#pardon for the time I took to answer this..because I might be cancelled after this 👋

[millythegoat]

23, 2 and 14

if you didn't support your club which other team would you support?

i don't knoww and this might be very controversial..Man U is my childhood team, because my brothers support them and I grew up watching them 😭 Then in my high school, I saw Gerrard and co. play..and I fall in love with the club still to this day 😍

who is your favourite player?

the man in my pfp. I just love everything about him 😍

who is your least favourite football team?

it's between Man U and Atletico..Imma choose Atletico, because the red devil isn't as scary as it used to be.

[iliveiloveiwrite]

Draco Malfoy and the Parent Trap (headcanons)

Request: hc for scorpius trying to get his father back together with his dada teacher a while after his mother passing because he wanted his father to be happy and he found out reader used to be his school sweetheart before things got in their way? - anon

A/N: This is a fairly long headcanon and for that, I apologise! I had so much fun with this though! I’ve split this into sections like how I would a full length fic otherwise it’s too hard to follow, in my opinion.

Warnings: female reader, mischief and mishaps, kissing, fluff, humour, mentions of death, past relationships.

Scorpius Malfoy loved his mother; he adored his mother, but even he could no longer deny that she was not coming back. 

Astoria Malfoy had died, and she was not coming back. 

It had been years since her passing and whilst Scorpius missed her every single day, he could not ignore the fact that his father needed to meet someone new. 

-------

Draco Malfoy adored his wife; he would give up his soul to have her back in his arms where he could love her as wholly as he had when she was alive. If he had possession of the resurrection stone, he knew who he would bring back, he didn't care whether it would change her - he would have her back. 

However, Draco Malfoy was lonely. He missed his wife, but he also missed the companionship of a relationship. He missed going to bed and having someone there when he woke up wishing him a good morning. 

He yearned to have someone to hold; someone to love; someone to care for. 

Draco Malfoy simply wanted someone.

-------

Scorpius didn't really have a favourite class; he enjoyed them all as he loved learning, but he found himself drawn to Defence Against the Dark Arts when you took over as Professor, breathing new life into the subject.

“Scorpius!” You call, smiling widely as the blonde ambles over to you. “Well done! I haven't seen spell casting like that since I last saw your father.”

“You knew my father?” Scorpius asks you, shocked at the admission.

“We were very close for a time,” You admit, feeling your face flush as the teenager looks on confused, “But we drifted apart.”

“What was he like back then?” Scorpius asks before he can help himself, “Dad doesn't speak a lot about his time at Hogwarts; he says his life began when he met my mother.”

You laugh, pressing a hand to your chest. “I understand why he would say that; he always was the romantic. I was sorry to hear of her passing; I remember when she attended Hogwarts.”

“Thank you,” Scorpius whispers quietly; a new wave grief washing over him as he meets another person who0 had known his mother. 

“You’re the spitting image of your father. How is he?” You ask, needing to know.

“He’s okay. He’s lonely,” Scorpius admits, “He misses my mother.”

“As he should,” You state, nodding solemnly. “He always was serious. Even in school; I could very rarely get him to take a night off and have some fun.”

Scorpius smiles at the image conjured in his mind; the teenaged version of his father causing mayhem around the castle - it just didn't seem true. Scorpius sighs when he glances at the clock. “I’ll see you next time, Professor.”

“Bye, young Malfoy,” You laugh, thinking back to a time when a blonde haired teenager had been the centre of your universe.

------

Scorpius brings up the subject at lunch, asking Albus and Rose whether they knew anything of it.

Albus shrugs, sipping at his water before shaking his head. Rose frowns, tapping her chin with her finger. “I remember hearing my parents talk about it,” She murmurs, seeming far off as if in a distant memory.

“What did they say?” Scorpius all but demands, perching on the edge of his seat.

Rose’s eyes brighten as the conversation comes back to her. “I remember!” She all but cries, “They were discussing Professor (Y/L/N)’s appointment as our professor - they knew her at Hogwarts, you see.”

“Anything else?” Scorpius presses, already aware of such knowledge.

“My dad spoke about how he could never believe that someone like Professor (Y/L/N) would date your dad.”

“WHAT?” Scorpius shouts; not out of the slight insult to his father, but the fact that his Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher used to date his father and neither said a word about it. “They dated?!”

Rose shrugs, reaching for her drink. “They must have if my parents were talking about it. I don't know how long for, but both my parents said it was the nicest they had seen your father act.”

Scorpius frowns at Rose’s words but does not comment; instead, he wonders about his father, overworking himself at St Mungo’s so he doesn't have to come home to an empty house. 

“Scorp,” Albus sings, interrupting Scorpius’ worrying, “I have an idea.”

“What is that?” Scorpius asks warily; these ideas never ended well. 

“You were talking about wanting your father to find love again... and here you are being educated by on elf his exes.”

“Okay?”

“Set them up you fool!”

“Oh!” Scorpius gasps, seeing the plan fall into place right before his eyes.

“Alright,” He concedes, “But I’ll need your help.” 

-----

The plan gets put into motion the following week.

Scorpius approaches you at the end of Thursday’s lesson, a sheepish look on his face.

“You know your father had the same expression when he messed up,” You snort, “What did you do?”

“It’s not so much what I did, but what my father would like to hear.”

“Pardon?”

“My father wrote to me yesterday asking if he could have an early report of my progress in school. Since you already know him, I thought - if you don't mind, that is - you would write to him first, update him on DADA?”

You roll your eyes. “Of course, Scorpius. I’ll write a report his evening and send it with the owls tomorrow morning.”

“Thank you!” Scorpius exclaims; eyes wide with happiness as the first stage of the plan falls into place. 

-----

Stage One: set up communication.

Draco had never sent his son a letter asking for his progress so far; Draco never rushed for academic excellence, he was simply happy with Scorpius’ best. 

However, the report would hopefully open up a line of communication between the exes which would in turn lead to something more.

-------

Owl Post arrives only once a day so it isn't until Saturday that Scorpius hears back from his father. 

He opens his letter with barely restrained glee; Albus and Rose watching on curiously. 

Inside the weighty envelope, Scorpius finds your progress report of his work in DADA but also an attached note from his father:

“Scorpius, you do not need to feel pressured to send me reports. I know you’ll try your best in every subject. You will do well with (Y/N) teaching you. She was a genius at this subject when I was at school.”

Scorpius freezes for a moment; running a finger over his father’s handwriting as he is hit with a keen sense of absence. He didn't get homesick often, but right now, he misses his father more than words could say. 

Albus reads over the letter, Rose follows. The three sit in silence as they think of their next move. Rose comes up with the idea.

“Your dad needs to reply to Professor (Y/L/N). It would look rude if he did not.”

Scorpius nods; reaching into his bag for a piece of parchment and his quill. He scrawls a quick reply to his father:

“Dad, I just thought you would appreciate the update. I hope you replied to Professor (Y/L/N), it would be rude to not have given that she took the time to write to you.”

His reply is sent in the afternoon when he treks up the Owlery, feeds a postal owl before offering up his letter to be returned to Draco. Scorpius had even tucked Professor (Y/L/N)’s original letter in the envelope so his father did not forget what she had written.

As Scorpius watches the owl fly away, he wonders whether this plan will ever work.

-----

Time passes and Scorpius begins to wonder whether the plan is working.

He watches you in lessons; notices that you seem a little brighter, that there is a little glow about you when you smile.

And Scorpius cannot help but wonder whether his father did reply and that the both of you were keeping in touch.

The hope that unfurls in his chest at the thought if his father happy again is what makes him pray to Merlin for it all to work out.

-----

It’s a Friday afternoon, weeks into the plan, when you approach Scorpius.

“Scorpius, may I talk to you for a moment?”

“Yes, Professor.”

“I’m not sure if your father had made you aware or whether he was keeping it a surprise, but he’s coming to the school tomorrow.”

Scorpius’ face goes slack at your words. 

Draco had never come to the school; had not wanted to come after the second wizarding war and for good reason too. For Draco to be stepping foot back into the place he so strongly thinks hates him, there must be a powerful reason.

“Why?” is all Scorpius asks.

You fiddle with your fingers before replying. “He sent me a letter letting me know he would be coming to see you, but to also catch up with me. You don’t mind, do you? I know this could be strange for you. I’ll happily cancel if you want to spend the whole day with your father.”

The hope that had been hiding away just behind his heart begins to bloom in his chest as he takes in the hopeful expression on your face. It's then that Scorpius realises that you don't want to cancel on his father, but you would for him. It’s then that Scorpius realises that his father might just be ready for moving on.

“I don't mind at all,” He answers, finding his words truthful. “You and my father have a lot to catch up on.”

“That we do,” You laugh before smiling genuinely at the teenager, “Thank you, Scorpius.”

Scorpius smiles; grabbing his belongings and making his way out of the classroom. Stage two of the plan had begun with Scorpius even realising.

He knows exactly what he needs to do tomorrow.

-----

Scorpius barely sleeps all night for thinking of it.

He’s up with the sun and the first to breakfast as he waits for his father's arrival.

He remains sitting in the Great Hall when he begins to wonder just exactly where his father is. It was long past the time of his arrival.

It’s then that Scorpius decides to wander to the DADA classroom.

He finds Draco there in quiet conversation with you; sitting close together on the desks, hands so close touching that it almost pains Scorpius to look. 

He realises then how well you fit together; how you both balance each other out when you snort at something Draco says, reaching out to show his shoulder playfully. Scorpius cannot remember a time when he saw his father have fun; have a joke with someone.

Heads bent close together, Scorpius catches the glimpse of an indulgent smile on his father’s face and it's then that Scorpius knows that his father has found another person to love. 

Scorpius thought it would hurt, to see his father with another, but it doesn't. Instead, Scorpius feels relief that his father might not be so alone forever. 

An idea pops into Scorpius’ mind. 

Gathering his courage, Scorpius reaches for the door handle, and slams the door shut loudly. 

He covers his mouth to quash the laughter that bubbles at the sound of your surprised yelp. 

He quickly casts a locking charm on the door, remembering an advanced one taught to him by Rose whose mother had taught it to her. 

“Let us out!” You yell, shaking the door handle and banging on the door.

“Not yet!” He shouts back with a smile.

“Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy!” Draco shouts, “Let us out right now!”

“Not until you get your act together!”

“What?”

“You can't come out until you admit your feelings!”

And with that, the voices on the other side of the door fall silent and Scorpius sits himself across the corridor from the entrance to the classroom. 

-----

Draco shakes his head at the audacity of his son. 

You press a hand to your mouth to stop the laughter from leaving. 

“It’s not funny!” Draco laments.

“It kinda is,” You admit, “Your son could see something neither of us could.”

“What?”

“Draco, you would have to be half blind to not see my feelings for you.”

“What?” The blonde repeats, once again struck dumb. 

You shrug, “We’ve been talking for a while and I thought there was something there. At least, there is something there on my end.”

“It’s been so long,” He whispers, closing his eyes against the wave of emotions washing over him.

Draco feels nothing but conflict; he can no longer ignore the rising affection he has for you, but with every sting of it, he’s reminded of Astoria. 

“I’m not asking to replace her,” You whisper, drawing your hands up to your chest as if protecting the already breaking heart. “I know I could never do that.”

Opening his eyes, Draco sees the stricken expression on your face and hates that he’s the cause for it. “I miss having someone there,” He admits quietly, “I miss having someone.”

“I could be that someone,” You state.

“I want you to be that someone,” Draco admits, pulling your hands from your chest, holding them gently in his own. “I want you.”

A watery smile breaks across your face as Draco drops on elf your hands to caress your cheek. “A new chapter,” You whisper, leaning into his touch.

“A new chapter,” Draco promises, ducking his head to kiss you.

------

Scorpius Malfoy misses his mother every day. He knows that she will always be with him, but he misses her nonetheless.

However, he cannot ignore how happy he is for his father to have found someone to love again. 

****

Draco Malfoy taglist: @the--queen-of-hell @obxmxybxnk @obx-beach @sycathorn-slush @dracomalfoyswifey @oopskashish @justmesadgirl @detroitobsessed @sexysirius @just-a-belgian-girl​ @lahoete​ @minty-malfoy​ @fallinallinmendes​ @ravenclawbitch426​ @ochrythum​ @beiahadid​ @gryffindors-weasley​ @dracosathenaeum​ @belladaises​

[rk1kheadcanons]

Markus and Connor are secret dating b/c Connor doesn't wanna be out to the world yet. The Jericrew (-Connor) go drinking and Markus gets *drunk* and starts rambling about his boyf after he rebuffs an advance made by a lady at the bar super sappily, but no matter how hard the others press him, they just get "oh, his eyes are the color of warm chocolate..." answers as to who this boyf is

You would never know Markus was drunk.

He didn’t stutter or slur when he spoke, he didn’t sway or trip over his feet. He didn’t giggle goofily or speak overly loud. He was perfectly composed, as much the charismatic android sober as he was when he was intoxicated.

What he did do, however, was go on long monologues like a Shakespearian stage actor.

Which would be fine, if Markus’ favorite subject to wax poetic about wasn’t his mysterious boyfriend, whom he’d sworn not to reveal the identity of until they were ready. Which would also be fine, if that mysterious boyfriend wasn’t Connor, who was often sitting right next to him (and slowly but surely bluescreening his way into that big Windows XP wallpaper in the sky) as he sang and lathered compliment after compliment, steadily giving away clues that were so blatant that it was a miracle that no one had figured them out yet.

Markus never remembered what he’d done the next day, and whenever Connor mercilessly played back his memories, his poor lover was as embarrassed as he was apologetic. Connor could hardly begrudge him (frankly he didn’t know what sane person on this planet could ever begrudge Markus, but that was just Connor’s correct opinion). What could they even do about it? Should he demand Markus consciously control himself? It wasn’t like Connor was any better at it. Give the RK800 too many AMB’s (Adios Motherboards) and he would be on top of the nearest table and scream-singing his every professionally repressed emotion, regardless if it was a karaoke bar or not. Hence why he never imbibed more than he could handle when they were around their friends. The last thing he wanted to do was sloppily propose to Markus after a long and terrible rendition of K-Ci and JoJo.

And Connor wouldn’t dream of telling Markus to measure the contents of his drink like Connor did. Not when his breaks were so rare, and getting him to relax and let loose was like pulling teeth.

It was just in the cards that their big revelation as a couple would be in a random bar at 3AM, with Markus saying something along the lines of “my boyfriend’s name starts with a C and rhymes with Donner”, and Connor had made peace with that.

“Scarlet woman!” Markus cried, at some random bar at 3AM, surrounded by their drunken comrades. Ah, would this be the night? Connor thought, on the correct side of buzzed as he watched on from the table right next to them, a heady mix of dread and amusement running through his computer soul. “Jezebel! How d a r e you solicit my happily taken hand!”

The waitress, who looked like she regretted serving their table, let alone attempting to get the number from the happily taken hand, raised her hands in surrender. “Sorry, sorry,” she said peaceably and with the calm air of someone who dealt with drunks as a job choice, “just trying to shoot my shot, ya know?”

Markus nodded at her magnanimously, because he was a kind and forgiving man even as a drunken buffoon. “Fret not. I pardon you of this most heinous slight, for if you knew the one to own my heart, you would understand that no other could compare.”

“Sure thing dude,” she said goodnaturedly, packing up and replacing drinks around their tables expertly, and parting with a “have a good night Romeo.”

“But who can no other compare to? WHOMST??” asked North, throwing her torso onto the table and looking up at Markus pleadingly.

“We’ve ruled out Jerry #451, Claudia, Baris from accounting, and Jerry #36,” Simon rattled off. He was looking down at a napkin that he had scribbled the names of all of their potential suspects. “I’ve got it. It’s Baris.”

North rolled her eyes. “We already said it wasn’t Baris.”

“Ohhh. Right, right.” Simon nodded his head and continued to not cross off the names of the people they had decided against, as he had been doing all night.

“How about you describe them a little?” Josh put in, reasonable, and therefore slightly less wasted than everyone else. “Hair color? Height? Eyes? Something?”

“Nay, I must not speak thusly!” Markus declared, back of his hand over his forehead and everything. “For if I were to tread down that forbidden road, I would surely not be able to stop myself from breaking our sacred oath of secrecy!”

“Oh my goOOOOOOOd I hate this fucking oaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaath,” North threw her head back and cried to heavens, which, considering her positon, was probably going to be hell on her neck come morning. “Come on! Break your oath! Be like Thor and wield oathbreaker goddamnit!”

“You might be thinking of Stormbreaker,” Connor added, the need to try and reason with alcoholics apparently embedded in his programming.

North narrowed her eyes at him, or rather his torso, since her chin was very resolutely still resting on the table. “If you think I’m thinking right now then you are drunker than I am.”

Connor lifted his barely touched glass to her in a toast because how dare she be lucid enough to clap back so quickly. A well deserved rebuttal fucking cheers.

“Glasses!” Josh exclaimed, snapping his fingers. “Do they wear glasses? That should narrow down some people.”

“That’s right! That’ll tell us if they’re an android or not. Androids don’t wear glasses! Our eyes are like...fucking...better and shit!”

“Unless….” Simon narrowed his eyes, pausing dramatically. “....they do.”

North gasped. Josh put his hands on either side of face, muttering; “holy fucking shit he’s right.”

Markus scoffed. “Their eyes do not hide behind paltry spectacles! His beautiful orbs, so soft and caring when his gaze lands upon my person, seeing into my very soul, are the warmest chocolate brown!”

‘Ah shit here we go,’ Connor thought, wishing not for the first time that he could just down his drink and join everyone else in blissful, idiotic cavorting. The soft, melodic piano and crooning words of All My Life playing over the speaker stayed his hand. Best not take any chances

“HE!” Simon burst out, tipping over in his chair. “He say he! Them is He!”

“Are we talkin’ Hershey’s or Dove?”

“Ghirardelli you fucking plebs!”

“Oi!” North banged her hand on the table so hard it left a handprint indented in the wood. It was one amongst many however, and not all of them left by their party. Such was the price for serving android drinks at a human bar - you either shelled out for sturdier furniture or the dents and chips became a charming aspect of your décor. “Don’t get spicy with us Sir Lancelot!”

“Apologies fair maiden,” Markus responded easily. He took her hand delicately and made a sweeping bow over it. “Alas, my passions got away from me.” He dropped her hand and whirled around, coat billowing with the movement and most assuredly by accident, placing both hands to his thirium pump. “Conjuring up the magnificent images that is the love of my life oft times sends my emotions into a tizzy! His hair; cloud like in my grasp as I run my fingers threw earthen chestnut tendrils - ”

‘Hhhhhhhhhhhhn so many adjectives Markus whyyyyyyyyyy,’ Connor wheezed internally. He didn’t bother trying to keep down his blush. Markus was nowhere near done laying on the compliments and he’d be subjecting himself to an endless loop of canceling the process. Besides, he could just blame it on the alcohol. Blame it on the a a a a a alcohol - wait no. What!? WHAT. Connor looked down at his drink and saw, to his mounting horror, that the glass was emptier than it had been a few minutes ago. Goddamn his automated rest mode cycle for transforming into fidgeting whenever he was nervous! He resolutely pushed the glass out of his immediate reach.

Nines, who was quietly sitting next to him, hunched over and taking notes on his own napkin, snapped his head up to attention when the glass brushed against his arm. His younger brother was looking from Connor to Markus, eyes narrowed suspiciously as Markus carried on. Connor didn’t like that look at all. It was always a risk inviting Nines to their little outings, the only thing Connor could bank on was Nines passing out - as his dear little bro was a notorious light weight - before his deductive skills could pierce through his drunken haze. Apparently Nines had chosen tonight of all nights, where Markus had never been more obvious about their relationship, to bloody pace himself.

If he could, Connor would be sweating bullets.

“ - a wit SO SHARP!!” Markus declared, foot now planted on his chair and shaking his fist to the ceiling as if it had insulted one of Carl’s paintings, “that neither an UNDEAD HOARD nor a POLITICIAN’S EGO could survive it’s precision strike!!”

“Brown hair, brown eyes, banger body, smarty pants, good at analyzing shit, likes animals” North listed off, holding a hand up and ticking a finger down. “Well that rules out all the Jerrys; they’re all redheads and they’re pretty aggressive about it - except for Jerry #86. Is your man-squeeze Jerry #86?”

“No no no last I heard Jerry #86 is dating Hatsume Miku’s bodyguard; Android Lucy Lawless.” said Simon.

“Tch. Lucky,” pouted North.

“Oh wow, she really kept that name huh?” Josh said, voice faint with wonder and disbelief. “That’s such a mouthful.”

“And who are you to question a Queen!?” snapped North.

“Huzzah and many blessings to the fortuitous couple!” Markus cheered, toasting a stein of frothy blue intoxication that looked as cartoonish as it did poisonous to the sky, knocking it back in several impressive gulps and slamming it back on the table. “BUT NEITHER OF THEM CAN COMPARE TO THE BEAUTY AND GRACE THAT IS MY LOVE!!” he boomed, louder and more British by the second. “WHO’S CURIOSITY AND INTELLECT A CHERISHED BOON TO I, BUT A WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION TO HIS ENEMIES - !”

North slapped her hand on the table several times, the proverbial light bulb lighting up in her eyes - oh. No not proverbial. There was currently little lightbulb emojis pictured in her pupils. Yet another drunken download added to the bill. Connor was glad he’d drawn the long straw on ‘irresponsible buying duty’ tonight. No doubt there would be a lot of strange receipts to sort through in the morning. “Oh! I know I know! It’s Josh!”

So startled by this declaration/accusation, Josh jumped in his seat. “What!?”

“Brown hair, brown eyes, hot, obnoxious, smart - everything FITS!”

“...he didn’t say obnoxious,” Josh muttered, then physically shook sanity back into himself. “It can’t be me. I think I’d know if I was dating Markus!”

Simon leaned in closer towards Josh, arm on the table, determination in his mien. “But what if…” Without breaking eye contact with his friend, he smoothly cracked open his Thirium berry blast bahama mama banana punch wine cooler, and proceeded to pour it just two centimeters off from his glass, all over the table. “You don’t know.”

Josh was shook in the face of this evidence. North narrowed her eyes so hard that they were just closed at this point. “Highly suspicious.”

“No. Nooooo. No? No! Of course I’m not. Right Markus?”

Markus steepled his fingers together and cackled in a way that most people would find concerning, but Connor just found it adorable. He would saving that in his memory banks. “I’ll never tell~,” he sing songed.

“H i g h l y s u s p i c i o u s.”

“I know who it is,” Nines suddenly said, calm but with such confidence that he was easily heard amidst the ruckus. He had his elbows planted on the table, chin resting upon his entwined fingers. Steele grey eyes swept over the now quiet group, everyone waiting with baited breath.

“Grant us your wisdom ‘o soothsayer,” Markus whispered, eyes wide with anticipation and literally perched on the edge of his seat. Connor seriously measured the pros and cons of just throwing his portion of the tab on the table and yeeting himself out of the window.

“It’s Sixty.”

Immediately the room erupted into scoffs and hisses of disbelief. North gave him a thumbs down and cupped her hand to her mouth, letting a long, “Booooo!”

“Why are you booing me I’m right!”

“BoooOOooOOOOOoooooo!” Markus, Josh and Simon joined in.

Connor blinked, and suddenly felt all of his concerns about Nines’ being the lynch pin in solving this mystery evaporate. If Markus transformed into a C grade Shakespeare impersonator when drunk, and Connor subconsciously wanted to be recruited by America’s Got Talent, then Nines became a consummate dumbass.

“That’s it!” North exploded. “Ten dollars says it’s Jerry #92! I caught him in a wig once!” She stood up, her chair sliding back from the force, and slammed a note on the table.

Simon also stood up with equal intensity. “Twenty says it’s Josh!” He reached into his pocket and slammed its contents onto the table. When he removed his hand six lego pieces, a My Little Pony leg, and two actual diamonds were revealed. Connor hoped dearly that the bartender cut Simon off soon.

“It’s not me!” Josh said exasperated. He paused, then pointedly pulled out some money and threw it in the pot as well. “I put forty on Brenden.”

“Bull! Shit!” North declared. “Fitness guru Brenden!? No way!”

“He fits the criteria.”

“I doubt ‘How To Tell If An Android Has Welded on Parts from China vs Russia in their Selfies’ videos on his YouTube channel is the kind analysis Markus was talking about.”

“You don’t know that! He didn’t specify...”

As the two continued to argue, with Simon chiming in with some non sequitur, and Nines tutting about these ‘ignorant fools and their blindness to the evidence presented’, Connor looked over to Markus. He was quiet. He had his elbow perched precariously on the edge of the table, his cheek resting on his fist, a small hat (that was not there literally two minutes ago) was on his head, folded from one of the bar napkins.

And he was looking at Connor as if he hung the moon and stars.

‘How could the world not already know,’ Connor thought, soft and warm inside, happy merely to be in his line of sight, ‘When he looks at me like that?’

Connor picked up his glass and lifted it. “One hundred dollars on Sixty.”

Chaos erupted. Nines threw his arms up and hooted like he’d won the super bowl. Josh tried to explain to him how that was mathematically impossible. North shook her head and warned him that he would live on the streets with an answer like that. Simon pulled out a Yu-Gi-Oh! Card and said he would give him this Charizard if he agreed with him that Josh was Markus’ secret boyfriend. Connor withheld himself from trying to convince drunk people that this was not how betting worked.

Maybe Connor shouldn’t worry so much about their relationship being discovered after all. At this rate, no one would know about he and Markus being together until the wedding invites.

[ga-yuu]

~Yoshitsune~Main Story Chapter 1~

If you haven’t read the prologue, I suggest you do that first and then start reading this. Also WARNING!!! The following story has violence and attempted murder.

*

*

*

-------Part 1-------

(I’m going to collect the mystical powers that are required to cancel my pact with Tamamo....and I will definitely open my own pharmacy!)

While thinking about my ordinary lovely life, I looked straight with all the courage I could muster.

Yoshino: “Please take care of me, everyone!”

Yoritomo: "If you can answer straightforwardly, that means you're doing well. ----Well, at least for now."

Shigehira: "Are you sure you should be lukewarm with her? The enemy is that Yoshitsune-san."

There is a hint of tension in his eyes as he says this.

(Yoshitsune-sama is....)

-----FLASHBACK----

Yoshitsune: "In order to defeat Yoritomo, I came from the brink of death....by surrendering my soul to an inhuman being."

-----FLASHBACK ENDS----

(Yoritomo-sama's younger brother, right?)

(But he is trying to defeat Yoritomo-sama...... even if it means that he should make a pact with the Karasu Tengu, Kurama.)

Yoshino: "Um, what kind of person is Yoshitsune-sama?"

Tamamo: "I'm curious, too. Even if Yoshitsune has Kurama's powers, he is a force that was destroyed once, and now when he's back, you guys are relying on Yoshino. Are not confident enough to take him down the second time?"

Yoshino: "Wait, Tamamo!!?"

(If you say something like that....)

The rims of Kagetoki-san's glasses gleamed and a sharp look shot through us.

Kagetoki: "It's not surprising that some pea-brain country girl and a jackass fox demon who slept inside a stone for hundreds of years, to not know."

Yoshino: "I'm not some 'pea-brain country girl'... you know what, let's just leave it like that for now."

(His words are so sharp!)

Morinaga: "Kagetoki, don't speak like that to them. They are on our side."

Tamamo: "Yes, yes. Show some respect."

Kagetoki: "I beg your pardon, did my ‘honestly’ let you down."

Morinaga: "Ka-ge-to-ki??"

Kagetoki: "......."

Kagetoki-san took a quick step away from Morinaga-san and closed his mouth grimly.

(He's smiling, but maybe Morinaga-san is actually indicating something else....?)

Shigehira: "You've gone way off-topic."

Yoritomo: "Don't get hung up on it, Shigehira. The one who knows the threat of Yoshitsune best is you. A Heike(Taira clan) who fought him directly."

Yoshino: "Heike...."

(If I remember it correctly, Shigehira-san called himself 'Taira no Shigehira'...)

Even if I'm a so-called 'pea-brain country girl', I do know well that 'Heike' and 'Genji' have been sworn enemies.

Yoshino: "Why did 'Taira no Shigehira' joined Yoritomo-sama, then....?"

Shigehira: "I would've normally brushed off that question saying that ‘it's none of your business', but I'll tell you this much. I fought Yoshitsune-san in the Genpai war and was defeated."

(eh?)

I felt a flicker of blue flame in Shigehira-san's lightly pigmented eyes.

Yoritomo: "Despite his appearance, Shigehira was considered a great general of the Heike clan. The Heiki was already on the decline at that time. It can't be said that it was simply a lack of power on the part of Shigehira that caused them to lose the war, but....It is certain that Yoshitsune kicked the Heiki to the curb and led them off with a flourish."

Shigehira: "I was supposed to be executed there, but for some unknown reason, Yoritomo-sama let me live. So, after all that, we've formed an alliance and I'm here in Shogunate. ...... Do you understand?"

Yoshino: "For now, yes."

(It sounds like a sensitive topic, but I'm not in the mood to ask.)

Shigehira: "The Yoshitsune-san, you're about to face with that confidence of yours is a heedless monster."

(If what you just said is about the time when the Genji clan defeated the Heike...)

Yoshino: "Does that mean, he's incredibly strong..........even before he attained Kurama's powers?"

Tamamo: "Are you meaning to say, that he's a 'one-man army'?"

Shigehira: "That's what I mean. He's already nasty, and now he attained inhuman powers."

Shigehira-san's frowning face had no fear, but only a determination to fight.

(All the others........have the face of a samurai.)

Kagetoki: "....At the same time, I accompanied the sovereign to battle as his valet, under the orders of Yoritomo-sama."

Yoshino: "Did you see Yoshitsune-sama in battle close up?"

Tamamo: "How was it, after seeing with your own eyes?"

Kagetoki: "As he already said, he's insanely good."

(Eh.......)

Kagetoki-san continued his words.

Kagetoki: "He is a general, but he leads the way, wielding his sword fiercely, ready to give up his life. Sometimes he pulls off what seems like a daredevil move. When the men below saw him, they ran after him as if possessed by something."

Morinaga: "There was a rumor at the time that no grass would grow after Yoshitsune-sama had stepped on it. When I saw him for the first time, I was astonished because he had such a graceful appearance and his skill with a sword in battle was superb."

(I can't believe the people who support the Shogunate are saying this much.....)

Yoshino: ".....Such an inspiring person."

Overwhelmed, I murmur, and Yoritomo-sama sarcastically lifts one end of his lips.

Yoritomo: "No matter what the crisis, Yoshitsune is a man who has the potential to turn the tide of war on his own. The fact is that without him we would have lost some battles."

(It's hard to believe that there really is such a person when you only hear about them.)

(But......)

(Yoshitsune-sama clearly had a different atmosphere to normal people.)

-------Part 2 -------

(Yoshitsune-sama clearly had a different atmosphere to normal people.)

Just the thought of those cold eyes on me is enough to make me squirm with fear.

Tamamo: "The soul of Yoshitsune is not that of an ordinary human being, as Kurama said. People like that have no ordinary life."

Yoshino: "And I have to fight such a person...."

Yoritomo: "Are you scared?"

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

I'm scared.... (+4/+4)

I'm not scared.... (+4/+4)

I don't know....(+4/+4)

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

Yoshino: ".....To be honest, I'm scared."

(No matter how much power Tamamo has, Yoshitsune-sama seems to be more terrifying than I imagined....)

Yoritomo: "You're stupidly honest. But it's better than being lying. Well, for today rest well."

Yoshino: "Is there something you want me to do tomorrow?"

Yoritomo: "Don't worry about it, you can spend your time as you like. I'll give you a room."

Yoshino: "I'm not sure if I'd like that."

Yoritomo: "If you have any inconvenience, tell the maid. If you're bored, I'll arrange a suitable entertainment for you, whether it's music or dance."

(Ehhh)

Yoshino: "That's not what I meant!"

Yoritomo: "Then what did you meant?"

Yoshino: "I just wondered if it was all right for me to wait and fight Yoshitsune-sama. And Yoritomo-sama said that “I'll hire you”, didn’t he? . I can't just sit around doing nothing if I'm hired."

Yoritomo: "......!"

(What? No, wait. I'm having a bad feeling about this....)

Yoritomo-sama stared at me for some reason, and then immediately puts on a happy expression.

Yoritomo: "Heh? If you're that serious, I'll give you a job."

Yoshino: "Really....?"

Yoritomo: "Yes. Kagetoki, if I recall, last night you received a letter from another country requesting reinforcements for the war, right?"

Kagetoki: "Yes, but it is only a skirmish between two small nations. I don't think the Shogunate will have to act."

Yoritomo: "I was tempted to leave it behind, but it's not a bad idea to ingratiate myself with the war effort. Morinaga!"

Morinaga: "Whoa, are we on?"

Yoritomo: "Yes. Take Yoshino with you and check on the situation."

-------Part 3-------

Morinaga: "Whoa, are we on?"

Yoritomo: "Yes. Take Yoshino with you and check on the situation."

(Me!?)

Yoshino: "Wait a minute! Why are you sending me to the war all of a sudden?"

Yoritomo-sama smiles at me when I raised my voice in question.

Yoritomo: "You said you wanted a job right? You know what they say---- "It's better to get used to something than to learn it."

(That's right, but----)

...........................................

Yoshino: "Isn't it a bit harsh to just throw me here, without any experience?"

I was dumbfounded by the stuffy atmosphere of the battlefield.

Morinaga: "Sorry you have to do this, Yoshino."

Yoshino: "Please don't apologize Morinaga-san."

We are in the main camp where the battle has just begun.

Morinaga-san listened to the reports from the soldiers who came incessantly and gave instructions to the troops.

(I heard that he has told the soldiers around me that I'm accompanying him as a  pharmacist...)

(I feel like I'm being stared at from a while ago. It's not the right place for me to be after all...?)

I wondered if Tamamo being in the same position would be ordered to accompany me as I did.

But he was to stay at the palace because he was to teach Yoritomo-sama the details of Kurama's unusual ability.

Yoshino: "Everything happened so suddenly. ....... Is Yoritomo-sama always such a forceful person?"

Morinaga: "Except when he's wearing a catsuit."

Morinaga-san smiles with a freshness that would not be out of place on a battlefield.

Morinaga: "Hmmmm, but I don't think Yoritomo-sama sent you into the battlefield out of spite."

Yoshino: "....Then why?"

Morinaga: "The first time you fight, even the bravest warrior cowers in fear. And you're an untrained town girl. It's best to be familiar with the battlefield if you want to be able to survive if the unexpected happened."

Yoshino: "Ah....."

The memory of the night when we all first met, played in my mind.

-----FLASHBACK-----

Yoritomo: "Are you okay, Morinaga?"

Morinaga: "Yeah...the wounds are not deep...but, just be careful with that wind. They are like blades..."

Yoshitsune: "Adachi Morinaga, the fierce warrior. ....I'm impressed at how well you avoided them. It's a bit of a shame to kill you. If it hadn't been for the circumstances, I might have enjoyed playing with you more."

------FLASHBACK ENDS-----

(At that time, Yoritomo-sama and Morinaga-san were calm, even though it was the first time for them to see, Yoshitsune-sama's different ability.)

(Maybe that's because they've both been on the battlefield many times and been in danger.)

Yoshino: "It's true that on the battlefield you don't always have someone with you. So I'd better get used to it soon..."

Morinaga: "This is a small war, and as long as we are in the main camp we are not likely to be overrun. I'm sure you're was aware of that, right?"

Yoshino: "If only Yoritomo-sama had said that from the beginning, it would have made things a little easier for me...."

Morinaga: "That's who he is."

When Morinaga-san saw the next messenger rushing in, he stood up and replied as a matter-of-factly.

(Of course, I don't know anything about samurai or the people of the Shogunate yet.)

And a few minutes later....

(At first, I wondered what was going to happen, but then I realized the sun was setting...)

Morinaga: "Yoshino, Thank you for looking after the injured ones."

Yoshino: "No, please. It's the least I can do."

In the middle of the day, I took care of the wounded and moved around, and the time passed very quickly.

Morinaga: "Thanks to you, I think we're about to win."

Yoshino: "Really!"

(Good, that means we can go home safely...!)

But the joy was only short-lived-----

Soon there was a sense of unease in the main camp.

Morinaga: ".....Strange how noisy the front line is."

As if to affirm Morinaga-san's words, the number of injured people had increased than earlier.

(I'm managing to hold on to it for now, but if it increases any further I'll run out of medication.)

(What the hell happened.....?)

Scouts: "Morinaga-sama! It seems that the enemy has received reinforcements. The number is about a hundred!"

Morinaga: "Hundred? That's too much of a response for me. It’s almost the same as receiving a thousand reinforcement."

(A thousand.... that's how strong the enemy is?)

Morinaga: “.....Yoshino.”

-------Part 4-------

Morinaga: “.....Yoshino.”

Morinaga-san turns to me after I take a breath.

Morinaga: “Will you leave the battlefield for the time being with your escort?”

Yoshino: “What about Morinaga-san....?”

Morinaga: “I’m going to help my allies on the front line.”

(Mm.....)

Morinaga-san’s words are filled with a strong will.

(I’m anxious to leave Morinaga-san, but in this situation, I have no choice.)

(Even at this moment, there are people waiting for help.)

(Let’s at least try not to slow them down!)

I clench my trembling hands tightly.

Yoshino: “....I understand. But please be careful.”

Morinaga: “Yes. Same to you.”

.........................

I leave Morinaga-san and head for the rear with the escorts that were appointed for me.

It’s been a while since I’ve had to hold on to an unaccustomed horse and make it run...

(Huh? I think they’ve got a message.)

As soon as one of the soldiers came riding up and said something, the others began to murmur.....

Yoshino: “Um, what’s going on?”

I asked the soldiers who were nearby.

Soldier 1: “Actually..... We’ve been informed that the rear supply convoy may have been targeted.”

Yoshino: “Eh.”

Soldier 1: “If the rearguard, which keeps track of the battle and supplies the troops, is compromised, it will be a great blow to men who are fighting now....!”

(That’s....)

I think of Morinaga-san and the other soldiers I left earlier.

Soldier 2: “We can’t leave them behind. We must protect our allies. Let’s go!”

Soldier 3: “Our first priority is to protect Yoshino-san. And the quickest way is the beastly road, but it is too dangerous for those who are not used to riding horses!”

(I’m slowing them down....)

I opened my mouth out of frustration.

Yoshino: “...Um, if you can find someplace where I can hide, please leave me there!”

Soldier 3: “But....”

(My voice is trembling...but...)

(But the other soldiers are fighting for their lives. I can’t stand in their way.”

Yoshino: “If there’s a fight, it’s just as dangerous with you all, and I don’t want to inconvenience you by my presence. I’d rather have you come and get me after the fighting has died down....”

The soldiers looked at each other and kept their mouths shut.

After a short silence, one of them spoke up.

Soldier 3: “....What Yoshino-san said is true. Soon it will be night and the war will be over. Rather than keeping her with us, it would be better to hide her in a safe place. I’ll show you the way, just follow me!”

Yoshino: “Yes!”

A short walk into the forest and I was guided to...

Soldier 3: “There’s a hut over there used by the local hunters, so take cover. In case of emergency, send up a smoke signal....Please bear with us, we will come for you after everything is over.”

Yoshino: “....Thank you, please be safe!”

As the soldiers disappear, I realized that I was completely on my own from hereon.

(I’m worried....)

------FLASHBACK-----

Morinaga: “It's best to be familiar with the battlefield if you want to be able to survive if the unexpected happens."

------FLASHBACK ENDS------

(For the time being, all I can do is stay here and wait for the soldiers to return.)

(If anything goes wrong, I’ll create a smoke signal. ....So I should be fine.)

I told myself so and headed for the hut through the undergrowth.

When I opened the door----

???: “Who are you.....”

(Eh!?)

In a dimly lit corner of the room, a soldier lay in agony.

(His injuries are severe!)

Yoshino: “Are you okay....?”

As I ran up to the soldier, I noticed a flagstaff that had fallen beside him.

(This is....)

(...No doubt, this is the sign held by the enemy!)

Soldier: “Little girl...? ...What are you...doing..here...?”

Yoshino: “Me...”

(In case if he finds out I’m an enemy he’ll surely kill me.)

When I involuntarily step back, and my back hits the door.

Soldier: “Wait. .... I don’t know what town you’re from,.... but.. you can’t leave until the war is over. ....”

Yoshino: “Eh.....?”

The soldier remains limp, as if he has no energy to move, and throws out words of advice.

(This person is....)

(Even if he doesn’t know that I'm the enemy, he’s still worried about me when he’s the one who’s wounded.)

(I could save him with some medical attention.)

(But that’s not an act you can show to Morinaga-san and his friends who are risking their lives fighting the enemy.)

(What should I do....)

Soldier: “Nghh......”

Yoshino: “........”

Even as I hesitated, the blood from the soldier’s side pooled on the floor.

(I.....)

I took out a piece of cloth I had prepared in case of emergency and applied first aid.

Soldier: “Wh...What are...you...doing...?”

Yoshino: “Please stay still. I’m a pharmacist.”

(I don’t know the correct choice right now. But I’d rather be wrong than regret it....)

....................

After a while....

(I’ve stopped the bleeding for now... but there are a lot of scratches. I have to wash and dress the wound so it doesn’t get infected.)

(I’m sure there’s a river nearby, isn’t there? I have to go out for a bit....)

Yoshino: “Can you wait here for a moment? I need to get some water.”

Soldier: “Ye...Yeah...”

I left the injured soldier inside the hut and quickly headed for the river.

..................

(This is....)

The empty plains were a haunting sight.

A number of broken arrows pierced the ground, the remains of dead soldiers being burned by the fire, testifying to the fierce battle that took place.

(I’ve finished fetching water, I must get back to the hut as soon as possible...)

I pursed my lips and was about to hurry when---

???: “What are you doing here, fox princess?”

(This voice...)

From behind, a bone-chilling voice comes with a mysterious aura. I have felt this same feeling before, and I’ll never forget it.

(No way....Is ‘he’ is here...?)

It was as if the temperature had suddenly dropped and I was sweating so hard I couldn’t even look back.

Only the sound of footsteps approaching on the grass is very clear.

(....I have to run away!)

I force my stiff legs to move, and I start to run as if I were rolling---

Yoshitsune: “Stop.”

Yoshino: “Ah....”

He pulled my arms tightly, turning me around and the impact made me fell to my knees on the spot.

Yoshitsune: “It’s a much quicker reunion than I thought.”

Yoshino: “Yoshitsune...sama....”

Eyes like purple crystals looked down at me.

(...Such cold eyes...)

I tried to turn my head away in horror, but a hand on my chin prevented me from doing so.

Yoshitsune: “I joined the war on a whim, but I didn’t realise there was a hidden enemy lurking in the background.”

Yoshino: “So...the ‘enemy reinforcements’...are actually the rebels?”

Yoshitsune: “We didn’t bring enough men to be an army.”

(Speaking of which, Yoritomo-sama said....)

(.....He said Yoshitsune-sama could turn the tide of war to his favor by putting himself in any critical situation.)

(That’s why the war situation went downhill so fast!)

Yoshitsune: “Does you presence mean that the Shogunate has come to this battlefield?”

Yoshino: “That’s...”

Yoshitsune: “Is he here?”

A chill runs down my spine at the sheer intimidation.

Yoshino: “....Yoritomo-sama is not here.”

Yoshitsune: “----Really. Then it was the fault of Yoritomo-sama that he let his precious trump card slip from his hand.”

Yoshino: ‘Ahh....”

The tip of his sword was kept right on my throat and I stopped breathing.

My skin crawls with fear and my body trembles.

Yoshitsune: “.....You can resent me, Yoshino.”

Chapter 2

[jizemderler]

Sasaeng {Kim Taehyung}

A/N: In which he thinks you´re a sasaeng fan and it leads to a bad outcome. Or does it? sjcjsdb It´s a little jumpy written sorry ´bout that 

You were running towards the elevator because you saw the door open and wanted to reach it before it closed again. Getting the elevator in this hotel was a pain in the ass since it had 35 floors. As soon as you reached the elevator you stuck your hand out and stopped the doors from closing. You were breathing heavily when you stepped in and apologized immediatly. “Sorry everyone.” you said out of breath and when your eyes met the ones from man standing inside the elevator you swallowed hard. It was Kim Taehyung. You turned away immediatly and stared at the closed doors the whole time not looking at him on purpose. You glanced at the numbers and thanked god as you saw the 24 already glowing. Being a celebrity must suck, you thought while keeping your gaze glued to the door. Everybody always approaching you and the lack of privacy...gruesome. The elevator climed all the floors until it reached 24. A loud ping echoed through the tiny room and the heavy doors opened to a well lit hallway. The artist stepped out first since he was standing in front and you followed him. When he turned the same corner as you things got a little awkward because it looked like you were following him. Until he reached his door and you walked past him. Your room was at the end of the hallway and as soon as you reached your door you went inside. You let go your breath you didn’t even know you were holding. That was extremely nervewracking. To be honest though: He was a really handsome man. Even more handsome in person.

***

This elevator crap happened four times the following week and things got weirder everytime. You two did not greet each other and he kind of seemed annoyed all the time which was understandable considering his hectic lifestyle. It was a thursday afternoon and you went back to your hotel after you set last things in your gallery. You still had a few things to do to be prepared for your art exhibition tommorow. But you had all evening to do them. You walked to the elevator and pressed the button. As soon as the doors opened you stepped in and stood in the back. When you noticed that no one was coming you stepped forward to press 24 when the man himself walked in. You almost bumped into his chest but both of you froze in place. “Sorry.” you mumbled but he ignored it and stood in the back of the elevator. You moved along to press the button and the doors closed. Through the reflection of the metallic doors you saw him take out his phone and text something. You relaxed a little thinking that he forgot all about you when he spoke up.

“Hey, you.” his deep voice cut through the air like a sword. Your whole body tensed up when you heard his icy voice. “Pardon?” you said and turned around not believing that he just called you with “Hey you.”.

“What are you doing here?” he asked again as if he was entitled to something and your nervousness turned into something else. “Excuse me?!”

“There is no excuse for what you are doing no matter how much you like us. If you think that we’ll be flattered you’re wrong..”

“What are you...?” you tried to interrupt him but he just went over you like it was nothing.

“I tried to ignore you. But whenever I get into this elevator you’re here and you follow me to my floor. I guess I shouldn’t have gone to my floor the first time we met.”

“Are you out of..” you tried again but he wasn’t listening at all.

“Look nobody likes sasaeng fans. Nobody. You’re invading our privacy and that’s annoying. “

If the elevator wasn’t reaching your floor anytime soon you would jump this idiot and rip him to pieces. You glanced at the numbers and thankfully you were already at 23.

“Excuse me but..”

“No! There is nothing to excuse. I texted my manager and he called the cops.” he said and turned away from you and stepped forward.

“Wait what are you...?”

Ping! The doors opened and two men in black suits escorted him out while two police officers grabbed you by your arms and held you back from stepping outside.

“Excuse me! Let me go! I didn’t do anything!” you yelled now but there were looking unfazed. “Yeah yeah, they never do.”

***

“Sir please let me go. I have an exhibtion tommorrow and there are things I need to finish before I can open up my gallery. Please.” you tried to explain yourself at the station while the police officer was checking your data.

“I have a room on the same floor. I never followed him anywhere. I’m not even a fan I just know that they make good music. Please I have to go.” you practically begged and as time passed you stopped talking because there was no chance you would make it in time.

After they checked everything and found out that you were telling the truth it was 4am in the morning. You were mad, you were exhausted and you were angry as fuck. “We’re so sorry.” a higher ranking police officer, you assumed by his stars on his shoulders, stopped by and apologized in everyones name. “You just did your job sir. I won’t be able to hold my exhibtion tomorrow. I’ll send you an invitation if I ever get the chance again.” you said and faught back the tears.

***

It was 6am when you reached your hotel room and everthing in you told you to step down his door and punch him in the face. You told everyone in charge that you were not able to hold the exhibtion tomorrow and that you’d meet up with everyone to clear things up. You found a card on your desk with the logo of the hotel.

“We are very sorry for everything that happened. Please try to understand and forgive us. -BigHit Managemet.” was written on it. The card was attached to a bouqet of flowers and a basket of fruits. The miserable apology wasn’t even from him. They were fucking with the wrong woman.

You grabbed the phone and dialled the number of the reception.

“I have a message for room 2425. It’s really urgent and I advise you to tell them immediatly. If I don’t have an apology by tomorrow afternoon by the resident of the room himself, I will press charges and go to a newspaper. Have a nice morning.” you said and hung up.

***

You didn’t sleep at all. You cried the whole time thinking about your destroyed work and dreams to hold an exhibtion at the most famous galery in Korea. You must’ve cried yourself to sleep because when someone knocked on your door you jumped up from your bed. The clock beside your bed showed 1pm. You were totally disoriented and walked over to the door to open it. There he was with a bouqet of flowers in his hands nervously stepoing from one foot to the other.

“Hi.” he said with a tiny voice, all arrogance vanished. You didn’t answer him and walked back inside leaving the door open for him to walk in. You opened up the curtains and one window to let in a little fresh air. “Sorry for the mess. I came home at 6am.” you said while sitting down in the chair. He had walked in and closed the front door and now he looked like a lost puppy infront of you. “Take a seat.” you said while pointing at the couch infront of you.

Tae felt awfull. He could see how exhausted you were and you must’ve cried because your eyes looked puffy. He sat down and fumbled with the flowers he bought. “Look, I’m really sorry for what happened yesterday. I thought you were a Sasaeng-Fan. I got creeped out and overreacted. I’ll pay for another week in the hotel.” he offered thinking that he was doing something good.

“I was going to hold my first ever art exhibtion today t the most valued venue in Korea. But I couldn’t finish up because you got me arrested so I had to cancel everything. There is no way I’ll get that venue ever again.” you explained very calmly and looked into his eyes. His eyes went wide and horror went over his features as he realized what he did.

“I don’t need to stay another week, thanks for the offer though. I was very angry yesterday. If I had seen you, you would’ve had a reason to get me arrested believe me but there is no point in that. I just wanted you to know what you did. You might be famous and have good connections. Next time just talk to people before doing something so dramatic.” you said and got up from your chair. He did the same and put the flowers on the table because he was afraid that you would turn them down. “I’m really sorry.” he added and wiped his hands on his pants. “Is there anything I can do for you?” he asked but you shook your head.

“Greet your mates for me. Y’all are doing a great job.” you said and put on a polite smile while bringing him to the door.

***

Taehyung went back to his room and he could punch himself in his face. His bandmates were waiting for him in his room and when he explained everything he could see the disappointed faces. “Damn you fucked her over big time.” Hoseok said and Tae pinched the bridge of his nose. “I know.”

“I don’t think an apology does the trick here.” Namjoon said and Tae rolled his eyes. “I offered help but she refused and practically kicked me out.” “You can be happy that she didn’t push you out the window.” Jin said and Taehyung groaned. “I think I have an Idea.” Yoongi said and everyone looked at him. “Do we have plans for tomorrow?”

***

It was 8pm and you were standing behind the curtains at the venue to host your own exhibition. The manager called around 3pm to tell you that he had a free evening tomorrow night because someone cancelled last minute. Of course you took the chance and jumped at it. Now you were here, standing in black silky gown that brushed over the floor, with your heart pounding in your chest.

When you stepped out into the light you heared a round if applause and put on a very genuine smile. „Thank you for coming everyone!“ you started and prepared to give your speech.

***

„Damn she is beautiful.“ Yoongi whispered and Tae watched you from afar, how you talked to your clients with a sweet smile on your face. The dress was hugging your body in all the right places and your face was glowing from happiness. His heart ached at the picture of you in your hotel room that he caused. The boys entered the venue around half past ten so the main event could be over. They didn‘t want to draw all the attention and when they arrived everybody was already a little tipsy and admiring her art with their champagne glasses in their hands talking to each other in hushed voices.

Nevertheless when some people started recognizing the boys the conversations of your clients caught your attention. „Wow! What are they doing here?“ „Do they know the artist?“ You excused yourself from the people at your table and went to greet the newcomers. When you saw who it was you stopped in your tracks and watched them come towards you. All seven men were dressed in nice tuxedos and it was a celebration for your eyes. The tallest one reached out his hand as soon as they were close enough. „Nice to meet the artist behind all of this great work. I‘m Kim Namjoon.“ he inteoduced himself and gathered yourself together quickly because everyone was looking at you. As soon as you grabbed his hand to shake his hand a flash of light filled the room and a hundred photos were taken. You thanked god that you kept the reporters to a minimum. „It‘s an honour to habe you here.“ you answered with a polite smile and Taehyung immediatly saw that your smile didn‘t reach your eyes. „I hope you‘ll enjoy our evening. You can always approach me if you have questions about the pieces.“ you said and bowed your head before excusing yourself and leaving towards your table again.

„Oh man, she seems pissed.“ Hobi said as soon as you were far away enough and Jungkook nodded. „She‘s a clever woman. She added one and one together.“ Namjoon said and watched you explain one of your pieces to a tall man in an south african gown.

You were standing in the corner and tried looking relaxed when your asisstend rushed over to you and leaned in to whisper something into your ear. „The biggest piece is sold.“ „The name and phone number for the delivery.“ she added and gave you a card.

***

3 years later you were not only a succefull artist in Korea but your fame started spreading around the globe. You had fix art galleries in seven different countries. The venue you started at had your first art piece hanging in their lobby to greet their new clients.

You shuffled in bed as you slowly woke up and stretched your limbs. „Good morning.“ you heared a deep voice greet you from the other side of the bed and you turned your head around. There he was, hair tousled from sleep, eyes a little puffy from the late working hours but the happiest smile on his lips. „Morning.“ you said and leaned forward to place quick kiss on his lips. He wrapped his arms around you and pressed your body against his and rest his forhead against the crook of your neck. „When did you come in?“ you asked while brushing your fingers through his messy hair. „Around 4am.“ he yawned and you placed a kiss onto his hair while chuckling at how clingy he was. Your eyes scanned the room and you saw his stuff scattered around the room since he must‘ve changed in the dark to prevent you from waking up. When your eyes met the stupid painting at the wall the old feelings bubbled up inside of you and you pushed him away gently. He groaned and tried to pull you back but you didn‘t let him. „I told you a million times to get rid of that painting.“

„It‘s worth millions of dollars.“ he said without any emotion but you didn‘t care. „It‘s stupid and I hate it. I hate what it reminds me of.“ you said and he looked up at you. „It reminds me of our beginning.“ he pouted and you glared at him thinking of what happened. „Every newspaper talked about you guys going to an art gallery. You stole my show.“ you growled and he coughed into his fist and looked away. He wasn‘t getting out of this one. „You‘re art sold like crazy.“ he offered but that only made you cross your arms infront of your chest. „They said I took advantage of you and disregarded my hard work.“ you said and were getting more annoyed by the minute. „You didn‘t talk to me for a year. Even though I shot my shot several times.“ he with a raised brow. „I waited for the media to forget about our connection. I was not becoming the gold digger artist just because of you.“ you said and glared at the art piece.

„I hate it.“ you said and caressed you arm gently and placed a soft kiss against your skin. „If you hadn‘t gotten me arrested I would‘ve never had to try so hard to be recognized as an artist and not just „The artist BTS has visited“.“ you pouted and he smiled sheepishly.

„Yes but that would‘ve also meant that we would‘ve never met.“ he said and you rolled your eyes. „We had nothing to do with your success babe. It‘s all because of your talent. We just organized the venue.“ he let it slip and as soon as he said it he bit his tongue. „You did what?!“

***

You were putting the side dishes on the dinner table but for the boys it felt like you were throwing them at them. „Did we do something?“ Yoongi whispered towards Jin but he just shrugged his shoulders and looked at Tae. „Did you fuck something up?“ Jin asked him and he kept staring into his bowl until you came back from the kitchen. „If you ever mess with my life ever again, I‘ll make sure y‘all regret it.“ you said as you sat down and grabbed your chopsticks. „Now eat.“ you said and the discussion was over before it could start.

***

„Ugh..where are we going?“ you whined for a millionth time now and Taehyung smiled at your impatience. „You‘ll see.“

He parked the car in front of a big house and as you walked up the stairs you could see „Orphanage“ written on a sign. „What are we doing here?“ you whispered to Tae as you climbed the last stares. „Just wait and see.“ he said and led you inside of a room full of kids. They were all applauding as you came in and Tae lead you towards the stage where an old lady was smiling at you. Right behind you there was this big art piece of yours which had been hanging in your bedroom for the past two years. „I donated the painting to this orphanage. They can either keep it or sell it for however much they want.“ he whispered into your ear as you walked on stage and you looked up at him in disbelief. Your heart swelled with love as you watched this man infront of you. You spent the evening with the kids and they were totally oblivious to your fame. They were just happy to meet people who helped them.

***

You were watching him the whole ride back home and when he parked the car infront of the house you grabbed his hand and stopped him from getting out.

„I love you.“ you blurted out and his eyes widened at you confession. He already said it a few times but you were always were too scared to say it. But right now felt like the best time. „What?“ he said totally baffled and you smiled.

„I love you Kim Taehyung.“ you said it again and a devilish smiled appeared on his face.

„I can‘t believe I had to donate the most expensive thing in our home for you to say that. Is your love buyable?“ he joked and you let go of him immediatly.

„You‘re a fucking asshole.“ you cursed at him and opened the door to leave.

„Oh come on! It was a joke.“ he yelled after you but you slammed the door into his face.

„I love you more than I love that painting! You‘re my number one!“ he yelled after you while dangling out of the window of the car.

He was a stupid asshole. But he was your stupid asshole.

[grazieschillivera]

Bad Liar

Summary: You and the boys have to spend the Night somehwere in the nowhere because of a failed mission.Billy is pissed and blames you for their situation, thats when you want to know what his problem is

Word count: ca.2500

,,Anal Wanderer.'' you said breaking the long silence in the car, that lasted since you had ran to the car to flee from your failed mission.

The original plan was to get information from a supe, whose hero career was is total flop, but Vought somehow had managed to know about your plan and almost catched you ,when you left the supe's house.The question whose fault that was would be a huge discussion later on - you had a feeling for that.

,,What?'' asked Billy, who only gave you a brief glance before he continued his grumpy look on the street. Eyerolling you looked outside of your window again, getting the ungood feeling your attempt to light up the mood wasn't about to work out.

,,My sister and I used to do that ,when we would do our vacations on caravan places.Always putting the word 'anal' before every caravan's name.'' you said already searching for another good one from all the caravans your car passed on the huge camping place.Even though you managed to get rid off Vought, Billy decided that he had no interest in driving for another six hours , he wanted to sleep.

,,Oh Anal Open Gear.'' said Hughie from behind, slightly giggeling.

,,Anal Pegasus.'' you added pointning outside.

,,Are we driving with two fucking kids?'' Billy asked M&M , looking to him through the mirror, above him, earning an unimpressed ''Yep''.

,,I got almost killed.I'm just trying to light up the mood, even though I have a reason not to do that.'' you said to Billy.

,,You wouldn't have to do that if I didn't had to save your ass.'', said Billy.

There was your hint, whose fault ist might be for the rather failed misson.

,,Maybe if someone hadn't decided to cancel the plan, I wouldn't have been caught by some stupid soldier fuckers'' said you and turned your glance to him showing your swollen arm to Billy, that had blocked a hit with the gun on his head from him.It wasn't that you were only there to cause trouble.

You could still feel the pain in your head, from being smashed on to the ground multiple times, when you fought back, and the weakness in your knees, that first came up ,when Billy helped you up and brought you to the car.

With a kick down on the brake the car stood still forcfully and you thought Billy had stoped to start screaming at you but he didn't.He just went out of the car and was gone.You were on a free place now, some meters away from the rest of the caravans.When you went also outside ,the silence continued, the only things you heared were Hughie and M&M talking and the Ocean.

,,Fuck.'' you said to yourself, when you realised that you wanted to apologize to Billy but also had no interest in giving in.

M&M was the first that went to sleep, when you arrived it already was sunset.After the last orange clouds were gone Hughie also went to sleep, after he had tried to distract you a bit from the situation with Billy and the fact that someone almost killed you.But without much success.You liked Billy but sometimes you could really punch him in the face and the shook still run through your body, when you thought about it.You knew you didn't even had to try go to sleep.

You followed the little path and the sounds of crushing waves, until you reached some small hills.The whole beach started to spread underneath you.You just searched for a nice place to sit, when you noticed Billy, sitting only some meters away from you.The first idea that crossed your mind was to just ignore him, since he still seemed pissed, but then you decided otherwise.

,,From a scale from one to ten – how much of a cunt am I to you?'' you asked when you sat down next to him, offering him one of your cigaretts, even tough he just had finished one.

,,You're not a cunt.'' he said, after he had decided to accept your offering.,,You're just fucking emotional.'' said he once he had lighted his cigarette and gave you his lighter.

,,What do you mean?'' you asked ,reaching out for it.

,,Listen when I mess up the plan then cause the plan actually sucks.But you always seem to mess up, cause you try to fix every upcoming problem.'' Billy said.

With raised eyebrows you took a drag.

,,Too caring huh? Didn't know that might be a bad thing.You're the one, who started this whole team thing.'' you said still in a calm tone, due to Billy's composure.

,,Yeah but I trust everyone, that he wont mess up except you.You just run to everyone trying to do his job.'' said Billy.

,,You mean for example preventing you from getting knocked out?Its not that I had something else to do than protecting your asses.'' you said.Billy just grumbled.

,,You think I can't do better, right?'' you asked, but deep down knew the answer.

,,See here is the thing.You're not a supe nor ,pardon, very strong.If I hadn't knocked this cunt out, you might wouldn't be here.We didn't take you as an all-around wonder, just someone for the technical work.'' Billy said.

,,And yet you took me with you for this mission.There must be some other reason, cause I had no direct job today.You're a bad liar.'' you said and threw your cigarett in the sand.

,,Careful love, I fear you're not in the position to call me that, when you're doing an awfull job of hiding your emotions.'', said Billy.,,And there we have it again.'' he added and took another drag.

Then again silence.That was again for you a sign ,that some topics could be discussed untill the end with Billy.Sometimes you had to find your answer on your own.

,,I hope when this is all over, I can find something near the beach.I could spend hours listen to the waves crashing down and looking up in the night sky.'' you said.

,,Maybe you should talk to the Fishhero, when we meet him again.'' said Billy, not really intrested in admiring this place.

You laughed unintenionally.

,,God that sounded like a possible answer from one of those quizzes to get to know which Hero would be your match.'' you said.

Billy had to snort.,,Please tell me you have a good excuse to know ,that some bullshit like this exists.''

,,Its just that Annie and I discussed which 90s singer would be our match – that had to be claryfied.It was Eddie Vedder'' you added when you had stood up.

,,Eddie Vedder, huh?Ahh careful with the arm'' said Billy, stoping in his cocky answer, when you leaned on your arm, to stand up from the sand.He stood up before you could,to take his offered hand.

,,I'm not out of glass.'' you said.,,Its the other arm, by the way.Left handed.The ones who are more creative'' you added with a smirk on your lips.

,,Right.Maybe that's the reason you should fuck Eddie Vedder'' said Billy scratching behind his ear.

,,Or the reason why I'm actually good in adapting to your off- plan actions.'' you said back, earning a silent grin from Billy.

,,So no night swimming for us than?'' he asked having a last glance at the water.

,,I'm way too hungry for that, but you can come and join me.'' you said.

,,I fear I don't have enough money left for that.'' Billy said.

,,Pity, I can't give you money.The boss hates it when I care about our colleagues.'' you said but gave him a smile and nod to follow him.

,,Boss?Could get used to you calling me that way.'' he said with a smirk, when you both started your walk.

Since Hughie and M&M already sleeped in the car, you both had to walk to the next diner.You remembered that you saw one, only a mile away from the caravan place.To your suprise the diner was also half of a karaoke bar.When you read the shop sign, you weren't sure to go inside but your stomach told you, that listening to bad singing was the smallest problem right know.Fortunatly it turned out that the almost the whole dinner was empty, leaving a small chance of hearing any singing.

You just enjoyed eating something properly and the peaceful athmosphere until your left arm ran into the table and the small pain forced you back into the memories from today.A blackout almost reached every brain cell from you until you remembered how Billy thought about you and you forced yourself too become calm again.Besides you didn't want that – to be scarred to life just because of some idiots.

Your gaze wandered across the diner and Billy.He was right, maybe, if he hadn't saved you today, god knows where you would have ended.With that on your mind you stood up from the table.

Billy had noticed your changed behavior and had a look on you when you went away, thinking you just needed some time alone.He even noticed how he thought about following you, just in case you couldn't calm down by yourself, but when you stoped at the little stage instead of the restrooms he freezed in his motion to stand up, just to sit back again in defeat.

And his fears turned out to be right, when a song started only seconds after.

You focused on the upcoming beat and high pitched voice from your low key favourite song ,,She is on my mind'' and ignored every negative thought, that came up.The next thing you felt was how you had started to sing, even before you noticed it and how your body swinged to the music.Full of disbelieve you looked into the small crowd, spreaded across the diner tables.No one seemed to really like your singing but that didn't stop you from having your fun on the small stage.You sometimes even dared to look at Billy, but you were far to buys to try to understand what kind of look he gave you right now.

When the song was over you made an exaggerated bow and walked back to Billy , acting as if nothing had happened.

,,Maybe you and Starlight could start a girls group.Didn't know you were into that stuff, since your cheeks already turn red when you order something to eat.'' Billy said when you had paid for the food and walked back to the car.

He had a point there, you could still feel your hot cheeks, or rather again.

,,I don't know.Maybe I'll regret to did that.I just had no interest in falling into a black pit just because of today...I just wanted to use my time again.'' you said in defense.

,,With doing something totaly stupid?'' asked Billy with a grin in your direction.

,,No.Doing something I always wanted to do but never dared to.'' you admitted.

,,See there it is again.Those little things no one else really does in our group, you're even worser than Hughie.'' Billy said.

,,But you like Hughie.'' you said with no effort in suppressing your smile.

,,Oi would you stop that.'' said Billy stoping in his walking and giving you a serious look.,,I tell you what.I'll kiss you when you promise me to stop putting you in danger all the time, alright?'' he asked.

Just as Billy mentioned the word 'kiss' you could feel the blood shot up in your cheeks.Your heart beat even harder against your breast, when you had answered immediatly, knowing damn well that he just wanted to tease you.

,,You think this is a good deal?'' you asked with too much mocking in your words for your liking afterwards,when you saw how Billy leaned himself against the nearest wall of a building, already all confident.

,,You will have to tell me that love.'' he said with his familar smirk on his lips.

You steped over to him and with every step closer to him you could see how his smirk widened while his eyes stayed curiously on you.Your breast almost brushed his open jacket, when you stood infront of him and looked up at his lips, savouring this moment.Because you knew that would be the first and last chance.

,,Maybe thats a good deal.'' you said.,,Didn't know you could be so generous.'' Those words made him smile once again.At first your body flinched once Billy laid his hand carefully on your waist and even though your heart skipped one beat after another, you liked this.

,,Didn't know you could be such a tease.'' he said, when you had pulled away and leaned against his grip around you, that stayed.His fingers drew small circles on your back when he eyed you up.

,,Not a tease.I just sayed no '' you said and turned around to walk out of his grip.

,,Clearly not.I would do an even bader job in this group than now, I don't think I want that.'', you said referring back to his offer and continued your walk but Billy wasn't done with you.

,,Try again.Dont you think I hadn't noticed?'' Billy asked to stop you from walking any further.,,Your looks and how you act.You might fool everyone else but I fucking know that if you follow someone like a little pup into every stupid situation you love that person... or you're just Hughie , and you're not Hughie.'' he added the last part with an eyeroll but still more serious than the rest of the night.

And even though the last part made you smile for Hughies loyality , you freezed on your spot once more, as Billy said that.

He pushed himself away from the wall and crossed the distance to you.Your eyes were filled with guilt and you had no defense to offer.

,,Listen I don't think I want this.I fear I'm not good at protecting people.I mean just take a fucking look at your arm.Nor am I a good partner.So just let me kiss you that you can come over all this fucking lovesickness and we can go back to work.'' he said.

Each word punched you in your stomach, until you stood there with tearfilled eyes.That was enough for you to grab him by his neck and kiss him,finally showing that you wasn't the only liar.

Your lips moved together and you felt that when you wanted to move back, Billy stoped you by planting his hands on your waist and held you even closer.After some seconds you leaned back and looked up at him.His eyes were never so full of warmness before.

,,You are the worst liar I know Billy.'' you said after you could find your voice again, still standing infront of him, waiting for his reaction.

One of his hands carresed your cheek, he had to grin at your words, but this time it faded away instantly.

,,What am I gonna do with you?'' he said while eyeing you up deep in thoughts.

,,For now.Fucking keep me.'' you said demandingly but still with a smile on your lips, now that you gained a bit of hope again.

,,Just fucking promise me to take better care of you.'' he said before he pulled you back in his embrace, as if you were about to vanish otherwise.In that moment you both realised your dilema and cursed it, while you also enjoyed the truth.

[jemmahazelnut]

Two thieves in a trap

Summary: Laxus and Freed are Fiore's two most famous and most sought-after thieves, and they are always in competition, because they set their sights on the same objects. When they find themselves imprisoned together, they will be forced to ally. [Laxus/Freed]

Link: AO3

Fraxus Week 2021, Day 6. Prompt: Rivals team up.

Just a simple and (I hope) funny story, I took inspiration from Lupine III. Hope you like it :)

Two thieves in a trap

-1-

He walked down the long dark corridor until he arrived in front of the room where there was the pocket watch. Laxus took a look inside, beyond the glass doors. The object was inside a display case and there seemed to be no guard. After putting the ones he had found in the hall to sleep, he hadn't had any setbacks and hoped not to find them now. He had already canceled the alarm and took the key that opened the case. It had been child's play, all he had to do was go in for a tour of the museum that afternoon and chat with an absent-minded girl. He had taken her keys and exchanged them for a fake copy, and there he was. Indeed, it had been much easier than expected.

Laxus checked there were no other alarm systems or sensors, but there seemed to be nothing else. At that point he entered and approached the case looking at the pocket watch with a smile. He would finally have it. He put the key in and opened the display case, then took another watch from his pocket that could be mistaken for the real one. Careful not to trigger the sensors he exchanged them and finally took the real one, closed everything and left the room.

Child's play. He walked down the hall to the window he had entered through. He lowered himself with a rope up the wall until he reached the top of his motorbike. At that point he pulled the rope down, but at that moment he heard someone pull the booty out of his pocket. He spun around ready to grab the wrist of whoever he was, but the man had already moved away.

“Justine,” Laxus growled. He wasn't even that surprised: every time that thief showed up to make him nervous. He too was on a motorcycle and was looking at the pocket watch with a satisfied smile.

“Dreyar. I assumed you were here, I was just waiting for you to go out. What can I say, thank you for doing the work for me” having said that Freed put the watch in his pocket and with an arrogant smile started the motorcycle. “Good evening!” he greeted him, and then left in a rush.

“Bastard,” Laxus growled, letting go of the rope and immediately setting his vehicle in motion. In a moment he was off, ready to take his watch back. This time he wouldn’t have given him the victory, that pocket watch was his by right.

He whizzed through the streets following the bike and growled nervously when Freed took a last right turn. He followed him down the narrow alley and gave an acceleration, almost reaching him, but immediately afterwards Freed swerved to the left. Laxus followed him without taking his eyes off the thief. Damn bastard, if he thought he could get away from him, he was very wrong. Laxus managed to flank their bikes and gave a gentle push to make him fall. Freed swore and walked away from him, but just for a while, because Laxus was close by now.

He realized they were approaching the port and smiled as an idea came to mind. If he managed to frame Freed, he wouldn't have a chance to escape. With that thought he came alongside him, forcing him to turn into a small street that would have put him in a trap. Well, with that the race was over. Freed must have realized it too because as soon as he arrived in front of the sea, he stopped, cursing to himself. Laxus smiled.

“Come on, I won. Give me the watch” he said, holding out his hand forward. Freed gave him a dirty look. Laxus knew it wasn't going to be that simple, and he was just curious what that thief would come up with at that point. He had to admit, Freed was good. Not as much as he obviously, but he knew how to juggle discreetly. It was no coincidence that it was Freed who usually caused him trouble, not the cops who couldn't do their job. The long green-haired boy snorted and put his hand in his pocket.

“This time you won” he conceded with a grimace, throwing him the watch. Laxus took it on the fly but a glance was enough to realize that it wasn’t the real one.

“Do you think you're kidding me?” he asked.

“Excuses me?” said Freed feignedly naive. Laxus narrowed his gaze.

“You’ll fool those balls that you take to bed, but not me Justine. Give me the real one and let's close the matter here,” he clarified. Freed, however, certainly didn’t intend to, in fact he tried to escape with the bike but Laxus immediately went on him with his own. The two overturned to the ground and the blond took the opportunity to reach into the thief's coat pocket, took off his watch but he didn’t have time to smile victoriously when Freed threw a punch in the stomach.

“You don't need to be so aggressive,” Laxus said irritably, pushing him away and holding his watch tight. A moment later, however, he heard footsteps approaching. He turned around just in time to see three men, who shot both of them with sleeping pills. A moment later Freed and Laxus passed out.

-2-

He woke up dazed and tried to focus on the things around him. He sat down rubbing his forehead looking around him. He was in a cell. Fantastic, he thought irritably. Thanks to that moron Justine they had been caught. As usual, he found himself in trouble because of that damn thief. In this regard, Freed was also there with him, and he was still unconscious. Laxus continued to look around, outside the cell there was a guard with a transmitter in his hand, staring at them impassively.

“Where we are?” Freed asked as he sat up, also groggy because he had just woken up.

“In a cell,” Laxus snarled in response. “Thanks to you, of course.”

“You were caught off guard too,” Freed retorted. Laxus was about to retort that if he was caught off guard it was Freed’s fault, but he couldn't.

“Which one of you is Laxus Dreyar?” snapped a man who had just arrived, with two guards, one on each side. Freed and Laxus gave him a dirty look and eyed him.

“Why do you want to know?” Freed asked immediately. The man gave him a dirty look.

“Here I ask the questions,” he clarified. “So, move on and answer,” he thundered. Laxus was silent for a moment, assessing the situation. He honestly had no idea what those guys wanted from him. Of course, they weren't cops, so they were more dangerous as they didn't abide by the law. They could easily kill him. But maybe they wanted him because they needed something.

“It's me,” Freed said after a while. Laxus turned stunned to him, wondering what the hell was going through his head. The stranger man nodded briefly and pulled out a gun pointing it at Laxus.

“Very good,” he said.

“Hey bastard, what the fuck are you saying? You hate me so much but now you pretend to be me?” Laxus snapped immediately. Freed raised an eyebrow.

“Pardon?” he said impassively “Here you’re the one who lies.” Bastard, Laxus thought. He had to admit, Freed was really credible. The man in front of them seemed confused for a moment and lowered the gun not knowing what to do.

“Are you deceiving me?” he blurted out irritably.

“I'm not fooling anyone,” Laxus objected. Freed rolled his eyes.

“I admit, you lie well. But I'm the real one here,” he declared with absurd conviction.

“I'll kill you both” the man threatened them. Laxus and Freed tensed slightly but they both remained lucid knowing full well that he’d never do that.

“You need me alive, right?” Laxus asked arrogantly crossing his arms and glaring at him.

“That's right, you were pointing the gun at him. So, it means you need me, and I'm pretty sure it has to do with the pocket watch,” Freed continued undaunted.

“You want to know how it opens, right?” Laxus asked, glaring at his cellmate. That thief was smart.

“But only I know how to do it, because it was my grandfather's,” Freed continued. Laxus was surprised to hear him say so. Did Freed know what that pocket watch was? And how had he managed to find out? Maybe he was just bluffing. Probably he was just bluffing.

“Don't you dare dirty his name,” Laxus growled.

“You're the fake one here,” Freed objected.

“Damn you” growled the obviously furious man. He looked from one to the other, and then pointed the gun at Laxus, who widened his eyes. That was completely stupid. The man glanced at Freed. “Tell me how to open the pocket watch or I'll kill him” he ordered. Freed arched an eyebrow indifferent to the threat. Of course, it wasn't him that the gun was pointing!

“Go ahead, one less hassle in the world,” he said quietly. “Although, I don't know if it's convenient for you, he might be the real one,” he added with a shrug and a sneaky smile. The man growled between his teeth and then lowered the gun and put it back on his belt.

“Very well. You can't run away from here anyway” he clarified “And I'll find out who you are” he said confidently, and then walked away with the two men on his heels.

A guard instead stood there staring at them. It was starting to be creepy. He didn't move at all and almost didn't seem to blink.

“What does he have to look at?” Freed asked.

“What the fuck do I know,” Laxus snapped irritably. He stood up and walked over to the bars, and immediately the guard set off an alarm and more men came. “That's what it's for. How the fuck do you think we can get out of here? You're a bit paranoid,” he said irritably. Freed gave an amused smile.

“Well, they're good. Besides, am I or am I not the most wanted thief in the country?” he asked arrogantly. Laxus gave him a dirty look.

“Iam the most wanted thief,” he retorted immediately.

He sat down again, as those guards otherwise stood there ready for their every little move. They were really paranoid. Well, with good reason actually. Laxus leaned his back against the wall and snorted, not knowing how to get rid of that situation. If more guards came at their slightest movement, it was really hard. He remained silent for not knowing how long, saw the guard take turns with another and glanced at Freed. He too was silent and he too was looking around, probably looking for a way to escape. Laxus hoped he would find it, because he really had no idea how to do it.

More hours passed and Freed suddenly asked if they could feed them, but the guard simply remained silent ignoring him. Freed stretched his legs out in front of him and snorted. Then he turned to him with a strange smile on his face. Laxus arched an eyebrow not understanding what he had in mind. If he had found a way to escape, he had to tell clearly, not make those expressions hoping that he would understand for himself. But then, Freed approached him and took his face in his hands kissing him. Laxus was stunned.

What the fuck?

“Hey, everyone in their place,” growled the guard outside. Freed broke away and smiled at the man.

“Sorry, but I'm bored and since I'm lucky enough to be locked in a cell with Freed Justine, I just can't miss his much vaunted qualities,” he said. Laxus found himself blushing slightly. What did that idiot have in mind?

“Stay in your place,” he growled and he began to fidget. Freed in response sat astride him and took off his shirt. Okay, Freed was completely crazy. Laxus knew that the thief wasn't normal and that he was having too much fun with other men, but he didn't think he would ever get to something like this. They were rivals, for heaven's sake! Laxus started to push him away, but Freed ran his hands around his neck and brought his lips to Laxus’ ear.

“Hold the game,” he whispered. His warm breath sent a shiver down Laxus's body, who didn't know what to do. It's not that Laxus had never been with a man, but that taking initiative in that situation stunned him a little. And he had to admit, even though Justine was a pain in the ass, he was definitely attractive. And if the rumors about him were true… better not think about it.

Freed ran his hands under his shirt, lifting it up and pulling it off immediately afterwards. Then he kissed him again and this time Laxus reciprocated, running a hand along Freed's back. While he was there, he might as well have fun, right?

“I said no filth,” the guard growled. Freed broke away from Laxus and turned back to the guard, sliding his hand dangerously down his abs. Now he was definitely exaggerating, but Laxus didn't want to stop him anyway.

“What are you complaining about? You can enjoy the show,” Freed told. He was crazy, there was no doubt. Laxus knew Freed wasn't serious and he had to have a plan, but honestly, he wouldn't be surprised if they really ended up doing certain things in there just to distract the guard. Freed put his lips on his neck starting to kiss and bite him and Laxus felt another shiver run through him. Okay, he had to stop it before it got too much.

“Make noise,” Freed whispered.

“You're out of your mind,” Laxus muttered careful not to be heard.

“Maybe, but in the meantime, I’ve a plan. Either make a noise or pretend to be attracted by me,” the thief told him. Laxus at that point preferred to do the action and ran his hands directly on his body, placing his lips on him. Freed moaned loudly, certainly louder than he would normally use. The situation was absurd, but Laxus didn't mind at all. He was really starting to enjoy it. He felt the boy's ass, who glanced at him, and the blond grinned.

“You asked me to do it,” he pointed out. Freed didn’t reply and continued to pretend as he began to undo his pants. Laxus stared at his fingers with dilated pupils, but Freed stopped and sat him up, continuing to make loud noises. At that point Laxus roused himself and turned to the guard, who had turned in disgust. Laxus saw Freed take a bobby pin from his hair and approach the bars, while he continued to moan as if he were fucking. In the meantime, Laxus decided to put his shirt back on and got ready to go out. But Freed was taking longer than expected.

“Get moving,” Laxus growled softly in his ear. He got a dirty look and then Freed went back to work. When the lock finally clicked, the two thieves rushed out at the guard. A blow to the head to knock him unconscious and it was done. Together they dragged him to the cell and locked him inside, separating him from the transmitter.

“Well. Finally, out of that cell. Now we just have to get out of here,” Freed said, looking around.

“You go away. I’ve to get the watch,” Laxus growled. He wouldn't leave it there, that was rightfully his. Freed nodded.

“Right, important things first,” he agreed.

“The pocket watch is mine” Laxus snapped immediately.

“Yeah well, we're here together now. I think the best thing is to join forces, rather than walking around alone, this place is… oh shit” Freed said as he started down the hall. Laxus frowned and followed him, but when he caught up with him, he knew what he meant.

“Are we on a ship?” he blurted out in disbelief. How the fuck did they get away from there?

“Apparently. Well, there will be a lifeboat. Come on, the important thing is to be fast and not be discovered, so they’ll notice too late” he said, starting off.

“I know how to be a thief,” Laxus grunted.

“I wouldn't say so since you got your pocket watch blown out from under your nose. And since you didn't contribute much to get us out of the cell,” Freed objected.

“If we're here it's only your fault,” Laxus retorted.

“My fault?” Freed snapped right away.

“Shut up,” Laxus said, hearing voices. He grabbed the thief by the arm and walked into a room locking himself in, closing Freed's mouth. If that guy kept talking, they'd get caught right away. Fortunately, people passed by and Laxus looked around. Fortunately, there was no one in that room. When the footsteps were away Freed wriggled out of the grip.

“You don't need to take me like this, I know when to shut up.”

“You always talk,” Laxus objected.

“I don't always talk, and returning to the topic above, we're here because of you. If you had left me my watch, no one would have caught us and...”

“Shut that fucking mouth,” Laxus interrupted, not taking it anymore and went out into the corridor. Freed snorted but didn’t object realizing that it was better not to be discovered. They walked all the way down the hall until they reached the kitchens. Freed immediately entered hiding behind a trolley and positioning himself under a table. He stole food without being seen by anyone and began to eat quietly, without passing even a piece to him. What an asshole, Laxus thought. Not that he needed his help. Besides, it wasn't exactly the time to have a snack.

The two remained hidden to listen to what those women were talking about. They knew from experience that those gossipers would talk about anything and that was the easiest way to quickly find out what they needed. And indeed, it was so. A waitress was in charge of bringing the food to her boss, so the two didn't even have to talk to each other to decide to follow her and reach the room, where they were sure they would find the watch.

-3-

Freed and Laxus had found a perfect hiding place. Sure, it was a bit tight and they had to be practically stuck together, but at least they were safe enough, no one would see them. They were in a closet in the aisle of the ship, and were forced to sit down due to how low it was.

The two had managed to find the room where the pocket watch was, but it was full of guards and they were thinking about how to enter. It was difficult to avoid them all and they had nothing with them. No weapons, no tricks to use, no disguises.

Laxus tried to move but in doing so, he accidentally nudged Freed, who out of spite repaid him with a knee beside him.

“Do you want to stay still? We're allies for now,” Laxus reminded him.

“You’re the one who started”.

“I did it by mistake,” he replied.

“You're already taking up most of the space, at least stay still,” Freed snarled.

“It's not my fault you're small,” Laxus grunted.

“Small?” Freed asked puzzled and narrowed his eyes “I'm perfectly normal, it's you who are a giant” he pointed out. Laxus put a hand to his forehead in exasperation.

“I can't wait to get out of here” he moaned.

“Me too,” Freed said quickly. “So, did you think of something or do I always have to think?” he asked at that point. The blond gave him a dirty look but nodded.

“Yeah, and my idea is definitely better than yours,” he said, remembering how Freed smeared himself on him. He quickly dismissed the thought before blushing. “There should be sleeping pills in the room next door. Let's take one and use it on the others. They’ll all collapse,” he said.

“How do you know there are sleeping pills?” Freed immediately asked, somewhat skeptical about the plan.

“Because I listen to people when they pass by” was the short and curt reply. At that point they decided to implement the plan, also because they didn’t have many alternatives and definitely time was short. They had to get out of there as soon as possible.

So, the two boys went out and entered the next room, actually, as Laxus said there were some sleeping pills and the blond grinned noticing Freed's irritated expression. They took a couple, along with other items that seemed useful, such as bulletproof jackets, lockpicks, Bulgarian keys, and ropes. Unfortunately, there were no weapons, but since neither of them intended to harm anyone, it wasn’t a big problem.

After that, they walked silently to the room where they knew the pocket watch was. Before getting there, they started the tank so that all the guards were knocked unconscious. That way it was easy enough to get in. Laxus punched a guard inside the room, while Freed immediately jumped on the boss, covering his mouth and pulling the gun out of his hand, throwing it away.

“Give me a rope, I'll tie it up,” Freed said. Laxus stared at him irritably.

“Just hit him on the head” he retorted in a growl as he took the watch and put it in his pocket. Well, he finally had that object in his hands again. Fortunately, Freed followed his advice, knocking out the man. He decided to tie him up anyway and after that the two boys ran out. He didn't know when the guards would wake up, but now surely someone had found out they had escaped.

“This way,” Freed led as he ran towards a corridor. Laxus followed him, the two passed some guards and beat them, a few waitresses who just pushed in part and a few other inhabitants of the ship who looked at them in shock. Finally, they got where they wanted, to take a boat to escape from there. Freed was already boarding a lifeboat when Laxus saw something more interesting.

“What are you doing? Get in quick,” Freed told irritably as he was doing all the work. Laxus, however, smiled amused.

“If you want to get on some shit like that, go ahead, I'll take the yacht,” he told. Freed looked at him for a moment astonished and then followed his gaze and saw the much more beautiful boat. It wasn't big, but still better than any other lifeboat. Freed then followed him.

“I have to admit, for once you had a good idea,” he told.

“I remind you that I was the one who told you how to get the watch”.

“Yeah well, now move on,” Freed said shortly. The two boys thus set to work. They got on the yacht and then dropped down until they reached the sea. At that point Laxus started to drive but Freed preceded him positioning himself in his place.

“I'm driving,” said the blond.

“Why? Can you drive a yacht?” Freed asked skeptically.

“Sure,” Laxus immediately replied irritated by his mocking tone.

“Well, in any case it's better if I drive. You're too slow,” Freed declared. Laxus then grabbed him by weight and shifted him badly, and then he got behind the wheel and set off. A smile spread across his face as the boat sped over the sea, while Freed got up irritated.

“You're really annoying,” he told annoyed.

“As you please. Stop annoying me,” Laxus told in a decidedly good mood. He had the pocket watch, now he also had a yacht, and although he would have preferred that thief Justine not to be there with him, it was not bad to escape like that. Fuck those thieves, whoever they were and whatever they wanted from that watch. Laxus took it from his pocket and looked at it again, smiling slightly. As soon as he opened it, he would find out how to reach his grandfather.

-4-

Since Laxus had started driving, Freed decided to go around the yacht. He discovered that there was food, wine and even deckchairs. “This was really a brilliant idea” he thought pleased as he rummaged through the shelves. At least Dreyar was good at something. He opened a bottle and tasted. While he was there, he might as well have fun, and if that blond preferred to drive, he might as well. Freed would enjoy his vacation.

So, he got food, booze and deck chairs and went outside. He undressed staying in his boxer shorts and lay down comfortably on the deckchair. He began to apply sunscreen, but the yacht stopped. Freed looked up at Laxus and joined him.

“Don't tell me there's no fuel,” he told. Laxus grunted and muttered something incomprehensible. “What?” Freed asked. Laxus continued to mutter and Freed began to get irritated. “Do you want to tell me clearly what’s happening instead of murmuring?” he said irritably.

“I don't know where to go,” Laxus snapped at that point. Freed looked at him for long seconds in silence.

“You got lost?” he asked stunned.

“We’re in the middle of the sea, how the fuck can one orientate himself?” snapped the blond. Freed continued to look at him more and more incredulous.

“So why did you want to drive? You did leave it to me first,” he said irritably taking Laxus's place. “And you’d be the most famous thief in the world? Please,” he hissed more and more nervous.

“You don't even know where we are,” Laxus objected.

“We’re in the Guiltina ocean, just go east and sooner or later we’ll arrive at a coast. It's not very difficult, you know?” Freed retorted irritably as he turned the boat. That idiot had made a mistake at the start. Laxus grunted something incomprehensible and then walked out, sitting on the deckchair grabbing the bottle of wine. “I didn't take it for you,” Freed told badly out loud to be heard. Laxus smiled in amusement as he took a sip, ignoring his words.

“You know what, this yacht was a fantastic idea” said the smug blond, and then undressed himself, spreading sunscreen on his body. Freed turned so as not to look at the bastard having fun instead of him. He was just a profiteer. That deckchair would belong to him, not Laxus. Freed gritted his teeth and muttered something about the worst thief in history.

-5-

It was evening so Freed and Laxus had settled outside to eat. They had found a table, ready-made food and comfortable armchairs. They had turned on the evening lights, so now their table was illuminated by a blue light. Freed thought that the atmosphere would be perfect if there were some nice guys with him. He could have fun in the middle of the sea with food and alcohol at will. For him it was unfortunate that he was there with that thief with no sense of direction. Sure, Laxus was beautiful, and kissing him in the cell was exciting too, but he remained a rival. As soon as they got out of there, Freed would take back his watch and leave, reselling it to that collector who had promised him a nice reward.

Speaking of the pocket watch, he glanced at Laxus. He remembered the conversation they had made with the man who had captured them.

“Why did that man want the watch?” he asked. Laxus shrugged.

“Honestly, I’ve no idea,” he said. “Why do you want it?” he asked him back.

“To resell it” was the immediate reply. It also seemed obvious to Freed to tell the truth. That object was just a watch and he wouldn't have done anything with it. He narrowed his inquiring gaze, because he had the impression that Laxus wanted him for another reason. He doubted it belonged to his grandfather, but surely Makarov Dreyar had something to do with it. “You instead?” he then asked.

“Because it's mine by right” was the simple answer.

“Nothing is rightfully yours,” Freed immediately objected.

“Well, yes. It's been in the Dreyar family for generations, so it’s mine,” he clarified annoyed.

“That won't stop me from taking it,” Freed warned. He had no reason to hide it, Laxus probably already expected it. In fact, the blond rolled his eyes.

“As if I didn't know,” he retorted.

“In any case, I'm sure there’s more. Earlier in the cell you said it can be opened,” Freed recalled.

“It was just to make it clear to the guy that I was the real Laxus Dreyar,” was the arrogant reply. Freed stared at him inquiringly, and Laxus kept his gaze. In any case, there was still something missing. He doubted that the boy wanted an object only because it belonged to the family.

“What's inside?” he asked.

“I said I was lying before,” Laxus grunted.

“Yes sure. Deceive someone else. Come on, I told you what I want to do with it,” Freed said impatiently. Laxus snorted slightly, but then gave up.

“If you want to know so much, in here it says how to reach my grandfather,” he said at that point. Freed frowned slightly. He thought Makarov Dreyar was dead. Laxus must have guessed what he was thinking, because he leaned back and started talking again. “He’s not dead, he just pretended not to have any more trouble with the police. He's old now to be a thief, although I'm pretty sure he still steals wine around,” he muttered. The slight smile that the blond had made at the last comment on his grandfather had not escaped Freed, who looked at him for a moment without words. He hadn't expected something like this. Laxus, however, immediately became serious.

“So, forget I'll let you take it,” he concluded gruffly. Freed resumed his usual grin.

“We'll see this,” he retorted. As much as he didn't want to separate Laxus from his grandfather, he still wasn't about to give up on his money.

-6-

“Aren't you driving?” Laxus asked as he came out of the cabin. Freed didn't look up at him, didn't even open his eyes. It was morning and he wanted to enjoy the first rays of the sun and be quiet on the deckchair at all. They were on a yacht, Laxus wasn’t the only one on vacation.

“Do you. Just go east, if you don't know where it is, follow the sun” he said in response.

“I know where east is,” Laxus growled and Freed found himself smiling amused.

“I doubt it, since you got lost yesterday,” he retorted. Laxus growled and Freed grinned. He enjoyed teasing him, especially after such a gaffe. If Laxus thought Freed would stop reminding him, he was very wrong. He was already thinking about how to enjoy himself at his expense, when he felt himself lifted from the deckchair. Freed opened his eyes in disbelief.

“What are you doing?” he blurted out finding himself in the arms of the blond, who had an evil grin on his face. A moment later Freed found himself submerged in the sea. He emerged spitting water and cursing. For a moment panic enveloped him thinking that Laxus wanted to leave him there, but the blonde just laughed as he looked at him. And while Laxus Dreyar had many flaws, being a sadist and a murderer was not among them.

“You're dead,” Freed hissed in irritation as he reached the ladder to climb up. “Out of your mind, completely out of your mind,” he growled again as he climbed back onto the yacht. Laxus stared at him more and more pleased.

“You woke up now, huh?” he teased him.

“Fuck you,” Freed snapped and Laxus laughed, then set off to drive. Freed gave him a dirty look, while he thought about his revenge. If Laxus thought he would forget about that incident, he was very wrong.

-7-

The next day so Freed had already organized. Since he couldn’t hope to throw Laxus into the water -as much as it cost him to admit it was really difficult to lift that muscular body by surprise- he would have thrown the water on Laxus. If only he had been somewhere else, he would have thought of a better revenge, but they were on a yacht and there wasn't actually much to use. He could have used the food, but he didn't really want to waste it.

So that morning he positioned himself on the roof of the yacht with a bucket of water in part, while he waited for Laxus to come out and position himself on the deckchair. Indeed, when the blond came out, he was ready to relax. He went to the deckchair but then stopped a little confused looking around, probably looking for him. At that point Freed overturned the bucket with the water on him with a pleased smile.

“You woke up now, huh?” Freed teased him. Laxus looked up at him, still shocked and cold. Freed chuckled and rested his chin on his hand looking at him from top to bottom. “I remind you, Dreyar, that no one makes fun of me without getting revenge,” he declared.

“You're an asshole,” Laxus growled.

“You started it,” Freed retorted. The blonde turned to him and then reached out and grabbed his ankle and pulled him down hard. Freed surprised couldn’t react in time that he found himself falling on the hard floor of the boat. He started to get up but Laxus was faster. He grabbed it and walked along the yacht to the edge.

“You won't throw me overboard,” Freed snarled, punching him in the chest. Laxus cursed but didn't let go.

“I'll throw you and let you drown” he retorted irritated, tightening his grip and lifting it ready to make him take a dip. At that point Freed hooked his arms around the blond's neck. He wouldn't let him win, what the fuck.

“If you throw me, you come down with me,” he retorted. He noticed Laxus's face blush slightly at that proximity and at that point Freed also hooked his legs around his hips smiling smugly. The blond was really getting upset. “Although I don't think you'd mind,” he noted in a mischievous tone.

“I don't…” he began but broke off as Freed came even closer. Now they were practically a breath away from each other. Freed looked amused at Laxus' embarrassed expression. He honestly didn't understand how a handsome man like Laxus was so socially incapable, but to be honest that made him even prettier in his eyes. He was surprised at his own thoughts of him, in what light was he seeing Laxus? Of course, Freed had noticed from the first time he had met him how handsome he was, he also knew that Laxus was very cunning and respected him as a thief, even if he enjoyed making fun of him. They had similar morals and when Laxus had told him about his grandfather the night before Freed had felt a certain empathy but… he remained a rival. Right?

“You can break away, I'm not throwing you overboard,” Laxus growled interrupting his thoughts. Freed raised an eyebrow and noticed that he was no longer at risk of diving. The blond had moved and now they were inside the yacht. At that point Freed got out and put his feet back on the ground.

“You know Dreyar, if you wanted to have sex with me, I wouldn't mind at all” he told him plainly, knowing full well that he would embarrass him even more. To tell the truth though, Freed was honest.

“Go woo someone else,” the red-faced blond growled and irritated. Freed chuckled.

“It's a bit difficult on this yacht in the middle of the sea,” he pointed out.

“Stop pissing me off” growled the increasingly nervous blond.

“You’re too agitated. You can admit that you find me attractive, you wouldn't be the first and I wouldn't be offended”. Laxus gave him a dirty look, then turned and went into the cabin to drive. Freed considered whether to follow him and tease him a little longer, but then decided that relaxing on the deckchair was much better. When he lay down and closed his eyes, a sincere smile appeared on his face. Laxus was not bad as an adventure companion.

-8-

Laxus finally saw the coast. Oh well, finally. After those two days he had spent with Freed he was starting to feel too agitated being in such a tight space with his rival. Rival, yes, better to think of Freed like this, because if he thought of him as a companion in adventures, his thoughts began to take a bad turn. All the fault of the oddities of that green-haired thief. That guy wasn't normal, not that Laxus didn't already know, but after those days with him, he was sure. He glanced at the boy who was lying in his boxers on the deck chair and tried not to dwell too much on his sculpted torso. In any case Laxus needed his help, because he didn't know where to stop the yacht. He had to get to a port or something.

“Justine, come here,” he ordered. Fortunately, Freed didn’t reply and joined him.

“We're almost there,” he noted.

“Yes, we have to dock,” Laxus said.

“And you don't know where the port is,” Freed imagined and Laxus snorted.

“I'm just tired of driving,” he retorted, not wanting to admit it. Freed rolled his eyes, probably didn't believe him but said nothing. So, the blonde let him drive.

Shortly thereafter the yacht approached a small bridge over the sea. It wasn't quite a port, but it was better that way. At least no one would ask questions. Laxus checked that he had the watch in his pocket, and looked at it to make sure it was the real one and that Freed hadn't mistaken it for a fake one. It was the real one though. He put it back in his pocket and decided to be careful not to let it be stolen.

“Finally,” he said as he got off the yacht and set foot on land. Freed followed him as he tied the boat to the dock.

“Yeah, although this holiday wasn’t bad,” said the green-haired thief, stretching his arms. Laxus gave him an inquiring look, wondering what his intentions were. He knew from experience that Freed had no qualms, he could fuck his watch and somehow escape. That's why he didn't let his guard down, their time as allies was now over. They were again free to go wherever they wanted.

“Well, bye,” Laxus commented harshly as he turned around.

“Bye bye,” Freed said friendlier. Laxus frowned and slipped his hand back into his pocket, surprised to hear the thief greet him so quietly. But the pocket watch was still there. Laxus turned to Freed, staring at him inquiringly. There was something strange, or he had deceived him and didn't notice, or that guy had crazy ideas in his head. The thief had an amused smirk on his face.

“If you’re afraid that your watch will be stolen, you can rest assured,” Freed said. Laxus stared at him somewhat skeptically. Since when did he let him win so easily? “After all, I found a yacht, there’s still enough food to have a nice vacation” he commented.

“Why should you leave me the watch?” Laxus asked inquiringly. Sure, the yacht remained a good booty, but it was nothing compared to the money he could have earned by reselling the watch.

“Because I'm a gentleman” was the immediate reply. Laxus raised an eyebrow ready to retort, but Freed walked over to him and took his hand leaving a kiss on it and throwing him an inviting smile. Laxus froze suddenly feeling a chill rise from where Freed's lips had rested for the rest of his arm. “As you can see, I know how to make a man fall at my feet,” Freed declared, letting go of his hand. Laxus blinked in confusion and felt his face warm up.

“You’re a thief and an arrogant” he retorted although not fully convinced. And he still didn’t understand why he left the watch to him. It all became clearer when Freed replaced the conceited smirk with a sincere smile. He reached out and gave him a chaste kiss on the lips, causing his stomach to flutter. He pulled away soon after and Laxus was stiff and stunned, even though it had only been a few seconds. He was surprised to see a slight blush on Freed's face. He hardly believed it possible that thief could get embarrassed.

“And you deserve to see your grandfather,” the boy said softly. Laxus swallowed hard, unable to take his eyes off Freed's.

“Thank you,” he murmured not believing his own words. Freed just smiled sweetly at him, then took a step back and resumed his usual arrogant expression as he climbed back onto the yacht.

“Let me be clear, this is the only time. At the next robbery, I won't leave you a penny,” he clarified as he untied the rope. Laxus smiled slightly.

“At the next robbery I'll kick your ass,” he retorted.

“I doubt it. In any case, I can't wait to fuck your next booty from under your nose, Laxus” Freed greeted him. Laxus didn’t miss the fact that he had called him by name and smiled as he watched the boy get behind the wheel and drive away.

“I can't wait too,” he murmured to himself, watching the yacht go away.

This is my latest Fraxus Week submission, thank you for reading, and for any comments and kudos you leave.

[sunsetinmyvein]

You Pick a Fight - P2

Eyyyyy it’s prompt time. I have since forgotten what prompt’s @imagine-that-100​ gave me from the prompt list for this part two, but hopefully you enjoy it anyway. :P

And I was right, because it wasn’t over. The pool incident was just the start of much more bickering and fighting over nothing that was set to come during the months between Matty and I. We hadn’t known each other all that well prior to that day, but it definitely set the bar for future interactions. Being argumentative and stubborn was just a habit neither of us could break, much to all of our mutual friend’s annoyance. It might’ve been on the verge of immature, since we were both pushing thirty, but neither of us cared. And we never really meant it. Grudges about stolen floaties were not held for long. It was a rare occasion that we genuinely made up and said sorry, but typically by the end of the day we had either forgotten about it or played some prank on the other to feel avenged about our wrong doing. Over the course of many months of arguing and pranking, Matty and I inevitably became closer. Realistically, Matty was probably one of my best friends by this point in my life. We saw each other at least a couple of times a week for various reasons and I enjoyed his company (mostly). But that wasn’t going to stop me from trying to constantly one-up him and make sure I destroy him any time he challenges me to anything. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, right? You gotta know your opponent’s weaknesses to best exploit them.

 However, tonight was our regularly scheduled movie night. So, more than likely no arguing would be occurring tonight. The movie had already been picked by democratic vote by the group, which meant there would be no debates about that. Everyone was bringing their own snacks, nothing to fight over. And we rotated who hosted, so no arguments there either. This week it was Matty’s turn. Last week when it had been at my flat, we had picked a comedy movie to watch and ended up receiving a noise complaint from my neighbour about us being “too rambunctious”. I was hoping that we wouldn’t have the same issue to deal with this week given Matty’s much thicker walls. I was cutting up a tray of brownies that I was graciously bringing to share - one of which may or may not have been spiked with cayenne pepper just to spite Matty for last week when he mixed my bag of skittles with m+m’s - while I replayed the events of last week. The details of the movie were actually a bit of a blur, because after the few drinks that I had downed after a rough day at work, I recalled falling asleep. When I woke up, I found myself snoring on Matty’s shoulder. God, that was utterly embarrassing. Other than my snoring, to wake up cosying up to Matty? I’d rather be caught dead. But I must have been too distracted by these memories, because as I was cutting, I slipped and managed to slice open my thumb with my new knife.

  I felt the cut the instant it happened, bracing myself for what I might see before I looked down. Sure as shit, all I saw was a lot of red. The first thought to run through my head was that my brownie plan was ruined. I couldn’t serve brownies that had been doused in blood. The second was that I absolutely needed to seal this wound as soon as possible. I raced to the bathroom, grabbing a roll of gauze and wrapping it around my thumb as tightly as I could. Do I call an ambulance? No, this wasn’t an ambulance sort of emergency. Emergency, though. I should go to the emergency room. Now. But I had to let the guys know I wasn’t coming. I could see the gauze starting to turn red as I searched my phone for Matty’s contact. Fuck, I felt so bad for bailing on this movie night given it was our regular thing, but this was really not good. Really, really not good. The phone rang twice before he picked up.

  “Hey-”

“Look, I need to go to emergency.” I interrupted in a garbled rush.

“What?” He shouted down the line.

“I need to go to hospital, so I’m not gonna make it tonight.” I explained, slightly slower.

“What did you do?” He asked in an incredulous tone.

“I sliced my thumb open cutting brownies.” I just heard him laughing. “It’s not funny, Matty. I need stitches.” I frowned as I started to grab my essentials. What if they wanted to keep me in overnight? Oh my god, I was absolutely not prepared for something like this. I should have a go bag. Is that a thing normal people did? Have a go bag in case they accidentally injure themselves? Maybe smart people did.

“Do you need me to drive you?” He offered as I was contemplating what exactly I would put in a go bag.

“What? Uh, no. I’m okay. I think.” I rattled off.

“I’ll meet you there.” I heard him say. He what? Why would he want to come to the hospital?

“Wait. No, you don’t-” But he’d already hung up.

  Before I left the house, I slapped another few layers of bandage over the gauze on my thumb to try and put some pressure on this cut that was apparently bleeding like a tap by the rate it was turning things red. Driving to the hospital with a thumb as fat as mine was with all the bandages wrapped around it was not easy to say the least, but I managed to get there in one piece. Once I had gotten there, paid for my parking, and then managed to check myself into the ER, I was able to take a seat and decompress slightly. But, the peace and quiet didn’t last long, because not even five minutes after I sat down a familiar face entered through the sliding glass doors.

“Good job.” Matty said as he approached, with a slow clap for emphasis.

“Don’t patronise me.” I scoffed.

“Show me.” He said as he took a seat in the uncomfortable plastic chair next to my own.

“It’s okay-”

“Just show me what you did.” He dismissed.

“I mean, I can’t really take this stuff off-” I gestured to my half blood-soaked bandages, “-or it’ll bleed worse.”

He let out a low whistle as he raked a hand through his curls. “Bloody hell.” He muttered under his breath, before glancing up at me. “Pardon the pun.” He added with a smirk.

“Shut up. It’s really not as bad as it looks.” I lied. I was trying to play it down, to pretend like I hadn’t briefly seen how deep that knife went, but I knew that this was definitely very vital that I see a doctor very fucking soon.

He met my gaze, clearly seeing the stress I was trying to hide. “You’re not very convincing.” He chuckled.

  Despite my protests about him wanting to wait with me, Matty continued to ramble on about what he had done earlier in the day while we sat in the crowded waiting room. He also told me not to worry about cancelling on the movie night, and thanked me for trying to make brownies. If only he had known what his brownie was going to taste like. But at least he was distracting me from the weird sensation in my thumb. After about half an hour, I was called through to be seen by the nurse - which realistically just meant that I sat and waited in another room for a further ten minutes until I was finally seen by someone. When she walked in, she introduced herself and asked for a run down of the situation as she started gathering some supplies. After I had explained what I had done, she started moving towards my giant wad of bloody fabric.

“I’m gonna look away.” I warned the nurse, she just nodded in response. I felt her unravelling the bandages on my thumb, trying really hard to busy myself by studying the vision tester chart on the wall. She let out a quiet hum as she analysed the situation.

“All right. I am going to put some glue on this now to hold it, but we are going to need to anaesthetise you to properly sort this out. Is that okay?” She asked in a calm tone. They were going to knock me out? It was bad enough to need to be knocked out for?? Holy shit.

“Um, yep.” I nodded. “I suppose it’ll have to be.” I added with a nervous laugh. “When will that be?”

“As soon as they can get you in. Likely in the next few hours.” She answered.

  When I came back out of the nurse’s station, I sat back down and told Matty what they had said.

“They need to sedate you?” He asked in shock.

“I’ve apparently done quite a number on myself.” I could feel the stress building up as the realisation set in. Oh my god. I had cut off my thumb. I had cut off my thumb and now they needed to reattach it. Holy fuck. Holy fuck.

“Hey, calm down.” He reassured, placing his hand on my shoulder. “It’ll be all right.”

“But what if it’s too late? What if I cut too far? What if-”

Thankfully, Matty interrupted my downward spiral of anxiety. “They would’ve told you if that were the case. They’re going to operate, so it must be fine.” He moved to take my good hand in his, squeezing it reassuringly. I took a deep breath, trying to calm my racing mind as I nodded in agreement. At least one of us was the voice of reason right now. “When are you going in?” He questioned, seeming genuinely sympathetic.

“They said as soon as possible. I just have to wait here until a theatre frees up.” I replied. He just nodded thoughtfully. “You should go back to the movie night.” I said, eventually feeling guilty that he’d already been sat waiting here for an hour.

“No.” He shook his head as he rifled through his pocket. “You want some gum?” He asked, holding a packet out in my direction.

I looked down at them apprehensively. “They’re not some ridiculous flavour, are they?”

He laughed loudly. “No, I threw the wasabi ones out.”

  It was another hour before I was finally called through to get ready for theatre. Now I was genuinely feeling pretty awful that Matty had been here this whole time. We had well and truly pushed past dinner time, he’d missed the movie, our friends were all sat at his place without him. He can’t have been having a good time stuck here with me.

“Okay, I gotta go in.” I said as I stood up.

“I’ll be here when you wake up.” He smiled up at me from his seat.

“Just go home, I’ll be fine.” I said as I gestured to the door.

“No.” He grinned.

“Go.”

“No.” His dark brown eyes bore into mine, clearly challenging me to push him further on the subject.

“I hate you, so much.” I grumbled as I heard the nurse call my name again.

“I love you, too.” He said, blowing a kiss for emphasis as I walked off.

  The doctors all reassured me that the operation was going to be quick and easy. Knock me out, stitch me up, wake me up fifteen minutes later. Easy peasy. I had never had any issues with operations, being knocked out was easy. It was the stuff you had to be awake for that was hard. True to their word, when I saw the clock when I started coming to, it had been no more than half an hour than when I last checked the time. But my god I felt groggy. My brain felt like it had been replaced with a bunch of cotton balls and my eyelids might as well have been made of lead. I glanced down at my thumb, seeing a much smaller pile of bandages on there, that were now thankfully not soaked in blood. That was nice. I then caught sight of the man sat next to my bed.

“Hey, you’re up.” Matty said quietly as he stepped over. As soon as he leaned over the bed frame, the fluorescent lights above him just illuminated his dark, curly hair. Holy shit. It looked borderline angelic. “How’re you feeling?”

“Your hair…” I mumbled as I reached out my good hand to touch it.

He seemed surprised by my actions at first, before letting my run a hand through it. “What about it?” He asked with a quiet laugh.

“It’s really soft.” I answered, genuinely quite surprised by how nice it felt. “Has it always been that soft?” I felt like I had been missing out. I could’ve been touching this hair for nearly a year now and instead I had been swapping his shampoo for ranch dressing and perfume.

  Matty seemed keen to indulge my anaesthesia haze, letting me bother him with all of my weird questions about his hair. Maybe he wasn’t such a bad guy. I did a lot of mean shit to him and here he was, sat with me in emergency all evening instead of hanging out with his friends. After the pranks I’d pulled, I likely didn’t deserve a friend like him. But he’d pulled them on me too. We were a pretty good pair, I suppose. And I had no idea if it was this lighting or what, but dare I say, Matty was looking pretty attractive today. Had I really just been so focused on butting heads with him that I never noticed these things before?

“Are you sure you really look this good? I feel like I must still be dreaming.” I said, pretending to shield my eyes.

He frowned, before the realisation dawned on him and his eyebrows shot up in surprise, “Are you flirting with me?”

“Maybe.” I shrugged.

“Don’t use cheesy pickup lines on me.” He chuckled.

“How else am I meant to pick you up?” I scoffed as I rolled my eyes.

“Are you trying to?” He asked as a smile slowly made its way onto his face.

“Maaaaybe.” I said in an attempt to be non-committal, but then my curiosity got the better of me. “Is it working?”

“I’m gonna remind you of this when you’re properly out of the anaesthetic.” He just looked amused. Not the reaction I had hoped for. But I was too tired to keep trying to come up with clever lines.

“Okay.” I muttered, nodding softly. “Gon’ sleep now, though.” I added.

“Rest up.” He agreed. “You’re gonna need all the energy you can get to deal with me giving you shit for this tomorrow.”  

Part one

Part three

[justthehiddleswrites]

Nice Shirt | Tom Hiddleston x Reader

Pairing: Tom Hiddleston x Reader

Summary: After two years of being in a relationship with Tom, you start to question whether you are putting your own dreams aside for this relationship. You make a hard choice but is it the right one?

Warnings: Implied Smut, Drinking, Bit of Angst

-

2016

Tom couldn’t sleep after comic-com panels. The adrenaline pumped through him, and he couldn’t sleep for hours. He tried to convince Chris Hemsworth to go to the bar with him, but he begged off.

“You can talk to your wife any time. But how often do you get to bar hop in Philadelphia?”

“Nah, mate.” Chris responded. “I am absolutely wiped. But go have fun. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” Chris clapped him hard on the shoulder.

“Ehehehe.” Tom chuckled. “Of course. Brother.”

The two men parted with a hug, and Tom headed for his car.

“James…” Tom asked his driver. “Do you know any good bars?”

The man smiled in the rearview mirror. “How good?”

“The best.”

“I know just the place.”

-

You weren’t sure how you ended up at Frankford Hall, but here you were, beer in one hand, ping pong paddle in the other.

“Whoo!” you hooted as you beat the young frat guy on the other side of the table. “That’s how it’s done!”

Someone tugged on the back of your shirt, you spun wide, sloshing your beer. You weren’t drunk yet, but the buzz was flowing.

“JESS!!” you screamed. “You made it!”

You pulled your best friend into the tightest hug. She mumbled something against your chest.

“What?”

“I said…” Jess pushed off of you. “… we need to get some food into you.”

“Excellent idea.”

You linked arms and headed inside to order some food.

-

Tom reminded himself to thank James for the excellent suggestion. He never would have picked a biergarten for the night but with ping pong and authentic food. It hit the spot after a long day of photographs and signing photos.

“Hey!” a voice beside him cut through the din of the bar.

“Pardon?” Tom answered, turning to find you standing there.

“Nice shirt, Paul!”

“The name’s Tom.”

Your head ducked as you burst out into laughter.

“I was calling you Paul Bunyan. You know, the lumberjack. Plaid shirt.”

Tom glanced down, forgetting he had thrown on his well worn red plaid shirt.

“Oh, right. Eheheheh.” Tom gave a nervous chuckle.

The waiter plopped a plate in front of Tom. Bratwurst. Tom licked his lips and took a big bite, bits of sauerkraut falling to the plate.

“I like a man who can handle his sausage.” you flirted.

The waiter delivered your and Jess’s appetizers, laying the plates in front of you. Tom eyed your food while taking a big swig of beer.

“I like a woman with a big appetite.” Tom countered, turning on his stool to give you a once over.

“Good to know.” You licked your thumb after popping a bit of pretzel in your mouth. “How are you with a paddle?”

Tom choked on his beer. “I beg your pardon?”

You lifted your chin to the outside.

“Ping pong. What did you think?” You returned the favor of allowing your gaze to slide up and down his long lean body, lingering on some places more than others.

“No comment. Let me finish this beer and I will meet you out there.”

You grabbed your plates and headed outside.

“It is about time. I worried you got lost in there.” Jess grumbled as you shoved her food at her.

“Jess! You will never guess who I just ran into in there!”

-

Two Years Later

“What on earth are you doing?” Tom questioned as he viewed drawers opened and the closet door thrown ajar.

“Packing, Tom.” you sighed as you folded up shirts, deciding which ones to pack and which ones to leave behind. “That is what one does when getting ready to travel.”

“I thought we decided you weren’t going to take that job.” Tom sat down on the bed, jostling your suitcase.

Your hands gripped the once folded shirts.

“No, you talked to me for two hours about all the reasons why I shouldn’t move back to the States and then you changed the subject every time I tried to bring it back up again. But there was never any ‘we’ in this decision, Tom. I’m going.”

“Why?” Tom’s voice cracked. “I thought we… you were happy living with me here in London.”

You sighed as you shoved a couple pairs of boots into the suitcase. “I was.” Tom smiled a slight smile. “But I realized if I stayed here, all I would ever be is your girlfriend.”

“You make it sound like a prison sentence.” Tom mumbled.

“For me, it would be. I have dreams and goals of my own and no matter how hard I try, it would always be overshadowed by you. Or worse, pitied or given special treatment because of you.” You shoved the last of your clothes and pushed the lid down and struggled to zip the case closed.

Tom fidgeted with his hands in his lap.

“We could have talked about all this before you booked your flight. We can still talk about it, delay your flight.” His voice grew shrill. “We can make this work. Just don’t leave. Not like this.”

His hand slid over to grab yours. You sat down beside him, giving his hand a brief squeeze before extracting your fingers from his grip.

“My lectures start tomorrow.” A horn beeped. “That’s my taxi.”

Tom bolted to standing. “You can’t possibly be leaving now! Let me drive you to the airport. Something!”

You stood too. You rose on your toes. Your hands rubbed across the stubble on his chin and cheeks. Tom’s eyes squeezed closed at your touch and tears streamed down to your fingertips. You pressed your lips to his and sighed. Tom gripped your sweater like his life depended on it. The sound of the taxi honking again interrupted your embrace.

You squeezed his shoulders hard. “I need to go. I will call you when I land.”

Tom nodded. He grabbed your suitcase and carried it to the door. You reached for it, but he held on.

“Please reconsider. I love you.” Tom pleaded.

“I love you too. But I love me more.” You kissed his cheek. “I’ll call from Philly. Take care of yourself.”

Tom bit his lip in hopes to stifle his anguish. He released his grip on the handle as he nodded at you. You kissed his cheek and stepped out the door. He stood at the threshold until you waved from the backseat of the cab.

Tom gave a tight smile and a small wave until you disappeared into view. Once the door clicked behind him, Tom crumpled to the floor, his legs ceasing to function. Bobby trotted over to check on him, and Tom burrowed his head into Bobby’s soft fur.

He sat there for 30 minutes until his phone rang. He sent it to voicemail. It rang again. This time he turned the phone off and chucked across the foyer. He dragged himself to the couch where he lay until there was a knock at the door.

He jumped to his feet and ran to the door, hoping you had changed your mind.

“I’m so glad you—” he exclaimed as he flung the door open.

“Glad to see you too, mate. Why didn’t you answer your phone?” Luke responded as a disheveled Tom met him at the door. “What the hell happened!?”

Tom’s face fell. “She’s gone.” he croaked out as he fell against Luke.

Luke stood bewildered as he walked Tom back into his house and hoped to unravel just what had Tom in such a state.

-

Three Weeks Later

It was Tom’s first time leaving the house since you left. Luke made sure he had groceries and cleared his calendar of what few things were on it.

Tom had been planning a surprise vacation with you. Which Luke had to cancel. And now Tom sat in a corner booth of his favorite restaurant waiting for Benedict to arrive.

“Shall I get you something to drink?” The waiter asked as Tom ignored the menu.

“A pint. And keep them coming.” he grumbled, not bothering to take off his sunglasses.

“Are you sure that’s a wise decision giving your current emotional state?” Ben’s voice questioned as the waiter walked away.

“Why the fuck not? I am in mourning.”

“It’s been three weeks, Tom. You can not continue on like this. Your liver will never make it.”

“Want to bet?”

“Your GP would agree with me. Nice shirt, by the way. You’ve got a real brooding lumberjack vibe going on.”

Tom glanced down at the red plaid and tears welled in his eyes.

“That’s what she said the night we met.” Tom’s voice cracked.

Ben’s face softened at the wreck of Tom. “I didn’t mean to hit a nerve. I’m sorry.”

“You didn’t know. I never wear the shirt any more. But I haven’t been doing laundry as much.”

“Or showering either.” Benedict takes an exaggerated sniff.

“Not helping, mate.” Tom shot daggers across the table.

“How can I help? I assume that is why I am here. Since you are not taking any calls.”

“I broke my phone chucking it across the room. Haven’t bothered to replace it.”

Ben pressed his hands flat. “You might want to get on that. Perhaps she is trying to call you. I was under the impression you were smarter than this.” He shook his head at Tom.

Tom perked up. “I hadn’t thought about that. Do you think she has reached out?”

“Well, you won’t know until you talk to her.” Tom’s eyes sparkled and sat up straighter. “There’s the Tom Hiddleston I know.” Ben smiled.

“Thank you, Ben. You are a loyal friend.”

“I’m your best friend. And I only want you to be happy. And as payment for my expert relationship advice, you are paying for lunch.”

“With pleasure.” Tom smiled for the first time in weeks.

-

Tom’s mood was short lived. He stopped by the store and replaced his phone. He listened to your voicemail from that day you left. And then nothing. Not a text, not a call. Radio silence.

“Hello, darling. It’s Tom. Sorry I haven’t called sooner. A bit of an accident with my phone. I would very much like to talk to you. To hear your voice. Call me, please. Any time, day or night.”

He sighed as he left the message and stared at the phone for the rest of the night. It didn’t ring.

-

Two Months Later

It was three months since you moved to Philadelphia and began your adjunct position at Penn. You only gained some semblance of normal in the past few days.

“And that is it for today.” You addressed the class. “See you on Thursday.”

The auditorium emptied quickly as students rushed to either their next lecture or something else to do. With a huff, you heaved your bag onto your shoulder and headed to your office on campus.

“Hello?” you answered your phone.

“Any word?” Jess’s voice asked on the other end.

“I told you. He doesn’t have this new number, and I lost his when my phone took a swim in the toilet.”

“Then email him.”

“If he wanted to talk, he would have called those first few days. He has moved on.”

“You are a stubborn ass. You just don’t want to reach out first and have to admit you made a mistake. That you still love him and still want him.”

“That’s not true. He’s busy. He has projects. He probably isn’t even in London right now.” you lied to yourself. You hated when Jess was right.

“Bullshit. You’re scared. Fine, don’t do anything and throw away the best thing that ever happened in your life.”

“Hey! This job is the best thing that happened to me. It moved me closer to you.”

“I would give up our weekly lunches to see you happy. Are you happy?”

You sat down silent at your desk. She was happy, she thought, right? That was the whole point of this. The move was meant to help her reach her goals. Everything felt hollow instead of empowering.

“Yeah, yeah.” you lied to Jess. “Of course, I’m happy. That was the whole point.”

“Still calling bullshit. Remember Jason is coming to pick you up for lunch tomorrow because I have that client meeting.”

“Thank you for reminding me. Bye Jess.”

“Talk to Tom.” she blurted out before you ended the call.

You laid your head on your desk and sighed.

-

The next morning dragged on. You loved teaching communication, but today your heart was somewhere else. Jess’s words weighed you down like an anchor.

“And what percentage of communication is communicated nonverbally?” you asked the class.

You scanned the room to find someone to call on. Out of the corner of your eye, you spied a red plaid shirt. Just like the one Tom wore at Frankford Hall years ago.

“Ah…” you lost your train of thought. You glanced again but couldn’t find the shirt again. “… yes?” you pointed at someone in the third row.

You spent the rest of the lecture searching the room for the owner of the shirt, but he had disappeared. You convinced yourself you imagined the entire thing.

“Let’s end class early. Enjoy it because it won’t happen again.” you announced.

The class cheered as they packed up for the day. You waited until the hall was empty just to double check for Tom.

“You are losing it.” you mumbled to yourself.

-

Tom convinced Luke he was ready to work again. Starting with some radio appearances in New York. Luke wasn’t convinced Tom didn’t have a hidden agenda.

“Are you sure you aren’t planning on taking a day trip to Philly to find her?”

Tom scoffed. “It’s over, Luke.”

Luke glanced at Tom askance but complied with the request. “Fine, but I don’t want to see a single story unrelated to these interviews in the papers.”

“Cross my heart.” Tom made an exaggerated “x” on his chest.

“I’ve heard that before.” Luke groused as he made the plans.

When Tom received his itinerary, he was grateful Luke left an entire day empty.

“You know me too well, mate.” Tom commented as he saw the handwritten note at the bottom:

Here is a good car rental company. It is just under two hours to Philly. Be safe and tell her you love her.

- Luke

Tom wasted no time to call the car company.

When he arrived on campus, it didn’t take him long to find your office. It was locked.

“Excuse me, do you know when the professor will return?” he asked a passing student.

“She is lecturing in Ames Hall. It's just down the corridor.”

“Thank you.” Tom took off.

He snuck into the back to the crowded lecture hall and listened in for a bit. He swore you glimpsed him. His stomach growled as he skipped breakfast to get on the road and he ducked out of the hall to get a quick snack.

As he headed back, he spied you outside your office. His heart leaped into his throat. Tears threatened to spill from his eyes in joy.

He stepped forward but stopped as a man approached you, and you threw your arms around him.

“Fuck!” Tom cursed as the two of you walked away. He collapsed on a nearby bench, uncertain where to go from here.

-

It was later in the day when Jason dropped off back at campus.

“Call him.” both Jason and Jess pleaded.

“Leave it be, you two. We have both moved on.”

“Is that why you swear you saw him in class today? Or that you haven’t even thought about dating since you got here?” Jess added.

“Goodbye you two.” You slammed the door and headed to pick up your things before heading home.

You noticed someone slumped over on a nearby bench. You stepped closer and noticed the red plaid shirt from earlier.

“Are you okay?” you inquired. “Tom?!”

Tom unfolded himself from the bench.

“Tom, it’s you! What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be in London?” Tears pricked the corners of your eyes.

“I needed to see you. To talk to you. To explain why I didn’t call.”

You crossed your arms. “I’m listening.”

“I was so upset, I threw my phone and broke it. I left you a message but didn’t hear from you. I figured you might have moved on, but I was willing to take a chance. But I see I was right.”

“How long have you been sitting there? Are you talking about Jason?” You hooked your thumb behind you.

Tom sighed heavily. “So that’s his name.” He took your hands and held them tight. “I should have fought harder. I should have listened more. I am so sorry that you ever felt you couldn’t pursue your dreams with me by your side.” His thumbs ran across your knuckles.

You spied the tears falling down his cheeks. You opened your mouth to speak, but Tom cut you off.

“I want you to be happy. Whether that is with me or not. But above all, I want you to be happy. And if that means I never see you again, then so be it. But know I love you. I will always love you.”

“Tom—”

“Have a wonderful life.” Tom leaned forward and pressed his lips to your cheeks. “Give me a call if you are ever in London.”

Tom turned on his heel and walked away.

“WAIT!!!” you screamed, and he stopped and turned to face you. You ran to meet him. “Did you mean it?”

“Every word. I have never lied to you.”

“Jason…” Tom turned his head away at the name. You grabbed his chin to have him face you. “… is Jess’s long-term boyfriend. He picked me up to meet her for lunch.”

Tom’s eyes widened as the words sunk in. “So…”

Your lips curled into a smile and your hands snaked up his torso, gripping the front of his shirt. “Nice shirt, Paul.”

Tom smiled back. “The name’s Tom.”

“Well, Tom. I think we should carry on this conversation in my office.” You tugged him along. “I think your shirt would look amazing on my floor.”

Tom smiled as you shut the door. “I only want to make you happy.”

[jaxsteamblog]

I have a prompt for you! How about “stuck in an airport with cancelled flights and (one of them) looks really sad”?

I have no idea where this story came from. Also, why are most of my one shots from Zuko’s perspective? I don’t want to examine that tbh. Modern AU, no Avatar, no bending.

---

Normally, the sound of rain against a window could put Zuko to sleep. But the torrential downpour slamming against the massive windows of the airport terminal sent jolts of terror through his body.

To say his flight was delayed was laughable. It surprised him that the airline hadn’t cancelled the damn thing yet. Deep down, the prospect gave him a sense of empty relief. It wasn’t a trip that he was looking forward to, and however long he could put it off the better.

There weren’t very many people in the terminal; it wasn’t heading to a tourist destination or metropolitan hub. Still, that fact alone resulted in travellers with a purpose. So when the intercom finally crackled to life and the attendants made the final announcement, there was a lot of angry rumbling.

Clusters of people got up and headed to the airline desk, demanding a miracle or at least a hotel stay. Zuko sat back in the bucket chair, looking up at the high ceiling.

He could go to a hotel and stare up at a much closer ceiling, waiting for dawn and a red eye. But it might be easier just to stay put, despite the uncomfortable conditions.

A sniffle made him lower his head and look across the row.

A woman was bent over, her face cradled in her hands, and her back shuddering slightly as she cried.

Zuko tilted his head back, staring upward, but he frowned.

This trip was made with purpose after all. And not everyone would be dreading the trip.

Getting up, Zuko sighed quietly. He walked across to the other row of chairs and sat down with an empty seat between him and the woman.

“Miss? Are you okay? Do you need anything?” Zuko asked, leaning over to look at the woman. Turning her head away, he watched her move an arm as she rubbed her face.

“Miss?” He asked.

“What?” The woman shot back, turning with a furious look.

Zuko leaped back in his chair, grabbing onto the side.

“Erm, you just seemed distressed.” He said and the woman sniffed again as she continued to rub her face.

“Yeah, you could say I’m distressed.” She retorted.

Shrinking a bit, Zuko looked around.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” He asked carefully.

The woman threw herself back, straightening her legs out in front of her so they stretched out in the aisle. She pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes and leaned back.

“Can you make this storm last forever?” She questioned.

Unsure of how to respond, Zuko stayed quiet. After a moment, the woman lowered her hands, letting her arms fall down with a thunk against the plastic chairs.

“Not looking forward to your trip?” Zuko asked.

“You think?” The woman shot back, rolling her head along the back of the chair to look at him. When he only stared back at her, the woman sighed and rolled her head back to look up.

“Sorry.” She murmured.

“I think I understand.” Zuko said, also reclining to look up. “I’m not exactly thrilled either but I’d rather just get it over with.”

“Why? Is it because you’re having to fly with us plebs?” The woman asked.

“Pardon?”

“Ugh, sorry. Again.” The woman glanced out of the corner of her eye to examine him. “You don’t look the type to fly commercial.”

Zuko didn’t want to tell her that he often didn’t fly commercial.

“I don’t normally dress this way. I have to meet family on the other side.” He replied.

The woman sat up at that, turning in the chair to face him. She pulled one leg onto the seat, bending it and holding onto her ankle. Tilting her head, she looked at him incredulously.

“Really?” She asked, confounded by his explanation.

“Yes?” Zuko replied with equal confusion.

“It’s just, you look like you’re Fire Nation.” The woman remarked, bringing her head back up.

“Oh, well, I am. We’re,” Zuko reached for the right word. “Visiting.”

“Let me guess, for a wedding?” The woman asked.

“Yeah actually, how’d you know?”

“It’s kind of a thing right now.” The woman rolled her eyes and Zuko chuckled.

“You’re Water Tribe aren’t you? Are you going back for the wedding as well?” He asked.

“You could say that.” The woman muttered and Zuko laughed. Surprised, the woman stared at him but relaxed with a smile.

“Do you have to work or something?” He asked.

“It certainly couldn’t go on without me.” The woman quipped.

“Then I can understand the stress.” Zuko said.

The woman leaned into the chair and stuck out a hand.

“My name is Katara.” She said.

“Zuko.” Zuko replied, shaking her hand.

Katara narrowed her eyes as she took her hand back.

“Your name sounds familiar for some reason.” She said.

Panicking, Zuko flashed her a quick grin.

“It’s a popular name.” He replied.

“Hmmm.” Katara intoned, turning her face to look at him side eye.

For that matter, her own name was familiar, but he couldn’t place where he had heard it. If it was involved with the wedding, he would have drowned it out. There was a lot he was trying to ignore about the trip, and anyone involved with it got tossed out of his memory.

“So what do you think of the event?” Zuko asked. Katara pulled up her other leg and crossed them to sit awkwardly in her seat.

“It’s two royals who have never met getting married. I think it’s safe to say it’s going to be a disaster.” She said.

“Really?” Zuko blanched and rubbed the back of his head. “I heard the princess was nice.”

Katara snorted and Zuko frowned.

“Nice? I can guarantee that she will be nothing short of a nightmare.” She said.

“Ah.” Zuko said sadly. He put his elbows on his knees and steepled his fingers together, lowering his head till he could tap his chin.

“Sorry, I assume you must be a fan of the groom.” Katara said.

Zuko looked over at her.

“Right, Fire Nation.” Zuko shook his head and resumed tapping his fingers against his chin. “No, it’s not that. I just understand how important this is.”

“Important? It’s not like the Fire Lord is getting married.” Katara replied.

Zuko pointed his fingers out to the aisle, thinking about the arguments he had lived through.

“It is important. The princess was key in ending the war. This marriage is going to represent peace.” He said.

“Sure, forcing two strangers to get married is about peace.” Katara muttered.

Zuko turned to her.

“Do you just not like the Fire Nation or do you know the bride?” He asked.

“I think we can both make the assumption that we’re involved in the wedding parties.” Katara answered.

Zuko laughed and sat back.

“True.” He paused and furrowed his brow. “Can you tell me what she’s like?”

“You gonna text your buddy?” Katara asked.

Zuko grinned. “Maybe.”

“Well, you tell him that she has a temper as ugly as she is.” Katara said and Zuko laughed.

“It won’t matter, he’s going to go through with it no matter how hideous and ill tempered she is.” He said.

Katara sighed and shook her head.

“She’s scared, but she knows it’s important too. She always wanted to do what would help people and if this helps people, then she’ll get over it.” She sounded sad as she spoke and Zuko examined her face.

“The prince is, well I think he’s a good man.” He replied. “Your friend will be okay.”

“I don’t know you well enough to put any stock in your opinion.” Katara said dryly.

“Fair enough.” Zuko said with a shrug.

“Want to get a drink? I might as well let you convince me before I head off to the worst day of my life.” Katara said.

The shock of a woman asking him such a thing made Zuko’s heart race. It didn’t help that he thought she was attractive.

“Sure.” He said.

If he were to classify it, Zuko would call it a date. The entire airport became a city and they meandered around through the evening well into the night. They had dinner at one of the few sit down restaurants in the main hub before walking around the random shops and kiosks. Then, as things started to close for the night, they walked around the terminals.

Getting to know Katara was bittersweet. She was kind and wickedly funny; Zuko often had to hide his face from irritated passengers that were also spending the night. He learned that she was from the South Pole, not the North, and that she wasn’t as comfortable with the royal family as she seemed.

The Fire Nation did seem to anger her, and Zuko danced around his own position. Ultimately, he’d have to tell her the truth, because she didn’t seem the type to enjoy that kind of surprise. But the moment never seemed to present itself; he was enjoying her company too much to want to ruin it.

Zuko stopped trying to learn more about the North Pole princess and instead questioned Katara about herself. They talked briefly about the war, and Zuko listened as she talked about her brother.

Of course on the threshold of his wedding, he met a woman that he could see himself falling in love with.

They fell asleep propped against each other, and Zuko kept still as he woke up to the boarding announcement. He jostled Katara gently, her head resting heavily on his shoulder. She turned, pushing her face into him and Zuko took in a sharp breath.

When she did wake up, Katara rubbed her eyes and looked around.

“I guess this is it.” She said.

Panic swept through him again and Zuko took hold of her hands.

“Can we meet? Before the wedding?” He asked.

Katara’s eyes widened and she straightened.

“Zuko.” She grew flustered and looked down at their hands.

“I just want to see you again.” He said.

Katara nodded and then looked up at him. “Okay.”

With a smile, Zuko stood and pulled Katara up. They were both sitting in first class and Zuko swapped his seat to be across from her. They talked for the entire flight, annoying everyone else on the red eye trying to get some sleep.

For the first time since the trip had been booked, Zuko felt happy. Katara clicked with him on so many different levels. Even if it wasn’t going to last, at least he could spend some time with someone he liked.

When the plane landed, they both lingered while the others disembarked. Finally, after being pushed out by the flight attendants, they walked down the ramp together. Their luggage rolled noisily behind them and they stayed quiet.

“Are you taking a taxi?” Zuko asked as they waited for the shuttle to the main hub.

“Why, did you need a ride mister moneybags?” Katara asked, poking him in the side with her elbow. Zuko laughed and stepped away from her.

“I thought I could walk you out.” He said.

“Okay, sure.” Katara said and smirked at him.

Feeling his face warm, Zuko cleared his throat but couldn’t help but smile back.

They walked out to the pick up area and Zuko looked down the long line of taxis and town cars.

“Hey, can I call you?” Zuko asked.

“Call me?” Katara looked confused.

“The wedding isn’t for two days. Maybe we can meet up before then? Go to dinner?” He asked.

Katara turned shy and looked down, tucking hair behind her ear.

“Like a date?” She asked, glancing up at him.

Feeling bold, Zuko nodded. “Yeah, like a date.”

“That’d be-” Katara started.

“Zuzu!” The voice was not high or shrill but it still cut through the air and pierced Zuko through the ribs.

“Oh no.” He whispered.

“Brother dear,” Azula said as she stepped out of a town car and leaned on the door. “Don’t you know it’s bad luck to see the bride before the wedding?”

Zuko and Katara stared at each other, terror plain on their faces.

“You?” They both exclaimed in unison.

“To be clear, I had every intention of being faithful after we got married.” Zuko blurted, taking a step back.

Katara still lunged, smacking his arm with her open hand.

“I can’t believe you didn’t know my name!” She yelled.

“You didn’t know mine either!” Zuko retorted.

“Can’t you control yourself?” Azula snapped.

Zuko grinned and caught Katara’s wrist as she tried to hit him again. Meeting his eyes, Katara scoffed but still smiled. As he pulled her close, Katara relaxed.

“At least I don’t feel guilty now for wanting to kiss you.” He said.

“Shut up and do it already.” Katara sighed.

And so Zuko kissed his bride, once again thankful for rain against windows.

[ryqoshay]

Tri-Arame: Sleepover Night

Primary Pairing Trio: YuuAyuSetsu Words: ~3k Rating: G Time Frame: During their 2nd year in high school Story Arc: Stand Alone

----------

Author’s Note: My µ’s muse is rebelling against the drama I’m trying to write for my PTX set. So here’s some more fluff.

Summary: Setsuna took a rain check on watching the anime series that inspired her Koppe Pan order back in Ne, Wanna Bite? Now it’s time to cash in.

----------

“Uhm, Okaasan?” Nana asked trying to keep the nervousness out of her voice.

Why had she waited until the last possible minute to ask permission? What if she was denied? She’d have to cancel the plans to which she had looked forward all week.

“Yes, Nana?” Mrs. Nakagawa replied, looking up from her paperwork.

“Would it be alright if I stayed at a friend’s place tonight?”

“Oh? Someone from the student council?”

“No, a friend associated with the student council who is assisting with a project.” Nana explained. “There is a lot of preparation work that still needs to be done and I wasn’t the only one busy with tests this week.”

It wasn’t a complete lie. Ayumu had indeed helped her with student council work several times. So had Yuu, for that matter, as well as several other members of the idol club. Usually, their aid was reasoned away by them simply wishing to assist a friend, as well as allow her to more easily participate in club activities. This often led to her wondering if they knew how much their help was truly appreciated.

As for the mentioned project… Well, the club did have a Live coming up. And a member of the student council was participating. Granted that member was her, but…

“I see.” Mrs. Nakagawa nodded. “Very well then.”

Excitement bubbled up within Nana, but she quashed most of it, offering only a polite smile. “Thank you, Okaasan.”

Her mother offered a similar smile in return. “Have fun tonight.”

“I will.” Nana said before turning and heading to her room to pack.

----------

Setsuna was giddy with excitement as she undid her braids on the train. Her first sleepover with friends!

It wasn’t her first time visiting a friend’s home, but she hadn’t even done that in years. She had lost track of her childhood friends over the years, due in no small part to increasing expectations from her parents as she advanced in grades. The ban on her favored pastimes had been the final blow as she had to sneak around to continue to indulge, and that was best done alone.

Then she joined the student council and managed to become its president. Suddenly she had an excuse to stay out later or even just be out on weekends. She hated having to lie to her parents and did strive to be as truthful as possible, though she knew full well that a lie by omission was still a lie. But that had become her only way to become a school idol, to join the new club, to shop for manga and doujin and to hang out with friends.

And to spend time with those two.

Ayumu and Yuu had quickly become her closest friends after she joined the idol club. They had graciously given her an outlet through which to focus much of her enthusiasm for her hobbies. And this weekend they had agreed to marathon one of her favorite anime series with her. For the second time, Setsuna would be able have an actual conversation with friends about a beloved story, instead of just a one-sided explanation; the first being earlier that week as the three hung out together and purchased the latest book of Heavenly Life.

And she couldn’t wait.

Honestly, the train couldn’t arrive at the station quickly enough. And Setsuna knew she would have to resist the urge to run to the apartment complex where Ayumu and Yuu lived. For the sooner she arrived, the sooner they could start watching. And the sooner they finished the series, the sooner they could start talking about it.

----------

“Ah, Nakagawa-san.” Mrs. Uehara said upon opening the door. “Welcome. My daughters said you would be coming.”

“Daughters?” Setsuna couldn’t help repeating. Did Ayumu have a sister?

Mrs. Uehara chuckled. “I’m sorry.” She said shaking her head. “It’s a bit of a habit of mine. But Yuu is over here so often that she’s pretty much family at this point.”

A tiny flash of envy shot through Setsuna. How nice to be so close to someone. And not just them, but their family as well. Perhaps someday she could be that close to someone, or someones…? as well.

“Ah, pardon me.” Ayumu’s mother said after a slightly awkward moment. “Come in. Come in.” She opened the door fully and ushered Setsuna inside, introducing herself along the way. “Forgive my asking, but do you prefer to go by Nakagawa-san or Yuki-san?”

“Oh, uhm, actually,” She calls Yuu-san by her name, so maybe “Setsuna is fine.”

Mrs. Uehara smiled. “Setsuna it is then. I’ll go tell my daughters you’re here.” She laughed lightly again at her joke before taking a couple steps toward the hall. “Ayumu! Yuu! Setsuna is here!”

Before Setsuna could even finish removing her shoes, a twintailed girl was scampering around the corner.

“Setsuna-chan!” Yuu greeting joyously.

“I’m glad you could make it, Setsuna-chan.” Ayumu added, following at a more modest pace.

“I’ll have dinner ready soon.” Mrs. Uehara said, moving toward the kitchen. “I’ll send your father to fetch you once he’s home from work, Ayumu.”

“Thank you, Mama.” Ayumu replied.

“Thanks, Ayumama!” Yuu added, earning a blush from Ayumu and a chuckle from Mrs. Uehara. “C’mon, let’s go.” Yuu then said, grabbing both Ayumu and Setsuna’s hands before leading them down the hall.

Yuu opened a door, pulled the other two inside and…

Pink.

That was the first thought that came to Setsuna’s mind upon entering Ayumu’s room. The walls were pink. The clock and lamp on the headboard were pink. Pink curtains framed the balcony door, pink cloth decorated the shelves on the wall and a pink blanket covered something under said shelves. And what wasn’t pink was still some other light, fluffy pastel color. It was all… very Ayumu. Yes, that was the best description Setsuna could think up based on what she knew about her friend.

But beyond the cute colors, it was also very comfy, soft and warm. And welcoming. Setsuna immediately felt at home in the room.

Then her eye caught something. Or rather, a lot of somethings.

“They’re so cute…” She said, finding herself drawn to a display of plush animals.

“I know, right?” Yuu was the one to respond. “Ayumu wanted to pack them away because she thought they were too childish.”

“Y-Yuu-chan…” Ayumu protested.

“I should show you my collection sometime.” Setsuna said, resisting the urge to grab several animals and hug them, as she did not yet have such permission. “I have Kirara, Kyubey, Tamago Onsen, Dera Michimazzi, Kuroneko-sama, Sakamoto, Taroumaru, Ryo-Ohki…

Yuu started to chuckle. “Aren’t those all anime animals?”

“Yes.” Setsuna affirmed with a nod.

“I thought your parents forbid anime? I mean that’s why we’re having the marathon here, right?”

“Oh, uhm… my parents… don’t know they’re all from anime…” Setsuna admitted. “I haven’t told them, and they don’t seem to have looked into things online or anything. Posters, figures, and the like would be too obvious, so they’re the only merchandise I can display openly; I can pass them off as just being cute plushies.”

“Ah, I see.”

“And they’re not all from anime. I have Toothless as well.”

Yuu grinned. “A good choice.” She declared.

“Anyway, these are really cute too, Ayumu-san.” Setsuna turned her attention to the redhead.

“Thank you.” Ayumu replied. “You can touch them if you want, Setsuna-chan.” She added with an amused tone in her voice.

Was my desire that obvious? Setsuna wondered to herself. How embarrassing…

Setsuna swallowed down a blush and offered a smile instead. “Thank you.” She said, reaching for a pink rabbit to inspect. A pink bear had also caught her eye, but the rabbit seemed so Ayumu-like that she couldn’t help picking it over the others. It really was very cute, and she could easily tell why Ayumu liked it.

I wonder if there is one like Yuu-san here… Setsuna thought to herself as she continued to investigate the display.

“So, should we get a couple episodes in before dinner?” Yuu suggested.

“Yes.” Setsuna agreed enthusiastically, her attention reverting back to the original reason she was visiting.

“What site is the show on?” The twintailed girl asked as she sat down on a green pillow and opening what Setsuna assumed to be Ayumu’s laptop. “My parents have several accounts, so if its on one of them, I can sign in to it.”

“Actually, the series is old enough to be on the free sites.” Setsuna explained, choosing the blue pillow, and leaving the pink one for Ayumu.

“Oh, alright, uhm… here.” Yuu slid the computer over.

Setsuna started typing in the address, though as she did, she noticed both Yuu and Ayumu moving their pillows to either side of her. “Hm?” She hummed quizzically as they sat down.

“Since this is one of Setsuna-chan’s favorite series, she should have the best view of the screen.” Yuu answered before she could actually give voice to her question.

“But I’ve already seen it…” Setsuna rebutted.

“Setsuna-chan is also our guest and should have the best seat.” Ayumu added.

“Oh, uhm… alright.” Setsuna conceded. “Will we all fit?” She noted the tiny table did not have room on any one side for three people.

“It’s fine if we do this.” Yuu scooted in until her shoulder touched Setsuna’s.

So close… Eh? As Setsuna’s focus was on Yuu, Ayumu slid in from the other side, though not quite close enough to touch like Yuu. Setsuna wondered how red her face was as she quickly typed the title of the anime and found the first episode.

Setsuna was very much not used to watching anime like this. For so long she had watched alone, hiding from her parents and anyone she worried might not keep her secret. But this was simultaneously comforting and distracting.

Distractingly comfortable… Was that even a thing? While most of Setsuna wanted to pay attention to the anime on screen as the opening title began, there was no denying the part that wanted to focus on the surprisingly soothing warmth radiating from her two friends. She had only sat this way with her parents as a child, and the frequency had decreased dramatically as she grew older and her parents became busier with work.

As Setsuna felt her heartrate start to return to normal and the heat dissipate from her cheeks, she started to settle into the idea that this was a nice arrangement. She could get used to watching anime like this. She could probably even get used to Ayumu leaning in closer.

Yuu giggled, bringing Setsuna’s attention back to reality.

Ah yes, the protagonist’s introduction. Definitely a humorous moment, but there were funnier scenes yet to come, even in the first episode. What would Yuu think of those? Well, they did intend to talk about everything afterward, so perhaps she should just enjoy the show for now.

Setsuna relaxed and turned the entirety of her focus on the anime.

----------

Setsuna startled at the sound of knocking on the door. She turned her head to see said door open and a man she assumed to be Ayumu’s father poked his head into the room.

“Ayumu?” Mr. Uehara spoke. “Your mother sent me to say that dinner is ready.”

“Thank you, Papa.” Ayumu responded, starting to get up.

The man’s gaze shifted. “Hey, Yuu.” He greeted with a smile. “And… Setsuna, was it?”

“Yes.” Setsuna replied, getting up as well before bowing. “It is a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for having me tonight.”

“The pleasure is ours.” Mr. Uehara’s smile grew. “Ayumu and Yuu have told us a lot about you. It is nice to finally meet you.”

Ayumu-san and Yuu-san talked about me? Setsuna hoped it had been at least more good than bad, though judging by both Ayumu’s parents’ actions towards her thus far, that had been the case. And that realization caused warmth to spread through Setsuna’s chest.

Setsuna couldn’t help smiling as well as she followed the other three out to the Uehara dining room.

----------

The notification chime sounded on Setsuna’s phone as she got out of the bathtub. She padded one hand dry on her towel and unlocked the screen to find a message from Rina. The first-year was inviting the school idol club second-years to join a game she was playing. Well, except Ai, though Setsuna assumed she was already playing. She tapped the link so the app could download as she dried off, deciding the game might make for a fun activity to pass the time while Yuu and Ayumu took their turns bathing.

A few minutes later, Setsuna padded down the hall back to Ayumu’s room, already fully engrossed in the game’s tutorial.

“Yuu-san, Ayumu-san, this game… oh…” Setsuna cut off as the other two girls looked up from their own devices.

“It’s fun, isn’t it?” Yuu grinned as she set down her phone and stood before heading toward the door.

Ayumu had also put down her phone and traded it for a hair drier. “Come have a seat, Setsuna-chan.” She motioned to the pillow she was in the process of vacating before kneeling behind it. “I’ll dry your hair for you.”

“Oh, I can do that myself.” Setsuna declined. “Thank you for the offer though, Ayumu-san.”

“Are you sure?” Ayumu seemed confused and… disappointed? “I’d be happy to do it for you, Setsuna-chan.

“Ayumu just wants an excuse to play with your hair, Setsuna-chan.” Yuu chuckled.

Setsuna startled. She hadn’t realized Yuu was still in the room, apparently having stopped to watch. In response to the teasing, Ayumu’s cheeks flushed and Setsuna imagined her own were close to matching.

Although, why was she declining anyway? Memories of the braided bun lesson from earlier that week were still fresh in Setsuna’s mind had certainly caused her to want to accept, and yet she hadn’t. But accepting wasn’t forcing those desires on Ayumu or inconveniencing her or the like. Ayumu had made the offer.

“A-Alright…” Setsuna said after an awkward moment before taking a seat in front of Ayumu.

“Back in a few.” Yuu tossed over her shoulder as she left to head to the bath.

Ayumu flipped on the hairdryer and began running her fingers through Setsuna’s hair to spread out the strands for easier drying.

For her part, Setsuna was just about to relax into the session, when her phone pinged. She checked the screen to find Rina had sent an in-game gift. She accepted excitedly and began to play again.

“Uhm… Setsuna-chan.” Ayumu said after a moment. “I don’t mind if you play, but can you stop moving around while you do?”

“Oh… uhm… Sorry, Ayumu-san…” Setsuna replied, chastising herself for being rude while her host provided a wonderful service. Still, it would also be rude not to use Rina’s gift to the fullest, so she resumed her game, but made sure to remain still for Ayumu.

----------

Setsuna stared up at the ceiling, laying on her back on one of Ayumu’s guest futons. As sleepy as she felt, she was still buzzing a bit with lingering excitement from the events of the night. The three of them had successfully powered through the entire season with a few breaks for snacks and stretching before spending the next couple hours talking about the story. It was well past midnight, but it was the weekend so they could sleep in late in the morning before having a late breakfast, or early lunch, before Setsuna would head home to study.

Or perhaps… maybe she could study here? She had brought her books, even though she didn’t really expect to use them. And she really liked the welcoming atmosphere of Ayumu’s room, though really her apartment and family as a whole, if she was being honest. However, she didn’t want to impose by overstaying her welcome, and she certainly wasn’t going to just invite herself to stay. Still, it was a nice idea. Perhaps someday…

“Yuu-chan?” Setsuna heard Ayumu murmur, distracting her from her thoughts.

She heard the mattress shift and turned her head to see Yuu’s silhouette sliding under the duvet. She couldn’t quite understand Yuu’s response, but both girls in the bed fell silent after.

Strange. While it didn’t surprise Setsuna that a dating couple would share a bed, she couldn’t help wondering why Ayumu would bother setting out a guest futon for Yuu. Or question Yuu joining her.

Perhaps they were hiding the fact that they were dating and setting out the futon was a visual prop to convince Ayumu’s parents? No, that didn’t seem right. Neither Ayumu nor Yuu seemed the type to hide much, if anything, from their parents. Unlike Setsuna herself… Also, if Yuu’s parents were anything like Ayumu’s, Setsuna believed they wouldn’t have much of an issue with their daughters dating. The Ueharas already considered Yuu part of their family after all.

Were they, perhaps, not actually dating? That would explain Ayumu’s protest. And knowing Yuu’s casual approach to personal space, it wouldn’t surprise Setsuna in the least if she just did as she pleased. And Ayumu would let her. Still, that didn’t seem quite right either. Setsuna was fairly certain they were a couple. Their close bond was obvious to anyone who spent more than five minutes with them.

In any case, whether they were dating or not really wasn’t any of Setsuna’s business. So perhaps pondering the possibilities was inappropriate.

What was far more worth her mental energy was focusing on memories of how much fun she had this evening. For the first time, she had been able to not only watch anime together with friends, but also talk about it with them. All in person. Not over the internet. She had shared a meal with her friends’ family and gotten to know them a little. Setsuna couldn’t remember the last time she had gone to bed feeling so welcomed, accepted and… loved? Was that the right word?

Surely, she didn’t mean to imply that she went to bed at home feeling unloved. She knew her parents loved her, even if their way of showing that love was apparently very different than Ayumu’s parents. But even having only been in the Uehara home for not even half a day, she felt loved here. They were all so kind and Setsuna hoped she could come back and experience it all again.

Setsuna closed her eyes, allowing her mind to begin yet another replay of the day. Sleep would come eventually, but right now she was content just being this happy.

----------

Author’s Notes Continued in Followup Post

[pip-n-flinx]

Among Us

So this is going to get long, this is going to get personal, this is going to be about prejudice and race and self-serving bad-faith arguments and flawed rhetoric. And for all of these reasons I’m going to leave the rest of this under the cut.

As a few of my friends will know, earlier this week I was delivered an ultimatum from my landlord/roommate. He disguised it well, telling me he was ‘concerned for my mental health’ that my ‘negativity was dragging the whole house down’ and that I was simply too filthy to live with. I won’t pretend I’m a neat freak, and I can honestly say that I have taken some pains to clean more since, to his surprise and delight, though its particularly hard to take coming from him.

“You’re always so down. It’s making you lazy and thin skinned” You know its funny you should say that, now specifically, because I’ve actually been on the up and up this last week and you didn’t mention this at all in January when I was actually at my worst, or February when I was afraid I was going to have to quit my job, or back during the holiday season when retail work was breaking my back... Only now do you think to check in on me?

“You left a pair of gloves, a letter, and a small wooden trinket on the table!” Indeed I have, as you have left your pair of gloves, well over 21 letters, and regularly set your packages on this same table, including today two packages to be returned to amazon. I didn’t realize I didn’t get to use the table the same way you do.

“You don’t do dishes! except that you did this week, which is cool I guess but still!” You do realize that I actually hand-wash every dish I use within 24 hours of using it, right? And that often the dishes you come to me bitching that I never cleaned are in fact your fiances, yes? Ok good, next question.

“You’re always complaining about work. I don’t mind that you vent, but its all you talk about anymore!” I have either lost or walked away from 4 jobs in this last year, and that has not been easy, or fun. I have worked essential retail jobs the entire pandemic thus far. Additionally, in the months leading up to you storming out of your 75k a year salaried sales job, I had told you to leave it because I could see that it was killing you. You got so fed up with the job that for 4-5 months before you left your grandma-paid-off-my-second-mortgage capitalism-knows-best-pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps-ass spent more time playing valorant and league of legends on the clock than doing actual work. Need I remind you that every time I stepped into your office, or simply stepped upstairs to get ready for work, you would complain about how awful your managers were, or how shitty someone had been to you over the phone? DID I EVER BELITTLE YOU FOR ANY OF THESE THINGS????

The real kicker was that the spark, the moment that started this (at least for him) was me trying to explain why racism and ‘cultural supremecy’ was bad. I had brought to him something I thought we could both agree on, that we could both laugh at. I brought him a series of tweets about how problematic Van Gogh was for studying and imitating traditional japanese painting techniques. He took this, and immediately turned into a piece of the culture wars. Now, I agree, this is an egregious example of trying to ‘cancel’ someone. How cancelling a long dead artist who couldn’t sell his art while he was alive is important is beyond my comprehension, its not as though the market value of these comes up very often, and almost no-one will ever have a chance to buy or reject a Van Gogh. But to him this was emblematic of ‘liberals’ cancelling Seuss and Rowling.

He even went so far as to say that Van Gogh probably ‘did it better’ than the artists he was studying/imitating. Now, this is a huge red-flag to me because this is straight out of the Nazi playbook. This is William Shenker, proposing a theory of music to proof ‘German cultural superiority.’ This, if you will pardon my language, is the real culture war: trying to supplant other cultures art and history with western figures and events.

Now, for those of you who don’t know who I’m talking about, this man is sexist. He doesn’t believe women are equal, complains about women’s sports, and rejects a woman’s right to choose. This man is a transphobe, questioning the logic of ‘safe-spaces’ and allowing people to change their pronouns. This man is a Trump supporter, and voted for him twice. And all of these things I found out years after we became friends. I have in the past contemplated what it would take to cut him out of my life wholesale. Despite our wealth of shared experience and our shared interests, we’ve been drifting apart as he drifts further and further to the right. And he has been drifting. He’s parroted more bad-faith arguments from Ben Shapiro and Tucker Carlson in the last 6 months then he ever did when I first moved in with him.

I have been trying to push back, especially when he says the quiet parts out loud. I try to let him know that it is not acceptable to say he would rather an unarmed black man die that risk that a police officer might be injured. When he compares the people in control of Seuss’ intellectual property and works choose to stop printing less than 6% of his published works to the book burnings in Mao’s china. When he says that its more important to protect teacher from students trolling them by changing their pronouns than it is to protect trans or NB kids. When he espouses his belief that trans and NB kids are ‘just mentally ill.’ Whenever he says any of this shit, I have pushed back. I have tried to halt, or at least slow, his descent towards eugenics and white supremacy and fascism.

It has been to no avail.

And to be honest its exhausting. I wanted to believe that he would trust me, not just to be a moral and thoughtful person, but to be educated and informed on these issues. We went to school together, spent countless hours solving homework and trying to crack games together. If I don’t know the answer to his questions immediately, he often jokes ‘C’mon, you’re supposed to know everything!” and has frequently told me that I’m selling myself short.

But apparently all that trust and all that respect goes out the window when I challenge him. Suddenly I’m ‘overly negative’ or ‘too sensitive’ or he’ll ‘need to look into that, but...’

And the thing is, he is capable of great acts of kindness. He offered to rent me a room in his completely paid-off house, no mortgage at all, simply because he could see living at home was killing my mental health. He offered me 50-75% off of market rate. He buys gifts all the time, has landed tenants job interviews, set people back on their feet, and refused to press charges for several major financial loses he’s taken on the determination that it would do more harm to the defendant than he could ever recoup from it.

But he does not extend this kindness, this generous soul, to everyone. And lately, his circle grows smaller, and his kindess has waned, and it’s been so devastating to see him slip further and further towards his own worst impulses.

I know there will be people who think I should have cut him out of my life years ago, who can’t believe we never talked enough to know that he voted for Trump in 2016. I think back then he was genuinely ashamed, or at least guilty, about that vote. Now? It’s almost a matter of pride for him. I can’t tell you the number of times in the last 4 months that he’s told me that Biden “couldn’t possibly” be as “great” a President as Trump.

And he hides behind this “praise them when they do good, cuff them when they do bad” line and I used to take comfort in it but now... Now it’s clear that it was just a front or excuse for liking these abhorrent people.

I’ve had a couple of hard conversations with some of our mutual friends about what this means for me, and how I interract with the whole group of friends as a whole, in the last 3 days. None of our mutual friends seem to take any of these things as seriously as I do, with my oldest friend even telling me that he ‘can’t imagine’ breaking a friendship off over politics.... I know I know, the caucasity of it all, yes ha ha. And it does make me genuinely worried that I’ll wind up losing the 5-6 close friends that I actually rely on these days over this horrible sonuvabitch. But all this personal venting aside, there’s something bigger here I want to address:

I sat down this evening to watch Last Week Tonight and I was struck by this piece about Tucker Carlson, because while I knew some of what was said on his show, he is remarkably confident for a man who spouts the quiet parts of racism/sexism/homophobia on TV. I have a hard time imaging a more blatantly racist thing to do then declare that a woman who suggested ‘dismantling systems of oppression wherever they are found’ wants to dismantle the American system...

And I have to say, we should go back to punching Nazis. I want these fuckers afraid. I want them to crawl back to the furthest reaches of the internet, relegated to be laughed at for their bigotry by pundits of every political ideology. I want their vile vitriol hidden away where it doesn’t embolden others. I want them to know that they are out of line, out of touch, out of time. I want them to feel ashamed, like the relics of a bygone and worse era that they are, and for them to quietly fade to an ignominious death. I’m tired of seeing them on National News. I’m tired of Pewdiepie’s channel and influence refusing to die despite all the horrible things he’s said and done. I’m tired of Ben Shapiro spouting off about a woman’s place and rights, as if he has any fucking authority on the matter. I just want these people to lose their platforms and their followers. And for me the fact that they haven’t yet is so incredibly discouraging.

I know I didn’t offer any answers here I’m just tired of being alone with this defeated attitude and I guess I needed to get this off my chest as I try to disentangle myself from the losing battle of trying to save a friend from alt-right radicalization.

[dearoldtuxedo]

The Love Interest

In 2017, Taft Studios hired a new screenwriter for their popular, and long-running show, The Banana Splits. Her name was Sammie Satterlee, and ever since they recruited her on the staff, she impressed the audience with her diversed setting scenarios. 

Some new episodes took up morals that are rarely explored among children, and needed to be talked about more. The Sour Grape girls were given more personalities, rather than being reduced to cute, sassy dolls. She made Bingo and Drooper explicitly POC coded, so that minority children can see themselves in their favorite characters, even allowing some POC to guest star on the show. Bingo spoke Spanish occasionally, and Drooper celebrated Kwanzaa for a holiday themed episode. Stevie was also given a decent dose of character development.

Then, at that year, 2018, Sammie was ready to take on a new challenge: Introduce an LGBTQ+ character. Around this generation, a lot of children's media has been accepting of queer themes. The whole purpose was to help kids acknowledge that queer romance is just the same as the typical heterosexual romance. There is nothing inherently sexual about it.

Plus, Sammie happened to be queer herself. She grew up loving The Banana Splits throughout her childhood, and is still a fan to this day. She also grew up around a lot of homophobia at that time. Projecting sexualities/trans identities onto characters is a method of feeling more accepting, more valid. The same method queer kids on the internet use "headcanons" for. Queer children deserve representation. Sesame Street won't do it, so The Banana Splits might as well.

What better way to have one of the Bananas come out than giving them a male love interest? But, which Banana shall have a love interest? Fleegle seems too independent for a lover, regardless of what gender. Bingo prefers pranks and adventure over romance. And Snorky, even though as old as his fellow band mates, bears childlike innocence, so he's not ready for an adult love interest. The only option left was Drooper.

Yes, Drooper will work, she thought. The poor lion is considered the loser of the bunch. What if he had a sweet darling that would tell him how valid he is? Drooper's so clumsy, he's always falling down. Now, he needs someone to catch him and pick him back up on his feet. Sammie then started to sketch out her ideas.

That's when she conjured up Tux the snow leopard! Tux was short for Tucker, also defining his wardrobe, which was a tuxedo. The reason she chose a snow leopard was due to their majestic appearance, and she wanted Tux to come out as sort of a romantic gentleman. Also, because he should be a feline like Drooper. She drew out a reference concept of Tux, along with additional sketches of him and Drooper acting lovey-dovey with each other, and written a bio.

Tux was presented as a muscled man, a contrast opposite to Drooper's skinny frame. This snow leopard was purposely intended to be the hero to Drooper's damsel in distress. He sure is a handsome fella, but he's pretty dumb as well. That didn't matter. He's perfect for Drooper. Tux would be somewhat special to Drooper, like he understands him, he cherishes him, and he's willing to take a punch in the face for him.

After giving the references to Karl, and a bit of debate, the engineer decided to take a shot at it. Reading through Tux's biography, his personality and characteristics had quite interest Karl. This snow leopard certainly didn't possess the same energy as his other boys. Fleegle was the intellectual leader, Bingo was fun and energetic, Drooper was the butt of bad luck, and Snorky was the baby of the group. Tux was different. It would be quite complicated for a stoic machine to act out all these actions. Unless...

What if he gave this animatronic fully functional emotions? Karl always wanted to try something new. A robot with emotions would probably be his greatest achievement yet. No other engineer has dared to try it out. Not only will the idea be impressive, but his feelings would be very convincing.

After almost a month, Tux was completed. Although he matched his reference drawing perfectly, he appeared to be seven feet tall, instead of being two inches shorter than Drooper. Speaking of Drooper, not only were emotions installed into his databanks, but he was also programmed to fall in love with no one but said lion. 

Karl decided to showcase Tux to Sammie. He then activated the mechanical snow leopard. It took some time for Tux to get into motion, but as soon as he saw those humans in sight, he stepped back nervously. He touched around at himself for a moment, and scanned his surroundings. He was now alive, and he wasn't sure how he felt about this. The animatronic walked around the room, picking up items at random. He went back to Sammie and spoke for the first time.

"Hello. I'm... I'm..."

Karl answered for him.

"Tux." "I'm Tux. Pleasure to meet you. ...I think. Say, could you tell me where am I? What is going on? What is my objective?"

Just as Sammie could say anything, the Splits had entered the room. Tux turned his attention towards them by instinct. The very sight of Drooper had already triggered him into love mode. The feeling of seeing the lion was undescribable to him, but since it's in his programming, he knew how to act. He stared at the lion for awhile, then ran over to him. Tux took his paw into his.

"Hello. I am Tux. Pardon me if this sounds so sudden, but, I love you."

The animatronic kissed Drooper's hand, even though he just gapped his mouth open a bit and pressed it against the paw.

"Do you love me?"

Drooper was confused by this abrupt gesture, and had no opinion about it due to his lack of emotions. Still, he responded anyways.

"I love you too, Tux! I love all my friends!"

Tux was quite offended, having to be considered a "friend." Sammie decided to clear things up for the lion animatronic.

"Uh, Drooper, this is Tux. He is your new boyfriend. You know, like, a lover. As in you two are in love. Or at least, pretend to be, for the show."

A new boyfriend? Drooper doesn't remember agreeing to that. He just met the snow leopard, and all of a sudden, they're lovers? The lion isn't sure how he feels about that, especially since he doesn't return the snow leopard's attraction. Then again, Tux is a pretty nice guy. And it's not like they're forcing him to love him back. After all, she did say he could pretend for the show. Since the Splits aren't on the air right now, they might as well just be friends. Drooper shook his hand and greeted the new recruit.

"Very nice meetin' ya, Tux! I'm Drooper! This is Fleegle, Bingo, and Snorky! Welcome to The Banana Splits! Enjoy your stay, friend!"

He still deemed Tux as a "friend." That's not what Tux wanted. He didn't just come alive, fall in love instantly, only for it to turn out to be one-sided. Tux figured, he will get this lion to love him back, even if it kills him.

And so, for the last four days, Tux wasn't ready to be onscreen, so that gave him enough time to win Drooper's affection. The snow leopard had snuck into Rebecca's computer to find information on how to woo a person. Then he'd capture that info into his system.

Tux tried presenting Drooper with a flower (one of the props). He was flattered, took the flower, and patted Tux on the head. But walked away afterwards.

He tried serenading a romantic song, which was performed by the Splits in another era. 🎵I enjoy being a boy, in love with youuuuuuuuuu.🎶 Once again, Drooper was flattered, and applauded his performance, but still, walked away.  

Next, he tried the extreme. Tux grabbed Drooper, dipped him, and planted his mouth onto his, giving him a kiss. That only resulted in Drooper pushing him so hard, he knocks him down on his bum. 

No matter what technique he tried, his attempts all failed. And Drooper showed no signs of loving him back. Today was scheduled for Tux to make his physical appearance. But before he's ready to be on the show, he discussed his issue with Karl.

"My lover... ...doesn't love me. What have I done wrong?" 

Karl knew exactly what the problem was. It's not what Tux has done, but how Drooper feels. The lion animatronic was built to be emotionless, so it's impossible for him to accept a handsome man's gesture. Maybe Karl can fix that. 

"Settle down, my boy. You'll get what you want. I promise."

He then called Drooper over for a tune up. The only way for the two's feelings to be mutual is to install the lion with the same features programmed into Tux's databanks. The snow leopard held his hands together tightly. Soon, he and Drooper will be bond together at last. Together, forever. He'll have him close to him. They'll hold hands. The two will spend their entire lives as one until they rust. Karl then motioned that he had the notion of giving the other Splits emotions as well, so that they can embrace Tux like a family member. He wanted to make his greatest achievement feel at home.

“Yeah yeah sure. Now hurry up with the process!”

Suddenly, Rebecca entered the workshop, announcing that the whole "LGBTQ+ representation" project was officially canceled.

While the news of The Banana Splits having an LGBTQ+ character on their show received largely positive from the queer community, they've also gained negative, violent feedback from those who were against it. They were being accused of "attempting to encourage children into sexual acts," and called out for spreading "leftist SJW propaganda."

It gets much worse. Straight parents set up a campaign to boycott the show. Stevie threatened to quit because he refuses to work around a "cybernetic f@gg3t." And Andy, the network executive, blackmailed that he would pull the plug on their show if they let this "gay shit" slip onto TV. Sammie was fired, and the whole assignment was history.

Karl stopped what he was doing, leaving Tux confused.

"Aren't you gonna-" "I'm afraid there's no reason to anymore, my boy." "But, Karl- Drooper- You said I could have what I want! YOU PROMISED!" “I wish I could keep it, but I don't think I have a choice. I'm sorry." "I don't believe it. How could you be SO SELFISH?! HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT ABOUT HOW I FEEL?! PLUG HIM BACK IN, RIGHT NOW!" “I can't-" "ALL I WANT IS MY KITTEN TO LOVE ME! DOESN'T ANYBODY CARE?!!"

The snow leopard threw a big tantrum. A single stomp on the ground made the floor shake. Then, he shoved items off of counters, and smashed stuff, while screaming at the top of his voice. He was absolutely terrifying at that moment. Tux turned to Rebecca, thinking it was all her fault. She tried to tell him to stand down, but he was too stubborn. He grabbed her by the neck, and pressed her against the wall. With Tux's back turned away, that gave Karl the opportunity to shut him down. Tux let go of Rebecca, and fell over unconscious.

Poor Tux. Maybe giving him emotions was a bad idea. As it turns out, he's not mature enough to know how to handle them, which makes him too unstabled. After that traumatized experience, Rebecca demanded that Karl should get rid of him this instant.

After she left, the three other aninatronics entered the workshop. Karl stared down at Tux for a minute. The snow leopard animatronic didn't mean to cause any harm. He's just a little faulty, with his ardent coding and all. Karl never worked out how he would have Tux cope with his emotions. The engineer couldn't bring himself to throwing out what he thought was gonna be his greatest achievement yet, so he asked his four to dispose of Tux for him. Karl then left the workshop to see if he could calm Rebecca down.

Four of the Splits gazed upon the now deactivated animatronic. They, including Drooper, felt a bit sorry for him. Why put him to waste? There's still some potential in him. The sad case just wanted, and needed, some love like they have had. A new Banana Splits member is still a member. Besides, he was much nicer to them than Stevie.

"What are we gonna do with him?"

So, rather than dragging his metal carcass to the dumpster, they all agreed to hide his body, behind a couple of boxes and bins in the corner. Perhaps he will make himself useful. Someday.

[somebodyhelpthenotdeadfreds]

Constangreen The Proposal AU! I had to crank out a moodboard and ficlet for this idea. Dedicated to the lovely @agentmarymargaretskitz who needs a little fluff right now and the lovely folks at the Constangreen server. Love you guys!

Gary was late.

He’s slept through his snooze button, and so he barely had time to take a quick shower, dress, and attempt to fix his hair into something presentable. He was held up at this stupid pretentious tea café six blocks out of his way that his pain-in-the-ass boss just HAD to get a lapsang souchong with exactly one sugar cube in it, and it took forever due to how busy it was. But finally, with tea and his own black coffee with cream, he hurried to the publishing office, where he had to wait for the elevator to take him to the ninth floor. Of course, the elevator had to stop at EVERY. SINGLE. FLOOR.

“Cutting it close,” the receptionist Mona whispered to him as he passed her desk, and he shouldn’t have turned to reply ‘I know’ to her before Gary collided with Nate, spilling the tea all over the floor.

“Seriously?!” Gary exclaimed as Nate tried to apologize, sighing at the tea on his pants and on the floor, setting his coffee on the side of Mona’s desk and wiping up the mess. “Just great, he’s going to lose his-“

The elevator door opened again, and John Constantine walked out with purpose, eyes hidden behind sunglasses but his glare could still be felt through them. Nate quickly darted off and Mona went back to her phone. Gary sighed again, picking up his coffee and turning to John as he approached him.

“Good m-“

“Is Sharpie coming in today or not, darling, she didn’t answer her bloody email yesterday.”

“Ms. Sharpe is coming today, the meeting’s in three hours,” Gary said, keeping pace with him as the other coworkers dodged out of their way as they headed down the corridors. “I have your reports for it already in your box on your desk. I called your lawyer over the copyright claim, it’s being sorted out and she should be back with results by Thursday. Hey, um, so, you know the book I’ve been working on, the one that I gave a copy of to you? I was thinking-“

“Did Rory turn in the manuscript for the sequel yet yet, it’s over two weeks late. Wanker keeps that shit up again, tell him to get a new publisher because we’ll sell o-“

“No, he sent it in yesterday, that’s on my desk. I’m just bringing this up because I’ve been working for you for five years and you said I get one favor from you, so I was thinking-“

“I might have gotten up to more than I thought I would last night, have you-“

“I know, I already called your PR guy last night, John, they’ll spin it wasn’t you drunk in a pub crawl on a Monday night.”

John shoved his hair out of his face, breathing out and then grinning, “Fucking brilliant, Gary.”

Gary suddenly perked up, breaking out into a wide smile. “Oh, thank you! So, does that mean you’ll look at my- oh hey, no, that’s my c-“ he started to say when John took the coffee from his hand and drank from it before spitting it out into a cubicle trash can, then dumping the poor innocent Styrofoam cup in there after it.

“The hell is that, where’s my tea?”

“I don’t have it y-“

“I’m hungover, I feel like I’m gonna hurl on your desk, Rory hasn’t sent in his script, AND you don’t have my tea?! What do I pay you?!” John nearly yelled at him, and Gary rolled his eyes, shoving Rory’s manuscript against his chest.

He hissed, “Not nearly enough. Here’s the script, take it already.”

“What about my-“

“I’ll get you your tea,” Gary muttered, sitting at his desk and answering the ringing phone. “John Constantine’s office, how can I help you?”

He took down the message and watched out of the corner of his eye as John unscrewed his water bottle and took an Advil from Gary’s container on his desk. As soon as Gary hung up the phone he asked, “Need you for an event and the like this weekend. That an issue?’

Again, Gary sighed, “I was going to ask off to go see my family for my Aunt Stacy’s 90th birthday this weekend, so-“ John’s face didn’t change, Gary could see his eyes peeking out from behind his sunglasses, so he finished his sentence with a tired, “-I’ll cancel, I’ll cancel, it’s fine.”

“That’s the same lot that tells you to quit, yeah?”

Gary put on the fakest smile possible, picking up the phone and cradling it between his shoulder and his neck. “Every single day, boss.”

He nearly fell forward in his chair as John clasped him hard across the back with a laugh before heading back to his office.“Thanks, darling, don’t know where I’d be without you.”

Gary’s smile dropped and he rolled his eyes hard as he dialed the number, muttering under his breath, “Probably dead in a ditch. Or a bog of some sort.”

Mona came over after dropping off a tea to John’s office, leaning against Gary’s desk with a sympathetic smile. “Hey.”

“Hey,” Gary said around the red pen cap in his mouth. “You know his hangover days, you get used to them after time.”

“I don’t see how,” she sighed, shaking her head. “I’m amazed you haven’t snapped.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Gary grinned at her, removing the cap and showing her the document open on his personal laptop. “Sadly, a blonde British warlock was the first to die at the hands of the monstrous hellhound.”

Mona laughed. “How’s the book going?”

“I’ve got it all mapped out, the first book is done, midway through the second.” Gary shrugged. “Only problem is getting it published, ironically enough.”

“He should owe you a favor by now.”

“The nicest thing he’s ever done for me is pay for a new suit when he threw up on mine,” Gary laughed, answering the phone and waving Ms. Sharpe and another woman into John’s office and getting back to his own work.

He didn’t think anything of it when he heard a loud crash from inside the office, too dull to shock caused by his boss at this point.

                                                        *******

“…what did you say?” John gasped, coughing on his words and taking his sunglasses off to rub his eyes.

“I’m terribly sorry, Mr. Constantine,” Federal Agent Gideon Ryder told him, not sounding sorry in the least. “But your worker’s visa from the UK has expired. I’m afraid you’re subject to deportation, as I’ve told Ms. Sharpe.”

John collapsed back into his chair. “It’s only over a few weeks or so since I forgot the paperwork, give me some time to go over-“

“I’m afraid the window has passed.”

“Then I’ll continue my work back in Liverpool, can do all communications online until-“

Ava’s mouth was in a pressed line. “John, when you’re deported, you can no longer work for an American company.”

John rolled his eyes at her, “All this work I’ve done for you and you’re hanging me out to dry, pet?”

“I’m not getting wrapped up in potential fraudulent behavior, John, you know that.”

John leaned back in his chair further, propping his feet up on the desk and rubbed at his temple. He chewed on the back of a pencil, wishing he could get up and smoke on the balcony, but he didn’t feel like another primary grade lecture on the danger of tobacco effects on the body from Ava.

This was bullshit.

He was fully content to sulk in his chair with his arms folded across his chest until five o’clock rolled around, when there was a knock at his door and then the office door opened and Gary stuck his head in. “Pardon the interruption-“

“We’re in a meeting, Gary,” Ava began, voice crisp and blunt, but John shushed her.

“Hey, hey, don’t snap at ‘im, pet.”

Gary rolled his eyes. “Yeah, that’s your job, after all.”

“Darling, as much as I hate proving her wrong, I’m in a meeting at the-“

“I’m aware you’re in the meeting I arranged for you, John. I’m just letting you know that when you’re finished you need to call Snart on his cell number.”

“Tell him I’m busy,” John argued, chewing on the eraser portion of the pencil until grit was between his teeth.

“I DID, John, I didn’t transfer him to your line right NOW,” Gary insisted through his teeth. A typical morning. “I told him you had a prior engagement. If you’re done arguing like a child, I’d like to get back to-

Engagement.

John tossed the pencil aside and mouthed, ‘you’re a bloody fucking genius, Gary’ at the man and gestured for him to come in. Gary sighed, but let himself in as John stood up from his desk and made his way over to him. “Thank you, for letting me know the situation,” he stated evenly to Gideon, standing right beside Gary. “But, don’t have to worry about that little expiration.”

“Why not?”

“Because - we-” John started, putting an arm around Gary’s shoulder and turning to smile at him. “-we’re getting - married.”

The room went silent.

Gary blinked at him once, then twice, then put on a usual corporate smile. “Hmm?”

“Getting married, yeah,” John smiled back at him.

“Who - who’s getting married?”

“Us, darling, You and me,” John laughed, sounding forced as he squeezed Gary’s shoulder hard, harder than necessary. “True love, he’s the one, the whole lot, ya know? So - we’re clear, all good, Sharpie, yeah?”

Ava looked like she was about to burst out laughing, a rare look on her. “You know what, John? You make it legal, we’re a-OK. Right, Gideon?”

Gideon’s lips were tilted up into a smile. “That would be correct, a legal marriage to a US citizen will allow you more time to restore your visa.”

Gary was too frozen to even think about moving, didn’t even think about it as Ava nudged his other shoulder on the way out with Gideon, laughing about ‘saving her an invitation’ and ‘of course you’d one-up me by getting married first’ before the door closed behind the two women. Then he shoved John’s arm off of his shoulder and hissed at him, “WHAT DID YOU SAY?!”

“We’re getting married, pick out a tux,” John said offhandedly like he was asking Gary to pick up his lunch for him that day. “Hey, d’ you swipe my pack again, dyin’ for a smoke right n-“

“I’m not - I’m NOT MARRYING YOU,” Gary snapped, snatching the pack out of John’s hands. “There’s not enough alcohol in the world.”

“Then be unemployed,” John snapped back, reaching for the pack only for Gary to move it away from him. “Because I get deported, you’re out of a bloody job, and you’re not making editor yet.”

“Low blow,” Gary scoffed, this time holding the pack up high over his head, standing on his toes just out of John’s reach. “You hit me, I’ll call HR.”

John sighed, rubbing his temple. “Holding my fuckin’ pack hostage, cruel.”

“Deal with it, I’m not marrying you.”

“Pretty please?”

“Hell no, my personal life can’t revolve around you like my professional one does.”

“You have one?”

“How would you know, everything’s been focused on YOU for five years!” Gary nearly shrieked. “I thought the worst thing I’ve ever done for you deal with your drunk ass after Stein’s retirement party, I will NOT do this for you.”

John worked his jaw as Gary started to leave the room, his hand on the doorknob. “Wait! I - your book.”

Gary paused. “What about it?” 

“I can get you a deal, I can run it through the higher-ups,” John bargained. “I’ll handle everything, darling, I promise you that.”

Gary sighed, turning around to lean against the knob. “Are you serious?”

“Deadly, love.”

“This isn’t going to work out.”

“It only has to for about seven months.”

“SEVEN MO- no, that’s too much of you in my-“

“Your book. Published. Can draw up a deal right after the honeymoon.”

“Ew, I’m not - I’m not ‘honeymooning’ with you, I’ll catch something from you.”

“First, rude, I’m clean. Second, not what I was implying, for once. Third, we’ll shake on it,” John declared, sticking a hand. “Swear on my life, let’s do it.”

Gary stared at his hand, then looked back up at John’s face, a grin spreading across his face. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Then I’d like to be asked.”

“I just asked.”

“Nope, you didn’t. I’d like to be asked the right way.”

“Oh, for fuck’s s-“

Gary waved the cigarettes in front of his face. “You get these back when you get on your knee.”

“I’ll call HR on you for that, Gary Green.”

“Wh- no! That’s not-“

John laughed, grabbing a paperclip from the desk and bending it into a circle, getting on one knee. “Fine. Gary Green, marry me.”

“That wasn’t even a question, that was a request.”

“You cheeky fu- would you please marry me?”

Gary pinched the bridge of his nose. “You promise you can get me that deal?”

“Promise, Gary.”

“….then....yes, I’ll - I’ll marry you.”

John stood right back up from the floor, shoving the bent paperclip ring onto his finger and clapping his hand across his back again. “Fucking stunner you are, darling.”

Gary rolled his eyes again. “Am I allowed to go back to work, now?”

“Pass the pack.”

Gary was so glad he had terrible coordination, he hit John square in the twice-broken nose with it. John grabbed it, sending Gary a look before opening a window. “You’re dismissed.”

“Thanks, sweetie pie,” Gary muttered bitterly, stealing his stapler from his desk. “Don’t talk to me the rest of the day.”

And with that, Gary left the office and collapsed into his desk chair, resting his head on his arms with his desk. He didn’t get to rest as long as he would have liked before he heard Mona’s voice. “Got your Chipotle order.”

He picked his head back up, cracking his neck, and smiled at her. “Thanks, Mona.” His smile faded slightly when John left his office to grab his order from Mona’s bag.

“Thanks, love,” he told her, already opening the lid and sticking a fork in it. Cigarette smoke still clung to his clothes and assaulted Gary’s nose as he turned around to face him. “Darling, I have a conference call, put my other calls on hold. Run my inbox for me, too, gotta run now. We’ll talk after, yeah?”

And then the door was closing behind him again, and Gary rubbed at his temple again.

“What a prick,” Mona whispered, laughing at her own comment. 

“I know,” Gary nodded, absently twisting the paperclip around his finger. “Can’t believe I’m marrying him.”

He was glad he’d taken to leaving an extra shirt at work, as Mona ended up spitting guacamole-slathered rice all over it.

[wlw-with-reader]

Maybe Just Wishing

Ship: Lena Luthor x Reader

For:  🐦

[Reader is secretly a superhero and they've been oblivious gays who are in love for the longest time, and the morning after they FINALLY decide to act on their feelings Lena wakes up alone, thinking that it meant nothing to R or that maybe R thought it was a mistake, not knowing that R is off fighting whatever menace is threatening National City today.]  

You had been friends with Lena ever since the two of you attended the same university. You had been a barista in one of the local coffee shops, and she was your favorite customer. She would come three times a day, and it got to the point where you two were on a first name basis. And the day that the two of you got snowed in, no one else was there. As the snow continued to pile on, the two of you stayed warm, and you were glad you had changed shifts so that moment could happen. 

After the two of you graduated, you kept in touch, and when the fallout from Lex and Lillian’s actions happened, you were there for her. But you knew that even though you had fallen for her, there was no way on earth or in any universe, could she be in love with you. At least not the way you wanted her to love you. Yet, you chose to stay. You wanted to be a part of her life than not have her in yours at all. 

________

Jess was excited that today her boss would be happy. She had seen how Lena lit up whenever you came. She lit up in a way that was blinding compared to when Kara would come. And hearing Lena share little details of how the two of you met, Jess understood why. So Jess, unknowingly to both you and Lena, made plans on how to finally get the two of you to recognize that your feelings for one another were reciprocated. 

Maybe Jess was just wishing that the two of you would get together, but she knew that it couldn’t happen unless you two were pushed together like that day when you got snowed in at the coffee shop. She’d been working on months on this plan. She just couldn’t believe it with her own two eyes how two people so right for each other, could be brilliant but incredibly oblivious. 

Jess’s plan was simple. Wait until you came over with lunch and slip a picture she found of the two of you from university. Conversation would flow from there. 

________

Jess heard laughter, so she gently knocked on the door. 

“Pardon the interruption, Ms. Luthor. I have those files you requested and the board meeting has been rescheduled to next week.”

“Jess. Call me Lena.”

“Right. I can call you Ms. Luthor if it’s anyone else but Y/N. I’ve cleared the rest of your day, so you and Y/N can spend some time together. It is your anniversary, isn’t it? I booked you a reservation at your favorite restaurant at 7. And since I won’t be needed, I’ll head to my dentist appointment. See you tomorrow, Lena.”

Jess left the room as quickly as she entered it, leaving the two of you with shocked expressions.

“I do believe your assistant thinks we’re dating, Lena.”

“Yes, Y/N. I think you’re right.”

Lena clears her throat looking slightly uncomfortable.

“I wish we were celebrating our anniversary. Especially if there’s already a reservation for the two of us, and I get to spend the evening with you. If you’d like to. I’m sure Jess can cancel, if you spoke with her.”

“No, I don’t want to cancel, Y/N. I want to tell you something I should have said years ago.”

“What is it, Lena?”

“I’ve loved you for some time now.”

Those words brought a calm to your beating heart, and you couldn’t find the right words to say, so you merely asked if you could kiss her. Lena smiled and nodded. 

You hoped that this wasn’t all a dream. That this was real. But even if it was a dream, you wanted to wake up and finally confess your feelings for her. Luckily, in your case, after the restaurant, you knew it was very much real with the way Lena took you to bed. 

________

You woke up to an emergency alert on your phone. You swiped it open and saw texts from Alex and Winn. You wish you had time to leave a note or at least say good morning, but you knew you had a job to do. You’d see Lena later today. You just prayed she wouldn’t think you left her after spending an incredible night like that. 

As you surveyed the scene, you knew that it would take Supergirl and the rest of the DEO to help all of these people. You quickly went to Alex who had a map out. 

“Alex, we need to split into teams of six. This wormlike creature keeps tunneling underneath causing sinkholes. Some of us need to focus on getting others to safety, while the rest of us work on going after the creature.”

“You were just up there. Where’s the worm?”

“In this section so far. I’ll keep using my X Ray vision to look underneath the surface. Which teams will be assigned with me?”

“Teams 6 and 9. I’m leading 6 today, so I’ll be with you. Supergirl is taking care of an alien on the other side of the city.”

Hours passed and you all managed to capture the worm and save lives. You also saved the taxpayers money because you all managed to contain the damage to one quadrant of the city. With the way the worm was going, it might have been an entirely different story. When you went back to your apartment to clean yourself up, you were surprised to see Lena waiting for you. 

“You’re safe.”

“And messy.”

Lena gives you a soft glare.

“I’m safe. I’m sorry I couldn’t stay this morning.”

“It hurt not seeing you in bed next to me. I thought that last night was just...just that. Just one night where we acted on our feelings and that was it.”

You sat next to Lena.

“Lena, last night was magical. I’ve never felt that way with anyone, and I never want to feel that way with anyone else but you. You have no idea how sorry I am for making you think otherwise. I should’ve made time for you to at least gently wake you up and let you know I was going. Or write a note. But the worm and all those people. I am sorry.”

“I understand why you didn’t wake me up. It’s okay. I just need to know where we stand.”

“I want a relationship with you as long as you want a relationship with me. And to be perfectly clear, I mean a relationship as girlfriend and girlfriend, not as friends.”

“Then, let me be equally clear, I want to date you, Y/N, and I want to know more about how my girlfriend is one of National City’s superheroes.”

“Ask me anything, and I’ll answer you.”

Lena and you talked for some time. You both needed to be reassured that this relationship wouldn’t be like past ones. That the two of you would always make time for one another. That there wouldn’t be any secrets. And you were fine with that. You didn’t want Lena to think she couldn’t trust you or for her to ever think you could leave her and hurt her. Because Lena deserved the world, and you would spend the rest of your life doing so, regardless where your relationship went. 

🐦 Let me know what you think!

[mbakusthrone]

Work For Me Chapter 6: Night Owls

You were used to the quiet of the office. You were always the first one there and the last to leave, so the low pitched hum of silence was almost like comfort to you. Except for tonight. There was a tangible change in the atmosphere. Most of the lights were off in the office except for the tiny lamp on your desk...and the lights in M’Baku’s office of course.

It had been a couple of hours since the rest of the office had packed up and left, and you had actually put a huge dent in the reports M’Baku wanted you to re-do. Another couple of hours and you would be headed home. You weren’t exactly sure why M’Baku had insisted on staying in the office with you, he wasn’t exactly doing any of the work. You couldn’t imagine M’Baku doing much of any work for that matter.

And never mind the date that you had to cancel. Although your would-be date was amicable, it still burned you up inside that M’Baku even had this type of control over you. That you had to drop everything just for him. You couldn’t imagine how he ever managed by himself.

You scoffed at the thought and rolled your eyes as you typed.

“Something wrong?” M’Baku’s deep voice jerked you from your thoughts.

“Oh, nothing sir…” You craned your neck up to look at him. He was looking down at you with a questioning smolder, one eyebrow arched. On his head were a pair of headphones that were too small for him, the cord trailed down to a tiny cassette player engulfed in his hand. It might as well have been a lego compared to his hand. “What is that?” You questioned. M’Baku opened his hand and looked down at the cassette player as if he was surprised it was in his own hand.

“It’s my... music player.”

“Oh...well ok.”

“Is there a problem?”

“No! No I just…”

“Just what?”

I just didn’t know you did human things like listen to music.

“I just...didn’t know you were a fan of vintage.”

M’Baku hesitated for a second, staring at you with an unreadable face. He took off his headphones and held them out to you.

At first you just stared at it. What did he want you to do with it? Clean it? Order him a new pair? M’Baku rolled his eyes, bent down and fit the headphones snugly around your ears. The texture of the headphones felt nice and soft, almost like silk. His index finger hovered around the play button, and he pressed it.

A Tribe Called Quest filled your ears, you smiled and pressed the headphones closer to your head. M’Baku actually...smiled back at you. Sort of. More like pulled his lips back, but it was something. He mouthed something to you, but you couldn’t hear.

“What?” You answered. He jumped at the sound of your voice. You laughed and took off the headphones.”Sorry was that loud?”

“It’s fine, I’ll be right back.” M’Baku suddenly stood up and disappeared from view. You heard the sound of the staircase door opening and shutting behind him. You regarded the cassette player. It definitely had years of wear and the color was faded. You knew almost every aspect of M’Baku’s life, but he hadn’t revealed this to you. You were almost offended. Of course he had a right to his own private life, but after experiencing the last couple of months, you weren’t sure he had one. And why was he presenting it to you now? Something was quickly changing the dynamic of you and M’Baku’s relationship, but what was it?

The staircase door opened and M’Baku appeared, holding two white plastic bags.

“I brought dinner.” He said flatly. You stared in shock as M’Baku set the bags down on your desk. M’Baku looked around, found a chair and pulled it over, settling his massive frame in it. M’Baku pulled the styrofoam containers out of the bag and set them in front of you. You opened it and breathed in deeply. My God...the smell. It was amazing.

“What’s this?”

“Garlic butter salmon, mashed potatoes, roasted asparagus and hush puppies. Eat.”

“No, I mean, why did you do this?”

M’Baku didn’t answer you, he just picked up a fork and began eating. A couple of seconds after no answer, you picked up a fork and began eating too.

“Is that you?” M’Baku spoke after several minutes of silence. He pointed to a picture frame on your desk. It was you and your parents. You were clad in the school swim gear, your head in a swimming cap and your face all smiles. You had a bronze medal around your neck. You smiled proudly.

“Yes that’s me, at Nationals in college. 3rd place.”

“Why not first?”

You shrugged. “Because I wasn’t the fastest.”

“Were your parents disappointed?”

“No! You see the look on their faces, they were proud! They still can’t stop talking about it to this day.” M’Baku considered your words, as if he couldn’t understand a parent being proud of their child getting third place.

“What did you do in college Mr. Why Not First?” You playfully jabbed.

“Football. Track. President of Student Council. Cultural Appreciation Club. Future Leaders of…”

“Alright that’s enough.” You waved him off. You couldn’t believe you were being so social with him. It was if the night time meant you could bend the rules.

“What? You asked!” M’Baku threw his head back and laughed. You giggled, then chuckled, and it wasn’t long before you were both laughing aloud together.

“Okay, you joined all those clubs...or rather your parents made you, but what were you good at?”

“Well...I...I liked to...whittle.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Whittle! With Jabari wood. Like make mini sculptures.”

“What’s Jabari wood?” You asked. M’Baku waved you off, no answer. You pushed your food around with your fork, it was so good but you were almost full. You leaned back in your chair to gather yourself. M’Baku glanced up at you, then back at your food, then took his fork and targeted what was left of your salmon. You picked up your fork and blocked his.

“Excuse me?” You said, an incredulous look on your face.

“What?” M’Baku said, his mouth full, eyes wide.

“Who said you could take my salmon I didn’t say I was done!” You huffed. M’Baku scoffed.

“Please! Y/N you’re done I can see it in your eyes!” M’Baku swallowed thickly and aimed for your food again.

“Hey!” You yelped, taking your plate and pulled it away out of his reach. M’Baku got up and reached over with his fork, placing his body above yours. You went rigid.

You suddenly smelled his cologne at full power. Your eyes traveled up his large body, his chest stretched out before you. M’Baku looked down at you, a strange look in his eyes. You found yourself studying every inch of his face. His strong eye brows, cold yet soft eyes, and full lips. You could feel the breath from his nose on you.

Slowly, very slowly, M’Baku leaned his head down, until his lips were but centimeters from yours. You felt electricity surge through every cell in your body. Your mind was completely clouded. Your heart thudded in your throat as he moved down to close the gap….

Until your phone rang.

“Oh!” You yelped and crawled out from under him, snatching your phone off of your desk. The caller ID read: RYAN. “Hello!” You answered, voice shaky and uneven. You glanced at M’Baku, who was still in his same position, head hanging down.

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