#part of my hesitance is a) i want this 2 be a fun road trip fic!! they r travelling and they have each others company and the main plot is

[anachronistic-falsehood]

clenching my fists on ym keyboard writing my road trip au. i'm not turning this into a lemon i'm not i'm not i'm not it's not happening IT'S NOT HAPPENING I PROMISE. but the tension here is so thick you could cut it with a knife

[luimagines]

He’s Turned into a Kid Part 3

Masterlist

Part 1 Part 2

Part three will include Twilight, Warrior and Hyrule.

Content under the cut!

Twilight

The small boy looked around quietly. He was so much smaller than you thought he would be. Curiously, he walked around everyone, taking in what everyone was wearing and what they looked like. 

With enough time, of him checking everyone out and everyone staring at him, he reached up and gently ran his fingertips over his ears. “You look like me.”

He then smiles from cheek to cheek, looking so innocently happy. “No one looks like me in my village!”

Oh your heart, you kneel down. He’s taller than you this way, but you don’t mind. You doubt he does either. “Well hello there, young man. Traveling our way?”

Twilight tilts his head, looking around himself one more. You can see the way his demeanor shifts when he sees that he’s not anywhere that he recognizes. “Uh-oh...”

“What?”

“I’ve never been this far away from home before.” He clutches his arm before he turns to you, tugging on your shirt. “Hey. Are we close to Castle Town? Rusl used to go there from time to time. He might be there.”

“Wouldn’t it be easier to just take you straight home?” Hyrule mutters. He’s quickly elbowed by Legend and with good reason.

You’re not even in his era. You wouldn’t know how to help him get back to his village to begin with. But you can get to Castle Town from here no problem. And maybe Zelda would be able to help get Twilight back to normal. Otherwise, this might get very messy very quickly.

You hummed. “Well, what if he’s not in Castle Town? Then what would you do?”

It seems like a dumb questions, but part of you wants to be prepared for that very real possibility (certainty) when you get there.

Twilight didn’t seem to consider that. “Well, then I can take the road like he does. He says that it’s a three day trip from Castle Town to our village. So I would take me a while to get back... but I think I can do it on my own.”

“Have you done it on your own before?” You stand because your knees are starting to hurt from being in that position for so long. 

“Well... no...” He looks un certain again.

You nod, sticking out your hand. He takes it without hesitation. “Well let’s try to get to Castle Town first. We need to talk to some people there anyway.”

“We do?” Wild looks around for confirmation from the others.

“Yes, Wild, we do.” You try to stress the words so he can get the hint across. “There’s a little problem that we need to see of the Princess can fix because she’s really good at magic. Right guys?”

“Right.”

“Of course.”

“Naturally. We were already on the way there.”

“See?” You turn back to Twilight. He looks calmer now and he even starts to swing your hand back and forth. “We’ll help you out, ok?”

“Ok!” He smiles back, humming a small tune to himself before he changes his direction with a little skip .”Let’s go!”

You giggle, letting yourself b puled forward as he charges. “Easy! Hey, hold on!”

“This is going to be so much fun! I’ve never been on an adventure before.”

“Well hopefully this is a nice one.” You smile. He was a cute kid.

Warrior

“I’m not supposed to talk to strangers.” Warrior wrings his hands in front of himself, toeing the ground shyly.

Everyone stands frozen at the sight of him.

He’s hardly at the height of your hip and he can’t be any older than seven years old. He’s adorable. It’s not fair.

Warrior shuffles nervously on the spot. He knows that everyone is looking at him. He looks around for a moment before he shyly tugs on your shirt. “Where’s my mama? Have you seen her? She’s really pretty and tall and wears a lot of red.”

You gulp and kneel down to meet his height. “No, I haven’t, honey. Sorry.”

You can see his lip wobble before you put your hands on his shoulders. You smooth down his shirt and brush away the tears that have yet to fall. “Don’t cry. We’ll find her. Don’t worry.”

“She’s probably looking for me.” He tightens his hold on his shirt. “I’m going to get in trouble.”

“No. No, no, no, no, no-” You brush him down a bit more, fussing over him. “We’ll find her and explain to her what happened, ok? You won’t get in trouble. We’ll all friends here so we’ll look after you, ok? We’ll help you.”

“Promise?” He looks up to you with wide, wet eyes and your heart aches.

“I promise.”

“A heartbreaker before he even knows what that means.” Twilight shakes his head. “Using his looks to get something his way.”

“Twilight.” You hiss, turning to him. “Not helping.”

Warrior nods and rubs his eyes with the back of his hand. “Ok... Thank you...”

You nod and stand up again, holding out your hand for him to take. “Ok. We need to make our way to Castle Town. It’s about a day away. Think you can make the trip with us?”

He seems to take courage and nods, taking your hand in his. “I can! I live close by to Castle Town! It would help me get home faster!”

“Ok.” Legend stretches. “But we’d need to talk to Princess Zelda first before we can help you get home.”

He tilts his head. “Princess Zelda?”

“Yup!” You start to walk forward, signaling for the group to start making the trip. “She’s really nice. You’d like her.”

He hums quietly before he shifts to stand a little closer to your side. “My papa says he works close to the princess. He says she’s very pretty... Is that true?”

“She is very pretty. Yes.” You agree readily, mostly to humor him. 

“Is she as pretty as you?”

You trip over your own two feet. You turn to look at him, not wanting to make it awkward. Even if you’re incredibly flustered.  “I would say she’s prettier than me.”

“Impossible.”

Many of the others start snickering around you. You turn to give them a mild glare. Warrior doesn’t seem to notice.

“Mama would like you. She likes pretty things.”

You have to bite your lip. “Thank you, sweetheart. That’s very kind of you.”

Hyrule

“My name is Link, what’s yours?” The small child looks up at you with a bright smile. Hyrule got hit with a magic blaster faster than you could call out to him and this was the being who stood in his place.

You stutter out your name with wide eyes. He giggles and adjusts the hat on his head. “That’s a pretty name. It’s nice meeting you. Goodbye.”

“Wait, wait, wait!” You dive to catch his arm. Your action startles him and you’re quick to let him go again. The others around you are equally as startled but offer you no help. You try to catch your breath, taking a knee to match his line of sight better. “Where are you going?”

The boy suddenly eyes you suspiciously. “Why?”

“Why are you alone?” You ask him instead. “It’s not safe to go alone.”

He hums and kicks the dirt under his foot with his toe. “But I’m always alone.”

“They’re right though.” Four offers a little assistance. “It’s not safe to go alone. Do you know how to use a sword?”

The child looks a little uneasy. “...My aunts don’t want me to use a sword. They say that I have o get stronger first. My sisters try to keep me from using too much magic- but I’m really strong now! So I’ll be ok.”

You snap your fingers. “The fairies!” You turn to the others of the group. “Maybe they can help us fix this.”

The small boy takes a step back, clutching his hands over his chest. “I didn’t say fairies-”

“Are there any Great Fairies even nearby?” Legend runs his hands down his face. “It would take a lot to find them. Their fountains can be well hidden enough to avoid detection- not to mention the potential dangers that surround them.”

“We have to try.” You press on. “They might be strong enough to help him!”

Time takes a knee getting close to the child. “Do you know where they are?”

Tiny hands cover a tiny mouth. He shakes his head.

That’s...odd, you think to yourself. Hyrule wasn’t exactly open about it, but he didn’t try to his relationship with the fairies around his home. You tilt your head. “Well that’s ok if you don’t knw where they are. We can look them for them together.”

“You can’t.’ He whispers. He sounds scared suddenly. “I won’t tell you anything. I won’t let you hurt them!”

He turns to run away again but time grabs his arm again. this time he tries to fight back and Time is at a loss of what to do. You dive in, grabbing his legs as he starts to kick. “We’re not trying to hurt them!”

“Let me go!”

“We just need help!”

“I don’t believe you!”

“Enough!” Time booms in what you can only call the angry dad voice. He holds the child close to his chest, keeping him off of the ground. Hyrule stops moving, but he begins to shake, little tears star coming down his face.

You let him go and start to dry his tears and lower your voice to be as comforting as possible. “No one is going to hurt them and no one is going to hurt you, ok? We have a problem and we just want to know if they can do something about it.”

You feel bad but you don’t want him to run off, especially since he’s not where he thinks he is. 

He sniffles and Time slowly lowers him to the ground again. “Better?”

Hyrule nods, pulling his hat over his face. He looks up at you with wide, wet eyes. “Promise.”

You hold out your pinky. “I promise.”

He copies your movement and nods. “If you hurt them-”

“We won’t.” You sigh. “Just stay with us for a little bit, ok? Just until our problem is fixed.”

Hyrule whines, stepping forward to hug you. You have no idea why or what’s going through his head, but you hug him back, rubbing what you hope are soothing circles on his back.

“I’ll be watching you.” He tries to sound threatening. “And not because you’re pretty.”

You have to bite back a snort. “Of course.”

[blueberryshelves]

Another book down. Can't wait to start reading book #2.

_______________________________________________

Book Review

Title: Meet Me at the Summit Author: Mandi Lynn Bell

Book Series: Road Trip Snapshot, book #1

No. of Pages: 329

ISBN: 978-1-953388-02-5

Cover design: original cover and pen name before book republishing in 2023.

Synopsis:

For most 19-year-olds, a cross-country trip is an offer you can’t refuse, but for Marly, it’s the last thing she wants after losing both her parents in a car accident. Nine months after their death, Marly would rather stay home working the retail job she hates, than deal with her loss.

It isn’t until family and friends corner her into driving her mom’s renovated 1978 VW bus from Washington to New Hampshire that Marly is forced to face her grief and understand the guilt she feels over her parents’ death. Skeptical, Marly goes on the trip, warily exploring the life her parents knew she always wanted—hiking mountains and living out her photography dreams. On the way, she’ll discover places and people who’ll test her emotions and a guy who pushes at the walls she’s so carefully built around herself. Marly must decide: can she face her deepest wounds and reclaim the life she thought was gone forever?

Meet Me at the Summit is an intimate tale of grief, finding yourself after deep loss, and coming to terms with how life changes when you least expect it. It follows Marly as she both runs from and towards the emotions she has long held back regarding her parents’ death. A deep, insightful look into the coming-of-age theme through a heart-breaking narrative.

The Road Trip Snapshot duology, book 1

_______________________________________________

What did I think of the book?

Meet Me at the Summit by Mandi Lynn Bell My rating: ⭐⭐⭐ 3 of 5 stars

[Spoiler warning!]

I read the companion novel/stand-alone of this series, The Trail to You & Me, at the beginning of July, and fell absolutely in love with it. So, when the other two books of the Road Trip Snapshot series finally came in the mail, I was excited, and hungry for more hiking adventures and romance. I have to say, Meet Me at the Summit is not what I expected. There's a part of me that wishes I had read this book first before the stand-alone for the emotional context, but oh well. This is a coming-age-of story focused on overcoming grief, loss, and finding a way to get life rolling onward again (in this case, through the awesomeness of a hiking road trip, and some romance sprinkled in the later half of the book). There are some tough lessons in this book, such as: sometimes you just have to do what you don’t want to do, or are scared of, in order to heal yourself and get things back together again. Life happens, it’s not always fun and games, and we have to learn to face it and keep living, even if it we’d rather spend the rest of our lives hiding under a pillow from it all. It’s an emotional book, and it’s hard to not feel like tearing up with the main character as she goes through her grief at times. The scene with Marly at the Summit of Mount Washington was beautiful, sad, and possibly my favorite scene of the whole book. The different locations described in the story were a lot of fun to search up, too. As I was reading, I told my partner, “I feel like I’m getting a tour of America with this book”, and he said “Yeah, there’s not much to see here… except everything.” Lol. Favorite character/s: Ethan, Marly’s uncle. I wish he was in the book more. It felt like he grounded the story nicely as an older adult in the book in the beginning. Dylan, for the fact that he doesn’t let Marly allow her fears to consume her. How he helps her have closure at the end of the story is also touching. What drew me to this book? The cover design (original). I loved the color palette with the orange and blue, and the vibe of the illustration style. When I found out the author had republished the books with new covers, I hesitated on getting the books. I really liked the original covers, so I was over-the-moon happy when I heard I could still get them from the author’s website. Stars: 3/5 because there were just a few too many hiccups with the book that affected the reading experience for me, the main one being that there was a strange lack of detail for some of the characters when they were introduced in the story, like hair color, eye color, clothes, etc., that weren’t mentioned until later on, or at times not at all. Despite this, I would read it again in the future, and I’m really looking forward to seeing what Let the Rubble Fall will be like.

View all my reviews

[willinglyghoulified]

3, 9, 17, & 45 for the courier asks?

Thanks so much for the asks! I literally cannot get enough of talking about my lil blorbos. I don't give Dorothy (NV) half as much attention as I give Gwenora (4), so it's nice to talk about her.

3 - Melee, guns, energy weapons, or unarmed?

As for me personally: Guns all the wayyyyyyyy. Idk what it is about NV, but I love the guns. Maybe it's because of the cowboy repeaters, varment rifles, and magnums. Really gives it that western feel. Also, the sniper rifles were good as hell. But as for my headcanon courier, she prefers her magnum. It was a gift and has a lot of significance, too.

9 - Gender / sexuality / ethnicity / species / etc.?

My courier, Dorothy Vargas, is female and is canonically bisexual, though she doesn't discuss this much. She grew up in the Casa Madrid apartments where there were cheap prostitutes, and she didn't have any real role models for half of her life. Sex, booze, chems, cigarettes, and gambling kind of became a part of her life, and she experimented with everything in her teens and early twenties, including her violent tendencies. She doesn't talk about her sexual activities a lot, but she has been known to flirt her way through situations where she knew violence wouldn't do the trick regardless of gender. She winds up with Boone, though, because even though they only teamed up to kick Legion ass together, she found that she really enjoyed someone caring about her well-being. Who she is romantically interested in has a lot to do with her trauma. Boone treats her juuuuuust right, you know? Not too nice, but not too mean lol. As for ethnicity, she has a heavily Western-American lineage. However, she doesn't know much about her family history, so it's a bit of an unknown for her. Fun fact: Manny Vargas is her brother, who was separated from her when she was 7 and he was 12.

17 - What's their reputation with the Khans / the Brotherhood / the Boomers / the Powder Gangers?

In my FF, Dorothy is a sort of special agent for the NCR. Thanks to Boone guilt-tripping her into doing "the right thing," she decides against siding with Yes Man and taking over Vegas. Instead, she joins up with the NCR, and let's just say that Colonel Moore has it out for her. Sending her on high-risk missions alone and cramming bouts of rigorous training in as few days as possible are two such ways the Colonel likes to remind Dorothy that she works for her now. And since she was sent on quests like this alone, she always tried not to chance eradicating everyone, so she worked on her diplomacy here. She talked the Khans into leaving, she talked the Brotherhood into a truce with the NCR, she left Yes Man in the care of Swank, and she conscripted the Boomers' help for the war. For the most part, she tends to completely ignore the Powder Gangers unless they give her trouble on the road, but she kills Legion scum on sight.

45 - What do they do after hoover dam?

I'm embarrassed to say that I haven't actually written this part yet, even though I've been "working" on this fanfiction for yearssssss. I feel like I'm literally going to melt just talking about this because I am so ashamed lol. But the plan for Dorothy after Hoover Dam is: Colonel Moore offers Dorothy anything she wants as thanks and as an apology of sorts for doubting her during her enlistment, and she really pulled through for the NCR. So Dorothy asks her to cancel the rest of her and Boone's 2-year enlistment term. Colonel Moore was very hesitant to adhere to Dorothy's terms, but an agreement is an agreement. So she let Boone and Dorothy go. On paper it's listed as "honorable discharge." Moore mostly agreed to Dorothy's terms because of Dorothy's pregnancy, though. She and Boone basically travel through the Mojave in search of a place to settle down. And funnily enough, she does run into Benny again, but he's in a t-shirt and overalls, scraping the dry ground with a hoe, trying to learn how to grow his own crops, the poor bastard. Dorothy stops, smiles, gives him the platinum chip, and continues traveling with Boone without so much as a word to Benny. (Book ends with Benny smiling and his favorite quote, "Ring-a-ding.") Pray that I finish this damn book, it haunts me lol.

[jeaninthephilippines]

I am beginning to accept the nature of this trip. This isn't a vacation about sight-seeing and tourist-y things to do. This is to live as through my mother's eyes. While I am grateful for her and my lola's health and energy, I also understand the limits of my requests.

Today my mom wanted me to experience walking the way to our morning zumba class in a different part of our province. Again with the warning about dog poo has me on high alert. As we walked down the road without sidewalks, I was quickly saying yet another prayer of how I am so grateful for sidewalks. If someone pulled back the camera to see me and my mom head down to class today, it would look like she's a mother hen and I was a small chick fighting for my life to keep up with her lead.

There were small businesses everywhere selling produce, house wares, meats, and snacks.

We were the earliest ones so I entertained myself watching a 2 on 2, shoes versus no shoes men's game. I couldn't help but be in awe how they effortlessly kick off their slippers and played as though they had shoes on. Then a big foul during a layup got them heated. I had to put my ADHD sensibilities at bay because I so badly wanted to assume the role of referee and mediate. Hahah!

While standing at the center of the court waiting for class to set up, one of two boonie dogs started to run my way. My first thought was it's going to bite me. I stuck my hand out gently and it pulled its own brakes, then gently walked towards me. My mom starts to walk towards me to check me. The dog gets on its back begging me to play with him. My mom stated that maybe he realizes I am dog person. This moment made me feel so deeply a lot of things. Am I so connected to my dog, it's a permission into the world of dogs? Am I so connected to the world now, it's opened up signs of tenderness like this dog's affection and the little baby reaching for my hand on Sunday? Have I been disconnected so long from the things in my life that matter, that I could no longer see the good that frequents itself in my life but I was head deep into my phone, stress, and people who ultimately were vampires?

The Zumba instructor was this thick, strong woman I regrettably left without taking a picture. During these Zumba classes, my body remembers a time when I finished college with only part time work and full time fun to do. My body remembers how it loved dancing and community.

We make our way home buying 3 bags of produce for about $6. Unbelievable. I mentally prepare myself to be a baby chick again for the walk home.

My mom walks up to one of the motorcycles with a sidecar (they're everywhere for a good reason) to take us home. I hesitate, then agree. The driver was so thoughtful as we drove down the streets trying to avoid all the potholes with his bike. I was too tall to be in there but it was a funny moment to share with my mom.

I've come to terms with my size as an Amazon woman here in this reality. I like the Wonder Woman association, especially when my mother is driving around assholes and I whisper under my breath, "I will break that person with my bare hands if I have to." Hahah

I don't think my mom sees all of my value because 1. She's in mom mode, charge mode. 2. She's got her nose deep into her phone with funny reels, her posts, and counting of followers that she's occupied with.

But when she wanted to give up doing an errand (getting a security sticker to enter this elite shopping area) because of the parking lot crowdedness, I gently coached her to be patient and hang on. We persisted and I tried to joke-but-not-joke credit myself for being helpful for morale, she brushed it off.

And in those moments where I forgive her for ADHD tendencies, I also forgive myself. I know how she treats me, is how I treat others. The world moves so fast for us, who has time to say thank you? Who has time to live when anxiety is driving the body?

It's only day 4 and I am learning to live again. I hope the universe kismet kisses me again by reaching for my hand to say, "We here and we're alive."

[captainsophiestark]

Road Trip

Jack Thompson x Reader

Masterlist - Join My Taglist!

Written for Agent Carter Bingo 2022! @agentcarterbingo​

Fandom: Marvel

Square Filled: Road Trip

Summary: Y/N followed Daniel to LA when he left, thinking it would be an escape from all the headaches in New York. Then, the headache followed her to LA. And got himself shot. Now, he needs to go back to New York, but since he's still recovering from a few bullets to the chest, he's not cleared to fly. It's also not the safest thing for him to drive across the country by himself, so he'll need somebody to go with him. And Y/N is about to get roped into doing it.

Word Count: 2,579

Category: Angst, Fluff

Warnings: Canon-compliant descriptions of the gunshot wound Jack got at the end of season 2

Putting work into an AI program without permission is illegal. You do not have my permission. Do not do it.

"-and you should move some of these desks so it's easier for agents to move around from one place to another. I'm bumping into desks left and right here."

"Maybe you're just uncoordinated, Jack."

"And another thing-"

I smiled to myself as I made a fresh pot of coffee, eavesdropping on the two SSR chiefs behind me. A few weeks ago, Jack had been shot in his hotel room. He'd been bleeding out on the carpet when I'd arrived to give him some files Daniel had forgotten about, completely unconscious and on death's doorstep. Thankfully, I had enough medical training that I'd been able to keep him somewhat stable after calling 911, and we'd gotten him to the hospital. After hours in surgery and a few days in a coma, he'd finally managed to pull through. He spent a couple weeks recovering in the hospital, and a few days ago, they'd officially released him.

He'd been hanging around here ever since, driving Daniel and Peggy absolutely crazy.

"Hello, Y/N," said Peggy, sidling up next to me as the coffee brewed.

"Hey Peg. You getting a little escape from Jack?" I asked, nudging her shoulder teasingly. The boys had wandered off to another part of the office, giving us a slight break from their bickering.

"Yes, actually. And speaking of that, Daniel and I had a little proposition for you."

I turned to Peggy and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yes. You remember how you've been wanting to work the Underwood case, but haven't been able to since she hasn't come to the West coast?"

"Yes..."

"Well, Daniel and I found a way for you to work the case. Even lead it, from the SSR LA division and angle."

"...And what's the catch?"

Peggy tried for a smile, but it looked more like a grimace to me. I tried to brace myself for whatever she was about to say next.

"Well, since you need to be in New York to work the case... Daniel and I thought you could drive Jack back with you, since you have medical training and he can't fly for another few weeks at least."

I couldn't stop myself from laughing as I shook my head.

"No way Peggy, not a chance," I said after a few deep breaths. "Two weeks stuck in a car with only a cranky, injured Jack Thompson for company? You couldn't pay me enough."

"Come on, Y/N! Please! This works well for all of us! Jack gets back to New York so he can run the agency, Daniel and I get him out of our hair, and you get to take over your dream investigation!"

"No. Way."

"Come on, Y/N, we really need your help."

"Peggy Carter. There is absolutely nothing you can do to convince me to get in a car and drive across the country with Jack."

****************

"I can't believe they actually convinced you to get in a car and drive across the country with me," grumbled Jack from the passenger seat as I climbed into the driver's side.

"Me neither," I growled, my grip on the steering wheel white-knuckled.

"Have fun! Call us when you get there!" called Peggy, waving from the curb outside the SSR.

"Try not to kill each other!" added Daniel. I flipped him off without hesitation and, to my surprise, Jack did the same thing at the exact same time as me.

When he realized, he turned to me. We stared at each other for a few beats, then shook our heads and faced forward again. Wordlessly, I started the car and began the first few miles of our long, long road trip.

We made it just outside the city limits before our nice, tentative peace fell apart.

"What is this garbage?" muttered Jack as he reached forward to change the radio station I had on.

"Jack, don't-" I tried to stop him, but he'd already started searching through the noise of different channels and wavelengths before I'd even opened my mouth. "I was listening to that!"

"Well, we would've had to change it after we got another few miles out of the city anyway. This is just getting ahead of the game."

I sighed and scowled, but let him fidget with the radio as I drove. He couldn't seem to decide on a station, and all the song and speech fragments floating through the car were starting to drive me seriously crazy.

"Can you please just pick a station?" I finally whined. It felt like I'd been keeping my comment to myself for hours, but really it'd only been a few minutes.

"Alright, alright. Relax. Geeze, can't you cut me a little slack? I almost died."

I gripped the steering wheel a little tighter, trying to block the memory from my mind. Jack and I had never been best friends or anything, but seeing him laying on the floor, unconscious, and in a pool of his own blood... only years of medical training had been enough for me to keep my head. And ever since, I'd being desperately trying to forget those few hours where he'd almost died in my arms.

"How long are you going to milk that for?" I asked, forcing myself to use a light tone even though I didn't feel it. Jack didn't seem to notice.

"I feel like I'm at least entitled to a few more weeks."

I couldn't hold back a small laugh. Jack grinned, then went back to messing with the radio. I sighed. This was going to be a long, long road trip.

****************

I thought being stuck in the car with Jack was bad, but I had no idea just how much worse it could get. We couldn't make the drive across the entire country in a day, which meant we had to stop along the way. Which also meant sharing a motel room with Jack. More than once.

The first time we'd stopped, I hadn't been able to keep the displeasure off my face as we checked into our one room with two beds. We'd barely taken a few steps away from the front desk before Jack stepped in front of me and stopped me.

"Hey. If it bothers you that much, I can go ask him for two rooms."

I stared at him, my scowl only deepening. "No."

"Why? You clearly don't like the idea of sharing a room with me. What's the matter, afraid I'm gonna get shot again?"

I closed my eyes for a few heartbeats, forcing myself to take deep breaths through my nose. An image of Jack lying on the floor of his last hotel room bleeding out popped into my mind, and it was all I could do to open my eyes and force it away.

"It's fine, Jack. It's less money to share a room, anyway, so... it's fine."

Jack looked like he was going to keep talking, but I just walked past him towards our room before he could.

We didn't argue about sharing a room again as we slowly worked our way across the country. Despite pretty constantly getting on each others' nerves, we actually did have some fun. I was never bored, and a lot of the time I was even laughing. I'd never really talked to the blonde SSR chief before, but talking was mostly all we had to do on the road trip. As much as I hated to admit it, I was actually starting to like him.

Finally, we got to our last stop on the trip before New York. We checked into our last motel, and I could've danced at the thought that this journey from hell was almost over.

"Alright, I'm taking a shower and then going to bed," I announced, dropping my bags next to my bed as Jack stretched out on his own.

"Fine by me. I'll be in here."

We shared a smile, then I headed into the bathroom. The tentative peace we'd both made while going crazy driving through the midwest had actually turned into a budding friendship, to both our surprises. I had no idea if it would survive once we got to New York, but I was going to do my best to make it happen.

I took my time when I got out of the shower, fully relaxing and getting ready for bed. I came out to find Jack already in bed, reading his book with the light on. We shared a small smile as I passed and got into my bed, curling up on my side and trying to fall asleep. I tossed and turned a few times, but even though I was exhausted, I couldn't get to sleep with the light on next to me.

After my fifth readjustment and attempt to fall asleep, I sighed and sat up. I turned to face Jack, only to find him already looking at me over the cover of his book.

"You alright there, Y/L/N?"

"Uh... well, actually, I was hoping you could turn off the light. I'm so tired, but I can't get to sleep with it on."

"Alright, sure, just gimme a few more minutes."

"Yeah. Sure."

I closed my eyes and tried to rest even though I wasn't sleeping. The seconds stretched, and I heard page after page turn in Jack's book. Slowly, I counted to ten, and then I opened my eyes and whirled on him.

"Jack. Come on, please turn off the light. It's been way more than a few minutes."

"Listen, the next time you survive being shot three times in the chest and almost bleeding out, then you can decide when it's time for us to go to sleep and turn out the lights."

"That is IT!" I shouted, whirling all the way around to face Jack, my legs handing off the edge of the bed. "I've let all your damn jokes about almost dying roll off my back for this whole trip, but I can't take it anymore Jack!"

"Whoa, Y/N-" he said, sitting up straighter himself and trying to move towards me. I was having none of it. I'd hit my breaking point.

"No! Look, Jack, I'm glad you're in a place where you can throw that injury and near-death experience around like it's nothing, but it's probably because you were unconscious for most of it. I wasn't. I was awake, hands soaked in your blood as I tried to stop the bleeding, feeling how cold you were getting from the blood loss, trying not to cry, trying to call an ambulance when my hands were slipping on the dial from YOUR BLOOD, and absolutely shaking from the adrenaline dump while I waited for you to either die in surgery or come back to your room in a coma. So I don't have a damn sense of humor about it, and I'd really appreciate it if you stopped making jokes about it all the damn time."

I huffed a big sigh and looked down at my hands, which were shaking in my lap. When I'd started talking, I hadn't planned on telling him all that. It just came out. Like water from a dam.

Jack sat quietly on the bed opposite mine, and I could see his feet even as I stared at my hands. I really, really didn't want to look up at his face, but surprise was enough to make me do it as he finally spoke, his voice barely above a whisper.

"You were the one that saved me?"

My head snapped up, only to find him staring at his own hands and not making eye contact. I sighed, the anger and fear dissipating at the sight. Jack never looked anything other than insufferably confident and arrogant. This was the first time I'd seen him shaken while he was still conscious.

"Yeah. Daniel had files he forgot to give you, so he sent me to deliver them. When I walked into your room..." I shivered and shook my head, trying to get the memory to go away. "It was almost too late."

Jack nodded slowly, then took a deep breath. He stood and crossed the small space between us and came to a stop right in front of me. Carefully, he took my hands in his. My heart raced in my chest as he met my eyes, his expression more open and soft than I'd ever seen it while he was awake.

"I'm... sorry, Y/N. I had no idea... I'll stop making jokes. I promise. I just... I'm so sorry."

Just like that, my heart melted. I held his hands tighter and pulled, until Jack got the hint and sat down next to me. I held both of Jack's hands with one of mine and put my free hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay, Jack. I really am glad you can joke about it. I just... can't. So thank you, for stopping with the jokes. And I'm sorry I blew up on you."

Jack shook his head. "I'm sorry I never thought about how you might feel about it. And for assuming some random maid or somebody found me in that hotel room."

He paused, and our eyes met. We held each others' stares for a long moment, more emotion passing between us than I could ever put into words.

"Thank you," Jack finally whispered, voice hoarse. "Thank you for saving me."

"Of course, Jack. I'm just glad I could. I hated seeing you like that, but... I'd do it again, given any choice, I'd go through it again. I'd always save you."

Jack gave me the most genuine smile I'd ever seen from him. Slowly, he leaned in, simultaneously reaching up to tangle a hand in the back of my hair. My heart hammered in my chest, and I found myself leaning in to meet him as he kissed me.

It was a soft kiss, full of tender emotion. I knew I'd never hear the end of it from Peggy and Daniel if they ever found out I'd kissed Jack Thompson, but in that moment, I really didn't care.

Jack finally pulled away, and after one last heartfelt beat, his face slowly broke into a shit-eating grin.

"What?" I demanded.

"You care about me," he teased. I rolled my eyes and punched him in the arm.

"Shut up."

"Do Daniel and Peggy know that you'd always save me?"

"Thompson, I will make you walk the rest of the way to New York."

"No, but seriously, are you-"

I cut him off by leaning back in and kissing him on the mouth, much harder than he'd kissed me. After a few moments, I pulled away, and Jack just stared at me in complete shock.

"Damn, if I'd known it was that easy to shut you up when I still worked for you in New York, I would've kissed you a long time ago."

Jack laughed and wrapped one arm around my shoulders.

"What do you say you let me take you to dinner when we finally get back to New York? I think you and I could really wreak some havoc together."

"First dinner, then Dottie Underwood, our LA friends, and the world," I said, smiling and leaning into Jack. He smiled right back, the usual arrogance mostly gone from his face again.

"I can't wait."

[neecxle]

Not So Berry Extended

I finished the Not So Berry Challenge but wanted to continue for a few more generations because I adore my family. So I’ve written up my own version of things I want to do and accomplish per generation. Now this is a small extension most likely 3 generations that will be updated as I play. Rules may be subject to change whether that be adding or removing things, bc I am playtesting all of this currently.

If you want to follow and watch my playthrough of my Not So Berry Extended, you can do so HERE. ♥

Hope you enjoy and have fun with it! 

Generation 11: White 

From a young age you grew a fascination with acting, the idea of being able to step away from reality and take on a role of someone else excited you. So with the supportive parents you had, they enrolled you in drama club for the entirety of your school life. You begin to strive for something more, becoming a global superstar actor! With focusing so much on your career, keeping serious romantic relationships is difficult because you always prioritize work over love. You eat, breathe, sleep acting and you were happy keeping it that way. But with a one night stand gone wrong... you find out you are now left with an unplanned child. 

Traits: Self-Absorbed // Music Lover // Non-Committal

Aspiration: Master Actor

Career: Actor

Goals:

enroll in drama club as a child and teen + get promoted to junior artiste (lvl.4)

master acting skill

reach level 5 in singing, dancing and an instrument of your choice

master the actor career and master actor aspiration

become a 5 star celebrity

have at least 1 celebrity best friend

never get married

have a one night stand and “accidentally” get pregnant/impregnate the sim* - this will be your only child

* if you choose to impregnate a sim, once the sim gives birth they give you the child to take care of 

side note: if you don’t have access to custom content feel free to use silver hair in replacement for white and dress them in white if you please

Generation 12: Brown

Growing up in the shadows of your parents spotlight was a little hard on you. Although you knew how much they loved you and tried their best to spend every free moment with you, you still felt...alone. Thankfully being a part of the scouts club gave you a sense of family, which you deeply cherished. Scouts club also made you truly fall in love with the outdoors. Being out in nature didn’t make you feel like you were so alone anymore, which is why camping became something you loved to do. There were tales that in the Deep Woods of Granite Falls a hermit resides away from everyone, so naturally the curious bean you were you had to find out for yourself. Forever alone felt like a motto you started to live by and thought you’d never get married like your parent, but someone finally came along and you were really happy with the way life was heading. Unfortunately down the road things didn’t end up working out. You’ve always secretly had this crazy idea of making a robot best friend since you were a kid. The thought of having a robot who was there for you every waking moment felt like something you needed in your life, so it was time to make a crazy idea… a reality!

Traits:  Loves the Outdoors // Loner // Erratic

Aspiration:  Outdoor Enthusiast

Career:  Gardener

Goals:

join scouts club as a child and teen + get promoted to llamacorn scout (lvl.5)

master outdoor enthusiast aspiration (i give you permission to cheat sleep 5 nights in a tent - it’s quite annoying)

master gardening career (floral designer branch)

master gardening and flower arranging skill

complete the insect collection

have a pet cowplant

master herbalism skill (craft each recipe at least once - 13 recipes total)

master robotics skill and create your robot best friend

have 1 failed marriage and have at least 1 child w/ them

go into the deep woods > meet and befriend the hermit

Generation 13: Black

Ahh books… you love em! You always enjoyed a good read that could take you on a journey in a whole new fantasy world. So naturally starting a book club at school to share your love for reading was the thing to do. Thanks to the club it brought you your best friend, who you later fall in love with and get engaged to. Instead of going off to university like everyone else you got convinced to join the military, but that didn’t last long so you quit and went off to study psychology. Whilst away at uni you discovered the Encyclopedia Vampirica, and got extremely curious about vampires to the point you took a trip over to Forgotten Hollow to find out if they were real. You end up meeting a vampire who you become completely mesmerized with and fall in love so quick as if you were put under a spell. This is where you decide to ask “could I be turned into one?” Without hesitation their teeth sink into your neck and the process of you turning has begun. You decide to drop out of university and call off the engagement because you have fallen for another and want to live out your new vampire life. Becoming a Simlish online teacher was your only option after dropping out of uni, and with working from home you had more time to yourself so you started writing your own books. Unfortunately your job started to feel mundane, so you have the bright idea of running your own business! Not being able to have children has always upset you, but with your new powers creating your own vampire family is only one step away...

Traits:  Bookworm // Cheerful // Insider

Aspiration:  Master Vampire

Career:  Military/ Education/ Business Owner

Goals:

start a book club as a child and meet with them at least once a week

get engaged to your best friend shortly after aging up into a young adult

join the military career reach lvl 5, then quit

go off to university and study psychology - drop out after first semester

fall in love with a vampire and ask them to turn you

break off the engagement after you drop out of university

master bowling, vampire lore, and pipe organ skill

join the education career reach lvl 4, then quit (only work from home)

write and publish at least 5 books

complete the master vampire aspiration

don’t have kids or adopt - instead create a vampire family of sims you turn (at least 2)

run your own business

(optional if you want to end the legacy) burn to death from being exposed to sunlight

If you have decided to end your legacy here, congratulations on completing my not so berry extended! I hope you enjoyed the challenge, if you did, thank you for taking the time to give this a go! 

- Much love, Nicole ♥

[marshmallow-phd]

Book of the Dead

Genre: The Mummy AU

Pairing: Junmyeon x Reader

Summary: After traveling to the fabled city of Hamunaptra, you read from the Book of the Dead and accidentally resurrect an ancient mummy with extraordinary powers and quest for revenge. The only thing to do now is try and convince your less-than-traditional guide to help you save the world. 

Part 1 I Part 2

**

“I just said a few sentences!”

“What did you do that for!”

“Well, I didn’t know that that would happen!”

You stared at the aggravating, self-absorbed, cocky Korean soldier and wondered why on earth you had decided to negotiate for this man’s life. 

Alright, you did know why. You needed him to show you to Hamunuptra - the fabled City of the Dead. 

Too many times you had stood in front of the museum curator with pages and pages of references and evidence that the place existed and just needed a small team of archeologists in order to track it down. He’d shot you down every time. And each time he took the liberty of reminding you that while your father was an exceptional explorer who had many successes under his belt, you were a woman whose life had been spent between the shelves, cataloging. Your adventures consisted of the fictional kind, devouring any novel you could when you weren’t archiving the latest crate of artifacts and texts. 

Then your cousin showed up. Your normally useless, hare-brained, erratic, drunkard cousin showed up at your apartment with a “fun new artifact” he found on his latest trip. And suddenly your luck had completely turned around. 

Or so you thought. 

Now you were standing in the middle of Hamunaptra, feet sinking into the unstable sand, with an empty sarcophagus and everyone blaming you because you did what you did best - read.

It was only a book. Albeit, a very heavy, possibly-made-of-painted-solid-gold book that was written in the dead language of ancient Egypt, but still. What harm had ever come from reading a book?

Kim Junmyeon stared at you as if you were the one who had risen from the dead. You were still stunned at how different he looked from when you had first met him in that smelly prison, minutes away from being hanged. His hair had been long and stringy, clumps of dirt clinging to the dark brown strands that brushed his shoulders. Now it was shorter, cut above his ears and gelled back in the current style that almost made him look like a gentleman. The several days’ stubble was long gone to reveal smooth skin and a sharp jawline. He was actually very handsome - when he was cleaned up. 

Stupid, you hissed at yourself. Now was not the time for this. Because right now there seemed to be a reanimated mummy running around here. And by the looks of Barney’s husk of a body lying deep within the temple underground, it was hungry. 

As it should be, given the three thousand years it spent locked up under piles of sand. 

“Really, you should have been more careful!” your cousin, Baekhyun, scolded. 

You scoffed. “You’re one to talk. You were the one who snatched the key off of Mr. Kim here at one of your seedy bars and then proceeded to lie to me and say that you found it on a dig in Thebes which in turn brought us here!”

Baekhyun opened and closed his mouth as he searched for a possible retort. 

“I think this is more your fault,” Kim Junmyeon’s own cousin and traveling partner, Oh Sehun, said. “You told us to go down a level and dig under the statue, which in turn,” he mocked your tone almost precisely, “caused the mummy to be able to get out of his sarcophagus. If we had dug somewhere else entirely, then he’d still be trapped under the statue of Anubis.”

“Despite the fact that it was two layers deep, nothing would have been able to hold a victim of the Hom-Dai.”

“Would have given poor Barney a chance,” Kim Junmyeon muttered under his breath. You shot him a glare that he hardly noticed. 

“I say that we get out of here and to the safety of the city before the mummy finds us.” Oh Sehun swallowed thickly. “Or worse. The beetles find us.” The supposedly brave soldier who had two pistols hanging under each arm was more terrified of the flesh eating bugs than he was the living mummy that was bringing about the ten plagues of Egypt. You’d already lived through the locust infestation, but that was always the most minor of the plagues. In your opinion. 

“We told you to leave,” Ardeth said in that low, monotone voice that made him seem centuries old. You had only known him for a few hours, but you already feared and respected him. Despite the fact that he had attacked your campsite the night before. “Now you have condemned the whole world to the very monster that we have spent three thousand years keeping hidden.”

Kim Junmyeon finally tore his face away from yours. “I told you. I shot him. He went down.”

“Mortal weapons are useless against this creature. None can kill him.” Stepping up, he stood toe to toe with the soldier who led you here. “A gun is nothing more than a fly to him. He will never eat. He will never sleep. And he will never stop. Not until this world is only sand.”

Though still not completely backing down, Kim Junmyeon took hold of your arm. “Come on. We’re going back to Cairo.”

**

The camel ride back to the city was long, tiring, and a bit painful, if you were honest. The inside of your thighs were sore from keeping you up right on the animal’s back for hours on end under the blazing heat. You were used to the comfortable back seat of a car, even if the roads here tended to be on the bumpier side. Kim Junmyeon stayed at your side the entire time, up until you were back in your hotel room. All your things were still in there. That was nice, even if it was to be expected. The desk clerk had sworn he would keep the room reserved for you until you made it back. And now that you had, you were on to the next fight. 

“We’re not going anywhere!” 

Kim Junmyeon pretended not to hear you as he started emptying the dresser drawers of your clothes and stuffing them in your suitcases lying open on the bed.

“Excuse me! I said we’re not going anywhere!” As soon as he stepped away again, you slammed the suitcase shut. A stray white cat that you didn’t have the heart to remove from your room took advantage of the newly available space and laid down on the surface of the luggage. Unbothered by the argument taking place in its presences, it purred as it curled into a ball and closed its eyes. 

“You keep using the word ‘we’ and I’m not sure why,” he said. “I believe you were the one who woke him up in the first place.”

“Yes, I get it!” you shouted. “Everyone can blame me because I read the damn book, but that is why we need to stop him.”

He closed the empty drawer and turned back around to face you. “And how exactly do you plan on doing that? You heard Ardeth. No mortal weapon can kill this guy.”

“That’s why we’re going to find some immortal ones.”

He pulled a pair of rounded glasses from his pocket, wiped the lenses with his shirt, and stuck them on the bridge of his nose. “There goes that ‘we’ business again.”

You huffed, trying not to focus on the newest version of the soldier now being presented in front of you. “Yes, we. Because this curse will continue to get worse until the whole world is destroyed.”

“And that’s my problem?”

“It is everybody’s problem! You live here, too!”

Kim Junmyeon stepped up until he was mere inches away. “Listen. I appreciate you saving my life and all, but when I agreed to this idiotic mission my objective was to show you the way and then bring you back here. I have done that. End of job. End of story. Contract terminated.”

You tried not to show how his last few words affected you. Though you had been a little intoxicated two nights ago, you still very much remembered how sweet he had been, how he had listened to you go on and on about your parents and how much you wanted to be a famous adventurer like your father. And how you almost kissed him. And how he was going to kiss you back. Stupidly, you had thought that there was something growing between you. Apparently, you had been wrong. 

“Is that all I am to you?” you whispered. “A contract?”

Kim Junmyeon blew out haughtily from his nose. His Adam’s Apple bobbed as he swallowed. He opened his mouth and then closed it. You waited in hopes that he would contradict you. That he would say, no that was not all you were to him. And it really seemed like he would be saying something along those lines. But other words came out instead. 

“Look. You can either come with me or you can try and stay here and save the world. So. What’s it going to be?”

You didn’t even hesitate. “I’m staying.”

“Fine.” He headed for the door. 

“Fine,” you bit back, following him. 

“Fine,” he threw at you again as he barely glanced over his shoulder.

“Fine!”

“Fine!” 

He got the last word in before slamming the door to your room shut. 

You huffed as you crossed your arms. Yet, as angry as you were, you still hoped that he would come back. That he wouldn’t let you take this on alone. But the footsteps on the other faded away and you were alone.

Looking around your room, you didn’t think there was much you could do. So, you did what you were best at. You grabbed all the books you thought could help you and got to reading. 

While sitting in the wicker chair in the corner, you skipped around the books and pages, clinging on to any small word that you thought could lead you to a possible solution. There wasn’t much to be found, unfortunately. Most works spoke of how to perform the Hom-Dai and how it should never be performed due to the curse that awaits should the victim ever be awakened. You already knew that. You needed specifics on what to do after the victim came back. 

“(Y/n)!”

Kim Junmyeon came bursting back into your room. You slammed the book in your hands closed, feeling very high and mighty indeed.

“Ah. Mr. Kim. Have you changed your mind?”

“Doesn’t matter now, he’s here!”

“What!”

He didn’t clarify as he hoisted you up out of the chair and pulled you out of the room, and into the hall. Through the windows, you watched in horror as fire fell from the heavens. The balls of flame engulfed anything it touched when it landed, whether it be plant or human life. Turning a corner, Kim Junmyeon ran into a room you knew was occupied by another one of the Americans that you had ran into on your way to Hamunaptra. You gasped. 

In the chair, now nothing more than dried, husky skin and hollow bones was… oh, dear you couldn’t remember his name. You hadn’t bothered to learn them. You and Baekhyun had simply referred to them as the “Bloody Americans”. You were feeling a bit awful about that at the moment. 

But you didn’t have much time to dwell on that. Standing in front of the fireplace was a new version of the mummy. His skin was starting to come together, though patches were still missing, allowing you to see the gray bone and lack of organs underneath. Kim Junmyeon pulled out both of his guns as the mummy stalked forward. 

“We are in deep trouble,” he murmured before opening fire. The loud pops banged on your poor eardrums. You stumbled back a few steps to try and soften their blows. It didn’t work. 

The bullets passed through the mummy as if they didn’t exist at all. Even when Oh Sehun and the other Americans came running into the room and firing off their own guns, the mummy still kept going. He shoved Kim Junmyeon back into the others as if he were nothing more than old wrappings. Then he turned on you. 

Completely unarmed, you stumbled back until you were betrayed by the bookshelf behind you. There was nowhere to run. Instead of sucking out your liver, however, he spoke. 

“You were the one who saved me from the afterlife.” His words were haunting, echoing as if he was speaking in a cavern. And the language he spoke… ancient Egyptian. You weren’t sure why you expected to speak anything else. Coming in closer, he lowered his voice. “I thank you.” 

He leaned in his head, those very human eyes lowering to your lips. You turned your head away to try and avoid the kiss, confused as to why he was trying to seduce you. 

Sharp, unpleasing notes from the piano pierced through the air. The mummy turned and gasped when he saw the white cat from your room walking across the keys. In a whirl of sand, he fled from the room. 

“Oh, thank god,” you said with a heavy breath.

“No kidding,” Kim Junmyeon groaned as he sat up. 

You ran to his side, fearful that he might have been injured. “Are you alright, Mr. Kim?”

“Yes,” he huffed. With a very odd expression, he added, “And I told you to call me Junmyeon.”

To be honest, after your fight, you didn’t think you would be allowed to anymore. A strange silence settled between you. He was trying to say something with his gaze, but you couldn’t interpret it. So, instead, you helped him to his feet. “Come on. I know who we need to talk to about all of this.”

It took a while to get back to the museum that had employed you for the past year or so. Every street was full of panicking people. Flames no longer fell from the heavens, but little fires still raged on homes and carts. The Americans had declared that they were coming along, so your group was slower in moving. Although you didn’t really want the mummy bait to be anywhere near you, Junmyeon and Sehun decided that it would be better to keep an eye on them and - hopefully - keep them out of the mummy’s grasp. 

“Dr. Bey!” You ran into the museum’s main storage room, happy when you saw the curator. But then you skidded to a stop at the sight that he wasn’t alone. 

Ardeth was talking with him in hushed tones that stopped the second you appeared. Both men turned towards you, the curator wearing a very readable expression. It was one that stunk of “I told you so”. The others were only a few steps behind. As soon they, too, saw the unexpected visitor, Junmyeon, Sehun, and the Americans pulled out their guns while Baekhyun simply squeaked in surprise. 

“Gentlemen,” Dr. Bey greeted as if this were any old meeting on a Tuesday. 

“What is he doing here?” Junmyeon demanded. Even with the black tattoos etched under Ardeth’s eyes, you could tell that he was tired, dark circles from lack of sleep bruising his skin. 

Dr. Bey raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure you want to know? Or perhaps you would prefer to just shoot us?”

“Either sounds good.” Junmyeon cocked back the hammer of one of his guns for emphasis. 

“Stop it,” you hissed. “Bullets won’t do any good here. Besides, you might damage some of the artifacts.”

Junmyeon failed to suppress a laugh over your concern. Despite the present danger, you still didn’t want to see the carriages or sacred jars damaged because someone got trigger happy. So, Junmyeon holstered his guns and the others soon followed suit. “All right. I’ll give a little faith.”

Dr. Bey motioned for the group to follow him in deeper. “We’re part of a secret society-”

“Aren’t they all?” Baekhyun muttered. Both you and Dr. Bey shot him glares that made him snap his mouth shut. 

“For over three thousand years, we have guarded the City of the Dead. Once we reach manhood, we swear an oath to do anything and everything in our power to stop the high priest Imhotep from rising from the grave.”

“And now we have failed. Thanks to you.” Ardeth gave you a particularly pointed look. 

By now, you were getting very irritated with the constant finger pointing. What was done was done. You were not going to show him any cowardice. “And that justifies the murder of innocent people?” 

“Hm. To stop this creature?” Dr. Bey pretended to think for a moment. “Yes.”

Junmyeon, untroubled by that, raised his hand from the golden seat of a dead royal that he had taken over. “I have a question. Why doesn’t he seem to like cats?”

“Cats are the guardians of the underworld. He will fear them until he reaches full regeneration.”

“Then there will be nothing that he fears.” Worry was very much apparent in the soldier’s voice.

“And you know how he gets regenerated?” one of the Americans asked rhetorically. 

The other one finished. “By tracking those of us down who opened the chest and sucking us dry like a nomad in the desert, that’s how!”

It was completely pointless to go over the things that were already known. Now was the time to try and piece the unused parts together. Two particular moments were sticking out in your head. 

“Back in Hamunaptra, the priest - Imhotep - he called me Ack-Su-Namun. And then just now at the hotel, he….” You cringed at the memory, thankful that you didn’t have to feel the decomposed skin against your own. “He tried to kiss me.”

“It’s because of Anck-Su-Namun and his love for her that he was cursed,” Dr. Bey explained, exchanging a look with Ardeth. “Even after all this time….”

“He’s still in love with her?” Sehun finished with a scoff. 

You appreciated the backstory, however - “As romantic as that is, what does that have to do with me?”

“Perhaps he will try to raise her from the dead once again?” Ardeth guessed. 

“Yes,” Dr. Bey agreed solemnly. “And it would seem that he has already chosen his human sacrifice.”

All eyes in the room turned to you. Wonderful. 

Not only were you the one who read from the book and raised him, but you would also be responsible for the return of his beloved, who was the reason he was cursed in the first place. Absolutely beautiful. 

Baekhuyn came up behind you and patted your shoulder. “That is some rotten luck, dear cousin.”

“Actually, this could work in our favor,” Dr. Bey countered. “It could give us time that we desperately need to kill the creature.”

“We’ll need every second, I think,” Sehun said. He pointed towards the ceiling. “I think he’s getting stronger.”

Through the large window high up on the wall, the sun was in clear view. You all watched in horror as the moon moved too quickly across the sky and blocked the light from reaching Earth. 

“I’m guessing this is the plague of darkness?” Baekhyun said ominously. You nodded slowly. 

“Let’s go,” Junmyeon said softly beside you, his hand coming up protectively behind your back. “We’ve got to get back to the hotel and come up with a plan.”

**

“I’m just saying, it seems very stupid to comdem someone to a curse when the result of that would be for them to come back a supernatural creature who is practically unkillable.”

“The ancient Egyptians believed in balance,” you explained to Baekhyun for the hundredth time in your life. “To curse someone so badly in both this life and the next, there has to be a consequence to balance out the scales. If not, then the whole world could still fall apart, in even worse ways!”

“All of this is kind of pointless now, isn’t it?” Sehun sighed from the small table in the antechamber to your room. His feet were up on the polished surface as he leaned back in his seat. A look of irritation was etched on his face as he stared at your cousin. “What’s done is done. Right now, we need to focus on our next step.”

“Well, I know you two,” you pointed to the Americans, “opened the chest. As well as Barney. Was there anyone else?”

“The Egyptologist that was with us,” the shaggier one answered. “Professor Chamberlain. He has a temporary residence a few blocks over.”

“What about my best friend Beni?” Junmyeon asked. You nearly snorted. You knew the two of them were anything but friends.

“No. He ran out before we took the lid off. Ended up saving his own skin.”

“Sounds like Beni,” Junmyeon said dryly. “Okay. We’re going to go get the Professor. You four,” he pointed to all the men, “come with me. You, stay here.”

Oh, no you weren’t. “Excuse me! I am just as capable as any of them are. I will not- What do you think you’re doing!”

Junmyeon marched over to you, picked you up, and carried you over his shoulder until you were in your room. Then he dropped you on the floor, closed the door, and locked it tight. “This door doesn’t open.”

You didn’t know who he said it to, who he left in charge of watching you like an infant. It didn’t matter. You pounded your fist against the solid wood door. “Baekhyun! Junmyeon! Let me out! Baekhyun, you coward! Help me out here!”

“Sorry, cousin!” Baekhyun yelled on the other side of the door. “But… he’s got a gun.”

“Smart choice,” you heard Junmyeon say. Oh, you were going to kill him. Which “him” was yet to be decided. Perhaps both would be most satisfactory. 

Well, now you were stuck here. 

Crossing your arms, you sat on the edge of the bed and contemplated your choices. Not that you had many. 

A yawn forced its way out. You were tired. Over the past few days, you had hardly been able to get any real sleep. And, well, now seemed to be a time. So, you changed into your nightgown and slipped under the covers. The mattress was soft, like a cloud. The pillows were stuffed into freshly cleaned cotton cases. It was barely a few minutes before you drifted off…

And then abruptly woke up to something moving against your mouth. It started out soft but quickly turned ashen and tough. Your eyes flew open and you screamed, the sound muffled by the kiss of Imhotep!

You tried to shove him off, but he didn’t budge. Your touch meant nothing to him as he continued the unwanted kiss. 

The door to your room burst open, finally taking his attention and allowing your scream to be heard at full volume. Imhotep’s face was half rotten away, his lips completely gone, the cheeks held together by thin strips of jerky-like skin. You scrambled out of reach, to try and get as far away as the tiny room would allow. The movement caused you to fall out of the bed and land hard on the wood floor.

Standing up, Imhotep said something in ancient Egyptian, but your jumbled, still half-asleep brain couldn’t translate it. 

“Oh, really?” Junmyeon mocked. “Here’s my answer.” He held up the poor cat who had saved you earlier, the animal hissing threateningly at the mummy. Just like last time, Imhotep fled in a tornado of sand out the window, terrified of the innocent creature. 

“Are you alright?” Junmyeon asked as he let the cat fall from his hands. The cat landed gracefully on its feet and walked over to the bed with more dignity than you’d ever seen a human radiate. 

“Yeah, I’m good,” Baekhyun answered. After a glare from Junmyeon, he cleared his throat. “Oh. You weren’t- that’s fine. Go… check on her.” Junmyeon did just that. 

Kneeling in front of you, he pushed away a few stray hairs that had fallen in your face. Warm, soft brown eyes searched for any sign of harm. The tips of his fingers brushed against your cheek, setting the skin on fire. Or perhaps that was just the blood rushing up to your face in slight embarrassment. This man made you… nervous in a way. He could be dastardly at times, but… also very sweet. 

Clearing your throat, you pushed yourself up to your feet. “I’m fine. A little disgusted, but I’m fine.”

A smirk and knowing gleam flashed on Junmyeon’s face as he rose. “I’m sure mine was better.”

He was referring to the lip-smash he desperately pulled before he was to be dragged to the hangman’s noose. Not exactly the best first impression. 

You snorted. “No. I wouldn’t say that.” His jaw went slack. Sehun and Baekhyun snickered behind him. “Did you find the professor?” you asked in order to change the subject. 

“Yeah. He stayed out in the sun for a little long by the time we found him.”

“What are you-” Oh. Oh. That was why Imhotep was so far along in his regeneration. He’d found another victim to suck dry. 

“And he has the Book of the Dead,” Sehun added. “According to Beni, that’s what he’s going to use to raise Anacsunmum.”

“Anck-Su-Namun,” you corrected. 

“Yeah, her.”

You rolled your eyes. Why did you even bother?

You started pacing the room, trying to figure out what would be the best next move. You couldn’t keep playing hide and seek with the cat for all eternity. There needed to be a way to end this. Before he read from the book and raised-

The book… 

The book! 

You whirled back to the others. “I have an idea!”

“Care to share?”

“The Black book has always been rumored among scholars to be able to bring people back from the dead. Something I had always thought was nonsense,” you added to yourself. “But since that part is true, that means other rumors must be as well. Such as the Gold Book being able to send a soul back to the afterlife.”

“A balance.” Baekhyun looked awfully proud of himself. At least something finally stuck. 

“Exactly. Now all we have to do is find out where it's hidden.”

Junmyeon frowned. “But I thought it was supposed to be hidden with Anubis?”

“Exactly,” you agreed. “It comes from a translation of an ancient text. A stone that’s at the museum here, actually. It also says where the Black book was supposed to be hidden. I think they got their translations mixed up. So, where the scholars who originally translated it said that the golden Book of Amun-Ra was in the statue of Anubis, it's actually wherever they said the black Book of the Dead was supposed to be.”

“And where is that?”

You swallowed. “I don’t remember. We’ll have to go to the museum so I can read it again.”

Letting out a heavy sigh, Junmyeon checked the barrels of his guns, reloaded the revolvers with bullets from his belt. “Then I guess we’re headed back to the museum. Hopefully we don’t run into Ugly Face before we get to the rock.”

“I’m sure we’ll be fine,” you said with the utmost confidence. 

Sehun, who did not share that sentiment, looked up towards the ceiling. “Oh joy. Another book hunt.”

[justagirlsearchingforamuse]

Since you guys enjoyed my male cyberpunk romance options post, I decided to finally get to work on the female/non-binary ones. So first of all, let's start it off with our main girls, Judy and Panam. I plan on doing a part 2 and currently working on the part 2 for the boys.

1st. Judy Alvarez:

I enjoyed her romance quite a bit and love her as a character and I believe since we don't have any lore for her or anything that convinces me otherwise that she should be bi. I think she should be strictly for female/non-binary V with and more feminine features.

I feel that she should've had her own ending and not one that ties into Panam's, one where you decide to leave Night City with her, and or I would've enjoyed it if you could've taken any one of your serious romance options out of town. I feel that an ending with V deciding to call up Judy and there is an option to pack up your things, at least your weapons and clothes and just leave to the next city over. It ends up with you helping Judy and packing up your things in her van, Judy decides to drive and asks you where do you plan on going, you can choose from 3 options. 

The first choice you can say anywhere and that you don't care, you just want to live your final moments with Judy. The second choice should be something like Atlanta to see your family and or to wherever Judy used to live in the past. The last choice you can choose to give Judy some money to leave town and say to wait for her in the next town over so it can lead to you choosing whether to go with Hanako's plans or Johnny's. I can imagine the last ending resulting in Judy being seen,   arguing years later to keep your stuff when she's selling some of her old things. She ends up fighting to keep the necklace that V is always seen with and she wears it, it ends with Judy entering her van and promising to never forget you.

Also, I believe that she and most of the serious romance options should have at least one quest where you can go on a date with your partner, I believe hers would be you helping her with Clouds. Though it's not much of a date, you insisted on helping her fix things, and you guys spend most of your time trying to protect Clouds from The Tyger Claws who end up trying to attack again. It ends with Judy losing hope in Clouds, almost wanting to give up on the place but you can choose to convince her to keep fighting for Clouds. Or to give up and just sell the place and let all the hard work you guys did go to waste. If you choose the first, it leads to Judy promising to come up with more things and saying how she'll make some calls to some more people. The first choice ends with you both making out and you falling asleep at her place after she orders pizza and watches a few movies with you.

The second choice ends with Judy being hopeless and asking to be alone for the moment, ruining the date almost and putting a small dent in your relationship.

I believe that Judy is pretty well developed for a love interest and as a character, she stands strong on her own and is an interesting character who fits well with V. I enjoy their relationship as I do with most of the relationships which are very adult in the way that V tries not to rush things and doesn't promise their love interests the world. The love interests have their own lives and don't act like a bunch of teens or young adults, trying to make drama out of something small. They respect V, they add more to V and give V another reason to keep fighting, another reason to want to live, to get the damned chip out of their head.

Also, I want more Johnny and Judy interactions in the sense that I want to hear more of his thoughts on Judy and hear how he feels about V and them being together. He doesn't seem to hate her and maybe even would like to see that if you romanced Judy and did the Temperance ending he tells only her or your romance interest that you're gone. Well, he does it vaguely or sends your romance interest an anonymous email, vaguely stating that V is gone and that they disappeared/passed. Judy I feel would react in confusion as well as emotionally, she's nearly crying in the voicemails and is talking about the email or voicemail Johnny sent and is asking where are you.

2nd. Panam Palmer:

I like Panam Palmer as a character and I feel that her quests do explore a lot of the nomad lifestyle, her quests explore more about the people of the nomad lifestyle. I feel that she should've been bi and I was hoping that she and Evelyn were the 2 bi options because literally in my first playthrough was worried I was gonna romance her. Cause she was flirting a lot from what I saw and thought that you'd be able to romance her during the sandstorm. I feel she should've been bisexual or pansexual along with Evelyn.

I feel she should be able to be easily romanced by male/non-binary V with a more masculine appearance and she should've been a little harder to get with by a female V/non-binary V with a more feminine appearance. Also, is it just me but I wasn't a big fan of her sex scene, imo I feel they should've changed the sex scene to possibly happening during the sandstorm or after V confesses to dying. Or even them making out in the big ass tower before being interrupted by Saul. Also, wouldn't have minded learning more about Panam in terms of hobbies, like I would've loved it if she was a singer or was a decent guitar player. I also would've enjoyed scenes where we actually just chill with the Aldecaldos and like chill by the campfire or help out with some of their everyday problems, etc.

I like her but I didn't feel a seriously deep connection to her like I did with the other 3 romance options, I wish they added more depth to her and more of a serious tone to her. I do like the more serious tone towards the end and how her path explored being a nomad, what it means to have family, etc.

I do wish everyone in terms of romances had as many quests, depth, and just effort put into but her path is decent just not my favorite personally.

I feel she and Evelyn should've been the main bi options, she should've been easier to get with a male' V but also should've been able to date fem' V. The paths should've been similar or even show Panam having fem' V be her first-ever official girlfriend, show a new side to Panam with fem' V. I would've seeing Panam being a little shy and or a bit reserved around fem' V, I would've enjoyed seeing her hesitate a bit first before having her first kiss with V. I would've also enjoyed love scenes for bi characters being kinda different in the sense that I would've enjoyed Panam and male' V's love scenes to be raw, a bit filthy, and Panam is not holding back. Maybe it's just me but I disliked her love scene with all the green and all the switching really turned me off tbh. I would imagine Panam and fem' V have a love scene either being in a tent or during a quest in which fem' V and her share some beers, look at the stars, and relax.

Her love scene with fem' V would show a more gentle, natural, and aesthetic kind of scene, a lot of kissing, Panam going down on you, you kissing/nibbling on Panam's ear whilst you slip your hand in between her legs. It ending with Panam's arm wrapped around you and you wake up to the morning sun above you.

I feel another quest she should've had was you and V (Doesn't matter what gender) could've gone out on a road trip all around the badlands and you guys just have a good time together. Blasting music and making fun of each other's music, drinking beers, turning up to some music, and you both kissing in the backseat much to Johnny's annoyance. 

3rd. Evelyn Parker:

So I feel she should've been the main female bi romance option and she should've held a much bigger part in the story, becoming either a replacement for T-Bug if she dies in your playthrough or just finding out about her. She at first could be bitter towards you considering how you treated her in the beginning or she can come off as distant and wanting nothing to do with you at first. She wants to run from you and talks about leaving Night City with Judy, how she needs a fresh start. Similar to Judy, she stays because of how close she's grown to you, because of how it's hard to leave you to your inevitable death all alone, she finds it hard to leave you after I'd say her first 3 or 4 quests. She'd be one of the mysterious and harder romances to get, considering that at first, V thinks Evelyn wants someone who can help her and help her solve her problems. But in reality, she wants someone who will have her back, someone she can trust, someone who will make her life worth living.

I'd imagine she'd have about 3 to 5 quests and 2 of those quests lead to a romance, her quests would be about finding The Woodsman, getting rid of him, taking care of T-Bug, etc. I'd imagine that her romance starts in her second or third quest, she doesn't quite trust you yet but she's finding herself falling you all the time.

One of her missions would probably be her either taking you out to a really expensive bar or something where it ends with a love scene that progresses to the car if you're male' V. But if you're fem' V I feel the love scene would progress to her apartment, Evelyn pegs me as being kinda kinky but nothing like Meredith who broke the kinky scale. I'd imagine in the love scene with fem' V she'd be choking you a little bit, caressing your face and she's in control this time, you eat her out, she fingers you right before you come before fucking you from behind with her fingers. She's also making you suck on her fingers. It ends with fem' V waking up to Evelyn rushing out of the door, saying she has business to take care of and that she enjoyed last night and would later text you asking to meet up at her apartment. She asks if you want something serious and you can choose what you want your relationship to be, if you choose something more serious she ends up giving you a key to her apartment. 

Male' V love scene would have Evelyn being more submissive but more like a power bottom, she gives male V' oral which leads to you fucking in the backseat of her car in the missionary position. Leads to her riding you until you both come. She'd be pulling on your hair, she'd grab your hand and make you choke her for a little bit, she's kissing on your neck a lot, etc. It'd end with Evelyn lighting up a cigarette and asking if you'd take her home, you take her home and it ends with you kissing her before she goes home and asks you to call her in the morning. This leads to her calling to ask you if you want something more serious or something less than serious with the first option ending up with you getting a key to her apartment.

She'd play a decent role in the game, actively working towards getting the chip out and getting things back to the way they were. I imagine in one of the endings specifically The Temperance ending, she'd be one of the few to know that Johnny took over and it ends with her begging Johnny to give her a response, to tell her something. I'd imagine Johnny is fine with her at least after a while but at first, he's not gonna be too nice to her.

4th. Meredith Stout:

She could remain simply a one-night stand but what I would enjoy is being able to initiate either phone sex or be able to meet up with these one night stands again. But she also could have a few more quests, maybe some that revolve around her missions she can't get done without you and it leads to V wanting to romance her and wanting something more serious. Call me a bitch but I personally can't see Meredith wanting or feeling as though a relationship would be right at this point in her life. To me, Meredith from our first interactions come off as kinda manipulative and a bit unhinged when things don't go her way, maybe V helps kick her entitled and stuck up habits. Makes her realize how she sees people who don't have as much as beneath her is a terrible way to see people and a terrible way to think.

Or you could just screw around with her and help each other with whatever missions and shit like I'd imagine that she'd be apart of the endings or plays a similar role to Alt being able to help you take down Arasaka. I'd imagine if you romanced her or made a big impact on her she'll agree but if you are just fuck-buddies and or haven't completed all of her quests then she'll hang up or say she can't. If you do she manages to get militech and what not to help as reinforcements to help you in some way so you can get to Mikoshi in one piece or at least help you most of the way. But the endings still are the same but in the credits, she talks about how she hasn't heard from you and how she just wants to know if she's alive. She says she respects if you just want to be gone off the face of the earth.

Sorry Meredith stans but I can't see her being too serious with you if so then she's gonna spend time bettering herself before she delves into a serious relationship with you. But I'd imagine if you did have an impact on her, in The Sun ending/Path Of Glory she'll be in your bed and she'll be a bit kinder towards you and you'll have relationship problems.

5th. Misty Olszewski:

I love her as a character and how sweet she is, I feel that she could've had a deeper relationship with V, and them becoming best friends could've also been a good thing. She gives me pansexual vibes very much and will be willing to date all V's just treat her with love and respect. But I do feel that if you were able to romance her, the relationship would happen almost like a one night stand or something, maybe you both get drunk and sex happens. I feel Misty would feel as though she's betraying Jackie and being with you, which makes things complicated and weird. If anything I feel she'd be included in DLC as a more serious romance option, any DLC where Misty has time to process Jackie's death and has time to grieve. Any DLC that is later on or caters to an ending such as maybe the Nomad ending or The Sun ending perhaps.

First of all, she'd have like 3 or 4 quests where you just try and grieve with each other and or just be good friends, I'd imagine that one of the quests would be you suggesting teaching her how to swim or something because something tells me she wouldn't know how. Misty comes off as shy but open to try it if you give her enough encouragement and make her feel like things will be fine. You both go hang out somewhere out of town and end up going swimming and you teach her, but maybe something happens similar to Judy with the relic where you end up fainting or passing out. She ends up saving you miraculously and expresses how she feels like she's losing you and how she feels you're withering away from Night City. It results in Misty taking you back to your apartment, insisting you rest and try and get some sleep but you can insist on her staying and if she does, she ends up sleeping in bed with you and a kiss happens. She ends up pushing you away or the night after and saying how it's not fair to Jackie. How she enjoys your company but things feel better with you guys being friends, insisting that it was wrong to have a romantic relationship just sometime after Jackie passed.

I imagine things with her can end up being weird and awkward for a little bit afterward but she remains your good friend and she genuinely worries for you a lot, she won't play too big of a role in the game. But would play a similar role to Judy, I'd imagine that if you didn't romance anyone but her or if you romanced Judy, you'd be able to pick her to take along with you in the Nomad ending.

She'd be apart of the small list of romance options/good friends you'd be able to take with you in the Nomad ending.

She's really sweet though and you learn about her insecurities, learn more about her relationship with Jackie and how he planned on teaching her how to swim, he planned on getting her a beagle or finding her a dog. You learn a lot about Jackie and her and she's a really good friend of yours who wants to take things slow and make sure things are great when you start a more serious romantic relationship.

6th. Claire Russell:

She should've been a romance option or at the very least a ons, she might be straight but I'd say she gives off strong bi or pansexual vibes, she'd date any kind of V regardless of gender. I'd imagine that sometime after you murder the corpo cunt who killed her husband, she calls you up asking for a drink or asks you to meet up at her garage. She expresses how she thought she'd feel better after hearing he's dead but she feels the same, you both get a bit drunk and talk about past relationships and struggles. You both end up dancing to some music and it leads to you both slow dancing and if you play your cards right then you'll end up being able to kiss her. Claire and you both end up on the couch in her living room and you both have a grand time, I imagine she kisses you a lot, gives you plenty of praise in between sex, and she gave you some oral.

Afterward, I can imagine she wants to be with you but she needs a little more time to just enjoy being alone, dealing with Dean's death and such. Also, she talks about cars a lot and you can find her at her garage fixing up Beast and you can talk with her about fixing up your cars and anything like that. She doesn't play a huge role but she'll call you and you can call her before the final mission, similar to River you don't tell her what's up and you tell her how you'll always be her biggest fan. How you want her to keep racing and keep living her best life, she gets a little suspicious but can't put her finger on why you're saying all this. In the credits, she keeps saying how you won't answer and how she just wants to get a text or something, saying how you disappeared and how she really wants to see you.

Also, she gives me very much into working out and homegirl stopped working out a while ago because she had little to no motivation to do so. But when meeting you, she'll text you pics of her at the gym, her muscles, and saying how she has better muscles so she can cuddle you better.

I'd imagine that she'd be apart of The Sun ending and you both have a decent relationship with her, she expresses how she'd follow you anywhere and to let her know if things are wrong.

In the suicide ending, just as she's calling to find out what happened to you she gets a knock at the door and drops the phone, you can hear Misty and Viktor tell Claire of your death and it ends with her breaking down in tears before she pitches her phone at the wall.

[tracer85s]

yizhan fic rec (2)

part 1

glute bridges by sunstainedsheets

[explicit, 29k, complete]

personal trainer and dancer yibo and graphic designer xiao zhan. GYM AU omg i love this. xiao zhan signs up for a gym membership and personal training sessions where he’s totally not ogling his coach. there’s also a scene with xiao zhan attempting to converse with yibo in korean that got me cackling lmao, our resident koreaboo indeed. it was also great to see mentor yibo here, it reminded me of his prod 101 days when he was so intimidating as a mentor, also... very sexy. anyway i adore this, they’re just thirsting over each other, especially yibo checking out the zhass, it’s okay bobo we’ve all been there

i’d wear gucci for you by Anonymous

[teen and up, 16k, complete]

abo au where alpha yibo and omega xiao zhan are photographed going into xiao zhan’s apartment together so they’re forced to pretend that they’re mated to prevent a scandal. this has become my favourite fics because i’m an absolute sucker for fake/pretend relationships and the way the writer incorporated canon stuff like yibo answering interview questions for xiao zhan ugh guys i love this fic. when yibo was so exasperated near the end and said “i’m wearing gucci for you” & waving his hand i really lost it. JUST READ THIS I PROMISE IT’S A GOOD READ

if you would only let you by gdgdbaby

[explicit, 32k, complete]

ah where do i even start with this one? xiao zhan gets drunk and texts yibo, yibo shows up at his house and whisks him away on a road trip. i felt so much emotions reading this fic, everything was so raw and it really deals with the pressures of being famous and homophobia. this is a super realistic fic and there’s a lot of emotional hurt/comfort, you’ll literally end up wanting to wrap these two in a big blanket and just protect them from the world (lol like we don’t already want to do that). my absolute favourite part was the confession scene, like it was so messy and funny, and it’s just so them, especially the pokemon part lmao. this art is based on that scene and it’s exactly how i imagined it 🥺 this is just so well written and it’s one of my favs!

love in the time of coding by theivoryflute

[explicit, 26k, complete]

hacker yibo and cyber security engineer xiao zhan. yibo cyber flirts with xiao zhan and also flirts with him in real life. *SCREAMS* i never thought we’d have a hacker au in the fandom but i’ve been blessed, this was literally the cutest online romance fic with a bunch of mutual pining. my favourite dialogue is “the whiplash from wanting to ride yibo to wanting to coddle him was severe” i’m literally wheezing, this is a perfect representation of the fandom, also the usernames that yibo picked got me cackling there’s one in particular that made me laugh, you’ll know what it is when you see it so go read this gem!

Peace & Love by ella_minnow

[explicit, 51k, complete]

my favourite writer is back again with this baby! idol dance captain xiao zhan and non-famous dancer yibo!!! ARE WE KIDDING? slow burn sdoc au? I’M SO IN WTF. guys listen to me. yibo has a low ponytail and arm tattoos *goes feral* one of my favourite scenes from this fic is when xiao zhan had to convince yibo to join his team (bro. he didn’t even have to try) because yibo says “no, Xiao-laoshi. I would of course never leave you.” i’m screeching, totally gave me tgcf hua cheng vibes. my absolute favourite scene, however, is when yibo says xiao zhan doesn’t have to worry about sending him home because he’s going to win everything... like... the sheer bde this man exudes in real life and fiction... very sexy of him. i also love how this showcases how well they work together and of course the *whispers* celebratory sex!

Hyacinth by stickyriceu

[explicit, 76k, complete]

racer yibo celebrates after a competition and meets hyacinth’s number one host, zhan-er. slow burn with LOTS of pining and angst. i finished this in one sitting and i’m still screaming over it, it’s so good!!! genuinely felt my soul leave my body reading this because zhan zhan with shoulder length hair? tied up in a messy bun? *SCREECHES* everyone go read and get your angst on, don’t worry, there’s a happy ending ;)

Song of the Sea by LaMachina17

[explicit, 48k, complete]

mermaid xiao zhan and pirate yibo !!! xiao zhan meets yibo and has one very exciting night with him so he ends up following him aboard their pirate ship! i’m literally on my knees praising this fic. i will re-read this until i die, it’s perfect. AND THEY’RE CAT DADS IN THIS FIC TOO. seriously i don’t need to say anything else go read this gem

The Dragons by MadFilaments

[explicit, 31k, complete]

xiao zhan is his village’s marriage offering to dragon lord yibo. are you kidding me? shapeshifter yibo? arranged marriage fic? YES. this is one of my favourites, i always re-read it because the way their relationship just naturally progresses in the story warms my heart 😩 AND they call each other husband and i just *melts* they’re ! so ! domestic ! there’s angst but it’s not too bad and i’m in love with yibo’s speech about how dragons love forever *cries*

golden hour by Deinde

[explicit, 35k, complete]

professional snowboarder yibo teaches actor xiao zhan how to snowboard in a show! OH MY GOD THIS WAS SO GOOD *SCREAMS* it’s literally just them flirting and being absolutely thirsty for each other, especially in the photoshoot scene dear lord. i’m so annoying, this fic tab has been open in my safari for forever and i forgot about it until i watched ddu’s snow sports episode so don’t do the same thing as me and go! read! this! fic! immediately!

Falling In Love by beeswaxing

[mature, 65k, complete]

celebrities yibo and xiao zhan star in a we got married/hello baby inspired reality show! oh my god. the domestic fluff in this i am reeling, THIS IS JUST ADORABLE. this is definitely the domestic kid fic i so desperately needed 😭 and the way the writer added in those canon bjyx details is just perfect, everyone go read this please!!

Legend of the Jade Rabbit: The Musical by emma_screams

[explicit, 12k, complete]

high school au with lion hybrid yibo and bunny hybrid xiao zhan. this fic has musicals! it’s really quite fluffy, yibo literally calls zhan zhan “bunny gege” and i’m just *SCREECHING* also i love protective yibo 😭 i really love this it’s so cute & has a very refreshing plot!

pick me, pick me up by domeeneec

[mature, 10k, complete]

college/uni wrong number au where xiao zhan keeps accidentally calling yibo to bail him out of his bad dates and yibo ends up becoming his “personal dating assistant” this was the FLUFFIEST. although there is some light angst when xiao zhan drunk dials yibo and cries about not being able to find love, but i swear this is super soft and fluffy!!! READ THIS FOR SEROTONIN

Ruby and Gold by aces_low

[explicit, 16k, complete]

mob boss xiao zhan and his trophy husband yibo. HELLO? MURD3R HUSBANDS YIZHAN? this was such a fun read! trigger warnings for blood and violence though so look out for those! yizhan will literally not hesitate to beat you tf up in this fic they’re so badass here but they’re so soft with each other. xiao zhan literally calls yibo gǒu zǎizǎi and tiánxīn i am. Melting. also there’s a proposal. it’s unromantic but still so romantic, i love it. i also saw this art and i think this would be how they look in the fic

To Be Human by purplemonster

[teen and up, 19k, complete]

humanoid yibo and ceo xiao zhan. xiao zhan tests out his company’s newest creation and falls in love along the way. android aus always hurt me so. good. and this one’s not an exception. it’s pretty slow burn and definitely angst-y but it has a happy ending! i love the domesticity, i have no idea why i love grocery scenes so much? but anyway this is perfect for a rainy day and you’ll coo at the ending

Falling by brooklinegirl

[explicit, 42k, complete]

yb and xz behind the scenes while filming. this was such a melancholic read for me (even though there’s so much papapa) because they pine SO HARD at the start, don’t get me wrong though, it’s also cute because there’s so much canon flirting!but my heart really broke when filming was ending and yb’s thoughts were “We could run away together. Miss our flights. Stay here in Hengdian, or fuck it, go somewhere where no one knows us and just...” *sobs* pls go read!!!

What’s Your Emergency? by bluefloral

[general, 2k, complete]

police officer yibo and single father xiao zhan! yuan, xiao zhan’s son calls 911 for help with his math homework and officer yibo helps him 🥺 this was such an adorable short read!

[hilarioushilarity]

Quynh and Booker’s Roadtrip AU

They hit a roadbump one day into the trip that would hopefully save Sebastien’s soul. Or at least his liver.

“No,” Sebastien said.

Quynh was unmoved. “You must.”

“Listen,” Sebastien said desperately. “I can’t pretend to be your husband.”

Quynh looked at him sceptically. “I know you’re no actor,” she said, only the slightest bit pointed. “But I do know you can lie.”

Sebastien winced. “Alright, let me rephrase. I won’t pretend to be your husband.”

Quynh snorted. “Am I not beautiful enough to be your beloved?”

“No, you’re Andy’s beloved, and Andy also happens to have a very sharp axe which she likes to stab people with.”

“So you’re scared,” Quynh surmised.

“Yes, I’m scared,” Sebastien said. “I like to keep my guts where they are, thank you very much.”

“Do you have a better idea?”

“Siblings?” Sebastien tried. “Cousins?”

Quynh rolled her eyes. “If you say we’re related, we’ll be that ‘sweet interracial family’ that stays in people’s memories.”

“Friends on a road trip?”

“That sweet couple who claimed to be ‘just friends’.”

“Hey, a man and a woman can be friends,” Sebastien said.

Quynh sighed. “That is true, but still no. We want to be as unremarkable as possible.”

“But-”

“Now hurry up, I want to sleep,” Quynh said, and promptly shoved him into the hotel foyer.

***

“If Andy hunts us down and kills me,” Sebastien said, when they finally got into their room, “I want you to know that it’s one hundred per cent your fault.”

“Am I meant to feel guilty?” Quynh asked, from where she was already starfished on the one bed she had already called dibs on. “You’ll just come back and continue drinking like a fish.”

“Shut up, no I won’t,” Sebastien grumbled. He fished around the linen cabinet and took out two blankets. “Also, how come you get the bed?”

“Because I’m older and wiser.”

"Does that usually work for you?” Sebastien mused. “Did Joe and Nicky always go ‘Quynh’s like a billion years old, better respect my elders’?”

“Yusuf and Nicolo have manners,” Quynh sniffed. “The same for which can’t be said for you.”

“Hey, I’m French!”

Quynh just looked at him. “Are you attempting to prove my case?”

“Forget I said anything,” Sebastien sighed. He was surrounded by a bunch of smartasses.

“I try to,” Quynh informed him smartly, turning on her side and apparently falling asleep immediately.

“‘Go on a trip’, they said, ‘It’ll be fun’. Yeah, right.” Sebastien gathered up a change of clothes, and he was self-aware enough to admit that the way he thumped down the suitcase was a touch sulky. “Sorry,” he said quietly, a little bit contritely, in Quynh’s direction; it was only half because he didn’t want another knife in his gut.

He went into the bathroom, and when he came out, the shadows had lengthened and the last vestiges of late-evening daylight had fled before the night. Quynh was a dark lump atop the bed covers. Sebastien considered waking her up for her turn in the bathroom, then dismissed it.

He wasn’t a heavy sleeper; quicker to rouse than Joe (but that wasn’t hard), but slower than Andy and Nicky, both of whom went from sleeping to fully alert in the space of a breath, maybe two at most. Even so, when he startled awake barely two hours after falling asleep, it took him a moment to register what had caused it.

“Quynh,” he whispered. The quiet, choked-off cries didn’t stop. “Quynh?”

He rolled off the couch. “Quynh,” Sebastien repeated, a little louder. Nightmares didn’t tend to afflict the others - usually, it was him who had to be roused from dreams of Quynh drowning. He gently reached out and laid a hand on her forearm. “Hey, wake up - it’s -” okay, he wanted to say, but suddenly couldn’t because of the knife in his throat. 

Oh man, we’re gonna lose the deposit on this room, he thought, and then died.

***

When his eyes opened, the lights had been turned to full brightness. He was stretched out on the bed. Quynh, nearby, sat with her head in her hands.

“Um -” Sebastien started, then had to clear his throat because throat wounds always left him with phlegm. “Sorry - I think I startled you.”

Quynh sighed. “I - apologise as well.”

“Well, you know, it’s not like it stuck.”

“It was unnecessary.”

Sebastien reached out a hand, then dropped it. “It’s okay. I’m okay now.” He hesitated. “Did - do you know, what caused it?”

The line of Quynh’s shoulders were a bow string, drawn taught. “The room was too dark,” she said finally.

“Too -” Oh. Oh no. “I - do you - would talking about -” he swallowed, taking in the way her shoulder drew impossibly tighter. “Will it help if we keep the lights at least slightly on?” he said instead. Quynh nodded. “Okay. Then we’ll just make sure we always sleep somewhere with light.”

“Very well.”

“And maybe a shower-” he stopped dead, suddenly impossibly frustrated with his own foolishness. “No.”

Quynh half-smiled; it was a brittle, exhausted thing. “No,” she agreed.

His eyes prickled, and he promptly felt like a heel for crying when he hadn’t even been the one to spend five hundred years at the bottom of the ocean. “I’m sorry,” he said, foolishly, helplessly; he was a coward who had never found the courage to face his own feelings, let alone others’. “I’m sorry. I don’t think there’s anything I can do to be helpful.”

Quynh’s sigh was unfathomably exhausted. She flopped backwards, onto the other pillow. “Sometimes things can’t be solved by trying hard enough. Sometimes, they just are.”

They lay there in silence, until a thought occurred to him.

“Hey,” Sebastien said. “You been to a supermarket yet?”

Part 1, Part 2

[lovestrucked-again]

Delirium II | Mafia

Summary: After being kidnapped and claimed by the notorious mafia leader, he offers you a 7 day period where you’ll be given the option after of staying or leaving. Until then, you’re stuck, whether you like it or not.

Pairing: Mafia leader X female reader Word count: 2.9k

Genre & Warning: SMUT, fingering, Explicit content, kidnapping, mafia gang, possessive, toxic, yandere like personality, punishment, use of sex toys, multiple orgasms, rough, orgasm denial, begging, orgasm control, praise, teasing, 

Please don’t read this if you’re uncomfortable. A very obvious statement but this series is purely fictional, it is unacceptable in real life and should not be taken lightly.

Part 1 | Part 3

Day 2

When you wake up, the sticky feeling from between your thighs is gone. Your body is still bare but the sheet wrapped around you is enough to keep you warm. With the morning light shining through the windows, your finally able to look around the room. You sit up against the headboard, noticing the pain in your thighs as you drag them up. The room is simply decorated. The walls a dull shade of white with a neat desk in the corner. A few plants littering around the room, giving it colour.

The sound of the door opening brings your attention over to the person entering, your hands quickly bringing the sheets to cover your top half. Taeyong walks in, dressed in a white shirt and shorts, clearly having already showered.

“I made you breakfast. I know it’s just a bowl of cereal, but it’s the only thing I won’t burn.” He tells you, taking a seat beside you on the bed. His piercing eyes from the night before now soft and rounded.

“Thanks.” You mumble, bringing your arms out of the sheet to grab the bowl from him gratefully.

Taeyong smiles at you, the silence seeming strangely comfortable. You couldn't tell what this man was thinking. When you first met him, he looked at you like you were something delicate, the way he carefully approached you, pushed your hair behind your ears. Then last night happened, not that you didn’t enjoy the sex, but it was ….terrifying. You didn't realise his personality could change so drastically in just the little time you’d known him.

“Hey baby, I hope you don't mind wearing one of my shirts for now. I got one of the guys to bring your clothes from your place for you.”

“My clothes?” You question, confused.

“Yeah.”

“Why are you bringing them here?”

“Because your moving in with me.” He states, bringing one of your hands to his lap.

“Wh-what?!” You stutter out.

“It’ll be fun.”

“Wait no, I can’t.” You shake your head violently, “I won’t.”

“Baby I wasn't really giving you a choice on that.” He warns, his voice suddenly low.

“Look, I don't know if you’re okay or if you need some help but I’m not moving in with you, I don't even know you!” You tell him, your voice rising with your words, not finding his jokes amusing, “I don’t even know your name for fucks sake.”

“Baby don't swear; I don't like it.” He murmurs, his hand stroking circular motions on the back of your palm soothingly, “And my name’s Taeyong.”

“I won’t tell anyone about last night,” You whisper desperately, “just let me go.”

Taeyong lets the thought swim around in his head for a bit. Truth be told, he was going to have you no matter what, but perhaps you’d give him a little more liking if he lied.

“How about you move in with me for just a week, if you really hate me then you can leave.” He proposes.

“I’ll leave when I want,” you tell him, getting ready to pull off the bed sheets still covering your naked body, ready to leave exposed if you have to. Taeyong is quick to stop you, only needing to grip onto your wrist harshly to prevent you from moving.

“Baby, I gave you an offer, you can take it or decline it.” He cautions, “I didn't say you could bargain with me.”

His dark eyes are drilled into yours. And you can’t help but notice, the depth of the ink, sorrow, perhaps pain, that was hiding behind them. You couldn't see the whites of his eyes anymore, nor the vessels that flowed through them. He looked, frightening.

“I-I’ll take the offer.” You stutter out. His gaze makes you gulp, suddenly losing the attitude you originally had. You decide to just follow through with his words for now, you could always leave when he wasn’t around.

“Great well, let’s take you around the house for now.” He chimes, eyes instantly switching back as he happily grabs your untouched bowl, putting it on the bedside table. He walks over to his cupboard, pulling out a plain black t-shirt and brings it over to you, helping you slip it on.

“Lift your arms up baby.”

“I can do it myself,” You tell him, feeling embarrassed to let the sheets fall and your body expose itself to his eyes.

“Let me.” He pleads, his right hand taking yours and locking his fingers with yours. You let out a sigh, and you nod, wanting to hide under the sheets in a sheepish mess. Surprisingly he doesn't say anything as your breasts reveal themselves out of the sheets. His eyes are still trained on you, helping you slip the fabric over your head.

“Thanks,” You whisper, feeling flushed under his eyes. He laughs lightly, noticing the red in your face. He cups your cheeks and gently squeezes your face before pecking your lips.

“Wow don’t you just look adorable.” He exclaims, drawing out the last syllable. For some reason all his words and gestures only confuse you, strangely feeling like you were already use to his presence, his touch.

The fabric of his shirt reaches below your thigh, better than nothing. He peels back the bed sheet, giving you a hand to help you off the bed. You stumble a little, the sudden weight on your weaker legs unable to withstand the pain. Taeyong snakes an arm around your waist to support you just as you trip, already prepared to catch you.

The memories of the earlier event vanish as soon as you step outside his room. Who would’ve known the door would lead to such a large open, spacious area with a breath-taking view of your city. A huge flat-screen television dominated one wall, with a soft leather couch directly in line. However, it was the transparency of the windows that surprised you.

Your feet began walking to the glass, Taeyong following beside you. You must’ve been on the top floor of whatever building you were in. The faint outlines of people on the road, the entire view of the city in your sight.

“Wow.” You breathed out.

“Still don't want to live with me?” He whispers, moving to stand behind you so he’s able to envelop you around your waist. His head rests against your shoulder as you both stare out at the city, the sunlight shining on your skin.

“Who are you?” You mumble out-loud. You had no idea what was going on anymore. Who was this guy? How could he afford this place? What had happened in such a short time was over-whelming. The butterflies return to you as his hands lock around your stomach.

“Someone whose absolutely in love with you.” He murmurs, pressing a soft kiss on your neck.

You pull away quickly, the words swimming through your mind at a rapid pace. Taeyong takes a step back, letting you have some space to yourself as he walks over to his couch.

“What do you normally watch at home?” He asks, reaching for the remote and changing it to a netflix channel. You’re still lost in your thoughts when he calls again, “Baby?”

“I-I don't mind.”

“Okay, I’ll choose something then,” he replies, deciding between the first or second movie of Despicable Me.

You break your gaze from the city and turn around to look at him, “I didn't take you for a kid’s movie type.”

“It’s a cute movie.” He shrugs, patting the empty side of the couch beside him.

You sit down beside him, leaving a clear distinct line between the two of you to avoid being right next to him. You’re aware of the minimal clothing you’re wearing (only one of his shirts) so you keep your legs crossed on the couch, pulling the fabric down to cover as much as possible.

As the movie plays you can finally feel like you’re relaxing, immersed in the childish scenes playing out as both of you laugh. It feels comfortable.

You didn't have many friends, only receiving a few texts and calls from them once in a while to talk about their own love life. You were mainly focused on your education, barely taking any social time to explore. The one night you did, bought you here. You had gone for a blind date set up by your college friend and you agreed reluctantly. The guy was a jerk, leaving you alone in the middle of a dark street as he receives a call from his ex, clearly not over her.

That was just a few minutes before you had run into Jaehyun killing a man. And seconds later, you were bought here. To Taeyong.

Around 30minutes in your legs start cramping suddenly, most likely from sitting cross legged the whole time. Taeyong notices you shift in your seat, your hands massaging your lower calves.

“Put your legs up, you need to stretch them.” He tells you, patting his legs for you to swing them over.

You hesitate for a minute, but his expression’s sincere, “Thanks.”

You place your legs on his lap, finally stretching them out and Taeyong starts massaging your calf for you. “Is it this leg?" He asks, bringing your left leg closer to him.

“Yeah.” Taeyong wraps an arm around your legs, keeping you there as he adjusts himself, sitting comfortably. Your hands hold onto the hem of your current shirt, making sure it doesn't move.

As the movie’s almost finishing, your cramps have subsided. You realise Taeyong had continued to massage your leg, using less pressure throughout the movie. As you’re staring at his soft features, still mesmerised by the little minions on the TV, your brought back into reality.

“Taeyong?”

“Yes baby?��� He replies, eyes still drawn to the movie.

“Why am I here?”

He reaches for the TV remote, pausing the movie, his focus now on you. “What do you mean?” He asks.

“Why didn’t you let me go?”

“Because I like you.”  

“You don't know me.” You sigh, exasperated at his response.

“I don't know you? Are you sure about that baby?” He asks, amused at your question.

“I’ve been here for what? Maybe less than a day? Of course you don't know me!” You tell him, stating the obvious.

“Baby I do know you though,” He says, smiling smugly, “I know how to make you scream, I know how to make you beg for a fucking, I know -.”

“Fuck off Taeyong.” You growl, his arrogant attitude annoying you again.  

“What did I say about swearing.” He tsks, pulling your body closer to him by tugging on your legs. Your shirt rides up as he drags you, nearly revealing your ass.

“Don't touch me.” You warn, snarling back at him, as you move back to your side of the couch, bringing your legs back to your body.

“That’s not very nice.”

“What’s with you and your crappy attitude Taeyong? One minute your soft and kind, the next you’re like some arrogant lit-.”

“Baby I suggest you reconsider that sentence.” He grins, relaxed and confident as he moves closer, his hands gripping onto your exposed thigh.

“Arrogant little bastard.” You finish.

Taeyong lets out a low chuckle, his eyes flipping a visible switch as he stands up and picks you up easily, throwing you over his shoulder. You let out a squeal in surprise, slapping him on the back as you shriek.

He kicks open his bedroom door, throwing you onto the bed as you land with a soft thud. Before your able to grasp the situation, he opens the drawer from the bedside table slipping the small gold key from around his neck off, he unlocks the case of a square box. The lid flips open and he brings something out of the case. Your neck is craned in the direction, watching his fast movements.

"What are you doing?" You ask, sitting up immediately when you see the item. Taeyong reveals a large, egg-shaped object with a faint string (unnoticeable to you) coming out of it. “Punishing you.”

“What is that?” You gasp, seeing the shape of it.

Your unable to see it properly as he turns around, pulling you by your ankles as you fall back against the mattress. He grabs your thighs tightly, pushing them apart. "You're dripping, baby. I can see your juices running out of you already.”

“What? No I’m not.” You argue, feeling insulted at his statement.

The shirt now no longer covering your thighs lets you feel the air of the ceiling fan spinning above you. Taeyong’s eyes staring right at your exposed pussy. You see him lean forward, bringing the object in his hand closer to your thighs.

You tense and brace yourself, expecting him to shove it in, but the hard shove doesn't come. Instead, he presses gently, rolling the probe back and forth in tiny motions. His other hand slips between your legs as his fingers stroke your pussy and you let out a loud moan.

Eventually, he slips it inside of you, pushing it completely in and leaving only a thin string hanging. The shock paralyses you for a second, as you feel yourself engulfing it whole. Then you shriek and burst into tears as he turns a wheel on a small remote. The vibrator comes to life, buzzing inside you.

“Oh my god Taeyong!” You scream, your hands travelling everywhere, bundling in the sheets and clawing at your own thighs. You squeeze your thighs shut involuntarily and it only causes the vibrations to intensify, bringing a soft moan from your mouth. Taeyong stands up from the bed, pulling up his reading chair next to the bed. He sits down, adjusting the chair for the best view, and watches you write against the bedsheets.

“Ta-take it out.” You groan. He leans back in the chair, smiling, watching you struggle. You thrust your hips in the air, trying to dislodge the buzzing toy; but from his point of view, it looks like you’re fucking an invisible partner. You writhe and twist, as he turns up the speed and power of the vibrator.

“Ju-just fuck me,” You stutter out in a moaning mess, desperate for him.

“What was that baby?” He asks, genuinely surprised at your sudden confession. He turns the dial down for you to repeat yourself, but not completely off.

“Ta-take it out and just fuck me.” “Not right now baby.” He smiles and laughs, leaning back again as he switches it back to high.

The vibrations inside you continue relentlessly as your body grows weak with exhaustion. You clench involuntarily around the hard, smooth object as the vibrations become tingles in your belly.

Taeyong watches. Little by little, the tingle becomes stronger. The thing inside you thrums, fanning the desire into a sense of raging, desperate need. You sigh and moan as your hips rock up and down.

"Good girl. Take it." Taeyong murmurs, moving beside you now to let his one finger part your folds. You let out a gasp as he finds your clit. "This feels good, doesn't it?"

“Y-yes.”

He moves his finger in circle motions against you as the constant buzz chips away inside of you. Soon your hips were rocking again, your head thrown back in a whining mess as he presses harder against your clit. You whimper wordlessly and grind your hips against his finger. "Please...please..." The need consumes you. Your body left on fire as all you can think of is nothing but the vibration inside. You clench and thrust your hips upward.

Taeyong grabs the cord, pulling the vibrator out of you with a single rough tug. The tingle abruptly stops and replaces you with emptiness, tinged with desperation. You felt wetness roll down your thigh, and you pushed your hips back, frantic, longing to feel something inside again but finding only empty air.

He replaces it with his fingers, pushing them roughly inside of you at a savage pace. You let out a loud sob. “You love this, don't you?” He chuckles, continuing his thrusts. "You still need more, don't you, little slut? You can't get enough." He picks up the egg-shaped vibrator again. "Let's see if this does the trick." Without preamble, he shoves it roughly inside your lips, watching it disappear. You gasp and shake as he turns it on to its maximum setting for the first time, letting it resume the hard, insistent vibrations.

Your orgasm comes, ripping through your body like molten fire, and as you clench and tighten, pain lashes through you, too.

When it’s s over, you crash back to earth in a shock. Taeyong turns off the vibrator, pulling it from you with a slurping sound. You make a weak mewling noise as it finally leaves your weakened body. He sits on the side of the bed and pulls you onto his lap; your body curling up around him in instinct as he strokes your hair.

“You did well baby. So well.” he murmurs. Finally, some small amount of strength flows back into you. You open your eyes and look up at him, able to speak at last. "What was that for?" He brushes a stray hair away from your eyes, and looks down at you. "Because you swore again." He smiles.

[writingthingsisdifficult]

Saving the world (Double booking pt 2)

I was asked to write a second part, and as inspiration struck, well… here it is.

They've shared a room. Now what?

If you like it, let me know :D

Word count: 5655

Part 1

_______________________________________________________________________

The light is seeping under the curtains, dragging you back to the conscious world, but you're not ready to get up just yet. So you squeeze your eyes shut and stretch your back. It's stiff as a board, and your cheek has seemingly set in a permanently squished position. The room feels stuffy and warm, and there's a soft noise you don't recognise at first. But when you finally open your eyes, you can't help but smile.

Everything's a bit blurry without your glasses, but there's no mistaking the man sleeping in the bed next to yours. His arm, which you suddenly notice isn't gloved, but a prosthetic, is hanging over the edge of the bed, and if you strain your imagination, it's almost stretched towards you.

It looks like he hasn't moved at all during the night. Neither have you when you come to think of it. When you stretch again, your neck cracks as if you were eighty, and it's a struggle to lift one leg over the other, though that might just be that you're still half asleep.

As you fumble for your glasses, Bucky opens his eyes and gives you a sleepy smile. "Good morning."

Your heart skips a beat, and it's as if you've forgotten all suitable responses to such an innocent greeting. "Yeah." That's what comes out of your mouth, and you groan.

"You sleep good?" He yawns and props up on his elbow.

"Mhm. Like a baby."

"Me too."

You grin and roll over on your back just as the loudest growl erupts from your stomach. Heat creeps up your neck and ears, and you mutter a soft "Sorry."

Bucky laughs. "Don't apologise for being hungry. What do you say we go get some breakfast?"

"I could eat."

After a quick shower and a couple of frustrating minutes picking an outfit, you really don't want to look like a slob in front of Bucky, you're both seated in the restaurant, devouring the bacon and eggs like your lives depend on it.

The conversation is light. You're slowly getting to know each other. "I'm freelancing for the government," Bucky says and gulps down his orange juice. "It's all really boring, though."

You nod and stuff your mouth with bacon. "I'm sure it isn't. But paperwork, am I right?" you add with a chuckle.

Nodding, he wipes his mouth and takes another bite. "Mhm. How about you?"

"Oh, it's not very interesting. I freelance too, I guess. Right now I've been hired to design a calendar with paintings from the city. It's not well paid, but it's fun."

"So you're an artist? May I see some of your work?"

Suddenly you feel a bit self-conscious. That's weird. You haven't had doubts about your art in forever. "I've got some photos in my phone." You hesitate for a second, then fish it out and unlock it. Scrolling down, you find the series of paintings you did last spring. Green and lush, you get a pang of longing for the fresh air and colourful flowers. The contrast is vast from the grey city.

"Wow, these are good!" Bucky exclaims and starts gushing over your lines and colour and the composition, and you feel your ego inflating with every word. All you can do is sit there with a stupid grin on your face, and a pulsing heat in your cheeks, while he builds you up like he's a professional.

You've totally forgotten the time when the staff tells you that the restaurant, unfortunately, is closed now, but that you're welcome back for dinner later. With many an apology, the two of you get up and head to the lobby, where you stay, talking for almost an hour before you remember why you are here in the first place.

"Sorry," you say, and mean it. "I need to get some work done before the light goes. I was thinking of heading down to the harbour today. See if the water can inspire me."

"Oh. Yeah, I guess." Bucky looks down on his feet and gives you a small smile. Then he looks up again, his eyes shining, competing with the glorious smile that grows on his lips. "Do you mind if I come with you? I mean… you don't have to say yes, I just…"

"No, of course." You're relieved that he asked, letting you out of asking him yourself. "Some company would be lovely. Just gotta get my stuff. Meet you back here in ten minutes?"

He nods and sighs almost imperceptibly once you've turned away, watching as you almost skip towards the elevator. A tiny voice in the back of his head warns him that he has tripped and is going to fall hard if he doesn't get a grip soon, but he ignores it. The feeling is too pleasant to care just now.

The next few days you establish a routine of sorts. Bucky knocks on your door, asks to sleep next to you, you say yes, and you wake up, turned towards each other. After breakfast, you head out into the city, sometimes he's leading the way, sometimes you have a plan, and you spend the day drawing and talking and without realising it, falling hard for him. Every evening you have dinner in one of the restaurants near the hotel, and every evening you forget what is happening around you, and all you can focus on is Bucky.

_____________________________________________________________________

The sun is shining. A bird is singing in the tree behind you. You can barely hear the traffic from the road outside the park. Bucky is lounging on the grass, chewing on a straw, and you've been drawing him in secret for the past two hours, your original subject completely forgotten and rejected. When he looks up at you, his face is filled with happiness. "This is nice," he says, careful to mask his full joy.

"Yes, it is," you reply, quickly hiding the drawing under a sketch of the bridge and skyline.

He sits up and looks like he wants to say something, but he closes his mouth instead. After a small pause, he gets up and holds out his hand. "Let's go grab something to eat."

"Okay," you whisper, breathless from the feel of his hand in yours. "Lead the way."

He takes you to a small café at the edge of the park, explaining that it's famous for its fries, and they've got the bestdipping sauce, you just have to try it.

You're in the middle of the meal, laughing at a joke, when a shadow interrupts. Looking up, you hear Bucky mutter a curse under his breath, and you feel a pinprick of fear in your neck. He's glaring at the stranger, and the stranger surprisingly returns the look.

"Um…" You look between Bucky, sat at the table with a curly fry sticking out from the corner of his mouth, staring daggers, to the man who just interrupted your lunch. The truth smacks you in the head with force. Holy shit! That's Captain America. Captain freaking America! And it slowly dawns on you who Bucky really is.

The glass you just picked up slides back to the table, sprite sloshing over the sides as it hits, but you don't realise your hand is cold and wet. All you can focus on is that your roommate for the last week is… Bucky Barnes, AKA The Winter Soldier. Yeah. You try very hard to swallow the food in your mouth, but it's so dry, and forcing it makes your throat ache.

Said soldier quickly chews the curly fry and swallows thickly. "What do you want, Sam?"

Sam hands him a pad, and upon reading the contents, Bucky's frown deepens.

"It's very nice to meet you," Sam says, his shining smile lighting up the whole room. "I'm Sam, by the way."

"Y/N," you reply, still unaware that the hand you're using to shake Captain America's hand with is wet and slightly sticky. Actually, you're kinda unaware of your surroundings altogether.

Sam laughs, making Bucky look up from the message, scowls at Sam, then returns to his reading. "So you're the one who's keeping Bucky busy, huh?" He winks, and you feel that heat creeping up the back of your neck. "From the look on your face, I'd say you didn't know who you're having lunch with, right?"

You nod, squeaking a confirmation.

Sam laughs. "I thought after the whole Flag Smashers case, everybody knew who Bucky was."

Your ears burn, and you breathe a little faster now. Of course, you've been to the exhibit at the Smithsonian, and of course you know about Steve Rogers' best friend, it just never connected in your brain that this super sweet man is a WWII hero and assassin.

Your eyes flick from his prosthetic arm and up to his face. "Uh… I'm just not super into the whole celebrity thing?" you offer, blurting out the first thing that pops into your head.

Snickering, Sam turns to Bucky. "And you didn't tell her?" There's a hint of annoyance in his voice.

Bucky picks on a stain on the table before setting up a defiant face. "It didn't come up." And he wants to add And by the way, how do you go about saying Oh, and FYI I'm a former assassin and murderer, to a woman you really want to get to know better?

He looks so uncomfortable, you get a strong urge to hug him, but now you're uncertain of all this. What if the two of you are against the rules? Wait, what are you, really? Friends? Accidental roommates? You like Bucky. You really like Bucky, and you had kinda hoped it would grow into something… more, but now… Swallowing the lump in the back of your throat – that was an unexpected reaction – you smile flatly. "Are, are you allowed to, to… I mean, can you be friends with…" You swallow again. "Civilians?"

Sam's eyes widen for a split second, and somehow you feel as though he can see right through you. Then he laughs, and all the tension around the table dissipates. "Of course. We're human, Bucky's human, as difficult as that is to believe. Of course we're allowed to have friends, relationships, family. Wouldn't be much of a life without it, would it? But expect them to do a background check on you, hell, they probably already know what you ate for dinner on your twelfth birthday."

"Oh."

"I'm sorry, Y/N, but I'm afraid I have to whisk your boyfriend away for a while. There's a situation."

"We're… we're not…" You have to admit that thought feels good, but really, any hope you had has been well and truly smashed.

Bucky gets up and smacks the pad at Sam. "I'll see you later?"

"I'll be here," you reply with fake confidence. "Please be safe. Both of you," you add with a small smile.

"You too," Bucky says softly. "Be careful if you go out after dark. It's not as safe as you think here."

That makes you snort. "It's me. I don't even like people, what am I supposed to do outside after dark, huh? Don't worry. I'll probably stay in my room and paint all day anyway."

He mutters something that sounds suspiciously like "good", but it's hard to hear over Sam. "I'll take care of him," he laughs, ducking under Bucky's hand as he swats at his head. "Come on, Buck. Let's roll."

"Be safe," you mutter again, looking after them as they head to the black, unmarked car waiting by the flower shop on the corner. It's as if all colour drains from your vision.

_______________________________________________________________________

The first sip of coffee feels divine; just what you need to wake up after spending another night without Bucky. It has been another restless night. You tossed and turned and couldn't settle properly. And the dreams… You'd rather not think about them. Never before has your brain produced such chaotic absurdities, such eldritch horrors, but to be honest you're not really surprised. Sleeping next to Bucky; something just clicked. You smile into your cup, feeling calmer just thinking about it. It's weird how quickly you got used to his presence, and how wrong it feels when he isn't there.

But you don't get to enjoy your drink for long. Before you've even finished the second sip, someone shoves you hard from behind. The coffee spills over the sidewalk, painting the concrete and splashing all over your shoes. "Hey! Watch where you're going!" you bark, turning to confront whoever pushed you. But before you can even see them, they pull a bag over your head.

Panic rises in you, and you scream until your throat feels raw. Someone smacks you across the mouth, and the shock and pain shuts you up. Your lip thumps: it's split, you can taste the blood now. Tears stream down your cheeks, the soft fabric of the bag clings to your skin. Feeling the darkness caress your mind, the world starts folding in over itself. Still you possess enough awareness to kick the person holding you. They yelp and swear, resulting in a sharp rap over your ear. Your head is ringing.

A pair of strong arms pick you up as if you weigh nothing, and haul you along, struggling with your flailing arms and legs. There's a metallic clang, like a van door opening, then you're half lifted, half pulled up, all while screaming and cursing, hoping someone – anyone – will hear.

Someone speaks a language you don't recognise; your sleeve is pushed up and there's a sharp prick in your arm. Seconds later your brain starts spinning. The faint light that seeps through the weaving of the bag blinks like a starry sky.

You sway back and forth, feeling off kilter and fuzzy, as the voices around you grow all garbled and muted. Someone pushes you backwards, but before you hit the floor, you're out. As the world fades from your consciousness, you just wish you could have seen Bucky one more time.

When you come to, your head is pounding, your mouth is dry, and everything is dark. You try to move, but your hands are shackled, and your feet are bound to whatever you're sitting on. At least you're right side up, you think, before the situation dawns on you, and the contents of your stomach threatens to make an appearance. You swallow thickly. God, your mouth is so dry. Your tongue sticks to the roof of your mouth, and there's not enough liquid to even wet your lips. All you can do is grimace, feeling how they crack and pop. It stings. The taste of metallic, rusty blood coats your tongue.

Your throat itches, so much so that you can't even speak, but you can cough. Hard, like explosions in your head, and it's enough for you to lose your breath.

Something floppy is shoved into your hands.

"It's upside down, you idiot!" someone shouts, and the paper is turned.

Panic surges through your body, and your throat constricts, increasing your coughing. Your heart is racing, but everything happens so fast you just can't process it. Someone removes the bag from your head. The light burns in your eyes, and the shock stops your coughing instantly. Everything is white. There's voices, and movement, but you can't see anything clearly, and for a moment you wonder if you've lost your contact lenses. Slowly your vision returns, but they all keep to the shadows, and they've covered their faces, so you can't make out any details. The buzzing in your ears almost drown out every sound in the room.

"Look straight ahead," they command, and by some miracle you actually manage to move your head. "Keep your eyes open. Ready!"

There's a bright flash, someone else yells "Got it!" and then, in a flurry of motions you're untied, dragged through a dark hallway and unceremoniously dropped on the floor. The door clangs ominously behind you, and you freeze, waiting for someone to grab you or hurt you. There's no one in the room, but you remain in the floor, rubbing your wrists and trying to calm your breathing.

It's cold in your cell, room, whatever people call it, but at least you've got a blanket, and they've fed you, so there's that. But no matter how many times you've asked, nobody tells you anything.

You're over the initial shock now, and the fear has begun to settle into anger, but you're too numb to react.

"Who are you? Why are you doing this to me? I'm no one, never been important in my whole life, hey, someone please say something." Silence. You bang on the door, not sure what you're hoping for. In the back of your mind you know it's risky, but you need to know. The silence is making the walls come closer. You lick your lip. It's bleeding again.

You figure your friendship with Bucky has something to do with your current predicament, but you're not sure exactly what they hope to achieve. It's not like you're best friends or anything, but maybe what you have is enough for him to come for you. That thought sends an electric jolt straight to the small of your back. For a moment you allow yourself to hope, to imagine him blasting through the door and marching in with murder in his eyes, angels singing, and the light surrounding him like a halo.

You laugh grimly. What are even the odds of him finding out where you are? Does he even care? He is the Winter Soldier, after all. He's probably got better things to do, he's busy saving the world, no doubt.

_______________________________________________________________________

Bucky smiles as he walks through the hallway, the ugly carpet muting the urgency in his steps. He can't wait to see you again. It's only been four days, but it feels like forever so the moment he got the all-clear after mission report, he made Sam drop him off at your hotel.

A short walk later he's standing outside your room, heart in his throat and arm outstretched, ready to knock. His stomach dances, pure happiness courses through him. It's been so long since he felt like this; he swears he can almost feel it in his metal arm.

A soft knock. No answer. He knocks again, harder this time. Still no answer. It's only a few minutes past eleven, you won't be asleep yet. You never fall asleep before midnight.

Suddenly it's like someone's poured a bucket of ice water over him. Putting an ear against the door, he listens like some kind of creep, but the room is silent. Maybe you're out. But that doesn't make sense either. It's too dark to get any proper work done, and you're not one for night clubs, or so you've said. Could you have checked out? Bucky's heart skips a beat. What if you're gone? But… wouldn't you at least have left him a message?

Turning on his heel, he marches back to the elevator as if he's got the devil on his tail. There's a really nasty feeling growing in his gut, something he just can't afford to think about now.

He presses the elevator button multiple times, but it takes its sweet time, so instead, he heads to the stairs, taking several steps at once, then skips the steps altogether and jumps over the railing, landing with a heavy thud on the ground floor.

There's a tenseness to his stride as he walks to the front desk, feeling more and more anxious with every breath. He never thought he'd feel this way again; that pit in his stomach and the growing stone in his chest. Last time, he was on a plane, heading for Italy in 1943, not knowing what was waiting for him.

"Excuse me," he says, rather gruffly, spooking the receptionist, though how she didn't hear him stomping through the lobby is a mystery. His own ears buzz loudly, and it's a miracle he can hear her at all.

"Good evening. How may I help you?" She smiles in that professional way people do when they're interrupted and don't really want to talk.

Bucky glances at the reflection in the glass wall behind her. Solitaire. He shakes his head to clear it a bit. "Um, yeah. Is there a message for me? For James Barnes or maybe Bucky."

She looks through the papers on the desk and shakes her head. "Sorry."

He closes his eyes and breathes through his nose. "Okay. Don't suppose you could tell me if Y/N has checked out of room 508?" His brows furrow, but he tries to smile anyway.

Another head shake. "I'm sorry. I'm afraid I'm not allowed to disclose that kind of information." She looks briefly at her screen, then back up at Bucky, fake smile plastered on her face.

Bucky bites his tongue and swallows the rage that's building in him. It's not the receptionist's fault. She doesn't understand. But then he gets an idea. "Right, of course," he says, making his voice sweeter. "But maybe you will allow me to leave her a message?"

"Certainly. Let me grab a pen and paper for you."

So you haven't checked out. From the look on her face, the receptionist doesn't realise she's confirmed his suspicions. Well, he'll leave a message just in case, but it's time for drastic measures.

Outside it's dark now. Low clouds are threatening with rain. No one sees the dark figure slipping around the corner and jumping to grab the lowest rung of the fire ladder. Bucky easily hoists himself up, and climbs to the fifth floor, keeping to the shadows and making as little noise as possible. He knows where the window to your room is, and in less than a minute he's standing on the tiny balcony, peering in.

The room looks untouched. The bed is made, your stuff is all there. There's an almost finished portrait on the sketch pad on the desk; a smiling, content picture of himself. Nothing is missing except you. Bucky is three seconds from losing it.

A cold raindrop hits the back of his neck, drawing him from his haze. Soon the sky has opened up, and he's blasted with icy water. It soaks through his jeans, and drips from his hair into his eyes. Without looking back, he slides down the fire ladder and lands in a puddle. He doesn't know what to do next. Maybe Sam knows, so he ducks back into the hotel to get out of the rain, but before he can make the call, he's interrupted by the receptionist.

"Mr Barnes, I apologise. I didn't see this before. Someone left this for you." The woman hands him a large, brown envelope. All of a sudden he's transported back in time; drowning in flashes of memories of past missions, but he shakes himself out of it. Leaning on the column by the door, he opens the envelope.

There's nothing in there but a photo. It makes his stomach turn, and for the first time since he's been free, he has to fight the rage of the Winter Soldier, expanding, threatening to explode and send him on a vengeance fuelled killing spree. "When? Do you know who delivered it?" His voice is darker than usual, and the woman steps back just from the sound.

"I'm sorry," she squeaks. "It's been here for a couple of days, I think. I wasn't here when it was delivered." She hurries back behind her counter, putting a safe distance between them.

Bucky adjusts his stance, and forces his voice to sound kinder. "Thank you. Is there somewhere I can make a phone call, undisturbed?"

She nods and points to a nook behind the oversized fern in the corner. There's a sliding glass door that will provide some privacy.

Turning the envelope over in his left hand, Bucky is careful to not leave any more fingerprints on it. It is unmarked, but he knows people who can read things that no one else can see.

Whipping out his phone, he dials the first number in the contact list. He doesn't realise it, but he's shaking. The four seconds it takes for Sam to pick up are an excruciating eternity, and Bucky grips the door handle to keep himself from running off without a plan.

Before he can even say hello, Bucky wheezes: "They've got her, Sam!"

"Who?"

"Y/N! They've taken her!" He closes his eyes. The photo has burned into his mind.

"I'm on my way."

Bucky relaxes his grip on the door. There's a dent in the metal, and that makes him even angrier. They've made him lose control. He curses as he exits the tiny room, pacing over the floor, waiting for the voice of reason to arrive.

Being Sam, being Captain America, opens a lot of doors, so when he shows up at the hotel, requesting to look through the surveillance tapes – though it really is a demand; he's got a way with words, Bucky muses, thinking back to when he realised that what he first took as being soft, really isn't soft at all. Anyway, they all fawn over each other, fighting to be the one to give Cap access. Bucky can hardly watch.

"Give us a few minutes," Sam says with a smile, settling in front of the computer.

"Of course." The manager bows and closes the door.

Then Sam turns to Bucky. "Okay. When did you see her last?"

"Four days ago, right before we left on that goddamn mission." He wants to beat himself that he exposed you to danger, and he resists the urge to take out his irritation by slapping Sam over the head. Instead he settles on a flat, emotionless that he hopes conveys all his frustration.

"Right, so somewhere after last Thursday, then." Sam pushes a button, selects the right floor and presses play. Nothing happens for a while, and he pushes a new button, making the footage speed up.

"There!" Bucky shouts, pointing at the screen. There you are. Leaving your room with a large bag over your shoulder. Bucky smiles in spite of his fear. A soft expression on your face and your trusty art supplies at your side. Everything looks normal.

Fast forwarding through the footage, nothing out of the ordinary happens. You return around seven, looking a little bit tired, but happy enough. Food is brought to your room an hour later, and you don't go out again that night.

"Sensible girl," Sam comments, drawing Bucky out of his thoughts.

"Yeah. But she didn't know how much danger she was in."

The night passes in a blur. A drunk couple stumbles through the hallway around two in the morning, but other than that it's quiet, until you leave again around 10am, again with your bag over your shoulder. You look tired, yawning and dragging your feet. The bounce in your step is gone, Bucky notices, and he wonders if it has anything to do with your abduction.

They keep fast forwarding, but when the time stamp shows 11.30pm, Bucky's chest plummets. He knows you're not coming back.

Sam looks at him. “Calm down, man. You look like you’re about to explode!” he hisses, putting his hand on Bucky’s shoulder.

Bucky shakes him off and glares. “Because I’m this close.”

“But that won’t do her any good, will it? We gotta keep our cool, don’t do anything rash.” Sam's voice is still calm. Bucky doesn't know how he does it.

"Fine." Bucky takes a deep breath, just how his therapist taught him. "Show me what direction she went."

Sam clicks and drags the front camera onto the screen. You stop outside for a few minutes, then head down the street towards the city centre. They follow you on the screen until you disappear from view.

There's a shoe shop on the corner where you turned, so after thanking the hotel manager for the help, they follow your moves through the city. The shoe shop doesn't have a quality video, but it's enough to recognise you. Tracking you through the streets feels like an endurance hunt, Bucky thinks, impatient to find out who took you and where you are. That's all he can focus on: to get you back. And god have mercy on your kidnappers if you're not okay. Eventually Sam and Bucky stop at a small restaurant, but they don't have surveillance at all.

"Okay. Let's head to that Starbucks," Bucky says, nodding across the road. "They're bound to have surveillance, right?"

Sam rolls his shoulders. "Let's go."

The video shows three large figures, lurking in the shadows in one of the side streets. They're watching as you enter the café, and when you exit with a large coffee in hand, the gang is ready. The footage jumps a bit, but it captures the terror in your face, and Bucky feels like throwing up. You're hauled into a waiting van, it's an unmarked, normal van, but as it speeds away, luck strikes. The camera got a clear shot of the number plate.

Bucky lets Sam handle the rest. He can't shake the guilt, the pit in his stomach that grows larger and larger. And his anger grows too. Why didn't anybody react, nobody can convince him that nobody heard or saw anything. He watches as Sam talks on the phone, already mentally punching your kidnappers to a pulp. The metal arm flexes involuntarily.

Sam puts down the phone and turns to Bucky. "Okay, so here's what they told me: The van isn't connected to anything, they didn't even have a name for me. It's probably a fake number plate. But they said it's been spotted driving to and from a warehouse not too far from here. Let's go suit up while we're waiting for the address."

Bucky exhales. They better hurry up with the address. You've been in captivity for far too long already.

_______________________________________________________________________

It's quiet in the building now. You don't know what time it is; they've taken all your stuff, but you know it's late. Your eyes sting, both from exhaustion and from wanting to cry, not to mention your contacts are getting dry, but you refuse to remove them – not being able to see would terrify you. But neither sleep nor tears come. Sitting on the cot, wrapped in the blanket they thankfully provided, you are too wound up to relax enough to sleep. What if someone comes in while you're out? There's not much chance to defend yourself, but at least if you're awake  you can try to put up a fight.

How long have you been here? It's hard to tell. After the first shock they've pretty much left you alone. Except for the interrogation a few hours later. They kept asking you about where Bucky is, what he's doing, details on his mission, but you told them, truthfully, that you don't know anything. And they seem to believe you. But they still won't let you go. You sigh and pull the blanket tighter around your shoulders. Even if you knew everything you wouldn't have told them anything, but you didn't say that out loud.

Suddenly there's a loud bang reverberating through the walls. Instinctively you flinch, trying to make yourself smaller. Your blood roar in your ears, and it feels like your heart is trying to beat its way through your rib cage. There's a pause – the silence is deafening, then someone yells. You hear gunshots. Heavy boots rush past your door. It's torture just listening to the fight, not knowing what will happen. What if there's a fire? Or what if you're abandoned here? Is this how you're gonna die?

The fight is getting closer. You drag the blanket over your head, locking your arms around your neck. Unfortunately it doesn't mute the sounds, and you have to remind yourself to keep breathing. Slowly the fight dies down, and for a moment everything is calm. You feel woozy, grateful that you're already sitting down, and you steel yourself for what comes next.

The door opens. Heavy boots slaps against the hard floor. Someone blocks out the light, and you feel a gentle hand on your shoulder, making you flinch and whimper.

A soft voice whispers in your ear. "Y/N?"

You forget to breathe again.

"Y/N," the voice repeats, coaxing you out of your makeshift cocoon.

You look up, and into the eyes of the man you never thought you'd see again. His face is blood-spattered, and his expression is a murderous rage, but the moment your eyes meet, he softens. "Bucky," you breathe, folding yourself out, and reaching for him like a toddler.

He scoops you up, holding you close as you begin to sob into his neck, and he rocks you back and forth until you calm a bit. "Are you hurt?"

Shaking your head, you climb down from his lap and looks over at Sam, hovering by the door. There's a look in his eyes that you can't quite decipher.

"You're bleeding," Bucky says, touching your lip gingerly.

"Oh." You don't know what else to say, as he helps you up on your feet. His arm stays around your shoulders all the way out into open air, and you lean into his embrace. The building is littered with bodies, some are definitely dead, others are being detained by soldiers dressed in black. Your knees buckle from the sight.

"Hey, I've got you," Bucky murmurs into your hair.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For coming to get me."

"Of course," Sam says, offering you a reassuring smile. "Why shouldn't we?"

You exhale shakily through your nose. "I thought you were busy saving the world and all."

Bucky pulls you closer.

"Don't you know?" Sam asks quietly, so no one else can hear. "You are his world."

_______________________________________________________________________

@schwarzwaelder-kirschtorte

[alatismeni-theitsa]

Tips for not ruining your trip to Greece

Coronavirus and Medical care

First of all, if you can, it’s better to postpone your trip to Greece for another year. (For the year 2021). Sorry to start my post like this but let me explain. It’s likely you have another corona variant than the locals and if you infect them, their vaccination will be for nothing and they will have to pass more months of a super strict, borderline fascist lockdown. Also... you might be infected with another variant. If you MUST come, please wear a mask at all times and keep distances! (The same goes for Greeks who want to visit other countries).

Tourism is great but too many tourists will get the country back to square one pandemic-wise. If our healthcare system gets overloaded, a tourist won’t get sufficient healthcare either if something happens to them! I mean, our healthcare system is still overloaded due to corona patients so... I don’t know if it’s a good move to come here right now. In case of emergency, I am not sure if you will receive fast or proper care.

Generally, it’s good to know some stuff in Greek about your condition because half of Greece doesn’t speak English. Doctors are likely to understand the condition in English (because most of English health words come from Greece) but I’d say be prepared for good measure. Write your allergens and conditions in Greek on a paper in your wallet and hand it to someone if you need them to know. Learn important words such as “medicine“, “sick“, “It hurts” etc. (or have them written down somewhere. The important thing is that you can say them or show them to Greeks).

You can ask me if you can’t find the translation of some phrases and don’t how you pronounce them. Avoid the Erasmian pronunciation. It was made so foreigners can learn Greek easier, but it sounds alien to Greeks and it’s not likely it’ll help you.

Protection from the elements

I don’t understand how half the globe thinks we are a tropical place or a dessert and then they don’t prepare at all for a tropical place or a dessert when they come here in Summer xD At least being over-prepared would help! So...

Don’t come in Summer??? Yes, I know, it sounds stupid but you really don’t have to come in the peak of tourist season. Coming early May, June, September and October (where the sea is still warm) will get you a good tourist experience with less crowds and heat. If you are disabled and/or easily overwhelmed, avoiding the peak season will probably do you good. You can come any month really. We have different places for different seasons. All it takes is five minutes of googling.

If you come from a less sunny place (no matter your skin color) make sure to always wear more sunscreen than usual!! If the sun is up, always wear sunscreen when going outside - don’t forget your face and nape!!

Avoid going out at 12:00-16:00 and don’t stay under the sun too long! If you catch yourself being outside the hours 12:00-16:00 GET INSIDE no matter how alluring the sea or the pool looks. A sunstroke can rob you of 2-3 days of fun and waste your money. 

If you are light skinned, red skin indicates your skin is hurt. (You’d be surprised to learn how many people don’t get it). Cover the red part and don’t continue going out in the sun for long. The rest of your skin is going to become red and peel soon if you don’t take care. If you are out, have the red part very well covered! Moisturizing creams help red skin a lot.

Wear a hat, it only helps! (it can make a small difference when it comes to sunstroke) Also, it’s better to *cover* your skin to protect it from intense sunlight! (no matter your skin color) Don’t be fooled by the heat and start going around in your swimwear for hours!

Swimming doesn’t protect you from the sun! The water reflects the sunlight and you can get even more damage! (Usually people have half of the body out of the water and that’s where the light hits).

When the light starts getting quite low prepare for mosquitos. Mosquito repellent sprays, creams and candles, as well as mosquito nets on the doors and windows, are your friends! Avoid getting near to bodies of sweet water.

Drink lots of water frequently! Take many bottles with you in a bag, I am not joking. Observe your urine to see if it’s darker than usual - if it is, then you need to hydrate more, no matter what you feel you are doing. Don’t drink *frozen* water (just mildly cold, “δροσερό”). Frozen water is not as refreshing and helpful as you think. It can also hurt your neck and lungs if they get exposed to frozen water constantly and make them irritated and swollen. (Lungs get cold because of the water going down near them. It’s rare, but it happens)

Make sure your alcoholic drinks are safe! Ask the locals if any place is notorious for serving adulterated alcoholic drinks and better avoid getting cheap alcohol from the kiosk (unless the kiosk has a stock of a reasonably priced sealed bottles of a certain brand you trust. But then again... still be hesitant).

For your wallet health

Do all the above to avoid sunstrokes and dehydration or say goodbye to your free days and money :P

Exchange homes with a Greek for a month. There are some programs which do that. If you are that type of person, this solution might work for you. You even can stay with your Greek friends for some days, if that’s possible for them.

You don’t have to go to an island. We have plenty of places that are just as gorgeous and more merciful to your wallet. If you want to go to an island, there are some cheaper ones. And, even though each island has a unique history, lots of islands have similar environment and aesthetics.

Avoid tourist traps (trust me, you’ll be attracted to them, even Greeks get attracted there and then regret it :p)  and search the area for other restaurants before sitting somewhere. For cheap but qualitative food use the supermarkets, your local bakery and cooked meal restaurants. (Try ordering from sites like efood.gr and deliveras.gr)

For souvenirs spend money on something that you can’t get in your country. Don’t get a cactus souvenir on a plain pot and say “I got that from Greece” because it won’t show and nobody will care xD Buy something more... obvious. (Ok I don’t mean you have to buy a shirt that says “GREECE”, something more subtle, if you like :p)

You can probably find the same souvenir for cheaper in another less popular tourist area (or even in the shop ten meters down the road!).

[theydontknowaboutusimagines]

This Christmas - A Harry Styles Christmas Series (Part 3)

Two life long friends. Secretly in love. Home for the holidays. Will they risk everything by telling the other how they feel? Or will they spend another year loving from afar? 

Read these first    Prologue     Part 1    Part 2

**

It was now morning and you stared at the blank document in front of you. You have now written the first twelve chapters and you’ve hit a wall. A big, huge fucking wall. You had been trying to write now for well over an hour and you just couldn’t come up with anything. You made a few notes as to what you wanted to happen, but figuring out how point a leads to point c… you were blanking.

You finally decided to take a break, sneaking inside the house and making breakfast. It was still quite early, so you thought it would be nice to do the cooking while you were staying there. You searched around for ingredients and pans you would need. Of course, there was something on the very top shelf you couldn’t reach. You sighed, standing on your tippy toes, barely able to grab it. You just needed a few more inches and you would have been able to get it.

However, just before you decided to go and grab a chair, you felt a heated weight pressed against you and a tattooed hand grabbing the item for you.

“I see you haven’t grown much since we were twelve,” Harry smirked in your ear.

Goosebumps covered your skin while your face heated up, “Fuck off,” you smirked back, pushing him off of you.

You turned around seeing him standing there wearing nothing but a pair of jogging pants and some crazy bed head.

“New style you’re going for there?” You smirked, walking past him and over to the counter.

“I still haven’t heard a thank you,” he pointed out.

“Thank you for being a foot taller than me, so that you could reach the flour for me,” you joked.

“I believe you should be thinking my Mum and Dad for that,” he winked.

“Whatever,” you rolled your eyes. “What are you doing up this early anyway?”

“Jet lag,” he shrugged.

“Right,” you said. “So, what part of the world did you travel from this time?”

You poured out each of the ingredients while Harry watched you.

“LA,” he said.

“Oh, that’s right, the movie,” you said, nodding. “How’d that go?”

“It was great,” he said. “I loved it.”

“Any spoilers?” you asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I could ask you the same thing, Ms. Netflix special,” he said, leaning up against the counter. “Congrats on that by the way.”

“Thank you,” you smiled. “And I would totally give you spoilers but nothing is going on with it yet. They’re still casting some of the characters.”

“Speaking of, I’m hurt you didn’t offer me the starring role,” he joked.

“And make your head even bigger, no thank you,” you giggled.

“Well, I mean I do seem to have an awful lot in common with your main love interest,” he pointed out.

You froze, staring at the mixture in the bowl, trying to figure out what the next step would be. However, your hesitation pretty much proved he was right.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you squeaked.

“I’m just teasing you,” he smirked, knocking your shoulder with his. “But you have to admit there are a few similarities.”

“Your point?” You asked.

“No, point,” he said. “Just dropping a hint on the next time Netflix comes your way, I’m available.”

“Wait… is The Harry Styles coming to me for a job?” You gasped. “Is the bank account drying up that quickly?”

“Ha. Ha,” he rolled his eyes. “Since you’re going to make fun of me, I guess I’ll just go back to sleep and let you make pancakes all by yourself.”

“That was the plan all along,” you pointed out.

“Okay then… I’m going,” he said, staring at you.

“Okay, then go,” you smirked, shooing him out.

“Oh, come on,” he whined. “You know you want my help.”

“You can put the flour back on the top shelf,” you told him as you finished mixing the batter for the pancakes.

He rolled his eyes, grabbing the rest of the ingredients and putting them back in their proper places. As he did this, he caught himself glancing over in your direction. His gaze dropping down the length of your body and back up again. You were wearing leggings and a large jumper with the sleeves pushed up. Your hair was yet again in a messy bun with strands of hair sticking out around your face.

The real reason Harry was awake so early wasn’t purely from jet lag, but from having a dream about you. The last few weeks, you had been on his mind more than usual, but ever since seeing you again you were all he thought about. More specifically, he thought about the time he walked in on you in the bathtub the other night. He thought what it would have been like to join you to feel your skin against him.

And there he was again, thinking about you. He really needed to stop or else he was going to have another problem.

“Harry!” You snapped your fingers in front of his face.

“Oh, yeah, what? Sorry,” he said, shaking the thoughts from his head.

“You okay over there?” You asked. “You kinda spaced out for a bit.”

“Oh, yeah, great,” he said as his face blushed a shade of pink.

“Can you heat up the veggie sausage?” You asked.

“Sure, sure,” he said.

You looked over at him as he fumbled around. You held back a giggle as you watched him. While you were finishing up the pancakes, your mind started to wander into the thoughts of if mornings would always be like this if you and Harry had ever given a relationship a try. You may never know in real life, but this was your little glimpse into what could have been and you weren’t sure if it was a good thought or a bad one.

**

Later that afternoon, you finally managed to write and finish an entire chapter. You still weren’t where you wanted to be, but progress was progress at this point. It was around lunch time, so you were just finishing up getting ready to go out with Harry. You weren’t sure what was on the agenda, but you were looking forward to it. You also made a mental note that tomorrow you needed to visit your mum for a bit because it was kinda rude that you were spending time with Harry and Anne when you told your mother you were going to be working the whole time.

Which you were, most of the time, but you still needed to go see her. Anyway, while you were getting ready you received a text from your editor asking about how things were going with the book.

Hey, Y/N! Just checking in to see how things are coming along.

Hey! Things are… going. I am writing and I’ve gotten quite a bit done in the last few days. Once I’m finished with the first fifteen, I’ll send them your way, sound good?

Perfect. I can’t wait to see what you came up with!

Let’s hope you still feel that way once you’ve read them. Ha!

After a few more texts back and forth, you double checked yourself in the mirror before grabbing your coat and heading out to meet Harry. You didn’t have to walk very far because he was already out the door of the main house, carrying a few bags with him.

“Um, are we taking a road trip for lunch?” You laughed.

“Nope,” he said. “But we do need some essentials.”

“Food better be included in that because I’m starving,” you said.

“It wouldn’t be lunch without food,” he said in a duhh tone.

You rolled your eyes, “Anyway, where are we going that we need all of these essentials, whatever that means.”

“You’ll see,” he smirked. “Now, let’s get going.”

The two of you walked out of the backyard and walked towards the walking trail that connected to the end of the street. The walk was filled with silence from the two of you, but it was refreshing. Any awkwardness that started out between you was now creeping away and everything felt like no time had passed.

It was strange really, but then again it was you and Harry. About twenty minutes later, you and Harry arrived at the nearby park, where he placed the bags on a picnic table. He took out a blanket that he used to cover the table in two shorter ones to place on the benches connected to it. Next, he took out containers of food filled with fruit, sandwiches, and crisp spreading them over the table. Finally, he took out some drinks before looking over at you.

“Lunch is served,” he smirked holding his hand out.

“Wow, you really went all out, didn’t you?” You laughed sitting down on one side while he took a seat across from you.

“Eh, I figured this was better than going into town,” he said.

“Do people still come up to you here?” You asked, popping a strawberry in your mouth.

“Sometimes,” he said. “Most of the time things are pretty chill and people just want to chat me up, see how I’m doing. And then others, usually the younger generation are the ones who are a bit more… uh… “

“Annoying? Bothering you?” You added.

“Basically, yeah,” he nodded with a laugh.

“One… hearing you say the younger generation really makes me feel old,” you laughed. “And two, how do you get used to random people just coming up to you like that. Occasionally, I’ll have someone say hi to me… but that’s very rare.”

He shrugged, “I don’t know. It comes with the territory I guess.”

“I guess you have been dealing with it for over a decade,” you said. “Which is still hard to believe.”

“Tell me about it,” he said. “I still can’t believe it and I’ve lived it. There’s so much I’ve already done that sometimes it’s hard to remember that I’m only twenty six and still have a lot of life left to live.”

“You’ve definitely done and seen more than most people our age,” you nodded. “Is that why… you tend to spend more time with other uh… celebrities because they understand that part of your life?”

Harry sighed, putting his sandwich down as he thought over his words, “In the beginning yes. I had all these thoughts of who I was supposed to be, or where I was supposed to be or who I was supposed to be seen with. I kinda lost myself and what I wanted to do in it. Like I used to think I had to live in LA because that’s what everyone did when they made it, but now I can’t stay there more than a few weeks at the most.”

You nodded, taking a bite of your own sandwich in response.

“I don’t want to say that’s what happened with us,” he started. “But I can’t lie either. The truth is, I don’t know what happened, really. Things got overwhelming and I just... “

“Stopped calling?” You finished for him.

“Yeah,” he sighed.

“I’ll admit, when our friendship kinda just ended… I was pissed. I was hurt. I hated you for a good little bit. I was jealous whenever I saw you out with other friends or at all these exclusive parties. I thought I wasn’t good enough to be in your life anymore. Like I was the past and that’s where I was supposed to stay,” you whispered. “But then I realized, I was also to blame. The phone works both ways and I never tried to call or text you again. I could have tried one more time and maybe that would have been the time and we wouldn’t have lost years out on our friendship.”

“Maybe,” he shrugged. “Or maybe I would have still been an ass and everything would have stayed the same.”

“Guess we’ll never know, huh?” You asked.

“Good thing that’s in the past, right?” He asked, hopefully.

“Yeah, it is,” you smiled.

**

You and Harry spent the rest of the afternoon at the park talking about everything. It was like you two were trying to make up for all the years you hadn’t talked and in a way you two were. When you were done talking, you walked along the park, which quickly turned into a little game of running around and jumping on his back, just like old times.

By the time you both headed back home, it was getting dark. Houses covered in Christmas lights lit up the night sky and the two took a bit of a detour looking at all of the decorations. There were times you caught yourself looking at Harry more than looking at the different lights and decorations set ups. Your head and your heart were having a severe disconnect at the moment.

Your head was trying to be all logical and warning you about letting your guard down. Old feelings you had previously suppressed were slowly coming up, but your head kept trying to push them down. Your heart, however, kept fluttering whenever he would laugh or your hands would slightly brush up against one another. After a bit, you found yourself clenching your fist because the want to grab his hand and lace his fingers with yours was becoming unbearable.

If only you knew, Harry was feeling the same way. He glanced at you, smiling to himself as he watched the lights glowing over your skin. Being with you today further proved that he was in love with you. He realized then, he couldn’t hold back his feelings from you much longer and he didn’t want to, he had to get them out.

Harry stopped all of a sudden looking over at you, “Y/N…”

“Yeah, H?” You asked, turning around to look at him.

“I-” he started.

“Everything okay?” You asked.

“I-I,” he stuttered out. “I’m really glad we’re doing this…. Reconnecting… and shit.”

“I am, too,” you smiled.

Harry forced a smile, mentally kicking himself in the ass for chickening out as the two of you finished the rest of the walk back to the house.

**

Uh oh! Who do you think will be the first one to finally admit their feelings?

Find out in PART 4, posted tomorrow at Midnight CST. :)

[themetaphorgirl]

Don’t worry, road trip part 2 is still coming, but I just really wanted to write this bit! I had fun with it, I hope you have fun reading it! Alex is a delight. And I love her and Emily being best friends.

warnings for underage drinking!

more about the boarding school babes

----------

Alex wrestled her blazer off and threw it on the floor with an uncharacteristic amount of effort. “Fuck midterms,” she said fervently. 

“You said it,” Emily said, kicking the door closed with her heel and tossing her backpack on her bed. “Thank god that’s over. Now everybody can stop whining about them, and we can get on with our lives.”

“Well, no, now we get to stress about what grades we got on them,” Alex sighed. She pulled the elastic out of her ponytail and ran her fingers through her hair. “God, it’s going to be a long weekend.”

Emily was half out of uniform already, her button up shirt replaced with a black crop top, but she stopped. “Oh! I’ve got something that will take your mind off things,” she grinned. She rummaged under her bed, moving things around until she emerged with a white carton in her hands. “Aha!”

Alex froze. “Emily Prentiss, you have got to be fucking kidding me,” she said. “You bought-” She glanced around and then dropped her voice even quieter. “You bought alcohol?”

“Not really, it’s just white claws,” Emily shrugged. “There’s like...no alcohol in these.”

“What is wrong with you?” Alex hissed. “We are underage! This is...this is illegal! We could get expelled!”

“Relax,” Emily said. “With your record, you’ll get a slap on the wrist at the most. You could tell them I told you it was a LaCroix and you believed me.”

Alex frowned. “What about you?”

“This is nothing compared to the shit I pulled back home in Italy. I’ll be fine.”

“What if we get caught?” Alex said. “Seriously, if Elle happened to stop by-”

“What about Elle?”

Alex turned around with a shriek. Elle stood in the doorway, Emily’s keychain dangling from her fingertip in disdain. “Prentiss, you keep leaving your keys in the lock. You’ve got to remember at some point,” she said. She tossed the keychain to Emily; Emily still held the white claw carton and the keys fell to the floor. “What the fuck are you two doing with those?”

Alex went pale. “We just...she just...I didn’t…”

“I’ll give you one if you don’t tattle,” Emily offered.

Elle’s eyes narrowed. “Give me two black cherries and we’ll call it even,” she said.

“You drive a hard bargain, ma’am,” Emily said, but she opened the carton and tossed two cans at Elle.

“Thanks,” Elle said, catching them easily. “Make wise choices, ladies.”

She closed the door and Alex let out a long half-strangled exhale. “Oh my god, I thought my heart was going to stop beating,” she sighed.

“See? We’re fine,” Emily reassured her. “We’ll binge watch some mindless TV, we’ll eat shitty junk food, and we’ll have a drink or two. It’ll be a nice night, and everything will be fine. Trust me.”

“Why does you saying ‘trust me’ make me more worried?” Alex said.

Emily scrambled to her feet, picked up a can, and cracked it open. “Here, try this one,” she said.

Alex took a sip and wrinkled her nose. “What fruit is that supposed to be?” she asked.

“Oh, shit, sorry, that’s grapefruit,” Emily said. She picked up another can. “Try this one. You strike me as a raspberry kind of girl.”

Alex sighed, but took a sip. “That’s not as bad,” she said. “That actually tastes like something.”

“See? I told you,” Emily said. “Just take it easy for a while, okay? You’ve been so uptight this week I thought you might explode.”

“All right, all right, fine,” Alex said. “Just one, I guess. That shouldn’t be too bad.”

They had barely gotten into pajams and gotten through the opening titles of their chosen TV show of the evening when Alex frowned and gave her can a little shake. “Oh, it’s empty,” she said. 

Emily flashed her a shit-eating grin. “See? I told you you’d like it,” she said. “Super chill. Absolutely fine.”

“Yeah, that was nice, I guess,” Alex said. 

“You want another one?” Emily said. “There’s one black cherry left, and I’m willing to share it with you.”

Alex hesitated. “Yeah, maybe one more,” she said. “It’s not like we’re going anywhere tonight or anything.”

“Hell yeah!” Emily said, tossing her the can. “Maybe the next time I talk Dave into driving me to another party with the public school kids you can come with us.”

Alex snorted. “Absolutely not,” she said. “When I’m telling my children cautionary tales about underage drinking in boarding school, this will be the worst thing that I tell them. Slowly drinking two white claws while I watch a baking competition in my pajamas.”

“Ooh, slow down, Miller, you might be too cool,” Emily laughed. “You enjoy that second White Claw. You’ve earned it.”

In retrospect, she should have kept a better eye on Alex. On the other hand, Alex was usually so level-headed and responsible it hurt, and this was not the outcome she’d expected.

They were halfway through the second episode when she heard the small sniffle. Emily slowly lowered her can. “Are you okay?” she asked.

She turned around to see Alex wiping at her eyes. She hadn’t taken off her makeup and her mascara and eyeliner made dark puddles under her lashes. “His gingerbread house fell apart,” she said. 

“Yeah, he fucked up his royal icing,” Emily said.

“But it’s so sad.”

Emily sat up. “Alex? Are you okay?”

Alex sniffled again. “He was trying so hard,” she said. In extremely un-Alex fashion, she swiped at her face with the hem of her sleeve, leaving behind a dark gray smear. “It’s so sad!”

“It’s a TV show,” Emily said blankly. “You don’t cry about anything, much less a...oh no.” She paused the episode. “Alex, how many did you have?”

Alex shrugged. “I wanted to try all of them,” she said. Her dark eyes welled up. “And you were right, grapefruit is the worst.”

Emily slid off her bed as Alex burst into tears. “Oh, no,” she said. “Oh, no. You had four?”

Alex nodded. The four empty cans were lined up with military precision on her nightstand. “Lime was the best one,” she said sadly. 

“Yeah, lime was the best one?” Emily said. She sat down next to her on her neatly-made bed. “Okay, champ. You’ve had alcohol before, right?”

“My dad, he lets me have sips of his beer sometimes when my mom isn’t looking, but...beer is vile,” Alex said earnestly. “And, and my older brothers let me have Jack and cokes when my parents aren’t around, but it’s like...more coke than anything else. Like one drop of Jack.”

“Okay, so you’ve never been flat out tipsy before,” Emily guessed. “Or drunk either.” Alex shook her head. “Oh god. Okay.”

Alex’s phone buzzed on the nightstand; she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and leaned around Emily, fumbling for it. “Oh, it’s James,” she sighed, flopping over Emily’s lap.

“Yeah? Is that a good thing?” Emily asked, patting her back lightly. “You know what, we should get you some water. That might be helpful.”

Alex fiddled with her phone. “You know, you know...James and I...we’re best friends,” she said. 

“Yeah, that’s really nice,” Emily said. “Can you sit up? You’re crushing me a little.”

Alex pushed herself up, leaning too heavily on Emily’s knee and making her wince. “James is...you know how boys are stupid?” she said.

Emily leaned back on her elbows and smiled up at the ceiling. “I do, yes,” she said.

“Jamie is...so stupid,” Alex said fondly. She looked up from her phone. “I just...want to kiss his stupid face.”

Emily sat up. “Oh shit,” she said. “What am I supposed to do with this information?”

“I just want to kiss him,” Alex said again. “Kiss his...stupid beautiful face.”

“Uh...do you need to kiss him like...now?” Emily said. “Is this an emergency? A kiss emergency?”

“Noooo!” Alex wailed. She threw her phone down on her bed. “That’s the problem! I can’t kiss him, Emily! It’ll mess everything up! He’s...Jamie is my best friend!”

“Harsh,” Emily said. “I thought I was your best friend.”

“You know what I mean,” Alex sobbed. “I just love Jamie so much and I can’t...I can’t mess everything up! By kissing his stupid beautiful face!”

“Listen, Miller...I think Jamie might be into it,” Emily snickered. “Ask him about it sometime.” 

Alex rubbed at her face with the heel of her palm. Her makeup was absolutely a lost cause at this point, the black rivulets dripping all the way down to her chin. “Maybe I will,” she said.

“Yeah, we’ll see how that goes,” Emily said. 

The door banged open and Emily jumped. “Guys, we have an emergency,” Elle said.

“Jesus, Elle, are you trying to give us heart attacks?” Emily said. “And we’re out of black cherry, so don’t even ask.”

“I’m giving you the heads-up,” Elle said. “Strauss just sent me an email. She’s going to do bedchecks herself tonight. Surprise inspection.”

“You’re fucking kidding me.”

“Nope,” Elle said. “You’d better hide all the stuff because…” Her voice trailed off. “What’s wrong with Miller?”

Alex had slid to sit on the floor, her legs stretched out in front of her. “I had four,” she said sadly.

Emily looked up at Elle. “She had four.”

“Fuck,” Elle sighed, rubbing her forehead with her fingertips. “She can’t be here when Strauss comes through.”

“What am I supposed to do with her?” Emily protested.

“I don’t know! Get her out!” Elle said. She shifted her weight. “Text your friend, the grumpy guy from Lincoln House. See if she can sleep it off on his floor tonight. We’ll tell Strauss that she...she got signed out to spend the weekend with her boyfriend off campus.”

“He’s not my boyfriend!” Alex said, slumping down further. “But I just wanna kiss his stupid face!” She sighed heavily, flexing her fingers in little grabby hands. “His stupid beautiful face.”

“Yikes,” Elle said. “No tolerance on this one, is there?” She glanced at her phone. “You’d better get her out of here fast. I’ll cover for you if Strauss gets here before you make it back.”

“I’ll try, but this might not end well,” Emily said.

----------

Hotch scowled as he leaned against the propped-open front door. “This is not at all what I expected,” he said. “Not in a million years would I imagine that you’d be dragging a drunk Alex over here, and not the other way around.”

“Yeah, well, I’m full of surprises,” Emily said. She hoisted Alex up the front steps. “Turns out Miller can’t hold her white claws.”

“White claws? All this because of white claws?”

Alex tripped on the top step and Hotch caught her arm. “I had four,” she said dreamily. Her eyes welled up. “I just wanted...to try all of them!”

“Okay, okay, you’re all right,” Hotch said, holding her up. He looked at Emily over Alex’s head. “I never thought she’d be a weepy drunk.”

“Me neither,” Emily said. “Well, she was an angry one for a second. She was shouting about her least favorite book on the way over here.”

“Pride and Prejudice is trash and it’s...it’s overrated!” Alex said. She grabbed Hotch’s upper arm. “It’s...there’s like a couple of good lines and a lot of pretty dresses but the rest of it is trash.”

“Sure,” Hotch said, perplexed. Alex let go of his arm, mumbling under her breath.

“You haven’t heard her cry over James yes,” Emily said.

Alex gasped. “Is he here?” she said. 

“No, but tell Hotch what you want to do.”

She looked up at Hotch. “Kiss his stupid face.”

“Please tell him that, I’m tired of watching him pine after you,” Hotch said. “Does she...does she not realize he’s had a crush on her for three years?”

“Not a bit.” Emily stuck her hands in her pockets. “Well, this has been fun, but I’ve got to go-”

“Oh, no, I need you to help me get her up to the seventh floor,” Hotch said. “C’mon, give me a hand.”

Emily sighed. “Fine,” she said. 

It was slow going to get Alex up the stairs. Hotch did most of the lifting, but Emily had to keep coaxing her. “Just stop crying, Miller, everything’s fine,” she said.

“Shut up!” Hotch hissed. “Do you want us to get caught?”

Alex caught the railing, stopping both of them in their tracks. “Can I just...sit down?” she said. “There’s so many stairs.”

Hotch pulled her back up to her feet. “Nope, keep going,” he said. “God, you’re just lucky that Gideon wouldn’t care about any of this.”

“Yeah, if you had Strauss for your building you’d be doomed,” Emily said. “Alex, keep going, we’re on the fifth floor, just keep walking.”

They finally managed to drag her up to the seventh floor, and Hotch scooped her up once they reached the common room. “We’ll hide her in my room until we can decide what to do with her,” he said. 

“What are we going to do with her?”

“No idea.”

He set her down on his neatly-made bed. “How’re you doing, sport?” Emily asked. “Feeling okay?”

Alex screwed up her face. Her long hair was an untidy mess around her shoulders, and the jacket Emily had forced her to put on over her pajamas was buttoned wrong. “Not...not great?” she said, rubbing her face. She paused. “Whose room is this?”

“Mine,” Hotch said. “But you’re not staying here long. We’ll have to figure out somewhere else to hide you.”

“We’re in your house?” Alex sat up. “Where’s my baby?” she asked. “Where is he?”

“Spencer’s asleep,” Hotch said. “And I am not letting you wake him up.”

Emily patted her shoulder as her face began to crumple. “He’s fine,” she reassured her. “You’ll be fine too once you get some water and go to sleep.”

“What if he needs me?” Alex said, pressing her hand to her collarbone. “He’s so little.”

“Let him sleep,” Emily said firmly. She planted her hands on Alex’s temples and kissed the top of her head. “And you need to go to sleep. I’m going to get back to my room before Strauss comes through and run interference.”

“Good luck,” Hotch said. “And don’t slam the-”

Emily slammed the door. He sighed heavily and looked over at Alex. The usually calm, cool, and collected mom friend of their group was curled up on his bed, her lower lip wobbling as she wound a long lock of hair around her fingers. “What are you crying about now, Miller?” he asked.

“The Dewey decimal system,” she said, swiping at her eyes. “They’re trying to phase it out. But I’ll...I’ll be fucked...before they make me use LOC.”

Hotch sighed. “I don’t know what I expected,” he said. “Can you get your shoes off my bed?”

She complied slowly, kicking at her boots and peeling off her jacket. The door creaked open. “You guys woke me up,” Spencer complained. He wandered into Hotch’s room, his blanket draped over his shoulder. “What’s going on? Did I miss something?”

“No, you didn’t miss anything,” Hotch reassured him. “Go back to sleep, kiddo.”

Alex sat up. “Oh, Spencer,” she said, holding out her arms. “Come here, baby.”

“No, he needs to go sleep in his own bed,” Hotch protested, but Spencer had already climbed up, yawning heavily, and tucked himself against her shoulder. “No, Alex, you-”

Alex cuddled him close and pressed kisses to the top of his head. “You’re so little,” she sighed. “Just the littlest one.”

Hotch rolled his eyes. “You guys, this is very cute, but you need to get out of here,” he said. “Come one, everybody up-”

The door opened again. “Hey, what’s going on?” Derek asked. “I sent Spencer to go see what’s happening, but-” He stopped. “Why...why is Alex…”

“She had a couple of white claws,” Hotch said. She held up four fingers. “Four of them.”

Derek whistled. “Oh boy,” he said. “She okay?”

“So far she’s cried because Spencer is small, and the Dewey decimal system,” Hotch said dryly. 

“A weepy drunk? Never would have guessed that.”

“Me neither, but here we are,” Hotch said. “Can you help me get her out of here? Maybe she can sleep on the floor in your room, since she seems determined to stay close to Spencer.”

“Uh...Hotch?” Derek said. “It’s too late for that.”

He pointed towards the bed, and Hotch turned around. They were both fast asleep; Spencer’s cheek smushed against her shoulder and her arms around him tight. “Well, shit,” he said. 

Derek clapped his hand on Hotch’s shoulder. “You can take Spencer’s bed,” he said. “It’ll be like old times.”

“Fine,” Hotch sighed. “I guess.”