up and spotting Steve tucked into the corner of the couch.

Chrissy went pale as she noticed him too—her hands flying up to touch the wires of her own headphones hanging loosely around her neck. “Oh my god, Steve, I- I'm so sorry. Are you okay?” 

“I’m alright.” Steve said, sitting up straighter and squaring his shoulders. 

It was as though Eddie could physically see him putting himself back together now that he had more of an audience, and he kind of hated that Steve felt like he had to be strong at all times. He should be allowed to fall apart if he needed to, and if he would allow it, Eddie would be right there to put him back together again.

“I’m sorry you couldn’t find your friend,” Steve continued. “Maybe Vecna won’t go for him now, considering how things have changed.” He waved a hand, motioning vaguely to himself.

He didn’t even sound bitter about it, that’s what fucked Eddie up the most, and of course he didn’t want anything bad to happen to anyone if they could avoid it, but if it came down to a relative stranger or Steve? Right or wrong, Eddie knew what his choice would be. 

“Steve, don’t…” Nancy began, but Robin quickly cut her off.

“Hey! So I was thinking… Why don’t we all go, and let the boys get some rest? My parents are expecting me home tonight anyway, and Nance I’m sure your dad is ready to kill the kids by now. Do you think you could give me and Chrissy a ride?”

A few hours ago Eddie would have been nervous at the prospect of being left completely alone in the house with Steve, but now he could have kissed Robin for jumping in like that. He also owed her one, again, for letting him be the one to stay with Steve. After the way he had tensed when Nancy and Chrissy walked through the door, it was clear he didn’t need the extra stress of so many eyes on him right now. 

“Yeah… if you’re sure you two will be okay here alone.” Nancy said, aiming the question at Steve who simply clenched his jaw and nodded. 

Chrissy looked down at the floor, shifting her weight from one foot to he other. “I’m still trying to avoid my parents.”

“No, um, I was thinking you could come home with me tonight?" Robin said quickly. "Buddy system, right? We should stick together.”

Nancy didn’t look too happy about any of it, but thankfully remained quiet as Robin said her goodbyes to Steve. The two friends hugged, sharing a brief whispered conversation, and if Robin’s face was sporting a few new tear tracks as they pulled apart, no one was going to call her on it. 

“I'll be right back,” Eddie assured Steve, before following after the three girls to walk them to the door. 

Nancy went right for the car after giving Eddie one last sidelong glance. Chrissy hesitated, throwing an apologetic smile his way before following after her. Robin lagged behind, pulling Eddie into a fierce hug. “He’s my best friend—just, promise me you’ll take care of him?”

“I promise.” Eddie said easily, hesitating before deciding to say more. “I– he means something to me too.”

“I noticed.” She said, giving him a knowing smile, and rushed off to the car before Nancy could get too impatient.

Eddie waited for their car to pull away before closing and locking the door, quickly returning to Steve's side. 

"Listen, uh-” He began, rubbing his suddenly sweaty palms on his pants. “I’m not gonna push you to talk about what you saw or anything, but I’m here for you if you do want to talk about it, or for anything really. I... care about you. I know that's—maybe that's weird for you and if it is I'm sorry. It’s just-” 

He trailed off for a moment, waving a hand through the air. “Time loop shit, y’know? We’ve been through a lot together even if you don’t remember it, and seeing you like that–"

The silence stretched between them for a minute with Eddie unable to finish his thought. 

"Thanks, Eddie. Really I... I don't.” Steve stuttered out after a while. “It’s not weird, its—nice, that you care. I don’t think I'm ready to talk about any of it yet? But um, when I am… it’s– I’m glad you’re here.”

Eddie nodded, relieved. He wondered what they should do now, what might make Steve feel a little better, bring him back to himself. Like earlier, he came back to food. Wayne was always trying to feed him when he had a bad day, and while this was maybe a lot worse than anything you’d call a bad day, a little nourishment certainly couldn’t hurt.

“Alright, come on.” He said finally, getting up from the couch and offering Steve a hand. 

“Where are we going?” Steve asked, letting Eddie pull him to his feet. 

“We haven’t eaten anything since this morning, and I kinda want to see what I can throw together in that fancy kitchen of yours.”

-

He sat Steve down on one of the stools pulled up to the counter, feeling eyes on his back as he flitted around the kitchen doing a thorough search of the refrigerator, freezer, and pantry to get a feel for what ingredients he had to play with.

At first Steve had tried to insist on helping, since Eddie was technically the guest here, but with a little convincing he seemed happy to watch with barely concealed amusement as Eddie worked.

He was pretty good at making something out of nothing, so the fact that the fridge was just on the wrong side of barren wasn’t a problem. 

“Do you like to cook?” Steve asked.

“Not really a matter of liking it, but yeah, I don't mind. My uncle works a lot so I've always tried to help out, then he went on the night shift and it was either this or starve. What about you?”

“I can cook a little. Got tired of takeout and frozen meals so I started trying a few recipes here and there. It’s fun, actually. I like chopping stuff.”

Eddie chuckled lightly. “Yeah, me too.”

Something about it did have him wondering though, and not for the first time, where Steve’s parents were. Obviously they were out of town right now, otherwise the party wouldn’t have had the run of the house all the time like this, but the way Steve was talking made it sound like they were around even less than Eddie had thought. He might have asked about it but he had a hunch that parents weren’t a happy topic for Steve, and he was determined to keep things light for now. 

“So, what are you making anyway?”

“Goulash? I don’t know if that’s really it’s name but that’s what Wayne always called it.”

There had been a single sad borderline freezer-burnt package of ground beef in the freezer. Not much on its own but add that to a box of noodles, a few cans of tomatoes, and some of those fancy rich people seasonings? And it was some good shit. A recipe he could make with his eyes closed and one hand tied behind his back.

It took maybe all of 20 minutes before their meal was ready, and to Eddie’s surprise they talked the whole time. Steve asked him more questions about the food he grew up with, and what sort of things he liked to make for himself now, and as the conversation flowed he seemed to return more and more to his usual self. 

Eddie scooped some of the delicious concoction into a couple bowls and plopped one down in front of Steve with a little bow, a move that drew the widest smile out of the other boy that he’d seen all day. 

He ate standing over the counter, which he often did even at home, but in this case it was just so he could keep looking at Steve.

“Where did you learn to play guitar?” Steve asked between inhaling forkfuls of pasta, somehow not growing sick of listening to Eddie babble on about himself.

“Self taught, mostly. Wayne got me this second hand acoustic the first birthday I had with him. I checked out some books for beginners from the library and figured out the basics that way, and then I just learned by listening, trial and error.”

Steve put his fork down, blinking up at him. “That’s… you’re kind-of incredible, Eddie.”

Heat rose to his cheeks instantly and he ducked his head, avoiding having to respond by taking a much-too-big bite of his food.

-

With full happy bellies they returned to the living room after cleaning up the remnants of Eddie’s culinary masterpiece. Steve looked even more exhausted than he had before, a side effect of the aforementioned culinary masterpiece no doubt, but when Eddie suggested he turn-in for the night early, the other boy insisted he was fine.  

“I hate all this sitting around waiting and not doing anything.” Steve huffed, plopping himself down heavily on the couch.

“We did manage to arm ourselves, I'd say that’s pretty good work for one day.”

“I know, and I know I’m the one that told the kids we needed to wait to make a move until everyone was together, but—it just doesn’t usually happen like this. When this shit comes back it’s always go-go-go right from the start. There isn’t all this time to sit around and… think.”

Eddie could understand that. If he wasn’t using so much of his energy in worrying about Steve right now, he’d probably be feeling more antsy about the lack of progress on a plan himself, but as it was, he was happy they had a little time to just breathe.

“Let’s find something to do besides think then, yeah? What sorta movies you got laying around here? Must be something worthwhile about working at Family Video.”

Steve gestured to the cabinets on the other side of a large built-in entertainment center, the one opposite the stereo system they’d been using earlier. Inside was a plastic shopping bag loaded up with VHS tapes. Eddie quickly flipped through the titles, unimpressed with the selection until he reached the last one.

“Goonies?! Dude, that literally just came out on video!”

Steve shrugged, smiling sheepishly. “I may have snatched a copy before they went out on the shelves the other day. For the kids.”

Eddie grinned. “Screw the kids, we’re definitely watching this.”

They barely got past the opening credits before Steve fell asleep, his head falling to rest on Eddie's shoulder as his entire body relaxed. For the next hour and 54 minutes Eddie didn’t dare move a muscle, not wanting to disturb Steve when he’d finally allowed himself to rest. On a more selfish note, the situation allowed him to enjoy the feeling of Steve's body against his own without having to feel self-conscious or guilty about it. 

Unfortunately, the movie had to end eventually and then Eddie had no more excuses. He roused Steve as gently as he could, lightly nudging his shoulder until he blinked awake with bleary eyes. 

“Come on big boy, let’s get you to bed.” Eddie whispered.

Steve nodded absently, allowing Eddie to pull him to his feet again, just as he had earlier, except this time once he was vertical Steve didn’t let go—instead linking their fingers together as he held on tight to Eddie’s hand.

They had touched far more than this only a few hours ago, but for some reason feeling Steve's warm palm pressed so purposefully against his own made Eddie's breath hitch, and he froze in surprise. 

“You’re coming too, aren't you?” Steve said through a huge yawn, tugging on Eddie’s arm when he didn’t move right away. 

“Yeah. Yeah, of course.” Eddie replied in a daze. 

-

He thought Steve would drop right back off to sleep once they were laying down in the comfort of his bed, but as they faced each other, he could see the other boy's eyes shining in the dark—reflecting the dim glow of a streetlight peeking in through a crack in the blinds.

“It felt like I was stuck in there for a long time.” Steve said after a while, his fingers picking nervously at a spot on the sheet beneath them. “I know it was only a few minutes… but it felt like so much more. He showed me Robin getting beaten up by the Russians at Starcourt. When it happened for real, I was able to keep their attention on me most of the time, but in there–”

Steve stopped himself mid sentence. It was clear he was fighting back tears and Eddie didn't hesitate to offer his hand, laying it out between them on the sheets. Steve took it immediately, fiddling with Eddie’s rings as he continued to talk.    

“Then it was the kids—Dustin. There were these tunnels, and I had gotten the rest of them out but he… The demodogs were coming too fast. All I could do was wrap myself around him and hope that was enough. Back then we got lucky, the dogs just ran off right past us for some reason, but he changed it. Vecna, he… I saw–”

He broke off with a sob, his whole body shaking with it. Eddie scooped him up into his arms, running soothing hands along his back. 

“The dogs, they- they tore him apart.”

Steve clung to Eddie like a lifeline, just as he had in the kitchen, burying his face in Eddie's chest as he went on. “He also showed me my parents. It was nothing compared to watching Dustin or Robin being hurt, but god Eddie... It was like hearing every shitty thing they’ve ever said to me all at once. How much of a failure and a disappointment I am. Too dumb, too soft, too sensitive. How I could never be the man they wanted me to be.”

“You know that’s all horseshit, right? You don’t believe any of that stuff, do you?” Eddie said.

Steve only sniffled, shrugging with his face still hidden, pressed against Eddie’s borrowed shirt.

“Hey, none of that.” Eddie leaned away, gently tilting Steve's head up to look at him.  “You are an amazing person, Steve Harrington. You are kind and loyal and brave and absolutely selfless, literally to a fault sometimes. You’ve been saving those kids—shit, you’ve been helping save this whole town for fucking years. Even without all that, if your parents can’t see how lucky they are to have you for a son, then fuck them. Seriously.”

-

Like the morning before, Steve was gone again when Eddie woke up, but this time he wasn’t in the bathroom.

He rushed down the stairs in a panic, worried about what might have happened in the night. What if the Walkman’s batteries had run out. Eddie had flipped the tape for him once in the middle of the night when he’d woken briefly and realized it was a little too quiet, but each side only ran for so long. 

Maybe they should have set an alarm.

In his distraught state, he didn’t smell the coffee or the bacon cooking, only noticing the aroma when he skidded down the hallway on socked feet to find Steve in the kitchen making them breakfast. 

The wave of relief nearly sent him to the floor, and he had to grab onto the wall to keep himself upright. Steve had his headphones on and was mercifully facing away so he didn’t notice Eddie’s ridiculous overreaction. 

When Steve did finally turn and saw him standing there, the look that spread over his face threatened to finish the job and put Eddie on his ass. There were no walls strong enough to keep him from falling when the insurmountable force that was Steve Harrington’s smile was aimed at him like that. 

In a role reversal from the night before, it looked like it was Eddie’s turn to watch while Steve cooked for him. 

He wanted to turn the tables in other ways too, by asking Steve more about himself like he'd done for him the night before. The problem was, everything Eddie could think of that he wanted to ask would inevitably lead to topics he didn't want to bring up while Steve looked so light and happy. 

A hundred little questions died on his tongue as he shot each one down for one reason or another. 

Somehow sensing his struggle Steve interrupted his thoughts. “Eddie, I'm okay. You don’t have to walk on eggshells around me…. I can tell there's something you want to say.”

“Sorry.” Eddie said, wondering when Steve had gotten so good at reading him. “It's nothing specific really I just-” He shrugged. “I dunno, you let me talk your ear off about myself last night and I guess I wanted to do the same for you. I want to know more about you—the real shit you don’t learn through the high school rumor mill, but I didn’t want to bring up anything that would bum you out.”

Steve nodded in understanding. “All roads lead to the Upside Down. This—stuff, it kinda takes over your life once you’re in it. There’s not many days that go by where I don’t think about it, at least a little. It’s okay. Go on, what do you want to know?”

Everything, was the honest answer, but in the interest of starting somewhere Eddie asked, “Why didn’t you leave? Go to college or just move or something, why did you stay here after graduation?”

“I always planned to go to college. I’d even filled out the application and everything. I was still working on my essay when it all started up again the second time. In the middle of it all I got the shit beat out of me by Billy Hargrove, my first serious concussion, and suddenly it just didn’t seem important anymore.” 

Steve blew out a long breath, plucking the last two pieces of bacon out of the pan with a pair of tongs and adding it to the pile already draining on paper towels. He was quiet as he plated up the food, sliding one of them across the counter to Eddie before finally continuing.  

“I was supposed to go to business school, get a degree, and work for my dad—at least that’s what he wanted me to do.”

“What do you want?” Eddie asked. 

Steve smiled sadly.

“To make it to 21.”

“Jesus, Steve.”

“Sorry.” He said, dropping his gaze to the floor. “I don't know. I guess, I've never really thought about what I wanted. Only what was expected of me.”

“What about when you were a kid? What did little Stevie Harrington want to be when he grew up?”

“Promise you won’t laugh?” Steve asked.

“Cross my heart.”

“An astronaut.”

Eddie’s eyebrows shot up. “Really?”

He would have expected something very different, though nothing less grand— professional athlete of some kind maybe? It was a pleasant surprise though, and he felt like he’d uncovered Steve’s nerdy little secret. It was kinda hot. 

“I was only like two years old, but I remember everyone gathering around the TV to watch the moon landing, and then seeing the footage again when we learned about it in school. I thought it was the coolest job, getting to explore something new, to see and touch things no one else ever had before. I know I'm not smart enough for NASA, I figured that out pretty early on, But yeah, that was my first big dream.”

“There’s lots of different kinds of smart, Steve. And for what it's worth I think you’d have made a great astronaut. NASA only wishes they could have someone as strong and fearless as you.”

It wasn’t until after they’d finished breakfast that Eddie realized it had been almost 24 hours since they’d sent the kids packing to Mike’s house.

“I’m surprised that Dustin and Co haven't knocked down the door yet. Do you think Nancy told them… about yesterday?”

“She did. She uh, also told them to give me some space today unless there was an emergency.”

“Huh. That was nice of her.”

“Yeah.”

Part of Eddie wanted to just come out and ask. The more he saw them interact, the more confused he was about whatever was or wasn’t going on between Steve and Nancy. Half the time Steve just seemed stressed and uncomfortable around her but Eddie couldn’t tell if that was only due to the whole exes thing, or if it was because he still had feelings for her. But somehow, even after everything else they’d opened up to each other about, it felt like a step too far, and he didn’t want to accidentally make things weird between them. 

They spent the rest of the day being blissfully lazy, which again felt so strange in the middle of everything, but it was also just what Eddie needed. It was nice to have a break from it all, to feel normal for once even if it was only temporary, even if they were playing pretend. 

Reality, of course, came crashing down on them just as they decided to turn in for the night, when Robin called to let them know Fred’s body had been found earlier in the day in the woods behind his house. 

It was a blow for sure, and Eddie felt awful for not doing more to help when Nancy had suggested it, but there was nothing they could do about it now. He’d managed to save Chrissy, and that would have to be enough.

-

“How come you live with your uncle?” Steve asked, a little out of the blue as they were getting into bed. 

They’d both been quiet since getting the bad news from Robin, and that might have been part of why Eddie was so taken aback by the question, or maybe it was just because the answer wasn’t a happy one. 

Steve quickly realized he’d accidentally struck a nerve and immediately tried to backpedal. “Sorry, I was just curious, I didn’t think. I- I shouldn’t have asked that.” 

“No, it’s okay. I mean, you already know my deepest darkest secret so–” Eddie shrugged, trying to play it off like it was no big deal, but Steve wasn’t buying it. They’d grown too close for that now. 

It was a painful story, and not something Eddie usually like to even think about, let alone talk about, but he realized with a start that he did want to. For better or worse he wanted Steve to know him, all of him. 

“My mom left when I was five. Couldn’t blame her, my Dad is a real mean bastard. I thought that maybe one day she’d come back for me but… Anyway, I did my best to keep my head down, stay on his good side. I was nine when he started taking me out on jobs, I got real good at hot-wiring. He loved that his son was turning out just like him.” 

Eddie scoffed, the very thought of him becoming anything like that garbage dump of a human being was disgusting, laughable. He’d played a part, acted the way Al Munson expected a son of his to act out of self preservation, nothing more. 

“I hated it, but it kept him off my back for a while. A couple years later I skipped school one day with a friend, who also happened to be my very first crush. I thought my dad was out for the day. We weren’t even doing anything, just hanging out listening to music, which is why I didn’t hear the old man come home. I don’t know how long he watched us from the doorway, but he must have seen something on my face that tipped him off. Maybe he’d already suspected it and this was his confirmation, I don't know. When I finally noticed him standing there, he- he looked so angry, and I just knew that he knew—that he’d seen.”

Eddie rolled over, staring resolutely at the ceiling. He’d never told the full truth of that day to anyone before. Wayne knew the most, not every detail, but enough that he’d sooner kill his own brother than to ever speak to him again. 

“My friend left, I’m sure he just thought I was in trouble for skipping. I don’t remember much of what happened right after that, it’s all a bit of a blur, but I know he beat the absolute shit out of me. I woke up later that night on the floor. One of my eyes was swollen shut and there was hair and blood stuck to the carpet all around me. He’d taken a pair of clippers to my head. Looking back, I know I was lucky he hadn’t killed me but in the moment I was just so mad that he’d cut my stupid hair. It was long, not as long as it is now but he’d hated it, thought it made me look like a girl, or a queer.” 

Eddie let out a burst of humorless laughter, the sound wetter than he’d expected it to be, from the tears he only just realized were streaming down his face. He rubbed at his cheeks absently and cleared his throat. 

“I’d only met Wayne a few times, he and my dad never really got along, but he’d always been nice to me. I knew where he lived, so I shoved a few things into a bag and hitchhiked to Hawkins. He took me in, no questions asked. Dad got arrested on a drug charge a few weeks later, wound up going to prison, been there ever since.”

“Can I hold you?” Steve asked, sounding as though he’d been crying too and Eddie realized he’d been hovering there for a while, unsure if his touch would be welcome. Given the story, it was understandable, and incredibly thoughtful and sweet of him to check first.  

Eddie nodded, allowing Steve to pull him into the circle of his arms, and couldn’t think of a time where he’d felt safer or more comforted.  

“I’m so sorry that happened to you. I’m glad you had someone like your uncle to run to, he sounds like a really great guy.”

“Yeah, he’s the best. Don’t know what I’d do without him.”

-

Eddie woke up surrounded by warmth. He vaguely remembered falling asleep while Steve held him, and was surprised to find himself in the same position, as if neither of them had moved during the course of the night. 

His heart began to race, and almost immediately he was filled with a deep sense of dread. Was this it? Had they finally gone too far? It was one thing to comfort each other in the throes of a panic attack, or while taking an unpleasant stroll down memory lane, but it was something else entirely to wake up with another dude’s face pressed into your neck.

He shifted, wondering what the odds were that he could disentangle himself without waking the other boy up. It didn’t seem likely but he had to–

“Morning,” Steve said, with absolutely no trace of sleepiness in his voice. 

–try. Shit.

Okay, so Steve was awake—may have been for a while. No need to freak out about that or wonder how and why he was so comfortable cuddling this closely with a male friend. Nope, Eddie was not going to think about or read into that at all, because that way lay madness.

Instead he made the perfectly sane decision to wrench himself out of Steve’s grasp and scramble off the bed, intent on locking himself in the bathroom for some as-yet-to-be-determined amount of time. 

But, before he could make it to that door, there was a knock on the other one. 

“Hey Dinguses, just wanted to give you a heads up that you’ve got a full house downstairs so, y’know, join us when you’re ready.” Robin said loudly through the wood, her footsteps retreating down the hall quickly once Steve shouted back that he’d heard. 

“I guess our day of rest is officially over.” Steve muttered, stretching as he flung the covers off, and said nothing about Eddie’s dramatic dismount from the bed. 

He got up, maintaining eye contact as he pulled his shirt off, depositing it in the hamper before pulling a new one out of the drawer. 

Finally Steve looked away, slipping past and into the bathroom leaving Eddie staring after him dumbstruck with his mouth hanging open wondering what the fuck was going on.

- 

Still half in shock and questioning his reality, Eddie followed Steve down the stairs to join the rest of the party, only for the phone to start ringing as they hit the bottom step. 

Steve grabbed his hand, as if it was the most natural thing in the world and pulled him down the hall, past the kitchen, and into a room that looked like an office where he picked up the call. 

He couldn’t gather much from Steve’s side of the conversation. Partially because he said very little other than—“Okay,” “I will,” and “yes, I understand”—and partially because Steve was still holding his hand!!

Steve smiled brightly as he hung up the phone. “I meant to tell you yesterday but with everything it slipped my mind. You remember Hopper, right?”

“Yeah, um, didn’t he die in the fire at the mall?” Eddie said, struggling a little to focus on the current topic. 

Steve gave him a significant look and, oh—right. He remembered now, the fire that wasn't just a fire.

“The chief was mixed up in all this Upside Down shit too, wasn’t he?”

“Yeah, he’d been in it from the beginning. He got killed in the blast when Joyce closed the Russian gate under the mall, except… maybe he didn’t? According to Joyce, Hop's been in a goddamn Russian prison for the last 8 months. She got a ransom note a couple days ago, that’s why she’s not coming here right away. She and this guy Murray are in Alaska right now trying to get him out.”

“That’s amazing!” Eddie said, and he meant it too. They could do with a little good news for a change. He and the chief hadn’t always seen eye-to-eye but he was a decent guy, for a cop.

Steve's smile dropped suddenly.

“What is it?” Eddie asked.

“Yeah, just—what if she can’t get him out? What if they hurt him in there? I know what it's like to be tortured by these guys and that was only for a day. They’ve had him for months.”

Eddie squeezed his hand. “I wish I could tell you it’ll be alright, but the truth is I just don’t know. In the past loops we could never reach them. I guess this explains why if she was off trying to rescue Hopper.”

Steve squeezed back. “She asked me not to tell anyone, especially the kids, not until he’s out of there and safe, but I thought you should know. Just in case.”

-

They finally joined the others who had taken over again like they fucking owned the place. It was a full house, everyone was buzzing in anticipation of Jonathan, Will, and El’s arrival. When asked about the phone call Steve only said that it was Joyce and she’d just dropped the others off at the airport. A small but necessary lie.

It felt good that things were finally happening. Obviously Eddie had been enjoying all the downtime with Steve, but there was always that lingering worry in the background, like a dark cloud hanging over their heads. Wondering what would happen next, if they would win, if he would survive. If it would stick this time or if he was doomed to keep looping back forever. 

The afternoon went by in a flash with all the commotion and before long it was time for Nancy and Mike to leave for the airport to pick up team California. 

The expected time of their return came and went, souring the excitement of the day.

It was shaping up to be another big family sleepover night, which was just as well. With Nancy and Mike not having returned yet, stress was at an all-time high and it was probably best that everyone stay under the same roof until they knew what was going on. 

Steve kept reminding them all that it could be nothing. Flights got delayed all the time, for all kinds of reasons, it didn’t necessarily mean something bad had happened.

It would have been a solid excuse, if only any of them believed it. 

Over 4 hours after Nancy and Mike had left, the phone finally rang. It was them, but it was not good news. It had taken time and a lot of persuading on Nancy’s part but she’d finally gotten someone from the airline to talk to her. The plane the others were due to come in on had left Lenora on time and landed in Indianapolis as scheduled. Jonathan, Will, and El–Jane had even checked in for the flight, but when the plane took off from California none of them were on it.  

Chapter 6

Special thanks to @penny00dreadful for being the best beta, friend and cheerleader.

Reblogs are always appreciated and if you want to be tagged, just let me know! I'd be more than happy to do so 💜

Taglist: @hitlikehammers @pearynice @cranberrymoons @thoroughlycollected @blubblesandink @finntheehumaneater @brbsoulnomming @estrellami-1 @hellion-child @mentallyundone @manda-panda-monium @spicysix @kikidoesfanfic @dreamwatch @lawrencebshoggoth @stillfullofshit @lil-gremlin-things @mamafaithful

[helmetjellyfish]

first person pronouns & honorifics for magmell main cast and then some

edit log:

10/27 - updated Okijirou's section under Shinya and vice versa. these lean more towards "what they call each other" than honorifics/titles, but one of them does have some fun trivia attached to it.

11/2 - updated Ryou’s personal pronouns. forgot to include that he uses “watashi” when he’s closeted.

—

so kuragebunch (the website the manga is hosted on) is celebrating its 11th anniversary, and as part of the festivities all chapters of the japanese raws (except for ch. 51) are currently free to read until 10/28 11:59AM JST. i figured i'd take advantage of that and put together a chart of the first person pronouns and honorifics that the characters use in japanese. here it is as an image.

the characters have been divided into four categories: magmell (koutarou, minato, nagisa, shizuka, asahi, ran, haruno, ryou, natsuhiko/deputy director); the fishermen (shinya, okijirou/oki); the parents (kouyou, asumi, nagiko); and other (mahiro, naru, mikako, seira). a blank space means they have never directly referred to that character in conversation before, at least not by their name/title. multiple names/titles listed for a character means that all are used interchangeably unless indicated otherwise.

criteria for selecting characters was 1) having a full name, 2) having made at least two appearances*, and 3) having been featured on the cast page and/or having interacted with at least two other characters who already qualify. ex: seira counts because she was on the vol. 8 cast page and appears in ch. 30/32/40/41-42, naru counts because he's talked to both oki and shinya and appears in ch. 12/21/43, but ren and namikazu do not qualify.

*for the sake of convenience, "one" appearance can be defined as either a) showing up once in a single-chapter story or b) showing up in both chapters of a double-chapter story.

i'll also be formatting it as a list under the readmore, in case that's easier to view! formatting will be as such:

Category

Character A

Self: "(Personal Pronoun)"

Character B: (What Character A calls Character B)

fair warning that this will be very, very long. here we go!

Magmell

Tenjou Koutarou

Self: "Boku"

Minato: Director ("Kanchou"), Minato-kanchou, Minato-san (Starts using in ch. 14)

Nagisa: Nagisa-chan

Shizuka: Shizuka-san

Asahi: Asahi-san

Ran: Ran-kun

Haruno: Doctor ("Sensei"), Haruno-sensei

Ryou: Ryou-kun

Natsuhiko: Deputy Director ("Fuku-kanchou")

Shinya: Shinya-san

Okijirou: Okijirou-san

Kouyou: Dad ("Otou-san" [Young], "Tou-san" [Present])

Asumi: Mom ("Kaa-san")

Mahiro: Mahiro-kun

Mikako: Mikako-san

Osezaki Minato

Self: "Ore"

Koutarou: Koutarou

Nagisa: Nagisa

Shizuka: Shizuka

Asahi: Asahi

Ran: Ran-kun

Haruno: Haru

Ryou: Chibata-kun

Natsuhiko: Natsuhiko-san

Kouyou: Kouyou

Asumi: Asumi-san

Nagiko: Nagiko

Osezaki Nagisa

Self: "Nagisa" (Third person. This is common in small children)

Koutarou: Koutarou-kun (Written only in hiragana. Likely also to reflect her young age)

Minato: Daddy ("Papa")

Ran: Ran-chan (Written only in hiragana.)

Haruno: Ghost Man ("Obake no Oji-san")

Nagiko: Mommy ("Mama")

Nagaizumi Shizuka

Self: "Watashi"

Koutarou: Koutarou-kun

Minato: Director, Minato-kanchou, Minato-san

Nagisa: Nagisa-chan

Asahi: Asahi-san

Ran: Ran-chan

Haruno: Haru-san

Natsuhiko: Deputy Director

Mahiro: Mahiro

Yui Asahi

Self: "Boku" (Written only in katakana. I do not know the significance of this)

Koutarou: Tenjou-kun

Minato: Director, Minato-kanchou, Minato-san

Shizuka: Shizuka

Haruno: Haru-san

Dougashima Ran

Self: "Ore"

Koutarou: Koutarou

Minato: Minato-san

Nagisa: Nagisa

Shinya: Shinya-san

Haruno Izuho

Self: "Watashi"

Koutarou: Tenjou-kun

Minato: Minato-san

Nagisa: Nagisa-san

Ryou: Chibata-san (Initial), Ryou-kun (Present)

Natsuhiko: Deputy Director

Chibata Ryou

Self: "Suzu" (Young) [This is third person again], “Watashi” (Around his mother), "Ore" (Present)

Koutarou: Senpai (Initial), Koutarou-san (Present)

Minato: Director

Shizuka: Shizuka-san

Haruno: Doctor, Haruno-sensei

Seira: Seira

Mito Natsuhiko

Self: "Boku" (Young), "Watashi" (Present)

Koutarou: Koutarou-kun

Minato: Minato-kun

Nagisa: Nagisa-chan

Shizuka: Shizuka-san

Shinya: Shinya-kun

Okijirou: Oki-kun

Kouyou: Kouyou-kun

Fishermen

Shirahama Shinya

Self: "Ore"

Koutarou: Koutarou

Minato: Minato

Ran: Ran

Natsuhiko: Natsuhiko-san

Okijirou: Mister ("Oji-san") [Initial], Oki-san, Master ("Shishou"), Old man ("Jijii") [This is derogatory, like "old geezer"]

Naru: Naru

Sagara Okijirou

Self: "Ore"

Minato: Minato

Natsuhiko: Natsuhiko

Shinya: Kid ("Bouzu") [Initial; This is familiar/derogatory language, like "sonny". May be wordplay, since it's the same kanji as the fishing term "bonzes" from ch. 36], Shinya (Present)

Parents

Tenjou Kouyou

Self: "Boku"

Koutarou: Koutarou

Minato: Minato

Asumi: Asumi-san

Nagiko: Nagiko

Tenjou Asumi

Self: "Watashi"

Koutarou: Koutarou

Minato: Osezaki-san (Initial), Minato-san (Present)

Kouyou: Kouyou-kun

Mikako: Mikako-chan

Osezaki Nagiko

Self: "Watashi"

Minato: Minato-kun

Other

Uchiura Mahiro

Self: "Boku"

Koutarou: Mister ("Onii-san") [Initial], Koutarou-kun (Present)

Shizuka: Shizuka-san

Kitagawa Naru

Self: "Ore"

Shinya: Shinya

Okijirou: Oki-san

Suzuki Mikako

Self: "Watashi"

Koutarou: Tenjou-kun

Oomori Seira

Self: "Atashi"

Ryou: Chibata-san (Initial), Suzu (Until end of vol. 8 presumably)

feel free to let me know if i've missed anything or if there's any mistakes! i hope this was useful (or at least interesting) information to learn ^_^

[celestialiron]

Echoes of Courage: Chapter 8

Hi all! I'm sorry for the late update, a small update on life, with my new job & what I have to get done, just for now, updates for chapters might be a bit slow. Just until I can get everything else done with work & settle in before getting to edit & update each week. I wanted to let you guys know so that you're not disappointed with the slow updates once more!

With that said, I hope you all had a great weekend & that the rest of your week is great! ♥♪

Summary: Okay, it's time for the love experts(?) To step in with some advice for the most stubborn people ever!

(Prologue: Ch.1 - Ch.2 - Ch.3 - Ch.4 - Ch.5 - Ch.6 - Ch.7)

It was back to business with work and missions. Throughout the night, the brothers were out on a patrol, checking over the city for any threats, new or old.

Well, almost checking over the city.

“Guys, seriously?! We’re in the middle of patrolling!” Leo exclaimed, looking over at each of his brothers at what they were doing. Raph was barely looking around the city, most likely checking over Alexis’ place while texting her, Donnie seemed too distracted on finding recipes for Kira while going through whatever else he found while patrolling and Mikey was taking pictures, sending them to Sara. Rolling his eyes, Donnie answered from his corner of the rooftop, “You need to relax, Leo. Just because you’re not getting laid anymore, doesn’t mean we have to stop what we’re doing with our lives too,” “yeah Leo, relax! Even then, there’s nothing happening right now! You’re usually the one who also doesn’t take patrolling as seriously as usual too!” Mikey cut in, taking more photos of graffiti he secretly worked on and sending it to Sara. Gasping dramatically, Leo wasn’t really sure how to respond to either statements, both being completely true. “Raph, can you please talk to your brothers about this too?! You usually have my back on this!” All three looked towards their older brother, who was still on his phone, not paying attention to any of them. “Huh? What are you bozos talking about?” Smacking his forehead, Leo was at an odds, not knowing how to handle all of this. “C’mon guys, it’s only for a bit more and then we’ll be heading home!” All three giving Leo blank stares, he sighed before saying the next thing he knew would get their attention, “if we finish in the next five minutes, pizza’s on me. How about that?” Suddenly, everything else was forgotten and they were on track for patrolling, with the thoughts that Leo was finally paying for pizza. ‘God, I’ve really grown into this role, gotta bribe them with pizza at this point, huh.’ Leo thought, finally able to catch a couple more air time before going home, mentally crying for his wallet to buying pizza for his family. 

Though he thought it wasn’t noticeable, Leo had been acting a bit… crabby to say the least. 

It was the second week of September and Valeria had not responded to any of his messages. He tried to act as if nothing was happening, but he was really freaking out about it. Not only that, but he and Valeria had been secretly getting together in a “friends with benefits” kind of situation for months now and he was not liking the ignoring on her end. ‘If you want things to end, at least say it to my face. I can take it,’ were his thoughts, before crashing into a wall that was in the direction of Hueso’s, falling right into a trash bin. The three laughing at his pain, almost calling it karma for what he tried to “lecture” them on. Getting up, heading straight towards Run of the Mill, they made their way to grab their food before heading home. “Ooooh Señor Hueso!” All that could be heard was a defeated sigh, before the skeleton man came over to serve the brothers, “yes pepino, the usual I presume?” “You know it, bone man! Just add a couple more pies and we should be set!” Nodding his head, rang them up (to which Leo openly cried about his money) and waited for their pizzas to be done. “Oh by the way, Sara’s coming to sleep over so no funny business!” Mikey stated out of the blue, the older brothers just looking at him questionably. “So, you and Sara, huh? You guys dating or what?” Flustered, while accidentally dropping his phone, Mikey glared at his brothers, “NO, we are not dating Leo! We’re just friends!” Chuckling at his little brother's response, Leo continued his teasing. 

“Oh really? Then why do you two act the way that you do, hm?” 

“‘Cause it’s not weird for us, okay! She’s my best friend and yeah, I do like her but I’m not gonna just ruin our friendship if I know she doesn’t feel the same way!” Surprised by his response, Raph spoke up about it, “buddy, have you really tried talking to her about it? She seems like she’ll understand, no?” Sighing, Mikey just shook his head, “it wasn’t really direct, but I have asked if she was interested in the idea of dating anyone, but she wants to focus on school right now. I can understand that, it’s why I haven’t said anything, I don’t want her to feel pressured. Even if it hurts a bit, I don’t want her stressing.” “Ah yes, the tell signs of falling in love!” Turning around, Hueso stood shaking his head, almost as if remembering the feeling of being in love. “You should all take notes from the smallest one, with that he might just be able to win over that girl’s heart someday,” with that said, Mikey felt better about the decision he made a while ago when he first realized his feelings for Sara. “And you would know, wouldn’t you Hueso,” Leo said, trying to get under his nonexistent boneskin. “Yes I would pepino. Maybe instead of going from one fling to another like a floozy, you would be able to fall in love with the right person too,” he finished, smirking at Leo’s face.

Surprised by his response, the rest of them gave a good laugh at Leo, while he grumbled before taking the pizza, making a portal to head back home. Saying their goodbyes, the brothers were finally home, walking towards the kitchen to enjoy their dinner. “I’ll be in my room,” with that said, not eating anything, Leo headed straight towards his room, not noticing the stares of concern his brothers were looking over his way. Once in his room, heaving a big sigh, Leo laid on his bed, face plopping onto his pillow, wanting to forget about the world for just a bit. Once more, he checked his phone, wondering if Valeria would be texting him right back. The last few messages were sent from him a day ago and still no response.

Monday, 9:30pm

NeonLeon: hey, just checking in, you doing alright?

Thursday, 11:00pm

NeonLeon: wondering how it’s been… still haven’t heard back from you…

Sunday, 10:30pm

NeonLeon: just tell me if I did anything wrong Val, it’s been 2 weeks now!

Putting his phone away, he laid on his back, thoughts plaguing his mind, thinking of anything that could’ve happened for her to react this way. ‘It can’t be from staying over after we’re done, she made it clear that she wanted me to stay over a long time ago. And it couldn’t have been from that one day in the training room, she had apologized for it. But now we’re in this situation and I don’t even know how to fix it!’ Looking towards where his clothes were, was a very large navy blue hoodie that he had “borrowed” from Valeria, every chance to tease her about it when they were alone. ‘I don’t know, maybe she does want it to end. But this way? I thought she would at least talk to me about it, we’re supposed to be best friends! Then again, that’s not her style at all.’ His arm over his eyes, continuing his thoughts.

 ‘Of course I fell for the most stubborn headed person. I did this to myself huh?’  

Leo chuckled, feeling conflicted with all these emotions he’s been feeling. He knew he loved Valeria. Maybe when they first met, maybe when he tried to bring out the best of her when they were hanging out, maybe when March hit and he woke up to a dream of just them in it, he couldn’t even remember. So this one thing they were constantly doing every other day or every minute either of them were alone was amazing. Leo felt the feelings hit harder, when or how he wasn’t sure but all he knew was that he wanted to talk with Valeria about it, but her not responding or at least a one word answer would be something. And he wasn’t about to portal his way in her apartment, as much as he absolutely wanted to do just that.

“Knock knock, it’s your favorite little brother!” Mikey sang, with a plate of pizza in hand. Smiling while sitting up, Leo grabbed the plate from his hand, slowly eating it, “you’re my only little brother Michael,” “yeah, I just like to remind you guys of it sometimes!” Laughing while stuffing his face, Leo finished eating before questioning Mikey. “I have a feeling that you didn’t just come in here to bring me food, did you?” Slowly but surely, there was Mikey, with his Dr. Feelings glasses on and already sitting on a chair along with a notebook. “So, what troubles you Leo? How are you feeling today?” “No, no! I am NOT about to be lectured in my own room!” Leo shouted, before he could say anymore, Mikey got closer to him, an almost ominous tone to his voice, “either that or we do this out in the living room where our entire family can hear, pick your poison.” Swallowing his spit, he just nodded, sitting on his bed, awaiting whatever Mikey had in store for him. “GREAT, let’s continue shall we!” Cheerfully, he read off from his little notebook, “since I’m still waiting for an answer, I’m just going to list off what everyone’s said for the entirety of two weeks now. For the most part, we all agree that you’re emotions are all over the place and it’s slowly being taken out on us, to now bottling up your feelings again, which if I remember correctly, we’ve talk about you doing that years back and how bad it is for you,” giving his older brother a look, he continued, “as well, we’ve noticed the lack of you hanging out with Valeria, which maybe could be it or could it just be stemming the fact that you have feelings for her and you don’t know how to handle them?” 

Surprised by that last statement, Leo quickly cut him off, “what makes you say that?!” “oh please Leo, it’s super obvious, I’m surprised she hasn’t even noticed it either. The real question is, what are you gonna do about it? And how would this mysterious person you’ve been sleeping with feel about that too?” ‘Oh boy, if only you knew Mikey,’ Leo thought before finally saying his peace to “Dr. Feelings”, “First of all, I’m doing fine! I’m not hiding anything , I promise you that,” counting down on his fingers, with Mikey giving him a look before letting him continue, “Secondly, just because I’m more focused on missions doesn’t make it look like my emotions are all over the place! So sorry for that now and thirdly!” He paused, not really knowing what to answer for anything Mikey had just asked. Leo sighed, before rubbing the back of his head, unsure of what to say next. “Leo?” Concerned with the sudden silence, setting his glasses and notebook to the side, Mikey put a hand on his shoulder, making Leo look at him. “I don’t know what you’re going through, but just know that we’re here for you. Please, whatever it is you’re trying to hide from, tell us. Or at least be careful with it. We don’t want anything happening that’ll affect you,” he finished, giving Leo a side hug, letting him know things will be okay. Softly smiling, with one arm, hugged him back, understanding where he’s coming from. “I just have a question for you and this stays between us, got it?” Nodding his head, Mikey pulled back, sitting on the chair again, “say you were sleeping with someone for a while and you’ve been feeling a certain way for a long time and you wanted to talk to them about it but they’re not responding to anything you say. Do you keep trying or do you let them go?” Thinking over the scenario, he finally answered, making Leo doubt himself once more.

“Honestly, if maybe say a couple days or weeks of no response, I would try to move on. I know it hurts to think about, but it’ll only hurt myself too if I were to just keep waiting around for them to give me any sign. It’s also on them to figure their own feelings out too, whatever it is they’re going through, especially if say whoever this person is and I were sleeping around, it’ll only get worse too.”

With that said, thanking Mikey for the small talk they had before leaving his room, Leo stayed sitting on his bed, thinking things over between him and Valeria. Sighing heavily while getting up, Leo made his way over to the training room, in hopes working out will help clear his head and make a choice for himself.

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“KNOCK KNOCK, I’M COMING IN!” Izra shouted before going inside Valeria’s apartment. Noting the quiet apartment, she made her way to Valeria’s room, checking to see if she was even home. Opening her door, Izra noticed her, all curled up in a ball underneath the sheets. Sighing, she made her way over, sitting down while placing the food she had been carrying for Valeria on her desk. “So, wanna tell me why you’re in bed all depressed?” Groaning, slowly but surely, Valeria sat up, sheets falling to hang around her waist, she answered, “why do we have to feel anything? Like what even is the point of anything? Am I good enough for anything?” Grumbling, she laid back down on her bed, looking up at her ceiling. ‘Well, at least she’s speaking,’ Izra thought, before taking her shoes off and getting comfortable laying right next to Valeria. “Tell me what’s wrong. Is it the guy you’ve been sleeping with these past months?” Nodding her head, Valeria covered her face with her blanket, too embarrassed to talk about it. “What’s going on with him? Last time we talked about him, you said sex with him was the best thing that’s ever happened to you.” Valeria shook her head. “Nothing. But everything. I don’t know!” She clenched onto the blanket, still speaking through it, “it’s like suddenly I can’t see myself with anyone but him but I don’t want to commit to anything, it’s so frustrating!” Confused, Izra asked, “why not? If you like him, then what’s stopping you?” Silence was met until it clicked with Izra, “oh my god, is it because you FINALLY realize you have feelings for Leo too!? After all that yelling we did!” With that said, Valeria sat up so fast, she’s pretty sure she got whiplash from it, “Izzie, we’re not having this conversation again! I don’t have feelings for Leo! If I did, wouldn’t you have known about it and I would’ve said something too?!” “No. You wouldn’t have. You made that very clear last month.” Izra said blankly, making Valeria wince, knowing that she was right. 

She hadn’t said anything, Izra had no clue that it was Leo who was the “mysterious man” that she had been sleeping around with for months now. Everything had been going great and it seemed nothing would ruin the strong bond they had. But that was also the issue too. She wasn’t sure when it happened or maybe how long it actually had been when she felt it, but… 

Valeria was falling in love with Leo. 

She couldn’t even begin to say when the feelings formed or how long it might’ve been for apparently everyone to see. Which is to say that him texting her for two weeks straight with her not responding had been painful, especially after she apologized to him after that day in the training room last month. Valeria didn’t know what to do, what to say, what to feel . She hadn’t felt this way in a very long time and though it was a very toxic relationship, she had loved her ex-girlfriend very much, even after the break up. What came easy was the moving on, to date or sleeping around with anyone and not getting too attached, it felt better for her. Anyone that’s tried staying in a relationship with her had called it quits, straight up telling Valeria that they either found her personality too much, the scars somehow being too much (or ugly, the last guy told her many times), or even when talking about very little details from home would cause to be too much for those around her. 

“Too much baggage.” “You’re too damaged, I can’t handle that.”  

It was words and whispers like that from people who said it to her face her whole life, giving herself enough pride to not show anyone that it hurts to hear something she had always known was true to herself, which is the one thing she knew the friend group would always yell at her for even thinking that way. Which was why she was distancing herself from Leo, so he wouldn’t have to worry about the baggage she carries, how she will always feel so broken, so utterly damaged that maybe she’ll just grow to always be alone. To die alone without a significant partner, only friends and family, to live through their own happiness over hers. Rubbing over her scar, she knew that it always came down to that story . That part of her childhood that’ll forever be ruined for her, no matter how many times she’s tried moving on, she knows people have not been too kind about the story of it. Which is why it scares her even more. Scares her that maybe, potentially, Leo could be different from everyone else. But she didn’t want to take that risk. There was already so much risk in her life, she didn’t need anymore of it. She was tired of risks being taken for her life.

Before she knew it, Izra grabbed her hand, continuing where she left off from. 

“Valé, I know that you’re feeling so many emotions right now. It’s okay to say you like two people and not know who to pick. You’ve only told me a couple stories about the guy you’re sleeping around with. But I also see how happy you are when you and Leo are hanging out. The stories you’ve told me alone and both of your interactions just tells me you do like him, whether you want to admit to it or not. Hell, he may be a flirt, but maybe Leo likes you too and you both are just dancing around the bushes! In the end, it’s up to you and what your heart says too.”

“Even if he did, he wouldn’t stick around.” Valeria said sadly. 

Sitting up to meet her gaze, looking at her sadly, Izra asked, “what do you mean by that Val?” “You know what I mean, Izra!” Shaking her head, Valeria continued, “you know what I’ve been through, with what happened back home to my ex to everything! What if Leo finds out and decides to not only reject me but stops being friends with me?! With us?! I don’t want that! And don’t even say anything because we’re keeping what happened a secret from them and I know it’s eating you up too!” Covering her face with both hands, Valeria leaned her elbows on her knees, still rambling, “I can forget all of that when I’m with them, but it’s just so much easier to keep my distance, so no one gets hurt or be bothered by too much of our own baggage! My own baggage! ” Rubbing her back, Izra said something that made Valeria halt any movement she was thinking of doing.

“Yeah, distance is better, just look what happened to us when I distanced myself from everyone.”

Valeria wasn’t sure what to think, but luckily Izra kept talking, quieting her loud, dark thoughts. “Listen to me very carefully. I know it hurts that we haven’t told them anything from home, but you also understood and agreed to not saying anything either. It’s what we were always told to do since we were kids,” nodding in agreement, Izra went on, “also, what happened between you and Mariah was not the same as this. You were taking advantage of, even when you guys broke up and you took her and her family to the airport when they moved away. It hurt to see you that way, but we were there to help you move on from it. Though messing around with a few of our classmates was something else that we’ll talk about another time,” elbowing her rib, Izra softly chuckled before continuing, “and what happened to you when we were kids wasn’t your fault . Remember what Pops use to say too. We will always tell you that because it’s true. Do you understand me?” Looking straight into her eyes, Valeria nodding her head in agreement once more, Izra smiled at that. “So don’t ever say that your mysterious man will leave you if he ever found out because you don’t know that. Or if Leo stops talking to you about anything because you know Leo the best . He and his brothers never once made any intentions that they would ever abandon their family and friends. I don’t think I can stress this enough either,” Izra finished off, hoping it’ll stick in her best friend’s head that Leo would never do anything to hurt Valeria.

With their thoughts said out loudly, both laid back down on Valeria’s bed with a loud ‘thump’ , staring straight to her ceilings once more. 

“You know you have to start showing up to the training they have for us again, right?” Valeria groaned, not up to actually showing up to the guys’ special training for the friend group. Correction: for the girls to be protected from the dangers of the world. “It’s going to be awkward Izzie, especially with Leo and I not talking.” “Well, you did that to yourself. You have to lay in it,” Izra cut off, knowing she would be thinking of excuses for either behavior. Sighing deeply, Valeria knew it was only a matter of time before she could get away with not seeing or talking to Leo for this long. “I’ll try my best to come, okay?” Looking at her, Izra just nodded, knowing how hard Valeria was beating herself up for all the conflicting emotions she was feeling.

“Besides,” sitting up, Izra made her way to the food she brought over for Valeria in the first place, “the training is really entertaining the guys too cause… y’know already.” Silently agreeing, Valeria asked a question that’s been on her mind lately since the guys started this training with them, “yeah, so with that, we’ve been backing off on our knowledge and strength even more, right? ‘Cause I know it’ll look more suspicious and we did talk about it before and-” “yes, that’s the right call. Don’t worry, I was thinking a lot about that too,” Izra finished, understanding what Valeria meant by the concern. Grabbing her food to give to her, before leaving, Izra made sure to tell Valeria something very important for her to know too.

“You know we love you. It hurts us when you’re going through these conflicting times. I just hope you make the right choice. I don’t want to have to kick your ass by hurting not only those guys but yourself too. And please don't do what you’ve done before to feel better too. We’re living differently now, we can’t think like how we used to, handling conflicting emotions like back home!”

Rolling her eyes, but taking into consideration her words, answered, “okay already, I get it! I love you but please, I think it’s enough for the day!” Laughing, Izra hugged her friend, pinching her cheeks a bit before heading out. Hearing the door closed, grabbing utensils to eat from her bed, Valeria held her final thoughts before eating her dinner.

‘I know I have a choice to make. I just hope… that he understands the decision I’m making... For both of us.’

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(Next: Ch.9)

[shsy7573]

We’re in this Together - Ch. 1

For more info or chapter index, see overview post

DISCLAIMER: I do not own own Voyager or any of the characters in this fic (except for the aliens. Those were my creation.)

*This story is not beta-read and has not been edited or proof-read in any way! This was just something I threw together over the past three days and decided to post as my first entry on this site!*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CHAPTER ONE

“Captains log, stardate 50658.85. Lt. Torres and I’s shuttle just touched down on a small, M-Class planet. Scans show that the surface contains limited amounts of dilithium, and B’Elanna suggested it would be a good idea to harvest some. While we’re here, Voyager has headed off on a diplomatic mission to the homeworld of a species that controls this sector of space. The planet is located approximately two light years from here, so if all goes well, we’ll be meeting up with them in about a week.”

As the shuttle craft engines whirred to a halt, Captain Janeway joined her Chief Engineer in the hull. Over the next week, the two would be spending a lot of time together. While both parties weren’t too keen on being cramped in a shuttlecraft for that long, it would be a nice chance to get to know each other more. The Captain intended to make the most of it. 

“Ready to get a move on, Lieutenant?”

B’Elanna looked up from where she had been collecting her mining equipment. “Aye, Captain. According to the shuttle’s scans, there’s a pocket of dilithium not far from here. Unfortunately with all the uneven terrain, this was as close as I could get us.”

Janeway smiled, grabbing a tricorder, a phaser, and an equipment belt. “Well then, I hope you don’t mind walking.” She remarked, tossing a phaser to the half-klingon.

B’Elanna rolled her eyes, smiling, and the two set off in search of the crystalline material.

-

As the duo approached a small stone butte, both women's tricorders started going crazy. Exchanging a glance, they each split up, going separate ways around the rockface. Several spike-like pillars jutted out of the ground around and atop the butte, making navigation slightly difficult.

While the Captain tried to locate the dilithium’s source, she was distracted by a strange scuttling sound coming from behind her. Quickly, she spun around, putting her tricorder into the belt, and pointing her phaser towards the source of the sound.

Her gaze fell upon a small tunnel opening at the base of the hillock. Emerging from the gap was one of the… strangest things the Captain had ever seen. It was humanoid, with long slender legs covered with some sort of legging-like material. The legs seemed to be the only part of the alien that was covered. That, however, wasn’t what shocked her. Because instead of arms, this creature had four spider-like limbs sprouting from its shoulders and shoulder blades. The two front appendages had hands attached at the end, however the limbs coming from the shoulder blades ended in sharp, menacing pinchers. There were four, yellow eyes on the creature. Two large ones located on the typical place for a humanoid, and two smaller ones placed in the centre of the face, not too far above the first pair. Instead of lips, this creature had the mouth of a spider, with long curved fangs extending from the dark flesh. The rest of its body seemed relatively normal, with ashen-grey skin and scraggly black hair.

Long story short, it was horrifying. Each of its eyes looked around, apparently trying to find whatever it was that had drawn it from its hole. That’s when its gaze landed on Kathryn. Immediately, it made a surprised hissing noise, scrambling back a step or two despite the fact that Janeway wasn’t even all that close to it.

The Captain held her hands up, phaser pointed at the sky now. The creature tilted its head as she spoke. “My name is Captain Janeway, of the Federation Starship Voyager. If you can understand me, I promise you, I come in peace.”

A strange clicking sound began to emit from the creature’s throat as it took a few weary steps forward. Although it was difficult, Janeway could make out the tones of a voice through the harsh sounds.

“I do not know you.”

“I come from a long way away. We are here hoping to use some of your resources. You see, we are lost and are trying to get home.” The Captain explained. She kept her grip firm on the phaser, but still kept it pointed upwards.

The whirred, clattering voice spoke again, it’s one of its right hands reaching out towards Janeway’s face. Crusty, nail-broken fingers drifted across her cheek, and Kathryn did her best not to flinch at the gritty, sandpaper feeling. “You are an outsider.”

Kathryn nodded, smiling a bit. “That’s right.”

“You are not from here. You are not like me…”

The Captain watched as the creature seemed to come to some sort of conclusion. She relaxed a little as it pulled its hand away.

“I’m so glad we could come to an understa—“

“You are food.”

Faster than she had ever seen anything move, the creature lashed out and knocked the phaser out of the Captain’s hand with its hand-ended-arm. It tucked its human legs to its chest, used the spider-like appendages to lunge forward.

In an instant, it was on top of Kathryn, its pincered mouth snapping dangerously close to her face. The Captain let out a yelp of surprise as she grappled with it. All at once she was trying to keep its mouth away from her, while also battling the swiping that was slicing the air dangerously close to her abdomen.

Then, from father down the rock formation came a voice. “Captain!”

A stream of phaser light connected with the alien’s face, and it was thrown off Kathryn and onto the ground. The creature made a loud shrieking noise, and it fell to the ground with a thud. As it tried to scramble back up B’Elanna shot it again, rendering the creature unconscious.

Janeway let out heavy breaths, sitting up as her Chief Engineer ran over.

“Are you alright?” She asked, helping the Captain to her feet.

Kathryn nodded, “I’m fine. It didn’t manage to hurt me at all, thanks to you. Great timing.”

B’Elanna blazed past the praise, obviously frazzled. “What the hell was that thing?! Scans didn’t indicate any life signs on the planet’s surface.”

Janeway shook her head, and nodded towards the hole it had crawled out of. “Something tells me these things don’t live on the surface.”

The half-klingon put her hands on her hips, looking around as if to try and spot any more exit points that the creatures could emerge from. After a moment of collecting her thoughts, she looked back at her Captain. “And you’re sure you’re okay?”

Janeway raised her hands, “I’m alright, promise.” She thought for a moment, before nodding to the engineer, “did you find the dilithium?”

B’Elanna’s eyes lit up at the reminder and she nodded. “Yes, I did. There’s a small vein barely visible on the eastern face of this rock formation. It shouldn’t be too hard to mine out.”

The Captain nodded, “right. Let’s get to it then. I want to be off this planet as soon as possible.”

“Agreed.”

With that, the Captain followed her Chief Engineer towards the dilithium source. On her way out, she made sure to grab her phaser. Something told her she’d be needing it.

-

Harvesting the dilithium took longer than either woman felt comfortable with. With the knowledge of a new threat, neither one wanted to be taken by surprise again. The speed on the creatures had been a shock, and there was no telling when another one might emerge. So they took turns, one would work on extracting the dilithium from the rock face while the other kept watch of their surroundings. Every half-hour or so they would switch.

By the time they had gotten it all and started making their way back to the ship, two hours had passed. It had been a pretty generous amount of the ore, and they decided that would be good enough. They were acutely aware all the pounding would probably draw more creatures to the surface, and they didn’t want to take their chances hunting down another vein.

Just as the shuttle craft came into view, about one hundred feet away, their fears were confirmed. The skittering, scraping sound of many kegs on stone caught both women's attention. The sound was coming from behind them, and it didn’t sound all that far away.

“Run.” Janeway ordered, her voice was eerily calm. Not having to be convinced, B’Elanna and Kathryn both started sprinting towards the shuttlecraft. 

About halfway to the shuttle, a small herd of the spider-aliens came into view behind them. Jumping out from behind the many clusters of rock formations and barreling towards the two star fleet officers. Janeway was able to count seven of them after a couple glances behind her, and they were gaining fast.

Like the other one, when trying to move fast they didn’t use their human legs. Instead, they curled up their body, and used their spider-like appendages to throw themselves across the rocky terrain. It seemed like a pretty effective tactic.

“Captain!” B’Elanna yelled worriedly.

“I know!”

“They’re gaining!”

“We’re almost there! We just have to get to the shuttle!”

Both girls seemed to run even faster. The shuttle was close now, and even though their lungs were burning, Adrenalin spurred them onwards. The terror of being caught by the arachnoids outweighs the pain of sprinting over one hundred feet with a load of dilithium slung over their backs.

They neared the craft, the aliens were dangerously close now. Practically right on their tails. They breaths came in heavy, panicked bursts. The Captain’s heart rammed inside her chest, and the blood rushing through her ears was almost enough to drown out the fear enduring clacking that thundered behind her. As she ran for her life, she prayed on whatever deity controlled the Delta Quadrant that neither of them would trip.

Finally, after what seemed like both hours and milliseconds, each raced into the shuttlecraft. B’Elanna entered first, so Janeway yelled out towards her. “CLOSE THE DOOR!”

B’Elanna slammed her hand down on a control panel as Janeway reached the shuttlecraft, and the door began closing. But not fast enough.

“Fly the shuttle! Get us out of here,” Janeway ordered as she pulled her phaser out. Three of the spider-aliens launched themselves into the air, and slipped through the small gap between the closing door and the rest of the shuttle.

The Captain fired her phaser as the first one landed, hitting it once in the chest, and once in the face. As the alien crumpled to the ground with a shriek, the second one lunged at her. She shot but missed as its hands wrapped around her shoulders and slammed her back towards the front of the shuttlecraft.

“Captain! The aliens on the outside are clinging to the shuttle! I can’t shake them!”

Kathryn yelled in frustration as she kicked the creature off of her. It clung on to the sides of the shuttlecraft with its pinchers, cutting through control panels, shuttle walls and internal wiring as it was flown back. 

“Structural integrity at fifty percent!”

The third spider-alien tried to take a lunge at B’Elanna. The Captain, not having any of it, put herself between the creature and her crew man, sending out a phaser beam that knocked the creature sideways and into the side of the shuttle’s windshield.

She cried out in pain as the other arachnoid’s pinches sank deep into her hips, pulling her back and towards it and tearing through her flesh as it did so. 

“Captain!”

“Keep flying!”

“They’re tearing through the outer hull!”

Janeway twisted in the spider-aliens grip and kicked out, hard. Her heeled boot connected with a sickening crack with the alien’s chin, and it let out an ear piercing shriek. Sensing that its friend was in pain, the other alien recovered from its crash and lunged forward. Its pincers sunk into her arms, clamping down and causing her to cry out in pain. 

“Something’s torn through the impulse engines! We’re starting to descend!”

“Try to level us out!”

“I can’t!”

Gritting her teeth, the Captain ripped her right harm out of the pincer’s grip. A large gash opened up, and blood gushed from the wound, but she didn’t care. As the alien’s hand tried to reach for her phaser, she took the whole of its arm into her grip and twisted as hard as she could.

The creature shrieked, relaxing its grip with the other pincher just enough for her to twist free. The spider-alien with the broken jaw lashed out with one of its limbs, but Janeway was faster this time. She levelled her phaser and sent two quick beams at the beast. One shot the arm just as it was about to slide through her chest, and the other shot it right in the forehead. The creature was sent backwards again, and knocked unconscious.

Suddenly, a pain unlike anything the Captain had ever felt in her life erupted from the back of her left shoulder. It was a cold kind of pain, shooting down her arm and causing her whole body to cramp up. In her deliriousness, it took her a moment to figure out that the remaining alien had bitten her. It’s fangs sinking deep into her flesh and causing her arm to spasm in agony.

The Captain gasped, wrenching her shoulder away, and sending the butt of her phaser right into the alien’s temple. The force of the blow sent it crumpling to the ground, and the Captain fell down right beside it. Her breathing heaved, and her body still twitched from the sensation of the bite.

“Captain, we’re going to crash!”

Janeway hauled herself off the ground with her right arm, tucking her left gingerly into her side as she looked out the windshield. B’Elanna was right. The shuttle was going down. Whatever those aliens had done it had compromised their engines. As she looked on in horror, a dark shadow on the side of a large plateau caught her eye.

“B’Elanna! There, that opening in the cliffside!”

“It’s too small, the outer walls will be completely shredded!”

Kathryn nodded, “and the aliens along with it!”

That’s when Torres seemed to understand the Captain’s plan. Her eyes lit up, and she veered the shuttle steering to direct them towards the tunnel.

“Captain, maybe you should do this! I’m not exactly a fancy flyer like Paris.”

Janeway shook her head, “It’s too late to switch controls now, we’re almost at the opening. I believe in you, B’Elanna! You can do this, you’re more than capable!”

B’Elanna grimaced as they rocketed towards the opening. “We’re about to find out! Brace for impact!”

Both women grit their teeth, gripping hard onto their seats as the shuttle crashed into the cave. The loud, sickening sound of metal scraping against stone filled the hull as the exterior of the shuttle was torn apart. The shuttle rattled violently as it bounced off the floor and ceiling of the tunnel and came to a slow, screeching halt buried inside the tunnel.

Both women sat there for a moment, stunned and shaken as they tried to take in everything that happened. After a moment, B’Elanna looked over at her Captain and gasped hard at the sight.

“Captain! You’re hurt!”

Janeway opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted by the sound of weakened, desperate scratching on the shuttle bay door. Apparently the creatures had survived, but their attempts to get inside didn’t seem as effective as they had been on the shuttle’s engines.

“We have to go.” The Captain instructed, forcing herself to her feet. She stumbled over to the side of the shuttle and pulled out two backpacks. Each held two 1L canisters of water, a week’s rations, flashlights, phasers, a fire starter, and tools to set up a homing beacon. “Go get the med kit, and put it in one of these.” She ordered.

Not seeing any choice in arguing, Lt. Torres stood up and made her way across the shuttle hull. The door to the medkit’s buddy had a large gash through it, but when B’Elanna pulled, she found it was still able to be opened. She grabbed the med-kit and stashed it into one of the bags, before throwing the back over her shoulder.

“What about the dilithium?” B’Elanna asked, her gaze falling on the sacks of ore lying in the wreckage in the ground.

“Leave it. When Voyager comes we can beam it abroad from there. Carrying it will only slow us down.”

The Chief Engineer nodded. That was true, and as much as she’d like to protect the ore she figured these creatures wouldn’t have much care for it. They only seemed interested in hunting the Captain and herself.

Kathryn grimaced as she tried to sling the other backpack over her shoulder. Every wound on her body screamed as they were pulled, and she still couldn’t move her left arm enough to catch the other strap. 

B’Elanna stepped forward and grabbed the bag out of her Captain’s hand. “Here, let me help.”

The half-klingon lifted the bag up, allowing the Captain to simply weave her arms through the straps, and haul it up onto her back. Once it was on, she turned to the engineer and nodded. 

“Thank you.”

A scrape, much louder than the previous ones, caused both women to jump.

“We should get going,” B’Elanna suggested. Kathryn agreed, and the two made their way to the front of the shuttle. B’Elanna smashed through the windshield using a stray piece of debris, and the two helped each other out of the shuttlecraft.

When they’d each set down onto the hard stone of the tunnel, the Captain looked back at the shuttle with a slightly irritated expression.

“So much for an easy outing,” she muttered. With that, the two women pulled out their flashlights, and set off into the dark unknown of the planet’s tunnels. 

Little did they know, the trouble was just beginning.

[erensfeed]

actor!au headcanons ft. love and deepspace

starring: love and deepspace boys x reader in other words: behind the scenes of you & your five boyfies in your hit show. a/n: slight spoilers & tw for the mention of that explosion scene w caleb/sylus gun scene. but dw its a prop gun duh cause again they’re actorrs. (please don’t send me to the psych wards just hear me out) + more so scenarios for this one.

.˚𐚁 {part 1}

⤷ actor!rafayel:

rafayel stays carrying the gag reels on his back by staying in character while joking around. why else do people think he’s the golden boy of love and deepspace and its producers.

while getting ready to film the episode where rafayel’s true identity as a lemurian/merman was revealed, he flexed his tail at the camera, and playfully asked, ‘hey girl, yeah, whatcha think of my tail?’. till this day, that silly behind the scene outtake remains the intro to a lot of his edits.

now moving on to you and him. sneaking off to hang out alone with him was something common between you and everyone knows but you both don't know they do.

rafayel is the only guy who can actually say ‘i know a spot’ and make it worth it.

like one time, when you two were waiting to start filming in the nest livehouse bar for that one scene in chapter 8, he recalled the fact that he hadn’t gotten a chance to sneak off with you once at all through that week, so he caught your attention by whispering ‘hey’. your eyes met and your expression did the talking.

giving you sup nod, he continued, ‘are you free tonight?’. squinting your eyes with a small cynical smile at him, you replied ‘… why?’

before responding, he made sure to lean back on his chair and eyed you in this certain way you would never admit you liked. ‘let’s head out for a bit after the wrap-party. just you and me’.

and after wrapping up filming chapter 8, the crew celebrated with a lively party, but he had something special in mind for you to celebrate. while everyone was caught up in the festivities, he led you away to a spot on the same beach where you’d filmed his reveal earlier.

just when you thought it was a quiet moment, fireworks suddenly lit up the sky. surprising you and lightening up your eyes and mood.

coincidentally, it turns out that the nearby beach community had their own general celebration planned too. and rafayel had secretly known about it all along, intentionally not letting anyone else know.

he’d been trying to think of a way to have a special moment with you in that area and that was perfect. you on the other hand, couldn't help but smile at the thought of his nature.

admiring the scenery in front of you, you pointed to the fireworks and said, ‘i officially declare this the best moment of joy tonight.’ in response he softly laughed, his cheeks and ears growing rosy as he met your eyes with a smile. ‘try to do your best to remember it.’ (yes im talking about that free five star card called “sparkling traces”. bc if you noticed, his outfit in ch.8 and that card are the exact same. told you guys theyre only actors wink wink c;)

⤷ actor!sylus:

you two are actually kindred spirits. nobody is a better match for him than you, nor can anyone make him act childish except you.

your fans prefer your in-character, off-script moments so muchh.

one time, you asked him to choose between you and mephisto, and he acted like you caught him off guard with the hardest question in the world.

he simply said he couldn’t choose, making you pretend to get upset as you told him, 'i see where your loyalties lie.' in turn, he couldn’t hide the growing smile on his face as he watched you turn away from him, storming off.

‘you're still my favorite,’ he called after you, a teasing tone in his voice. ‘...mephisto’s just a distraction’

‘but don't tell him I said that.’ he pointed to the camera.

'he's not even real!' you retorted, your words muffled by the distance, making him chuckle.

you both have a habit of forgetting everyone else, always getting caught up in playful banters right before the main take of a scene. and my goodness, the blooper reels are packed with them.

one of your personal favorite playful memories with him in particular, was just moments prior to actually filming the scene where it involved sylus helping you shoot him.

you were still seated onto his lap, when he thought to slyly guide your hand to raise the prop gun up to his chest. and just as it touched him, he quietly went ‘pew’.

closing his eyes, he slumped back on the chair, pretending like he’d actually been hit. and almost immediately, his antics prompted a wide grin from you.

as soon as your other hand reached up to rest on his face, his crimson eyes and intense gaze met yours. (this was the official start of the ongoing staring competition)

another thing is, since you’re just like him, you love to push his buttons too.

you’re so used to playfully booping Sylus’ nose right before the cameras roll, and he usually lets you without retaliating back — whenever he feels like it, that is.

one day, you were un(lucky) enough to get a reaction out of him.

he waited for the perfect moment for you to let your guard down before he swiftly caught your wrist and gently bit your finger.

you softly gasped in surprise, and he teasingly mimicked your reaction before he chuckled as you feigned a tiiny pout.

'aw,' booping your nose with a small smirk, he added. 'don't be like that'

⤷ actor!zayne:

after him and sylus, you two are the next form of an unmarried married couple.

during kissing rehearsals, sometimes he'd gently bump his nose with yours, then look down at your lips before looking back up to meet your eyes.

till this day, it remains an unanswered debate on who gets weaker for the other whenever he does that.

he lets you touch his hair, smiling whenever you ruffle or run your hand through it.

he got flowers delivered to you once and you posted about it on your instagram story, making your fans confirm he likes you the most.

they remain confused on which boy likes you the most.

on set, you don’t often forget your lines with him but when you do, it never fails to be funny.

‘i have no idea what I’m supposed to say,’ you admitted while laughing as soon as you confidently walked into zayne’s character’s office, causing him and everyone in the production team to join in the laughter.

after that though, whenever you forget your lines right in front of him, he’d subtly mouth what to say next — his great memory coming to the rescue since he usually keeps your lines in mind for you — just in case.

and if both of you blank out, he’ll intentionally mess up his own line, giving you a chance to start over. or the chance to sneak a quick look at the script during rehearsals.

by the way, he has fast reflexes when it comes to protecting you.

a time this happened was during a fast-paced action scene. a prop flew so close to and was about to hit you.

thankfully, he instinctively pulled you close to him, saving you from getting hit on the head.

‘have you ever thought of being a superhero instead of acting??’ you once asked making him look at you with a coy smile, before shaking his head with soft chuckles.

‘i'd only be your superhero.’

⤷ actor!xavier:

kissing scenes between you and xavier look nice and all but the stress you put this man under beforehand is NOT funny.

you don’t obviously do anything. but he just gets butterflies before kissing you. even though he’s... always beside you (??)

he’d always ask if you were okay. meanwhile his own heart was raciingg.

he does that to mask his own need for reassurance.

contrary to his character on how he omits the truth? he cannot lie to you save his life. which means you aalwaays know when he’s nervous. obviously during a kiss scene too. so you make sure to try have him less nervy.

whatever you end up doing though, makes him so bold.

that’s why you see him so freaky in those scenes cause you'd end up making him become comfortable enough to get DOWN.

you’ve had playfights with your swords before and he almost always lets you win just to see your victorious cheers.

the one time he kinda didn't, he playfully pretended to get hit after he got you, then dramatically fell next to you. as if he just now felt the blow your sword gave him.

maybe it's because you're always together, but you two can be so in sync and in tune its eerie. and also funny.

like one time, before you filmed the scene for his birthday. you were both sat by the fountain, sharing mini bunny-shaped chocolates.

all of a sudden, you both sighed in perfect harmony like everything life and what it has to offer just dawned on you. all it took was one glance at one another before you both broke into laughter.

'you think that was an effect of the chocolate?' unwrapping a new one, you replied before putting it in your mouth '...naaah'. making you both chuckle as you continued eating them.

anyone passing by would have thought you two were on something.

moving onto our favorite part, even though you've seen xavier shirtless multiple times on set, you never fail to purposefully catcall him.

it's been your thing because of his reactions.

the last time you did, he timidly turned around with a beaming grin at the sight of you and your catcall that ended up growing into fits of giggles.

tilting his head upwards as he turned around, he kept softly chuckling as he let out an 'ohmygodd'. knowing very well it got him blushing. like always.

⤷ actor!caleb:

caleb was born to play caleb.

it honestly feels like you actually grew up together with him.

he very much still calls you ‘pip squeak’ off camera of course.

no literally. and this guy seriously has a whole stash of ironic teasing nicknames just for you.

like ‘troublemaker’ or ‘party animal’. i can’t make this up you guys (also you guys rn: "girl that’s exactly what you're doing")

and he of course knows you can be anything but those, yet he does it anyway because you both know you like when he does.

almost like sylus with his teasing, caleb’s favorite pastime is trolling you.

there is never a dull moment with him around.

saying this because when you guys were getting ready to film by the grocery store, the crew was still busy fully setting up everything. and that was when he decided was the perfect moment... to moonwalk around you.

a camera meant for the blooper reel had already started rolling, catching the whole moment.

‘guys,’ you began failing to hide your growing smile, and then pointing your thumb at him behind you as he kept dancing around you. ‘this one? i’m so done with.’

soon after, he came over and planted a small kiss on your cheek, making you close your eyes, a tiny defeated smile on your face.

‘don’t listen to her,” he added, pulling away with a subtle smirk at the camera. ‘she loves me.’

funny enough, the fandoms most adored blooper featured the two of you in the infamous explosion scene.

you were still deep in character, completely shattered over the fiery aftermath of your home including Grandma and Caleb.

now, just as you laid your head back down — waiting for the expected ‘cut!’, Caleb, feigning a worried look on his face, quietly crouched down beside you and whispered, ‘aw what are we crying about?’.

you jumped, yelping at the unexpected interruption of his voice but your surprise quickly gave way to airy giggles as he stood up, grinning. ‘oh you mother…’ you tried to continue, but your laughter grew infectious, taking over the whole set.

oh this was definitely rushed im sorry if u guys hate this heelp. esp sylus, zayne & xavier stans. actually, no all of you esp rafayel girlies and im literally one. ok look if i make a part 3, it’ll be wayyy better trusstt.

— besides, this isn't everything floating in my mind so there's def gonna be a part 3. also this was supposed to be pronoun neutral but aaa sry i was js going by the mc's.

extra for reading this far: they've all let you put butterfly clips in their hair that match their eye color aaand caleb has proposed to you with a ring pop before. in your favorite flavor.

side note: aaa i had to post this bc im gna be busy studying this week. but anyway, my next post is gonna be a req from my first star anon on how they react to ོ thirst tweets LMFAOOO. & ilysm anon if u see this ;c

©2024 ERENSFEED. all rights reserved.

[psychogirlfriendandsupervillain]

The Arkham Asylum Jig - Chapter 4 Teacher Cellophane

Characters: dk!Jonathan Crane, (she/her)reader (platonic, non-romantic, professional).

Story summary: Dr Crane gets asked to evaluate an elementary teacher who claims self defense for the murder she has committed. But he finds himself striking a deal, as he tries to find out what really is the truth.

Warnings: Discussions of crimes, therapy session, corruption, Arkham Asylum, absurdity, unseriousness about criminality and murder (bc that is the essence of Chicago).

Chapter Summary: Dr Crane tries to get reader to open up during another session, but is met with theatrics.

A/N: So, uh, guys, I messed up, there has been a chapter edited and ready to be published in my document this whole time, while I thought I had to edit it before publishing (also thought I was on the chapter after this), soanyway, here it is, I'm sorry.

Masterlist Ch 1 Ch 2 Ch 3

The chair creaks. “How do you feel about Gotham?” You lift your eyebrows and Dr Crane makes a circular gesture with his hand, searching for his intention. The air is cold, same as in the cells, but not quite as damp. “As a place of home. Do you feel safe, in general?” The greenish light in the room has not improved at all since last time. They really should fix that, if there was not so much else in a similar state. The wheels along the walls are still, the slow whirring of the ventilation taking their place.

“Who does?” When he stays silent you sigh theatrically and continue. “Overall, sure. All places have its vice and blood.” You fold your arms, settling back into the hard seat for yet another session required during your stay at Arkham. The pipes make a coughing sound. The showers must be broken, giving off nothing but drops when turned on. 

“Ever gotten robbed?” Dr Crane makes a noisy scribble before meeting your questioning look. “Personal curiosity.” He waves the pen as if to dispel any mistrust. He is not sure he could, considering he is sitting on the keys to your freedom, but on the other hand, you did hand them to him. Rather forced them on him. 

“Twice.” You cock your head and raise your eyebrows at some memory. “Poor target choice on their end.” Eyes come back to his. They’re back in the present, unreadable except what you want him to see. And what he sees is an unphased villain.

Dr Crane can’t help but repeat your initial facial expression towards his notes in agreement. It really was those robbers’ poor luck to gamble on someone with such a small wallet. “Regarding your profession” He catches. “What made you choose it?” He might be adding a small amount of admiration just for flair and hope. Flattery might have been invented for the rich and those in need of favors, but perhaps what he is asking isn’t so different from wanting a favor from you. That of your truth.

“What d’ya want me to say, doc? ‘Out of the kindness of my heart’?” Your accent thickens and your mannerisms return for a moment. His not so well concealed trick discovered, Dr Crane does not let you have the satisfaction of him admitting it, even though you both know it. He wonders where you picked up the accent, so invisible in the courtroom but ever present with him.

“Is it that not what all the parents want to hear?” He offers smoothly with a tone that promises comfort. He’s not trying to hit a nerve, not yet. Maybe you’ll shine a light through your cracks if he just gives you the opportunity.

“Most just wanna hear their kid is doing well in school.” A boring truth, based on your averted eyes and dulled down tone, perhaps even a sad one. Doing well could be all sorts of things, from staying out of trouble for the less fortunate to bought paper for the moreso.

“Teachers send the future into the world and yet you rarely get the credit.” Dr Crane muses, quite honestly if he were to say so, perhaps slipping just a little off topic for a moment. “Did that never bother you? Made you want to do something to be seen, something to escape the mundaneness of your life?” Perhaps he wants to touch a nerve a little. You are very calm, but not likely to confess thrill killing after too many nights grading papers. Dr Crane gets the mildly annoying feeling that you might be comfortable in his company, not nervous. A comfortable patient was not the sign of a breakthrough in his experience. He pages through his earlier notes.

“No. I actually quite liked being invisible. Makes people forget you’re there, let’s you slip around unnoticed. People tell you all kinds of things when you don’t matter.” 

He doesn’t find anything useful in the ink, nothing that indicates adrenaline seeking behavior. If you weren’t here on sentence for murder, he’d think you were almost boring. He lets the paper fall back and looks up again, a dry, almost sympathetic, smile gracing the corners of his mouth. “Never tempted to shoplift then?” 

“Never.” With his own smile reflected on you, he is tempted to believe you. 

“Well, even if you did, we could not prove it.” Dr Crane finds himself taking on the same conversational tone as he would with someone outside work. It is not as intentionally as he would like to claim. He gestures between the two of you. “And besides, doctor-patient confidentiality.” He’s not sure that that reestablishes the order of the situation. You might not have gotten him fooled, but you’re not handtied either. Your dodging is obvious for a reason. He is your privileged audience now that the court has made their judgement and the asylum doors have closed behind you.

You cross one leg over the other, rubber sole running over loose sand on the floor and the overall crunching as the fabric folds over itself. “You gonna ask me about my terrible childhood next?” Eyes make it clear you are amused, but you are also the one to suggest the game. “It’s not interesting conversation, doctor.” After two months in Arkham Dr Crane wouldn’t expect you to care about entertaining. Perhaps he is letting his full schedule prevent any real progress, because while you do play your patient role well, you play the part of unbothered repeat customer with more enthusiasm.

He sighs, and makes a gesture of resignment. “What do you want to talk about then?”

You lean forward quickly. “Teacher salaries.”

[w0lp3rtinger]

Making Mischief Ch 1

I AIN'T DEAD YET!

AND YES I'M STILL WORKING ON HANGING ON TO TOMORROW I'VE JUST BEEN dying fucking dying but it's fine.

I fell in love with the new official Amy merch coming from Numskill. It's a halloween pin of her in a new little witch outfit and I LOVE IT!

I also couldn't help but notice it matches the cape that Shadow (Sonic, and Silver) all wear- the tattered black and red one.

So...once again... a oneshot ended up a multi-chapter thing.

@shadowsfascination and @shadamyheadcanons were a huge help when it came to editing this. I greatly appreciate their patience in dealing with my scattered little brain <3

I'm going to try to get this all done by the 31st of October though, for obvious reasons. No more than 2,000 words-ish a chapter. I'm trying ;_;

Anyway, ye, Happy All Hallow's Eve!

(This, and other stories, are available on my Deviantart!)

₊˚ ✧ ‿︵‿୨୧‿︵‿ ✧ ₊˚

“What do you think?” 

Amy gave an experimental twirl, only to stumble as she felt the broad brim of her witch’s hat lift from her head. She grabbed it, and, attempting to save the moment, gave a little jump and ended with a flourish, causing the hat to smash into an arrangement of wooden mixing spoons which clattered across Vanilla’s kitchen countertop. 

Amy withered a little under Vanilla's patient smile. Cream and Cheese, thankfully, laughed.

“You look great!” Cream said as she moved closer to inspect the dress. "It's very you!"

Amy jammed the hat back onto her head with a grin as she fixed the mess she had made. "Thanks! It's- it's nothing fancy. Kinda a last-minute idea. I just took my favorite dress and sort of used it as a blueprint for this one. Kept the same shade of red, swapped out the white trim for black…"

"I really like this part.” Cream held the jagged hem of the dress in her hands, running her thumb over the stitching. “Very spooky." 

“Aw really? Thanks! I like yours too," Amy said as she flicked the spiked pom-pom at the end of Cream's own hat. "You look like a cross between a witch and a chao. Plus, the matching bow tie for Cheese is super cute. Did you do that yourself?"

Cream beamed. "It was a team effort," she said as Cheese puffed out their tiny chest. 

"I'm glad everyone is happy with their costumes," Vanilla said as she pointed to the clock above the stove, "but if you don't get a move on, you're going to be late."

Amy slapped a hand to her cheek. "Oh Chaos, the time! You got everything you need?"

Cream held up a paper bag full of veggies and fruit, "Yup! All packed!"

"Vanilla, you sure you don't want to come with?"

Vanilla waved a hand, "No, I'll be content here. You girls go have fun."

"Oh, no worries about that!" Amy said with a grin before turning to Cream and Cheese.  "Let's put that in the trunk with the rest and we'll be good to go!"

In a flurry of goodbyes and promises to be back at a reasonable hour, the girls waved to Vanilla as they walked towards Amy's car. Each carried a handle of Cream's bag, laughing while it jostled between them. As Amy went to unlock the trunk, Cream took both handles in hand and hoisted the bag up.

"Hey, uh," Amy held out a hand, gesturing for Cream to hand it over, "How about you leave that to me, okay? It's heavy, and the trunk is kinda packed anyway."

Cream pouted, "I'm strong. I can hold it while you move stuff around."

Amy opened her mouth to retort, then closed it. Casting a quick glance towards Vanilla, still in the doorway watching them, she swiftly unlocked the trunk. 

Amy watched as Cream's eyes went wide, ogling all of the stuff packed into such a small space. Amy shuffled things about, trying to stuff the bag as best as possible in between the decorations and baked goods she had finished making last night.

"You can get in the car if you want," Amy said with a grunt, shoving a bag of bristling black garland out of the way, "the door is open."

"What's this for though?"

Amy turned, sucking a breath through her teeth as she saw Cream trying to grab a silver mirror from a thoroughly stuffed bag at the far back. 

"No!" Amy gasped as she snatched the mirror back, then laughed, trying to salvage some calm as she patted Cream's head gently. "No, no, please, that's my stuff."

Cream's eyes narrowed, looking between Amy and the mirror and the bag.

Amy sighed, holding the mirror close, "Listen, anything else in this car? You can absolutely touch it. This bag, though, is off limits unless I say otherwise." 

Cream pursed her lips, brow furrowing. 

"Everything alright?" Vanilla called out.

"Yeah! We're good!" Amy said with a smile before hunkering down behind the trunk where Vanilla wouldn't see as she turned her attention back to Cream. "Fine, okay, I'll tell you if you promise not to tell your mom."

Cream and Cheese shared a look, then Cream nodded, "Okay."

Amy sighed, tucking the mirror back into its hiding space as Cream and Cheese skipped to their open door. She ran a hand down her face and took a deep breath, two, before shutting the trunk and waving to Vanilla with a tacked-on smile. 

It didn't last for very long. 

"Okay, tell me."

Amy rolled her eyes, watching the rear-view mirror as she backed out of the driveway. "Can we at least get on the road first?"

"But you said when we got in the car."

"Yeah?"

"We're in the car."

"...Yeah?"

Cream pouted, "So I get to know now."

Amy couldn't help but laugh a little at Cream and Cheese's scrunched little faces. Switching gears, she set the car in drive and nestled back into her seat. "Okay, fine. Let's start with this. What do you think is in the bag?"

"No fair!" Cream hugged Cheese to her chest  who chirped in agreement, "Whatever I tell you, you'll just say it's that!"

Amy cast her a sideways look. "Since when have I ever done that?"

"Well… well you haven't, but mom does it sometimes."

"And am I your mom?"

"No…"

"Exactly," Amy nodded, "I get the honor of being your big sister. Totally different set of rules. I don't have to not tell you things. So when I say ‘what do you think is in the bag’, I mean it, and I'll let you know if you're right or wrong. Okay?"

Cream bit her lip, nodding as she pet Cheese and looked to the road ahead. For a moment, the car lulled into a thrumming silence, the road harmonics wrapping around them like a blanket. 

Then, from the corner of her eye, Amy saw Cream turn to face her again. 

"You're bringing your magic stuff to the Hallows Eve festival, aren't you?"

Amy grinned, her grip on the steering wheel tightening, "Yes, yes I am."

"But Amy," Cream gasped, "why?"

"Well, I wanna try some things and I can't do that without my stuff."

"But you said- you said you didn't want everyone to know you-!"

"I know that and they're not going to know." Amy swallowed against the fluttering in her stomach as she smiled at Cream. "Listen, I've got some small spells, just little ones, tiny little ones, that people won't think twice about. Half of them are folklore superstitions anyway. If anyone does ask about it, I'll lie."

"Lying is bad."

"Not when it's for the sake of privacy it's not."

"But-!"

"Ah ah ah! I said I'd tell you what was in the bag. I didn't say I was willing to argue over it!"

Amy drummed her fingers against the steering wheel as she focused on the road ahead, humming a tune to herself. It was hard to dispel the growing jitters though as Cream and Cheese's combined stares bore holes into her head. 

"...This wouldn't have anything to do with Mr. Sonic, would it?"

"What?" Amy's voice came out as a squeak, and she covered a cough with a laugh as she waved a hand. "What in Chaos’ name would make you say that?"

Cream sighed, sinking low in her seat. Cheese curled into the spot between her neck and shoulder as she crossed her arms. "You told me you decided to go as a witch so that we matched… but I bet that has to do with Mr. Sonic, too."

"Not true!"

"Then why? Why aren't you wearing your normal costume? The white and black one? You could have just made a different hat!"

"Can a girl not want a change of pace?" Amy huffed as she threw her turn signal on.

"I don't believe you."

"Oh come on, Cream," Amy cast her a look, "Listen, I really did want to match you. I wanted us to both go as witches this year because I thought it would be cute!"

"And?"

Amy opened her mouth, shut it, then sighed, "It-… okay, so you know that cape Sonic wears every year?"

"I knew it!" Cream threw her hands into the air, startling Cheese. "I knew it!"

"Oh, hush!"

"I knew it!"

"Look, I wanted to match the colors, okay!" 

"Are the spells for Mr.Sonic too?"

"No!" Amy pouted. "...Maybe."

"I knew it!"

"They're not really for him!"

"Then why do you sound so guilty?"

"Well, there's a bunch of fortune-telling spells you can do on All Hallow's Eve to find out if maybe, like… maybeee who you're destined to be with."

Cream groaned, rolling her eyes. "And you want it to be Mr. Sonic."

"Oh, would you just shush! So what if I do?!"

"Amy-"

"My cards keep being difficult, so I thought maybe I'd try something different!"

"Difficult how?" Cream shot her a look.

Amy bit her lip, taking a deep breath. 

"Difficult like not giving you the answer you want?"

"You keep this up," Amy hissed, holding up a finger, "and I swear I'm gonna send that little gray turtle straight towards you every time he asks where you are."

Cream yanked at her ears. "Quincy? Nooo!" She whined, "No, don't do that! They’re so weird!"

"Then I suggest you keep your lip buttoned about this." Amy gently bopped Cream on the nose with a smirk, “Capisce?" 

Cream gave Amy a withering stare before eventually turning towards the window. Amy took a deep breath, then another, flexing her grip on the steering wheel as she tried to take steadying breaths. She could smell the bonfire smoke, even from here, carried on the wind like an omen through the dappled trees. 

“This is gonna be great,” Amy said, almost in a whisper. “This is gonna turn out so great.” 

She didn’t have to look to know that Cream rolled her eyes. 

[magnoliacharmed]

note: i posted this on here a few days ago. i put it on private on here and ao3 bc i wanted to edit and add some things to it. i feel a lot happier with it now, so i’m reposting it! original post follows below:

ok ok this’ll be last (new) lalo fic! it’s called “Diamond Girl”. everything after this will just be updates to this specific story. lalo meets a woman who ends up being just as smart and crazy as him. here’s the summary:

Albuquerque has a sudden influx of cocaine in town that just happen to  coincide with the arrival of Cyn Arceneaux of Louisiana. She tries her  best to stay lowkey around the city while beginning to get involved with  Lalo Salamanca. The two fall in lust with each other quickly, but  roadblocks seem to keep them from developing anything deeper. Will they  go their separate ways to coexist peacefully with each other or end up  killing one another in the throes of passion?

the first two chapters are up on archive of our own! the first chapter is below the cut. i appreciate the reactions ive received to my 1st two fics!

Ch. 1 - Every Time I Come Around Your City...

Albuquerque was a dry town. Not dry in the way towns across America were, with no alcohol to be seen for miles. In fact it was quite the opposite. Alcohol was aplenty here along with drugs of all kinds. No, Albuquerque was quite literally dry. The sun baked the whole city. The wind felt harsh and painful when it blew by. An egg could cook on the sidewalk in a minute flat. The sand hit skin like little burning pellets of lead. No water for miles. No reprieve. No willows to hide under, no rivers to relax by.

Cyn Arcenaux stood under the awning of a small mom and pop diner. Her eyes squinted under her Versace sunglasses, peering through the dark tint to stare across the street at the charming bakery. "Mama's Home" was written in cutesy script above the building, the brightly colored pink and yellow text showing the signs of bleaching. A bird perched on the edge of it and squawked loudly. It turned in that twitchy way birds did to face Cyn. The two adversaries entered a staring contest. Large brown wings puffed out and fluttered with another squawk. Cyn readjusted herself to move from one foot to another, arms still firmly crossed across her chest.

A twinkly ding-ding-ding made her snap from the bird to the entrance of the bakery. An elderly woman shuffled out holding a tiny paper bag of treats. The woman behind her held open the door, chatting happily away about the sweets. Her thin, lanky frame always reminded Cyn of the fairies in stories her mother told her. Fairies with glitter in their wings that always granted the wishes of sad little kids. They always appeared in pools of soft glowing light, surrounded by pastel colors and offering far away adventures to those neglected children. Cyn's mother drifted away when she told the stories to her. She got lost in her own dreams and fell asleep before the child herself could.

The old woman had just entered her car when the woman finally looked across the street. Even at that distance with the sun blinding the both of them, Cyn could tell that the woman's eyes were getting shiny. Her own eyes began to get misty. Thank god she was wearing the shades. Skinny caramel brown legs took long strides across the street. The woman rushed over to Cyn, not even bothering to look for oncoming traffic. Tears were now streaming down her soft cheeks. The wind blew by again to make the bottom of her maxi skirt float around her ankles like a cartoon princess. Maybe she really was from a fairytale.

"Cynthia, you're back!" The woman's already high pitched voice rose up another squeak. The smell of flour and powdered sugar almost overwhelmed Cyn as she was pushed into a hug. The plastic pads on the bridge of her glasses pressed into the skin of her nose. The woman grabbed Cyn's shoulders and pushed her back for a better view.

"Jesus, how're you not dying of heat stroke out here, huh? Here, pull your hair back." The woman fished in her skirt pocket for a scrunchie.

"Stop fussin' over me, Pam. I'm fine. I been standing here in the shade the whole time. Plus the cashier in this restaurant gave me a bottle of water. I woulda got in the car if I was too hot."

Pam crossed her own arms over her chest with a huff while Cyn jutted a thumb over to her car. The pale gold Mercedes Benz S-430 stuck out in the tiny shopping district street they were on. Pam shook her head disapprovingly at the car, then at her sister. A brown designer bag hung on the crook of her elbow, contrasting nicely with the thin sleeveless black knit dress she wore. An expensive looking, gaudily patterned white scarf was tied in her slightly straightened hair. Pam couldn't understand how she dealt with getting it blown out by hair dryers every week or so, brushed and rearranged into a voluptuous shoulder length side part. She always thought her sister dressed like a lounge singer. On anyone else it would look tacky, but on her older sister it looked luxurious.

"You pushin' that now? What happened to the Lexus?"

"Got hot."

"And this won't? You seen anyone else with a Benz around here?"

"I didn't come over here for a lecture, Pam."

Pamela held her hands up in defeat. The thin leather of her watch strap dug into her wrist. She'd been meaning to get a new one. The leather was beginning to crack and the minute hand was always behind. "Then what're you here for?"

Cyn pushed her glasses up to rest on the thin fabric of her Hermes scarf. "I'm here because… I've been trying to call you. I just got here and my phone not working yet. So I figured I should just come by."

Pam huffed again. "I told you a few weeks ago there ain't no PrimeCo out here! You never listen to me."

Cyn's hands reached up to massage her temples. Pamela's eyes flickered over to her sister's left wrist. Their father's old school gold Rolex reflected off of the sunlight. "I forgot, I'm sorry. What do yall use out here?"

"I been using Sprint. But that's because I'm a law abiding citizen--

"Don't start."

"--Who doesn't have to worry about getting my phone lines tapped! No DEA agent is listening in on me to see how many chocolate chip cookies sold over the last month. So you just take that into consideration."

"Alright, thank you! Thank you for this conversation. Very helpful. I came over to see if you were okay and you're okay. I'm gonna go now."

Cyn's strappy high heeled sandals clicked off the sidewalk and to the driver's seat door of the Benz. People on the sidewalk began to stare over to the two of them as the thumping bass of a southern rap song began to play. Pam crouched down to Cynthia while the window of the Benz smoothly rolled down. Wisps of the tightly knit curls hanging in her face swirled from the air conditioning of the car.

"I heard that there's some guy selling phones for cheap. They're private. No way to track them and you get 500 minutes free."

"Sounds like shady biz, sis. How'd you come across that scandalous information?" Cyn playfully squinted at her younger sister.

"I was eavesdropping at the liquor store. Where I was buying wine for a dinner party! Like a grown up."

"Uh-huh, whatever you say. Where's the phone man at?"

"CC Mobile." Pamela gave Cyn a few directions to the store, pointing and arguing with her over which landmarks to lookout for. "Look Cynthia, promise me you won't act an ass up here. Not for me, but for you. Be careful."

The two sisters shared a look. "I promise."

Cyn backed up from the parking space, speeding away.

---

Jimmy rose up from behind the counter to stare out of the window. He'd heard the music at least a minute before the car arrived. The gold Benz sped into a parking spot at the front of the store, an obnoxiously loud rap song booming through the car.

"Man, can that guy even hear himself think?" He said to himself. To his surprise, a thin high heel made contact with the hot concrete. Out stepped a woman on the shorter side, a mass of jet black hair surrounding her thin face. She crouched down into the side mirror to pull out a tube of lipstick, reapplying it without a care in the world. Satisfied, the woman clicked her way to the entrance. Jimmy rushed from the counter to hold open the door for her.

"Thank you kindly." Cyn smiled at him. He looked kind of silly in his bright yellow vest with the store's logo printed on it. His combover flopped in his face as he walked back to the counter. Cyn approached him as he fidgeted around to fix a few things on the countertop. She held her purse in both hands, arms in a V position with the bag dangling by her knees.

"Welcome to CC Mobile, ma'am. Can I help you with anything?" Jimmy watched the woman as her eyes moved around the store. She took her time to look at the brightly colored pictures on the wall and the many models of cell phones on display. A glance down at her wrist made Jimmy's brain whir with possibilities. The Rolex was in spectacular condition. It looked ridiculous on her tiny wrist, an obvious man's model. Maybe she was a drug dealer's girlfriend playing in his jewelry? It would track. She was dressed nicely, dripping in gold, and driving a nice car. It's like she was asking to be targeted.

"I sure hope you can, hon." Cyn's voice was honey sweet. The southern raspiness made Jimmy clear his throat. His mind wandered to thoughts of her sitting on a porch sipping on iced tea, eyes closed in a state of unmatched relaxation. What was this country girl doing in ABQ?

"I just moved up here from Louisiana. My sister told me a couple of times that I'd have to switch cell services once I got here, but silly ol' me, in the midst of my move it slipped my mind. I was wondering if you had any phones that were on the more… private side?"

Jimmy's eyes widened as he nodded quickly. Definitely a drug dealer's girlfriend. The comb over flopped again causing Cyn to raise her hand up to her lips to keep herself from laughing. He turned around to the stack of boxes by the employee door and handed one out to Cyn. She took into her hands and flipped it around, long french manicured nails tapping away at the plastic display window on the front.

"This is the most private phone we've got. 500 minutes free, easy to use, and once you're done with it you can just throw it away! No contacts either." Jimmy's hands waved in front of him. His salesman's farce was in full gear. "You actually stopped by at the perfect time." Jimmy leaned into her, hand blocking his mouth for privacy from no one in particular. "This stack here? It's our last stock. After this, it'll be almost impossible to get one of these babies." There were boxes of the phones piled up in the trunk of his Esteem, but the woman in front of him didn't need to know that. By later that night, the rest of the phones would be in the hands of every methhead, prostitute, and thief in the city. Jimmy's hands got fidgety at the cash he'd have in his hands.

"Hmm, you sure do seem like you make a good offer, uh…"

"Ah, Jimmy McGill, at your service."

"Jimmy." Cyn's eyes rolled around slowly in her head. She looked up at the ceiling in thought, lips pursing then kissing out. Tugging at the sleeve of her form fitting dress, she gave Jimmy a thousand watt smile. She could smell a weasel from a mile away and Jimmy smelled loud. From the lopsided smile on his face, Cyn could tell that he didn't think much of her. Not that he thought less of her as a person. Just not as a threat. The smile stayed plastered on her face. "Okay, I'll take one. Do you take cash?"

"Absolutely."

Cyn placed her purse on the counter to fish around for her wallet. She pulled it out slowly and extracted three crisp hundred dollar bills. With a quick crease of them she pressed the money into Jimmy's palm.

"Oh, they're only $100."

"Keep the change." Cyn winked as she closed the purse and moved it on to her shoulder. "Thanks, Jimmy! I really needed this." She walked out of the store, her perfume still permeating the area. Jimmy stared at her in a complete daze at the interaction. Her hand appeared out of her window, long nails waving to him while she exited the lot. In the pit of Jimmy's stomach he had a feeling he'd be seeing her again.

[interstellarflowers]

Professor Parker Ch. 1| Professor, Peter Parker x Student, Reader

a/n this fic doesn’t follow the marvel cinematic universe but assume that peter has been what he’s been through with the exception that tony lived, and bruce is still bruce, sorry but i just can't deal with endgame hulk/bruce rn emotionally or mentally. im sorry nat is still dead but dw i'll actually treat it with respect unlike endgame like goddamn where was her funeral, am i right? the stages of grief thing they did was interesting though. im sorry i digress, this is set in nyc (because heyo im a new yorka) and the avengers/stark tower is still a thing, peter is fucking traumatized and has turned kind of cold as a result. this fic may contain a smut chapter in the future? not sure yet, where this fic goes depends on the feedback, thanks for reading also sorry im not the proudest of this first chapter so ill probably edit it but promise itll only improve from here just not in the best mental state rn

University life wasn’t exactly everything that you imagined it to be. There was hardly time to do anything that people claimed was good about coming to university. The parties, the epic heartbreaks, and romances, they were just nowhere to be seen. In fact, there was nothing particularly extravagant about your experience thus far. You went to class, studied, and went to your internship. Your internship was probably the most exciting thing about your life at the moment, you were lucky to be accepted into the Stark Industries student internship, the company paid college tuition and only required around twenty hours of lab work a week, you couldn’t complain. Of course, the exciting part of the whole ordeal was the name attached to it, “Stark,” not that you had ever met him, but it was nice to have a unique feature like that in such an impressive student body.

So here you were on the first day of your third year of university. You lived off-campus, about a five-minute walk from the Stark Tower, but a twenty-minute subway ride to your campus. However, having an 882 square foot space to yourself was really nothing you could truly complain about despite the distance. The studio apartment being yet another benefit reaped from Stark Industries. Thank you Tony Stark, the unseen benevolent God in your life.

Typically you would start your mornings off quietly and in no rush, a shower, a cup of coffee, maybe some studying before heading off to your campus, but your phone had other plans for you today. Instead of your alarm going off like it was supposed to, you were woken up by the sound of a particularly loud car horn, and oh how grateful you were for that. As soon as you were jolted awake you shifted to grab your phone and turned it over to see an alarming 8:40am glaring back at you.

Holy shit. You were late.

You scrambled out of bed nearly face planting several times in your hurry to get dressed and only barely ran out the door with everything you needed at 8:47am.

By the time you managed to get to the subway and clamor onto the right train it was already 8:55am. Out of breath and panicking, you considered your options. You could explain after class, you could shoot an email, there were a plethora of things you could do but none of them seemed to justify being late as a third-year to a level 500 class. You had googled all of your professors while registering for classes as was common practice. You couldn’t find a RateMyProfessor on Professor...Parker? You were pretty sure it was Professor Parker, but you do remember seeing on the STEM department page that he was currently a Ph.D. student, so you could only hope that as a fellow student he would be at least a little understanding towards your lateness.

You stood outside of the lecture hall huffing and trying to catch your breath at 9:32am, psyching yourself up, you pushed open the door to the class and attempted to go unnoticed. The class was in a lecture hall despite being only composed of around thirty students, so if you were lucky maybe nobody would even see-

“Ms.(y/l/n), I presume?.” Shit.

“Professor Parker?” Shit.

“You are aware that class starts at 9am, and not 9:30am, would this be correct Ms.(y/l/n)?”

“Yes, Professor, it’s just that I had an emergency.” The lying route. Not exactly the highlight of your academic career.

“I regret to inform you that I only take valid excuses Ms.(y/l/n), please take a seat, and next time, don’t bother disrupting class halfway through the lesson.” Fuck. You mustered a quiet “ok,” and a small nod before escorting yourself to the back of the room, thirty-something eyes following you until you sat down.

You couldn’t focus for the rest of the class, it was just too embarrassing, time moved forward but you couldn’t help but be stuck on what had just happened. For the first ten minutes after sitting down you felt like dropping out of the whole class out of sheer fucking humiliation. This was of course before you reminded yourself that this class was a requirement to graduate in your field of study. You quietly bargained with yourself before sighing quietly and settling on the conclusion that Professor Parker was just a dick. A dick who certainly didn’t deserve the satisfaction of you switching out of his class. If he wanted to be like that, you decided, you would simply return the favor.

“I know, Ms.(y/ln), why don’t you tell us DeBroglie’s equation?”

“With pleasure, Professor Parker.” Yeah, you’d return the favor alright.

“Ms.(y/l/n), you stay.” Fuck that. You looked the other way and feigned ignorance as you kept making your way towards the door. About to leave, the door shut on your face.

“What the fuck!” You jumped before turning around and you felt your face heat up.

“Ms.(y/l/n), please refrain from using profanities in my classroom.”

“I’m sorry Professor Parker. I was just startled.”

“Mhm,” he took his glasses off and laid them on his desk, “Just don’t do it in the future Ms.(y/l/n).”

“Of course. My name is (y/n), by the way, Professor Parker, you can just call me that, actually, I prefer that people refer to me by (y/n).”

“Rest assured, I’m aware of your name, Ms.(y/l/n). My name is Peter, but you can continue to call me Professor Parker.” You could have sworn that you saw a ghost of a smirk on his lips. He knew what he was fucking doing, asshole. You held back from rolling your eyes into the back of your head.

“Of course, Professor Parker.”

“As you know, Ms.(y/l/n), I did request that you stay after class.”

“Oh? I sincerely apologize Professor Parker, I really didn’t hear you.”

“I’m sure, Ms.(y/l/n).” Fucking. Dick.

“Well, what exactly did you want Professor Parker? I do have another class soon.” Professor Parker narrowed his eyes at you in obvious distaste before reaching behind himself into a bin underneath his desk and pulling out a stack of papers,

“These are the handouts you missed from the beginning of the class. Textbook requirements, syllabus...Crucial information to have if you care to succeed in my class Ms.(y/l/n).” So coldly, so maliciously, Professor Parker placed the stack into your arms.

“I take my work very seriously, Ms.(y/l/n), I do my part as your professor so I only have the simple request that my students do the same.” You nodded feeling your face heat up again.

“Of course, Professor Parker, it won’t happen again,” you said with a tightlipped smile.

“Mhm,” Professor Parker turned around and began shuffling around some paper and without giving you a second glance said, “You are dismissed.” You nodded and hurriedly made your way out of his classroom. Of course, you had lied. You didn’t have another class until late in the afternoon. So you called your coworker instead,

“Hey, Harvey.”

“(y/n).”

“Wow, okay, don’t get too excited.”

“Sorry, just woke up.”

“Tsk, the early bird gets the worm, Harvey.”

“I don’t want a worm.”

“Fuck you. I’m headed to the lab, can I expect you?”

“Yeah, yeah.” You had been working with Harvey for around four years now, he was quite the impressive specimen, having attended MIT and graduating Summa Cum Laude at age 20 was no easy feat, he was closer to Tony Stark than you would ever get, he was quite personable, and you couldn’t deny that he was quite good looking. You’d never tell him that though, he didn’t need another ego boost. Besides, you had some connections of your own.

“Hey, (y/n).”

“Banner!”

“Can we expect Harvey today?”

“Honestly, not sure.” You both knowingly smiled at each other before you made your way over to what he was working on,

“Do you ever get bored here?”

“With you and the other idiot always running around? How could I?” You laughed,

“No, seriously, like wouldn’t you rather be doing nerd shit with Tony or something? Isn’t it a little tiresome babysitting us?”

“Tiring? Maybe sometimes, but not nearly as tiring as doing ‘nerd shit’ with Tony. He’s exhausting,” Bruce smiled at his own joke, “I don’t mind playing babysitter at all kid.” He fiddled with the handle of a mug that read, “Don’t be so Na Cl,” which you had gotten him a year back as a joke, but he still used it.

You really loved Bruce for all he was. Since losing your family back in 2012 during the battle in NYC, you didn’t really have any familial figures. But since landing this internship you found yourself with a parental figure again, and you would never be able to put into words how much it meant to you, so you didn’t. Besides, you didn’t want him to feel pressured about it, especially after everything he had been through himself. Frying half your body and losing the love of your life in such a short span of time was really nothing less than horrifying. Yet, here he was, smiling, laughing...You loved him for it.

“First day of junior year? How was that?”

“Shit.”

“Huh?” Bruce stopped tinkering with the device in his hands and looked over at you, “I’ve never heard of a course being too hard for (y/n) (y/l/n), what is it? Aerospace? Quantum?”

“No, just one giant dick.”

“Pardon-”

“My professor, he’s a fucking asshole.”

“Ah, I see. If he’s really harassing you (y/n), I don’t mean to overstep, I really think we should alert administration, what’s his name?” Bruce took a sip of his coffee.

“Professor Parker,” Bruce choked on his coffee, “Oh my God, Bruce, are you okay?”

“Yeah-” he said, still coughing, “Just a little too strong.”

“Okay, are you sure?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Bruce caught his breath, “What did he do kid?”

“He’s just a dick that’s all.”

“You sure you don’t want me to do something about it?”

“Yeah, it’s fine, I don’t know what you could do anyways. Thank you though.”

“Actually, you’d be surprised.”

Sitting at your desk stressing over school work at 3am, it was nothing out of the ordinary for you. Everything appeared ordinary. The ordinary cup of tea, the familiar glow of your computer, and a morning chill creeping through your window. It was all so breathtakingly normal until there was a rap on your window. You took an earbud out of your ear, certain you were just hearing things, you looked to your window. Holy shit.

You opened your window wide so that he could crawl in.

“(y/n)?”

“Mr.Spiderman.” Still too in shock to fully process the situation you started to take in the scene in front of you,

“Please, it’s just Spiderman.”

“Oh-Oh my God, what happened?” Head to toe the suit seemed to have blood seeping through, tears in the body of the suit revealed gashes and a bullet wound.

“Bad guys. I know this guy-said he knew a medical student close by, you are (y/n)? Right?”

“Y-Yeah, but I’m really just a student, I’m not really a prof-”

“This guy, he said you might as well be.”

“I don’t know Mr.Spiderman, really, maybe I could take you to the hospital though.”

“-Spiderman, it’s just Spiderman, listen, (y/n), you know I can’t go to a hospital, it would ruin this whole secret identity thing I got going on here, and this guy, he’s probably the smartest guy I know, so if he says you can handle it, you can.” You swallowed and nodded,

“Yeah-” you wring your hands together, “Yeah-Sorry, let me go get my first aid kit.”

[resident-of-storybrooke]

Nothing Good Happens After 2AM (Ch 4)

Rating: M (finally earning that for this chapter)

Words: 2900

Read: ao3, ff.net CH 1 CH 2 CH 3

Summary: Emma took Killian home for the holidays as a fake date. Things seemed to be going well…until it didn’t. What happens when two fools in love didn’t confess their love over the holidays like they planned and have to go back home to reality? This. This is what happened…(A twist on fake dating during the holidays)

AN: Well....shit lol here we finally are! I wish I had a good reason for the year and a half delay. Honestly, I got one not so great review and it shook me a bit and I was already iffy about writing. But thank you to so many incredible souls being so encouraging and supporting me to get back into writing. Thank you to @kmomof4​ who read all four chapters and edited them (make sure to check them out). I really hope you enjoy this last part as I’m so happy to finally have this out for you all. A very late and final contribution to @csjanuaryjoy

tagging some of the fam squad (please let me know if you’d like to be added or removed): @kymbersmith-90 @let-it-raines @artistic-writer @hollyethecurious @hookedonapirate @carpedzem @nowforruin @kmomof4 @wellhellotragic @thesschesthair @teamhook​ @winterbaby89​ @zaharadessert​ @stahlop​ @ultraluckycatnd @blowmiakisscolin​ @peggyswan​ @jrob64​ @klynn-stormz​​ @tiganasummertree​ @batana54​ @pirateprincessofpizza​​

ALL THE LOVE

Ruby made her way back up to the party, excited to see how the rest of the night would play out after her phone call to Emma. As she made her way back into Killian’s apartment she saw the Nolans as they gestured rather animatedly. Then Ruby rounded the corner and looked in to see who they were yelling at. 

Shit. 

It was Killian. 

And from the looks of it they were letting Killian have it. And he was just standing there taking it.  

What the hell did he get into in the last five minutes to warrant this? Ruby was both concerned, but mostly entertained because the sweet sunshine Charmings never yelled. She strolled into the kitchen with a grin, figuring she would enjoy the show. That was until the furious couple saw her - apparently she was their new target. 

“Ruby Elizabeth Lucas! You have a lot of explaining to do.”

Ruby was confused to say the least. How the hell was she involved in... whatever this was? 

“Um...I don’t know what you’re talking about?”

“Bullshit, Ruby!” She was completely taken back, Mary Margaret never swore. “You just told me that Emma thought Killian was dating Elsa. And last time I checked Killian and Emma have been together for the last three months. So please, explain yourself. Now.”

“I feel like it’s not really my place,” she said, darting her eyes toward Killian, but she could tell no one was buying it. “Listen, Snow White and Prince Charming, your poor sister felt pressured to bring a date home for the holidays. She and Killian decided to go to Ruth’s and tell y’all they were dating so you’d back the hell off. And it worked and everything was fine. Then Elsa showed up and spooked Emma because she thought she lost her chance with him. Because shocker,” she looked fiercely at Killian and had to restrain herself from smacking him upside the head, “they’re both in love with each other and are being absolutely idotic and not telling the other the truth.” She turned back toward the stunned silent Charmings, “And you two are not helping the cause!”

Killian looked up in complete shock, his eyebrows nearly reaching his hair. The Nolans stood gaping at her, obviously not expecting her brutal honesty. 

“Listen,” Ruby took a deep breath. “Cut them some slack. You two were acting like Emma was going to turn into some crazy old spinster if she didn’t find a date soon. Also, you two act as though you are a literal fairytale couple.” She shrugged. “Sometimes it’s hard to live up to your kind of love.”

As David stood in shock, Mary Margaret finally spoke up. “We went too far, didn’t we?” That’s when she turned to Killian. “We’re sorry, Killian. We shouldn’t have ever put you in this situation. We love you, we love Emma, and that wasn’t fair...I hope you can forgive our behavior this evening.”

Just as Killian was about to speak up, the door opened revealing an out of breath Emma Swan.

Emma was confused by the odd looks she was receiving as her welcome. She should be used to their bizarre behavior at this point, but this felt different. 

As she made her way over to the group her nerves set back in. She was here to tell Killian the truth. She was going to finally confess her love for her best friend. On his birthday. What could possibly go wrong?

“Right, well, this has been fun. Perhaps we should give these two some alone time.” Ruby elbowed the couple so Emma and Killian could have a moment.

As Emma walked towards Killian she finally took in her surroundings and realized how packed the apartment was. “I wish there were less people here…”

“Why, Swan? I love large parties, they’re so intimate. At small parties-”

“-there isn’t any privacy. I like it when you quote things to me.” Looking at him, she realized how close they were. She wasn’t even aware of her own movement toward him. Then she looked into his blue eyes. She missed them. 

She missed him. 

They stood there, taking each other in. It’d been weeks since they’d been together, really together. Neither one knew how to start. 

“Emma, you came.”

She wished in that moment she had something poetic to respond with, but that wouldn’t be Emma. “That’s what she said.”

The two instantly burst into laughter, the tension dying with every laugh. 

“I missed you, Swan.” Killian reached his hand out to tuck a loose strand behind her ear, Emma leaned into his touch. 

“I missed you too. I’m so sorry I ran…I wish I had a good excuse, but I don’t. I wanted to tell you so many times how I felt. I was going to tell you. On New Year's Eve. I was finally going to tell you. I had this whole plan. It was a good plan. And then Ruby fucking decided to be Chef Julia Child and give me food posioning. And then...I saw how happy you looked with Elsa and I thought, I thought, I’d lost my chance with you.” Emma finally found the courage to look up when she finished.

Killian’s eyes were full of unshed tears. When Emma opened her mouth to try and say something to break the tension Killian wrapped his arms around her. Emma finally took a breath. A breath she had been holding for weeks. He didn’t hate her. 

“Emma, my love, I promise nothing happened with Elsa. She was Liam’s fiance. She’s an old friend and nothing more. You though...you’re so much more than that. I’ve been a coward. I’ve hidden behind our friendship, behind the lie we told your family, and I will not do that any longer. I’ve had three words on the tip of my tongue since the night we met, I swear, and I will not waste another minute without you hearing them.”

Emma extracted herself from his grasp. “Before you do, I have something for you.” 

Killian lets out a sigh, “Really? Right now?”

Without another word Emma pulled the small red box from her clutch and handed it to Killian. He looked at her with curious eyes. “It’s your birthday, open the damn thing, Jones.”

“So demanding. Now what do we have here? It's a-” 

He stopped.  

Mistletoe. 

It was the most infuriating object that haunted his dreams - well, besides Emma. That trip to her home, the infernal garnish was everywhere. 

There was that kiss.

God, that kiss. He relieved it daily, prayed that it wasn’t the last kiss he’d ever share with Emma. Up until this moment he was convinced that would be the case.

“Well, Swan, this is quite the gift. I don’t know exactly what to say.” He scratched behind his ear, a nervous tick they were both well aware of. 

“I, um, do you wanna see if it works?” Killian’s eyes shot up to Emma.

“Well, love, seems only right I try it out with you since you were the one that gave me such a generous gift. Shall we...”

Emma cut him off with a bruising kiss, it caught him a little off guard, but it only took a moment for him to catch up. Killian didn’t give a damn that there was a party going on around them. He finally had Emma in his arms. Emma’s hands wandered to the nape of his neck, holding on for dear life. Killian’s hands roamed down her sides before anchoring on her hips, holding her tightly against him. He cursed the fact that Emma was wearing a dress, even if she did look bloody gorgeous in the tight red piece. He couldn’t wait to have that blasted thing on his floor.

They finally broke for air, still clinging to one another, foreheads touching. Killian was ready to dive back in when he looked up and remembered they weren’t alone. Mary Margaret was crying, Ruby was cheering, and David looked slightly annoyed but Killian saw the small smile he was trying but failing to hide. 

“Come on, love. I think it’s time we faced the vultures. And I’d like you to meet Elsa, if that’s alright with you?”

“Yeah, I think that’s a pretty good idea, Captain.” Emma reached down and grabbed Killian’s hand before they walked over. 

Maybe the trope board wasn't wrong after all. 

CSCSCSCSCSCSCSCS

As the party went on, Killian and Emma were inseparable; the two constantly touching the other. At one point, while talking to Mary Margaret and David, Emma laid her head on Killian's shoulder, something she'd done a million times, but this time Killian placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. 

The two were in their own happy bubble. They pretended to be engaged with those around them, but they couldn't ignore but feel the sparks ignited with each touch.  

"So, Emma? It's nice to finally meet you. I'm sorry for the miscommunication. I feel as though that was my fault." Emma was confused on how Elsa seemed to be privy to their issue, but then she saw Mary Margaret across the room and assumed her friend had filled her in.

"Please, don't be. I was...scared I lost my chance with Killian."

"Oh, honey. I don't think you could ever lose this one." Killian squeezed Emma closer to prove her point. 

Turns out Elsa was hilarious and had wonderfully embarrassing stories about Killian. Emma had a feeling the two were going to be good friends after tonight. 

The party eventually wound down a little after one, slowly the various couples left. That's when Emma realized she was alone with Killian. 

Finally. 

Suddenly, Emma felt her nerves grow. They'd declared their love and haven't left the others' side since, but she would be lying if she said she wasn't nervous. She absentmindedly threw out some empty cups as she tried to plan her next move.

"Love," Killian called for her from the living room, "can you come here?" Emma slowly made her way into the room as Killian stretched out his arms to embrace her. 

"Emma, I...I know that tonight has been a lot. Our relationship has always been a lot. And I know the future is uncertain, but there's one thing I want you to be certain of - I will always be by your side. For as long as you'll let me, my love."

She didn't even know a tear had slipped until Killian pulled back to wipe it. 

"I haven't always made things easy. I get spooked easily, but I'm tired of running. I want to be with you, Killian. I love you."

"And I you, my beautiful Swan." 

The kiss started off slowly, different than the one earlier, but no less passionate. Emma brought her hands around Killian's neck, playing with the nape of his hair. As Killian kissed down her neck, Emma didn't recognize the noises that escaped her mouth.

As their kisses continued, Emma was surprised when Killian's legs hit the couch and he fell down. She hadn’t been aware that they moved. Emma said she was tired of running, and she was ready to show him. So she straddled his legs and hovered over him for just a moment.

They felt like teenagers again, making out on a couch like this. She could feel him harden beneath her, driving her wild. But, it wasn't enough, she needed more. Emma started unbuttoning his shirt, the bastard already had the top three undone. Without a second thought, she began to rake her fingers through the coarse black hair. 

"I've been dying to do this since we first met. So soft," she murmured. Killian found a spot behind her ear that made her mewl. Emma brought her lips to his ear, "I've always wondered how it'd feel against my breasts." 

With that, Killian pulled back. "My love, are you sure? We can wait. Because once I have you, I'm never going to let you go." Emma nodded slowly. As she looked into his eyes, she could barely see a trace of blue. His pupils were blown. 

Before Emma could stand, Killian wrapped his arms around her to carry her to his bedroom. He only ran into the wall twice as Emma was no doubt leaving marks on his neck. Killian gently placed her in the middle of the bed. 

"I always swore that if we got here, I would worship every inch of you."

"Killian, please, worship later. I need you now."

"Just a taste. Patience, darling." Killian was beyond thankful at that moment Emma had opted for a dress as he quickly removed her thong.  

Before she could speak, he brought his mouth to her sex. "You're already drenched for me. You..fuck...you taste delicious."

Emma couldn't speak, he was overwhelming in every sense of the word. She grabbed a fistful of his hair, not that she needed to guide him; he knew exactly what he was doing. 

Killian replaced his mouth with two fingers. "That's it, Emma. You look so beautiful like this. I want you to come for me, darling. Come and then I'll give you what you really want."

His voice was deeper, accent thicker. Emma had a feeling she could finish from his voice alone, but right now, it was his fingers and mouth that were going to do the trick. 

Emma lost all control of her limbs as he sent her over the edge. He didn't let up though, he continued slowly licking as she came back down. As her breathing returned to normal, Killian kissed up her body. 

"Worship later, Killian,” she moaned again. “Please. I need you. Now."

"So demanding, Swan,” he observed, taking his pants and boxer briefs off. “I think I like this side of you, all in a commanding voice, chills really." 

He climbed back on top of her, but instead of responding, Emma hooked her legs around Killian and flipped him, so he laid on his back. He looked up in awe, he had never been so turned on than in this moment. 

Emma decided she was tired of waiting, but before she could sink down Killian stopped her. "Give me a moment, let me grab something, I -"

"I'm clean, and I'm on the pill. I...I don't want anything between us."

"Gods, Emma. If you're sure? I'm good too, I haven't been with anyone since...since we met." 

Emma dove down to meet his lips as she sank down onto him. Killian swallowed her gasp as she adjusted to his size. Of course, he lived up to every innuendo, and Emma couldn't be happier for that than in this moment. 

For first times, they were both surprised with how easy it was to fall into rhythm with the other. There were only a few slightly awkward moments, but that didn't stop them from enjoying this moment. Emma's hips met Killian's with each thrust, quickly driving the other wild. 

"So fucking glorious, Emma. You're so tight like this. Ride my cock, such a good girl. I want to feel you come around me this time. You're stunning when you come. That's...fuck... that's it Emma, take what you need, darling."

Before Emma could even respond, Killian decided it was her turn to be flipped on her back. "Now, if I remember correctly, you wanted to know how it feels with me on top."

"That's, ugh, that's not exactly what I said. But I'm not complaining."

Emma felt that familiar sensation growing in her stomach as Killian's pace intensified. "Killian, I'm close. Together, I wanna -"

"Aye, love, together."

Killian felt her tighten around him as she moaned out in ecstasy, pulling him right after her. He gave her a searing kiss as he spilled himself inside of her. Killian fell on top of her, too exhausted to worry about crushing her for a moment. 

"Killian? As much as I love how, uh, close we are now, do you think you can move? I can't breathe, and I need to clean up."

"Oi, you're gonna give a man a complex!" Killian slowly rolled off her, in awe of the glow Emma radiated at the moment. Emma couldn't help but giggle as he was being an annoying ass, but mostly he was still...Killian. 

They were still them. Except they just had mind-blowing sex. 

She could get used to this new addition to their relationship. 

"Stay here, love. Let me." Killian was back in a moment and helped clean Emma. When he finished, he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, just like before. 

"What is it, Swan?"

"Nothing, I'm just happy. It's just so surprising."

"Aye, love, me too. But this doesn't change anything. I've loved you for years now, and we'll go at whatever pace we both see fit, but I'm in this for the long haul."

"As am I, Captain."

The two laid in bed, cuddled close, and shared lazy kisses. When Emma looked at the clock, she saw it was nearly three in the morning. A few weeks ago, Emma had thought nothing good happened after two am; it turns out she was wrong. 

"Swan? Can you tell me what the bloody hell a trope board is?"

[edupunkn00b]

Fathers’ Days, Ch. 2: Patton’s Proposal

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - [ AO3 ] - Word Count: 1132 - Rated T for Remus (C’mon, I said like one thing and that was barely anything!)

Patton has a proposal for the newly betrothed Logan and Remus. ---

Logan and Remus sat together at the dining table, lingering over morning coffee and the newspaper. “Why do you still get a printed edition?," Remus teased. "'Good Lord, man, have you never heard of downloads?' "

Logan laughed and finished the reference, "'Said Winston Churchill.' " He shrugged lightly, taking a slow sip of his coffee. He sighed happily. “There is something about settling in, spreading it out and just reading it cover to cover.” He brought the paper closer to his face and inhaled the warm, sharp smell of fresh newsprint. "Besides, can a download smell like this?"

Remus hummed as he wiped away the inky smudge from Logan's nose and grinned. “It makes it easier to do this, too!,” he suddenly swiped a section from Logan's hands.

“Hey!,” Logan laughed again, making a halfhearted attempt to snatch back the stolen section.

“Oh, I’m sorry, were you looking forward to reading about…,” Remus scanned the section, frowning, “Alas! My thievery was for naught. I’ve got the sports section.”

Logan chuckled, splitting the main section in half and handing it to Remus, “Here, there is an article about the new exhibit at the EMP they’re opening next month.” Remus leaned in to kiss Logan thanks.

“Good morning, everybody!,” Patton called out as he bounded down the stairs, gripping a large manila envelope.

“Good morning, Pat! Did you sleep well?,” Logan asked.

“I did, yes …,” Patton called back from the kitchen. “Oh, is this quiche?” He leaned over the counter, “Hmm... This looks like your handiwork, Remus!”

“Please, help yourself. I think I made too much.” He grinned, gently elbowing Logan once Patton turned away. “I woke up famished this morning.”

Logan shot Remus a quick warning glance, one that would have looked much more serious if it weren’t for the blush dusting his cheeks and the smile Logan couldn’t quite keep away from his lips. Remus simply waggled his eyebrows and studiously returned to the newspaper.

Patton entered the dining room with his plate, a cup of hot chocolate, and the envelope tucked under his arm. He sat down and started to eat, glancing up at Logan and Remus between bites.

After a few minutes of a comfortable silence, Patton blew on his hot chocolate and spoke into his cup, “So... as you know, Father’s Day is coming up soon.”

Logan grinned, “Yes, it is. It is quite early this year, in fact.”

Winking at Patton, Remus murmured, “We have some shopping to do, don’t we, Buddy?”

Patton nodded, and smiled when he'd drawn their attention. “Yes, definitely. There, um, was something else that I wanted to talk to both of you about… about Father’s Day.”

Remus and Logan exchanged a look. Narrowing his eyes a bit at the sudden seriousness in Patton’s tone, Logan put down his coffee cup. “Is something bothering you, Pat?”

Shaking his head quickly and grinning at both of them. “No, no nothing’s bothering me at all. I think this is … well,” he sighed. “I’m going to be blunt.” He took a deep breath and started to open the envelope in front of him. “I have a proposal for the two of you.”

“We're listening,” Remus grinned. He glanced again at Logan, eyes questioning. Logan shook his head slightly, shrugging. They both had no idea what Patton had in mind.

Patton pulled out some papers from the envelope and held them against his chest. He licked his lips, tightening his grip on the documents. “I’ve been doing some research on second parent adoption,” Logan quickly covered his mouth, eyes crinkling in a small smile. Patton grinned at Logan’s reaction.

Remus tilted his head, “Okay… that clearly means something to you, Love.” Remus looked between the father and son. His eyes suddenly widened. “Wait. Are we— are we talking about what I think we’re talking about here?”

Patton glanced at Logan, eyebrows raised. When he nodded in response, Patton put down the forms he was holding. He met Remus’ eyes. “You don’t need to answer today. You should think about it.” He paused, turning the papers around so that Remus could read them clearly.

Superior Court of Washington, County of King

In re matter of the Petition of: Remus Prince

For the Adoption of a Child: Patton Sanders

Remus blinked at the words printed on the top half of the page.

“Because Father’s Day is coming up next month, I… I was hoping…," Patton fiddled with the edge of the the now-empty envelope. "I... I wanted you to know that… I’d like you to be my Dad, too, Remus.”

Remus bounced his knee as he stared down at the papers on the table, mouth slightly agape. Patton rocked his foot back and forth under the table. “I don’t want you to do this if you don’t want to. It’s— it’s not even a real responsibility.” Patton started to ramble at Remus' continued silence, “I mean, I’m almost 16 anyway… You know, it’s just that you look out for me and we cook together and you do all the dad stuff, too and I’ve... kinda thought of you as my other Dad for a while now, even since before Remy's wedding and—”

Remus leapt out of his seat and pulled Patton into a hug. “Um, so is that a yes?” Patton squeaked.

He pulled back, sliding into the seat next to Patton. “Yes, Pat, yes, I’d love to be your Dad.” Patton threw himself into Remus’ arms, squeezing tightly. Logan beamed, watching the two of them pretending not to cry.

Patton looked up, “What are you doing all the way over there?” He opened one arm and all three stood together a big messy hug of tears and laughter.

After a few minutes, Patton started to wiggle. “Hey, Dads, can I go text Virgil? He helped me figure a lot of this out and is waiting to hear what you said! Remy and Emile, too!”

“Sure, Pat,” Logan kissed the side of his head and Remus gave him one more bear hug before they watched him bound back up the stairs to text his brothers.

“Wait, so…” Remus took a half-step back, biting his lip. “This means I get to be a… a real dad on Father’s Day?” Logan nodded, grinning. Remus looked into Logan’s eyes, “And this isn’t…” he rolled his eyes up and waggled his head a bit before looking meaningfully at Logan.

Leaning in to kiss his lips, Logan murmured, “No, you are not dreaming, Meus." He kissed Remus again. "Would you like me to pinch you?” He smiled gently, carding his fingers through Remus’ hair.

Remus pulled Logan closer, wrapping his arms tightly around his waist, eyebrows waggling. “Well, as long as you're offering,” he growled against his fiancee's neck.

Logan again gave him a half-serious glare that couldn’t mask his flushed cheeks. “Patton will be right back— he just went to get his phone.”

“Mmm, my Love," Remus grinned, shimmying his shoulders, "That definitely sounds more like a ‘later’ than a ‘no’….”

---

Taglist: @the-dead-and-the-decaying