#only question now is why everyone would just take thomas at his word

[wizardnaturalist]

the only thing I dont get about Northanger Abbey is why everyone thinks Catherine is an heiress. who is telling these people this

[fallingdownhell]

Genshin men when you bring them home to meet the parents and they find out that your sister is the favored child of the family and she now has her eyes set on them.

Uhhh, I really like that idea.. It has so much angst potential... but am I gonna do it...?

Characters Included: Heizou; Thoma; Alhaitham

Content: gender neutral reader; reader has a sister; slight cursing; some jealousy themes; nothing else besides that

Word count: 2k words

Have fun reading!<3

Heizou

He is so fucking nervous!

He is good at hiding it, but you know him by now, you know how he gets and how he acts when he doesn't want others to know his true feelings, so you know and are aware of it

Heizou knows about your strained relationship with your family. Your parents having favoured your sister over you, no matter the circumstances

you did have contact with your family, but it was on a very low, unregular basis. Not that he minded that, though. It was your life, your decision. He's sure you wouldn't do that without having a good reason for it.

You had agreed on a nice, easy dinner at your parents house where they would get the chance to meet your boyfriend for the first time

upon arriving at the house where you spent your childhood, Heizou got more and more nervous. Somewhere along the way, he grabbed one of your hands, holding it tightly in his own.

you tried reassuring him, giving him a small smile as you held his hand, and it did help him a bit

soon, your mother answered the front door, followed by your father and introductions were made

Heizou held your hand throughout the entire thing, not daring to let go of you, but he seemed to relax more and more as the seconds went by

your parents noticed this as well, looking briefly at your joined hands, but chose not to say anything about it

you sat down on the table and a few minutes later, your sister arrived

she was acting entirely over the top with you, throwing herself at you and acting far too friendly. It made you somewhat uncomfortable, but you didn't say anything, not wanting to ruin the good mood that everyone has

for the first few minutes of dinner, everything seemed fine. Conversations were held, your parents asked Heizou some questions, nothing too bad

but then, your mom made some comment about you again, and it all went downhill from there for you

"You know, you're exactly the type of man we always wanted for our daughter. Are you sure you want to settle with (name)?"

then, your mother proceeded on to tell him every little thing about your sister. How she was working a much better job than you with better hours and more pay. How she was more beautiful than you. How she was just in general the better choice between the two of you

Heizou was dumbfounded by this behaviour and he now understood entirely why you had almost no contact with your family. This has been your entire life? Archons, he wanted to rip them a new one, for your own sake..

your mother was still rambling on, your sister just sitting there, smiling at Heizou, thinking that he was considering his options

everyone, including you, was surprised when he suddenly slammed his hands on the table, making all eyes fall on him

"With all due respect, Ma'am. I would rather die than do something so horrible to (Name). They are a wonderful partner, the best I could ever wish for. So, pardon us, but we are going to take our leave now."

with that, he grabbed your hand and you both walked out of the house, ignoring the calls of your family for you to come back and that they didn't mean it like that

secretly though, you were so glad and relieved. When your mother started saying stuff like that again, you just mentally accepted that this was it, yet again.

But Heizou surprised you and stood up for you against your own family. It made you feel so incredibly loved and cared for

that night, he hugged you closer to him than ever before, now reassuring you that you were his number one, that he loved you only and would do everything in this world, just to see you smile again...

Thoma

He's such a sweet partner, always caring about you and making sure that you're comfortable with him

Thoma likes to be a provider in a relationship. In the sense that he likes to cook for you, help you clean up, doing little things for you around the house. It's his way of saying "I love you"

Thoma will never push you into doing anything you don't want to, or making you open up to him

he's more than happy to take things slowly, earning your trust

and when you finally open up to him about whatever things you want to talk about, he's there for you, listening to everything you have to say without interrupting you

he also knows about the strained relationship with your family. He might not know all the details, but he knows enough to trust you in your decisions regarding the matter

he would never comment on it or make you do anything since it's not his place to judge or intrude on

with that being said, it just so happened that one day, while out shopping for ingredients, he ran into a certain someone

well, more like, a certain someone that ran into him. She profusely apologized for running into him and somehow got him tangled up into conversation

Thoma, being the nice person that he is, tried finding a way out of the conversation without coming across as rude. But, honestly, he just wanted to get home to you as soon as possible

Somehow, the conversation shifted and the topic of partners came up. Thoma said that he was happily taken right now, but she just kept pressing with her questions until your name slipped out his mouth

Thoma could clearly see how her eyes lit up at the mention of your name and he had a feeling that she would just bombard him with thousands more questions

so, he quickly made up an excuse and got out of there, walking home at a fast pace

once he arrived, he told you about the encounter he just had, which made you think. It all sounded strangely familiar to you, even his description of the person rang a bell somewhere in your mind

however, you didn't have much more time to dwell on those thoughts as a knock could be heard from the front door

exchainging glances, you went to answer the door, only to find your sister standing in front of you

eyes wide, you wondered how she found you here, but that question was quickly answered

"Oh, so you ARE his lover! God, now I'm so glad I followed him all the way back here!"

She threw herself in your arms, then quickly abandoned you and went inside your home. You were still so shocked and didn't realize this but when you came back to your senses, you quickly went inside again to the kitchen were you heard her voice from

Thoma was looking at you confused as well, but she just continued talking to him like nothing had happened and they were still out in the city where she ran into him

"...I mean, I'm so glad it was you! You're so handsome, and strong apparently for carrying all those bags back here! Say, why are you with (Name) anyway? Like, they have no redeeming qualities. You should look for more suitable partners, like me! I could give you so much more!"

She smiled at him like her little speech would be all it takes for Thoma to change his mind. The sad part was, you were expecting it to work as well, having dealt with exactly that your entire life, she always got what she wanted

"...Out.", Thoma said. It was the only thing he said, but his tone was so unusal from his normal self. It was cold and demanding, making your sister shiver in her place.

She quickly grabbed her stuff and left your home again, not saying another word

You looked after her for a second, but then in the next you felt two strong arms wrap around you from behind, his face burrying itself in the crock of your neck

for a long time, he remained silent, before he spoke again. "Sorry. I'm so sorry you had to deal with that for so long."

you were perplexed at his words, but quickly hugged him back, silently thanking him for staying by your side

Alhaitham

To most people, Alhaitham comes off as a cold and calculated person without any emotions

most people will be surprised when they find out that he was indeed in a committed relationship

and they were even more surprised when they find out how sweet, loving and expressive you are

most would think that he would want a partner similar to him, closed off and not all that social. But you are the exact opposite to that

Not that Alhaitham was paying any mind to the opinions of others about him and his love life in the first place

To you, Alhaitham was the most ideal partner you could have hoped for

he was caring, attentive towards you, listened to you even if he didn't give that impression

his attention was always on you, you were in his thoughts when not with him. Just completely head over heels for you

However, he would not know about the strained relationship with your parents. He knew you weren't in much contact with them, and that's all he really needed or wanted to know. He never bothered you about it

But then, one day, you asked him if he wanted to meet your parents. You seemed unsure about the proposal, but in the end, he agreed to it nevertheless

the days before the event, you became a nervous mess. Alhaitham had no idea what was going on, but he tried to be there for you and support you

he did ask if you wanted to talk to him about anything, but you declined and he didn't push you anymore after that

then, the evening finally arrived where you were meeting up with your family at a local restaurant

when you arrived, your partents and sister were already there, waiting on the two of you. your mother spotted you first, waving to grab your attention

you then went over to sit with them

Introductions were a bit awkward at first, but after a few minutes, things seemed to settle down a bit as your parents engaged in conversation with you, trying to catch up on things

However, it quickly became clear to Alhaitham that your sister was always trying to upstage you with absolutely anything. You got a good job? Well, she got an even better one. You got paid so and so much? Well, wouldn't you look at that, her numbers were even higher than yours

at first, you tried to ignore it, but as always, your parents quickly began ignoring you again, instead congratulating your sister on how good she was doing for herself. It dampened your mood quite a bit, but you still wanted to give this a chance

that was, until your sister said something very specific. "Yeah. The only thing missing to top it all of would be an amazing boyfriend now. Say, Alhaitham. Why don't you dump my sibling and get with me instead?" She even winked at him after saying this

Immediately, your parents agreed to her proposal, looking expectantly at Alhaitham

said man only took a quick glance at everyone at the table, before throwing some money on the table, grabbing your hand and standing up, heading for the exit

"I listened to you disrespecting my partner for long enough. And you wonder why they hold no contact with you anymore. Really, I'm glad they got out of your grasp."

With that, you both left the restaurant. None of you spoke a word until you got to Alhaitham's house again, where he immediately pulled you into his arms as soon as you were inside

so for a while, you just stood there in his embrace while he silently reassured you that you had nothing to worry about

you were the only one to him and he would spend his entire life proving this to you if necessary..

[il0veaphr0dite]

ROSES & RINGS

(pictures are not mine credits to the owners)

A/N: I think this is my best written one so far, im very proud of it! I was so close to putting newts name in here but then i remembered 😞. I hope you enjoy and remember my requests are always open!

Warnings: Just fluff and Minho being a sweet boyfriend (not rlly a warning but who cares)

Word count: 1035

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It had been about 8 months since you and the others arrived at the Safe Haven. When the group arrived they all had a tough time adjusting to a new routine, including you. It was hard for everyone to forget about everything and start over from scratch.

In addition to that, Newt’s death was very miserable. His death affected Thomas and Minho the most, they were the trio that helped you and the rest of the gladers escape the maze, and WICKED.

When the group first arrived you all quickly got to work on building huts. Unlike the glade, the island has fewer jobs. The most popular being Builders Doctors, Gardners.

You chose to work in the gardens mostly because you like to be hands-on, working outside is also a bonus since you didn't want to be stuck inside for hours.

On the other hand, Minho works as a builder. You don't really know why but it's not like there's a job as a runner.

The sun was beginning to set when you made your way back to you and Minho’s hut when you were stopped by Brenda. She was walking towards you with a smile on her face.

“Minho said to meet him at the beach,” She spoke before quickly running away.

You stand there confused but you dismiss the behavior.

You headed to the hut first to get cleaned up before you went to the beach.

You walked to the beach not knowing what to expect, but now that you had time to look back on the day you noticed that Brenda wasn't the only one acting weird.

Sonya, who worked with you in the gardens, had been smiling at you a lot and kept asking you what you were doing today.

Now that you noticed all the weird behavior, one question was now in your head.

What do they know that they're not telling you?

That question led you to think about Minho.

Why does he want you to meet him at the beach?

You two would typically meet in your hut and talk about your day before dozing off to sleep but today was different.

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

You finally made it to the beach, shoving your thoughts to the back of your head.

Your eyes had been trained on your feet while you were deep in thought but when you finally looked up, you saw a blanket on the sand with two plates of food and two glasses full of what you assumed was juice.

Next to the blanket was Minho.

His hair was done nicely and he was dressed neatly in black pants and a clean white shirt, holding a bouquet of roses, your favorite.

You were amazed, stunned.

You then realize you hadn't said anything since you saw him, you walk towards him wrapping your arms around his neck.

His arms instantly wrap around your waist. You take a moment to admire everything he'd done for you.

You pulled away reluctantly.

“What is all this?”

“I thought we could have a little date to get our minds off things,” he spoke, handing the flowers to you followed by a kiss on the cheek.

He led you to the blanket, a few steps away from him. He sits down, holding his hand out for you.

You take it, sitting down next to him on the blanket.

“I wasn't expecting this..” you said, setting down the flowers.

“That’s because I made sure you didn't find out.”

“I was actually suspicious of Sonya and Brenda.”

He looked at you waiting for you to continue.

“They were acting weird, Sonya kept smiling at me and asking me what I was doing today.” you laughed.

“I only told them so they could help me plan this,” he said, shaking his head with a smile on his face.

“I guess even someone as amazing as you would need

help sometimes”

“I do need help on rare occasions such as this one”

You laugh nodding your head, you feel eyes on you.

You raised your head to look at Minho but he already staring at you, smiling.

“You’re beautiful,” he said.

You turned away, feeling your cheeks heat up.

Of those 8 months you were here you and Minho had dated for 7 of those months. You could easily said those were the best 7 months of your life.

Minho was the sweetest boyfriend you could ever ask for. Throughout the day he would occasionally come to the gardens to check on you.

He's very touchy (which you love), he always gives you hugs and kisses and well the point is he's an amazing boyfriend.

Minho convinces you to take your shoes off and go into the edge of the water.

“Minho stop!” you said between laughter. He wouldn't stop splashing you with water.

You made a joke and now you regret it as you are being sprayed with water.

After a while, you were starting to get tired.

“I'm going to sit down for a second,” you said walking to the blanket.

“Hold on, you have something in your hair,” he said, stopping you.

“What? Where?” you go to touch your hair but Minho stops you.

He walks up to you “I got it,” he says.

You wait for him to take it out but you don't feel anything.

“Did you get it?”

No response.

“Minho?”

No response.

You turn around to see Minho on one knee holding up a ring.

You were speechless.

“Y/N, From the moment I asked you out to right now I have grown more in love with you each moment of every day. You're the most beautiful woman in the world and I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and with that, I want to ask you one question.”

Tears threaten to leave your eyes

“Y/N, Will you marry me?”

You begin nodding your head rapidly.

“Yes!” you finally let out.

You put your hand out as he puts the ring on your finger.

As soon as he stands up you tackle him into a hug.

“I love you so much,” he whispers into your ear.

“I love you too,” you say, kissing his cheek.

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[not-d3ad-y3t]

Just take it easy, take it easy on me

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Fandom: Dead Boy Detectives/DC

Paring: The Cat King x Reader, MLM

Rating: G

Words: 665

Summary: Thomas turned into his human form. He had his hair slicked back, a purple button-up shirt, and tight leather pants, those yellow eyes staring into your soul." I am down here, looking goddamn adorable, and you're just going to ignore me?"

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It was late. About 11 o'clock late. You were taking a walk around town, It was something you did often. Late night strolls always calmed you down. The somewhat chilly air, the crickets, the stars. It was all so therapeutic. You wrapped your jacket tighter around yourself, a small shiver going down your spine.

Suddenly, you felt something soft and fluffy rub against your leg. You looked down, seeing an orange cat.

“Thomas.” You acknowledged him with a smile. You ran into him regularly. It was like he wanted to be near you at all times. Which was weird for the cat king, but you didn't really mind. He was one to isolate himself from everyone.

You continued walking as the cat followed you, meowing constantly, like he was aggravated. It was honestly kind of funny, seeing an almost immortal being begging for your attention. He liked his attention. That's something you found out fairly quickly. It was quite cute also, but that was just a bonus.

Thomas turned into his human form. He had his hair slicked back, a purple button-up shirt, and tight leather pants, those yellow eyes staring into your soul." I am down here, looking goddamn adorable, and you're just going to ignore me?"

You smiled, turning to look at him with a raised eyebrow. His arms were crossed with a childish pout on his face. Like he was a kid who didn't get what they wanted.

“Pay attention to me-” he whined, the only light illuminating him was the streetlight above, which make his eyes shine. He was beautiful, that you couldn't deny, but his needy personality drowned that all out.

You didn't mind giving him the attention he craved, but you just loved his pouty face when he didn't get what he wanted. He turned himself back into a cat, stepping in front of you, trying to make you stop walking by blocking your pathway.

You chuckled and gave in, picking him up. He immediately nuzzled into you. Rubbing his head under your chin, purring.

“Happy now?” He meowed, so you took that as a yes. He purred as you scratched under his chin.“I'm starting to think you like me.”

You could hear a tiny growl come from him. Maybe he likes you. A big MAYBE. He would never admit, though. You were simply the mortal he liked getting pets from… Okay, perhaps he liked you.

He cared about you and he hated it. He loved how you were always so gentle with him. And with you, he felt less… Lonely. The many years alone with a ton of trust issues made it hard for him to bond with anyone really. But you were different.“Admit it, you love me.”

Though he was scared. What if you didn't like him as much when he was a human. For someone whose persona is being an arrogant, cocky bastard, but he was terrified deep down under.

He buried his face in your chest as you pet him, purring softly, though loud enough that you could hear. You ran your fingers through his fluffy fur, enjoying the softness. He let his guard down with you, he trusted you.

You continued walking until he jumped out of your arms, turning himself back into a human for the second time. You didn't question it as he walked with you down the sidewalk. There was silence before Thomas broke it.

“Why do you keep me around?” He asked.

“Because you're not so bad once you get used to your creeping around.”

You leaned in and kissed his cheek. A blush growing on his face.

“I'll see you tomorrow, Thomas.” With that, you walked away. You turned your head back and gave him a smile. He stared, putting his hand on his cheek. He felt a tingling sensation where your lips met his face. His heart skipped a beat when you looked back. He turned around, walking back to his warehouse he called a home.

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Follow me on AO3 @ Not_D3ad_Y3t

[sl-newsie]

American Woman (Thomas Shelby x American OC) Ch. 24: Pieces Glued Together

Masterlist: https://www.tumblr.com/sl-newsie/739551758747090944/american-woman-thomas-shelby-x-american-oc?source=share

“House?! No, I live in a house. This is a mansion!”

Through the car window I gape at the magnificent brick house outside. Thomas insisted that I join him and Polly to see her own new home. Lord knows she needs a place away from all these men. When Thomas opens the door to let me out I decline respectfully.

“I’ll wait here. This is a family matter.”

He nods and shows Polly to the door. Just when I think there’s not a single part of him that isn’t obsessed with business he surprises me once more. He bought her a house. Under all that arrogance and self pity there's a man who wants to do best for his family.

“I’m leaving her to get settled in,” Thomas says when he gets back in the car.

“That was very generous of you, Thomas. Very thoughtful.”

He keeps his face turned to the road but in a split second his eyes flicker over to me. Not everyone thinks you’re a monster, Thomas.

“Just sent word to Churchill about an official export license.”

Back to business, I see. “If it’s export you’re looking for I could ask my father.”

“Thank you,” he replies sincerely and we turn towards Watery Lane. “I’ll drop you off, then.”

“Off again somewhere?”

Internally I scold myself. I know I shouldn’t ask. It’s not my place. Thomas shouldn’t-

“I'm going to speak to Henry Gray’s guardians.”

Oh. So he does have something else in store for Polly. “Then would you be so kind as to drop me off at the boxing station? I thought I’d go see how Finn’s doing.”

“He’ll be glad to show you his progress. Arthur’s been teaching him.”

Thomas pulls the car over and I step out, giving a goodbye salute. More Peaky Blinders stand guard outside but after they see Thomas’ car they let me pass. Inside the dusty gymnasium a row of boxing rings contains multiple sweating men. Ruff men. 

“You call yourself a Shelby? Fucking hit him, Finn! That’s right. Hit him!”

The yelling draws my attention to the center ring. Thomas was right. Finn’s made progress as a fighter. Instead of the innocent boy who escaped a grenade attack I see a man who’d punch life in the face. And then apologize afterward.

Arthur’s fighting in the other ring. He’s fast and tough, but not as focused. Wait- The man’s down. Why is he still punching him?!

“Get him out of there!” Someone yells.

“Arthur! Stop!” I grip the rope and try to slip under.

One man tries to stop me. “This is no place for a lady-”

“Step aside!” I bark and kneel down to the man’s still body. He’s not even a man. Only a boy. 

“Is he dead?”

His pulse is checked and it’s confirmed. Arthur just killed a boy in a meaningless fight. Finn sees me watching and walks over with concern.

“Arthur… What happened?” 

The oldest Shelby stares at the floor, shaking his head. “Should’ve kept taking the medicine… Me head’s been going in and out, back and forth. Sometimes I don’t even know if I’m still… me. Thomas said to ignore it- get over it. Shut it away-”

“He what?” I ask sharply.

Finn notices my sparked anger and slowly turns me away. “Verena, now’s not the time.”

Part of me agrees but my American temper doesn’t. The moment I see Thomas again I’m going to be very clear about it!

“You may think you Blinders have to “be all man” and bury your feelings,” I reprimand Thomas as he stares blankly from across the room. “As the daughter of an American brewer, I even know that a thick skin is useful. But this? Bullying your own brother for his shell-shock? You, who used to punch the wall in your sleep?”

Thomas, still showing no emotion to my outburst, pulls out a cigarette. “Michael is alive. But Anna…”

“I know. I heard the gunshot. What about Arthur?” 

I really want to be happy knowing Polly will be able to reconcile with her son but can we focus on helping Arthur too? Apparently it’s not on Thomas’ mind because he ignores my question and walks towards the door. I wander behind him and look over at Arthur hunched over in front of the fireplace. John’s trying to reach him.

“Arthur? Why aren’t you ready?”

“Go away,” he grumbles.

John notices me. “You too, Verena. Garrison’s reopening and we want you to be there. ‘S time you had a drink.”

A cause for celebration is what Arthur needs.

“My father runs a brewery. Having a drink isn’t the issue, it’s the idea behind it. I only drink for occasions. And this is definitely worth it. Right, Arthur?”

Arthur grunts again. John pats his shoulder and leans in to whisper: to me “Go wait by the car, Verena. I’ve got an idea for him.”

There’s a party already in full swing! The sight of the refurbished Garrison full of partygoers is actually exciting! It’s my first party in Birmingham. Polly and the rest of the Shelbys jump right into the hootenanny but I take a longer time to test out the waters. The place looks gorgeous,  much better than last time. Nice music too. Arthur seems to have changed his tune. 

Um, now what? I’m not much of a drinker and I for one am not going to embarrass myself by kicking off an American Charleston dance. At least I’m not the only one staying off to the side.

Thomas is not one I’d label as a party person. He looks distant… And sad. 

“Admiring your empire?” I joke lightly and take a seat next to him.

“Too much thinking. No need to worry-”

“Ada! I didn’t know you were coming!” We hear Polly gush when she steps through the door.

More cheering and laughter fills the bar. All these happy people, couples dancing, drinks flowing. Bite the bullet, Steenstra. You’ll never amount to that barmaid.

I take a deep breath. “It reminds you of her, doesn't it?”

“Stop,” he says and takes another drink, waving me off. “Please. Just let me sulk.”

It’s a heavy feeling to know he’s blocking me out. I would gladly give him closure but he’s too scared for that. “You can sulk and screw your troubles away with random women all you want, Thomas. I’ll be here when you face them head-on.”

It’s time to go. I appreciate their gesture of inviting me but it’s not quite like our parties back home. Even in Small Heath there’s a hint of feeling out of place. I should offer Thomas a walk home but he’s too lost in thought. This is how things are right now, Steenstra. Let him mourn his relationship and then maybe, just maybe, he can find it in himself to love again.

“Took the boys to meet Michael,” Thomas grunts the next day. All melancholiness from last night has vanished.

“You’re not going to pressure him to join the Peaky Blinders, right?” I ask slowly.

“No, no. I talked with him,” he assures and puts on his coat. “He thinks for himself and he wants to stay. Now I’m off to Camden Town to break in the new recruits.”

My head perks up from the potatoes I’m skinning. “Can I go? I’ve never been-”

“That is not the best place for you, love,” Thomas interrupts and gives me a playful smirk. “The men there aren’t as proper as I am.”

My mouth pouts in disappointment and when he walks out I see he’s not the only one running errands.

“Greetings, John. Where are you off to?”

He swipes an apple and grabs his hat. “To the Garrison, to see Arthur.”

“Since Thomas is gone I’ll join you. It’s his first day of business, after all.”

We start walking over. Now it’s time to chat with him.

“How are the kids?”

“The little rascals are never boring.”

“How’s Esme?”

John lets out a laugh. “We’re like rabbits. Can’t keep our hands off each other.”

“Oh.”

What am I supposed to say? I’ve never properly courted and now I’m surrounded by men who can’t go two days without humping a pillow. 

We get to the Garrison just as a dreary-looking woman walks out. Inside Arthur’s slouched in a chair staring at where the woman just left.

“Who broke the fucking mirror?” John points out. “Seven years bad luck, that is.”

Something white catches my eye and I go to wipe off some powder. “Huh. Someone spilled some aspirin on the table-”

“Don’t touch that!” Arthur rages and pushes me away.

I flinch away. “Arthur, what’s wrong? It’s just aspirin-”

“It’s not aspirin. It’s my new medicine.”

It’s not…? Cocaine?! “That doesn’t seem like a trustworthy drug-”

“It works!” Arthur argues. “That’s all I care about.”

There’s no way I’m sticking around to talk if this is how he’s acting now. If I suggest he goes to the chapel to repent then he might bite my head off. Back to the office. Again. Yay? I’m not going to pretend that I was looking forward to something a bit more exciting. Does Thomas really think I’m that helpless?

No, no no. This is not my expertise. Horses? Races? This is one meeting I am glad to step away from.

“Polly!” I gasp in surprise when I see the Romanian women walk into the office. Along with someone new. “I thought you were-?”

“On holiday, yes. But these bastards called me here for Lord knows what. Michael, wait here ‘til I’m done.”

She strides out and shuts the door, leaving me alone with who I think is her son. He’s got her eyes, no doubt. What’s different is his wardrobe choice of a corduroy vest and bow tie. Much more schoolboy-like than how the Blinders dress.

“So you’re Michael? I’m Verena. Nice to meet you.” I hold out a hand and we shake.

He takes interest in my introduction. “You’re American. I didn’t think..?”

“Oh, no. I’m not related to the Shelbys. I’m just a good friend.”

He nods respectfully and goes over to peek through the keyhole. It reminds me of something Finn might do. A little kid wanting to see what the adults are up to. But who am I kidding? I’m only a few years older.

“Do you ever get involved?” he asks.

“Only when asked. I take confidentiality very seriously- wait. What are you doing?”

Michael opens the door a crack. “Just getting a better look.”

I can’t help it, I’m just as curious. “What’s going on?”

“Something about an expensive horse… and a race. Someone named Sabini…” He opens the door wider.

“Micheal, you can’t just walk in-”

“Too late.”

The Gray son walks fully into the room and it takes a second for the gathered group to notice. Polly looks like she’s about to spit venom. Talk about protective mother syndrome.

“I’ve been listening. I want to go with them.”

Polly throws her hands up. “You see?”

“I love horses,” Michael tries to persuade them. “I could help.”

“Over my dead body!”

“It’ll be alright, mum. I’ve been to loads of horse auctions before.”

“Let him go, Polly,” Arthur vouches. “We go there, buy a horse, come back.”

Polly shoots him a murderous stare. “No. Fucking no.”

Michael tries to argue again but Polly holds up a hand to stop him, then points to me. I’m not arguing with her. Aside from Thomas she’s the scariest one. I take Michael’s arm and take him back to Thomas’ office.

“Why does she treat me like I’m 4? I’m not a child!” Michael complains.

“Remember she just got you back, Michael. Polly doesn’t want you to get hurt-”

“I won’t, I swear!”

I bite my lip. How do I tell him this? “You can’t predict that. This Peaky Blinders' business has its way of conjuring up the brutalist murders you can imagine on the flip of a coin. Personally if it weren’t for my devotion to the Shelbys, I wouldn’t still be involved.”

I’m not even in too deep. No blood on my hands and my virginity is still intact. This job may be taxing in other areas but at least Thomas has protected me enough to leave me my dignity. 

John walks in and sees Michael in his sour mood. “I talked to her. She’ll come ‘round. You alright, Verena?”

“I’m torn on the matter. Michael’s never been exposed to something like this.”

“Then it’s ‘bout time he learned.” John grins and claps Michael on the back.

And now I'll have to listen to Polly’s rants. All of this, between Thomas mourning his love life, Arthur raging on cocaine, and Michael dropping in, is all one big puzzle we’re trying to glue together. None of my business but I feel responsible nonetheless. Maybe I’ll hide at Ada’s.

I slip out undetected and make my getaway, but not before catching the attention of a few Blinders outside. 

“Oi! We’ve been given orders to-”

“I don’t care what Mr. Shelby told you. I do not need to be escorted. My pistol does that just fine-”

“Hello again, Ms. Steenstra.”

From the way chills race down my spine and the Peaky Blinders draw their guns, there’s no denying who’s behind me.

“Campbell.” I turn around slowly. “Still alive and kicking. Well, not kicking too well given your leg. I should have known you’d be sneaking around here. What’s your scheme now, hm?”

“What happens between me and Mr. Shelby is none of your concern-”

The wind picks up and a scrap of paper flies from his pocket, landing at my feet. Before he swipes it up I make out a single name.

“Ah. Working with the Fenians.”

Campbell’s eyes narrow. “You’ve heard of 'em?”

“My family hears about many things,” I reply with a straight face.

“Be wary of who you trust, Steenstra.”

“Likewise. Now either leave me alone or I shall find other… permanent methods of privacy. And no, I do not mean murder. I’m not as mad as Thomas. I’m talking about personal humiliation. My family has connections that can dig up so much dirt to bury you six feet under.” I tap my head considerably. “Rumors spiral, Inspector Campbell. Rumors spiral.”

I walk past him and march on to Ada’s place. The two Blinders still trail me with their guns out in plain sight. Whether it be Campbell or Sabini, no one’s going to lay a finger on me.

@meadows5

[parkerslatte]

Until The Flowers Wilt

Matthew Fairchild x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 2.7k

Warnings: none. allusions to sex.

Summary: Y/N and Matthew have been friends for years. Everyone can see what the two feel for each other - everyone except Y/N and Matthew it seems.

Shadowhunter Chronicles Masterlist

•••

“Math,” James said as he watched his parabatai stare out of the window once again. “She’s going to be here soon, you don’t need to keep watch.”

Matthew’s gaze lingered out of the window for a moment longer before he turned to face James. “I’m not keeping watch.”

“Your face is practically glued to the window,” James pointed out. “She’s not meant to be here for another hour.”

“But what is she comes early?” Matthew scoffed. “She’ll be locked out in the cold.”

“I’m sure she will knock on the door,” James said, rolling his eyes. 

By the time James had managed to coax Matthew away from the window seat, there was a knock on the door. Matthew immediately shot to his feet from the seat he had only just sat down in. 

“I’ll get it,” Matthew announced before he began to exit the living area. 

Cordelia appeared in front of him and placed a hand on his chest, halting his movements. “I’ll get it.”

Matthew let out a huff and took a few steps back as Cordelia left to greet the guest. James watched Matthew carefully as he rocked back on his heels watching the doorway. He had always seen the way Matthew acted around Y/N, and vice versa. It seemed to James that everyone could see what the two felt for one another, he even had long discussions with Cordelia about it while they should have been sleeping or doing something else. 

When Y/N finally stepped into the room with a wide smile on her face she was instantly wrapped in a hug by Matthew. Initially she was shocked to be quite literally swept off her feet, but once she relaxed and recovered her arms wrapped around Matthew just as tightly. 

“Don’t go away again,” Matthew mumbled into her hair.

Y/N chuckled. “I was only gone for two weeks!”

Matthew pressed a quick kiss to her cheek and pulled away from the hug, though he still kept his arms around her. “It was still too long for me.”

Y/N rolled her eyes playfully before stepping away from Matthew and wrapped James in a quick hug. “It’s good to see you too, Jamie.”

James smiled at Y/N as she took her place next to Matthew, unconsciously leaning into him. Matthew’s arm rested on her lower back, tugging her closer. The two shared a smile, seemingly lost within each other’s eyes. 

From where Cordelia was leaning against the doorway, just behind Matthew and Y/N, James caught her eye and the two shared a knowing look before James spoke up, interrupting Matthew and Y/N from whatever trance they had put the other in. 

***

It was a nice day when everyone sat together on a picnic blanket enjoying the sun. Matthew and Y/N were seemingly late everyone had noticed. The two hadn’t even sent word of their absence. 

“Did they mention anything to you?” Thomas asked James.

James shook his head. “Matthew only told me that he would pick Y/N up in his carriage at midday.”

“Ah,” Anna spoke up, her gaze fixated over Thomas’s shoulder. “There they are now, only…” she checked her watch, “two hours late.”

When Matthew and Y/N approached, her arm was linked with his and she carried a large bouquet of flowers. Matthew’s gaze was planted firmly on her as she smiled brightly at everyone. 

“Sorry we’re late!” Y/N said. “Instead of taking the carriage, we decided to walk because it would be a shame to waste the sunshine while sitting inside a dark and dreary carriage.”

“Where did the flowers come from?” Anna questioned, a teasing tone in her voice. 

“Oh,” Y/N exclaimed as if she suddenly remembered she was holding them. “We walked past a florist and had a look inside. Matthew purchased these for me for my new flat!”

“They look expensive.”

“They were,” Y/N said. “That’s why I plan to pay him back soon.”

Matthew sent a glare her way. “You will do no such thing!”

Y/N looked up at him and grinned lazily. “Watch me.”

Matthew held her gaze for a moment before rolling his eyes playfully and sat himself down on the picnic blanket. As Y/N was about to be beside him, Matthew easily pulled her down so she sat in front of him, her back resting against his chest.

“Careful!” Y/N said. “You’ll crush the flowers.”

Matthew’s arms wrapped around her waist from behind. “Then I will just have to buy you more.”

Y/N turned her head to look at him. “You will do no such thing.”

Matthew’s head tilted towards her’s. Their faces were close but neither of the two acknowledged it, nor did they acknowledge all of the looks sent their way. Some of knowing, some of confusion and some of desperation. All they focussed on was each other. 

“Won’t I?” Matthew mumbled. 

“You won’t,” Y/N said, her gaze never leaving his eyes.

Matthew smiled. His nose brushed hers. “I will always buy you flowers because every beautiful thing deserves to be owned by the most beautiful woman.”

Y/N’s eyes widened the smallest amount. Her gaze remained on his eyes though her hand tightened on his wrapped around her waist. “You think I’m beautiful?”

“Of course I do,” Matthew said, kissing the tip of her nose before pulling his face away.

Y/N smiled as she reached forward to pick up a sandwich before relaxing fully against Matthew. 

Everyone around them resumed their conversation but everyone noticed how Y/N intertwined her fingers with Matthew’s and how whenever Y/N shuffled or moved the slightest bit, Matthew’s gaze fell to her, full of love. 

***

It was late at night when Matthew and Y/N had finally finished decorating Y/N’s flat. It had been a dreary day and with nothing else to do, Y/N contacted Matthew to help with her decorating. Matthew was knocking on her door not even fifteen minutes later. 

Matthew was sitting on the couch while Y/N came in with two mugs of tea in her hands and placed them down on the table in front of them. The two sat side by side while the fireplace roared. 

“Thank you for helping me today,” Y/N said, breaking the comfortable silence. “It would have been a boring day without you.”

Matthew smiled at the ceiling. “I’m glad I could help. And I’m happy you asked me.”

“There is no one else I would ask,” Y/N said. “Except maybe Thomas, he could easily reach the top of my bookshelf without using a chair.”

Matthew rolled his eyes and rested his head on Y/N’s shoulder. Y/N rested her head on top of his. 

“My favourite decoration is still the flowers you bought me,” Y/N said. “Even if they are a little wilted by now.”

Matthew glanced over at the flowers she had put in a vase, one that Matthew had also bought her when she first moved into her flat. 

“I will need to buy you more,” Matthew said. “And I don’t want to hear you object, because I will buy you more every single time the previous flowers begin to wilt.”

“You are impossible,” Y/N muttered. 

“But you love me for it,” Matthew said. 

Y/N didn’t respond but she smiled. 

Matthew intertwined his fingers with hers before he lifted his head from her shoulder. “Dance with me.”

“What?” Y/N questioned. 

Matthew stood up, pulling Y/N up with him. “Dance with me.”

“But there’s no music,” Y/N questioned as Matthew brought her into the centre of her living room. 

“Who cares,” Matthew said before he wrapped his arm around Y/N’s waist and pulled her against his chest as the two simply swayed in the middle of the room. The only sound was the crackling fire. 

Y/N had been close to Matthew before but there had usually been plenty of other people around. Now with only the two of them she felt her heart begin to beat rapidly. 

Unbeknownst to her, Matthew was flustered. He hadn’t known what overcame him when he asked her to dance. Only that he had an overcoming urge to be close to her and hold her within his arms. 

The fire crackled as the two continued to sway in the middle of the living room. Neither of the two were sure how long it had been since they had started. They were too wrapped up within one another to notice how much time had passed. 

Matthew moved his head from where it had been looking over her shoulder to rest against Y/N’s forehead. She was truly the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Everyday he would wake up and his first thought would be of her and how her hair looked in the sunlight. He would think of how she smiled when she was happy or found something mildly amusing. He thought of her kindness, her intelligence, her humour. He also thought of her touch and they way she always sought him out in a crowd. The way she would lean into him or link his arm while walking. The way she would mess his hair up when he did something mildly irritating. She was the only person he ever let do that. 

Matthew’s eyes closed as he began to lean into Y/N, his breath mixing with hers. There was the smallest brush of his lips against hers and Matthew already craved more. He moved his hands to cup her cheeks and fully pressed his lips against Y/N’s. He nearly felt his heart explode. 

Y/N tensed her whole body as soon as Matthew’s lips touched hers. The feeling wasn’t an unwelcome one but it was a shocking one. She didn’t move and let her hands drop down by her sides. Her brain was stalling her to kiss him back but her body wasn’t cooperating. 

Matthew’s lips detached from hers, his eyes dark but blown wide as he realised what he just did. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that.”

Matthew took several steps back from Y/N. “I’ll just go.”

Y/N watched him leave the room without another word. She called out to him but he didn’t reply. It was only when she heard her front door open and prompty close when her body finally allowed her to move. 

She was at her doorway in an instant and swung open the door, not bothering with putting shoes or a jacket on. Luckily her flat was situated on the ground floor so Y/N was immediately opening the front door. It was pouring rain but she didn’t care, stepping outside barefoot and bare armed into the cold rain. She saw Matthew not too far ahead, his hand in the pockets of his trousers, his white shirt completely soaked through. In his haste to leave he hadn’t picked up his jacket. 

“Matthew!” Y/N called while rushing down the street, stones dug into her feet but she didn’t care. The only thing on her mind was Matthew. 

Matthew stopped and turned, he frowned as Y/N ran up to him. “What are you doing out here, Y/N? Go back inside.”

“No,” Y/N said. “You kissed me.”

Matthew sighed and avoided eye contact. “Can we just forget about that? I shouldn’t have done it and now I’ve ruined everything.”

Y/N shook her head. “‘Ruined everything’? How did you ruin everything?” 

Matthew ran a hand through his wet hair, pushing it away from his eyes. “You didn’t kiss me back. I think that’s a clear enough answer for me.” Matthew turned to walk away.

“Because you didn’t give me a chance!” Y/N exclaimed. “You were pulling away and leaving before I ever got the chance to respond. I was shocked and confused. I think deep down I knew what I felt for you. I think it was easier for me to just mask it as a close friendship because I was scared you would never love me the way I love you.”

Matthew stilled before slowly turning to face her. “What do you mean, Y/N?”

“By the angel, you can be so stupid sometimes!”

Before Matthew had the chance to respond, Y/N clutched onto the front of his shirt and pulled him down to press her lips against his. The rain continued to pour around them but they didn’t care. Not when Matthew’s hands rested on her hips. Y/N felt the heat from his palms through the thin gown she wore, now completely drenched and clinging to her body. 

Y/N’s arms moved from clutching Matthew’s shirt to wrap around his shoulder’s her hand resting on the back of his head deepening the kiss. Matthew let out a small noise as his fingertips dug into Y/N’s hips pulling her closer until her body was flush with his. 

Matthew pulled away first and rested his forehead against Y/N’s breathing heavily. “Tell me what that meant.”

“Are you really-”

“I already know,” Matthew said. “But I want to hear you say it.”

Y/N smiled. “I am in love with you, Matthew Fairchild.”

Matthew pressed his lips against Y/N’s. It was brief but it told Y/N everything she needed to know. 

“I want to hear you say it too,” Y/N muttered against his lips.”

“I. Love. You.” Matthew said, kissing her in between each word. “I will love you until I let any bouquet of flowers die.” Matthew pressed a soft kiss against the tip of her nose. “So now you cannot deny me when I buy them for you.”

The two stood with their arms wrapped around one another in the middle of the downpour, smiles on their faces. It wasn’t until Y/N shivered that the two broke whatever bubble they had been in. 

“We should get back inside,” Y/N said. “There is a warm fire. Two cups of tea still not finished and…” Y/N leaned up to whisper in his ear. “A warm bed.”

Matthew smirked before he lifted Y/N up in his arms. She laughed in delight. “I am not opposed to that idea.”

***

The next morning everyone was waiting outside of Y/N’s flat. The previous day she had invited them all over to celebrate her moving into her new home.

“Is she even home?” Lucie asked. 

“It’s Y/N,” Anna said. “When she makes plans, she sticks to them.”

“We’ve been waiting here for half an hour,” Thomas said. “Maybe she’s forgotten.”

Cordelia sighed before she pulled a key out of her bag. “Y/N gave me a key to her flat for emergencies.”

“But this isn’t an emergency,” James said. 

“It may not be,” Cordelia said unlocking the door. “But I would like to know where Matthew is.”

The group looked around at one another, only noticing that Matthew wasn’t there.

“Y/N?” Cordelia announced as she stepped into her flat. 

“Cordelia?” Matthew said, appearing from the kitchen carrying two mugs of coffee. He was shirtless and his trousers hung low on his waist. Cordelia averted her gaze. 

“Y/N invited us to see her flat,” Cordelia said as everyone entered the flat behind her. 

They all looked at Matthew. They all shared a look with one another but no one looked the slightest bit surprised. 

“Matthew!” Y/N said, her footsteps padding down the hallway. “Could you help me with this, I can’t get it to stay in place.”

Y/N appeared in the living room, only wearing a white shirt. Y/N let out a noise of surprise when she noticed everyone standing in her living room. 

Matthew placed the two mugs of coffee down before moving to shield Y/N’s body with his own. 

“You can all make yourselves at home,” Y/N said as he and Matthew began to walk down the hallway. “We will be out in a minute.”

The group waited until they heard Y/N’s door close before laughing.

“It was about time,” James said, sitting on the couch and wrapped an arm around Cordelia, a wide smile on his face.

[taranida]

Tom the Poet or Tom the Filmmaker

I would like all my theories to have evidence that back them up. I’ve come from fandoms where things said are a cute thing, worth considering, but solid theorising comes with quotes, screenshots, counting toes and following the writer’s pattern of three hint and foreshadowings before the big reveal. Therefore, I’m going through the first game yet again to collect all this information and put it in something coherent, something I will be happy with. I hope that the waves of my research will carry me to the proper essay with all the proofs necessary on every statement I’ve made in my first pinned post.

But there are still questions that have no answers as far as I know. One of them: why Tom Zane was made into a filmmaker and by whom?

In Control’s AWE the cutscene where Tom and Alan meet is a toned-down version of their encounter in Room 665. Alan asks if Tom is the Tom, the poet and the diver and Tom replies that it was just a beloved character in his old film. They have the same conversation at the start of Room 665 in Alan Wake II.

Alan seemed always forget that he (or someone else) changed Tom’s identity to filmmaker, still convinced that Thomas Zane he encountered at the start of his journey was a poet and a diver. First, when Tom-the-filmmaker was introduced, I thought that Alan forgot who Zane was and what he learned about him (I wouldn’t put it past Alan: he forgot many things he wrote, even his birthdate somewhat slipped his mind — in 2010 or in the Dark Place; the guide for the first game states that he’s 31, when the statue near the Parliament Tower claims he was born in 1977), but in both cases he kept insisting that Tom was a poet. So, the opposite is true: Alan forgot that Tom now is a filmmaker.

But why is Tom made to be a filmmaker? Even the second game insists that the Tom was a poet: Cynthia notes this in her journal, marvelling at why everyone thinks that he was a filmmaker; even the boys of Old Gods of Asgard say “you need him [Tom] to write the ending,” “art, like Tom’s writing” and “it’s Tom’s story we are dealing with, he’s gotta be the one to rewrite it”. And they are the only three people who knew the real Tom Zane and have some credibility in what he really was: a poet or a filmmaker.

The boys, of course, are a discussion on their own; Tom and Alan are interchangeable in their heads, they might talk about Alan the writer, hence “write, writing, story, rewrite”, but Cynthia has no such issues. She never mistook Alan for Tom, she loved Tom her whole life, devoted to his wishes and for sure wouldn’t mess such a big part of his identity in her head.

Then we have This House of Dreams, where we can read poems, some of them are by Thomas Zane and the Bright Presence shows Samantha that he was indeed a poet. Let’s add Jesse Faden into the mix, who as well, remembers Thomas Zane being a poet and even recites one of his poems in Control’s recordings. She still believes he was a poet somewhere around 2019, judging by her words about her needing to be in New York soon. Only in AWE DLC when she hears Tom claiming he’s a filmmaker, she changes her mind. But at this time, she’s already in yet another Alan’s story, her beliefs shaped by his writing (or by the words of her therapist and this vision of Tom and Alan; take your pick).

So, the question remains: why was Tom made a filmmaker?

My belief here is that Alan (or Scratch — do not confuse with Mr. Scratch) had no need of a poet. In This House of Dreams we see two sets of poems: one is by Thomas Zane and another is by Alan himself, in Control’s AWE Alan also claims that he wrote poems, and what value can Tom-the-poet add to Alan’s attempts to escape? A filmmaker on the other hand, as Tom says in AWII, can make a companion piece for his manuscript. Hence the filmmaker, the auteur.

As a side note. I do believe that the real Thomas Zane never makes his appearance in any games, first we see the Bright Presence possessing the body of Tom, then we see yet another Alan’s face in the Dark Place, that takes shape of what he believes Tom Zane was, and this part of Alan becomes a filmmaker at some point in his journey. After all, as the real Tom once wrote:

When you’re lost You’re lost in your own company

[a-small-batch-of-dragons]

Change

Roman was acting like himself when Thomas was younger, yk overdramatic, prince aesthetic, love of theater etc etc but after a fight with Virgil he decides he wants to be respected and completely switches up reads body language, stays quiet and subdued, refuses to state any opinions the other sides wouldn't completely agree with – himguy

Read on Ao3

Warnings: bullying, more unsymp!sides than I normally go

Pairings: none

Word Count: 8613

Roman is over the top, bombastic, and enthusiastic. He is prone to fits of passion and emotional outbursts. Such is the nature of Creativity. But the others...don't like that. They aren't exactly ambiguous about it either. Or, Roman struggles to walk the line between being himself and being something the others can tolerate. It gets far worse before it gets any better.

“I mean—it’s outrageous! Despicable! Why, the very greats of theater performances past are affronted at the very notion!”

Virgil rolls his eyes, lounging against the bottom of the stairs. “Are you done?”

“Am I done? Am I done? How can you even ask such a question like that, when you have awakened in me passions the likes of which would make the Ancient Greeks rise from their slumber—“

“As if your tantrum hasn’t awoken them already,” Logan mutters under his breath and Janus muffles a snort.

“—to speak in verse so as to demand an answer to the question of why you have decided to make a mockery of their livelihoods! What—how can you ask me if I am done when it is you who started this in the first place!”

Virgil yawns.

”And now—how dare you?”

“Here’s a fun game, take a shot every time Princey says ‘how dare you.’ You’ll be dead in two minutes.”

“We only drink responsibly, Virgil,” Patton chides.

“Yeah, which means you agree that he’s saying it, like, every other sentence.”

“Exactly, so if we’re going to be playing a drinking game, then you should pick something that’s either happening less—“

“Roman being reasonable?”

”How dare—“

“Quick, everyone, take a shot, he said it again!”

Roman puffs his chest up, spluttering, and Virgil just snickers, mocking his half words until Roman’s face is as red as his sash, laughing the whole time. Even Logan has to try and hide his grin as Roman keeps trying and failing to articulate much of anything.

“Oh, give it up,” Virgil sighs after a while, “you’re not making sense, Princey, you haven’t been making sense for like, half an hour. You just keep saying ‘how dare you’ and going on these monologues that don’t mean anything.”

“What do you mean, ‘don’t mean anything?’ Have you not even been listening?”

“Nope.”

“Well, then, you should—what did you say?”

“I said no, Princey, I haven’t been listening. It’s not worth listening to you when you’re not really saying anything.” Virgil scrubs a hand through his hair. “You’re just…you know, talking. Making noise. That’s what you do.”

“What exactly is talking if not making noise, then?”

“Well, ‘talking’ typically refers to stringing words together in a way that actually communicates something worth saying, and ‘making noise’ is just that. Nonsense.”

“That’s not—“

“L? Back me up here.”

“He’s right,” Logan says, crossing his arms as Roman starts to puff up again, “you’ve been wasting our time with these dramatic fits and tantrums that are not and have never been productive. So unless you have something that’s actually worth saying, then I agree with Virgil that you’ve made enough noise for the evening.”

“Or ever.”

“Kiddo,” Patton scolds, “it’s not nice to say that Roman shouldn’t ever make noise again.”

“But you agree with me.”

“…I think that—“

“That’s a yes,” Janus says helpfully, smiling as if butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth when Roman glares at him.

”What is this, Pick On Roman Day? Did I miss a memo where you all decided it would be good funny to belittle me?”

“More like did you decide to wake up and abuse our eardrums for ages and ages.”

“How is this more productive than the things I was saying?” He flings his hand out at Virgil. “He’s just insulting me?”

“Yes, which is doing the productive task of making sure that you’re not monologuing anymore,” Logan sighs, rubbing his temples. “I believe I’m going to call it here. If there’s nothing else pertinent…?”

“No,” Janus says before he can say anything, “nothing.”

“I will see you all for dinner, then.”

”Wait, Logan, you can’t just—“ Logan sinks out before he can finish his sentence— “how come he gets to do that and when I do it you all yell at me?”

“Because he’s doing the healthy thing of respecting his own boundaries,” Patton says, “and not just deciding that he doesn’t want to be here anymore.”

“How is that different?” Patton just looks at him like he’s the most disappointed he’s ever been. “What? Don’t look at me like that!”

“I’m gonna go too. I’ll see you kiddos later.”

”Wait, Pat—“

“He’s gone, Princey,” Virgil declares, still lazing about like some great over stuffed cat, “he’s not coming back.”

“What, are you two going to sink out next?”

“Oh, no, please,” Janus drawls. “Don’t mind me, this is the most entertaining thing I’ve seen in weeks.”

”What is?”

“Watching you be a peacock getting your feathers plucked.”

Roman yelps, hands going automatically behind him, and both of them burst out into laughter. Embarrassment and humiliation burn his cheeks and they just keep laughing, calling him a tomato, a pincushion, a whoopee cushion, and—and—

“Aww,” he hears Virgil simper, “is Princey gonna cry?”

Something deep inside of Roman’s chest snaps.

The living room disappears. He’s standing in his bedroom. Did he sink out? He doesn’t remember. His hands burn. His chest is splitting in agony. He can still hear laughter ringing and ringing in his ears, louder and louder and louder and louder—

Distantly, he registers that he’s on his knees, somehow, hunched over until his forehead burns into the rough shag carpet. The balloon in his chest keeps snapping hardly against his ribs with every rough inhale, the ache in his hands giving way to the sharp bite of his own nails in his palm. He splutters again, gasping for breath. It doesn’t work. He does it again. His chest feels like it’s about to splinter into pieces. They just keep laughing. Why do they always laugh?

Peacock. Tomato. Pincushion. Whoopee Cushion. Spluttering, overblown, overdramatic, messy, nonsense Prince.

That wasn’t fair. It isn’t fair.

Life isn’t fair, Roman, he can hear Logan sighing, you can’t just complain about everything all the time. You have to work for things.

Fine. They want Roman to work for things? They want him to act like he’s someone worthy of respect? Fine. He’ll play their stupid game.

***

”Ah. Roman.” Logan adjusts his glasses. “You’re late.”

“Sorry, I know, I was caught up in—“

“It doesn’t matter,” he continues, turning back to Patton like Roman hadn’t been speaking, “at any rate, I find it highly unlikely that a video on the animal shelters nearby will be a successful venture for Thomas.”

“But it’s a good thing to do, Logan! Besides, they have a fundraiser thing going on right now, we could help raise awareness?”

“Yeah, but what if that’s not what they’re asking for?” Virgil shakes his head. “We might just end up making things worse.”

“Besides, Thomas’s content shares to far more than just a local audience. It would be in an effort to reach the wrong demographic.”

“Well, as Thomas’s Creativity, I think that we should—“

“Oh, good, here we go, Princey’s gonna lecture us again.

Roman frowns. “I’m…but I am Thomas’s Creativity. It’s my job to come up with ideas.”

“Come up with ideas and order everyone else around like we’re your personal servants are two very different things, Roman.”

“I didn’t say that, you slippery snake—“

“Name calling will not do you any favors.” Logan’s voice cracks across the room and Roman just manages to resist the urge to flinch. “You showed up late, Roman. You do not have the authority to override anyone else, as much as we all know you wish you could.”

“Only we can,” Virgil pipes up as Janus gives a little wave, “sorry, Princey.”

“You’re not sorry.”

“Neither are you, and you should be for being so rude.”

“I—“

“They’re right, Roman,” Patton says quietly, “go on.”

Roman looks around at all of them. They stare at him expectantly. A lump grows in his throat and he mutters an apology.

“That’s better.” Logan turns away from him again. “Now, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted…”

The others respect Logan, at least, they think that he’s worth listening to. And he’s not scolded for interrupting anyone. Maybe he could be respected the way Logan is, if he shows them that he knows what he’s talking about.

***

Roman shows up to the next meeting with his arms full of binders and notebooks. Janus raises an eyebrow as he sets them all in a neat little row around himself, waiting for the meeting to start.

“Jeez, Princey, did you murder enough trees yet? You know we’re trying to save the planet, yeah, not just kill it faster?”

“It’s research.”

“Research,” Janus repeats dubiously, just as Logan shows up.

“Ah, good, nice to see we’re all on time this time.”

“Uh, Patton’s not here yet.”

Virgil scoffs. “Snitch.”

“How am I being a snitch? You can clearly see he’s not here.”

“There’s no need to be rude, Roman.” Logan eyes his pile suspiciously. “Despite how…overeager you might be.”

“But I just—“

“Sorry, sorry!” Patton rises up. “Sorry I’m late, I just lost track of time!”

“It’s alright, Patton—“ how come it’s alright when Patton’s late, but not me?— “we can get started now.”

Great. Roman picks up the binders and starts trying to hand them out, only for Virgil to raises his eyebrow and nudge it away like it’s radioactive.

“What the hell is that supposed to be?”

“It’s…it’s research. For the video idea. I was looking into media study theories about the subjects that we wanted to include—“

“‘We?’ There’s no ‘we’ in this, Princey, we haven’t even made a decision yet. I feel like we went over this.”

Roman chews on his lip. “I know, but I wanted to have evidence for my side, and—“

“There are no sides anymore, Roman,” Janus sighs, looking almost bored, “we’re working together on this, remember?”

“…okay, I wanted to have evidence to back up what I wanted to say, is that better?”

“Well, considering you’re trying to hand me a phone book, no, not really.”

Roman huffs, letting the binder fall to the floor. Patton tuts disapprovingly at the noise. “You guys like it when Logan brings in a bunch of evidence, why can’t I—“

“Excuse me?” Logan’s expression darkens. “Is that all you think I do, Roman?”

“Oh, shit, you’ve done it now,” Virgil mutters as Logan takes a step forward.

“I—I just—I wanted to—“

“I bring in evidence to support the things I say because that is the responsible this to do. I choose the sources that will most accurately and succinctly back up my claim because I respect the time of the people I am talking to.” Logan looms over him, even though they’re about the same height. “If you are so desperate as to try and steal what it is that I do because you don’t feel as though your ego has been properly sated—“

“Ooh, get him, L.”

“—then I highly suggest you do your research.”

Janus is openly grinning and Virgil is hiding snickers behind his hand. Logan stares at him for a moment longer before he drops the binder with a thud. Roman flinches. He barely hears anything else over the rush of shame in his ears as he gathers up all of his binders and clutches them to his chest.

If they’d even bothered to look inside, they would’ve seen his summary of the academic essays and papers he’d read where he put in only the relevant parts and annotated his ideas with them, but they didn’t. They didn’t look inside. Not one of them. That wasn’t fair either. What else is he supposed to do? How is he supposed to get them to listen?

Remus. They pay attention to Remus when he shows up. Maybe he should ask Remus what to do.

***

“Remus? I—whoa!” He dodges a flying piece of…something. “I had something I wanted to ask you!”

Remus looks up from his perch on top of a mountain of various animal parts and grins, sliding down what Roman hopes is a giant tongue and shaking himself off. “What’s cracking?”

“How do you get the others to listen to you?”

“Scream until their eardrums bleed, that’s a good way.”

Roman winces. “But then they’re not—then they can’t hear at all.”

”That’s not my problem.”

“No, I mean—when you show up, everyone pays attention to you. How…how do you do that? How do you get them to take you seriously?”

“I find holding a very sharp weapon does wonders for making sure you’re listened to. Especially if they know you’ll use it!”

“I don’t want to hurt them, Re.”

“You’re no fun.”

“I just—I’m struggling with getting them to take me seriously. They don’t want to listen to me, they don’t really respect me, I just—“

“Here, hold this.”

“—I want them to—ack!”

The ball of whatever-it-was Remus placed in his hands explodes into a noxious cloud of spores, making him crouch and flail as Remus cackles. The familiar burn forms the lump in his throat and he tries to take a deep breath to calm himself down—

—only to go into a massive coughing fit when he inhales the spores again.

“Sheesh, Ro, maybe you should’ve learned your lesson.” Remus pats him on the back with mock sympathy. “Did you want to say something?”

Roman opens his mouth and promptly swallows another round of the spores and has to double over, hacking them up. Remus just grins. He waves his arms frantically to get those stupid things out of the air and glares.

“Aw, lighten up, bro! You looked like you could use a laugh.”

“Re, I came to you for help.”

“Pfft. That’s your fault, not mine. What’s the matter, Ro? I’ve never had problems with getting them to take me seriously.”

“Well, yeah, because they’re scared of you.”

Remus freezes. The smile slides off his face. “Wh-what?”

“You threaten them with weapons, you scream at them until their ears bleed, wouldn’t you be scared?” Remus’s lower lip wobbles. “Wait, I didn’t mean—“

Remus sinks out before he can say anything else. He groans in frustration and scrubs his hands over his face, remembering too late that there are still spores there, and he sinks out to his bathroom to wash them all off. Scrubbing at the skin doesn’t really do anything to dull the frustration of Remus being so unhelpful and the guilt at…upsetting him.

No sooner has he dried off—actually, better make that started to dry off—does he feel the familiar yank of being summoned. He rises up in the middle of the Dark Side’s living room to see a teary Remus in Janus’s arms and an absolutely furious Virgil.

“What the actual fuck is wrong with you,” Virgil spits in his face before he can even say anything, “how the fuck can you be so cruel?”

“I didn’t—“

“You actually fucking told Remus that we’re all scared of him? What the fuck, Princey?”

“I didn’t mean to, I just—!”

“Please,” Janus hisses, voice laced with enough venom to make his throat tingle, “tell us what you did mean, since clearly we must be missing something.”

Virgil glowers and folds his arms. Remus sniffles, head still pillowed in the crook of Janus’s shoulder. One of his hands rubs soothing circles over Remus’s back and a jolt of longing makes Roman’s chest ache anew.

“Well?”

“…I just meant that he threatens you guys all the time, and he—“

“Wow.” Virgil scrubs a hand over his face and starts to pace in a circle. “Just fucking wow, Roman.”

“What? He does! He admitted it, that’s what he does whenever he shows up!”

“And of course he only shows up to be the bad guy, right? That’s what you’re gonna say next?”

“I never said that! I didn’t say that! I would be scared if someone showed up and threatened to hurt me with an extremely sharp weapon or scream until my ears bleed, wouldn’t you?”

“Well, jeez, Princey, seems like you got it all figured out. No use asking us how we feel, no, you already got everything all sorted. Just the way you like it, huh?”

“That’s not what I meant, I just—“

“What is all of this racket about?”

Roman’s heart sinks when he sees Patton and Logan come in from the hall. Patton, of course, catches sight of the still-sniffling Remus and rushes over, all soft care and concern that makes Roman burn with envy, and Virgil wastes no time telling Logan about all the horrible things he said and how he’s refusing to apologize for it. Sure enough, Logan’s disappointed look turns on him in less than one minute.

“Roman,” Patton says sternly, “how could you say something like that?”

“Is there something I’m missing here? Do other people not get scared when someone shows up and threatens to hurt them?”

Patton frowns. Logan and Virgil don’t bother to hide their disgusted expressions. Janus bends down to murmur something comforting in Remus’s ear. Roman throws his hands up.

“I don’t get it! What am I not getting? Please, someone tell me, tell me what I don’t get about—“

“That’s enough.”

Patton’s tone, cold enough to freeze even the brightest stars, stops him cold.

“You’re behaving horribly, Roman, and you know that. You’re reacting in a very immature way and I expected more from you. Now, do you have an apology to make to Remus, or are you going to keep throwing a tantrum about getting caught doing something bad?”

Roman swallows around the lump in his throat. He looks at Remus, who peers out from Janus’s protective hold to look at him. In truth, he never meant to hurt his brother. He does feel bad about it, and yes, he wants to apologize.

But he looks around at the sheer force with which the others have decided to support and care for Remus, and he just…

“I’m sorry I said everyone was scared of you, Remus.”

Janus bares his teeth and hisses and Patton’s face darkens.

“Out.”

“But I said I was—”

“Get out, Roman.”

Virgil steps forward as if he’s going to bodily shove Roman out of the room and Roman quickly sinks out, listening to the comforting words of the others as they start to gather around Remus and he—he—

You know what? Fine. Fucking fine.

They say he’s being immature and dramatic and stupid and disrespectful and cruel and mean and a peacock and a tomato and a pin cushion and selfish and egotistical and badly behaved and he’s throwing a tantrum then fine. Then fine,

He sinks into the Imagination atop a vast, barren wasteland of dry cracking stone and winds racing across miles and miles of absolutely nothing. Sand stings across his exposed skin and he pays it no mind. The ground begins to split and crack under him.

It’s not fair. It’s not fair. He’s not allowed to be passionate about anything or be hurt when people make fun of him. He’s not allowed to do research or do anything similar to what anyone else might be doing. He’s not allowed to go ask for help because he’ll say the wrong thing and everyone else will immediately take the side that isn’t his. He’s supposed to be this stupid dancing monkey that no one has to listen to and he never gets to actually say any of this out loud.

When was the last time someone asked him if he was okay? When was the last time someone actually listened to him? But no, Roman doesn’t get to be taken seriously. Roman doesn’t get to be hurt and upset and want things like everyone else. Roman doesn’t get to do any of that.

Roman gets to scream himself hoarse in a sandstorm until the sand scrapes his tears from his cheeks and the grind cracks under him, that’s what Roman gets to do. He gets to scream and rage and shout that it’s not fair, because it’s not fair, in a place where no one could or would care enough to hear him. He gets to scream and rage and be hurt all on his own where even the wind won’t give him the breath to speak and you know what? Maybe this is better.

Because when he looks around at the scar in the face of the earth he’s made with blood on his knuckles and an undying ache in his chest, maybe the others were right.

***

That was three months ago.

Roman wasn’t allowed to come to the meeting for a while. Remus went instead. Roman spent his time in the Imagination trying not to let the hurt in his chest turn him to stone. They dropped off a list of everything they needed him to do after the meetings were over and he did them.

Then he was allowed to come back on a sort of trial basis as long as he behaved himself. He didn’t know what that meant, but he knew they didn’t like it when he said things or acted like he knew what to do, so he didn’t say anything. Remus was still there and Remus interrupted and said things and the others laughed or listened or told him his ideas were good. They didn’t ask Roman if he had any ideas.

They still got mad if Roman was late, even if he wasn’t saying anything anyway. They still got mad if Roman wasn’t paying attention, even though they didn’t listen to any of his suggestions when he wanted to make them. They still expected him to do all of the things they wanted, even if that wasn’t something that he could do and he tried to tell them that and they told him to stop being lazy because Remus was doing all of this stuff too. It still wasn’t fair, but Roman knew better than to ask why now.

He still went to the Imagination. The Imagination didn’t judge him when he wanted to make his ideas, or when he wanted to just say something wasn’t fair out loud. He went there almost every night just to feel a little bit better, to go sit by the waterfalls and watch the rainbows form, or to go sit in the glowstone forest for a while and listen to the chirping of the tasselflies. Mostly he went to go take care of his dragon. She didn’t mind if his hands shook as he brushed her scales or if he needed to whisper-ramble to himself about how much it hurt to be in the meetings now. In the beginning he tried not to cry on her because he worried that it was rude but then she snuffled into his face with hers and wrapped her tail around him so he figured she didn’t mind too much. Sometimes he just went to her so he could lie against her scales; she was warm the way all dragons are and if he was very tired or very upset, it was almost like getting a hug. She couldn’t hug him, outside of wrapping her tail around him a few times, but she was warm and she was nice and she let him cuddle up to her, so it was okay.

Then he gets called to a meeting that isn’t the one they have planned and he only just gets there on time. He rises up into the living room and everyone else is already there, staring at him. He straightens his shirt a little self-consciously—he stopped wearing the prince costume when Janus told him he didn’t need to dress like he was always about to go to his own coronation—and waits for someone to explain what’s going on.

Logan eventually breaks the silence, sighing and straightening his glasses. “Roman, do you know why you’re here?”

He shakes his head.

“You’re because we think—well, we feel that this temper tantrum has gone on long enough.”

Temper tantrum? What temper tantrum? He’s doing what they want, isn’t he? He’s not being dramatic, he’s not doing anything wrong, he’s—he’s behaving. Just like they wanted.

“This moping, the silent treatment, the lack of initiative you’ve shown,” Logan continues, “whatever point you’re trying to make, it would be better if you just said it. Then we could come to a solution and move on.”

“I…I don’t understand.”

”He means,” Janus says, his voice way too condescending, “that this little poor-me-I’m-the-victim charade you’ve been putting on isn’t fooling anybody. So if you wouldn’t mind using your words?”

But he…they didn’t like it when he was being the way he was before. Why would they want him to go back to that? That was bad, they hated it, hated him, he—he doesn’t understand.

“Roman?” Patton prompts. “Do you have anything to say for yourself?”

“I don’t understand.”

“Told you,” Virgil mutters, “here we go.”

“I…you didn’t like it when I was being dramatic, or when I tried to give ideas or said I knew what I was doing—o-or when I tried to research what I wanted to do and show you, so I…I didn’t…I don’t—what am I doing wrong?”

“For fuck’s—you can stop it, Roman,” Virgil groans, “whatever act you’re doing, great, we bought it, show’s over, now tell us what’s going on.”

“Nothing’s going on! I’m not trying to trick you guys! I’m just trying to be what you want!”

Janus scoffs. “And you think what we want is a limp, wet blanket of a person that shows no initiative and barely bothers to put in the effort?”

Roman’s mouth just opens and closes a few times, staring at him, before his gaze desperately lands on Remus. Remus will understand, he has to, he has to know Roman’s not trying to play a trick on them or anything, he has to—

“Remus,” he starts, and has to swallow when Janus moves slightly in front of him as if to protect him, “Re, please, I didn’t—I’m not trying to do anything, I swear.”

“…why else would you be acting like this?”

Any hope he may have had that Remus would come to his defense drops like s stone to the bottom of the deepest ocean in the Imagination. The lump swells up in his throat and he has to look down.

”Oh, look, here it comes,” he hears Virgil mutter, “he’s gonna cry.”

“I’m not.”

Virgil huffs and now Roman has to do everything in his power not to cry in front of them. He won’t do it. It’s not fair. He’s not giving them the satisfaction of it.

There’s a long pause before Patton sighs.

“Do you have anything else you want to say for yourself?”

He shakes his head.

“Then perhaps it’s better if you don’t come to the meetings until you’ve sorted yourself out.”

He just nods. Patton must’ve expected him to say or do something else because there’s a sigh.

“Then you can go.”

Roman sinks out the second he’s given permission and hits the rocky cliffside on the way up to his dragon’s favorite perch. He’s already losing the battle; tears and sniffles leak out of him as he fumbles for his bag with her brush and her snacks in it, stumbling up the cliff as the clouds roll in. He manages to clear the threshold of her mountain-top cave before his knees give out and her brush clatters out of the bag.

In an instant, she raises her head and turns to look at him, letting out a concerned rumble and promptly scooping him up in one of her claws and taking flight. He clings to her talon as they fly down to one of the small coves on the edge of the Great Sea, settling in the soft, warm grass and letting go. With tail, wing, and snout, she maneuvers him into the lea of her, wing lowered protectively over him like a blanket with her head turned so her nose nuzzles into the soft part of his chest.

“They still think I’m—I’m being bad,” he hiccups as she purrs soothingly, “they think I’m faking all this, that I’m—that I’m trying to—to trick them or something, I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, and it’s not fair because Remus gets to be as messy and over-dramatized as he wants and they like it, they’re not even—even mad about it, it’s not fair, it’s not fair, it’s not—not fair—“

He dissolves into stupid, blubbering sobs and his dragon just huffs, blowing warm air over him in some phantom embrace and he throws himself in a heap over her snout, trying in vain to hold her back. She purrs in contentment, though he has no idea why, and just lets him be a mess all over her. He’s just so tired of this; of not being right, of not knowing what they want, of not being able to just exist without being critiqued or criticized or mocked. At least he won’t have to attend the meetings for a while, but then that means he also won’t get to see the others for a while.

Maybe that’s for the best.

Distantly, he hears the sound of water sloshing. He peers out to see the arms of the Kraken rising up from the water, the very top of his head poking out. The dragon lets out a rumble of greeting as an arm reaches toward them. She opens her wing to allow it to rest on the grass and Roman reaches out a shaky hand. He’s still sniffling too much to say anything but he pats the arm and the Kraken trills. At the questioning burble, he shakes his head and curls up a little tighter. The water around the arms churns into a slight froth as the Kraken shifts. Another low trill rings out and the arm slips away, the shadow fading beneath the surface and moving away. Roman closes his eyes again, resting against the dragon’s scales, until he hears a faint voice coming from the water.

“—drag me off like that, you know better, what is it you want to show me so badly over here?”

Roman’s blood runs cold. Remus. Ollie went to go get Remus.

He curls up even tighter and the dragon snuffles, lowering her wing protectively.

“Roman’s dragon? Why’d you bring me here?” Footsteps on the grass as Remus gets closer and the dragon growls in warning. “What’s wrong? Are you—wait, Ro?”

No. I’m not here. He curls up as small as he can go but that damage is done.

“Ro, what’re you doing? Did you fall? Are you hurt or something?” The dragon’s growl turns to a snarl when Remus keeps getting closer. “Why’re you…are you just upset that we figured out your acting thing?”

There’s no way in hell he could ever hope to disguise his flinch. The dragon lifts her head and properly bares her teeth at Remus. Ollie rumbles in warning too.

“It’s—I don’t get it, Ro. You had to know—it wasn’t exactly a believable thing.”

“Remus? Are you over here?”

“Fuck, this place is pretty. Why do you think we’ve never seen it before?”

”Roman hoarding it to himself, most likely.”

No.

No.

No, no, no, why are they here?

The Imagination is his space. His place to be alone, to be messy, to be himself. They can’t—if they take this too, where else could he go?

“Yeah, I’m up here, so’s Ro, we just need to—whoa!”

Ollie had grabbed Remus bodily around the waist and thrown him far out into the water with a single arm. As the others come over the hill, more arms rise up and the Kraken takes a defensive stance, head raising with water pouring off the sides as it rumbles. The dragon growls too, her tail coming up to circle protectively around him.

”Roman,” he hears Patton call, his voice a little higher than normal, “Roman, come out and talk to us, please.”

Nope.

“Fuck, that thing’s huge,” he hears Virgil mutter and part of him wants to snap not to call Ollie a thing. “And the dragon too—how are we gonna—?”

“We won’t have to do anything, because Roman knows when enough is enough, and he’ll come out and talk like a mature person, won’t he?”

Nope. No, the fuck I won’t. The dragon growls too.

“Roman, be reasonable,” he hears Logan say, “you can’t expect us to take you seriously if this is how you want to have this conversation.”

On the contrary: this is the most seriously they’ve taken anything to do with Roman for a long time, and he has no intentions of having any sort of conversation right now.

“You’re not doing a very good job of demonstrating that you’ve learned from your mistakes,” he continues, “nor that we should be taking you seriously.”

“Or that we should continue being so patient,” he hears Janus mutter.

He knew it was coming, it’s been the only thing coming for months now, but it doesn’t make it hurt any less. Ollie heard it too, though, and gasps and scuffles come as more of the arms reach and Roman feels a sudden stab of fear—

He throws his arm out and miraculously, Ollie notices. He pauses, a questioning burble, and reaches an arm to lie on the grass near Roman. Roman rests a hand on it again, trying to swallow around the lump in his throat.

“They’ll be mad at me,” he whispers, “please—please just—just let them. I can’t—I can’t anymore.”

The dragon rumbles and Ollie makes a discontented noise, but his arms lower back into the water with a splash. Just then, another splashing noise accompanied by Patton’s cry of relief signals Remus’s return to the cove. Roman closes his eyes and tries to forget that he’s here. Maybe if he stays still and quiet enough, they’ll leave.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Remus says, “he wasn’t trying to hurt me, just get me away. Why he didn’t say that when he was the one to bring me over here in the first place, I don’t know, but—“

He’s cut off when a furious set of burbles comes from Ollie.

”Slow down, I can’t understand you like that.”

“Uh, Remus, could you get some sort of translator so we can all understand?”

“Sure. One sec.” A brief whiz and a flash of light. “There. Now: from the beginning?”

Ollie burbles again, but this time a deep gravely voice comes from what Roman guesses is the translation device.

“Red Prince is upset.”

“Red Prince? Is that Roman?”

“Yeah, that’s what they call him. Why’s he upset?”

The Kraken shifts. “You have made him upset. Red Prince comes everyday to She-Who-Tends-The-Clouds and he cries. He is cold. He is scared.”

“Scared?” Remus asks as the others mutter. “Why is he scared?”

“He was scared when I brought you.”

Roman flinches. They’re all going to take that the wrong way.

“Why was he scared when you brought me?”

An arm lifts from the water and points. “Because you bring the others. The Untouched. Those-Who-Do-Not-Shape.”

“Those who do not shape? I shape very much, thank you.”

“He means you don’t control the Imagination, Janny. But why would Ro be scared of that? Of you guys?”

Now his dragon snarls, her voice coming from the translator. “Because you do not protect him. You protect Green Duke. You do not protect Red Prince, you are cruel to him. He is scared of being hurt when he comes here. He is scared now because you have come where you are not supposed to be.”

“Uh, Miss Dragon? We only followed Remus, Remus brought us in here to show us something. We watched him get taken by that monster—“

“Don’t call him a monster,” Remus says lowly as Ollie growls.

“—sorry, sorry, by, um…by him and we wanted to make sure he was okay.”

“Why’d you bring me, Ollie, if you knew Ro was scared?”

The Kraken shifts as the water froths. “I brought you because you are his brood mate. I thought you were going to help.”

The condemnation in Ollie’s voice is enough to make Roman wince, squeezing the arm still on the grass lightly. The Kraken stills ever so slightly, the arm pressing back against his hand. The dragon noses his hair, blowing warm breath over him.

“I am sorry, Red Prince. I did not mean to bring this here.”

He shakes his head. He could never be mad at Ollie.

”Perhaps we’ve not had the best of first impressions,” Logan says, “I’m not sure either of us has the full picture here, but Roman—Red Prince, if you prefer—has been…acting unfairly towards us in the past, and we are concerned about his behavior.”

“You are correct in stating you do not have the full picture,” Ollie says, rising to an even more terrifying height, “for you do not know how much hurt you have been causing Red Prince.”

“I’m not sure you understand—“

“We understand that Red Prince is provoked to defending himself while the One-Who-Speaks-In-Storms mocks him. We understand that the One-Who-Speaks-In-Lies ridicules and confuses him. We understand that the One-Who-Speaks-In-Absolutes sees him as a disobedient child who only acts to get attention and not with other cause. And we understand that you, One-Who-Speaks-In-Rules, do not see him.”

The dragon picks up where Ollie leaves off, lifting her head to glare at them over the wing covering Roman.

“You mock and belittle his interests and scold him for being hurt over it. You act proprietary over the things you deem yours and chastise him for doing the same. You hold him accountable for every word he speaks and do not think that your words could be wielded just as carelessly. And when one of you is hurt by him,” and here she snarls at Remus, “you are quick to turn on him like a limb caught in a trap to be torn off.”

Roman hears the tense silence after she finishes speaking and braces himself.

“…I don’t believe this,” Virgil grumbles, “is this what Princey does everyday? He comes here and what, makes them believe we’re bullying him? Abusing him?”

“Torturing,” Janus says lightly, “I believe torturing would be more apt.”

“I understand that you’ve heard Roman’s perspective,” Logan says, his voice a little harder now, “but surely you must understand that there are two sides to every story. Are you not at all interested to hear ours?”

“From how you have behaved since setting foot on these shores,” the dragon growls, “no, we are not.”

“Do you even know what he said about Remus?” Patton says. “What made him so upset and us all ‘turn on him?’”

“He said that Green Duke is scary, and that you are scared of him. Because he threatens you with weapons that are sharp and screams that make your ears bleed.”

“Don’t you see how that’s mean?”

“Mean or not, it is the truth. And it is what Green Duke has said of himself.”

“They’re right,” Remus says before anyone else can say anything, “I did say that.”

“What—why?”

“Because it’s true. He came and asked me why you guys listened to me and I said it was ‘cause I…well, yeah.”

“Oh, Remus,” and Janus’s voice immediately softening hits Roman like a lightning strike, “you don’t really believe that, do you?”

“I think that yeah, you guys are scared of me sometimes. I…got caught off guard when Ro said it because Ro’s never been scared of me. At least…not until now.”

Wait. That’s why Remus was so upset? Because he thought Roman was scared of him? No, that’s—that’s not—

“But what do you mean ‘being proprietary,’ Ollie? Over what, the Imagination?”

“It is Red Prince’s job to come up with ideas. He claimed ownership of the role and was scolded. And yet when he tried to work in the way that the One-Who-Speaks-In-Rules does, he was scolded once more.”

“Wait, wait, wait, is this about that research thing Princey did like four months ago?”

“You mean the ‘thing’ that Ro spent days on, researching and annotating his stuff so that you guys would understand how much goes into creating stuff for Thomas? That ‘thing?’”

There’s a pause.

”They did not even look at it,” the dragon says, “they tossed it away while the One-Who-Speaks-In-Rules took offense to Red Prince’s comparison to his diligence.”

There’s another pause.

“We’re not…we’re not seriously buying this, are we? That Roman’s—that Roman’s—“

“Currently got a very angry Kraken and dragon defending him and still so scared that he hasn’t said a fucking word to us the whole time we’ve been here,” Remus interrupts Virgil, “yeah, Virgil, I think we’re buying it. Why the fuck didn’t any of you guys tell me this shit?”

“We didn’t—“

“Didn’t what? Didn’t think I should know that Roman’s been hurting? Didn’t think that Roman was hurt?”

“Don’t act all high and mighty,” Janus warns, “you also thought he was putting on an act until a few minutes ago.”

“Yeah, and I’m rapidly coming to the conclusion that that’s not true and I’ve been a real Class A Dickbag to my brother for like, three months.”

Logan’s scoff hurts. “Why would Roman act like that and believe it? In what set of circumstances would he ever behave that reasonably?”

Roman would not like to be here anymore. He shifts and taps the dragon’s side and she unfurls, humming soothingly as he climbs up into the dip on her back. Ignoring the shouts from the others. They take flight, climbing higher and higher into the sky, breaching the cloud layer and only then does Roman slump. Tears drying against the scales.

“Take me somewhere they won’t find me,” he begs, knowing she’ll hear it over the rush of the wind, “anywhere, please.”

***

“You guys,” Remus growls as the dragon flies away, “are dicks.”

”Again, Remus, you also believed—“

“Yeah, I did. But hey, guess what I don’t do: I don’t make fun of Roman for getting upset or excited about stuff, I don’t disregard his work or tell him he’s stealing my shit, and I don’t make fun of him for being scared. My whole fucking life, our whole fucking lives, Roman’s never been scared of me. Not once. And now? Guess what, now he’s scared of me. Because of this shit.”

“How could we have known this was how Roman was feeling? It’s not like he told us?”

“Yeah, I wonder the fuck why the person whose emotions you make fun of didn’t want to tell you his emotions. Oh, wow is, what a mystery this is.” Remus scrubs a hand over his face. “Fuck. Fuck.”

Ollie just watches them, arms idly toying with the water. He looks up at him, running a hand through his hair.

“You said every night?”

“Every night, Red Prince comes. Sometimes he is able to smile. Not often, not anymore. Mostly he cries, or is too quiet.” The arms shift again. “I have not heard Red Prince sing in a long time.”

That, more than anything else, sobers them. Roman sings. That’s what he does. The sky is blue, the grass is green, Roman sings. Remus takes a shaky breath and Logan adjusts his tie.

“Why is Roman crying?”

“He does not know what he is doing wrong. You did not like him as he was, you do not like him as he is now. You believe he is trying to trick you. What would he have to gain by tricking you?”

“Perhaps he thought that we would realize we treated him unfairly, and that we would apologize.”

“And did you?”

There’s another long pause.

“…oh, dear.”

***

Roman’s awoken in the night by his dragon snuffling at his shoulder. He blinks, sitting up from the bed of soft moss and flower-down to see a figure approaching the dragon’s cave. He blinks again and the silhouette of the wolf fades into view. The dragon hums a greeting and the wolf’s nose bows, before he steps aside and another figure appears.

Roman draws back and the dragon growls.

“It’s just me,” Remus says, hands raised, “I promise, I’m the only one here and I locked the Imagination behind me, no one else can come in. He can confirm.”

The wolf huffs. Roman eyes both of them warily. The dragon’s wing drapes around him.

“Please, Ro, please, I just wanna talk.”

The warring fear and hope make him stand on shaky legs, edging from the dragon’s protective embrace to where Remus can just about reach him. The wolf is a reassuring presence—he wouldn’t have brought Remus if he didn’t think he would be okay, he knows them both well enough.

The twins stand there, looking at each other in the thin shaft of moonlight.

“Are…are you scared of me, Ro?”

“No.”

“…really?”

“I’m scared of them. They all seem to think you need protection from me.”

“I don’t,” he says in a rush, “I never did. I should’ve told them, told you—“

“I said it wrong. It’s not your fault.”

“You said it fine, Roro, you said it fine. I—I miss you. The real you.”

A long pause. The dragon rumbles and the wolf blows out a long breath.

“…it’s not fair,” Roman whispers in the quiet of the night, “it’s not fair, Re.”

“I know, I know it’s not. I’m sorry I didn’t believe you, I’m sorry I didn’t know—“

"They hurt me, Re, they hurt me and they didn’t care at all and then they made it seem like I was always doing the wrong thing I I never knew what I was supposed to do—“

“I know, I know—“

“I just wanted them to listen to me, I just wanted them to take me seriously and they never do, they never did, it’s not fair, it’s not fair—it’s not fair—“

Remus bundles his brother in a massive hug that sends both of them to the ground, Roman sobbing into Remus’s chest as someone hugs him for the first time in ages. He’s so cold, he’s so warm, everything hurts, everything is so scary, he has no idea what the hell’s going to happen next, but then he feels the soft brush of the wolf’s nose over his forehead and the gentle rumble of the dragon lowering her wing around the two of them and he thinks maybe…maybe he can just exist here for right now and that’ll be okay.

***

“Princey? Whoa, hey,” Virgil says, raising his hands and taking a few steps back when Roman startles terribly, “didn’t mean to scare you, sorry, sorry.”

Roman just eyes him warily.

“We, uh, we wanted to talk to you. In the, uh, in the living room. Are you…free right now?”

“…I guess.”

Virgil’s shoulders slump in relief. “Great. Great, uh, that’s good. Uh, Remus is there too, so…”

Oh, thank god.

He follows Virgil downstairs and still balks when he sees everyone. Thankfully, Remus is standing in his usual spot by the TV and he holds out his arm for Roman to come stand with him. He goes over and Remus immediately snuggles up to his side.

“Roman,” Logan says, and his voice is so soft that it takes him a moment to even realize he’s holding something, let alone that it’s one of the binders from forever ago, “thank you for joining us. We owe you quite the apology.”

“Wh-what?”

“I apologize for how I’ve treated you,” he continues, still in that soft, soft voice, “it was rude and cruel of me to dismiss and belittle you the way I did. Especially with this—“ and he lifts the binder— “this is fascinating, and I would love to discuss it with you. I…understand that I’ve caused you considerable distress recently and I want you to know that I…I’m sorry, Roman, I’m so sorry.”

“Me next,” Patton says, “I’m sorry too. I assumed you were being immature and rude to us and so I was immature and rude to you. But you were just trying to get us to understand how you felt and I didn’t let you. I’m sorry, Roman, really. You didn’t deserve any of that, kiddo.”

“Now me.” And fuck, Janus is speaking gently to him too and Roman can’t deal with this, he can’t—but Remus holds him firmly. “I’m sorry, sweetie. It seems I—I seem to have a horrible habit of being very, very mean and cruel to you and I’ve never been more determined to break a habit.”

“Guess that leaves me.” Virgil grins sheepishly from under his fringe as Roman turns to stare at him. “I’m…I’m a real piece of shit to you, Princey. And I’m gonna work on it. It’s—I’m the reason shit feels really unfair to you a lot of the time ‘cause I’m the one poking you until you snap back at me, and then only you get yelled at, which sucks. So I’m…I’m gonna work on that. But it still sucks, also I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to accept any of them,” Remus murmurs when Roman just stares bleakly at them, “you don’t have to decide anything right now either.”

Roman just blinks.

“Do you need to go be alone right now?” He nods. “Okay. You tell Ollie I say hi?”

He nods. Remus plants a big obnoxious kiss on his cheek and lets him go and he sinks straight into the Imagination, leaving the rest of them in the living room.

***

That was three months ago.

He did cry again that night, just because he was so overwhelmed. His dragon cuddled him and Ollie swam him around the pretty coral reefs to make him feel better. The wolf even gave him a ride over to Remus’s side to see the galaxy clouds from the tall tower.

He did accept their apologies after a few days, but he said he’d need time. They agreed and he felt…strange.

He went to the meetings, Remus by his side, and slowly he started to share his ideas again. It didn’t go very smoothly, not at first, but then bit by bit it got a little better. He still didn’t want to talk about anything that was actually important to him, because that was too scary.

Then he had a panic attack when Remus wasn’t there and Janus wrapped him up in all his arms, murmuring gentle reassurance in his ear while Logan carefully talked him through it. Patton made him hot chocolate and Virgil covered him in a weighted blanket so he could rest. He was so confused, so scared, so unable to relax until Janus helped him take another sip with a gentle kiss on his cheek and he broke.

It took Logan two seconds to figure out he was touch starved.

Tuesday nights became Cuddle-Roman nights, all of them swaddled in blankets and pillows while Roman cried a little—or a lot—just from how new this was. They got very sad when he said that and he didn’t sleep alone for about a week.

He still went to the Imagination. Sometimes he needed to be by himself and there was nothing wrong with that. His dragon took him flying and cuddle with him on mountaintops, Ollie went swimming with him and the wolf went on walks when he was upset and needed someone to just be there. And Remus would always come play with him whenever he wanted to.

And maybe…maybe things would be okay. Maybe things would get better now.

General Taglist: @frxgprince@potereregina@gattonero17@iamhereforthegayshit@thefingergunsgirl@awkwardandanxiousfander@creative-lampd-liberties@djpurple3@winterswrandomness@sanders-sides-uncorrect-quotes@iminyourfandom@bullet-tothefeels@full-of-roman-angst-trash  @ask-elsalvador @ramdomthingsfrommymind@demoniccheese83@pattonsandershugs @el-does-photography @princeanxious@firefinch-ember@fandomssaremysoul@im-an-anxious-wreck@crazy-multifandomfangirl @punk-academian-witch@enby-ralsei@unicornssunflowersandstuff@wildhorsewolf @thetruthaboutthesun @stubbornness-and-spite @princedarkandstormv  @your-local-fookin-deadmeme @angels-and-dreams@averykedavra @a-ghostlight-for-roman @treasurechestininterweb @cricketanne @queerly-fluid-fan @compactdiscdraws@cecil-but-gayer@i-am-overly-complicated@annytheseal@alias290@tranquil-space-ninja @arxticandy @mychemically-imbalanced-romance@whyiask@crows-ace @emilythezeldafan@frida0043 @ieatspinalcords @snowyfires@cyanide-violence@oonagh2@xxpanic-at-the-everywherexx@rabbitsartcorner @percy-07734@triflingassailantofmyemotions @virgil-sanders-the-gay-emo@cerulean-watermelon@puffed-up-bees@meltheromanstan@joyrose-fandomer@insanitori@mavenmush@justablah65@10paradox10@uhhh-hi-there-i-am-nervous@cutebisexualmess@bella-bugatti-frogetti-baguetti@ultrageekygirl

[lolitastories]

How Could I Not Hate You

Pt.4

Thomas Shelby

In the morning before walking out the door I was intersected by Zilpha asking questions. I technically didn’t lie when I said I got a job at teaching. I had spoken to Mrs.Clarice and she told me about an opening at the orphanage and I went to check it out yesterday. Short words with little explanation she nods and wishes me a good day. If I told her I was walking into the lion's den she would probably send me straight in but tell the Shelby’s who I truly was so they would end up killing me (Kidding, I hope.) So the day consisted of me untrusting everyone as their eyes spoke the same. Polly didn’t have to use words because her eyes told me everything. As I walked through the house and learned to accommodate myself with the area but most importantly the children, I had an eye on my back. Women talk and if I had to be worried about someone finding out where I was from, that would be Polly.

“Katie you need to take your nap,” The young girl was twisting and turning while her other 3 siblings fell straight into a slumber. “Let's do this” I drag a chair carefully beside her crib and settle her on her stomach. I am not a singer but I can hum some tones. “Promise you won’t speak of this?” The young girl turns her head back and forth fighting her sleep. I place the blanket on top of her and tuck it in on her side so she is unable to escape. I start to soothe her back and make small circles humming along to a song. As I watch her head lay finally flat and her eyes close with such need I still continue to soothe her. I have loved being around kids since I was young. Teaching them and helping them explore the world is a privilege that as a teacher, I’m honored to have. But as I sat here I wondered and thought if it would feel better as a mother? My smile dies once I return to reality. A reality brought back by a simple sigh leaving Katie’s lips. I move back carefully, placing the chair back and unlocking the door to walk out.

“Katie?” I jump slightly, turning around to see Polly behind me. Her fingers holding a cigarette and her eyes holding curiosity. “She always has trouble laying down,” I smile, agreeing with her.

“Next time I will warm up her milk and allow her to tire herself out.” I smile. I patted my hands on my skirt letting out some tension in my hands.

“Scared of me?” I raise my brow acknowledging her question. “You took a step back,” She points out which I guess I unconsciously did.

“I don’t like cigarettes.” I pointed out blankly hoping to not upset her some more.

“Oh yes, Tommy mentioned that.” She acted surprised and set off her cigarette. “Forgive me. I don’t usually do it when the kids are around so their nap is the perfect time.”

“I didn’t mean to be an inconvenience, you don’t have to stop on my account.I will grab my things and leave.” I say in a lower voice and head upstairs to grab my things. “Like if the kids didn’t see much already-” My mumbling stopped as I saw Thomas passing by the hallway.

“How was the first day?” He walked towards me with a monotone voice. “Should I be apologizing?” I shake my head. “Then why do you look scared?”

“Polly just asked me the same thing,” I smile, shaking my head again. “I don’t mean to look that way.” I rush to place my coat. “The kids were great,” When I turn back he stands only inches away from me. “It made my love for teaching reach another level,” I whisper. Unsure on how I allowed the words to flow out so naturally with him so close.

“I guess I put one wish to use” I couldn’t help but chuckle.

“I am a genie now or something?” I shake my head but my laugh dies down when he cups my cheek. His eyes look down towards my lips and with a sweet calm tone he speaks again.

“Yes.” He walks closer and his other hand travels around my waist to pull me closer. “and if I ask for a kiss-” I did it without thinking, Of course by the surprise look on his face he didn’t expect my next action because it wasn’t the kiss he was asking for. My lips made contact with his cheek and I hurried to pull away and walk out the room.

“See you tomorrow, Mr.Shelby” I bid goodbye to Polly before exiting the Arrow house. Truthfully if I didn’t have to hurry back for some cause Zilpha needed me for, my body would have stayed engulfed in Thomas’s arms. I rushed through the door and started to undress.

“You are late!” Zilpha screamed walking through the door. “I need you to help me handle Esme,” She paced around the room throwing her hands in frustration. “Thankfully she will no longer be my problem after today,” I stopped in my tracks.

“What is that supposed to mean?” I fixed my collar as I took big steps towards her. “What do you mean by that Zilpha?” I know what a handful Esme could be.

“I am marrying her off. At Least her marriage will bring peace!” I rush to place on my shoes and fix my hair the best I could before rushing to find Esme. She must be freaking out. “Esme?” I scream out looking over the crowd to find her. Men with guns protecting the ceremony and people I haven't seen before already in place to see the event.

“Over here!” My head turns to the right and sees her standing there with her white dress on and a vail.

“Esme,” I let out a sigh seeing her not only smile but looking around excitedly. “Are you okay?” I was still worried.

“I’m good.” She pats my hands and turns me to see the scene unfolding. “Zilpha said he was young and handsome” She squeals happily, turning me around again. “I can’t wait to get married” I let out a sigh of contentment.

“Well then, I can’t wait to see you marry.” She smiled, giving me a quick hug before rushing towards the altar and kneeling down. I look around and see Zilpha waving me down to stand alongside her in the front lines. With each step I felt happier and happier for Esme, of course that was until I saw the men walking towards the aisle. Spooked I rush to Zilpha’s side and hide my figure among the crowd. She was marrying a Shelby. Thomas in attendance along with his brothers. My eyes every other second reached to look over to him and mentally scream at myself. My trance was broken when the crowd clapped and cheered the newly wed couple.

“Now I only have you left to wed” My eyes widen at Zilpha’s words. She grins patting my back. “Let me welcome our new members to the family” She puts on a smile and walks away. My body jolts towards the house and closes the door behind me. I will have to face Thomas eventually but I am hoping it will be in a couple of days, when I pay for a ticket out of here. Maybe staying in my room for the rest of the night wasn’t a bad idea. So I did. I watched through the windows how they danced all night. The fire burned as the smoke flew above. The music played and they sang. Somehow the chaos was like a lullaby to my ears as I layed on my bed curled up in my blanket. My eyes open when I hear a slight knock on my door. I get up walking towards the door and twisting the door knob but something else pushes it open.

“Mr Shelby,” I walked back frightened by his sudden stance. The light from the bottom ground was casting a bit of light through my window. The light from the hallway drew a slight pathway into my room. The rest of it is dark, just like his facial expression. I had changed clothes to sleep in just a couple minutes ago so I had clothes on, but I felt naked in his presence. He took enough steps in to shut the door behind him. I had to do something, screaming didn’t feel like the right choice. “Thomas” I innocently said, walking cautiously towards him. My body is so closed to him now and I begin to notice how his breath became heavier and fast paced, he was mad.

“Zilpha,” He said dryly, it made me stop my advances towards him. “She started describing a girl she took in. How she moved to America,” He took a step forward, the only one needed to finally be against him. “The one who loves teaching,” One hand moves around my waist and the other to grip my chin. “Beautiful hair and even prettier skin” His fingers slowly caress my exposed skin. I whine feeling his cold fingers make contact. My hand gripped his coat. “Told me how she returned a couple of days ago and finally found a job,” He moves my hair out the way and settles his face in the crook of my neck. I close my eyes feeling his warm breath against my skin. Small goosebumps trailing down my body. “When she finally spoke your name I’d admit,” With a single kiss he pulled back. His hand moves to grip the back of my hair. “I was a bit angry that you would lie to me.” Shit. “But then I realized you lied to her too,” Double shit. “Then she told me you never wanted to be part of their business.” I nod slowly, my actions leading to him sway us slightly until the back of my knees hit the side of the bed. “So I think we have a couple of things to talk about,” He suddenly lets go and puts some distance between us. What the fuck?. I could literally feel my inside screaming and tearing themselves apart. I now realized how much my body craved him.

“Thomas?” If he could see my face he would see how desperate I was for him but by the sound of my voice, it was apparent. He laughed at my whines and walked past me to sit on the edge of the bed.

“We need to start clean this time. No more lies,” I let out a deep sigh accepting it. I went to turn to face him but I froze, feeling his hand traveling up and down the inside of my leg, yet not reaching where I needed him the most. “So I know your backstory,” I nod. “Your dislike of cigarettes and alcohol,” Fuck you Shelby. I groaned. The teasing with his slight touch and some squeezes was driving me to the edge. “How great you are with kids and love teaching.” Fuck it. My body twisted in no time and I took my time sitting on his lap. My hands moved to circle around his neck. “How you love helping people,” He didn’t seem bothered by the closeness. “How innocent you are,” I smile looking down. “That you are a Lee but don’t want nothing to do with the family business, why?” Now that was Thomas Shelby. All dead in the eyes and with his serious tone when it came to business. His hands still place on the side of him on the bed.

“Because I know how damaging it can be on a person, or the people they love” I whisper. I can feel his body tense at my words. “But I stick around because I love them, they also respect my choices.” I hated serious talk. Everything with him has been so serious so I took his silence as a chance to finally crack him open. I lean against his shoulders to raise my lower body but only to straddle him. His hands instantly shot to grip my hip. I hear a small groan escape his mouth and I smile with pride. “Do you want to know more?” My head moves to the side of his face. I whisper in his ear and he nods. Everything am about to do I only heard from girls with experience, but that doesn’t mean I will be doing it but fuck it. I start to grind my hips into his and a jolt of electricity ignites a spark in my core. “Thomas,” I whined, gripping harder onto his hair. “I like this feeling” I let out a desperate sigh. “How good you are making me feel,” His forehead resting against my shoulder as his hands guide me with the pace.

“I want to know more” He groans smelling in my scent and fuck, why was that so hot?. “I want to know how you taste” His hand moved to grip my hair out the way as he attached his lips on my skin. He begins with a kiss but soon advances to licking and finally sucking.

“Fuck!” I groan, pulling my head back. “please” I whined, grabbing onto his face. “I want you to know everything” His stupid smirk disappears when he pulls my face closer and finally kisses me. His lips hungrily attack mine and I am at his feet following and accepting everything he is giving me.

“Are you sure?” I know it was a question but his tone said it wasn’t. I move my hands to my waist and grab the flimsy material of my shirt and pull it off.

“I want to know more about myself and I want you to teach me,” My eyes looked up at him innocently. My hands grip his big ones and move them to cover my breasts. I give it a squeeze, making me close my eyes and push against his touch. “Please Tommy” I whined when he pulled his hands away but only to grip my back and pull me closer. I liked this better. His lips attached to one side and started licking and sucking. “Shit” My hips jump in excitement feeling the other flick and grip my other breast. He continues to switch attention to each,

“Keep moving” He demanded and as If I was programmed I instantly started moving my hip. The tightness and the feeling of my wetness was sending to the clouds.

“I like this” Love!. Thomas groans and starts to move harsher. “More” I whined. I don’t know how anything could top this. My hips moving against his. His lips attached to me and my hands grip the back of his hair again. Then I was left with the mouth opened. His free hand travels down and passes my waist line. “Thomas” I warned but in a scared way.

“Let me show you how better this could be” He says pulling apart but as soon as he sees me nod he reconnect to my breast. I close my eyes, focusing on his fingers, as they glide lower and swipe my heat.

“Fuck” I jump but his other hand grip my hip to continue on grinding on him. His fingers rubbing my clit and I have officially gone to heaven. “¡Yes!” I moaned, moving my hips fast.

“Just like that, better eh?” I nod eagerly. “Such a pretty view” He moves forward, setting kisses along my collar bone and on my chest. “Been wanting to do this since I saw you all got wet at the bar” I smile.

“Faster Tommy” A small grunt from his throat and he moves his fingers at a faster pace.

“Now I got you all wet here and it's even better.” His actions and words were intoxicated. “Becoming such a needy little girl” My head shut down capturing his lips. Our moans loud as our bodies danced. 

“Tommy!?” I widen my eyes feeling a pressure in my lower stomach. “Fuck, shit!” I grip his shoulder welcoming the feeling. He grips my hips harder and moves us with more pressure.

“So beautiful coming on my lap” My mind was in a haze. My core shaken, my legs unable to move any more. “Cum” I came at this command. I will say it again, like I was already programmed for this with him. “Are you okay?” I probably looked stupid smiling big when I looked over to him. His hands move higher, removing my hair out of the way.

“Amazing.” I peck his lips moving to stand but my legs didn’t budge. His small laugh caused embarrassment to rush up my cheeks.

“I can’t wait to teach you more, yeah?” I closed my eyes, embracing him when he pulled us closer. “Let's get you cleaned up, you have work in the morning.”

“You are allowing me to continue working for you?” He wraps his arm around my waist and with one go he was standing before me again only this time he held me for support.

“Unless you don’t want to?” It's not like I had any other choice. Zilpha thought I was working so I can’t quit in fear she might ask why and either I have to tell her I didn’t like the job and that would lead her to rushing down to the orphanage and giving them a piece of her mind or me telling her I was quitting because I found something better and then she will ask me to stay forever or conclude in her head I am moving. None of them sounded like something I wanted to deal with now, especially if anything leads her to finding out about Thomas.

“For now,” It was the best I could say. Who knows what this friendship? relationship? was going to bring. I look up seeing his uneasiness printed on. “Will you stay with me tonight?” I moved to trail my finger down his face. Taking in how pretty he looks. How his blue eyes look down at me.

“Okay,”

[welcometothedopeworld]

Sure to Kiss You ~ *Aoi Kureha*

Summary: Aoi and you have been dating for awhile now. However you have yet to have your first kiss. Is it perhaps because he's ashamed of you? Or is he unsure of his feelings?

Pairing: Aoi Kureha X G/N!Reader

Genre: Fluffyish Oneshot

Word Count: 1397

Warning: N/A

Masterlist

Aoi Kureha doesn’t do romance. It’s just a fact. It’s a fact you’d never hold against him, of course. You were just fine with taking things nice and slow for him. However, VISTY used the hypocritical notion that he was dating someone but didn’t like romance as a way to tease him.

“Have you and your girlfriend even kissed yet?”

Aoi felt his cheeks burn at Thoma’s question. “No. Why would I want to do that? Why would anyone want to do that?”

Thoma groaned. “Because there is nothing in the world that's as wonderful as kissing a beautiful woman. Nothing can compare, not even being on stage singing to millions of adoring fans.”

“I highly doubt that.”

“No, he’s right.” Shogo sighed, the tips of his ears tinted red. “There really is nothing like kissing someone you love with your whole heart.”

“You’re both annoying.” He whined. “I don’t see any reason why I should constantly be kissing Y/n to show them how much I care about them. It seems arbitrary to me. Besides, they should know I care about them.”

“And yet you never show them off, engage in any kind of physical affection, or even talk about them for that matter.” Kantaro chuckled to himself.

Aoi sneered at him. “Shut up.”

Thoma sighed. “All I’m saying is, you’ve been dating for practically forever now and neither one of you has kissed once! What makes it any different than just being friends?”

For once, Aoi was stunned into silence. Friends? Is that what everyone saw the two of you as? Sure, he wanted to keep the whole fact that you two were dating a secret, especially from the tabloids. But what if you only saw him as a friend, just like everyone else? Maybe he wanted to just be friends with you. Maybe what he really wanted was another friend, besides the members of VISTY, because he was secretly lonely and enjoyed your companionship so much.

And deep down he trusted you with his life, as much as it pained him.

Perhaps Thoma was right. You were just friends. Good friends, close friends. And he supposed that was fine with him. Sure a small little part was nagging at him, but the idea of friends sounded better than nothing.

His phone buzzed in his pocket. You texted him. You were here.

Wait, why were you here?

Quickly, he got up and went to open the door of the door building for you. He frowned. “What are you doing here?”

“I thought I would surprise you!” You exclaimed. “I was wondering if you wanted to get something to eat or even grab a coffee. Then I’ll be out of your hair, I promise.”

He tried to scowl, averting his eyes so he wouldn’t get blinded by the innocent sparkle in yours. “Yeah, fine, whatever. Let me just get my things before we go.”

As he grabbed a mask, sunglasses, and a hat, Kantaro gave him a cheesy grin. “Make sure to have fun, but not too much fun, alright? We still have work tomorrow.”

Aoi felt his cheeks turn red at the statement, but he simply flipped him off as he left with you. With a sweet smile, you directed him to your usual coffee shop, close but not too close so that people would get the wrong idea. And once the two of you were inside, you gently touched his elbow, making him jump.

“Sorry, I just wanted to let you know that I got a private table in the back this time around. You know, so we can talk and get closer.”

Oh God.

Thoma was right.

You wanted to kiss him.

Could he do it? Could he kiss you? He thought you were just friends. Close friends that didn’t do this kind of romance stuff. But maybe you thought your relationship was different than what he thought. Maybe you thought of him like an actual boyfriend, even though he’s been everything but. His stomach was painfully churning and his palms were starting to sweat. He was so nervous, he wasn’t sure he could do this. But the way you smiled at him like that, like he was the best person in the world, he found it very hard to say no.

“Fine. Lead the way.”

Your bright smile became even brighter as you showed him to the private table. Getting both of your coffees, you handed his cup to him. “I’m sorry I ambushed you like this, but we’ve both been so busy, I thought we could both use a break. If you don’t want to talk, we don’t have to. I'm okay with just sitting here with you.”

It was astounding how kind and considerate you were of his thoughts and feelings. You never forced him to be anything more than what he was and always understood when he needed things to be slower. you were so wonderful that way.

But Thoma’s words to him shook something deep inside himself. It almost felt like he was taking you for granted. And you deserved more than that. You deserved more than the life he could give you.

The least he could do was kiss you.

“Aoi? Are you okay?”

Your sweet voice pulled him out of his deep thoughts. He noticed your hand twitch towards him out of the corner of his eye, but you never touched him. It made his heart hurt for a second. Did he really keep you that far away that you felt uncomfortable even touching him?

“Why don’t you hold my hand?” He asked before he could stop himself.

Blinking in shock, you answered, “Oh, you want me to? I thought it was because you didn’t want me to. You know, so it wouldn’t cause a scandal.”

“I want you to.”

“You do?”

He nodded slowly. “I-I do. I mean, what’s the point in dating if we don’t do “couple things” with each other?”

“Aoi, are you okay?”

“I’m fine-”

You shook your head. “No, really, are you okay? You’re acting differently. Did something happen?”

He wasn’t sure what to say. Does he tell you the truth or does he keep it to himself? He didn’t know what to do or what to say anymore. Everything seemed so different now and he was just so confused.

Your hand touched his.

Electricity zipped through him, as if he was struck by lightning, and he looked into your worried eyes. “Aoi, you can tell me anything. I won’t judge you, not for a second. I promise.”

“I want to kiss you.”

He had no idea how you did it. But as soon as your hand touched his, he wanted to tell you everything he was thinking and feeling in a rush of words he was sure would sound like gibberish. He felt so vulnerable around you and he trusted you so much it scared him. But he said what was on his mind anyway. And now his face was redder than red.

“Oh.” Your jaw slightly dropped in shock, rapidly blinking. “I see.”

“You don’t have to, you know.” He replied. Though he sounded annoyed, he really was just embarrassed.

“Do you want to kiss me, Aoi?”

“I just said-”

“No, do you really want to kiss me?” You stared deep into his eyes and he felt his stomach flip. “Because I don’t want to do anything you’re uncomfortable with.”

You were giving him an out. He could take it and pretend it was a joke. He could laugh it off and call you stupid for taking what he said as the truth. But he couldn’t. No, he was going to at least try it.

“I want to kiss you.”

Nodding, you leaned over the table gently and pressed your lips softly to his. It was soothing and warm. He could feel his cool heart fill with the warmth of your love. Even though it was just a simple kiss, he could feel all the love you felt for him after all these years. Nothing changed with you. You were still the same and you still loved him, even if it didn’t seem like he loved you. For once since he began dating you for all these years, he felt sure about his feelings for you.

When you pulled away, he smiled softly at you.

“Can we do that again?”

[sectumsempress1]

Good Omens Season 3: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Sectumsempress1, Hag

Or that one time I watched Good Omens, felt the claws of hyperfixation sink into my flesh for the first time in years, re-watched Good Omens more times than I care to admit and then drowned in a mind palace of analysis and delusion, resulting in this season 3 predictions bingo card coupled with unnecessarily long explanations for each square.

I'm gonna post these explanations one or two squares at a time, and honestly my first theory (probably not mine, I'm sure others have also come to this conclusion) deserves its own post because wowee I'm insane about this one.

Let's talk about why I think Crowley may have been Jophiel or Jeremiel before they fell.

I have seen endless theories about who Crowley could have been before The Fall; Lucifer, Barachiel, Raphael, Samael... and I see some evidence for all of these. However, I raise you;

Great question babygirl.

Okay me when I lie.

Yes, I took this throwaway line and went insane over it don't worry about it. Anyway. First J angel that I think could make sense is:

Jophiel "Beauty of God"

Jophiel is described in some texts as the guardian of wisdom and a teacher of languages to souls at the dawn of creation. She is also recognised as a teacher to Noah's children (specifically Shem) by C.E. Clement, Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa and Thomas Rudd.

And yes I am aware this is post-Fall Crowley and not the angel they were, but it's interesting that Shem was mentioned specifically regardless. Neil has wounded me so, I just feel that nothing is unintentional. Anyway, any iteration of Crowley as a teacher just feels right based on all we've seen of them.

(How he acts with Muriel, answering Jim's questions, showing Jesus the kingdoms of the world.)

Jophiel is also heavily associated with beauty and creativity.

Okay Mr. 'Pointedly Unusual Imagination.' Bit beautiful and creative of you.

Now here's where it gets buck wild. So Jophiel is not explicitly mentioned in the bible (in fact only Michael, Raphael and Gabriel are consistently mentioned) but scholars interpret Genesis 3:24 as referring to him.

"He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and aflaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life."

Yeah. It is widely agreed upon that Archangel Jophiel wielded the flaming sword and cast Adam and Eve out of Eden. Now, obviously, in Good Omens canon, Aziraphale did this. But... what if that wasn't the original plan? What if, after Jophiel and the others were cast out, the work rosters in Heaven had to be shuffled around a bit? And what if Aziraphale, having met this beautiful, curious starmaker so long ago took on their role himself?

What if Crowley and Aziraphale began the arrangement long before either of them had the words to understand what it was? All because the angel couldn't understand why he felt so drawn to the Fallen who couldn't remember.

(Edited because I've already come up with a new theory. I still stand by all of this and want it to be true so badly, but I think that Crowley does remember. I think Aziraphale is the one whose memory may have been tampered with. That doesn't change the core of the Jophiel theory, I just think that upon reflection, a personal relationship with Crowley is not what caused Aziraphale to take his old job.)

It also makes sense to then make Crowley the Serpent of Eden, if they had perhaps already planned to go to Eden anyway.

Jophiel is also widely known as Metatron's companion, which explains why he is so aggressive towards Crowley in a really cold, personal way. Yes, Metatron knows of everyone and everything so him knowing Crowley's story isn't odd in itself. But the glare...

To me, this reads as "I know you. I've known you. I know exactly what you're capable of and I will not take it. Not again. Behave." It's like a glare a parent would give their toddler for misbehaving in public. It feels pointedly personal. Almost as though they've worked together in the past in a way that ended badly for Metatron and he is on high alert to ensure it doesn't happen again.

Again here. Metatron doesn't speak about Crowley in a general 'all fallen angels suck' sense. It's personal. His choice of words, the tone, everything points to him having been personally wronged by the angel Crowley was.

Also just look at Jophiel's goddamn curly little red hair are you kidding me right now Neil Gaiman I am in your WALLS.

Also some more fun facts: Jophiel is shown as male and female presenting, leads people to a deeper understanding of the beauty of the universe, is regarded as an angel of wisdom, is known to protect those who seek truth, battles against forces of darkness and ignorance... and is strongly associated with the colour yellow.

Nice eyes babe.

Anyway, I am so delulu about this specific theory because if it is true it would show Aziraphale and Crowley's grand cosmic connection in a way that is honestly just ineffable.

But however much I long for Jophiel to be it... there is also some evidence for it being:

Jeramheel/Jeremiel "God shall have mercy"

In religious texts, Jeremiel is known as the angel who presides over true visions, often appearing in dreams and visions to bring truth. He appears to decipher Baruch's visions and give him a tour of heaven in the book '2 Baruch', and God sends him to answer the prophet Ezra's questions regarding the apocalypse in the book '2 Esdras'.

He also served as an angel of death, watching over and guiding souls to heaven and helping them learn from their earthly experiences.

This again goes back to Crowley's belief that everyone has the right to answers and being a good teacher because of that. It would make sense for them to have had this role in their angelic days as well, despite it eventually coming back to bite them.

Jeremiel is often depicted with a book or a scroll, symbolising the importance of knowledge.

Also, while Zadkiel is known as the angel of forgiveness and mercy, many people also consider Jeremiel (god shall have mercy) in this role... which would make Aziraphale's constant attempts to forgive him and his insistence that he is unforgivable even more devastating, and why I have ongoing theories about a role reversal occurring when it comes to this theme of forgiveness (more on this later).

Right. So I am obviously clutching at my delusion of it being Jophiel, but Jeremiel is a wider known angel with more canonical basis for actually being an archangel, which is why he also makes a lot of sense to me.

Thank you for joining me in this downward spiral into insanity. Look forward to part two!

[creativepawsworld]

Silence - Chapter 52

Pairing = Thomas Shelby x OC

Summary = The Shelby Businesses are out of control. Tommy is at breaking point.

Warnings 18+ = Language...Grammar...implied sexual assault... guns...violence...Alcohol consumption... Gambling mentioned... cheating on partner implied

Word Count = 2,668

Note = So sorry it is late guys. I have had a hell of a few weeks with my home and going back to school. This is honestly my only escape at the minute.

For a long time I went back and forth as to whether or not I bring a certain blond barmaid back. After much thought I have mentioned her to aid the ending of this story and what happens to Tommy if that makes sense. Anyway. I hope you Enjoy and again apologies it is late.

The next morning I stood next to Esme in the back room of the betting shop. John was talking about the business with the family or the lack of it. Campbell and his men had come in and piece by piece took what they as a family had built. I had never seen Tommy look so lost, so defeated as he stared at John. I could tell he had a million problems running through his head and not a single solution to any one of them.

“This meeting should only be for family. She is not family.” Polly pointed to Esme as soon as she tried to speak her opinion. She was upset about Michael, it was her son. A son she just got back and quickly lost again.

I could understand her upset what I couldn’t understand was her gripe with Esme. How I saw it, was that Esme was more family than I was, she had the Shelby name, she bared John a son. I was still only pregnant with Tommy's child, but I did not share his name, not yet at least.

“Let her speak” Tommy put up his hand as Polly started speaking unbelievably fast to the point where she was almost incoherent. “ENOUGH. Enough Polly. Esme.” Tommy demanded, a serious look in his eyes as he shut down his aunt who had the look of disbelief in her eyes that he would dismiss her so abruptly.

As Esme began to speak, I began to think how only a few years ago everything in my life was quiet, uneventful. Perhaps boring. But it was pleasant. I had a toxic but seemingly perfect family to the outside world. Life was somewhat normal. But now here I stood pregnant, unwed. A whore in some people’s eyes and the eyes of the church. A life I most certainly did not envision for myself.

“If Michael ever gets out of prison. I am taking him far away from this family. For good” Polly got into Tommy’s face, threatening him before looking at me. “And you should do the same, Ana. This life is bad.”

I stood silently watching Polly walk away, dragging Finn with her as I cradled my bump. Tommy looked over at me, making eye contact. I bit my cheek looking away from him for only a moment. It seemed everyone had the same warning and yet I seemed to stay. Why? I would question myself.

Tommy sat down folding his hands in front of his mouth, he closed his eyes in deep thought. I stood by the wall as Esme spoke to Tommy but I wasn’t listening to what she was saying. Too lost in my thoughts. John walked passed me, gently patting my shoulder in support as he left. Esme turned back to speak to Tommy once more, speaking lowly.

“Imagine riding away Thomas. Living the real life. Your gypsy half is stronger. You just want to ride away. France is a new place for us, they say.” Esme leaned closer, Tommy staring directly into her eyes, emotionless. “Lots of metal lying around still. Guns and trucks and shells and things. Then we go south. Sainte Marie. Where the Black Madonna is. My brothers go sometimes. They allow you to get lost. It’s like a home for them. Could be for you as well Thomas. You and your new family.”

I didn’t know much about Tommy’s gypsy heritage, he rarely spoke about it. It was always business and work. Rarely he would ask about the baby but most of the time he connected with our unborn child through touch. Especially at night when he thought I was sleeping. I would feel his hand cradle our child, slowly rubbing the swell of my stomach until he fell asleep.

Listening to Esme speak to him, I wasn’t sure if she was getting through to him but it seemed like she had. What she described sounded like a solution to all our problems. A new start away from it all. Away from the Italians, the police. Campbell. No more dirty business. Just Tommy, me and our baby. That's what I wanted, wasn’t it?

“I’ve been to France Esme.” Tommy looked at her unphased. “So has John. Now get your coat and go with your husband” I inhaled softly, of course, he wouldn’t go for it but when he reached up taking Esme’s jaw I stepped forward. “If you ever talk about getting lost again I’ll cut you…from this family” He paused in between his words making my heart beat faster before letting her go.

“What family?” Esme asked looking around.

“That is enough Esme” I stepped towards the table ready to defend Tommy. “Time to go find John, talk to whoever you said you were going to talk with. Go on.”

I stared her down as she left, placing a supportive hand on Tommy’s shoulder as I watched her leave. Tommy and I weren’t perfect, there was still friction between us after what happened with Major Campbell but I felt he was suffering enough with his empire crashing around him.

Tommy stayed silent sitting at the table, he leaned back resting a hand on my bump. He was trying to bring himself down and back to some sort of peace. I couldn’t help but wonder how the hell we got into such a mess and I knew Tommy was thinking the same. It all came back to one man, one parasite. Campbell.

“What’s the plan, Tommy?” I asked softly reaching up and running my hand through his hair. Tommy shook his head, his hand still caressing our child in my swollen stomach.

“I don’t know Stace. I haven’t no fuckin’ clue” He sighed, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. Inhaling away at the stick. The sound of it burning was the only noise made in the eerily quiet room.

“What if what Esme says is true?” I asked softly. Feeling his hand drop from my stomach I knew instantly I had said the wrong thing. Tommy was always like a time bomb ready to explode at any moment, I had seen him do so on many occasions. I just hoped this wasn’t one of those times.

“Esme is wrong,” Tommy replied flatly, squashing his cigarette in the ashtray in front of him. “There is nothing in France and there never will be”

“The war is…”

“I am fully aware of the status of the war.” Tommy quickly cut me off from speaking. “France is a dead land. There is nothing there. Not anymore. We do not run. We do not hide. We are the Peaky fucking Blinders.” Tommy stood up.

“Are we? Because it seems to be just you and I standing here Tommy.” I pointed to the empty Shelby home. The once bustling betting shop quiet since the Campbell raids. Tommy shot me a cold look and I shook my head looking towards the door.

“I will fix this.” Tommy pointed an index finger at me. “You hear me yeah? I will fix this”

“Yeah, how?” I asked turning back to face him. “How?” I repeated crossing my arms across my chest, my forearms resting on my bump.

“I will and when I do, we marry. You hear me eh? Before this baby is born and things are fucking settled we marry.” Tommy walked over to me resting his hands on my hips. “You hear me?”

“I hear you” I whispered, tears in my eyes at his words and the hormones that came with his pregnancy. Hearing him say those words, made me happy. It made me realise, that before the baby was born I was already approaching seven months. Therefore in two months, I will be a Shelby with a newborn.

Maybe the future wasn’t so dark.

*******

Later that evening I arrived at Polly’s home. I tried the front door noticing it was open so I let myself inside. I stood by the door and I hung up my hat and coat, taking a garment I had made for her in my hands and walking along her wooden floor, my heels clicking off the hardwood.

“Polly?” I called out softly as I made my way through her home. I walked into the living room and noticed her back to me. She was in the bath. “Polly everything okay?” I asked approaching the older woman slowly.

“I’m alright.” Polly’s voice was no louder than a whisper. I cautiously stepped forward leaving the skirt I made on the arm of a chair as I approached her. She wasn’t relaxed in the bath, she held her knees to her chest. Slowly scooping the water up with her hand and throwing it around her shoulders.

“Polly” I whispered stepping forward, gently putting my hand on her shoulder but she flinched away from me. “What happened?” I whispered noticing light bruising on her thighs.

“I’m alright,” Polly repeated. I had a feeling I knew what had happened to her but I didn’t want… I couldn’t say the words out loud.

“Can I make you some tea?” I asked not sure of what else to do for this woman. She wasn’t herself. It was like she was an empty shell. Not getting a response I moved towards the kitchen making a fresh pot of tea.

I heard the front door open again, hearing Ada’s voice I rushed to the hallway to greet her. She looked up at me in surprise, smiling until she noticed my face. “What’s wrong?” She asked hanging up her coat.

“It's Polly, something happened. She won’t, she won’t tell me perhaps she will tell you” I spoke lowly. Ada quickly nodded walking into the living room, noticing her aunt in the same position I had left her in.

Not knowing what else to do I walked back to the kitchen to finish making the tea. After a few moments, Ada came into the kitchen. “I’m going to stay the night with her, she shouldn’t be alone.”

“No definitely not” I agreed handing her a cup. Ada was quick to thank me, sipping on the hot liquid.

“Whatever is going on Ana, Tommy needs to sort it out”

“He is trying Ada. He didn’t expect this to happen.” I was quick to defend Tommy like I always was. “No one not even Polly expected this to happen. Campbell is…is a diabolic man who, who needs to disappear to be quite frank with you” I tell her not knowing what else to say.

Violence was never something I was comfortable with, but with Tommy, I slowly became comfortable with it. Almost at peace with it as it was who he was and Tommy was who I loved. Who I wanted and needed.

“On Campbell, we are both agreed then” Ada nodded holding her tea cup and looking ahead of her towards the wall. “Are you going to tell Tommy?” She asked after a moment of silence.

“He will find out on his own if I don’t. They all will, you know that” I whispered, neither of us needed to say the words. We both know what happened between Polly and Campbell and for that, no words were truly needed.

******

I returned to our shared apartment Tommy was sitting at the kitchen table. There was a bottle of whiskey in front of him, the glass half full in his hand. A cigarette burning in the other. He was lost in thought. The atmosphere around him was off. It made me uneasy.

“Tommy?” I asked hanging up my coat and walking towards him. “Tommy is everything… what’s going on?”

“Grace called me. At the office.” Tommy started to speak. I instantly felt my blood run cold. I felt sick. “Lizzie overheard the phone call. She asked me to meet. She is in London for….”

“I don’t care why she is here or what she is doing,” I spoke quickly, venom in my tone. “Why was she calling you?”

“Like I said, to meet…”

“Why was she asking to meet you then Tommy?” I asked sharply. “After three years, three fucking years why is she calling you and asking to meet?”

“She still loves me,” Tommy answered leaning back on the chair, the smell of alcohol was now stronger. It was clear he had been drinking for a bit of time. “I considered…”

“Get out” I snapped “Get out”

“No Stace you will listen…” He pointed a sloppy index finger at me, his words on the edge of slurring but he still had some control.

“I SAID GET OUT” I screamed not quite believing this was happening. I thought we were done with this. He spoke about getting married this morning at the betting shop and now this woman from our past rears once again.

“Listen to me eh” Tommy stood up, stumbling slightly. He held my arms in his hands tightly so I couldn’t move away from him but he didn’t hurt me. “I only considered it because of what Campbell did to you.”

“WHAT?” I yelled glaring at him with the coldest, harshest look I could muster. “You considered sleeping with that desperate whore for me? Oh please Tommy, please. Don’t insult me.”

“There was to be no sex involved Stace” Tommy squeezed my arms. “I considered it in a moment of weakness, of stupidity. Campbell hurt you and I wanted to hurt him just the same. He is still in love with her so I planned to lure her under false presences to me. Ensure Campbell knew of it, making him believe I slept with her to fuck with his head”

“Why? Why the fuck would you even? Why did that even cross your mind?” I glared, completely confused by his reasoning and thought process.

“You have no idea how it felt when Campbell almost turned you against me.” Tommy turned away letting me go and finishing the glass of whiskey in two gulps, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “I wanted to hurt him like he hurt me by going after his woman”

“But Grace isn’t his woman Tommy”

“But he wants her to fucking be” Tommy spun around on his heel to look at me, stumbling. He held onto the kitchen chair for support. “He wants her to be”

“Tommy I can’t…I can’t keep doing this with you.” I whispered shaking my head. “I can’t, I don’t even know what to say. But I can’t do this. If it’s not May it’s Grace when is it me, Tommy? When do I get a chance?”

“You have me. Am all yours” Tommy looked directly into my eyes as he said that. “I am yours, always. Those other women are irrelevant. A means to an end. But you, you're everything”

“What happened with Grace?” I asked biting my cheek. The question made Tommy laugh. He chuckled darkly pouring himself a glass of whiskey.

“She’s probably waiting at the hotel for me” Tommy chuckled drinking back the brown liquid like it was water. “I don’t care to be honest with ya” He flopped back down on the chair, the lost look still on his face. Today was a bad day for him. In every aspect of his life.

“I’m fucking lost here Stace” He whispered shaking his head. “I don’t know what the fuck to do”

I’ve never seen Tommy so vulnerable, so weak. I walked over to him pulling over another kitchen chair, I sat next to him. Taking his hand in mine, I rubbed my thumb over the back of his hand softly. Looking up at his face I noticed tears in his eyes.

“Oh Tommy” I sighed softly. Tommy’s head fell forward onto my chest. Stroking his hair softly I allowed him to break down on my chest. The combination of alcohol and events over the past few days has finally worn him down. Everybody has their breaking point. I was just glad I could be here for Tommy during his.

Taglist

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[nomoreusername]

Who To Trust (Part 2)

Pairing:Minho x female reader

Summary:After Aris's betrayal the main person you expect not to understand shares some great advice and something more.

"I can't believe it. He was my friend,"I mumbled to myself.

I had figured out that Aris had run off with Teresa during the middle of the night. All because the traitor left a note saying he had to help out an "old friend" and to just keep going forward without him. Honestly, I would prefer if he just lied. Because while I usually hate those, he was supposed to be my friend. Not someone who revealed he was disloyal when it was too late to do something about it.

"And after I stuck up for him. He made me look like such an idiot,"I continued, pacing back and forth. Everyone else was a good few minutes away. Obviously, nobody stopped me from leaving. I have Aris to thank for that. He basically spat in my face. After I had looked after and cared for him in my own, weird way, got stabbed making sure he didn't get attacked, and swore up and down that he was a good person, this is what he did.

"They were just starting to like me. We were all becoming friends,"I scowled, referring to the Gladers.

"How could Aris do this?"I asked the air, feeling a single tear run down my face. After all we had gone through he had still deceived me. We had almost died several times. Our friends had lost their lives. Despite the horror show it was, we went through it together. The Scorch was something we did without the other girls. We had actually really bonded, and I started to like him and think he was one of my closest friends.

Now he might kill Thomas.

And the entire time I swore he didn't have any ulterior motives. Why? Because I was a gullible moron who just wanted a friend out here.

"That stupid, dumb, idiotic, jerk,"I listed, pulling at my hair.

"That's a good way to hurt yourself,"a voice pointed out. I looked up to see Minho, making my stomach twist in knots. I just knew he was coming to taunt me and rub the fact that he was right and I was wrong in my face. Him opening up with something that sounds like he cared about me was extra and unnecessarily cruel though.

"If you've come to point the finger at me for knowing about all of this you can save it. I don't need your accusations,"I snapped.

"But-"

"Shut your trap. Don't you think I feel bad enough? I was stupid enough to think I could trust someone who had been lying. Aris might be ready to murder Thomas, and I defended his sorry self. Have you ever felt that? Have you ever felt the pain of losing someone who's alive? Because I-"

"Y/N, stop talking for five seconds,"He interrupted, now extremely close to me. So close I could make out every detail on his face, every perfect imperfection, and it made me nervous in a different way. My stomach was still in knots, but the reasons for it had definitely changed.

"I'm sorry I thought you were one of them, okay? But taking what I said to heart won't do you any good. It's not fair to blame yourself. You don't deserve that,"He whispered. "And you don't deserve to pull your hair out either,"He added, taking my hands away from my head and putting them in his.

Despite the fact that I was literally fighting to survive I couldn't help but say one thing.

"I think I love you."

"You think?"

"Just shut up, and tell me if you love me back."

He looked at me without saying a word. Then, he crashed his lips against mine. I froze for a millisecond before kissing back with everything I had. He snaked his arm around my waist as we fit together perfectly. While I hadn't imagined my first kiss being with someone that I swore I hated, this was better than any fantasy my mind could come up with. He was better than whatever I could imagine. Despite everything that was happening nothing had ever felt so right before

Still, we needed to breathe so only when we were on the brink of running out of air did we pull apart.

"Does that answer your question?"

[vellichxrr6782]

CHAPTER FOUR, shiny toy with a price.

SYNOPSIS: an encounter with your supposed "enemy" leaves you questioning his motives. a drive with your closest friend gives you insight on your new relationship, which could be your biggest break or your biggest problem.

CHARACTERS (in this chapter): ayato, diluc, kaeya, jean.

CW/TW: cussing, kaeya and diluc almost arguing (the epitome of brotherly love).

WORD COUNT: 2k words.

<- previous chapter | cruel summer masterlist | next chapter ->

it had been a few days since the incident at the party. you were honestly rather exhausted from everyone’s endless questions. the news of childe’s girlfriend cheating on him was overpowered completely by the news of you and childe dating. 

your fans were clearly ecstatic, and many fan pages had been opened for you both. you, however, were definitely not ecstatic, considering your life was taking another route entirely. 

jean and zhongli were definitely the happiest, though. maybe because they’re getting their raise soon. 

childe was doing a splendid job of adhering to the rules of the contract. in fact, you’d say he was more dedicated than you were, considering you were the one who agreed to the contract in the first place. 

he put a cheesy, romantic quote in his bio, and asked you to go on a “date” with him, so you could prove the credibility of your relationship, and get some pictures. 

you weren’t looking forward to the date, that’s for sure. for now, you just needed to rest, away from everyone who was trying to leech on you. 

although, coming to rest at komore teahouse was probably not such a good idea. 

you had just ended a meeting with a producer, and you were looking for a place to get something to drink. you entered the komore teahouse, since it was pretty popular nowadays. 

how were you supposed to know that a man you should most certainly avoid, was also there?

kamisato ayato was sitting cross-legged on the chair, sipping boba tea. you found it quite… unusual, a man whose entire atmosphere and mannerisms fell nothing short of ‘elegant’ and ‘refined’, was drinking bubble tea with sparkles in his eyes. 

you immediately covered your face, attempting to sneak by to the cashier to place your order, but lady luck was not on your side, since ayato had immediately noticed you. 

“miss y/n l/n?” he called out, and you froze. you’d barely heard his voice before, but wow, was it a soothing one. “what brings you here?” 

you forced a smile, fiddling with your fingers as you looked at ayato. “oh, ayato, right? what a pleasure to meet you. i’m here to…drink tea? i guess? what about you?” 

“same as you, haha. my manager, thoma, owns this place.” 

“your manager…owns a cafe too?” well, that was certainly new. 

you excused yourself, scurrying over to the register. you placed your order for what you guessed would take the least amount of time to make, and gleefully accepted and paid when you got it. 

attempting once more to sneak past unnoticed, and failing once more to sneak past unnoticed, you found yourself seated across ayato. 

this was sure to end badly if you weren’t careful.

"how enthralling," ayato whispered, after a few seconds of observing you, "the movies fail to capture your beauty, l/n."

"ah, thank you. you’re the new rising star of teyvat’s film industry, aren’t you?" you asked, keeping your distance. god knows what controversy would awaken if you were seen getting buddy-buddy with your "boyfriend"s rival. 

"the one and only," ayato chuckled, "i've heard a lot about you from my sister. my curiosity did not allow me to sit still, i simply had to see you in person."

you laughed awkwardly, your discomfort quite obvious in your tone. ayato was certainly a perceptive individual, so this didn't go unnoticed. 

still, it did nothing to quell his antics. 

"and i must say, i have no regrets." he narrowed his eyes, smiling. he was like a sly fox. and you thought director yae was the fox.

you had to admit, he was very attractive. you could see why he'd instantly shot to popularity, and his acting was commendable too. he was talented and gifted. 

but gods, it would be amazing if he wouldn't get so incredibly close to you right now.

"so, um, how's work?" you asked, internally praying for ajax, jean, zhongli, anyone to come and interrupt. 

"i wouldn't call it work, honestly. it's quite enjoyable to be surrounded by my fans and do what i enjoy all the time." classic response.

wish you could say the same. you loved your fans, yeah. but it was a bit tiring, when the reason people approached you nowadays was to know about the "hot scoop" of your relationship (the term "hot scoop" should be banned, honestly).

"that's nice.. haha." you replied. "um, well, i should certainly get going- "

"oh, so quick?" ayato raised a brow. "my apologies if i made you uncomfortable, haha. i tend to come off as such."

'it's okay', you thought, but said, "no, no! not at all. i'm just busy." you stood up, patting invisible dust off your clothes. 

"well, can i get your number?"

"excuse me?"

unbelievable. he's making moves on his enemy's girlfriend. 

you didn't really wanna be a card he could use against childe, so naturally, you would've declined. but...

"i won't be a bother, don't worry. it's rather lonely for me since i'm new to the film industry." he frowned a little, "still, i'm glad we spoke, though."

how, how could you say no? he's lonely. you would feel so bad. he wants a friend. 

"yeah... sure, i'll enter it." you gave in rather quick, feeling a bit remorseful for acting a tad bit stand-offish earlier.

god, he's ... incredibly two-faced. just a few minutes ago, he was eyeing you up and down suggestively, and now he was acting all cute to get your number?

it's tough being in demand.

you handed his phone back to him, and ayato grinned like the fox he was. a cute one. alright, shut up. ajax would be disappointed if he could hear your thoughts. 

you waved a quick goodbye to ayato, putting on your mask as a disguise, and immediately calling jean to ask where she was. 

"i'm being held up with something right now, y/n. would you mind if i sent eula or lisa to come and pick you up?" 

"please send anyone but eula. her driving skills are gonna get me arrested and i'm too tired right now." you replied, recalling the last time eula almost crashed the car and swore vengeance upon a tree. 

jean laughed, and replied, "yeah, yeah, i'll send lisa." before hanging up. 

you waited on the sidewalk, since that seemed preferable to you instead of talking to ayato who was inside the cafe. you took off your mask, letting out a huge breath. 

you needed to get to the studio to film a scene. the director thought the weather was splendid today, and scheduled a shooting on short notice. 

all of a sudden, a fancy car stopped in front of you. you immediately froze, your thoughts rising to kidnapping. 

the windows rolled down to show a familiar face. there he was, in all his glory, 

diluc ragnvindr. 

not who you were expecting, huh? i mean, ajax, lisa and diluc all owned fancy expensive cars. it was tough to differentiate sometimes. 

"hey, y/n." diluc smiled, which was a first for others, but pretty usual for you. "waiting for someone?" 

"nope, what brings you here?" you replied, leaning against his door. 

"i'm your chauffeur for the day, it seems." diluc opened the door for the passenger seat, and you leaned against the door. "jean sent me."

"she said she was sending lisa though?" you raised a brow, getting in. 

"it's a tuesday, which means it's spa day for lisa. i offered to pick you up instead." diluc sighed, starting the car. "to the studio?"

"ah, of course, typical lisa. yeah, to the studio." you thanked diluc, and he started driving. 

you had known diluc for years, since you went to high school with him and kaeya. he was always silent, but he was caring and reliable. he was quite the gentleman, offering you his coat, bringing you coffee, helping you study, and cautioning you from trying daring things for your own safety. he was also the one who urged you to try out acting as a career choice, and look where that had brought you.

if anything, you owed diluc quite a bit for being an important person in your life. 

"so, what's up?" you asked, leaning back, "it's been a while since we last caught up. it was when we were doing that movie together, no? god, that was years ago." 

"mhm," diluc nodded, "nothing much from my end. kaeya's gotten a modelling gig and he won't shut up about it." 

"i heard about it from childe, apparently it's for a pretty big modelling company, so kaeya's basically a celebrity now." you chuckled, remembering how badly kaeya wanted to model when he was young.

"oh yeah, speaking about childe." you noticed how diluc's expression twisted into a sour frown when he took ajax's name. "i heard you're dating him now?"

diluc had never liked childe. you didn't exactly know why, maybe it was because of childe's... rambunctious personality. or maybe because he was kaeya's best friend? you didn't really bother to ask, since you weren't a big fan of the tartaglia either.

"o-oh, um, yeah-" you stammered, preferring to completely avoid this topic. god forbid you let it slip to diluc that it was all an elaborate lie. "it just happened, i guess."

"i'm surprised, i thought you hated him?" 

"hate is a rather strong word. i just didn't like him much. he's not all that bad though." you smiled, "what about you diluc? you've never dated anyone, right?"

"no, i have not." he replied, looking away. "i did like someone, though."

you gasped, "why'd you never tell me?! i'm your friend for a damn reason, diluc!" this was news to you, and you took offence at yourself for never noticing. 

but then again, diluc was like a closed book that was wrapped and tied tightly, no one could open it. he was unreadable with his emotions, especially ones that related to love.

diluc chuckled, "i didn't realise it back then, there was too much going on in my life. besides, i deemed it pointless to like someone who wouldn't really look at me the way i look at them."

that sounds... quite poetic actually. it was surprising to hear diluc had feelings for someone, or perhaps used to. you wondered what happened, but the topic seemed to make diluc a little uncomfortable by looking at how he was sweating. so you decided not to pursue further. 

"i'm probably in no position to give you advice, y/n. but," diluc started, a bittersweet expression on his face. "our hearts are fragile and naive. they trust easily in times of desperation and convince themselves of lies to seek solace. they break and shatter, crumble and fall."

"still, our hearts are capable of healing. it takes time, don't rush. the same hearts that are naive and easily-distraught can be incredibly cunning and ruthless too." diluc breathed out, as if he’d let go of something that was on the tip of his tongue, a hefty burden on his shoulders lifted. 

"thank you, diluc." you smiled, looking at him. “i appreciate it.”

diluc gazed away from you, "be careful around childe, is what i want to say. he's quite unpredictable, and i don't want you getting hurt."

still caring for you, nonetheless. 

his car came to an abrupt stop, and a bang on your window snapped you out of your train of thought. you met eyes with kaeya, who looked ecstatic. diluc’s smile twisted into a frown of distaste. 

“you?” diluc deadpanned, glaring at kaeya, rolling his windows down. 

“sup, diluc! y/n!” kaeya grinned, getting in the car uninvited. “it’s amazing i ran into you two right now, i could really use a lift to the mondstadt modelling agency.” he threw his shopping bags onto diluc’s backseat, as if he had come from a shopping spree. 

“well?” he urged, when diluc didn’t start the car, choosing to glare at kaeya. 

“what the fuck, kaeya?” diluc said, “where the hell did you come from?” 

“well, i’m sorry i interrupted your lovey-dovey moment with y/n, but i’m getting very late for my photo shoot.” kaeya pulled out a bottle of black nail-polish. he started painting his nails nonchalantly. “start driving, dipshit.”

“what did you just call me-?!” diluc nearly jumped at kaeya, who was unfazed. you put a hand on diluc’s chest to stop him from nearly murdering his little brother. 

“just drive, ‘luc.” 

diluc obliged with no further argument.

published on; 19th may, 2023. writing belongs to @/vellichxrr6782 on tumblr

[elliemarchetti]

Obsession (Part 3)

@jilymicrofics’s prompt #29

Prompt: Disgrace

Part 1

Part 2

Words: 539

If only his job hadn't also depended on that damned phone, James would’ve been tempted to unplug the one sitting on the bedside table in his hotel room. These days it did nothing but bring bad news, like the call he had received a little past dawn and nearly caused him a heart attack. Another body had been found in a nearby park, and his first thought had been that it was his wife’s. For some strange reason, his sick mind had pictured her naked, tossed in the grass like garbage, too pale and too still for him to confirm her identity without crying, but when sleep had completely dissipated and his mind had cleared, he realized his partner would’ve never broken the news to him so calmly. First, he too had a boyfriend and certainly had no difficulty in empathizing with what James felt, and second, he was friend with Lily too. Still, another call, another disgrace.

This time, the killer had picked a police officer as his victim, surprising him with a garrotte on his morning jog.

“Ryan Thomas was a strong, trained man,” Sirius mused, twirling a pencil between his fingers. “Our killer can’t be just anyone. Maybe he underwent military training, or…”

Whatever his best friend said, James wasn’t listening anymore. He hadn’t told anyone that he had recognized, even if he couldn’t put a name or a face to it, the voice of his wife’s kidnapper, but now that someone else had mentioned the possibility of him being a former student at the academy everything came back.

“Do you remember Snape?” he asked, interrupting his assumptions. Sirius looked at him with a puzzled expression, but subconsciously he must’ve understood where he was going with this, or he wouldn’t have put the pencil back on the desk.

“Severus? It’s been a long time,” he replied, but they were both aware of how bitter their former classmate could be. Everyone knew how much James and Sirius loved to joke and make fun of others, and even if they rarely behaved like bullies, showing some decency to the less fortunate, that guy got too much on their nerves to just let him be. He was a racist, classist, misogynist and he deserved to have his life made a living Hell until he retired. They even celebrated with a couple beers at a nearby pub when they found out he wasn’t on the list of names of those who would take the shooting test the following week. Turns out, they got rid of him only for a while, but they hadn’t eradicated his crazy ideals.

“But why obsess over Lily?” Sirius asked, and the question would’ve been more than legitimate, if only James hadn’t been certain he had seen her, on more than one occasion. They even kissed in front of that bastard. “Ask Peter to find out everything he can about him and make sure he keeps it confidential,” he nearly shouted to Sirius before bolting out of the office and heading as quickly as possible to his car. If he wasn’t wrong, and he was sure he wasn’t, there were other clues hidden in his house that, if coded correctly, would lead him to his beloved.

[oro-e-diamanti]

"Can I sleep here tonight?" Ethan/Thomas fluffy mess. Thanks 💓

"Can I sleep here tonight?"

Thomas & Ethan + Fluff

Glass bottles all over the place. Empty cups lining the surfaces. Some shards in the sink. A problem for tomorrow. There’s still music playing, but it’s mere background noise now, volume turned low. No more crowd filling up the rooms of the flat, just Thomas, Ethan, and you left.

“You don’t have to stay and help, you know?” You shoot Ethan a smile as you drop another bottle into the trash, the harsh noise of glass hitting glass causing you to wince slightly. “Thomas and I decided to throw a party, Thomas and I are just as capable of cleaning up.”

“I don’t doubt that for a second,” he smiles back, but doesn’t make any moves to leave. He’s lingering. You don’t know why. But there’s something that is making him stay, longer than usual, long after the party is over, even when everyone else has gone. Even when his own place is just a short walk away.

“Who the fuck emptied the chocolate milk?” Thomas comes stumbling over. He’s easily the drunkest out of the three of you, but still mostly in control of what he’s saying. His motor skills, however, are lacking. You quickly grab the empty carton from him before he drops it and inevitably spills the rest of it.

“Some party animals you’ve invited,” Ethan chuckles. Thomas moves behind you, arms wrapping clumsily around your middle as you don’t even attempt to cease your movements of cleaning up the counter, his head dropping onto your shoulder. He never hid his affections well. But with alcohol in his veins and everyone outside of your inner circle gone, he really doesn’t hold back. You don’t hold back a serene smile either.

Ethan has halted his movements. There’s something in his face you can’t quite make sense of. You would ask Thomas, who has undeniably known him for much longer, but your boyfriend is currently busy trying to bury his face into the crook of your neck, humming something that doesn’t quite make sense. When you look back up at Ethan, he looks… caught, for a split second, then everything is back to normal. You feel like you know that look, though. Just not on him. On Thomas.

There's a memory hidden somewhere in the corners of your mind, made and stored away a year ago, back when Vic had introduced you to the rest of the band. Her hand in yours, drunken lips kissing our cheek again and again, an assumption in Thomas’ mind that would only be rectified the next day. No, you were not Victoria's new girl. Yes, you were in fact very interested in men.

You'd started dating a month later.

But now, just for a split second, you had seen the same look on Ethan's face, that short moment of disappointment seeping through his bones, the knowledge of having been too late to get what you want.

But he isn’t.

You show him a smile that you wish could eliminate the need for words, but his eyes keep a certain sadness in them as he smiles back. Thomas is growing heavier against you so you gently shake him off before he falls asleep on you. It’s a justified fear - he’s done it before. You watch as he blinks the tiredness away and goes back to cleaning the kitchen, rag rubbing over a spot that hasn’t seen dirt in forever. You laugh to yourself, taking it from him.

“Time for bed, maybe?” you suggest.

The place is fine for now, you decide. Most of the mess is gone or at least contained in trash bags that can wait for tomorrow to be taken out. Thomas’ eyes are a droopy tell-tale sign that the night has caught up with him, tiredness combined with alcohol overwhelming his senses. He nods before pressing a chaste kiss against your lips.

Ethan still lingers. He’s toeing an invisible line that only you and he can see. You don’t know if he knows you’re aware. The conflicting emotions on his face are obvious, though.

You don’t expect him the one to make a move.

“Can I sleep here tonight?”

It’s an innocent question, really. Unless it isn’t. And it isn’t.

You look back at Thomas. There's a rare clarity in his eyes behind the drunkenness. You wonder how much he does now. How Ethan has been behaving when it's just been the two of them. If there's that same look of having missed out on Ethan's face. If he ever said something that made Thomas stop in his tracks just that little bit. Because he doesn’t seem terribly surprised right now.

You decide you take it as a silent agreement.

Reaching out, you let Ethan take your hand before moving your other against Thomas’ palm. You pull both of them into the bedroom.

There’s no need to be modest. You’re aware Ethan and Thomas have seen each other naked multiple times and your clothes fall to the ground just as easily.

Thomas is in bed first. It’s not a surprise, he usually is. He only pulls the covers up halfway. It’s winter, but he tends to run hot after drinking. The dark plum bedding all around him makes him look even paler, even softer, and you get rid of your underwear as quickly as possible. His skin is warm next to you as you cuddle up to him, hands stroking over his body in familiar patterns.

It feels routine until Ethan carefully moves into the bed behind Thomas. It’s a bit of a squeeze, but neither of you minds. Not as he slings his arm over Thomas’ and your hips over the safety of the blanket. Thomas smiles at you, not turning around to look at Ethan, and then pushes the covers away until Ethan’s unmoving limb rests directly on his and your skin.

“I hope you know the one rule I have about people getting into bed with me,” Thomas mumbles and you can see his eyelids starting to fall shut. “I get paid in cuddles.”

With that, Thomas shuffles backward until he hits Ethan’s chest. He looks alarmed for a second, but then you can see his body relax too. He melts into Thomas, his breathing evening out as he gets used to the close skin contact, how Thomas arches to mold perfectly against him. It’s hard to wipe the content smile off your face, even though your muscles ache to relax and allow you to drift to sleep.

Thomas is fast asleep already, you notice. You’re not surprised. Ethan is still staring at the back of his head. You can feel the wheels in his mind spinning. Taking his hand from where it rests on your hipbone, you lift it toward your mouth. His eyes are on you as you press a soft kiss on his knuckles, on the back of his hand, then turn it around to move your lips against his palm.

It’s as if things fall into place. It’s the look on his face.

When you let go, he moves his hand to your waist instead. It feels like a more intimate touch, it feels right.

There are questions to be asked and answers to be discussed. You’re not deluding yourself into thinking there aren’t. But none of them are for tonight. None of them are for right now, with Ethan and Thomas in your bed and the most peaceful slumber you’ve ever had awaiting you.