#owen sribbles

[hamelott]

Title: “Cookies and Architecture”

Fandom: The Librarians (TNT Series) 

Notes: look at that it’s the flynnstone sequel to the cizekiel coffee shop au i wrote forever ago that nobody asked for!! i have no excuses for this other than a serious hurting for some flynnstone content…

“You know you could just…talk to him.”

Jake glanced at Ezekiel (his roommate, reluctant best/childhood friend, and fellow barista at the Annex) and squinted at him. “What’re you talking about, Jones?”

Ezekiel shrugged. He was leant against the café counter; a sunflower was pinned to his apron. “Just, y’know…Flynn.”

“Shut up, Ezekiel,” Jake quickly snapped, hating the way that his cheeks grew warm. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, really?” Ezekiel said with a smirk. “You don’t know Flynn Carsen, the history professor that lives in the apartments down the street? The guy who orders the same hot chocolate every morning because, and I quote, ‘coffee is an abomination to this earth…no offense.’ The guy who once told you he liked your scarf so now you wear it every Friday. The guy who-.”

“Uh, excuse me?” They both turned to the front counter to find Flynn Carsen himself, a tiny bemused smile on his face. Jake felt like his own face was on fire.

Ezekiel waggled his eyebrows at Jake before he turned back to Flynn and said, “What’s up, Professor Carsen?”

“I was wondering if I could get a cookie to go? Chocolate chip if you have some,” Flynn said, his small smile still in place.

“Well, lemme see,” Ezekiel said. Without even looking, he continued, “Looks like we don’t have any up front-.”

“Ezekiel, there’s some right there,” Jake practically growled at him.

Ezekiel went on as if he hadn’t even spoken. “So lemme go check in the back for you as Jake rings you up, okay, mate?”

“Uh, sure,” Flynn said with a nod and a confused frown as Ezekiel disappeared into the back of the coffee shop. He pulled out his wallet, glancing at Jake with a smile. “How are you, Jake?”

“I-uh-pretty good,” Jake mumbled, grabbing the ten-dollar bill Flynn proffered to him. “How’re you, man?”

“Fairly well,” Flynn said. “Have you had a chance to read that book on Egyptian mythology yet?”

Jake nodded quickly with a smile on his face. “Uh, yeah, yeah. Couldn’t put the damn thing down.”

Flynn’s grin grew into a full-on smile and wow did Jake just actually get a little weak in the knees? Thank god Ezekiel was in the back. “Well, I’m glad you enjoyed it! I figured since you enjoyed that Greek art book so much that you’d enjoy a little bit of Egyptian history too.”

“Yeah, man, definitely,” Jake said. “I’ll make sure I get that back to you next time I see you in here.”

As Ezekiel stepped back out from the back with two fresh, chocolate chip cookies in hand, Flynn waved away Jake’s words. “No rush. Hold on to it for a while, if you want.”

Jake grinned, finally handing Flynn back his change as Ezekiel handed him his cookies. “Well, hey, thanks, Professor.”

Flynn gave him a bemused look. “You can call me Flynn, Jacob.” He shook his head a little and took a bite out of his cookie, turning towards the door. “See you two tomorrow!”

“Yeah, see ya!” Jake called after him, a pleased little grin on his face.

Ezekiel snorted. “Oh, dude-.”

“Shut it, Jones,” Jake snapped at him, pointing a warning finger in his direction.

Ezekiel held up his hands innocently, but he did nothing to wipe the shit-eating grin off his face.

~~~

A few days later Jake was working alone. Ezekiel had asked for the day off, so he could spend his morning with Cindy (his nauseatingly cute girlfriend) and since the coffee shop was hardly ever that busy anyway, Jenkins (their old, stern, slightly nicer-than-he-looked boss) had decided to give him it. While Jake was happy to be away from Ezekiel’s teasing for the day (which had taken a drastic increase after he began dating Cindy), that didn’t exactly mean he enjoyed standing in the near-empty building all by his lonesome.

“How ya doing, Stone?” Jake glanced up, slightly startled, as Eve Baird stepped up to the counter. He hadn’t even realized she’d walked in; maybe Ezekiel’s theory of her being a secret agent wasn’t too far off.

He stepped to the side and began pouring her usual drink (black coffee, nothing added) and said, “Uh, pretty good. How’re you, Baird?”

She shrugged and leant against the counter, arms crossed over her chest. “Tired.”

“Oh yeah? Haven’t seen you in here lately; did you go on a trip?” Jake asked, not-so-subtly trying to prove Ezekiel’s theory; he’d be proud of Jake if he were there.

She gave him a smirk. “That’s classified.”

He huffed out a laugh and handed her her coffee as she passed him a five. He was about to say something else when the door flew open, and Flynn stumbled in. He had an armful of papers clutched to his chest and his face barely peaked over the top of them. He gave the two a wide grin. “Good morning!”

“Morning, Professor,” Eve said, smirk still in place. She slid over a little as Flynn stumbled up and dropped his papers onto the counter with a heavy sigh. “Work on a Saturday?”

“Work on every day,” Flynn said with a rueful grin. He glanced at Jake, and the smile grew brighter. “Hot chocolate please.”

“You got it, man,” Jake asked, starting to make the drink. “So, what’re you grading today?”

“A paper on the importance and characteristics of Gothic architecture,” Flynn said with an excited note in his voice.

“And that’s my cue to leave,” Eve said, taking a sip from her coffee. She sent a wink at Jake. “Don’t defile the coffee counter while I’m gone.”

Jake flushed and nearly dropped the cup of half-poured hot chocolate that was in his hands. Flynn frowned after Eve as she walked out with a little laugh thrown over her shoulder. He glanced at Jake, an eyebrow raising. “What was that supposed to mean? Did I miss something?”

“No, no, it was nothing!” Jake spluttered, handing Flynn his hot chocolate before he spilled it all over himself. “Hey, mind if I take a look at one of these?!”

“Uh, sure, be my guest,” Flynn said, taking a small sip of his drink before going to fish out his wallet and pay as Jake picked up one of the papers and scanned through it.

He frowned, glanced up at Flynn, glanced back down to the page, and back up to Flynn again. “‘It’s called Gothic because the guy who made one of the first Gothic cathedrals really liked the color black.’ Is…is this kid serious?”

Flynn sighed and closed his eyes for a few seconds before murmuring, “Yes, yes they probably are.”

“Wow,” Jake said, continuing to scan the paper. “You’ve really got your work cut out for you, Flynn.”

“Oh, trust me, I am well-aware,” Flynn said, shaking his head and beginning to gather up his papers. He smirked, a slightly bemused look on his face. “Unfortunately, not all my student can be a Jacob Stone. If they could, I would probably actually enjoy my job.”

“Oh, well, uh, thanks,” Jake said, a small smile on his face. He could feel his cheeks burning and tried to ignore it as he ducked underneath the counter. He came back up with a chocolate chip cookie wrapped in a napkin and set it on top of Flynn’s stack of papers. When Flynn arched an eyebrow at him, he shrugged. “On the house. Good luck with your grading.”

Flynn gave him a soft smile. “Thanks, Jake. See you tomorrow.”

“Yeah, see you!” Jake called after him as Flynn walked out the front door.

For the next couple of hours, he couldn’t get the stupid, dopey grin off of his face. Well…at least Ezekiel wasn’t around to tease him.

~~~

Of course, the day Cassandra came back from her Doctors Without Borders trip was a day that Ezekiel and Cindy (who had quickly joined the make-Jacob-feel-embarrassed-at-all-costs mission) were in the Annex, leaned across the counter to whisper to each other. Every so often they’d even glance at Jake and go off into a lot of giggling which really only served to put Jake even more on edge.

“Hi, guys!” Cassandra said cheerfully as she walked up to the counter. “My usual, please, Jake. If you remember it, that is.”

Jake smirked at her cheeky grin and said, “I could never forget it, Cassie. Or should I say, Dr. Cillian.”

Cassandra’s nose scrunched up at that. “No, no, definitely don’t say that. Cassie is just fine, thanks.”

“You don’t like the title?” Ezekiel asked with a little bit of a faux pout. “I think it suits you!”

Cassandra shook her head. “Not outside of the office and definitely not when you two say it. I just want to-.”

She was cut off by the door swinging open. Flynn floundered in with a half-manic grin on his face. He ran up to the counter, leapt over it, and pulled Jake into a tight hug, causing him to drop Cassandra’s drink on the ground. Jake, a little stunned, looked with wide eyes at Ezekiel and Cindy who were both giving pairs of thumbs-ups.

Flynn pulled back but left his hands on Jake’s shoulders. “I don’t know how you did it or even what you did, but thank you so much!” He spun around to the others and exclaimed. “He got me moved up to an advanced class! I’m not teaching freshman who took history of architecture because they thought it was a blow-off class anymore!”

“How’d you do that?” Ezekiel asked with an impressed little smile on his face.

Jake shrugged, but he had a tiny grin on his face. “I-uh-I know some guys up in the history building. Told them to look Flynn’s way. They said-.”

He was cut off by Flynn pulling him into another tight hug. Again, Ezekiel and Cindy shot Jake some more thumbs-ups. Cassandra laughed happily at the counter. “Well, I see you two finally got your shit together, huh? Thank god, I thought it was going to take forever for the tension to diffuse.”

Jake blanched, and Flynn pulled away, a small frown on his face. “Wait, what?”

“Well, I mean, clearly you guys are finally dating. I mean, you’ve both had crushes on each other for ages so, really, not that surprising,” Cassandra said with a tiny shrug. Off to the side, Jake could see Ezekiel and Cindy excitedly hitting each other with shocked looks on their faces. “When did you guys finally seal the deal?”

“We-uh-we hadn’t…” Flynn mumbled. Jake glanced at him and saw his face as equally flushed as his probably was.

Cassandra’s mouth fell into a tiny, little ‘o.’ “You’re…you’re kidding, right?” She glanced at Jake, and he slowly shook his head at her. “Oh…oops. Well…I should be going. I’ll uh see you guys tomorrow!”

Without her coffee (which was still a pitiful puddle on the ground), she spun around and raced out of the coffee shop. Ezekiel and Cindy, with a quick shared look, hastily followed her out.

Slowly Flynn turned to look at Jake. “What…was that?”

Jake flushed and stepped away, eyes searching behind the counter a mop. “Hey, man, I dunno, your guess is as good as mine.”

“For once, I don’t think that’s true,” Flynn said. He reached out, grabbed Jake’s wrist, and spun him back around to force Jake to look at him. Flynn raised an eyebrow at him. “Want to explain?”

“Not really,” Jake admitted. Flynn’s eyebrow rose higher. Jake ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “Argh, okay, okay. It’s just…I’ve kinda had a crush on you for, like, ever, and the others just like giving me a hard time about it. It’s seriously nothing, man; I’m getting over it.” He sighed and hung his head. “If you want, I got a friend who works at a different coffee shop only, like, ten blocks from here. Their cookies aren’t as good, but their hot chocolate’s way better. And-.”

“Jake,” Flynn interrupted him with a quiet chuckle. Jake glanced up, nervous, but didn’t look away when he found Flynn with a wide, bright, eyes-crinkled kind of grin on his face. “I don’t want to go to another coffee shop.”

“No?” Jake asked, equally hating and loving the little hopeful blurb that was starting to grow up from his chest.

Flynn shook his head, voice soft as he said, “No. And I don’t want you to start getting over your feelings for me…because then I would probably have to start getting over my feelings for you too.”

“Wait,” Jake said, a smile starting to tug at his lips, “seriously? Me?”

Flynn laughed and nodded. “Yeah, you. I kind of figured them out when-.”

Jake cut him off by leaning forward and pressing his lips against Flynn’s. He was smiling into the kiss, but he couldn’t even help it. Luckily enough for him, Flynn couldn’t seem to help it either.

“Plus,” Flynn murmured when they pulled away from each other, “nobody’s hot chocolate can ever rival yours, Jacob Stone.”

Jake quirked his lips. “Damn straight, Carsen.”

He ignored Ezekiel’s whooping, Cindy’s clapping, and Cassandra’s wolf-whistle from the door as he leaned in for another kiss.

[hamelott]

Title: “Shakespeare’s #1 Defender”

Fandom: The Librarians (TNT series)

Notes: i’m honestly not sure what this is. writing is kicking my ass, but lol please enjoy this stupid lil fic :P

Flynn Carsen hated James Moriarty. It was a true and simple fact like the Earth orbits the Sun or King Henry VIII died on January 28, 1547 of what was probably untreated type II diabetes. These were things that Flynn knew. These were things that drove his life. So, really, it shouldn’t have come to too much of a surprise when James Moriarty was moved into the room across from his because life hated him.

The school had decided to do some remodeling, but because of said remodeling, a section of the ceiling had caved in. The principal, distraught and stressed, had had to do weeks of moving around teachers and settling them into their temporary rooms. Flynn, who’d been working at the school for nearly ten years now, had no fears of being moved; his room was his. But apparently Ms. Faire, the teacher across the hall from him, did not have as great luck.

Flynn, encumbered with papers and with his satchel attempting to slip off his shoulder, stopped in the middle of the hallway, utterly surprised, when he noticed James Moriarty carrying a box of his belongings and fumbling with his keys to open the door to the classroom that laid across the hall from Flynn’s.

“Uh, your room’s down the hall,” Flynn quickly said, catching a paper as it tried to flutter away from him.

Moriarty looked up from his keys and scowled. It was a well-known fact that James Moriarty hated Flynn Carsen too. “I got moved, actually. This is my room now.”

Flynn frowned. “You’re kidding me.”

Moriarty shrugged and turned back to his keys. “I was told they want to keep teachers with like-subjects closer to each other now.”

Flynn could have scoffed at that. James Moriarty taught English; Flynn taught English History. They were completely different subjects! He was absolutely appalled.

“Well, that’s ridiculous,” Flynn remarked.

Moriarty finally managed to get his door open and swung it out.  He glanced over his shoulder, appraised Flynn slowly, and let his scowl get deeper. “Yes; I’m quite aware.”

With that, he stepped into his classroom and let the door swing shut behind him. Flynn frowned after him and told himself he’d speak with the principal by the end of the day.

~~~

“There’s nothing I can do, Flynn.”

“What?!” Flynn squawked. “That’s ridiculous! You’re the one who did it, so just…undo it!”

Eve Baird let out a long, frustrated sigh. She looked ten seconds from decking Flynn, but instead restrained herself and set her hands in her lap. “Flynn, I can’t just undo it. We’ve finally got a setup that will actually work. I’m not undoing it. You’ll just have to get used to being Mr. Moriarty’s neighbor.”

Flynn scowled. “No. I refuse.”

“Stop being a child, Mr. Carsen, and suck it up,” Eve said, and her tone held no room for argument. “Am I understood?”

“Baird, just see it how I see it-.”

“Good, you’re dismissed, Mr. Carsen,” Eve said pointedly, nodding towards the door.

Flynn sighed, deemed it a lost cause, and left the room grumbling under his breath.

~~~

Flynn still wasn’t entirely sure when this rivalry between him and Moriarty had started. In Moriarty’s first year of working at the school, they’d even been quite amiable. Then discussions about certain authors turned into debates and then debates had turned into arguments. If he really had to pin a date on it, he guessed it would’ve been the day that Moriarty called Shakespeare a dilettante and a thief. Since that day, the two had never gotten along and avoided each other like the plague.

The rest of the teachers just ignored them and rolled their eyes when one would walk in the room and the other would immediately get upset. By now, they were used to the two and their petty anger and didn’t bother trying to fix it.

One teacher in particular was entirely unsympathetic to Flynn’s plight. This teacher, unfortunately, happened to be Flynn’s best friend and one of the few people who could endure him at all times.

“I just don’t see what your deal with him is,” Jacob Stone, history teacher, said the next day over his cup of coffee. “I mean, he’s a pretty cool dude. Did you know he owns, like, half of a museum downtown? Hell, you’ve probably been there before, man.”

Flynn rolled his eyes, something he was generally not prone to do. This whole situation was putting him out of whack. “Yes, I’ve been there.”

“And?” Jacob said with a small, sly grin on his face.

Flynn huffed in frustration. “It’s beautiful! And I don’t see why someone like him gets to have any part in it.”

“Probably because he funded it,” Jacob said, shrugging at Flynn’s unimpressed face. “Look, Flynn, all I’m sayin’ is that the dude’s a good dude. Maybe if you two would stop pulling each other’s pigtails for five seconds, you’d see that you could actually get along really well.”

Flynn’s nose scrunched up. “Pulling each other’s pigtails? What’s that supposed to mean?”

Jacob smirked. “C’mon, man, don’t play dumb. You know exactly what that means. The entire staff is taking bets. Pretty sure Baird is in the lead.”

“What?! I don’t-! No, that’s-! Why would you-?!” Flynn spluttered, cheeks burning hot in embarrassment.

Jacob’s smirk only got smugger. “Uh-huh, sure, Flynn. Just keep tellin’ yourself that.”

He got up from his seat and grabbed his mug. As he was about to walk away, Flynn snapped, “I could never like someone who thinks Shakespeare didn’t write his own plays!”

Jacob laughed loudly at that and shrugged at Flynn, glancing over his shoulder to say, “You get along with me just fine.”

“You’re joking, right?!” Flynn shouted after him, but his only response was an even louder laugh.

~~~

The worst part of Jacob pointing out to Flynn that he and Moriarty could get along was realizing that it actually might be true. Other than their severely different views on Shakespeare, Flynn was pretty sure they agreed on most other things. From what he remembered from their brief time as friends, he and Moriarty got along super well. Actually, he wasn’t sure why one, simple argument could’ve pushed them so far apart.

He was mulling it over after school as he sat at his desk and prepared his papers for the next day; it was taking longer than usual because he was so lost in his own thoughts. He was about to shove some papers he needed to grade into his satchel when his door was opened.

And, honestly, with how this week had been going, he shouldn’t have been at all surprised to find Moriarty. The English teacher looked awkward, nervously fidgeting in place as he cleared his throat. “Uh, hello, Mr. Carsen. Do you have a moment?”

Flynn couldn’t help the way his cheeks flushed and goddammit Jake. He nodded quickly – way too quickly – and said, “Uh, yes, yeah, of course. Is everything okay?”

If Moriarty was confused by Flynn’s questioning of his wellbeing, he didn’t show it. Instead, he shook his head and said, “Look, I know this is difficult for you. It’s not easy on me either. We don’t exactly…get along, but I was hoping that, at least for the rest of the year, we could hold a…civil relationship?”

“Oh, yeah, definitely, absolutely,” Flynn said, words tumbling out of his mouth without his consent. “And, I mean, hey, maybe all this silly rivalry was, well, exactly that – silly. Maybe we should just put it all behind us, you know?”

That was when Moriarty frowned at him. “What? You’re saying that after nearly five years of arguments and glares you just want to…let it go?”

“Why not?” Flynn said with a tight grin. Why did he do this? Why did he let Jacob Stone get him into the flustered mess that he was now?

Moriarty’s frown got deeper. “What’s gotten into you?”

Flynn huffed out a short breath. Well, honesty was the best policy and all that. “Jacob got into my head about…some stuff.”

One of Moriarty’s eyebrows raised. “Did he manage to change your incorrect opinion on Shakespeare?”

“No,” Flynn growled, ignoring the teasing look that flashed through Moriarty’s eyes. Flynn cleared his throat, unable to help the flush that spread up from his neck as he said, “He brought to light some…other things. About the rest of the staff and…us.”

“Oh, you mean their betting pool?” Moriarty said with a slight roll of his eyes.

Flynn’s eyes widened. “You knew about it?!”

Moriarty grinned. “You didn’t?” Flynn guessed that the look on his face perfectly conveyed, that, no, he didn’t because Moriarty continued with, “If it makes you feel any better, it’s only been going on for about a year. Ms. Cillian, the physics teacher – you know her, don’t you? – is apparently the one who brought our apparent chemistry to light. Mr. Jones decided to create the infamous bet.”

Flynn huffed another breath of annoyance. “You can sever trust a Social Sciences teacher.” He frowned. “Is it true that Eve’s in the lead?”

Moriarty smirked. “Why do you think she put me in the room across from yours? Apparently, she plays dirty.”

“Not surprising,” Flynn murmured. His face still felt like it was on fire, and he tugged at his collar and said, “Well that’s all…very awkward.”

“To be fair,” Moriarty said, “I thought you knew. Otherwise I might have told you about it.”

“That would’ve been more awkward,” Flynn quickly decided on. He frowned and met Moriarty’s eyes. “So…what are we supposed to do about all of this?”

Moriarty’s smirk returned. “Well, I don’t suppose that we’re going to get together on the spot and shag in a janitor’s closet.” That had Flynn blushing, but he tried his best to ignore it. In a calmer voice, Moriarty said, “I suppose we can just…get over our petty differences and try to get along…for the time being.”

“Yes, yeah,” Flynn started nodding erratically, “that sounds like a great idea.”

“Yes, well, thank you…Flynn,” Moriarty said.

“I’ll, uh, see you tomorrow…James,” Flynn said back. Moriarty – no, James – gave him a polite nod and smile before he backed out of the room.

Flynn was officially on a first-name basis with James Moriarty.

Well, things could certainly be worse.

(A few months later they were found kissing in Moriarty’s room.

Jacob narrowly won the bet and gloated for weeks.)

[hamelott]

Title: “Champ” 

Fandom: The Librarians (TNT Series)

Notes: It’s evelits week!! So, I don’t really ship Eve romantically with any of the lits, so I decided a fun, fluffy team-family type of fic was best suited for me. Hope you enjoy!!

Eve knew something was up when she was walking down to the Annex and heard a shouted, “Jones, quick, behind the bookshelf!”

Her suspicions were further confirmed when she walked into the Annex to find just Stone, leaning against a desk with his arms crossed over his chest and looking painfully casual.

“Oh, hey, Baird,” he said with a grin that was far too wide to look normal. She gave him an unimpressed look that only increased when Ezekiel and Cassandra raced into the room in the next minute, both panting with wide eyes.

“Oh, hey, Baird!” Cassandra yelped, flushing pink with a nervous smile on her face.

Even Ezekiel, a master at deceiving, was clearly hiding something with his large smile and eyes that kept darting back to where he and Cassandra had just run from.

“Do I want to know?” Eve asked, trying to hold back a long sigh.

“Know what?” Cassandra asked quickly. “I mean, if you need to know anything, we’d be happy to tell you because we’re not keeping anything because we’re-.”

“Hey, Baird, you wanna go work out?” Stone quickly interrupted. Ezekiel was glaring daggers at Cassandra as she looked at him with wide, innocent eyes.

Eve just shook her head and turned away. “Sure, why not, Stone?”

She ignored the sound of her team high-fiving and kept on walking.

~~~

The incident was forgotten until a few days later. They were gathered in the Annex around the Clippings Book, preparing to go through the Backdoor on their next mission. Eve was about to ask if they were completely ready when she was stopped by a barking sound.

Instantly, all three Librarians froze up. They slowly looked at each other with wide, panic-filled eyes.

Eve let out a long breath. “What was that?”

The three floundered for a few seconds, mouths flopping open and closed like a fish’s. Ezekiel pulled it together first by shouting, “It was me!”

“What?” Stone snapped at him. When he remembered that Eve was still there, he quickly corrected himself with, “Uh, yeah, why don’t you let Baird know why that happened?”

“Uh,” Ezekiel stammered, looking around the room as if he was trying to make something up with inspiration from the Annex.

“It’s a side effect!” Cassandra said. She nodded assuredly to the other two and then to Eve. “Jenkins said it might happen. It’s another side effect from when he was a werewolf.”

Ezekiel nodded swiftly. “Yeah, it’s like a cough.”

He followed this statement by a sound that sounded slightly like a dog barking but was still too human to pass.

“Look at that,” Stone said in a pained tone, “it’s already getting better.”

“Weird how I missed Jenkins telling us that,” Eve said. Unfortunately, the caretaker was out with Flynn on a mission, and she had no way to confirm whether or not Jenkins had actually said that.

“Well, he definitely said it,” Cassandra said resolutely.  

“Yep,” Ezekiel added with a nod, not backing down when Eve turned her intense gaze onto him.

She turned to Stone, and he swallowed hard. He glanced at Cassandra and Ezekiel who were giving him slow, careful nods. He coughed and said, “Uh, yeah.”

“Mmhm,” Eve hummed. She let out another breath. “Look let’s just go; we can talk about this later.”

As she headed towards the Backdoor, she ignored their collective sigh of relief.

~~~

Really, Eve shouldn’t have been surprised when she walked into the Annex a few more days later and found all three Librarians on the floor with a dog racing around them. Cassandra was holding a pink leash, Ezekiel was patting the dog, and Jake had a squeaky toy in his hands.

Eve walked over, and they only realized that she was there when the dog ran over to her, wagging its tail so hard that its entire body was wiggling.

The dog was clearly a mutt of no specific breed. It kind of reminded her of a German Shepard with its pointy ears, but it was colored more like a lab with yellow fur. It was also missing its front, left leg.

“Oh…hey, Baird,” Ezekiel said, guilty grin in place. The dog raced back over to him, trying to jump into his lap.

“Who wants to explain?” Eve asked in a low, tired voice.

“We found him in here!” Cassandra practically squeaked. “The Library let him in, so we figured that he was supposed to be here.”

“His name is Champ,” Ezekiel added. “We’ve been taking care of him for, like, two weeks now.”

“And hiding him from me?” Eve questioned.

Ezekiel deflated. “Yeah…that too. We just kinda figured that you wouldn’t let us keep him around.”

“You guys realize how big of a responsibility a dog is, right?” Eve asked. “You’ve gotta clean it, feed it, give it water, clean up after it…it’s a lot of work.”

“Yeah!” Ezekiel said, nodding. “And Stone’s gonna do all of that while Cassandra and I play with him and keep him happy.”

As Stone turned an indignant glare on Ezekiel, Cassandra added, “We’ve already made up a schedule. Well, I made up a schedule. Flynn’s on it too; he’s the one that found Champ.”

“Of course he is,” Eve said, unsurprised. She shook her head but said, “Well, it sounds like you guys have this all planned out.”

“So we can keep him?” Ezekiel asked hopefully.

Eve shrugged. “Yeah, I guess so.”

Just then, Cassandra’s phone beeped at her. She checked it and glanced back up, saying, “It’s time to take him outside. C’mon, Ezekiel!”

The two scrambled to their feet and started racing towards the front door with Champ right at their heels.

Stone slowly stood up and huffed at Eve, rolling his eyes. “Kids, am I right?”

Eve smirked. “Go on, Stone. I won’t tell anybody that you’ve got a soft spot for a cute dog.”

Stone grinned. “Yeah, okay, I mean, if you insist.”

With another smile to her, he raced out after the others.

Eve rolled her eyes as she watched them go. She was about to turn to her desk when she realized that Stone had dropped the squeaky toy.

Well…it would be remiss of her to not bring it outside for the dog to play with.

And if she maybe grinned and put a little speed in her step out of excitement, no one was around to make fun of her for it.

[hamelott]

Title: “Dare Ya”

Fandom: The Librarians (TNT series) 

Notes: Happy jazekiel week everybody! For some reason, despite this being the ship I spend literally almost all of my time on, I had such a hard time coming up with something for this week. Luckily, I think the end result came out pretty swell, if I do say so myself :P anyway, enjoy!

Jake was pretty sure that he’d never been more annoyed by Ezekiel in his entire life. And, for him, that was saying quite a bit.

They were the only two in the Library because they’d been benched. Eve hadn’t outright said it was because they couldn’t stop fighting and she was getting damn sick of it, but it had been pretty heavily implied by the way she’d glared at them before purposefully slamming the Backdoor behind her as the rest of the team went to go stop that week’s most recent baddie.

“C’mon, Stone,” Ezekiel whined. He was draped over the desk next to Jake’s. His head hung off the side of it, and he was staring at Jake upside-down. He was repeatedly bumping the back of his head against the side of the desk, making a loud thunk sound as consistent as a heartbeat. “Just one game…please?!”

Jake sighed and resisted the urge to pinch the bride of his nose. He was also resisting the urge of getting up and kicking Ezekiel off the desk; he was sure Eve would be proud. In a tone that he sincerely hoped would warn Ezekiel of his waning patience, Jake said, “Jones, I’m not playin’ a game of strip poker with you.”

“You’re such a buzzkill,” Ezekiel grumbled, rolling his eyes. “I bet I could’ve convinced Flynn to play with me.”

“Doubtful,” Jake said with a small snort. He glanced at Ezekiel and huffed. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’m trying to get some work done here.”

He gestured to the open book in front of him.

“Well, since you asked,” Ezekiel retorted.

Jake groaned. “Jones-.”

“I do mind.” Ezekiel swiftly clambered back up the desk and turned around to face Jake; he nearly fell off as he did so. He crossed his arms tightly over his chest. “I’m bored, Jacob. You’re boring me.”

“You poor thing,” Jake bit out sarcastically.

“Exactly!” Ezekiel shouted, leaping to his feet. He took the few short steps to Jake’s desk, grabbed the book Jake had been reading, and threw it across the room. He hopped up on Jake’s desk and rested his legs on the armrests of Jake’s desk chair, firmly trapping Jake in place.

“Jones!” Jake squawked, trying to jump up and grab his book. Ezekiel’s hands on his shoulders stopped him as the thief pushed him right back into his chair.

Ezekiel leaned closer to Jake and studied him for a few minutes. Eventually, his moth quirked to the side as he said, “I dare you to kiss me.”

The small laugh after he said the words told Jake that he was only kidding, but Jake’s eyes darted down to Ezekiel’s lips.

And, so what, if Jake had an itty-bitty crush on Ezekiel Jones…that was actually probably the size of Flynn’s ego.

Ezekiel seemed to sense the distress on his face because he reached out and poked Jake in the shoulder with another laugh. “Just kidding. I just wanted to see the look on your face. Lemme tell you, Stone, totally worth it.”

Ezekiel made to slide of the desk, but Jake’s voice stopped him. “Never knew you were one to back out of a dare, Jones.”

Ezekiel scoffed, turning back towards Jake. “If anyone is backing out of this dare, it’s-.”

Whoever it was would have to wait because Jake suddenly leaned forward and pressed his lips to Ezekiel’s. It didn’t take Ezekiel long to get his head out of the clouds, and he deepened the kiss. He reached out and rested a hand on the back of Jake’s neck to pull him closer.

They eventually pulled back with matching, dopey grins on their faces. Ezekiel cleared his throat slightly, cheeks flushing a pretty shade of pink. “Well, I guess you proved me wrong, mate.”

Jake laughed quietly, his face burning hotly. He glanced up at Ezekiel with a tiny quirk of his lips. “Hey, Jones?”

“Yeah, Stone?”

“I dare you to kiss me.”

Ezekiel didn’t even think about hesitating.

[hamelott]

Hi! Love everything you write! For jenklits week, if you're up to it, could you maybe write something where Ezekiel tries to run away from the Library and Jenkins stops him? Like the opposite of season one? Maybe something to do with Ezekiel remembering the game, Maybe He accidentally hurts Cassandra or Jake because he has a panic attack and it makes him want to leave? Or any other reason you can think of for him leaving, That parts really up to you in the end if you want!

Hello there! Thank you so much for your kind words. And thanks so much for the request! Here’s this little thing, just for you! Hope you like it!

It was all too much. Ezekiel wastired. He was tired of the nightmares and the memories. He was tired of thepanic attacks at two in the morning that simultaneously woke him from sleep andkept him from any more. He was tired of constantly being on edge and held backfrom truly enjoying his job anymore because he was just so afraid. Afraid of losing his team – his family. Afraid of watching them die again like they had in thevideo game.

Most of all, though, he was afraidof them figuring it all out. He knew that if they did find out, they’d lookdown on him. They’d tell him to suck it up; it hadn’t been real anyways. Andthey would be right because it hadn’tbeen real; this fear was all in Ezekiel’s head. Except it was getting harderand harder to hide; missions were becoming more difficult than they had beenbefore. Instead of being something he looked forward to, they were something he’dstarted to dread.

Which was, of course, the reason hestood in the Annex now, filling his bag with the various items in hispossession that he’d left around the Library in the past three years.

The thing with Apep had been tooclose of a call. Flynn had almost died,and if he had, Eve would’ve blamed all of them for not doing their job well enough.Ezekiel didn’t know what he would’ve done had he been forced to carry that kindof guilt again, and, this time, Flynn wouldn’t have respawned.

It was better this way, Ezekielrationalized. If he was gone, there’d be no guilt if any of the others died. Hewouldn’t be at fault. There’d be no pain in their deaths because he wouldn’teven know. Maybe he could even get over the whole video game thing if he putsome distance between himself and the Library. Maybe he could forget all ofthis and just go back to his old life where he didn’t have to deal with gettingclose to people only to have them ripped away from him over and over again.

He was just about to swing hisbackpack over his shoulders when someone cleared their throat behind him. He didn’teven have to turn around to know who it was, instead opting to sigh and say, “Doyou ever leave this place?”

“Not unless I have to.” Jenkins’svoice was soft and calm, completely opposite to Ezekiel’s heart which was poundingfaster than a humming bird could flap its wings. He attempted to steady it witha hand on his chest, but all that did was make him realize that his hands wereshaking. He curled the one at his side into a small, tight fist. “Goingsomewhere?”

“Why do you care?” Ezekiel asked,trying to keep his voice steady. The Backdoor was only a couple of steps away;he was so close but now so far.

“I suppose I don’t have to,” Jenkinssaid. He was walking past Ezekiel now and over to his standing desk where hebegan to rifle through the various papers that sat upon it. “But I guess itwould make me a bad caretaker if I didn’t,hm?”

Ezekiel huffed and rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”

He walked up to the Backdoor andturned to the globe. His fingers danced over it lightly, wondering where he couldgo.

“You know,” Jenkins said, interruptinghis thoughts, “no matter where you go they’ll find you.”

“No, they won’t,” Ezekielimmediately replied; there was no hesitation in his voice. He knew he was toogood, and they’d give up eventually. It’d happened before so it would happenagain.

Jenkins huffed a laugh and for somereason it made Ezekiel frustrated. “You underestimate how much they care foryou.”

“And you underestimate how good I amat hiding,” Ezekiel retorted. He angrily spun the globe, suddenly not caringwhere he ended up. No matter where he’d be, he could figure out where to go; he’dalways been able to figure it out before.

“Mr. Jones,” Jenkins said, and nowhis voice was sharp and demanding. Even Ezekiel couldn’t help glancing backover his shoulder. Jenkins was in front of his desk now, arms crossed over hischest. His face was pulled into an unimpressed frown. “I’m not sure what you’regoing through, but I know you’ve been dealing with it for quite a while now.”

“I’m not going through anything,”Ezekiel snapped, ignoring the panic that shot through him like a bullet.

“And,” Jenkins continued as if hehadn’t spoken, “I realize that it has something to do with that time loop thathappened a while ago.”

“It wasn’t a time loop, it was avideo game,” Ezekiel immediately corrected. He puffed out an angry breath. “Butthat’s not the point! It doesn’t matter; none of it matters.” He raked a handthrough his hair and tried to ignore Jenkins, focusing on the door instead. “Atleast, it won’t matter in a few minutes.”

“You once called me a coward,”Jenkins said, voice louder now. He was walking towards Ezekiel, pace still calmand collected. “For not choosing. And you were right; I was a coward. I was acoward because instead of staying and facing my troubles, I decided to let themfester without me. I let them grow and build for years and years; do you knowhow heavy that can get? Do you know what it’s like to leave things behind,unfinished?”

“This is finished,” Ezekiel said,voice quiet but loud enough for Jenkins to still hear him. “I’m done.”

“We could help,” Jenkins murmured.He was only a foot away now, arms hung loosely at his sides. His face was neutral,but his eyes were filled with compassion. “Despite what you think, you are notalone in this.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” Ezekielsnapped. His throat felt tight, and his hands clenched into shaking fists again.“Maybe I’m not now, but I will be. I’veseen it happen; it’ll happen again. It’s only an amount of time before I’malone. This way I control it; I decide when they leave me because I decide whenI leave.”

“But won’t that just make it harder?”Jenkins asked, and he seemed genuinely curios. “Leaving without a goodbye,without knowing what will happen here? Leaving without an explanation, leavingthe rest of them to just guess what has happened to you?”

“They’ll get it…eventually,” Ezekielmuttered, but his voice was unsure, shaky. “It will just take time; they’llforget about me.”

“And how long does it take to forgeta man like Ezekiel Jones?” Ezekiel shook his head, unable to answer. “There isn’ta measurement of time that can answer that question.” Jenkins stepped away,walking back to his desk. “They will find you, or they will die trying.”

“Yeah, well, what if I don’t want tobe found?” Ezekiel demanded, rearing back on Jenkins.

He shrugged. “They won’t care.”

“I don’t believe you,” Ezekielsnapped. He shook his head again, resolutely, and turned to the Backdoor. In aharder tone, he repeated, “I don’t believe you.”

“You don’t have to,” Jenkins said. “Juststep through that door and wait.”

Ezekiel ignored him, hand reachingout.  The Backdoor flooded the dimly-litAnnex in blue-white light that flickered and created dancing shadows on thewalls. His hand curled around the knob; it was still shaking.

“I’ll look for you too.” He couldjust barely hear Jenkins over the roaring in his ears, over the sound of hisown heartbeat thumping quick and unsteadily. “I have all the time in the worldto chase after you, Ezekiel Jones.”

The light slowly started to fadeaway. Ezekiel’s hand fell limply to his side. He dumped his backpack on thefloor. He slowly walked over to Jenkins’s desk. He hopped on top of it, headhanging and back hunching.

“Can I interest you in some morningtea?” Jenkins asked, voice just as calm as it had been the entire time.

“Don’t tell them about this,”Ezekiel said instead.

“It will be our secret,” Jenkinsassured him. He reached out, squeezed Ezekiel’s shoulder, and then steppedback, saying, “Come make some tea with me.”

Wordlessly, Ezekiel slid off the desk and followed him.

Jenkins was there the next time andthe next, and he would always be there. Watching over Ezekiel, protecting him, caring for him.

And, well, Ezekiel had to admit thatit certainly wasn’t the worst thing in the world.

[hamelott]

HIIII! I really really love how you write Jazekiel and your pranks fics have me thinking about Jake wrongly accusing Ezekiel of something and Ezekiel tries to explain that it wasn't him but Jake doesn't believe him and Ezekiel is actually really upset about it but it takes Jake being a bit of an asshole to realize that Ezekiel is so affected by it.

Thanks so much! I’m glad you enjoy reading them because I really love writing them lol! I hope you enjoy this short lil thing :D

“Where the hell is he?” Jake demanded as he stormed into the Annex.

Cassandra glanced up from where she’d been working out some math problems on a tablet and then did a double take when she saw the state Jake was in. His clothes were soaking wet, and his hair was slightly smouldering. He was breathing heavily as if he had just run a marathon. “What happened to you?”

“Ezekiel,” Jake growled.

Just then, the thief jumped from the Backdoor. He was holding a bag that appeared to be stuffed to the brim. He slammed the door behind him, trying to catch his breath. When he turned and noticed the other two Librarians, he blinked before grinning. “Good morning.”

“I’m gonna kill you,” Jake snapped, taking a step towards Ezekiel. He blanched and jumped towards Cassandra, hiding behind her.

“Whoa, whoa, Stone, calm down, mate,” Ezekiel stammered, jumping around Cassandra as Jake advanced closer. “I don’t know why you’re mad, but I promise I can explain…hopefully.”

“Oh really?” Jake huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. “Then explain to me how you possibly would have thought it would be funny to set loose a baby dragon in my apartment? And, also, how the hell did you even manage to get your hands on one?!”

“You did what?!” Cassandra exclaimed, shocked, and reared on Ezekiel. He leapt away from her swinging hand. “Why would you do that?”

“That’s what I want to know,” Jake said, eyes narrowed at Ezekiel.

He held up his hands innocently. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I didn’t do that!”

Jake laughed bitterly. “Do you think I’m stupid, Jones? Of course you did it! You’re the only one who would!”

“I wouldn’t do that!” Ezekiel protested. “I wouldn’t risk your life like that.”

“And you call sending me into a frozen lake as not ‘risking my life’?” Jake asked in a heated tone.

Ezekiel pointed a warning finger at him, voice going hard. “Hey, I apologized for that, and I learned my lesson, okay? I wouldn’t pull something like that again.”

“And, funnily enough, I don’t believe you,” Jake said. He shook his head, almost looking disappointed. “Look just come grab the damn thing and leave me the hell alone, alright?”

Jake was turning to leave the room, so Ezekiel shouted after him, “I didn’t do this! I wouldn’t do that. Why can���t you just trust me!?”

He hadn’t realized that his fists had started to shake until Cassandra rested her hand atop his, biting her lip and looking at him worriedly. He shrugged her off and stomped over to where Jake had turned back around to face Ezekiel.

“When have you ever earned any trust?” Jake spat.

That brought Ezekiel to a halt, Jake’s words slicing through him like a sword. His face contorted into an embarrassed expression. He took a stumbling step back away from Jake. “L-Look, you’re right. I haven’t earned your trust. I-I’m sorry. I’ll go try to figure out your dragon problem.”

He slumped and shuffled away from Jake and up the stairs to the second story of the Annex. Jake huffed angrily after him and glanced at Cassandra to find her glaring at him. “What?!”

“You don’t think it’s him anymore,” she said in a bit of a snappish tone.

Jake rolled his eyes, but he shrugged at her. “Of course I…I don’t know. He did look pretty hurt…”

“Go apologize,” Cassandra told him.

“Then who am I gonna blame for this?” Jake asked, indicating to his still-damp clothes.

Cassandra shrugged. “I’m not sure, but you need to fix this before worrying about that.”

Jake sighed. “Fine.”

He walked past her and stomped upstairs. It only took him a couple minutes to find Ezekiel curled on the floor with a book on dragons in his lap. When he noticed Jake, he scrambled to his feet and started to say, “If you came to hit me, I-.”

Jake waved his words away as if they were an annoying gnat. “I’m not gonna hit you, Jones. I came to…I came to apologize.”

One of Ezekiel’s eyebrows slowly began to rise. “You…came to apologize…to me?”

Jake huffed, glancing away from the thief. “Look, whether or not you put a baby dragon in my apartment-.”

“I didn’t,” Ezekiel said quickly.

“Whether or not doesn’t matter,” Jake went on. “I shouldn’t have said I didn’t trust you or you haven’t earned it because…well, you have man.”

“I have?” The eyebrow was still rising.

Jake nodded. He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Look, I just got pissed off, okay? You didn’t deserve any of that shit.”

“Oh…okay,” Ezekiel said slowly, nodding. He frowned and asked, “But why did you get so mad? I mean, you’re not exactly known for your level head but…”

Jake sighed. “The stupid little shit, that dragon, he destroyed a book of mine from my, uh, from my ma.” He shrugged. “It, uh, it doesn’t matter; it doesn’t excuse the fact that what I said was mean.”

Ezekiel’s frown deepened. “Jake, I-.”

“Stone, Jones!” Eve’s voice called from down below. “We’ve got a new mission! Loki, trickster god of Norse mythology, apparently got free from his prison and has started popping up around Portland!”

Jake’s eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to say something, but Ezekiel interrupted him with, “Sounds like my kind of god.”

“Ezekiel,” Jake said.

“You’re forgiven, Stone,” Ezekiel interrupted again. He rested a hand on Jake’s shoulder and winked. “What do you say we make that son of a bitch pay?”

Jake gave him a small smile. “That’s definitely something that I can get behind.”

A few days later, the trickster god was sent back to Asgard and the baby dragon was adopted as the team mascot.

It was sent to the Eastern Dragons a month later after burning Jenkins’s suit for the fiftieth time.

[hamelott]

hi your fic is super amazing and im super new to the librarians fandom but ive consumed so much fic in the past week and i was wondering if youd like this prompt: jenkinsxezekielxjakexcassandra, maybe working out feelings/on a date all together? this ship just feels right like they all care about each other so much. i totally understand if you dont like this/want to write it, i know it isnt jenklits week. thank you so much for reading and have a great day!

Hi, thank you so much! Also, welcome to the fandom! From all the experiences I’ve had with it, it’s honestly made-up of some of the nicest people out there; I really hope you stick around and feel as welcome as I have :)

So, I’m gonna be completely honest with you, I went more down the “on a date” route, and it came out as sickeningly sweet, rot-your-teeth fluff. I really hope you enjoy!!

“Are you sure I look okay?”

Jake glanced up from his phone toCassandra. They were standing next to the Backdoor, waiting for the Ezekiel toshow up, and Cassandra was fiddling with her outfit. It was a sundress with afloral design, and if Jake was being completely honest, it looked beautiful onher.

He grinned. “I promise, Cassie. Youlook fantastic.”

He watched her cheeks flush, and shebit on her lower lip slightly, muttering, “Thanks, Jake.”

“Are we ready to go or what?” Theyboth glanced up to find Ezekiel strutting their way. He was dressed equally asnice and had done his hair up handsomely.

Jake rolled his eyes, but he had asmall, fond smile on his face. “We were actually waitin’ on you, Jones.”

“Yeah, well, where’s Jenkins?”Ezekiel retorted.

Cassandra held up a tiny piece ofpaper. Ezekiel grabbed it and scanned it quickly, but Jake already knew what itsaid.

Meet tonight at the Backdoor and go through for a surprise.~Jenkins.

“This is lame,” Ezekiel huffed, buthe didn’t protest when Jake turned to the Backdoor and rested his hands on thehandles. The frame of the door instantly came alight, and Cassandra grinned alittle giddily, like she always did. Jake pushed through the door, and theothers quickly followed him.

When they’d straightened up and lookedaround, realization began to dawn on them. Ezekiel was shaking his head. “Itake it back; this is super lame.”

“Oh hush,” Cassandra said, slappinghim on the shoulder. She was looking around with big, bright eyes. She glancedat Jake. “This is gonna be great!”

Jake couldn’t help but smile back ashe nodded. “Yeah, this’ll be fun. Get that stick outta your ass, Jones. Bet I geta higher score than you.”

Ezekiel’s eyes narrowed at him, aplayful grin on his face. “Oh, you’re so on, cowboy.”

They were in a bowling alley. It wasrelatively empty aside from a couple in one of the middle lanes, and a group ofseemingly-tame teenagers at the lane in the very back. Jenkins was alreadystanding at the very first lane, looking very odd in a mixture of his normal, immaculatesuit and old, worn bowling shoes.

“Jenkins!” Cassandra shoutedexcitedly. She rushed over to him and leaned up to press a small kiss to hischeek. Jake and Ezekiel followed at a slower pace, whispering fake threats toeach other to try and psych the other out.

“Hello, my dear,” Jenkins saidwarmly when Cassandra stepped away. He nodded to a desk where a bored-lookingteenager was stationed. “Your shoes have already been paid for. Just tell that youngman over there your size and that you’re with me.”

“C’mon, Jake!” Cassandra latchedonto Jake’s bicep and practically dragged him over to desk. When the teenagernoticed her running over, his eyes widened slightly in what was probably just atiny bit of fear.

“Really, J?” Ezekiel murmured,glancing at him. “Bowling?”

“Well,” Jenkins said with a smallsmile, “from what I remember, the last date I planned, Jacob broke his clavicleand Cassandra nearly tumbled off a cliff-face. I figured I’d go for a more…safeapproach this time around.”

Ezekiel grinned and nodded. “Yeah,you’re right.” He slapped Jenkins on the back before he walked over to thedesk, adding over his shoulder, “Good call, Jenkins.”

Thirty minutes later, Jake was up tobowl. He had a score of 108; Ezekiel had a score of 109. It was the last round,and Jake was the last person up. He had a smug smirk on his face, completelysure of his victory.

Jake took a few steps back, readyinghis shot, but as he stepped up to let the ball go, Ezekiel shouted, “Stone!Catch!”

Jake lost grip of the ball asEzekiel came soaring at him. He yelped and jumped forward to catch the thief,holding him bridal-style in his arms. Behind him, his ball soared into thegutter and past all ten pins. Jake growled and glared down at Ezekiel’scheekily grinning face.

“I hate you.”

Ezekiel leaned up and pressed a sloppy kissagainst Jake’s cheek. “My hero!” He glanced over his shoulder. “Did you guyssee that? Jake just saved my-!”

He shouted in surprise when Jakedropped him, and he hit the ground hard. Cassandra was laughing behind herhand, and Jenkins wasn’t even trying to hide his smirk. Jake just huffed andstepped over him, saying, “You know I’ve got a second shot, right?”

Ezekiel only grumbled and climbed tohis feet.

Jake really shouldn’t have beensurprised when Ezekiel jumped on his back two minutes later.

They played a few more games. Jakewon the second one, Ezekiel the third, and Jenkins creamed them all in thefourth, claiming he’d been going easy on them the entire time. Cassandra, who’dnever bowled in her life and was doing quite spectacularly bad, was justcontent with having fun with her three, favorite people.

After the fourth game, they returnedtheir shoes and walked over to the snack bar of the bowling alley. Jenkinsordered and paid for four milkshakes, and they sat around a table together.

“You only won because I let you,”Ezekiel said, sipping his vanilla milkshake.

Jake snorted. “Sure. Just keeptelling yourself that, Jones.”

“Well I thought you both didwonderfully,” Cassandra said with a small smile, pulling out her cherry to eatit. She also stole Jake’s, but he made no move to stop her. Ezekiel tossed herhis without even looking at her.

“Gimme a sip of yours,” Ezekielsuddenly demanded, swiping Jake’s chocolate milkshake and pulling it towardshimself. Jake just rolled his eyes and shared a small grin with Cassandra.

They stayed there for another houror so. As the time went by, Cassandra and Ezekiel’s eyes started drooping moreand more. At some point, Cassandra even fell asleep on the table, using her armsas a cushion. When Jenkins noticed her, he smiled softly. “I think about timewe head home. What do you think, Jacob?”

Jake glanced at Ezekiel who waspractically drooling against his shoulder. He snorted softly. “Yeah, I thinkso. C’mon, Jones.”

He hefted Ezekiel to his feet andled the tired thief towards the door. Jenkins followed him with Cassandra gluedto his side. They walked through the door and appeared in the Annex. Jake satEzekiel down in a chair and walked up to the globe, finding the sticky-notethat read, Cassandra’s Apartment; she’dinsisted that she label it, in case anyone needed to get to her apartmentquickly. A few seconds later, the Backdoor was glowing again, and Jenkins ledher up to it.

Cassandra stepped away and murmured,“Thanks for the wonderful date, Jenkins.”

She leaned up and pressed a softkiss on his cheek before she stumbled sleepily through the Backdoor. Jakewatched her go with a fond smile before turning to Ezekiel. “Alright, Zeke, youwanna go home or-?”

He was cut off by the thief’ssnoring. Ezekiel was slumped contentedly in the chair, snuffling slightly inhis sleep. Jake chuckled softly, glancing at Jenkins. “Guess that answers thatquestion.”

Jenkins smiled and walked up toJake, resting an arm over his shoulders. “Can I interest you in some tea?”

Jake slung his arm around Jenkins’swaist, grinning. “That sounds absolutely delightful, J.”

As they stepped away from theBackdoor, both had the same thought drifting through their minds.

I can’t wait for the next one.

[hamelott]

Hi! In honor of Father's Day, I was wondering if you would be willing to write something for me? I was thinking platonic flyzekiel X something where Flynn finds out that his mother died when he was young or Flynn finding out he was abused or something and they get closer? Not only wld Zeke's mom's death fit in w/ canon clues, it wld parallel w/how Flynn's father died, so Flynn and Ezekiel could relate. Maybe Fathers Day is a rough holiday for Flynn, and the others try to cheer him up?

Hello there!! As someone who has, like, first-hand experience with this stuff, I’ve gotta tell you it was really therapeutic to write, especially today, so thanks lol. Though, fair warning, I didn’t follow the prompt to a ‘T,��� so sorry ‘bout that, but I hope you like the end result nonetheless.

Also, happy Father’s Day to everybody out there whether you happen to be a dad, have a dad, or even don’t have one; here’s to a day with jokes about building porches and calling your kids ‘Hungry.’

(also, disclaimer, i’ve seen ‘return to king solomon’s mines’ a whopping one [1] time - and i’m pretty sure i fell asleep during it too - so if things with flynn’s dad seem fishy…they are)

Flynn, his nose in a book, wastrotting down the stairs to the first floor of the Annex when he nearly trippedover Ezekiel Jones. The thief was bent down, hunched over his phone, and had, unsurprisingly,not noticed Flynn’s presence. Flynn was about to make an awkward backtrack whenhe noticed Ezekiel’s hands shaking. He peered a little closer and found thatEzekiel was looking at a picture.

In the picture appeared to be alittle boy and his mother. They were sat on what Flynn assumed to be a parkbench. The little boy was grinning up at his mother, a brown teddy bearclutched in his hands. He couldn’t have been more than three or four. Hismother was staring down back at him, a soft, loving smile on her face. Bothwere ignoring the camera, too lost in each other to even realize it was there.

Flynn couldn’t help clearing histhroat, voice uncertain as he said, “Uh, Jones?”

Ezekiel nearly dropped his phone andwhipped around in his seat to look up at Flynn. He wasn’t crying, but the rimsof his eyes were growing red and little pools of tears were building up in thecorner of them. He sniffled and wiped petulantly at his nose before turningaround again, thumb brushing over the picture that he refused to look back downat. “What do you want, Flynn?”

“I was, uh,” Flynn stammered,holding up his book even though Ezekiel still wasn’t looking at him. He shookhis head. “It doesn’t matter. Are you…are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Ezekiel snapped, keepinghis head down. He had his phone turned away now, still refusing to look back atthe picture.

“You know,” Flynn murmured, settingdown the book and settling in next to Ezekiel on the step. Ezekiel triedscooting away from him, but the stair railing made it impossible to move toofar. “You once told us you were an honest thief; I thought you didn’t lie.”

“White lies don’t hurt anybody,”Ezekiel muttered.

“Except the people that tell them,”Flynn said. He nodded to the phone and asked, “Who is she?”

“None of your business,” Ezekieltold him curtly. He still wasn’t getting up and walking away though, and Flynn knewthat had to mean something. He wasn’t really the best at ‘touchy-feely’ kind ofconversations, but he supposed he could make an exception.

“My dad died when I was four,” Flynnsaid quietly, and he noticed Ezekiel peering at him from the corner of his eye.He went on calmly, “He was shot by a man who was his best friend.” He laughedlightly and shook his head. “I guess the Carsen family isn’t lucky when itcomes to getting normal, safe jobs.”

“I’m sorry,” Ezekiel murmured.

Flynn shrugged. “It was a long timeago. The wounds have opened and closed, but every time I remember him I don’tremember the way he died. I remember his crazy stories that he told me before Iwent to bed. I remember the way he loved my mother. He was a good man.”

Ezekiel sighed, his hand clenchingaround his phone. “She died when I was thirteen. She got really, really sick,and we didn’t have the money to take care of her. She was in so much pain allof the time, but every time I saw her she would smile and hug me and ask me howschool was going.”

“She sounds like a good mom,” Flynn murmured.

Ezekiel nodded. “The best.” Helaughed a little, and it sounded wet. Flynn noticed him reach up and quickly wipeat his eyes. “If only she knew…”

“Knew what?” Flynn asked.

Ezekiel hung his head. “Just howmuch of a disappointment I’d turn out to be.”

Flynn frowned at that. “Hey, that’snot fair. Your mother would be very proud of you.” Ezekiel glanced at him, abitter smile on his face. “Okay, maybe she wouldn’t be proud of everything, butyou did the best you could.”

“I could’ve become an accountant orsomething!” Ezekiel protested. “And instead I took the easy way out and becamea criminal.”

“And then a Librarian,” Flynn saidquickly. “And now you save the day every single day. You’re a hero, EzekielJones, whether you like or believe it. She’d be proud of that.”

“Yeah, and how do you know?” Ezekielsnapped, crossing his arms over his knees. His cheek was rested on them, face pointed away from Flynn.

“Because I’m proud of you,” Flynn admitted.“And so is Eve and so are the others. We’ve not known you your entire lifeEzekiel, but just from what we’ve seen, you’re someone to be proud of. You’vebeen through a lot, and you don’t let it get you down.”

Ezekiel shook his head, lifting itto glance at Flynn again. “Does it get easier? I mean, every year it’s the samedeal and every year it feels just as hard.”

Flynn shrugged, sighing. “You know,it kind of does, but not necessarily in a good or bad way. You kinda forget what the pain felt like until all youremember is the good stuff. It’ll suck eventually because you’ll lose someoneagain, and you’re just reminded of it. And then you have to deal with the newones and the old.”

“Your mom, Judson,” Ezekielmurmured, realization hitting him, “Charlene, I-.”

“And then you remember how you gotthrough it the last time,” Flynn interrupted, looking ahead with a glossy lookin his eyes. “You’ve been through it before, and you’ll get through it again.You just…you gotta remember the good stuff.” Flynn glanced at him, a smallrueful grin tugging at the side of his mouth. “Y’know, I always thought losingsomeone you didn’t know was harder because you don’t know how to miss them, butit’s losing the people you did knowand knew you…that’s the harder one. But, at least, with those people you’ve gotthe memories, both the good and the bad, and you get to pick.”

“Pick?” Ezekiel asked quietly.

Flynn nodded. “You get to pick howyou see them. Are you going to remember your mom as a woman who would’ve beendisappointed in you? Or are you going to remember her as the woman who loved you from the momentshe laid eyes on you and would understand the things you went through?”

“I think I like the second onebetter,” Ezekiel admitted.

“Good,” Flynn murmured, “because it’sprobably what she would’ve wanted to be remembered as.”

Ezekiel sighed and looked ahead too.“They would’ve been proud of you too, mate…all of them.”

Flynn ducked his head. “Yeah, I hopeso.”

“You said your dad told you stories?”Ezekiel asked, hating the silence that filled the air and threatened to suffocatethem.

Flynn grinned at that. “Yeah, thesilliest things…well, I guess I thoughtthey used to be. Now, though, not so much.” He paused for a few moments before asking,“Can I see her?”

Ezekiel slowly nodded and hit abutton on his phone, bringing the picture back up. He was smiling now too, aslow tear working its way down his cheek. “She really was the best mom.”

Flynn swung an arm over Ezekiel’sshoulders, squeezing lightly. “I’m sure she was.”

[hamelott]

I was wondering if you could write me a fic for my idea: Ezekiel is being a little too conceited and it's annoying the rest of the team. They decide to magically lock him out so he can't pick the lock. He waits by the door for them to let him in. Cue the rain. So he's soaked and it's freezing outside. When they finally decide to open the door he's curled up in a ball shivering. The next day he's really sick and they all take care of him because they feel bad. Thank you so so much!!!!

Hi there! I love writing the team all together and Ezekiel inflating his own ego, so this was the perfect combination! Thanks so much for the request; I really hope you like it!!

“Have I ever mentioned just how awesome I am, guys? Because, honestly, I don’t think it gets brought up enough.”

Jake rolled his eyes. Ezekiel was feeling particularly self-doting that night, and Jake assumed it had to do with the fact that he’d just saved all their asses from an evil gorgon. Jake knew the kid deserved at least some praise, but at that point it was just annoying. He knew Eve with her harsh sighs, Flynn with his side glares at the thief, and even Cassandra with her painfully obvious ignorance of Ezekiel would all agree with him that Ezekiel needed to cool off with it.

“I mean,” Ezekiel was still going on, “you’d all be dead if it hadn’t been for me. You owe me your lives. That is so cool, man. I’ve never had someone indebted to me before.”

“Ezekiel!” Eve snapped at the same time as a noise that suspiciously sounded like a doorbell rang throughout the Annex. Ezekiel glanced at her, startled, and she let out a tight sigh. “That’s the pizza. Why don’t you go get it?”

“Oh, sure,” Ezekiel said, shrugging. “I mean, I think, as the hero of the day I should get a little break, but yeah, sure, Eve.”

Ezekiel strode out of the room, and Jake jumped up quickly, growling, “I’ll kill him. I don’t even care anymore, he’s dead.”

“Stone, stop,” Eve said with a put-upon tone. “He’s not…wrong. We do owe him after today.” The words sounded pained. “You can’t go kill him.”

“I say let him,” Flynn said, sighing. He had been hurt most by the gorgon, and all he had wanted to do was come home and sleep, but Ezekiel had insisted on a celebratory dinner. “Maybe we can get some peace and quiet.

“No, we can’t hurt him,” Cassandra said responsibly. A devious smile suddenly pulled across her face. “But we can give him a taste of his own medicine. Jake, remember when he tricked you into going through the Backdoor into a frozen lake?”

“Yes,” Jake growled angrily.

“Well, let’s pull a prank on our own,” Cassandra said.

Flynn at up from where he’d been laying on top of one of the tables. He was grinning. “I think I’ve got just the thing.”~~~“Here you go, mate,” Ezekiel said, paying the pizza boy with a little tip added in too. In his arms, he held two pizzas: one for him and one for the others. “Thanks for making the journey out here.”

The kid was looking at the bridge with a confused look on his face. He looked like he was about to question it when he noticed Ezekiel’s tip - a fifty dollar bill. He nodded at Ezekiel quickly and said, “Yeah, no problem, man. Have a good one.”

Ezekiel waved goodbye to him before turning swiftly around to open the door. Or try to open the door. He frowned when the door didn’t budge an inch. He rolled his eyes and set down the pizzas, pulling out his lock-pick kit. He fiddled around with the door until he heard the satisfying click of a lock unlocking. He tugged on the door; it didn’t move. Somehow it had immediately relocked itself…almost as if by magic.

Ezekiel huffed and banged on the door, shouting, “Alright, very funny guys. You got me. Unlock the door now, please.”

He listened carefully with his ear pressed against the door but heard nothing. Despite it, he tried the door - nothing. Ezekiel banged some more. “C’mon, this is ridiculous. I know you guys are in there!”

He waited again for a response and received nothing. “Fine! I’ll just stay out here. I’m gonna eat your pizza too!”

Ezekiel slid to the ground with his back leant against the door and grabbed the pizzas, tugging them closer to him. He opened the top box, grabbed a slice, and took an angry bite out of it. He as about to take another when a raindrop fell on the tip of his nose.

“Shit.”~~~“Do you think we’ve let him stew out there enough?” Cassandra asked, chewing at her bottom lip. She was glancing down the hallway to the door worriedly.

“No,” Jake immediately said, clearly remembering just how long he’d been underneath that frozen lake. It’d definitely been a prank gone wrong, and Jake had come back shaking and not entirely because of the cold. He hadn’t talked to Ezekiel for a week. He clearly wasn’t remembering just how guilty Ezekiel had felt for months afterwards.

“I don’t know,” Eve said, shaking her head a little. “It’s been pretty quiet.”

“That’s because he’s out there,” Jake said, annoyed.

“I think we should let him in,” Flynn said. Jake looked at him, betrayed, and Flynn shrugged. “I’m hungry and the pizza’s out there.”

Jake, seeing the logic in that, sighed. “Okay, fine. Turn off the spell; I’ll go get him.”

Jake walked down the hall to the door, waited for the shimmering blue magic that covered it to disappear, and pulled open the door. He jumped back, startled, when Ezekiel slumped into the doorway.

The thief was soaked and shivering like crazy. He teeth chattered, and he looked up at Jake from beneath rain-beaded eyelashes. “H-Hey, St-Stone.”

“Shit,” Jake cursed, bending down quickly. He pulled Ezekiel into his arms and lifted him up, stumbling slightly under his weight. “You gotta lay off the pizza, Zeke.”

“Lay off the Chupacabra jerky first, m-mate,” Ezekiel teased back up at him.

“Cassandra, get some of Jenkins’s tea ready!” Jake shouted down the hall. He hauled Ezekiel into the Annex to find their friends sat up, startled with wide eyes.

“What the hell?” Eve snapped, jumping to her feet. She rushed over to Jake and brushed aside Ezekiel’s bangs to feel his forehead. “He’s burning up.”

“F-Fevers’ll do that t-to you,” Ezekiel informed her cheekily.

“Shut up, Jones,” Jake grunted, setting Ezekiel down on one of the tables.

Flynn, jumping on one foot because of a sprained ankle, came over to them. “Take off his wet clothes. We need to get him warm and dry.”

“N-Not even gonna wait until the first d-date?” Ezekiel asked him with a little grin.

An hour later, Ezekiel was huddled on the table in criss-cross-applesauce style with a blanket covering him and one of Jake’s flannel shirts hanging off of him. A mug of warm tea was in his still slightly-shaking hands. He looked slightly less miserable than before.

“We’re…we’re really sorry, Ezekiel,” Cassandra said, her voice quiet and guilty. “We had no idea it was supposed to rain tonight.”

“Are you kidding?” Ezekiel asked, his eyebrows rising. “That was awesome! You guys pranked me, the unprankable! I’m so proud!”

“You…you are?” Jake asked.

Ezekiel shrugged. “Yeah, ‘course. I mean, it sucked being out there, but we’re going to be laughing about this one for ages. Like, ‘Remember that time Ezekiel was being a big asshole so we locked him outside and then it started raining? Haha, good times!’ Like that whole ice lake thing, Jake.”

“You’re proud of us?” Eve asked, her voice taking on that I-really-want-to-shoot-something quality that she was so famous for.

“Sure!” Ezekiel exclaimed. “I mean, honestly, I’m a little more proud of myself. Not only am I great at pranking, but I’m even more amazing at being pranked. I mean, none of you would’ve taken it this well. I guess I’m just the best of both worlds.”

Jake sighed and rubbed his face. “That’s it, I’m going home. Good luck, you guys.”

Eve slowly shook her head at Ezekiel and said, “Hold on, Stone. I’m coming with you.”

Flynn shrugged innocently at Cassandra and followed Eve out quickly.

Ezekiel turned to Cassandra and grinned. She rolled her eyes fondly and walked up to Ezekiel. He frowned at her, confused, and nearly yelped in surprise when she pressed a soft kiss to his cheek.

When she pulled back, she patted his shoulder. “I’m really glad you are okay because we all really do feel bad.”

“It’s okay,” Ezekiel said quickly.

She looked at him knowingly and rubbed off the lipstick that she’d left behind on his cheek. “We love you Ezekiel, annoying pride and all.”

She left him with a weird feeling in his gut and a soft smile on his face.

He shook it off and jumped off the table, wondering if any of the pizza he’d left outside was salvageable.

[hamelott]

Thanks for being awesome about answering requests. Can I get a Mama Baird and son Ezekiel fic where Ezekiel gets really into a case and he massively overworks himself and Eve finds him like 3 days later and he hasn't eaten and he's exhausted and she has to mom him to get him to go to bed? Thanks so much.

This was such a cute idea so thank you! Also, thanks so much for your sweet words

I really hope you enjoy!

They’d lost Stone. He and Ezekiel hadwandered off in the stone catacombs they’d been adventuring in, and whenEzekiel got back, he’d been bruised up and breathing hard, gasping out a storyabout a few undead Aztec soldiers, one possessing a really good right hook, andthen waking up to find Jacob gone.

They’d returned to the Library and got towork as quickly as possible, but it was turning out to take much longer thanthey’d first anticipated. Cassandra was fried out with worry, Eve couldn’t getthe thought of Jacob dead in the middle of the catacombs out of her head, andeven Jenkins was distressed, doing his best to take care of them all whilstalso trying his best to produce more research and facts that either turned ourhelpful or, most of the time, not.

Ezekiel was taking it the worst. He blamedhimself for losing his fellow Librarian and had completely thrown himself intothe search. Eve would go home and then come back the following morning only tofind him in the same spot she’d left him – hunched over a book about ancientAztec zombies or dusty old maps of any catacomb system they hadn’t ruled outyet. She tried putting plates of food by him every night – pizza mostly – buthe’d take only a couple of bites before tossing it aside. She was worried abouthim, but she also knew the only way to help him get better was to find Jacoband get him home.

And, eventually, they did. He was beatenup and half-dazed when they did find him in a secret-doored section of adifferent set of catacombs, but he was alive and able to crack a stupid jokeabout what had taken them so long? They’d gotten him home, and Jenkins hadforced him to stay the night in the Annex, pulling out one of his famouslyuncomfortably cots and practically shoving Jacob onto it with a cup of tea.

After Eve had made sure he was as fine ashe could be, she set out on her way to Ezekiel’s apartment. He’d ditched out assoon as they’d gotten back to the Library, and Eve felt worry balling up in herstomach. She knew he would probably be there, but a part of her was worried hewasn’t. What if he had bailed for good this time, driven by the guilt he feltover Jacob? Then she’d have to set up a whole other search-and-rescue missionfor that Librarian.

When Eve arrived at his apartment, sheknocked on the door swiftly. She waited a few minutes, but there was no reply.She sighed to herself, refusing to give up hope, and dug around in her pockets,eventually coming up with a copy of Ezekiel’s key she had had made. Sheunlocked the door and pushed through.

Eve hadn’t ever exactly been in Ezekiel’sapartment before, but it was nothing like she’d expected. What she had expectedwas a colossal mess of clothing, skateboard equipment, and stolen paintings andjewels. What she found was a nearly barren room. The only things in the livingroom were a couch, which held the resident thief, and a TV with various gamingsystems hooked up neatly to it.

Ezekiel, curled up on the couch, liftedhis head slowly. His eyebrows scrunched together, and even from her distance,Eve could read his annoyance. “How do you know where I live?”

“I know where all of you live,” Eve toldhim, not explaining that the Library kept up-to-date records on every singleone of them and, as Guardian, she’d taken it up as her job to make sure sheknew where the others were at all times.

Ezekiel just huffed grumpily at her,letting his head fall back down. “Stone okay?”

“He’s fine,” Eve told him. She wanderedinto the room over to him, lifted Ezekiel’s feet up, and sat down, letting hisfeet rest in her lap. Ezekiel squirmed, but he didn’t move away from her whichreally attested to just how exhausted he was. “Still beat up and utterlyexhausted, but I’m not worried about him right now.”

“Should be,” Ezekiel mumbled. He sighed. “Iknow I am.”

“Who I amworried about,” Eve persisted, “is you.”

Ezekiel snorted. “I’m fine, thanks.”

“No you’re not,” Eve said, shaking herhead. “When was the last time you got a decent night’s sleep? Or a real mealother than a bit of pizza and a sip of soda?”

Ezekiel just shrugged, grumbling tohimself. Eve smirked to herself a little. She said, “Yeah, exactly what Ithought.”

“Look,” Ezekiel said, “it’s fine. Just becauseI live the life that I do now since coming to the Library doesn’t mean I alwaysused to. As a thief, I’m used to sleepless nights and meal-less ones too. It’snot a big issue. I’m fine. Just…go home or somethin’ and stop breaking into myhouse, you wierdo.”

Eve rolled her eyes at that. She grabbedhis legs and swung him around so his feet landed on the ground and his back waspressed against the back of the couch. He glanced at her, unimpressed. Shesmiled sweetly at him. “Not until I know you’re okay.”

“I’m tellin’ you,” Ezekiel said, shakinghis head. Eve got to her feet but not before looping her arm with one of his totug him up with her. When he was standing, he slumped drastically and Eve hadto wrap an arm around his waist to keep him from falling back into the couch.He shrugged at her. “I’m fine.”

“Sure you are,” Eve told him. “You wantfood or sleep first?”

“I’m fin-,” Ezekiel started, a bit of annoyanceentering his voice.

“Food or sleep?” Eve interrupted. She methis eyes and something in them must’ve convinced him how serious she was becausehe sighed.

“Sleep, I guess,” Ezekiel murmured.

Eve nodded. “Good choice.”

Eve carried him to his bedroom as Ezekiellazily pointed out the way with nods of his head. When she reached the room,she edged open the door and walked them through. Just like the living room, thebedroom was sparse and only held a queen sized bed and dresser.

Eve dragged Ezekiel over to the bed anddumped him unceremoniously into it. Ezekiel, despite his constant reassuring thathe wasn’t even that tired, snuggled into his pillow a little bit, pulling hisknees a little closer to his chest so he could settle into a comfortable ball.

He glanced up at Eve, frowning. “Is thiswhere you tuck me in and read me a goodnight story?”

She smirked at him. “Only if you want me to,sweetie.”

Ezekiel’s nose curled up at that, and heturned away from her. “Ew, gross, don’t call me that. Go away now.”

Eve rolled her eyes but stepped awaynonetheless. As she began walking out of the room, she said over her shoulder, “Sleepwell. I’ll be here when you wake up to put some real…take-out food in you.Maybe when Jacob’s better, I’ll tell him about all of this so he can force somereal, homemade food into you. God knows I can’t do that shit.”

When she reached the door, Eve stopped andglanced behind her. Ezekiel was already fast asleep, soft snores rising fromthe bed with every breath he took. Eve smiled to herself, dimmed the lights,and shut the door behind her.

Her Librarians were all okay, and shecouldn’t be happier.

[hamelott]

There was a lovely list on my dash, so if you feel like it, would you do Jenzekiel - things you said that i wasn’t meant to hear? Your words are lovely, and I can't wait to see what you do with this. Please and thank you.

Oh goodness, as always you’re too sweet. Hopefully this little fic is just as sweet ;) It was so fun getting to write a new ship! 

“I’m not sure you entirelyunderstand, Mr. Stone.”

Ezekiel came to a halt next to thedoor of Jenkins’s laboratory. He had been going there in order to steal a fewthings for Nessie’s baby and maybe to pester the caretaker because it happenedto be one of his favorite pastimes. It appeared that Jenkins was having aserious conversation with Stone if the annoyed tone of voice was anyindication.

He heard Jacob snort. “Uh huh, sure,Jenkins.”

Jenkins let out a sharp breath, andeven though Ezekiel couldn’t see him, he knew he was rubbing his temples. “Mr. Stone, while I appreciate yourconcern, I’m going to have to ask you to leave. I have work I need to get done.You being here obstructs that.”

“I’m not lettin’ this go,” Jacobinsisted. “You’re makin’ a mistake, and I know you know it. Just because youthink he wouldn’t-.”

“It’s not ‘think’ it’s ‘know’,” Jenkins interrupted him, voicegetting a little heated. Ezekiel, who was still leant just outside the door,raised his eyebrows in surprise. Jenkins could get annoyed with them, yeah, buthe’d never actually been short with any of them. Ezekiel was a little jealousthat it was Jacob who’d finally pushed him over the edge. “Just because youhave these delusional ideas does not mean that it’s true.”

“Are you kiddin’ me?” Jacob asked,letting out a harsh laugh. “You seriously don’t see it? I know you want to denyit because it’s different and you don’t know how to deal with it, but that kidis in love with you. He’s head over heels for you, and so are you, but you’retoo afraid to admit it. You think because you’re immortal or because you don’tlook as young as the rest of us makes you completely unlikable, but it doesn’t.I’m not going to let you break his heart, okay?”

“I’m not going to-,” Jenkins triedto say, voice getting a little softer.

“You may not do it purposefully, butyou will,” Jacob snapped. “You need to make a decision, Jenkins. You eitherneed to tell him how you feel about him or let him down easy. I think we bothknow what you want to do; it’s just a matter of if you’ll grow the balls to ornot.”

Ezekiel stiffened when he heardJacob’s boots stomping towards the door. He was debating running off down thehall or staying there and facing the consequences when Jenkins’s voice pipedup, “You’re right.”

Jacob’s footsteps stopped. “Yeah, I know….whatabout?”

“I should tell him,” Jenkins said,sighing. Ezekiel felt his heartrate kick up a few notches. “He deserves to know…whetherhe actually feels the same or not.”

Ezekiel could hear the warm smile inJacob’s voice as he said, “You’d be lucky to have each other; he knows that.”

“I’ll…” Jenkins hesitated before helet out a small laugh, “grow some balls.” Jacob laughed and his footstepspicked up again before stopping when Jenkins said, “And Mr. Stone? Thank you.”

“Eh, it’s no trouble,” Jacob saidlightly. “I think having such a big family back at home gives me this weirdurge to take care of all y’all too. Just…do me a favor?”

“Yes?” Jenkins asked, the hesitationclear in his voice.

“When you do tell him, make sure he knows it,” Jacob said. “Ezekiel’s a hardguy to convince that you care about him. Just like…throw in a kiss, yeah? Sealthe deal.”

Ezekiel felt himself flush and heardJenkins’s embarrassed laugh accompanied with Jacob’s loud, boisterous one. Hehadn’t even realized Jacob was leaving until he nearly ran into him. He glancedup and met Jacob’s eyes. Jacob, quickly realizing Ezekiel had heard everything,sent him a wink and nudged him towards Jenkins’s door.

“Guess eavesdropping does pay offfor you sometimes, huh?” Jacob whispered, a smirk on his face. He wandered offdown the hall, whistling a causal tune slightly off-key as he walked.

Yeah, Ezekielthought to himself, adjusting his clothes slightly and checking his breath. It really does.

[hamelott]

Could you possibly write something where Ezekiel runs away for some reason and the others have to track him down?

Thanks for the request! I really hope you enjoy!

When Jacob showed up in the morning to theLibrary, he was surprised to find he wasn’tthe last one to arrive. Eve had sent them all a message, but Jacob had sleptthrough it and the four phone calls from both her and Cassandra. When he’dfinally dragged himself from sleep, he’d been startled to find that it was onlyten minutes until noon and he was very much late.

And, despite all that, he still wasn’t thelast one to show up. Flynn was there, sitting at his desk and studying a bookintently. Eve was there too, leaning over the Clippings Book and running herfinger across the few new articles that were there. Cassandra was, of course,there, sat atop the table with her legs swinging beneath her. Jenkins, asalways, was there too, standing at his desk with a book in hand.

Ezekiel was nowhere to be seen.

“Hey, guys, sorry for bein’ so late,”Jacob said as he walked into the room.

Eve glanced up at him, eyebrows raised alittle. “What took you so long? I texted you an hour ago.”

Jacob nodded. “Yeah, I know, I know. I wasasleep. It was a long night.”

It had been. He’d stayed up until three inthe morning putting some finishing touches on a paper he’d been working on. Hewas severely paying the consequences from staying up so late with feelings ofgrogginess and just plain being out of it.

“Have you heard anything from Ezekiel?”Cassandra asked him.

He glanced at her and shook his head. “No.I thought he was gonna be here before me.” He snorted too, adding, “He saidlast night that he had to get up early this morning, so he really should’vebeen here already.”

Eve frowned at that. “That’s weird.” She sighedsharply and shook her head. “I’m sure he’ll be here soon. In the meantime,Stone, come look at this. Now, I was thinking we should…”

And so they waited for Ezekiel to show up.Jacob went off in search of books about historical axe wielding murderers,Flynn helped him by looking up magical axes, Cassandra enlisted Jenkins’s helpin making some sort of lunch, and Eve nervously watched both the Backdoor and thedoor that led out into the Library.

The time slowly rolled by until it wasfour in the afternoon and Ezekiel still had yet to show up. Cassandra wasworried now, Eve was pacing, and even Flynn was looking around nervously,feeling the obvious wrongness of the absence of Ezekiel’s presence.

Jacob was the first one to speak up aboutit. “Alright, where is the damn kid? You think he decided to stay at his placefor the day to freak us out?”

“Plausible,” Eve said, not letting up onher pacing, “but unlikely.” She sighed and shook her head sharply. “Look, let’sgo to his apartment. Maybe he isthere, and if he is, I can kick his butt for making us all worry like this.”

“I don’t know where he lives,” Jacob said.

“Me either,” Cassandra piped in.

Eve pushed away their words with a wave ofher hands. “No worries, I do. I visited him once; he didn’t appreciate it, but Iat least know where he’s staying. C’mon, Stone, you come with me. Flynn,Cassandra, Jenkins, you all stay here in case he decides to show up. Give us acall if you figure something out.”

Eve left the room without saying anotherword. Jacob shared a concerned look with the others, but he quickly followedher out.

~~~

Ezekiel’s apartment was empty. Jacob andEve searched the whole area, but Ezekiel was nowhere to be found. Jacob was aboutto give up when he found something lying on Ezekiel’s table.

It was a piece of lined paper. Jacob heldit up and read it aloud, bringing Eve to a stop from where she was searchingthe kitchen. “‘I’m leaving. Don’t search for me.’ What the hell?”

Eve walked over to him and leaned over hisshoulder, reading the short and abrupt letter quickly. She swiped it from Jacob,turning it over and examining it carefully for some kind of clue that wasn’tthere. She sighed in frustration, saying, “Are you kidding me?”

“Do you think he’s serious?” Jacob asked,frowning.

“He seems pretty serious, Stone,” Evesnapped, gesturing to the empty apartment around them. She let out a longbreath when she noticed the surprised expression on his face at her anger. “Sorry,it’s just…I don’t like this.”

“Me neither,” Jacob said gently, “but wecan’t just start takin’ off each other’s heads here. Let’s bring this back tothe others, and we can figure out if anybody knows where he would’ve gone and-.”

“No,” Eve interrupted, shaking her head.Jacob’s eyebrows raised at that, and she added, “We can’t let them freak out.They’d be driven crazy by worry-.”

“Like you?” Jacob pointed out.

Eve ignored him and continued, “We have tofind him by ourselves. He can’t have gotten very far. It’s still been less thantwenty-four hours. You can only get so far in less than a day. So, c’mon Stone,use that big brain of yours and help me think. Where would Ezekiel Jones go ifhe were trying to run away?”

Jacob shook his head, saying, “How thehell should I know? That kid’s an enigma wrapped up in a mystery. I barely knowwhere he’s going even when he says where he’s going.”

“Well,” Eve said, she took a step awayfrom him and over to a book shelf. Jacob watched with wide eyes as she began topull books out of it and let them fall to the ground. “Let’s get to snooping.”

Jacob and Eve spent another hour searchingthrough Ezekiel’s apartment again, this time looking for small details on wherethe thief might have gone. It was eventually Eve who came up with something,shouting, “Stone, get down here, I think I’ve got something!”

Jacob stepped out of Ezekiel’s bedroom andfound Eve in the kitchen again, bent by the small garbage can. She lifted up a pictureto him, and Jacob grabbed it, frowning. It was a picture printed offline of a columnkrater. It was a very particular column krater that Jacob was familiar with. “Thisis Orpheus Among the Thracians. It’son display in the Portland Art Museum.”

“Why would Ezekiel have a picture of itcrumpled up in his trash can?” Eve wondered, taking it back and frowning at it.

Jacob shrugged. “Who knows? I mean, halfthe things he takes are-.” Jacob paused, realization suddenly dawning on him. “What’sthe thing Ezekiel said he always does before leaving a city? Like, withoutfail?”

Eve’s eyebrows raised, suddenly lookingexcited. “Takes his favorite artifact from one of nearby museums. Are youthinking this is what he was planning on stealing?”

“Maybe,” Jacob checked his phone, relievedto find no notifications on it. “Well, someone would’ve let me know if this hadbeen stolen which means there’s a pretty good chance it hasn’t been yet.”

“Which means there’s still a pretty goodchance Ezekiel’s still in Portland.” Eve grinned, already racing towards thefront door. “C’mon, Stone! We’ve got a thief to catch.”

~~~They finally found Ezekiel on the second floor in the Ronna and Eric Hoffman Galleryeyeing a particular Orpheus Among theThracians. He didn’t notice them enter the floor, but he soon became awareof them when Eve went up to him and slapped him on the arm.

Ezekiel, surprised, yelped and leapt awayfrom her. When he realized who had hit him, he frowned and looked away. “I toldyou not to follow. Doesn’t that meananything these days?”

“What the hell are you doing here, Jones?”Eve snapped. Even though she sounded mad, Jacob knew she was only actually worried.Hell, he was too. If Ezekiel hadn’t kept up his weird, kleptomaniac traditionof souvenirs, there was a highly likely chance they would’ve never seen him againunless he wanted them to.

“Enjoying the artifacts,” Ezekiel said,shrugging. “And you?”

“Finally finding you after an entire dayof searching for you,” Eve told him. “What did you think you were doing,running away like that? What are you, a teenager in a sitcom who didn’t get togo to prom because his mom said no?”

Ezekiel rolled his eyes. “What in theworld are you on about, Baird? Like, seriously, what was that analogy? Becauseit was really weird.”

“That’s not the point,” Eve said, voicefrustrated. “What is the point is that you’re going to march your ass right tothe Library and tell us why you thought this was a good idea.”

“Good God,” Ezekiel grumbled. “This is a bad sitcom; you’re the overbearingmom, right?” His eyes flicked to Jacob and he added with a sneer, “Does thatmake Stone the goody-two-shoes older brother who can do no wrong?”

Jacob sighed, saying, “Dude, c’mon, justlet it go. Just come back to the Library. You had us all worried.”

Ezekiel snorted but it was a bitter sound.“Y’know, that’s exactly why I left. Did you know that I’m really sick of beingtreated like a little kid? You guys do realize I’m an adult right? I don’t needto be taught lessons or babysat like a toddler. I was doing just fine on my ownbefore I met all of you.”

“Jones-,” Eve started.

“No, just, stop, okay?” Ezekiel sighed. “Iknow what you’re going to say. ‘Stop overacting, Ezekiel.’ ‘We’re only doing itbecause we care about you.’ But you wanna know what I hear? ‘We don’t trustyou, Ezekiel.’ ‘We’d be better off without you anyways, you trouble maker.’ Sohere I am, offering it up to you. All you have to do is walk away. I’ll nevermess shit up ever again, okay?”

“Ezekiel,” Eve said and all the anger hadleft her. She was shaking her head slightly, eyes wide and lost. “I…I didn’trealize.”

Ezekiel glanced at her, but his eyesquickly darted back away. “Well…whatever. Doesn’t matter. I’m leaving after I getthis stupid vase anyways.”

“You can’t,” Jacob said, shaking his head.Ezekiel glanced up him, eyebrows lifting a little bit. It was clear he hadn’texpected Jacob to try and get him to stay. He was really gonna have to work onthat. “I mean, we need you, man. M-Maybe we don’t show it as well as we should,but we’d be lost without you, dude. I’m pretty sure Cassandra and I would’vetorn each other apart by now if it weren’t for you and your stupid – sometimes alittle insensitive – jokes to defuse the tension.”

“And I’d be driven crazy if you didn’tbring a little challenge into every mission, no matter how easy it’s supposedto be,” Eve added, wry grin on her face.

Ezekiel frowned at them, shaking his head.“You don’t mean that. Stop bullshitting me.”

Jacob met eyes with Eve, and she noddedslightly to him, seeing he had an idea. Jacob looked back at Ezekiel andshrugged. “Okay, man, think whatever you want.”

“I will,” Ezekiel said, nodding curtly.

“But,” Jacob added turning away. Evefollowed his lead and started walking out with him. “Just remember, we lookedfor you. Do you think we would’ve done that if we didn’t need you?”

They’d nearly reached the stairs when theyheard, “This doesn’t mean I won’t try to run away again.”

Jacob slowed down enough so Ezekiel couldcatch up with them. He swung an easy arm over Ezekiel shoulders, grinning. “Alright.We’ll chase after you every time.”

Eve looped an arm around his waist, usingher other hand to ruffle his hair. “Every single time.”

And, while Jacob wasn’t entirely sure, hethought he could see a small grin on Ezekiel’s face at that.

[hamelott]

Could you write something where Eve catches Jake and Ezekiel making out while they're supposed to be on a mission?

Hey, thanks for the request! I made it short and sweet :)

When Eve had decided they would stay in a hotel instead of going back home, she had thought it’d be a great idea. She’d convinced Jacob by explaining to him it was the easiest option, Cassandra by telling her how much fun it would be to roomie up, and Ezekiel by informing him there was a free breakfast in the morning.

Cassandra was already in bed and asleep with eight (Jacob and Ezekiel had offered theirs to her) chocolate pillow mint wrappers on the nightstand next to her. Eve had thrown a blanket over her and set an alarm for the morning, making sure it was bright and early so they wouldn’t miss the breakfast.

She knew she should probably leave them alone, but Eve needed to check up on Jacob and Ezekiel. The mission was lasting longer than they’d originally planned for, and everyone was strung-out and tired. Earlier that day, they’d nearly lost Jacob to a three-headed jackal trying to bite his face off. She knew he probably wouldn’t appreciate it, but she left the room and walked towards theirs, a few doors down.

She held up her hand to knock and then thought better of it. If they were already asleep, she’d just be waking them up. If they were still awake, they probably wouldn’t let her in anyway. Eve slipped out the key to their room she’d asked the lady at the front desk for when they were checking in, and quickly slid it through the lock mechanism, listening for the little ‘clicking’ sound.

When the light flashed up at her bright and green, Eve turned the handle and pushed in the door. She stepped in and nearly stumbled right back out again.

On what was clearly Ezekiel’s bed, her two Librarians were making out. Jacob’s bed sat lonely and still made-up, untouched. He was the one to notice her first, and when he did, he nearly chucked Ezekiel to the other bed. He sat up quickly, face red as a beet and mouth already moving and trying to explain things.

“Oh, uh, Baird, yes, hello.” He coughed awkwardly. “How are you?”

“Ugh,” Ezekiel groaned. He was on the floor as Jacob had missed the other bed by a few inches. He sat up slowly, hair mussed and face flushed, and frowned at Eve. “What’re you doing? Don’t you knock?”

“I, uh,” Eve said, slowly recovering from her shock, “wanted to check on you.”

Ezekiel jumped to his feet, falling on to the bed next to Jacob once more. He rolled his eyes. “Okay, whatever…get out. We’re busy.”

Eve snorted at that. “Yeah, I can see that.”

She watched Jacob slap Ezekiel on the back of the head and smirked to herself. Jacob still couldn’t meet her eyes. “Uh, what he means is, thank you. We’re okay, really.”

Eve’s eyebrows rose. “Yeah, I saw that.”

Jacob’s face got redder, and Ezekiel’s mouth popped open a little bit in surprise. She shrugged. “Look, it’s fine. Do whatever makes you happy, okay? Just don’t let it interfere with any actual mission, got it?”

Ezekiel rolled his eyes, already inching back towards Jacob. “Yeah, yeah, alright, mom. Just get out, would ya?”

Eve sighed, shaking her head. “Whatever you say, Jones.” She winked at Jacob when he finally met her gaze. “Don’t have too much fun.”

Jacob choked, and Ezekiel just groaned. Eve laughed lightly to herself and walked out the door again. Before it closed, she called, “And use protection!”

She heard Jacob give out a pitiful noise of embarrassment and the unmistakable sound of a pillow smacking against the closed door. Ezekiel’s voice accompanied it. “Oh my God, just go away! You’re embarrassing my boyfriend.”

She heard the thump of Jacob pushing Ezekiel off the bed for the second time and laughed loudly in the quiet hall, making her way back towards her own room.

[hamelott]

Hi! I luv ur fics so fricken much. Could u maybe write some Jazekiel where Ezekiel has the flu but Jake doesn't realize it so he thinks he's being lazy so Ezekiel pushes himself a little harder but overdoes it and gets a lot worse.

Hey, thank you so much! I’m glad you like them so much :D Hopefully this one can live up to the others ;)

When Ezekiel woke up, he was alreadydeveloping a headache and felt colder than he ever had in his entire lifedespite the fact it was the middle of June. He groaned, stomach churningunpleasantly. He was about to turn over and go back to sleep when his phonebuzzed on his nightstand. Ezekiel grumbled to himself as he slapped his handover the device, squinting at it when he turned it on and studied the screen.

It was a text message from Jake: Where are you, Jones? We have a mission.

He rolled his eyes at Jake’s impeccablegrammar and then immediately regretted the action when it made his head poundworse. With fumbling fingers, he texted back: k. b there soon.

Despite his aching body, Ezekiel forced himselfto get up and get ready.

~~~

When Ezekiel got to the Library, theothers were already waiting by the Backdoor, buzzing excitedly. Ezekiel had a cardiganwrapped around him, feeling a chill that wasn’t really there. Jake noticed himfirst, and when he saw him, he rolled his eyes. “There you are, Jones. Where’veyou been, man?”

Ezekiel shrugged, slowly walking over tothem. He mumbled, “Sleepin’.”

Jake scoffed. “Of course you were. Well, c’mon,we gotta go, man.”

With that, he led the way through theBackdoor. Cassandra jumped after him quickly. Eve stayed back and glanced atEzekiel, frowning. “Are you okay, Jones? You don’t look too hot.”

Ezekiel nodded, forcing a grin to hisface. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

Eve nodded back, still looking a littleunsure, but then jumped through the Backdoor. Ezekiel went to follow her, buthe stumbled a little bit, nearly falling to the ground. He sighed, shook hishead, and then followed more slowly.

~~~

“There you are,” Jake said, glancing backto where Ezekiel was slowly pushing open the door to the restaurant where theywere interviewing the first victim of the very odd ‘growths’ that had been occurringin that particular town. The woman had grown an extra hand in the past week andhad started to charge people to come see it. Then another man had grown anextra foot. Then a teenage boy had grown another…unmentionable body item. TheClippings Book had quickly realized that somethingwas happening in the town.

“Sorry,” Ezekiel said, feeling short ofbreath. He pointed over his shoulder with his thumb. “Had to take a break; gottired.”

Jake looked worried for a second but thenquickly brushed it aside. He shook his head and sighed. “Whatever, Jones. Justtry to keep up today, okay? We can’t have you laggin’ behind just because youstayed up too late playing videogames.”

Ezekiel huffed and pushed back againstJake weakly, walking ahead of him. “Don’t worry about me, Stone.”

Jake watched him march away, noticing theslight wobble to his steps and frowned to himself before following him

~~~

They’d quickly realized the double-handedlady had been a witch and also the cause of all the growths. When she’drealized she’d been caught by the Librarians, she’d thrown a chair at Jake andthen leapt out of her seat, racing for the door. Eve had shouted at her nonsensebefore chasing after her, and Cassandra had shrieked, her legs taking her afterEve.

Jake growled angrily, tossing the chairaway. He grabbed the crook of Ezekiel’s arm and dragged him along, shouting, “C’mon,Jones!”

They burst through the door and sawCassandra darting around a corner. Jake began racing after her, bringing Ezekielalong with him. They’d only passed four different storefronts when Jakerealized Ezekiel had become deadweight, and he stopped, turning just in time tocatch Ezekiel and keep him from collapsing to the ground.

“What the hell?” Jake muttered, holdingEzekiel up.

Ezekiel began coughing roughly into thecrook of his own elbow, his body shaking strongly with each one. Jake,concerned and confused, rubbed Ezekiel’s back gently. He jostled Ezekielcarefully so he could free a hand and lifted it up to feel Ezekiel’s forehead. Hepulled back, hissing in sympathy when he found it burning. “What happened?” heasked. “Did she get you? We need to get you to Jenkins. I’m sure he can-.”

“I’m sick, Stone,” Ezekiel interrupted,voice suddenly sounding congested and tiny. Exhausted, he leaned into Jake and restedhis forehead in the crook of Jake’s neck and shoulder. He mumbled, “I woke uplike this.”

And then he giggled weakly to himself andbegan to hum the song to himself.

“Wait,” Jake said, interrupting him, “youwere sick this morning? And you didn’t tell us?!”

Ezekiel shrugged. “We had a mission…I dunno.”

Jake sighed, tugging Ezekiel closer to himwhen he felt him start to shiver. “You’re an idiot, Jones.”

“But your idiot, right?” Ezekiel mumbled.

Jake chuckled. “Yeah…my idiot.”

~~~

Two hours later and Ezekiel was in hisbed, wrapped in blankets and in comfy pajamas. Jake sat next to him in a chairhe’d pulled in from the living room. He was reading a book, lips carefullymouthing the words silently as he read each one. Ezekiel was watching him,trying to figure out what he was reading by his lips alone.

When Ezekiel’s stomach grumbled beneaththe covers, Ezekiel began to slowly pick himself off the bed. Jake’s eyes shotup at the movement, and he stood up, frowning. “What’re you doing?”

“Getting food,” Ezekiel told him, stillattempting to untangle himself from the blankets.

Jake took them from his hands and tuckedEzekiel back in. He shook his head. “Nope, I’ll get it. You stay here, getbetter.”

“Y’know,” Ezekiel said when Jake began tostep away. Jake glanced back at him, an eyebrow raising. “You’re only gonna getyourself sick if you hang around here more than you really should.”

Jake tilted his head to the side at that,obviously thinking. He then stepped back towards Ezekiel and bent down,pressing a soft kiss against Ezekiel’s forehead. “Yeah, well, it’ll be worthit.”

Ezekiel watched him step back and leavethe room, humming the same song Ezekiel had been only hours earlier. His facefelt like it was on fire, but he had a feeling it wasn’t because his fever wasbreaking.

[hamelott]

Could you write something where Estrella gives Cassandra a hickie and the others tease her about it?

Honestly, this is what I imagine a regular day in life at the Library would consist of. Except, of course, when Cassandra is spending nearly all her time with Estrella ;) Thanks so much for this excuse to write some good, ol’ fashioned silliness!

When Cassandra walked through the Backdoorinto the Annex, she had not been expecting to see the others milling about andhovering around the Clippings Book. Jacob was the closest to her, phone pressedagainst his ear, and when he looked up and saw her, Cassandra squeaked and herhand flew to her neck to cover it up.

So much for covertly sneaking home to graba scarf.

Jacob grinned at her, returning his phoneto his pocket. “Where were you? I was just about to call; we got a new mission.”

“Oh, really?” Cassandra said, and if hervoice was a few octaves too high…well, maybe they’d just think she got ahold ofcaffeine again.

“Uh, yeah,” Jacob said, frowning at her.He reached out, grabbed her arm, and tugged her along, dislodging her hand fromher neck. Cassandra yelped, but it was already too late. Jacob’s eyes hadzeroed in on the hickey on her neck like lasers. It only took him a second to realizewhat it was, and he snorted loudly, drawing the others’ attention.

“Knock it off,” Cassandra hissed, slappinghim on his crossed arms. He only laughed some more, ducking away from her.

Ezekiel came up next, confused frown onhis face. “Hey, don’t leave a guy out of a joke, mate. What’re we-?”

His eyes landed on Cassandra’s neck, andhe barked out a laugh. Cassandra slapped at him too, snapping, “Knock it off!You’re acting like children!”

“So…” Jacob said. He had put the tablebetween himself and Cassandra. Flynn and Eve were still standing by theClippings Book looking equally intrigued and bemused. Jenkins stood at his desklooking annoyed. Jacob winked at her. “How’s Estrella doing?”

Cassandra felt her face burn up, but shegrabbed a nearby book and tossed it at him. “Stop!”

Jacob, nearly needing to jump to catch thebook, just continued on laughing, shit-eating grin on his face. Ezekiel, whohad joined Jacob on the other side of the table, asked, “Does Estrella have oneto match?”

“Guys,” Flynn said but even he had alittle grin on his face, “knock it off.”

“Yeah,” Eve added, nodding. “WhatCassandra and her girlfriend do in their free time is none of your business.”

“Thank you, Eve, Flynn,” Cassandra said,nodding curtly. She smoothed out her skirt and walked over to them, standing onher tiptoes to glance at what they were up against.

“I dunno what she’s so embarrassed about,”she heard Jacob murmur. “I mean, she’s got more game than either of uscombined, man. That’s something to celebrate.”

“Uh, excuse you,” Ezekiel squawked.

Eve sighed and rolled her eyes, muttering,“Here we go.”

“I have the best game!” Ezekiel shouted.Jacob snorted, and Ezekiel looked more affronted. “Just ‘cause Cassie can gether mack-on with some chick doesn’t mean I don’t have game.”

“Excuse you?” Cassandra said. Ezekiellooked at her, eyes going wide. She pointed a threatening finger at him. “You’regonna regret that you ever called Estrella ‘some chick.’”

“So much for the mission,” Flynn said,closing the Clippings Book.

Cassandra suddenly darted at Ezekiel whoscreeched and ran away, out of the Annex. Jacob, grinning, chased after them,shouting, “I’ve got money on Cass!”

“What do you say we go out for a picnic,”Eve said, dragging Flynn towards the Backdoor. She glanced at Jenkins, who hadstill not moved from behind his desk. “You’ll watch the kids, right?”

Jenkins scowled at her, but Eve ignoredhim, picked a random location, and yanked Flynn into wherever fate had decidedthey would go.

Jenkins groaned when he heard Ezekielscreaming, something breaking, and Jacob cackling. Maybe next time Cassandrawould let him tag along to the resort and he could finally retire.

He grabbed a sword from the wall and setout to put the three Librarians in order.

[hamelott]

A Valentine's Day prompt, if you're taking them : Ezekiel has never been in a relationship so he has never celebrated anything like Valentine's Day, and Jake throws his entire hopeless romantic self into trying to show Ezekiel a good time?

you shouldn’t have given me this much power. this is probably the cheesiest, fluffiest thing that i have ever written in my entire life. 

I hope you enjoy!!

He’d only mentioned itin passing, but Jacob hadn’t been able to stop thinking about if for weeks.

They’d been in Jake’sapartment on his couch with his arm thrown over Ezekiel’s shoulders, andEzekiel’s head resting against his chest. Jake had honestly thought that he’dbeen asleep until he’d murmured, “I’ve never done that.”

At first, Jake had beenreally confused on what he’d been talking about but then he looked up at the TVwhich was barely audible but was flashing a shitty RomCom that Ezekiel haddemanded they watch when they got home. On the screen, the characters weresitting in a restaurant that was decked out in pink, red, and white hearts.They were smiling dopily at each other and about to feed each other a spoonfulof their desserts.

“Done what?” Jake askedsleepily. It’d been a long day, and he hadn’t even been watching the video sohe wasn’t exactly sure what was happening.

Ezekiel shrugged againsthim. “Valentine’s Day. The hearts and the roses and the chocolate.”

“You haven’t?” Jakeasked and now he was frowning. Glaring at the TV which was now showing thecouple skipping and laughing through the rain, as ridiculous as that was.

“Nah,” Ezekiel mumbled.“I’ve never really had the opportunity to. Never been in a realrelationship…before this one, I guess.”

Jake hadn’t said anythingelse about it because Ezekiel had passed out right after, but it did lead him to alot of thinking.

And a lot ofplanning.

~~~

When Ezekiel woke up, hewasn’t expecting Jake to be at the end of the bed with a tray of steaming hotchocolate and waffles. He had a giant grin on his face, and he was wearing apair of plastic, heart sunglasses with the glass tinted pink.

“Happy Valentine’s Day!”he said cheerfully. “I made you breakfast.”

Ezekiel, feeling veryconfused, sat up slowly as Jake brought him the tray. “Where’d you get thoseglasses?”

“Cassandra,” Jake said,shrugging. He placed the tray on Ezekiel’s lap, still grinning. It was weird;Ezekiel had never seen him grin that big for so long. “Eat quickly, I have awhole day planned with you.”

“Why?” Ezekiel askedslowly, cutting a bite of waffle off for himself.

Jake shrugged again.“It’s Valentine’s Day, idiot. Eat.”

When Ezekiel was doneeating, he changed clothes and brushed his teeth, and then brought the trayinto the kitchen. Jake was nowhere to be found. Ezekiel rolled his eyes andthrew the dishes in the sink. He wandered into the living room and found Jakesitting at the couch. The glasses were pushed back into his hair, and he wasfiddling with something in his hands.

“What’s up?” Ezekiel asked,leaping over the couch and settling next to him.

“This is for you,” Jakesaid, showing off the thing in his hands. It was a black leather string and onthe end of it, a piece of gray rock attached to it. It took Ezekiel a fewminutes to realize it was a necklace, and a few more to even comprehend that JacobStone was giving him jewelry.

“A necklace?” Ezekielasked, but he took it anyways and strung it around his neck. He picked up thestone and twirled it around in his fingers, frowning down at it. “And what’sthis?”

“It’s a piece ofStumpy,” Jake told him. Ezekiel quickly looked back up and him, and Jakequickly said, “Sorry that sounds really weird! I went back to the collegeforever ago and for some reason they kept some of the pieces of him in the basement intheir archive room. Maybe to document the weird day when a tentacle monster attacked their school? I dunno. But I snuck in and nabbed a piece.”

Ezekiel smirked, lettingthe stone fall against his chest. “You stole something from a collegearchive room? Basically the equivalent to a museum?”

Jacob shrugged, but hisface turned a little pink. “Uh, well, I hate the professor there anyway. Plus,Stumpy was technically yours. I was just…taking him back?”

“Right,” Ezekiel said,nodding slowly at him. “Sure.”

“Whatever,” Jake said,wiping the issue away with a swipe of his hand. “You do like it though…right?”

Ezekiel met Jacob’s eyesand found they were soft and sincere and, above all, absolutely hopeful. Hecouldn’t help the smile that overtook his face as he nodded. “Yeah, I love it.I just feel bad because I didn’t get youanything…”

Jake shook his head, standing up.“Don’t worry about it. You having a good day today is all the gift I need.” Heheld out a hand. “C’mon, let’s get to the Library. We need the Backdoor foryour next event.”

Ezekiel rolled his eyes, but he letJake tug him up.

~~~

At the Library, Jake made a beelinefor the Backdoor and the globe, already figuring something into it. Ezekielfollowed him more slowly, grinning at the way the Backdoor was covered in redstreamers with hanging, pink hearts.

“You do this too?” Ezekiel askedJake, who was biting his lip as he pushed at buttons.

Jake slowly took his eyes away fromthe globe and glanced at the Backdoor. He shook his head. “Nah. Must’ve been,Cass. She mentioned something about taking Estrella on a tour through the Library.”He snorted. “They’re probably in the Secret Garden right now.”

He pressed a few more things andthen the Backdoor began to glow. He stepped towards Ezekiel proudly and pushedhis goofy glasses back down on his eyes. He held out a looped arm towardsEzekiel. “Your magical backdoor awaits.”

Ezekiel sighed and shook his head,but he looped his arm with Jake’s and let him lead them through the Backdoor.

When they stumbled through, Ezekiel hadto blink his eyes a few times because the sun was so bright, which was weird forFebruary. When his eyes finally adjusted, he realized they were at a Mini Golf course.He glanced at Jake to find a cheeky grin and a wink that was thrown his way. “Whatdo you think?”

Ezekiel looked around the piratethemed golf course. He was surprised to find it completely empty save for alone teenager sitting in the booth, lazily looking at his phone. He glanced atJake. “Where are we?”

“Florida,” Jake told him which explainedthe bright sun and warm breeze. “This is Smugglers Cove Adventure Mini Golf Park.”He pulled a notepad out of his back pocket and showed it to Ezekiel. “We’realso gonna go to Branson, Missouri; Lincolnshire, Illinois; and Rapid City,South Dakota. Most of their courses are closed right now, but I got Jenkins tohelp me wire the Backdoor up to get us past the entrances.”

“Isn’t that a felony?” Ezekiel askedhim as they strolled towards the lazy teen.

Jake glanced at him. “Not ifanybody catches us.” He had a shit-eating grin on his face. “You gotta learn tolive a little, Jones.”

Ezekiel snorted. “Who are you andwhat have you done with Jacob Stone?”

Jake rolled his eyes at him andreached down, grabbing his hand. “C’mon, this’ll be great.”

~~~

By the end of the day, they’d playedat twelve different Mini Golf courses (and Ezekiel had beaten Jake each andevery time), and Jake had even taken him on a nice little (if not a bit cold) picnicin Central Park. They were just returning to the Library, and Ezekiel wasleaning heavily against Jake’s side.

“Why did we do this again?” Ezekielasked him. His feet hurt, and he was pretty sure he’d gotten burnt in Floridawhich was gonna look weird when he strolled the streets of Portland. But it hadbeen a nice day, so he wouldn’t trade it for anything…except maybe some Aloe.

Jacob shrugged, careful not todislodge Ezekiel from his side. “You said you’d never had a real Valentine’sDay, so I wanted to make one for you. Mini Golf and picnics are, like, thecheesiest date things ever. Plus these glasses are horrible, but everyone knowsthat when you’re in a relationship on Valentine’s Day, you gotta do thecheesiest things known to mankind. Now I’ve put, like, twelve Valentine’s Daysinto you in one go.”

Ezekiel was grinning as he shook hishead. “You’re ridiculous.” He yawned. “Can we go home now?”

Jake shook his head. “No, I gottatake you to do one more thing. Please? We don’t even have to leave the Library.”

“Ugh,” Ezekiel whined, “fine.”

Jake’s grin was so huge that it wasworth the way he grabbed Ezekiel’s hand and nearly tore his arm out of itssocket as he dragged him through the Library. As they walked, Jake rambled, “I foundit a few days ago. Jenkins says he’s never seen it before. He thinks maybe it’sone of the pools turned upside-down. I don’t really care though because it’s absolutelyperfect. It’s the blue door with the golden – ah! There it is!”

He pulled open a door, and Ezekiel immediatelyjumped back. Inside the room was a steady sheet of rain. It ceaselessly fellfrom the ceiling to the floor but, somehow, wasn’t building up in a puddle.Jake glanced back at him, grinning. “What’s a real cheesy, romantic day withouta kiss in the rain?”

“I don’t wanna get wet,” Ezekielsaid, pouting at him.

Jake laughed and tugged him in. “C’mon,trust me.”

Ezekiel reluctantly followed Jakeinside and quickly found he had nothing to worry about. Somehow (Ezekiel wasguessing magic) the rain was still falling around them, but it moved like a sheetaround them and didn’t land on them at all. They walked, perfectly dry, untilthey reached the middle of the room.

Jake was smiling sweetly as hepulled Ezekiel towards him. He rested his hands against Ezekiel’s hips, andEzekiel lifted his arms to rest them against Jake’s shoulders, crossing thembehind Jake’s back. They leant forward until their foreheads were pressed togetherand their noses brushed.

Jake sighed, and his warm breathwashed over Ezekiel’s face, making him scrunch up his nose. Ezekiel quicklywiped the expression off his face and smiled at him, slightly shaking his headand carefully not dislodging Jake. “Thank you.”

“For?” Jake asked even though heknew damn well what Ezekiel was thanking him for. And if he didn’t then Ezekielhimself was going to kick the idiot outta the Library.

“For today,” Ezekiel said. He bithis lip before murmuring, “I’ve never known anybody who’d do that for me.”

“Well, now you do,” Jake said, andthe tone of his voice conveyed just how much he meant it. He’d do anything for Ezekiel, and the feelingwas mutual. He grinned. “I love you.”

Ezekiel couldn’t help the way hislips pulled into a huge smile. “I love you too.”

And he leaned in the extra fewinches and pressed a sweet kiss against Jake’s lips. The rain pattered aroundthem, and Jake’s hands squeezed around his hips.

It really was a perfect day.