#really wanted him to speak spanish and my betas agreed with me

[imagineabrighterworld]

Nothin’ On You // Sero x Shy!Reader

A/N: Kinda long! But I owe Sero for taking so long on finishing this! Hope you like it! ^^

The first time you meet is for a school project

In middle school he was the cool guy that got along with pretty much everyone. At first you would hide away, which was easy with a quirk like yours. You would turn translucent and mute according to your mood, so every time you tried to muster up the courage to talk to him when he passed you by in the halls, you would completely disappear. It was a game of chance to see who was paired with who when the fated project came up, but when you were paired with Sero you almost entirely disappeared off of the face of the earth. You begin to wonder if you could escape class without being noticed when he makes his way over and plops down in the seat next to you.

"Name's Hanta Sero, what's yours?"

Your face flushes, body turning translucent for a split second before you take his hand and shake it. "It's..." Your voice fails you. Of course it had to happen now. Your quirk just had to be a two-in-one kind of deal.

Lifting a finger, you scribble your name down on a loose piece of paper and offer it to him.

He looks at the scrap of paper with curiosity. “Cute name.” He looks back to you. “Is that your quirk? The..?” He motions to his body and mouth.

You nod sagely.

He beams. "Nice to meet you."

The tension in your shoulders lessen. Grabbing your textbook and one of your notebooks made for this type of situation, you write down several questions before pointing to the textbook pages.

He reads each message, surprisingly more patient with your quirk than others. Some expected you to push past it or get over your shyness, but he went with it. It made you feel.. valid. Like your quirk wasn't a burden.

“Sounds like we'll be having a few all nighters on this one, Mr. Takeshi expects waaay too much of us if he wants this done in a week.” Sero looks at you curiously. “What do you think? We could do it at one of those 24/7 cafes nearby.”

Feeling yourself relaxing, you realize you've returned to being opaque as you nod in agreement. "Sounds like a plan."

His smile brightens. "Hey, your voice is pretty cute too chica!"

This time you're glad you disappear from sight, hands covering your mouth as he laughs heartily.  

The project was an odd success

After your initial shock and shyness of being paired up with Sero, you both were a rather successful couple when it came to academics. You split the work equally and helped each other when either of you needed it. While he wasn't always the brightest, he always managed to put a smile on your face when you were studying long into the night, when your eyelids grew too heavy and your will to study lessened. When the day of the presentation came and you both took to the front of the class, it was his support that kept you from disappearing out of fright. However, now that it was over, you were surprised he still wanted to hang out with you, even if it wasn't required anymore.

“Oi, chiquita bonita! Over here!” Sero waves to you from across the classroom. He was sitting in his normal spot with his usual clique, and normally you didn't mix with them. They seemed nice, but it was always awkward when you joined him. You felt like they only tolerated you because of him.

Gathering your items, you shuffle out of your desk space and join him, blushing slightly as he scoots his seat to the side to make space for you right next to him. You could feel the burning stares of the girls surrounding him. You held on though, focusing on staying opaque, knowing he would try getting to the bottom of why you were nervous. Oh if only he knew how hated you were by his clique of girls.

“We did pretty good on the presentation didn't we?” He asks while draping an arm across the back of your chair, his body completely at ease. “Even the cabrón was impressed.”

You smack him lightly on the back of his head. You didn't know a lot of spanish, if at all, but you picked up some slang from the boy next to you. “Don't be mean Hanta, he's not all that bad.”

The girls’ hiss at your action, but Sero only laughs and tugs you closer under his arm. “Lo siento cariño. I'm sorry, but it's not my fault he has a stick up there.” He gestures upward with his middle finger.

You knew if you tried speaking, your voice would have fizzled out like a drop of water on a hot stove.

After the project you two were nearly inseparable, everyone knew you and Sero were an item (even if you both didn't see it)

“Dios mio! What did we do to earn this princesa?”

You turn around to the source of the voice, pausing on decorating the stage of the auditorium. It was Sero, you could tell immediately by his voice, but what you didn't understand was the context of his words. What was he talking about?

The confusion must have shown on your face as he moves closer and climbs onto the stage, walking up to you until he was by your side. “You're all dolled up. What's the occasion?” He holds you by the shoulders and peers behind you as well, earning a pinch on his cheek.

“It's the dance this week, remember? But the play is before, so we have to set up so it's all ready for the night. That means dress rehearsals too.” You were a part of the theatre group, an odd choice for someone who disappears when they get stage fright, but you were heavily invested in what you did. It was a passion you indulged.

“Aye, yeah I forgot about that.” Sero rubs his neck and looks at the ground, deep in thought. At least for two minutes. After the two minutes he peeks at you with a mischievous grin. ”Wanna go to the dance with me?”

To your credit, you manage to stay opaque while your heart beats wildly in its cage. “Thats a dumb way of asking me out.” You mutter while sliding down from the stage, nearly cutting yourself on one of the loose planks.

“¡Cuidado!” He holds his arms out, ready to help you down. “I don't want my date to get hurt you know?”

“I can still dance in a cast.” You brush off his concern with a rare smile. Crushes aside, you appreciated his friendship and concern.

“The fuck is this, Romeo and Juliet? Get a room!” A classmate yells from the lighting stage, laughing when you flip them the bird.

Sero joins in the laughter, leaving soon after apologizing to your classmate. Said classmate meets you in front of the stage, arms crossed and looking back and forth between you and the now closed auditorium door.

“So are you guys dating now?”

“No, we're just friends.” You rub your neck, feeling the translucency crawl up your neck. But it couldn't wipe away the smile on your face.

You gravitate towards each other

Stretching your arms in front of you, you twist your body to the right and sigh as you feel a pop. You didn't particularly like gym class but it was nice to get a good stretch.

Looking around at the field in front of you, you wave at the occasional friendly face. You had friends in this class, which made it even more bearable.

"Hola princesa!"

Sero?

Turning around you grin at the familiar face. You run to the fence blocking you in, gripping it as you watch your friend run to you. He holds your hand through the fence, a normal occurance and a habit you've grown fond of.

"What are you doing here?" You question while turning your hand in order to squeeze his, heart fluttering when you see the small tinge of pink on his cheeks.

"Just here to say hi. My next class is in E block." He peers over your shoulder. You were about the same height, somewhere around 5'4, so you relished being able to see him eye to eye (mostly) while it lasted. He grew a bit over the break of your first year. "Playing anything?"

"Volleyball." You shiver. "I'm team captain, but I suck at it." Who would you pick? Would you actually be a good leader? You feel your voice leave you as you begin to rival that of an onion skin, growing more and more invisible.

A small pinch on the back of your hand pulls you back to reality. Sero waggles a finger, tisking at you. "Don't sweat it, you'll do great." He squeezes your hand before backing up, walking backwards as he heads to class. "Just breathe princesa!"

"Got it." You whisper to yourself, waving to him as you watch him enter the building across from you.

Sadly by the end of your second year, he had grown taller, leaving you craning your neck to look at him.

When he entered U.A. you still cheered him on

Graduating middle school was tough when you split off into different schools. You knew you would keep in contact, but it was so much harder to spend time together when you didnt attend the same schools. Still, with each video chat and phone call, with each text, you showered him with all your love and support. He wanted to be a hero, and you were happy to support him with that dream!

You: Saw you on the tv, you were amazing!

Sero: thanks 😙 still lost tho 😅😅😁😁

You: Yeaaah🤔 but you still looked really cool! Still, didn't realize you were strong enough to pull that Todoroki guy that way 🧐

Sero: Im just full of surprises princesa 😘

Sero mentioned you often to his friends

You were mentioned in at least one conversation a day, it didn't matter the context, you just sort of popped up. What could he say, he loved you! You were his go to for support and someone he truly valued. Plus you weren't crazy like his classmates. 

“You keep talking about her but we've never actually seen her.” Mina leans forward on her palm as she sips at her milk tea. “You're not lying about her are you?” She wiggles her eyebrows, eliciting a laugh from Sero. 

“Course she's real.” 

Kirishima lays his head on the table of the booth they were at, looking at Sero with confusion. “Got proof? It’s not manly to lie to your friends bro.” Sure he believed in his friend, but after a year of just hearing about a special girl, it was hard to keep believing without some form of proof. 

Sero holds up a finger as he pulls out his phone. Placing it flat on the table, he pushes the power button and watches his friends faces light up as they view his lock screen. It was a picture of you.

“Woah! Who's the hot chick?” Kaminari asks excitedly as he returns from the bathroom. “Is she single?”

Sero powers off his phone before smacking a piece of tape on his friend’s mouth, surprisingly feeling a twinge of anger at his words. You were his best friend! He had to protect you!

 On the inside he knew his anger was from deeper feelings, but for now it was just from the fact that he may need to defend your innocence from his own schoolmate. You were so shy, he knew Kaminari’s flirting would be too much for you.

“Yeah, no cabrón. She's taken.”

You were there for his graduation

Needless to say, you were at his graduation! It was difficult to find him amidst the crowds of families wanting to take pictures of their children and siblings, and even some heroes wanting to say their goodbyes! You were absolutely bombarded and neigh invisible after overthinking the whole thing, so when you finally found him you were stunned into invisibility when his friends jumped you. 

“Ohmygodohmygodit'sactuallyyouuuuuu!” Mina screams as she pulls you into her, squeezing the life out of you before you can get a breath out. 

The boys were much gentler, but just as excited. Especially Kaminari.

“Hey it’s the hot girl- more like the gone girl, what's happening?” He questions as you disappear from sight, your voice completely AWOL.

Sero smacks his face as he curses his friends out. “Chingues! Give my girl some space hijos de perras!” 

Mina gives you enough space to breathe but holds you much like one would a hostage. For a hero course student, you believed that she would have done very well as a villain. 

“Nope! We get to meet this girl of yours, Tape Boy!” She looks down at you, squinting to try making out where your face would be, unknowingly glaring directly at you. “He talks about you almost nonstop yet you haven't visited us at all, how unfair is that?” Mina grins. 

You come into focus, your voice a mere squeak as you brush some hair out of your face. “A little? I should've visited..” You introduce yourself to his cadre, your name stumbling off your lips. 

“Hot and shy? What a cutie!” Kaminari hugs you from your available side where Mina wasn't holding you in a headlock. 

A whip of tape smacks the blonde and sends him reeling back to Sero who holds him in a similar hold Mina was holding you.

Your friend ruffles Kaminari's hair in a somewhat violent manner, grinning at him with threatening eyes. "Go easy on her cabrón. She's not used to so many people doting on her."

They were doting on you? You tilt your head and look at Mina who was still examining you. "I don't think I deserve to be doted on, that's not what's going on here right?"

"Of course not, but you and I are gonna have some girl time while the boys get us a spot at a restaurant! You're gonna tell us all about how you and Tape Boy here met!" She chirps excitedly, pulling Bakugou in with her free arm as he tries escaping past her.

You feel a drop of sweat as you accept your fate, watching Bakugou attempt to wrangle his way to freedom. "Sure, sounds nice."

Sero made it rather big as a hero, see, he wasn't the strongest hero but he was very popular

He had always been popular, so it made sense to you when his ranking kept going up and up until he was in the high twenties. You knew he was good at what he did, being a source of smiles even in dark times, but it always brightened your day when you heard your coworkers mention him in passing. 

“Have you heard about the hero Cellophane yet?”

“Yeah! I think I saw him around yesterday. He was eating soba with Shoto.” 

You look backwards to see the faces of your junior coworkers. They were in a different department than you, but you enjoyed chatting with them every now and then. Mostly when it came to heroes as you had somewhat of an insiders look. 

Had you forgotten to mention you were friends with Sero- Cellophane? 

You debated whether to tell them over tea one day until you heard their next words.

“He’s kind of hot isn't he?”

... Maybe you would keep the secret to yourself. 

As a hero he makes time to drop into your life, sometimes randomly 

What else was to be said? Really?

A blur flashes by your face, causing you to yelp in shock, stepping back and nearly falling onto the unforgiving pavement. Luckily, said blur created a swing of tape just in time to catch you, pulling you forward and bringing you into his arms. 

“Lo siento mi corazón! I didn't mean to make you fall.”  Sero grins at you, his arm wrapped securely around your waist. He definitely meant to make you fall, you could see the mischief behind his eyes. 

“As if Hanta.” You pinch him on the cheek, a smile coming to your face when he whines. “Look I’m happy to see you but I've got to get to work on time today, no funny business.”

“No funny business?” He repeats after you, rubbing his chin in thought. “Then I guess I’ll have to escort you to make sure you get to work on time.” 

Your eyes widen as you feel his hold grow tighter and more secure as he holds you flush against him. Oh no. “Wait Sero-!” 

And just like that, you were in the air, swinging from building to building with him propelling you both forward. You attempt to scream at him but your voice is lost along the way as you hear the clicking of cameras. 

Oh god they were taking pictures.

“Niña don't worry! We’re almost there!”

 Luckily for you, you were never caught on camera. So your quirk did have some uses. 

The media was sure he had a partner 

The photos really ended up getting him in hot water as every interview he did, the topic of romance was brought up. Fans would notice he would avoid the topic of love, but on his social media he would constantly mention a girl. No one knew who this girl was, but fans and news stations were determined to wring it out of him. 

Once the red light of the on-air button was out, the reporter in front of Sero swiftly covers the mic pinned to her lapel and scoots to the edge of her seat. Sero watches in quiet amusement as the whole station becomes silent. Weird. But he knew why they grew quiet so fast. They wanted information, and if even the news anchor waiting for his time to come up stopped his boisterous laughter, it must've been important. 

“Off the record. Do you have a secret sweetheart stashed away somewhere Cellophane?”

Oh. This again. 

He stretches his arms in front of him as he runs through his normal excuses and dodges for this question. All still viable and working, but.. Maybe he could give a little hint. The media was on his ass about this after those photos were taken of him and his girl, so it was only right to clear the air right?

“Turn on the cameras. I’ll give this to you.”

You were crushed when he admitted he did have a sweetheart (of sorts) and even more so when the media suspected it to be the Stealth Hero: Invisible Girl

The media did end up getting a bit of info out of him  and when you heard about this special girl your heart couldn't help but crack under the thought of him distancing himself from you to be with her. You treasured your friendship with him, romantic or not, you didn't want it to end. Because of this fear, you are the one who starts to close yourself off.

“Chiquita, what's wrong?” Sero follows you as you make your way to the kitchen, a bowl of chocolate coated pretzels in your arms. “Are you sick? I can stop by the pharmacy for you.”

“N-No, its okay. I'm not sick..” You back up when you see his arm stretched outward, flinching when the back of his hand meets your forehead. 

He hums. “No fever.” 

You push past him, abandoning the bowl of chocolatey treats on the counter. You felt yourself becoming frustrated. Not with him, but with yourself. His opinion meant the world to you- he was your best friend! And you were letting this relationship of his get to you. How petty could you be? He did nothing wrong. In fact, you should be happy for him, finally dating his high school sweetheart.

But the thought of him dating Invisible Girl- the irony of him dating an invisible girl- was just too much for your heart to take at the moment. 

You had no way to take out this frustration. So it was reflected onto him. 

“Cariño-”

“Please!” You slam your hands on the counter, voice fading in and out as you hide your face in the collar of your turtleneck. “Please.. Just go.”

The apartment was quiet, filled with only your ragged breathing as you hold in your rampant emotions. When he leaves with a silent goodbye, you're unsure if the breaking sound surrounding you is just in your head or if something truly reached into you and tore your heart to pieces. 

He makes it very clear who that sweetheart is

Finally, he announces just who captured his heart. It was live on a jumbo screen, playing as you were out getting “groceries” for the nights dinner. 

The hollow feeling in your chest wasn't easing, and it definitely wasn't made any better when you saw the Stealth Hero on the television next to her team. Though your calves were certainly doing better with how much speed walking you would do when you passed by convenience stores with tabloids lining their windows, photos of Sero and Invisible Girl on the front. 

Work went by dreadfully slow, and lunch went by just as uneventfully as usual. You ignored the chatter of your coworkers, uninterested in what they had to say. 

After the report came out, no one was talking about the top heroes anymore. They all were focused on the potential lovers and what other secret admiring the heroes had in their ranks. If other heroes were hiding their own affairs. If the popular Cellophane could hide his romance, maybe someone like Deku or Shoto could be too. 

“We’re going out for drinks later, want to come with?” Your junior asks as she slings her purse strap over her shoulder. “Jin is paying~”

You respond with a polite smile. “No thanks. I’m going straight home.”

- - -

Going straight home was the plan, but in the end you had to make a quick trip to the nearest grocery store for dinner. Something quick, as you didn't have the energy to make something complicated. 

Which meant you ended up buying only instant ramen.

It was on your way back, crossing a busy sector when the sound of your friend on the jumbo screen caught your attention. 

“She's my corazón. Mi vida.” 

You look up at the screen, stopping in your tracks.

Sero was blushing, a shy smile on his face, but his eyes were lit up with joy. You heart pulses rapidly in your chest, a blush creeping up your cheeks. You had never seen him so flustered, it was always the other way around. 

“I’ve loved her since middle school. I never wanted to drag her into this, so I never confirmed her name- but its not Invisible Girl!” He amends quickly, looking at the reporter with a knowing look. He wags his finger, his infamous cocky smile replacing the twitterpated look from earlier. 

“Sure, she has a similar quirk, which is how those photos came to be.” He leans back in his chair. 

“You want to know her name right? I guess it wouldn't hurt to say. I’ve kept it hidden for so long, but here it is.”

And then he said it.

He said your name.

Looking directly at the screen, he smiles gently, eyes full of the warmth you've been craving ever since you were paired for that project years ago. 

“Ella es mi tesoro. She is my treasure.”

Extra: 

Racing home, you're not surprised when you find the lights on in your apartment. In fact, it only spurs you forward. 

Yanking open the unlocked door, you drop your groceries and launch yourself into Sero’s arms as he held them open for a hug. 

He was sweaty from rushing from the news station to your apartment, but neither of you were concerned about it as you laugh. You laugh at the tape still clinging to his clothes, you laugh at the ramen spilling out of your grocery bags, you laugh at your tears.

You laugh at how long it took for you both to finally admit how much you loved each other.

“Mi corazón.” He pulls back from the hug and cups your cheek, looking at you with love softened eyes. “I love you.”

Tears brim your eyes. 

You speak in the clearest voice you've ever spoken in. Skin bright and flushed pink. 

“I love you too.”

[littlepadika]

Calling Home (1) | Frankie Morales x Reader

Summary: You are a receptionist at the VA. Frankie Morales keeps calling. Yearning ensues...

Rating: M -> E in later chapters

Warnings: fem!reader, age gap (legal), praise kink, voice kink, discussion of addiction/PTSD/trauma, no use of y/n, no beta reader, reader is bad at Spanish, Frankie has a sexy voice 😩

Masterlist here

AN: My first fic. Pedro writers have inspired me to finally start writing again 🥺. Concept inspired by the movie RED. I hope you like it ❤️Set after triple frontier.

Chapter One

~~~~~~~~~~~

The first time he called was an ordinary Thursday.

“Veterans Affairs, how can I help you?”

You had been working at the VA office for about two weeks. Fresh out of college you felt lucky to have a job in the first place. You went to school to be a writer but your big idea for 'The Next Great American Novel' had yet to present itself. At least here you had access to the most inspiring stories and interesting people. Men and women who had seen more and done more than you probably would in your entire life. You loved talking to clients on the phone. It was weird but something about only being able to hear people’s voices excited you. You would sometimes write little stories in your head about the people you'd talk to, filling in the details that were unknown.

Your desk accessories reflected your love of books and writing. You had your growing collection of books sitting on your desk sandwiched between baby pink bookends. Next to them was a matching desk organizer filled with your favorite sparkly pens and sticky notes. You had decorated the plain cubicle walls with posters of quotes from your favorite books. You also brought your favorite candle from home. Even though you couldn’t light it you still liked to lift it to your nose once and a while and smell it between chapters. When you weren’t on the phone or scanning documents you would read. You finished To Kill A Mockingbird in your first week on the job and were now halfway through Murder on the Orient Express.

You were starting a new chapter when Frankie Morales called the first time.

You picked up the phone on the second ring already mustering your chipper 'customer service' voice. “Veterans affairs.” You stated your name. “How may I help you?”

“H-Hi. My name is Frankie- uh-Francisco Morales." A deep voice answered you. "I’m calling because I have gotten my benefits check yet. It’s been a month. I was hoping you could tell me if it got sent?”

“Okay Mr. Morales." You flipped on the computer. "Let me check. Can you spell your last name for me?”

“M-o-r-a-l-e-s”

“Okay... let's see.” You clicked on his account. You were momentarily distracted by his picture likely taken when he graduated basic if you had to guess based off the uniform. He looked sweet. Sharp nose and strong jaw balanced by kind eyes and a shy smile. You could imagine how age would continue to soften his expression making him even more handsome. The image was a strange juxtaposition to the voice you were hearing on the phone which was much deeper and rougher. His profile said he was special forces. A pilot. The rest of the information was blacked out. Something you were used to seeing on many people's accounts but even his years of service were redacted. He must have been involved in some dangerous stuff, you thought to yourself. The dates that were not redacted were mostly in Latin America. You clicked over to processing requests. “Looks like the check got sent one week ago.” You informed him.

"I'll look again but I haven't seen anything-" It sounded like he was apologizing when clearly it was not his fault.

"No no. It's probably a mistake on our end." You interrupted. With how shitty and outdated the payroll interface was you wouldn't be surprised if there was a mix up. "I’ll go ahead and let payroll know to send another."

"Great. Thanks." He replied sounding relieved. The roughness in his voice gave way to a smooth baritone.

“No problem. I'm sorry for any inconvenience it may have caused. We'll get it sent right away." You hoped he was not relying on this benefit check for anything important. While you could promise you'd fix the problem, the administration was notoriously slow. When he didn't respond you asked, "Is there anything else I can help you with today, Mr. Morales?”

“Uh-no" The roughness back in place. "Thank you." He paused before adding your name onto his thank you which made you smile. People usually never remembered your name.

“Alright. Have a nice day and thank you for your service.” You chirped before hanging up. The smile he put on your face lingered for a few minutes as you returned to your book.

The next time he called was exactly twelve days later.

“Veterans affairs” you answered, your routine greeting cut short as your eyes were still on your book.

“Hi- I’m calling because uh I still haven’t gotten my benefits check. This is Frankie Morales.”

“Oh Mr. Morales.” You recognized his voice even before he even said his name. You quickly shut your book, pushing your hair out of your face. Had you been thinking about him? No! Okay maybe you stared at his picture for a few minutes longer after he hung up. Yes, it was probably very unprofessional but you couldn't fight the curiosity. You were trying to rationalize the contrasting sharpness and softness of his features with his voice. How it all worked together. How one person's voice could change textures and colors so easily. You wondered what kind of things this man might have seen on the job. Most of the veterans you would help day to day did not have so many redacted missions and deployments. You were in the middle of Narcos season one so you immediately thought of drugs or something equally dangerous. After much pondering, you had come to the conclusion that Frankie Morales was both insanely attractive and insanely courageous. “Still no check, huh?”

“Nope.” He sighed the sound making the phone's shitty speaker crackle as you held it to your ear.

“Let me just check that it was approved...“ you found his profile again and scrolled to the status page. “Hmm... it says it was sent out last Friday after we spoke. That’s so weird...”

“Yeah. Really weird.” He echoed your frustration on the other end.

Typical payroll, you thought to yourself as you rolled your eyes. “I'll get another one sent to you right away. I'll see to it myself.” You tucked the phone under your chin and typed out a short email to Mary in payroll letting her know you'd be stopping by her office to explain the situation. You realized he hadn't hung up yet.

“Sorry for the back and forth.” You said, trying to fill the silence.

“It’s not your fault." The earlier irritation gone. "You’ve been really helpful.” His voice sounded warm and reassuring. Less gruff than it was last you spoke. Instead it was that rich baritone that you caught of glimpse of last time.

You feel your face warm at his compliment. It was this annoying reflex you had. Praise always made you blush no matter what context but it was worse when it came from a (you assume) gorgeous stranger.

“And just to verify that your address is correct- you’re on Maple Lane in Miami, Florida?”

“That’s right.” He confirmed.

“Okay. Sent!” You clicked send on the email, which caused the window to close and reveal Frankie’s profile page again. “I was curious-" You spoke before you really made the decision to speak. You didn’t want to overstep but once again your curiosity got the better of you. Honestly, you were just searching for a way to keep him on the phone. The day had been so boring.

“Your profile says you were stationed in Costa Rica.”

“For a bit.” He replied after a moment. He didn’t sound too defensive but there was definitely some tightness in his answer that made you feel bad for asking. Like you were scratching a wound.

“Did you like it? The country I mean.”

“Are you planning a trip?” He sounds a little amused.

“Yeah- well- kind of. It's more a trip in my head right now. I’d like to go there one day. It looks so beautiful.” You sighed closing your eyes trying to imagine the heat on your skin.

“It is." He agrees. "Really humid though.”

“Mm that sounds nice.” You would kill for some warm weather after such a long winter in DC.

“It was too muggy for me at times." He grumbled. "If you do go, stick to the costal areas where it’s more breezy or else you’ll just be sweating the whole time.”

“I don’t mind a little sweat” you shrugged, still thinking of the awful east coast winter you were currently suffering through. The sexual connotation of what you said hit you hard as soon as you heard the statement in its entirety. You felt your face flush again, though the man on the other end would never know.

“I’m learning Spanish!" You announced loudly trying to move the conversation past your awkwardness.

“Wow. Muy impressivo.”

“Si” you replied but after a moment you admit “I don’t really know what you said.”

Frankie laughed loudly on the other end and you couldn’t help but join in, drawing dirty looks from the elderly lady, Donna, working in the cubicle across from you. You ducked your head behind a stack of papers to avoid her glare.

“Fake it till you make it.” He chuckled.

“Maybe you should help me out.” You took on an indigent but still playful tone. “You sound better than duolingo” Your smile widened when he laughed again. His laugh was what you hoped it would be, by all your assumptions from his picture. It was an unencumbered, unburdened, rich sound with only a hit of roughness from the air behind it.

“Tell me you’re not using that dumb app to learn.” he scoffed, saying your name in an almost scolding tone.

“I’m got my thirty day streak today.” You boasted.

“You’ll be a total tourist if you go by duolingo.”

“But the owl is so cute every time I get something right!” You argued your voice taking on a more childish cadence.

“That’s how they trap you, silly girl.” He teased right back. Usually such a condescending nickname would piss you off but something about the affection behind him using it made you feel very differently. You felt warm like you were proud to be silly as long as it made him laugh.

“Then you saved me just in time, Mr. Morales.” You bit your lip. His scoffing and laughter died down on the other end.

“Frankie” He corrects you.

“Frankie…” You repeated it, smiling at how well the nick name suited the voice over the phone. Honest, sincere, and not pretentious at all. Way better than the pompous guys you know with equally stuffy names like “Edward” and “Christopher.”

“So what do you want to know?” Frankie interrupted your thoughts. “Dime”

You started asking him questions in Spanish to the best of your ability. Granted they weren't particularly probing questions. What is your name? What is your favorite color? What is your favorite animal? What's your favorite book? I am reading Gone Girl. He answered them all with patience and amusement, occasionally interrupting you to correct your pronunciation or explain what a word meant. Every time you’d repeat the word back correctly he would say something like “good” or “there you go” or “you got it”. You hated to admit that his kind words and his praise was doing something to you. You didn't even realize you were clenching your legs together unconsciously, almost in anticipation of his next correction or next answer. His low voice so sweet and encouraging against your ear, more tangible when he was speaking Spanish. You just wanted to hear more of it. Would it be this sweet in other situations? Would it get huskier or rougher? If you closed your eyes it was like he was sitting right next to you. It would be all too easy to slip into that daydream and escape the dull office.

Suddenly out of the corner of your drooping eyes you saw a flashing red light on the phone console meaning another caller was waiting.

“Shoot- i’m sorry, Frankie- I have to take this call.” You shot forward in your chair, legs uncrossing.

“Of-Of course. I should let you get back to work.” He sounded a little sad or so you hoped. You felt bad for interrupting him after you both were having so much fun. You wanted to say he could wait on hold but he killed that idea when he said, "I have work too. Technically I'm five minutes past my lunch break."

Your pout turned to a smile. He was spending his precious lunch break with you? Get a grip! you snapped at yourself.

“You’re welcome to call again if you want.” You threw out the offer in a small voice, scared you would be rejected. You peered over the cubicle wall to see if you were still being glared at. Thankfully Donna was away from her desk. Probably out for a smoke. “It’s really boring here and usually no one calls.”

“Maybe I will.” He replied and you could hear the smile behind those words. You felt your heart clench weirdly in your chest like it didn't know how to process the sudden spike in emotions.

“Bye, Frankie.” You beamed.

“Bye”

This time the smile on your face lasted for hours. Frankie’s laugh echoed around in your head, taunting you, sending your mind to the gutter. His voice went from grit to molasses on a dime. You wanted to be the one to bring out those sounds. You wanted to hear his voice bend and stretch and strain as you fucked him. What the hell is wrong with me? you screamed internally. You had never been so depraved and with a stranger no less! You clearly needed to get laid fast because this much yearning would not end well.

Frankie got the second VA check a few days later and this time he didn’t even feel bad about ripping it in half. He was already reaching for the phone to call you.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Tags: Message to be added 💕 no minors please!

[rhosyn-du]

Never make a mess when a total catastrophe will do - Chapter One

Pairings: Jimon, past Clace, background Clizzy, a bunch of other minor background pairings Rating: Explicit Art: @cor321​ Beta: @all-thestories-aretrue​ Tags:  Alternate Universe - College/University, fake dating, oh my god they were roommates, friends with benefits, idiots to lovers, pining, miscommunication, holidays, drinking games, mistletoe, symbolically significant Oreos, domestic fluff, brief mention of past character death, Jace’s self-worth issues deserve their own tag Summary: What do you do when you find out your sister is not only dating your ex and love-of-your-high-school-life but is also bringing her home for Christmas? Bring your annoying, hot, annoyingly-hot roommate as your fake boyfriend to show them you're totally fine with it, obviously! There's no possible way this could backfire. Link: AO3, Tumblr Master Post

Chapter One

“Lightwood’s Mortuary, you stab ‘em, we slab ‘em. How may I direct your call?”

“You know,” Izzy said, “that joke would land a lot better if you hadn’t turned green last week when I mentioned getting to do my first cadaver dissection.”

“First of all,” Jace said, abandoning his laptop in favor of flopping back onto his bed, “it’s creepy that you say ‘getting to’ instead of ‘having to.’ And second of all, no one wants to hear about how much fun you had slicing up dead bodies over Thanksgiving dinner.”

“Max wanted to hear about it.”

“Max also can’t wait to get to middle school because he heard you get to use actual fire in science class,” Jace pointed out.

“Max is just into science like his big sister,” Izzy countered breezily. “Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about Christmas.”

“Please,” Jace said with far more enthusiasm than the situation probably warranted. “I’m desperate enough for any distraction that will take me away from trying to memorize third declensions that I would love to discuss whatever family holiday drama is so colossal I’m hearing it from you instead of Alec. Is Robert planning to show up uninvited to Christmas dinner with his girlfriend again? Oh! Did Mom finally snap and kill him? Is that why Alec isn’t calling? Is he helping her hide the body?”

“Oh my god,” Izzy laughed. “Dad and Annamarie are spending the holidays in Provance with her family, and there are no bodies to be hidden. This is what you get for taking Latin instead of Spanish like a sane person.”

“This coming from a woman who’s studying both,” Jace pointed out.

“Yeah, because a basic understanding of Latin and fluency in Spanish will both help me get into med school, and I need all the help I can get if I’m going to get into Grossman. Besides, I’d never imply anyone in this family is sane. If you studied more, you’d know that ‘Lightwood’ is just Latin for ‘totally fucking cracked.’”

“Please,” Jace snorted. “It’s not even a Latinate name. It’s Germanic. ‘Lightwood’ is Old English for ‘totally fucking cracked.’ Speaking of which, what’s the Christmas disaster?”

“It’s not a disaster exactly,” Izzy hedged, and Jace felt a sudden frisson of actual unease. Izzy normally had no problem speaking her mind. “It’s not a disaster at all, actually. It’s just. I invited someone.”

“Oh.” Jace relaxed. He didn’t know why Izzy was making such a big deal out of this. In the years since the divorce, Maryse had often encouraged her kids to invite any friends without a place to go to join them for holidays. Izzy’s own roommate had come for Thanksgiving last year. “That’s cool.”

“No,” Izzy said, like he was missing something obvious. “Jace, I invited someone. Someone I’m seeing. Seriously.”

“Oh,” Jace said again, this time with dawning comprehension. “That’s great, Iz. I’m happy for you. Wait, Mom’s not doing her overprotective, no-one-is-good-enough-for-my-children thing again, is she? Is that why you called, you need me to run interference?”

“No, no,” Izzy reassured him, although her voice still held an underlying tension. “Mom’s been great, actually. They knew each other already, so that probably helps.” Jace heard a shaky inhale before Izzy continued. “You, um. You know her, too, actually.”

“Oh yeah?” Jace said with forced ease, wracking his brain for any clue as to what could have Izzy so freaked out. Whatever it was, Jace wasn’t going to add to her stress. As far as he knew, Isabelle had never even been serious enough about someone before to even use the term girlfriend or boyfriend, let alone bring them home for Christmas. “Who’s the lucky lady?”

“It’s Clary,” Izzy said in a rush. “I’m dating Clary.”

The world seemed to tilt on its axis, and Jace was glad he was already lying down.

“Clary?” he repeated. “M—” He just barely stopped himself from saying “my Clary.” Because she wasn’t, not anymore. Not for a long time. “Morgenstern?” It was a clumsy recovery, but it was the best he could manage. “You’re dating Clary Morgenstern?”

Jace and Clary had met at the beginning of Jace’s junior year of high school. Clary, a year younger, had just lost her mom, and the two initially bonded over the shared experience of having lost parents. But Clary was fierce and bold and so full of passion even in the depths of her grief that Jace really couldn’t help falling in love with her. They’d dated for nearly two years—practically forever in high school terms—and even though they’d both known they were growing apart by the time Jace had to choose between his first-choice college in Boston and staying in New York to go to NYU, Clary would always hold a special place in Jace’s heart as his first love.

“Yeah,” Izzy said on a heavy exhale. “For a while now. That—that’s why I called. I didn’t want it to be weird, you know? For us all to just show up and for it to be a surprise. But I guess I probably shouldn’t have done it over the phone, either. I just didn’t think—”

“Izzy,” Jace said, much more calmly than he felt. “Breathe. It’s okay.”

“God, I should have told you sooner,” Izzy continued as though he hadn’t even spoken. “I just knew it probably would be weird for you, so I didn’t want to say anything until I was sure—”

“But you are now,” Jace interrupted again. It wasn't really a question. “Sure.”

“Yeah,” Izzy breathed. “I’m so sure.”

“Then it’s not weird,” Jace lied. “I mean, come on, my sister is dating someone who makes her happy and who I know will treat her right. What kind of idiot would I have to be to complain about that?”

“Really?” Izzy pressed. “Because I told Clary I wanted to talk to you before we finalized plans. So, if it is weird for you, or even if you just don’t want to be the only single person at the table on Christmas—”

“I won’t be,” Jace interrupted.

There was a pregnant pause, and then Izzy squealed so loud Jace had to pull the phone away from his ear.

“Oh my god, Jace! That’s amazing! Why didn’t you just say you were bringing someone, too, you jackass? Do you know how worried I’ve been about telling you about me and Clary?”

Which wasn’t what he’d meant at all—he’d only meant that Maryse was single, too—but Jace couldn’t resist the excitement in Izzy’s voice, not after her earlier panic.

“If I’d known you were all freaked out, I would have said something sooner,” Jace improvised. “It’s kind of new, and I haven’t even had the chance to tell Mom yet.”

“Let me,” Izzy insisted. “I’ve been trying to get her to admit that she and Luke are an item for ages, and maybe knowing that we’re all happily attached will be the push she needs.”

“Hold up. Mom…and Clary’s stepdad?” Jace was starting to wonder if this was some bizarre stress nightmare brought on by impending finals.

“Yup,” Izzy confirmed, popping the “p.” “They’re not even subtle about how much time they’re spending together, but Mom keeps talking about how they’re ‘just old friends.’” Jace could practically hear the eye roll.

“Anyway,” she continued, “if I leave now, I can catch Mom closing up the bookshop and maybe finally get her to crack. Don’t worry about Christmas plans. I’ll take care of everything. Talk to you later!”

“Iz, wait,” Jace started, but he was interrupted by the telltale beep of the call ending.

Jace stared at his phone, wondering how, exactly, he’d managed to make such a disaster of things. He couldn’t deal with this right now, he decided, tossing his phone aside. He just had to get through finals, and then he could come up with some excuse for why his nonexistent girlfriend couldn’t make it for Christmas. An excuse that wouldn’t make Izzy suspicious. Or Clary. Or Alec. Or— Fuck. Not thinking about it.

He turned his attention back to his laptop only to realize after several minutes of staring blankly that he wasn’t prepared to think about Latin anymore, either. Fuck it. He was going to spend the rest of the evening on the couch, drinking beer and watching stupid people doing stupid things on TV and thinking about absolutely nothing at all.

Because Jace just couldn’t catch a break, he found both the couch and TV already in use. He wanted to be annoyed, especially since he knew this was at least the dozenth time this semester his roommate had watched Return of the Jedi. Part of him was annoyed. But another part of him was…not annoyed. And that was yet another thing Jace wasn’t going to think about.

Jace’s first impression of Simon Lewis, when he’d walked into History and Literature of Music their freshman year, had been that he was kind of hot, in a nerdy way. His second impression, when he actually talked to Simon a few days later, was that the guy was annoying as hell. Over the course of the year, as they somehow ended up hanging out with the same group of friends, it became a tolerable sort of annoying. So tolerable, in fact, that when Jace found himself desperate for a roommate the next summer when Raj bailed on him last-minute, he’d agreed to let Simon have the second room in the surprisingly affordable apartment he’d found.

Jace’s third impression of Simon came four days after they’d moved in together, when he happened to be walking down the hallway at the exact moment Simon stepped out of the bathroom, towel wrapped around his waist, a stray droplet of water trailing down his surprisingly well-defined abs. In that moment, Jace must have lost his mind, because he had the sudden, almost overwhelming urge to follow the path of that droplet with his tongue and, oh. Oh no. Jace had been wrong this entire time. Simon wasn’t just annoying. He wasn’t just nerd-hot. He was annoyingly hot.

And Jace was maybe just a little bit in trouble.

Because he’d seen the kinds of people Simon dated. Thoughtful. Driven. Well-adjusted. Unlike Jace in pretty much every way that mattered. Not that Jace dated, but he wasn’t the kind of person Simon hooked up with, either, he was pretty sure.

(Jace confessed his fourth impression of Simon to Maia several months later, after many, many shots of tequila. Maia laughed at him for a solid five minutes, but she also poured them another round and never mentioned it again after they sobered up because she was actually a pretty good friend despite how much she always seemed to enjoy Jace’s suffering.)

“What’s wrong?” Simon asked around a mouthful of instant ramen. Jace refused to acknowledge that the way his cheeks puffed out when he ate was cute.

“Just.” Jace shook his head. “Holidays. Family stuff.”

“Your sister planning to make Christmas dinner again?” Simon asked.

“Worse,” Jace said, flopping onto the other end of their stained Goodwill couch. “She’s dating my ex.”

Simon winced. “Ouch, dude.” Simon poked at his noodles with a pair of well-used disposable chopsticks. “You still have feelings for your ex?”

“What? No, of course not. It was ages ago, and we were practically still kids. And the breakup was mutual.” He made a face. “But Izzy’s bringing her home for Christmas.”

“Okay, yeah, that could be a little awkward,” Simon conceded.

“It gets worse,” Jace admitted. “When she told me, I kind of panicked and said I was bringing someone home, too.”

Simon frowned. “I didn’t know you were seeing anyone.”

“I’m not,” Jace told him. “Which is kind of the problem.”

“Wow. You really know how to make things difficult for yourself.”

“Thanks,” Jace said. “Very helpful.”

Simon shrugged, then said, as casual as if he were offering to toss Jace’s towels in with his to make a full load at the laundromat, “You could always take me home with you.”

Jace stared. “What?”

“I mean, I’m going to be in the city anyway,” Simon continued, “and it’s not like my family does Christmas. I think Mom and Becky can manage the traditional Chinese takeout and Fast and Furious marathon without me.”

“Your family watches The Fast and the Furious on Christmas?” It was the only part of that Jace was emotionally prepared to process.

“It used to be Die Hard, but Mom’s got a thing for Vin Diesel, so now we alternate years.”

Jace stared a moment longer, waiting for any of this to make sense. On the television, Boushh threatened Jabba with a thermal detonator.

“Right,” Jace said when it was clear the situation wasn’t going to make sense of itself. “Okay. Rewind to the part where I’m supposed to take you home with me for Christmas and, what, pretend you’re my boyfriend?”

He could picture it all too easily. Simon wielding his enthusiastic charm to keep Izzy out of the kitchen while Jace helped Maryse make dinner. Simon joining Alec in coaxing Jace toward the piano when it was time to sing carols. Simon flushed and smiling after a couple mugs of Magnus’s deceptively alcoholic eggnog. Simon’s hand in his because that’s just something boyfriends do.

It was a horrifyingly tempting prospect.

Jace pushed those thoughts away, crossing his arms over his chest and directing all the scorn he felt at himself into the stare he leveled at Simon. “What’s that supposed to accomplish other than giving me a headache?”

“Hey,” Simon said, setting the dregs of his ramen down on their secondhand Ikea coffee table, “I’ll have you know that I make an excellent boyfriend.”

That wasn’t exactly news. The fact that Simon was friends with basically all of his exes said as much. But Jace wasn’t about to let on that he paid that much attention to Simon’s dating habits. Or to pass up such a good opening. “That why you’re single?”

“Not the one currently desperate for a holiday date here, pal,” Simon pointed out.

“I don’t know, you seemed pretty eager to be my holiday date just a second ago,” Jace said, adding a wink just to be obnoxious.

“It was an offer, jackass. One which I now deeply regret.”

“Which you should,” Jace told him, turning to the TV and pretending to watch. “Now we can both forget this conversation ever happened, and I can go back to figuring out what I’m going to tell my family about why my nonexistent significant other can’t make it for Christmas this year.”

“Right,” Simon muttered, picking up his bowl and turning his own attention back to the movie.

Jace told himself he didn’t feel just the tiniest bit disappointed.

“The thing is,” Simon said several minutes later, as Boba Fett tumbled into the Sarlaac pit, “my cousin Rachel is getting married on Valentine’s Day. And my Bubbe Helen is still pretty cranky with me for breaking up with Maia.”

Jace frowned at him. “You and Maia dated for like a month and a half. Over a year ago.”

“Yeah, well,” Simon said, “Bubbe Helen really liked her, but I think maybe that’s because Maia’s the only person I’ve ever brought to a family function. So, I was thinking maybe if I brought someone else to Rachel’s wedding, she’d get the hint and drop the Maia thing. And then you suddenly needed someone to take home for Christmas, and I thought we could, you know, help each other out.”

It was a terrible idea, and Jace meant to say so. He really did. But what came out of his mouth instead was, “You want to introduce me to your grandmother?”

“I mean,” Simon said with a shrug, “she’d probably be happier if you were Jewish, but I honestly think she’d be happy to see me with anyone who’s not a total asshole. Ever since she found out Maia and I aren’t together anymore, she’s been acting like I’m going to end up a lonely old maid or something, which I totally don’t get, because A, I’m only twenty-one, and B, she doesn’t think it’s a problem that Becky’s single and Becky’s two years older than me.”

“Glad to know I meet the very minimal requirement of not being an asshole.”

“Not a total asshole,” Simon corrected with a teasing grin.

“You’re really making a compelling case for trying to convince our families that we’re a couple,” Jace said drily. But he was maybe just a little bit weak for Simon’s smile, so he added, “But you might as well tell me how exactly you think this would work. Theoretically.”

“Theoretically,” Simon repeated. “Right. Well, we’d need to come up with a game plan, obviously. And rules. Rules that we actually follow, because that’s where things like this always fall apart, when someone ignores the rules.”

“Where things always fall apart,” Jace repeated. “Is this something you do often?”

“What? No! I just mean like in movies and stuff. Fake dating is practically its own genre, so we have a ton of examples for how not to do it, and…” Simon frowned as his voice trailed off. “And now that I’m saying this out loud, I’m realizing how dumb it sounds. You’re right. We should forget this conversation ever happened.”

“Or,” Jace said slowly, knowing he was going to regret it but unable to stop himself, “we could spend some time coming up with a plan and then decide if we think it will work.”

“Wait, really?” The slow grin spreading across Simon’s face did nothing to ease Jace’s sense of impending doom, but it did fill him with a soft warmth that made the doom easier to ignore.

“Why not?” Jace shrugged with practiced nonchalance. “I’m done with classes at noon tomorrow if you want to do it then.”

“I’ve got a break from then till three if you don’t mind meeting near campus,” Simon said. “Say, Java Jones at twelve-thirty?”

“Sure,” Jace agreed to the background of Jabba’s sail barge exploding. He hoped that was less metaphorical than it felt.

~~~

“I thought we were planning a couple of fake dates, not staging a major military operation,” Jace said as he surveyed the notebooks and stacks of paper strewn across the rickety cafe table in front of Simon.

“Oh, sorry,” Simon said, hastily shoving exactly one of the many notebooks into his backpack. “I was just reviewing notes for my econ final while I waited.”

“Is all of this really necessary?” Jace asked, attempting to clear enough room on the table for his coffee and the banana muffin that was attempting to pass for lunch.

“It’s so necessary,” Simon told him, reaching over to steal a piece of Jace’s muffin. “I don’t want to end up like Melissa Joan Hart in My Fake Fiancé.” He popped the piece of muffin into his mouth. “Or Melissa Joan Hart in Drive Me Crazy. Oh! Or even worse, Melissa Joan Hart in Holiday in Handcuffs.”

“I have no idea what you just said.”

Simon sighed heavily. “I’m saying we need clear, well-defined rules if this is going to work.”

“Is rule number one ‘don’t be Melissa Joan Hart’?” Jace asked, snatching his muffin away when Simon reached for it again and taking a pointed bite.

“No,” Simon said, with far more seriousness than Jace thought the situation warranted. “That’s rule number two. Rule number one,” he continued, opening a blue notebook to a fresh page, “is ‘absolutely no sex.’”

Jace choked on his muffin.

“If there’s one thing everyone seems to agree with, it’s that things always break down when that rule gets broken,” Simon continued as though Jace weren’t struggling to breathe around a mouthful of muffin and why Simon thought they even needed a rule for that.

Jace washed the remaining crumbs of muffin down with a generous swig of coffee, then leaned back in his chair with a deliberately cocky grin. “I mean, I know I’m damn near irresistible, but do you really think you need a rule to keep from jumping me?”

“Rule three,’�� Simon said, scribbling furiously in the notebook, “treat each other with the same respect we’d treat people we’re actually dating.”

“Hey, I would have the same question for someone I was actually dating.”

Simon looked up from the notebook. “That explains so much about your dating history.”

Jace flipped him off, and Simon flashed him a shit-eating grin. “Nope, sorry, rule one. But,” he continued, serious once again, “we should have rules about what kind of physical affection we are comfortable with. Like, I know we don’t normally do hugs, but it would be weird if we never hugged in front of your family if we were dating, right? What about holding hands, is that too much? And what about kissing? I’m definitely cool with cheek kisses, but I don’t know—”

“Simon,” Jace interrupted before he could get too worked up. Or make Jace think about more things he really shouldn’t be thinking about. “You’re allowed to hug me. And hold my hand. Honestly, I’m sure I’d be fine with anything you’re comfortable doing in front of my family, so how about we just go with this: casual touches are fine and for anything else, I’ll follow your lead.”

The look Simon gave him was so searching that Jace almost worried for a second that Simon would be able to see right past his crossed arms and feigned nonchalance to the part of him that was less worried about showing physical affection than how much he wanted it, the part that avoided hugging Simon because he liked it.

“Okay,” Simon said finally. “But you have to promise you’ll tell me if anything I do bothers you even a little bit.”

“You mean like singing Shake It Off at the top of your lungs in the shower?” Jace asked.

“That was one time!” Simon protested. “I was up all night studying and under the influence of too many energy drinks. We agreed never to mention it again.”

“No, you told me never to mention it again and I laughed at you.”

“See, this is why we need rules. You’re already breaking number three.”

“Yeah, because we’re not pretend-dating yet,” Jace said. “That one might be a little rough, but I’m sure I can manage with some practice.”

There was that searching look again, but then Simon nodded like Jace had said something particularly insightful. “You’re right, we should practice.”

“We—what?”

“If we’re going to convince people who actually know us that we’re dating, then we should practice first,” Simon said, like it was the most reasonable thing in the world. “Not just the rules we know are going to be hard, but all of it, so we can work out any kinks in the plan before showtime.”

And maybe it was reasonable, but it was one thing to put on a show for his family, for Simon’s family, for a few days at a time in places that might be familiar to each of them individually, but that weren’t theirs. It was entirely another thing to do it here, in the cafe they went to at least twice a week, or on campus where they’d first met and had to keep on attending classes for at least another year, or even worse in the apartment they shared, around their friends—

“I really should have thought of it earlier,” Simon continued, blissfully unaware of Jace’s inner turmoil. “My best friend back home, she’s an amazing liar. Like, seriously, she got away with everything when we were kids. But any time she needed me to back up her story, she’d make me practice with her like a hundred times until she knew I could convince her mom and stepdad, even after I got good enough that I didn’t have to practice to convince Mom. Man, those two could sniff out the tiniest discrepancy in any story. Like, if normal parent bullshit detection is a one, my mom’s is probably a solid three, but Fray’s parents? Eleven, easy.”

“I’m pretty sure no one I’m related to has supernatural bullshit detection,” Jace told him. “And it’s common knowledge I’m a better liar than you are, so if you can fool your mom without practice, so can I.”

“Maybe,” Simon conceded. “But a little bit of practice couldn’t hurt, right?”

Jace was pretty sure that it could hurt, actually, but he was also pretty sure he was the only one in danger of getting hurt, so it probably wasn’t worth consideration. Especially weighed against the hopeful enthusiasm in Simon’s expression.

“What did you have in mind?”

“We could start by pretending we’re on a date right now,” Simon suggested. “We’re already sharing a muffin. So, just treat me like you’d treat anyone you were on a date with.”

“My dates don’t usually involve this many notebooks,” Jace told him. “And if my date stole my muffin, the date would be over.”

“Come on, you’re not even trying,” Simon said, gathering up the papers and notebooks. “You’d really ditch your date over a muffin?”

“Absolutely,” Jace insisted. “They’d have to be seriously good in bed to make up for it, and I’m pretty sure rule number one says you’ll never get muffin-stealing privileges.”

“If the biggest benefit to sleeping with you is getting to share your muffins, then I’m not the one missing out,” Simon told him.

“You selling your body for muffins now, Lightwood?” an amused voice interrupted. “I bet I know a few people who’d toss a bran muffin or two your way for a chance at that ass.”

“Which is why you’re not my pastry-pimp, Roberts,” Jace said, smirking at Maia as she helped herself to one of the table’s empty chairs. “I only trade this ass for top tier, gourmet muffins. If your muffins don’t have at least two Michelin stars, I’m not interested.”

“I give him a week until he’s working corners for Entenmann’s,” Simon told her. “He was just threatening to walk out on our date over a bite of mediocre banana nut.”

Maia’s eyes widened. “Your— Oh, shit, sorry,” she said, scrambling out of her chair and throwing them both an apologetic smile that Jace was pretty sure wouldn’t be directed at him if he were sitting with anyone other than Simon. “I swear I didn’t mean to interrupt, I just thought you were studying or something. You guys have fun, and I’ll just—”

“It’s a practice date,” Jace interrupted, “not an actual date. And Simon’s a dirty muffin thief who won’t even put out, so I’m not sure it really even qualifies as any kind of date.”

Maia looked between the two of them, then slowly lowered herself back into the chair. “I know I’m going to regret asking this, but what exactly is a ‘practice date,’ and why are the two of you on one?”

“Jace needs a fake boyfriend to take home for Christmas, and I need a fake date for Rachel’s wedding,” Simon explained, snatching the last bit of Jace’s muffin without remorse. “And we thought we should practice dating before trying to convince our families that were actually, you know, together.”

“That’s a terrible idea, and I regret any part I played in the two of you becoming friends,” Maia said flatly.

“Yeah, that would probably worry me more if you didn’t say that like twice a week,” Simon told her.

“Oh god, Simon, what did you let Jace talk you into now?” another voice asked, and suddenly there were three more people crowding around their tiny table, because apparently all of their friends were at Java Jones today. Which, in retrospect, Jace should have expected, given how often they all hung out there.

“It was actually my idea,” Simon told Maureen, sliding his chair closer to Jace’s to make room for her, Bat, and Lily. “Jace is taking me home to meet his family over the holidays, and I’m taking him as my date to my cousin’s wedding.”

This proclamation was met with a stunned silence that was broken when Lily turned to Jace and punched him in the arm.

“Ow! What the hell?”

“That’s for abandoning me, jerk,” Lily told him. “Not that I can really blame you—either of you,” she added, giving both Jace and Simon an appreciative once over, “‘cause damn—but I thought we had an understanding.” She sighed heavily. “Now that you’ve gone over the dating Dark Side, who’s going to be my wingman? You’re probably going to start doing all kinds of relationship-y things and talking about feelings—” she said it like it was a dirty word “—and crap like that.”

“I am not going to talk about my feelings,” Jace said, at the same time that Simon said, “We’re not actually together. We’re just pretending.”

“They’re planning to try to convince their families they’re dating even though they’re not,” Maia explained. “Because they apparently think that’s not just a disaster waiting to happen.”

“Oh,” Lily said, sounding oddly disappointed.

“Fifty bucks,” Bat announced, “says that when this blows up in their faces, Jace is the first one to break down and call Maia in a panic.”

“Hey,” Jace protested.

“Oh, you’re on,” Maureen said, ignoring Jace entirely. “Sorry, Simon, but no one panics quite like you.”

“I’m in,” Lily said, “and I agree with Maureen that Simon will break first, but his call to Maia will be interrupted by Jace calling five minutes later.”

“Why am I the one getting all of the panicked calls?” Maia wanted to know.

“Because you’re the only person at this table who isn’t an asshole,” Simon told her, “but nothing’s going to go wrong, let alone panic-inducing levels of wrong, so you’ve got nothing to worry about.”

“Dude,” Jace said, “she’s an asshole to me.”

“You like it,” Maia and Simon said in unison, causing the rest of the table to collapse into laughter.

“Okay, fine,” Maia said around her giggles several minutes later, “if you’re all betting, then count me in, too. I bet that these fools,” she looked pointedly at Jace, then at Simon, “don’t call me when this whole thing goes to hell, but I somehow end up having to haul their asses out of trouble, anyway.”

“I rescind my assessment of you as not an asshole,” Simon told her.

“I’d think twice about calling the woman who’s going to haul your ass out of trouble an asshole if I were you,” Bat said.

“Back to this pretending to be together thing,” Lily said. “What exactly does that entail?”

“That’s actually what we were trying to figure out when you guys showed up,” Simon told her. “We started a list of rules, but we only made it to four so far.”

“Your list should definitely include making out,” Lily said decisively. “Having made out with both of you, I can say with confidence that you’re definitely missing out if you don’t. In fact, you should try it now so we can let you know if it looks authentic.”

“You just want to watch them make out,” Maureen said.

“Yes,” Lily told her. She didn’t add ‘duh,’ but it was implied. “I always want to make hot people make out. But in this case, I’m also being helpful.”

The ensuing argument over the line between helpful and self-serving was thankfully cut short by the opening guitar line of Blonde Redhead’s Barragan.

“Sorry, I’ve gotta take this,” Simon said, holding up his phone. “I’ve been playing voicemail tag with Becky all week.” He looked at Jace. “Talk more about this later?”

“Sure,” Jace told him.

“Tell your sister I said hi,” Maia called after Simon as he headed away from the cafe’s crowd.

“You know,” Jace told her in a low voice, “you could always tell her hi yourself instead of always asking Simon to pass messages.”

Maia gave him an unimpressed look. “After everything I just heard, I’m pretty sure you’re the last person in this room I should be taking relationship advice from.”

“Bite me,” Jace told her, but he didn’t disagree.

[kickingitwithkirk]

Greetings From Austin

Pairing: Alpha!Jensen Ackles x Alpha!Jared Padalecki x Omega!OFC

Summary: Jensen and Jared are at odds over a monumental decision that changes their lives in a way they couldn’t have envisioned.

Word Count: 2616

Warnings: a/b/o, homophobia, bisexuality, biphobia, angst, cursing, self doubt, depression/anxiety, medical stuff, sexual dysfunction, infertility

*additional warnings to be added in future parts.

A/N: Here we go again with one my weird as hell dreams, series Inspired by this art.

A/N II: There is no intentional hate or malevolence intended towards any of the Ackles or Padalecki families. This is a purely fictional piece containing real and created persons/names/events set in the fictional A/B/O verse. Some dates/events altered to fit story.

*no beta-all mistakes are mine

*divider by @writeyourmindaway​​​​​​​

*images found online

Prologue

Austin, TX

Mid July

“Babe,” Jensen softly says in a low voice to the person seated next to him in the waiting room, “Babe,” he says a bit louder, still getting no response. Leaning close, he blows into their ear.

Jared starts, his “what” muffled by the finger he’s been chewing on.

“You know you can’t do that, don’t want you getting sick.” Taking his hand Jensen pulls it away from his pretty pink lips, gently caressing the finger. Jared had finally stopped chewing on his hands when Covid-19 became widespread.

“Where’s your gum?” Jared bite his lip not answering.

Sighing, Jensen shifts retrieving his pack and hands a piece to him. “What’s got you masticating again?” He inquires as Jared pops the stick in his mouth.

Jared chews the gum nervously weighing how to answer the question knowing Jensen won’t accept anything less than the whole truth. “What if something goes wrong again because of me.”

Jensen’s brow furrowed. He learned years ago that while their relationship is one of equals, he had to be lead Alpha when Jared’s mental state overwhelmed him as it had the last few weeks.

***

After the public announcement in March 2019 that season fifteen would be Supernaturals last, they had agreed when finished with the pickups they would take an extended break, return to Austin and concentrate on their marriage.

Jared intended to stop acting indefinitely, pursuing other interests and Jensen wanted to concentrate on his music.

Of course, things didn’t quite end up how they planned.

Jared entered negotiations to star in the Walker, Texas Ranger reboot, along with being an executive producer. Jensen got a call from Kripke wanting him for the role of Soldier Boy in The Boys third season.

But by March of 2020, everything came to a halt thanks to the Corona-virus.

The shutdowns left Supernaturals final two episodes with no definitive filming date and their seemingly never ending last season put their other projects on hold.

For the first time in years they had the luxury of a leisurely schedule, not having to be somewhere on a timetable, they could communicate with friends and family uninterrupted, deal with their other businesses, charities, etc, leaving most days free to enjoy being together without constraint.

But even amazing, awesome, vigorous sex on every horizontal/vertical surface that could support the two big Alphas only filled so many hours and like many couples, they started getting each others nerves and looked for other ways to stay occupied.

By late May, Jared was unable to sleep or eat, even going out of the house became a chore. When he hit a consecutive fourth day in bed, Jensen bodily dragged him into the bath for a desperately needed shower and loaded him in his truck driving to his doctor's.

Upon checking in they were told patients only allowed in the facility. Jared started panicking, saying he was having chest pains and couldn’t breath. He was rushed in with Jensen hot on their heels after morphing into an overprotective Alpha mate no one was stopping.

Jared’s doctor deduced with the lock-downs prohibiting him from his routine checkups and periodic adjustments needed to his medications triggered this episode.

The first step was to wean him off his current prescriptions and change to a newly approved, alternative regime. He was checked in a facility for ten days under observation while detoxing off his meds.

His therapist switched his twice weekly tele-counseling sessions to daily for the foreseeable future and Kodas certification as an emotional support animal was approved. His progress was slow but he was returning back to his sweet natured, big hearted, exceptionally tactical, overgrown puppy self.

When the surprise call from the clinic came a few days ago about an appointment opening, Jensen initially didn’t want it, still in his overly excessive protective Alpha mode. Jared’s outburst made him relent, fearing they were on a collision course for a major setback if he didn’t.

And Jensen, being Jensen, went overboard to ensure the appointment was absolutely private.

Part I

Jared was about to speak when a woman in scrubs called out, “Mr. Bonham and Mr. Page.” they got up crossing over to her, “Hello, I’m Sissy, Dr. Rodgers nurse, please follow me.”

They pass through the doorway leading through a maze of halls like that of any other medical clinic except this one specialized in a very specific service.

The nurse opens a door near the back of the clinic gesturing for them to enter the spacious office, “Please have a seat, the doctor will be with you shortly.” She closed the door and they sat down in the pair of chairs directly in front of the large, dark mahogany desk.

Jensen, scenting Jared’s nervousness, lifts his right hand kissing his palm, making him chuckle at the tickle of Jen’s soft beard before twining their fingers together and setting them on his left thigh, smiling reassuringly.

There was a brief knock before the door opened and an older, silver haired Beta entered. “Hello, I’m Dr. Rodgers, how are we doing today?” He asks, moving to his chair behind the desk.

Jared gave him a tight smile and Jensen remained placid.

The doctor raises an eyebrow, “Relax Mr. Page, this is just a visit to go over the paperwork before deciding about how we proceed, not the Spanish Inquisition.” Jared releases his held breath but couldn’t completely calm himself.

“I know the process can be overwhelming but I must ask, is there something we’ve done to make you uncomfortable?” Dr. Rodgers inquires.

“No, everyone’s been really nice, very professional. It’s just we..we had issues the first time we attempted to do this.” Jared finished his sentence quietly, in the recess of his mind; something bad is gonna happen and it’ll be my fault.

Jensen squeezes his hand tighter, instinctively sensing Jared’s mind was trying to spiral again, “When tried this before someone leaked our plans to the media. It wasn't ever proven the clinic was involved but...”

“We do everything possible to keep our clients anonymity protected here. All of our staff have been thoroughly vetted and sign NDA, given your professions, you're familiar with how they work. Your real identities will remain completely confidential, even if you choose to not proceed. It is why you chose this particular clinic, yes?”

“Yes, it is.” Jensen replied.

“How about we get this bit of paperwork out of the way, then we can have a more relaxed visit. I’ve gone over the applications you both submitted and have noted a few discrepancies in the medical section that need clarification before we proceed,” He opens the top file, “Mr. Bonham, why did you omit Genu Varum from your medical history?”

Jensen kept his expression neutral as he felt his stomach automatically clench. He had been mercilessly teased throughout his childhood about his bowed legs by his older brother Josh and later his buddies from school when they’d come over to hang out. By the time he was in high school Jensen’s extraordinary looks and personality were what got people’s attention first. Nowadays, many a fanfic waxed poetic about those bowed legs.

“The questionnaire inquired about inherited genetic medical conditions and since mine isn’t, I didn’t think it was necessarily applicable.” Jared hears an edge creeping into Jensen’s voice and gives their tangled fingers a quick squeeze.

“Did you see an orthopedist and were they able to determine what caused the condition? Did they suggest any surgical procedures or therapies to straighten your legs?”

“I was born a preemie, the orthopedists my parents consulted decided my condition was attributable to that.” Jensen replies tersely, dropping his vocal range. Jared gripped his hand harder, telling him to cool the attitude. “The doctor didn’t recommend surgery but sent me to physical therapy, thought it would help them straighten as I grew.”

“So no others in your immediate family have this issue?”

“Everyone my family has straight legs, including my three children.”

Jared piped in, “He hates it but he does have an exercise regimen; stretching, strength training. Oh, he also takes several different vitamins, omega oils, turmeric and extra vitamin D to support his joints.” They watched the doctor scribble a few more notes in the file before closing it.

“Mr. Page,” Jared sits up straighter in his chair, “I appreciate that you went into detail about your mental health status. I see you’ve recently been hospitalized, your medications have been changed to an alternative regiment and you’ve also increased your therapy sessions?”

Jared’s interview continued for another twenty minutes as Dr. Rodgers questioned him in depth about his depression and anxiety, feeling said anxiety ratcheting up so he focused on Jensen’s thumb rhythmically moving over his hand and used every ounce of his acting skills to appear confident and in control.

Dr. Rodgers closed his file, “I only have a few general questions left then we can discuss how you wish to proceed.”

After a more relaxed, genial conversation with the doctor, Sissy took them to a couple private rooms with paraphernalia to help stimulate them into producing a couple semen samples.

Jensen was getting close to finishing with his favorite spank-bank fantasy when he felt Jared’s frustration across their bond.

~~~

Jared couldn’t get aroused.

He felt as useless as his flaccid cock.

His doctor warned him that loss of sex drive could be a possible side effect of his new regiment until his body adjusted to it. He had struggled with temporary impotence a few times on his old meds, always fearful Jensen would finally see him as undesirable, no longer a satisfactory mate.

Rationally, he knew it was his illness causing these exceptionally hard to deal thoughts recently and the nagging idea this wasn’t the right thing for them to attempt again continually kept creeping in.

Jensen’s unspoken reluctance about having more children at his age was also weighing on his conscience, warring against his own biological longings.

They had a humongous argument when he told Jensen about taking the appointment. Jen thought this was the wrong time to attempt it again, pointing out he was just getting his equilibrium back setting Jared went off on a rant about how he no longer wanted him and would leave him like Genevieve had because he was too broken to deal with anymore.

Unmitigated anguish was written across Jensen’s beautiful features, the very notion that Jared could conceivably believe that he’d ever abandon him made his soul hurt in such a way no verbal language on earth could ever express his devastated feelings traveling across their bond.

***

Everything they’d been through; from that bar fight solidifying their friendship, Jared’s first breakdown, the years of living as roommates while secretly a couple to finding wives who understood their unique relationship and still married them both in 2010.

The joyous arrival of JJ three years later that unfortunately exacerbated Genevieve's frustration of not being able to conceive coming out with a vengeance at Jared. His unexpected breakdown in Switzerland was the final nail in their marriage. Gen was there for him but in the end it was all too much and she filed for divorce.

Shortly after, Jared’s iCloud account was hacked. It was believed, but never conclusively proven, that Gen was behind it since her lawyer was trying to break their prenuptial agreement, the videos documenting his private and explicit sexual relationship with Jensen were legally considered adulterous. In the end, the court upheld the legal document but the ramifications...

They were summoned to L.A. for the meeting from hell with WB executives, both convinced it was the end of Supernatural and their careers.

After the reaming out, they each received a weeks pay suspension to cover some of what it was gonna cost PR in time and money to deal with the inevitable repercussions and placate the show's sponsors.

How would the show’s fans react? Would they still be able to accept them as brothers only on TV while in real life they were involved in a highly stigmatized relationship?

When they returned to work there was an atmosphere of tension that hadn’t existed before. It was an open secret that all shows had their share of bitchiness and backstabbing behind the scenes. Jensen may have the thicker skin, keeping tighter control on his emotions, but Jared knew it hurt him just as deeply the loss of some of their friends because of prejudicial, social beliefs that two Alpha males shouldn’t be involved.

Jensen’s parents showed up unexpectedly in Vancouver a few weeks later. What started out as a not quite comfortable visit quickly deteriorated with his religiously conservative parents. They had not raised him like this and blamed Jared, saying he had corrupted him, leading him into a sinful lifestyle. He needed to repent and return to his wife to whom he had made a commitment before god.

Jensen blew up, replying it was none of their business, it was between them and oh, yeah, Danneel knew about them before marrying him and they better not say anything to her. Without another word his parents left. When he later called them to make amends, his mother coolly stated that he was no longer part of their family and to never contact them again.

Three months after the twins were born in 2016 came the finalization of Jensen’s divorce from Danneel, painful but congenial. They easily agreed on joint custody and still spent most holidays together. Jensen gave Dani financial security in their settlement, he wanted to make sure she didn’t have to worry about working again unless she wanted to.

All these years later, Jared continually has nagging thoughts that they had let everybody down. They received support when they publicly came out as bisexual then lost some of it when they married, being mocked for not coming out as gay.

***

There was another knock at the door and Jared ignored it, it was that nurse checking on his lack of progress again. The knock turned into pounding, “Jared, open this door now dammit!” He flinched realizing Jensen knew what was going on with him. Releasing the privacy latch and opening the door a crack he saw concerned green eyes only.

“Sorry, I thought you were that nurse,” he stepped away and sat back down as Jensen came in and re-latching it behind him. “She came to get me when you stopped answering,” Jensen said, walking over to him and started running his thick fingers through his husband’s long hair, “what’s going on babe?”

He glances up knowing that Jensen already knew, “It’s okay Jay, take as long as you need.” He paused at the unpleasant scent wafting around him. “If you’d be more comfortable we could do this at home…” Jared shakes his head, “There’s the risk of damage, contamination and or not able to get it back in time that could make the semen unusable.” Jared quotes from a website.

Jensen softly chuckled, “Nerd.”

Jared notices the bulge in his jeans, “You didn’t...”

“Drain the snake..choke the chicken..spank the monkey.”

“Fuck, okay, you didn’t! Stop using old man slang.” He shook his head smiling  at Jensen intentionally goading him.

Jared reached up for the hand playing in his hair, grasping it to draw Jensen down next to him.

“Jack, I don’t want to wait any longer on doing this. I love JJ and the twins, you know I do, but they'll always be yours and Danneels. I know the timing could be better... but I'm almost thirty-eight and I want my..our own pups running around the house driving us crazy.”

“For the next eighteen years?”

“Minimum.”

tbc

Part II

SPN: @donnaintx​​​​​​​​​​​​ @lyarr24

GFA: @babypink224221 @waywardjoy @let-me-luve-you @all-4-wincest

Sam/Jared @idreamofplaid

Dean/Jensen: @flamencodiva

[whumphoarder]

¿Cómo se dice ‘I’m in Deep Sh*t’?

Summary: Due to unforeseen circumstances (and a bit of procrastination), Peter runs out of time to prepare for his Spanish presentation and ends up faking sick to buy himself some more.

He just wasn’t really counting on Tony being the one to pick him up from school.

Word count: 2,997

Genre: humor, fluff, whump

Link to read on Ao3

A/N: Based on a prompt from @coconutknightshade! 

Apparently it takes a village to write a story lol—thanks to @xxx-cat-xxx, @sallyidss, @fandomsficsandfeels, & @seek-rest for beta-reading and ideas, and @lunannex for Spanish help!

“What if I just like… fake my death?” Peter suggests as he hands his mentor a different sized wrench. “They can’t mark me down for not doing it if I’m dead, right?”

Tony, who is currently bent over their latest project (replacing the timing belt in May’s car), snorts. “As someone who’s been officially presumed dead more than once, can’t say I recommend it. Way too much paperwork.”

Peter sighs. “Can we stage a kidnapping then?” he says hopefully. “Or an alien abduction?”

Tony rolls his eyes. “It’s a four-minute speech, not the end of the world—though I have some experience with that too.” He holds out a hand. “Half inch ratchet.”

“A four-minute speech in Spanish,” Peter emphasizes, passing him the requested tool. “Which is a language I don’t speak.”

“Hence why you’re in Spanish class,” Tony counters. “With all the other kids who can’t speak Spanish.”

“But it’s also like ten percent of my grade,” Peter goes on as his mentor loosens the timing belt and removes it from the engine before handing it to Peter to set aside. “And I have to talk about what I do in a typical week, and it’s not like I can say I go patrolling or come over to the compound, so I’m gonna have to make stuff up—”

Tony interrupts, “Yo veo mucha televisión,” he says sagely.

“—and then what if I get up there and forget everything and just sound stupid?” Peter continues his rant. He groans and passes Tony the replacement belt. “Maybe I should just conveniently get the flu on Wednesday.”

Looking up from the engine, Tony raises an eyebrow at him. “Are you really this stressed about it? Because if you need to focus on school, I could just finish this up myself.”

Peter sighs again and runs a hand through his hair—he hadn’t meant to complain this much, he’d just kind of gotten on a roll after Tony asked him how school was going. “No, no… I wanted to come over—really. And I’ve got three more days to work on it, it’s just like… ugh. I should have taken German instead.”

Tony huffs out a short laugh. “Pretty sure they have to speak in German class too.”

“Yeah but MJ’s not in German…” Peter mutters under his breath.

“What was that?” Tony asks, elbow deep in the engine block.

Peter expels a breath. “Nothing, it’s fine,” he says a bit more audibly, trying to convince himself as much as his mentor. So what if the most observant and shrewd person in his year also happens to be in his Spanish class?

(And so what if he might have a bit of a crush on her?)

Tony chuckles. “You’ll do great, kid,” he assures. “Just make sure you practice.”

Peter forces a smile. “Right, yeah, of course.”

X

Practicing, however, turns out to be easier said than done.

With finals fast approaching, it’s crunch time for all of Peter’s classes. Whatever spare moments he has over the weekend are spent finishing up his Animal Farm essay for the English summative and cramming for his geometry test Monday morning. The upcoming Spanish presentation hangs over his head, but it’s more annoying than anything else. He figures it should be fairly simple to actually bullshit something and translate it if he just sits down and does it (which, ironically, somehow makes it easier to push off).

He’s intending to work on it Monday evening, but a winter storm hits that afternoon, dumping eight inches of snow and ice on the city. Peter spends most of his patrol assisting with minor traffic accidents and helping stranded motorists scrape ice from their vehicles or shovel cars out of parking spaces. By the time he gets home late that night, he’s too exhausted to do much more than sit on the couch with May and drink cocoa while she watches Grey’s Anatomy reruns.

Oh well. He’s still got time.

Peter tries to make good use of his study hall on Tuesday, but the period ends up being kind of a wash. He spends half the time attempting to come up with something to say that is both interesting enough to make him seem not totally lame while still believable enough to fool MJ, and the other half messing around on his phone and trying to recall the name of the annoying song stuck in his head.

(It was ‘Goodbye’ by The Spice Girls.)

He’s intending to finish the presentation Tuesday evening after he gets home, but then Ned throws an unexpected monkey wrench into his plans just before the final bell rings.

“So I gotta be there early for warm ups, but my mom will pick you up around six, okay?” he tells Peter as they pack up their book bags.

Peter frowns, confused. “...Pick me up?”

Ned tilts his head. “Unless May can give you a ride after all? But I thought you said she was working tonight, right?”

All of a sudden it clicks—tonight is Ned’s first band concert. He’d taken up percussion a few months back in an effort to beef up his extracurriculars for his college applications. Peter agreed to go to the performance weeks ago.

“Oh right right right,” Peter quickly covers. “Six is great. I’ll see her then!”

Ned beams. “Awesome! My sister and her boyfriend are coming too, so we might go out to celebrate afterwards!”

“Yeah, awesome!” Peter agrees, forcing a grin. “That should be really fun.”

(Oh yeah, he’s screwed.)

X

The concert was cool. Ned hit that triangle with all the required enthusiasm whenever his parts came up, and Peter flashed him loads of encouraging thumbs-ups from the audience. When it was over, they all went out to Denny’s for some mediocre late-night pancakes and the usual Leeds family banter. All in all, a pretty fun night.

When Peter gets home a little after ten, he opens his Spanish doc in one tab and promptly falls into a YouTube hole in another while looking for background music. He’s still grinning when he closes out of his fifth vine compilation video in a row until he checks the time a second later and the grin dissolves. It’s 12:03 a.m.

Oops.

Study hall Wednesday morning will be his saving grace, he’s sure.

X

So, of course, a fight has to break out right outside of the library.

It’s not too bad—the two instigating students are hauled away by security with a couple bloody noses and black eyes, and a few other kids are taken down to the office for questioning. Peter was far enough removed from the action that he doesn’t have to come along, but the whole debacle eats up all but the last ten minutes of the period so when the bell finally rings, he’s got precisely five words written down:

Hola, me llamo Peter Parker.

(Suddenly all those jokes about faking his own death are starting to sound a lot more appealing.)

Or if not my death, he thinks as he trudges down the hall in the direction of his Spanish classroom, cold dread pooling in his gut, then at least…

He stops walking, glancing sideways into the brightly lit office just off the hall. The elderly nurse is sitting at her desk, glasses half-way down her nose as she reads a paperback novel with the picture of a Christmasy log cabin on the cover.

No. He can’t. He doesn’t lie.

...Unless…

No. May’s at work. She’d have to leave early to come and pick him up.

Okay, but it’s not like you do this often, his brain counters. Hell, you came to school with a concussion and two cracked ribs last month and didn’t say a word about it. May can take one for the team just this once.

Peter slips into the bathroom across the hall and waits there until the bell rings to signal the end of passing period, and then an additional five minutes on top of that to add some credibility to his act. He splashes a bit of cold water on his forehead and around his neck, and then works himself up with some heavy breathing before exiting the bathroom.

Folding his arms over his stomach, Peter moves shakily across the hall back toward the nurse’s office, making an effort to look as unwell as possible. A passing student eyes him suspiciously and gives him a wide berth, so he figures he must be doing something right.

Steeling himself with a shuddery breath, he steps into the office.

“Hall pass?” the nurse asks without looking up from her book.

“Um, no, I don’t have one, uh…” Peter’s heart is fluttering in his chest. “I just… I’m not feeling good.”

Eyes still on the page, the nurse silently taps a finger to a sign on the wall just behind her desk which reads: PASSES REQUIRED FOR ALL STUDENTS.

Peter swallows hard. C’mon, Parker—commit. “Right, but, uh, I came from the bathroom.” He hugs himself a little tighter and looks down. “My stomach really hurts. I was throwing up and, uh… stuff,” he concludes, deciding that in this case, less is more.

The nurse’s expression softens. She lowers her novel and gets to her feet with a small sigh. “Well, there is a bug going around,” she concedes, gesturing for him to sit down on the cot in the back of her office.

Peter keeps his responses vague when she requests more specific information on his symptoms, mostly offering shrugs or short, mumbled answers. She checks his temperature and seems slightly suspicious at his lack of fever, but he makes up for it by getting up suddenly and darting into the nurse’s bathroom.

When he emerges—exactly seven minutes and two new levels of Candy Crush later—Peter makes sure to keep his eyes averted from the nurse’s gaze and his movements slow and a little unsteady, one hand hovering over his stomach. She gives him a bottle of Gatorade and a couple of crackers and tells him to lie down until May comes to pick him up.

“I got ahold of her,” the nurse informs, sounding more sympathetic now. She slides a small garbage bin beside the cot. “She says she’s just finishing something up at work and then she’ll be right over.”

“Thank you,” Peter mutters tiredly. He doesn’t even have to act for that part—between the stress of his upcoming finals and his last couple of late nights, he really is exhausted and he has a bit of a headache. It makes him feel just the slightest bit better about pulling May away from her shift that there��s at least something physically wrong with him, even if it isn’t what he’s claiming.

Under the thin fleece blanket the nurse gives him, Peter manages to drift off to sleep.

X

But it turns out, today is just really not his day.

“No fever yet, but sometimes with these kinds of bugs that doesn’t come until later,” Peter overhears the nurse explaining in a low voice. He’s lying curled up on the cot, face toward the wall. “If that happens, just remember that he needs to be fever-free for 24 hours before returning to school.”

“Oh, I have a feeling that won’t be a problem,” a familiar voice that definitely does not belong to Aunt May replies.

“Mr. Stark?” Peter’s eyes snap open fully and he sits up in a hurry.

Tony and the nurse are standing together beside her desk, chatting quietly. Tony turns to look at Peter, face straight but eyebrows raised in amusement. “Oh would you look at that—he lives,” he remarks. “Feeling any better, Pete?”

Immediately, Peter wraps an arm around his stomach and does his best to look ill. “Uh, no, not really... but, um wh-what are you doing here?”

“The hospital is a little short-staffed today and your aunt was having trouble finding someone to cover her shift,” Tony explains, keeping his expression perfectly neutral. “She called to ask if I minded picking you up. You know”—his eyes narrow—“since you’re so sick.”

(Peter gulps. He’s starting to wonder if maybe he’ll be sick after all.)

“So of course, I told her I would,” Tony goes on. “I mean, if you’re feeling this bad, we could hardly just leave you here...”

Peter has to force himself to meet Tony’s gaze. “Right. Um, thank you. That’s super nice of you.”

“Well, you know me, Tony Super-Nice Stark,” his mentor says with a small chuckle as he steps closer to the bed.

“Now, with stomach bugs, the biggest concern is going to be dehydration,” the nurse continues. “So you’re going to want to push fluids, especially if he’s having di—”

“Fluids, got it,” Peter cuts her off, feeling his cheeks heat up. He gets to his feet and starts moving toward the door, but Tony halts him by grabbing his arm.

“Hey, hey, slow down, kid,” Tony tuts at him. “You were just looking like you might pass out a minute ago.” He presses his palm to Peter’s forehead and glances over to the nurse, eyebrows pinched together in the semblance of concern. “He’s kinda flushed, right? Maybe we should check his temperature again.”

“It’s fine,” Peter mutters, barely managing to suppress an eye-roll. “I think I just need to go home and sleep.”

“Sleep is probably the best thing for him,” the nurse agrees, nodding. “But going back to dehydration, if at any point it’s been more than five hours since he’s last urinated—”

“Mr. Stark, c’mon…” Peter whines quietly, nudging the man toward the door.

Tony holds up a finger to shush him—there’s a twinkle in his eyes that’s honestly driving Peter mad. “Hang on, kiddo. This is all very important information. In fact”—he pulls out his phone and opens the notes app—“let me just write this down. So you said if he hasn’t peed in five hours…?”

The nurse goes on to happily share her wealth of knowledge regarding stomach viruses with his mentor. Tony nods along to her advice, looking genuinely interested the entire time, occasionally interrupting to ask pertinent questions. Meanwhile, Peter just stands there, quietly dying a little inside.

Finally, she concludes her little spiel and Tony thanks her politely, then asks, “You wouldn’t happen to have a bin or bag or something we could take with us, would you? I just got the car detailed recently—hate for that to go to waste.”

Peter lets out another low groan. “Mr. Stark…”

“Ah, I have just the thing!” the nurse says. She bustles over behind her desk and produces a plastic sand pail with assorted Paw Patrol characters on it. “I get these from the dollar store,” she informs. “They don’t look like they hold too much but you’d be surprised!”

Tony grins. “That’s perfect. Thank you so much, Alice.” Looking to Peter, he asks, “Need the bathroom before we leave?”

Rolling his eyes at his mentor, Peter takes the bucket from the nurse with a muttered “thanks” and strides directly out the door.

X

Tony doesn’t say anything for the entire walk to the car, but Peter’s mind is happy to fill the silence with dread and anxious thoughts as he imagines all the various ways his mentor might chew him out about this. Stupid Spanish presentation—he should have just winged it after all.

The moment that both he and Tony are seated in the vehicle and the car doors are shut behind them, Peter sets the bucket down on the floor and covers his face with a groan.

“Alright, let’s get it over with,” he mutters into his hands. “Lay it on me.”

“Just to clarify,” Tony begins, sounding a bit more serious. “You’re not actually sick, right? This was just to get out of your presentation?”

“Yeah, I dunno...” Peter admits, feeling defeated. “I was planning to work on it—I swear. Just, well, there was all this stuff due for my other classes, and then the snowstorm, and all these commitments just kept coming up, and I just kinda... ran out of time. Figured if I got sent home I could buy myself an extra day or two.” He sighs deeply, lowering his hands to look up at his mentor. “Are you gonna tell May?”

Tony huffs out a short laugh. “Honestly? I think you’ve suffered enough.”

Peter blinks at him, surprised. “Wait, seriously?”

“You listened to a school nurse describe the BRAT diet for three whole minutes,” Tony says with a snort. “I don’t think any lecture May or I could give would top that.”

“God,” Peter groans, running a hand over his face. “If I hear the word ‘binding’ used one more time…”

“But,” Tony says, holding up a stern finger as he starts the car. “As soon as we get back to your place, we’re finishing up that presentation in time for your miraculous recovery tomorrow, got it?”

“We?” Peter raises an eyebrow at him. “Do you even speak Spanish?”

Tony waves a hand dismissively. “I know French and Italian—close enough. More importantly, I am fluent in the language of bullshit, kid. I once convinced an entire board of investors that not adding a clock feature to the new Starkphone prototype was a philosophical statement about the ‘futility of time as a construct’ rather than an embarrassing oversight caused by deadline crunches, no sleep, and more caffeine flowing through my veins than red blood cells.”

“And how did that go?” Peter asks.

“Sold twelve thousand shares that day. And I got to meet the Dalai Lama.”

Peter just snorts.

“Oh, and there was this other time,” Tony goes on wryly, “when I helped my intern play hooky to get out of a school presentation by convincing the nurse he had the shits.”

Peter leans back against the seat with a heavy sigh. “I’m never doing this again, Mr. Stark,” he mumbles.

X

Link to all my fics

If you enjoyed this story, you might also like: 

Karmaitis

Give the Kid an Oscar

You Broke Tony

[nekojitachan]

Okay, so the A/B/O fic won with two votes (LOL, voting counts, people). But I still have time tomorrow, so may do the HtSaM and I’m still plotting out the Spiderman fic.

Anyway, This is like the first scene, just to give you an idea (A LITTLE) of how things will work out in this world.

Uhm... don’t think there’s much to reference for triggers here, other than Neil’s past (very vague).

*******

Neil watched from his seat in the bleachers as the maintenance crew cleaned up after Millport’s graduation ceremony – a graduation ceremony he’d attended despite some misgivings in the end. He’d decided that it would raise less questions if he disappeared after receiving his diploma, one more student who wandered away without any prospects, than be a no show.

His duffel bag was at his side and packed, he merely needed to decide on Reno or Chicago (north or south) as the place to buy his next ID – did he want to return to Canada or try Mexico? The States never had brought him any good luck, it was time for something different.

While he pondered his choices, the bleachers creaked as someone approached – Hernandez. “I didn’t see your parents anywhere,” the counselor said as he sat next to Neil, blue tie askew and grey-shot hair mussed as if he’d run his hands through it a few times.

“No, they’re too busy working. Besides, it’s no big deal, just high school,” Neil murmured as he tapped the folded piece of paper against his knees. “Not like it’ll do me much good.”

“Your grades aren’t too bad, especially for math and Spanish. Mrs. Engles said you’ve a talent for languages, that you speak French better than most of her students.”

Neil winced as he thought about that slip, about responding in the language the one day when he’d been too tired to think straight. “Still not going to do me much good when I can’t afford to pay for university.”

Hernandez grunted as he stood up. “About that, come to my office, would you?”

Neil hesitated for a moment, suspicious of the man, but during his year in Millport (several months too long, really, but he’d been so tired after his mother’s death), Hernandez had done nothing to make him doubt the middle-aged beta. Had asked about his parents, had constantly pressed snacks on him and asked about his health, but hadn’t tried to hit him or appeared to be working for his father.

So Neil followed, figuring that the counselor would press one more college or scholarship application on him (wasn’t it too late for that stuff) and then he’d be on his way, off to another city by the night’s end.

“You’ve got a lot of potential,” Hernandez said while they walked, the start of his usual spiel. “I know it seems that things are easier for the alphas, that they manage to claim whatever they want, and people feel that omegas need special help, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t any support for betas. In fact, there’s groups out there who are doing their best to make things equal for everyone, regardless of their classification.”

“It’s been the same way for centuries, I doubt it’s going to change anytime soon,” Neil murmured as he thought about his father and fought to rub his fingers against the side of his neck, where he’d applied the scent patch earlier in the day; it should still be good for a few more hours.

“No, things are already changing, and they’ll continue to change as more people take a stand.” Hernandez gave Neil a significant look before he opened the door to his office, as the scent (odor) of an unfamiliar alpha washed forth to overcome the familiar one of the friendly beta. “I think you can help, too.”

“Who- no,” Neil denied as he shook his head even while Hernandez all but shoved him into the office; he gripped the straps of his duffel to both hold on to it better and to use it as a potential shield/weapon even though the stranger merely stood still on the other side of the room, muscular arms folded across his chest and wearing an orange jacket bearing a familiar fox head logo. “Fuck, you’re a Fox,” Neil breathed out.

Hernandez winced, probably at him swearing, then motioned at the alpha. “Neil, this is David Wymack, and yes, he’s in charge of the Palmetto Foxes. I asked him to come here to meet you.”

“Pretty mouthy for a beta,” Wymack chuckled; he was taller than Hernandez and had the typical ‘alpha’ build, was broad-shouldered and looked as if he could pick Neil up and snap him in half with ease (looked too much like Neil’s father even if his skin and hair and eyes were darker). Yet his smile was friendly and eyes warm… though Neil knew to never trust someone by their appearance. “Hernandez there sent me your files and I can use someone mouthy who has a talent for languages to help out my crew. What do you say?”

No, this couldn’t be happening, not the Palmetto Foxes; the straps of Neil’s bag burned against his palms as he thought about the binder inside of it, of how the man who ran the Palmetto chapter of the Foxes had invited him, someone who’d once dreamed of attending the Edgar Allan academy, be part of the same ‘crew’ as Kevin Day, who’d run from the prestigious school for alphas to join the Foxes.

Just how much more fucked up could Neil’s life become? What next, would he bump into one of the Malcolms when he went to buy more hair dye or a bus ticket?

“Kid, are you having a panic attack?”

“No,” Neil managed to wheeze out while he shook his head; if Hernandez wasn’t blocking the room’s only exit, he’d make a run for it. “No, I don’t think it would be a good idea, me joining the Foxes.”

“Neil, don’t make a hasty decision here, this is-“

Wymack cut off Hernandez with a slow shake of his head. “Look, can I talk to Neil alone?” he asked, and only the fact that he didn’t back it up with any of the usual alpha posturing kept Neil still when Hernandez agreed after a slight pause.

“I’ll be right outside the door,” he told Neil, which wasn’t as comforting as it sounded. “You’ll be all right, I promise.”

It was quiet in the room for several seconds after the counselor left, then Wymack cleared his throat, which made Neil jump a little. “Seems like a nice guy, he clearly cares about you.” The alpha cleared his throat again and pushed up the sleeves of his garish orange jacket, which revealed tribal flame tattoos on his thick forearms. “Look, you seem a little familiar with the Foxes, so you must know that we take in people around your age from troubled homes regardless of their classification and work with them to earn an education in return for them helping out others. We’re trying to teach a generation that it doesn’t matter if you’re an alpha or beta or omega, that we’re all human.”

Neil stared at the man to make sure if he was finished then sighed. “Am I supposed to slow clap now?” When Wymack glared at him, Neil reminded himself that he was pretending to be a meek beta and shuffled a step back. “I don’t see why you’re interested in me.”

“Because when everyone’s not studying online, they put in some hours at a call center that provides assistance to… well, it’s usually omegas and betas in need,” Wymack admitted. “I could use someone who speaks French and Spanish, and from what Hernandez said, you could use both the degree and someplace safe to live.”

“I already have someplace to live,” Neil lied, indignant over the implication even if it was true.

“Yeah? Then how come Hernandez suspects that you’ve been crashing in the various locker rooms here some nights, hmm? That you seem to avoid your parents as much as possible?” Wymack appeared smug when Neil glanced aside, upset that the counselor had picked up on him sleeping at the school since it at least had running water and heat, unlike the abandoned, partially constructed house which he’d been squatting in for most of the year. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on at home, but this is a chance, kid. Don’t be stubborn and take it.”

It was a risk, is what it was… but Neil was tired of squatting in and breaking into places to bathe and… and he was terrible at living alone, of being on the run without his mother. She might have ‘only’ been an omega, but she’d had the will of an alpha, had been so strong and focused, had kept him focused.

If he left on his own, how long until he just… just ended up rooted somewhere like he had in Millport again? At least if he accepted Wymack’s offer, he’d be one in a group, could blend in and build up some supplies, could properly plan for once. He’d have a stable address to receive his patches and contacts, and could work on a new ID if needed.

There was a risk with Kevin being involved, but he looked nothing like the ten year old kid he’d been the one time they’d met, eight years ago. He smelled nothing like Nathaniel Wesninski anymore, especially when he used the patches.

It should be all right.

It had to be all right, because Neil didn’t have any better ideas.

“When do you need an answer?”

A pleased grin spread across Wymack’s face as if he realized that he’d won. “I’m here for the night and leave tomorrow at 10am. I’d much prefer to take you back with me, unless there’s something holding you here for a few days.” It was as if he feared that Neil would change his mind once he was out of sight.

“I… give me the night to talk to my mother,” Neil lied as he shuffled his feet again. “But there shouldn’t be a reason why I can’t leave with you.” No, that would be plenty of time to grab one or two things that weren’t in his bag, change clothes and apply another patch.

Now Wymack appeared concerned. “Do you need my help when you talk to her?”

“No, it’s better that I do it alone,” Neil said in a rush. “She doesn’t like strangers.” That was an understatement.

Wymack didn’t appear pleased to hear that but was mollified when Neil signed an agreement to work for him in exchange for a scholarship, room and board, and a small stipend. Hernandez almost burst into tears when he was told and would have hugged Neil if he hadn’t stepped out of reach in time.

Wymack also wasn’t pleased when Neil chose to run home that evening instead of accept a ride, but he soon would learn that Neil did things his own way. Neil promised to be at the airport on time then left, mindful to make sure that neither man followed him ‘home’.

Since he was leaving the next day, he stopped by the grocery store for food and a few items, such as wipes so he’d be clean enough the next day without taking a shower. Considering it lucky that he’d just dyed his hair a couple of days ago, he went to the rest room after he paid so he could clean up and change clothes, then went to the laundry mat to wash anything that was dirty and ate his supper while he waited.

He thought about how nice it might be to have a shower every day again, or wash clothes whenever he wanted, or to sleep in a real bed….

It was another night on a plywood floor with the sleeping bag, another night where he slept in snatches, always on the alert for any sound which might indicate someone trying to sneak up on him. As soon as the sun began to rise he was up; he had a breakfast of fruit and granola bars washed down with energy drinks, then used the wipes to clean himself before he applied another scent patch. While it sunk into his skin, he checked that everything he needed was in his duffel bag; anything he was discarding was rolled up in the sleeping bag, which he would throw out in a dumpster on the way to the nearest gas station.

He cleaned up once again when he reached the gas station, just to make sure he was presentable for the flight, and brushed his teeth. Then he bought a couple of snacks and used the pay phone to call a cab to take him the airport, where he waited for Wymack to meet him at the one check-in station.

The alpha was surprised to see that he didn’t have any luggage to check and gave him an odd look as he handed over Neil’s ticket. Neil did his best to act nonchalant when they went through security, to not worry about his fake ID, but the TSA worker barely paid him any attention.

There was a reason his mother always made him present as a beta, even though his build was small enough to pass as an omega as well; people didn’t think much of betas, didn’t expect much trouble from them. Betas were amicable and hard-working and common.

If the TSA agent had known that he’d just dealt with a null? Well, the place would probably be on lockdown by then, with Wymack swarmed by guards and placed under arrest while Neil was (carefully, but all the same) hauled off to a secure location, was sequestered from everyone.

A null was anything but common.

A null didn’t just walk around without an armed escort, oh no.

A null, so rare that there were only a handful known to exist at a time, were cherished and protected (were owned) by the most powerful families. Families which used them for their abilities to remain unaffected by an alpha’s aggressiveness or an omega’s emotional manipulation, who wasn’t triggered by a heat cycle or overwhelmed by pheromones. Everyone around Neil was susceptible to their own nature, could be weakened or enraged by a mere scent or a growl or look… but not him.

It would make him feel powerful if he wasn’t so terrified of the artificial scent which fooled people into thinking he was a beta failing, of them realizing that he didn’t have a scent, and everything his mother had sacrificed for him would then be for nothing.

Ha, nothing, just like him.

However, no one called him out as a fake and he was able to board the plane, even though the scent of cigarettes which clung to Wymack made him want to dig the pack out of his bag and light one up, to hold it near his face so he could inhale the smoke (and let it wash over him, to add its scent to his own as yet another layer to the mask).

Wymack waited until they were in the air to speak. “Look, some of the others… most of them mean well, but a few of them are rather rough. If you have any trouble, come talk to me, Abby or Dan. Abby’s the group’s nurse and unofficial den mother, and Dan’s like my second in command.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine, it’s not like I’m going to cause any trouble,” Neil insisted before he opened one of the magazines he’d brought along to keep himself distracted during the flight. After all, he was pretending to be a quiet beta and had every intention of keeping his head low for the next few months before he moved on.

“Sure, you say that now,” Wymack muttered before he opened a notepad and started writing things down.

Neil didn’t know why the man was so worried – it wasn’t like he was the one who had a serial killer father hunting him down because of a weird genetic quirk. However, he decided to keep that fact to himself, since he planned to be long gone from Palmetto before anyone had a chance to figure it out.

*******

I guess if I wrote more, I would have to figure out a name for the damn thing? And it’s more A/B/O/N at this point. Obviously I’m playing with Neil being Demi/on the Ace spectrum here (though it’s not such a rare thing in the real world, I have to have some reason for him to be in the run).

 I think what’s held me back from writing this (well, other than FREE TIME) is what the heck would the Foxes do?

[sp4c3-0ddity]

Title: Blabbermouth Fandom:  Voltron: Legendary Defender Rating:  Teen and Up Pairings:  Gen, plance if you squint Characters:  Lotor, Lance Warnings:  Implied/Referenced Torture Word Count:  ~970

A/N:

for @badthingshappenbingo!! Prompt:  Truth Serum/Potion

you can also read it on ao3 here

not beta read, not even really by me

“You realize I’m just saying every word that pops into my head, right?”

Lotor gnashes his teeth together as he faces his prisoner. The young man already proved to be a blabbermouth upon capture, but the truth potion Acxa administered to him before they started their interrogation only made it worse.

“So obviously,” he continues, his dark blue eyes darting around the gloomy chamber, “I should just keep talking about whatever to make sure I can’t hear any of the question you’re asking me.” A loathsome smirk tugs at his lips.

Lotor does not rake his hand down his face out of frustration, but he deeply and thoroughly regrets killing Narti. What did it matter if she betrayed him to Haggar? A few ticks of her rooting around in this fool’s mind would’ve given them all the information they need about Princess Allura’s whereabouts!

Instead they learned all the most bizarre and intimate details of this man’s life - and, well, if Lotor can figure out a way to use those against him he will, but now...

“...and my left foot is slightly bigger than my right foot, but I can only really tell while I’m trying on a new pair of shoes.” He raises both bare feet into the air, peering over his toes and grinning at Lotor. “What about you, Prince Perfect? You have any flaws?”

Lotor’s eye twitches as Ezor, hovering nearby in case the prisoner escapes his bonds, giggles. He shoots her a glare, and her gaze drifts to the floor, chagrined. He smiles, some relief filling him; at least his underlings still obey him even with a simple glance.

“You know, I cried when a spider bit my sister,” he continues, barely pausing for breath. “I thought she was going to die. To be fair I was only six, but it’s still worth mentioning, in my honest--”

“Enough!” Lotor, losing his patience, strikes him with a backhand. His head whips back, eyes wide with shock, an angry red mark left on his cheek.

He turns his head, blood on his lip where his teeth must’ve grazed it - it’s what the imbecile gets for talking so much - and mutters, “You’re an ass, Your Highness.”

Lotor crosses his arms, staring down his nose at him. “I’ve been called worse things from better people than fools like you,” he sneers.

The man snorts. “I’ve been called a fool as a word of endearment,” he says. “That’s not an insult to me.”

“Maybe we should break his fingers till he talks,” Zethrid suggests.

“What’s wrong with good, old-fashioned torture?” Ezor agrees. She runs her fingers through their prisoner’s hair almost fondly, a gesture that must not fool him judging by how he jerks away from her touch.

“No, thank you,” he says with a smile that shows off a hint of fear. “I’m satisfied with a slap and a truth potion, but if you must, why not try tickling me? Pidge always tells me it’s the easiest way to decapitate me and therefore my greatest weakness.”

“I think you mean incapacitate,” Acxa corrects.

Lotor’s eyes slip shut, a shallow sigh escaping his nostrils. It goes a long way to calm him, to wash away the man’s obnoxious, disjointed rambling. They need something to use against him if he won’t reveal any information more useful than the size of his feet or how old he was when a spider bit his sister.

“Is that really what I mean, my lady?” the prisoner taunts. “It could be, I guess, since Pidge is always saying words I don’t understand, but she’s patient enough to explain them to me. And that’s all right, because I speak more human languages than she does!” He gasps and adds, “Oh, I could be talking in Spanish now, and you wouldn’t understand a word I’m--”

“So who is this Pidge?” Lotor asks. He leans over and grabs the man’s jaw with two fingers, turning his face towards his and forcing him to meet his eyes. “Tell me about her.”

“Oh, she’s brilliant!” he tells him. A silly smile crosses the man’s face, a far cry from the smug smirk or the one edged with fear. “I think you’d like her...but I can’t say she’d like you since you killed her--” His eyes widen almost comically, a flicker of terror in his eyes.

And Lotor, at last, knows he’s finally hit on a sore spot; but he suppresses a smirk and lets the man ramble.

“What’s there to say about Pidge?” he says, shrugging. “Why not ask me about my other friends? I have so many - more than you do, probably.” He nods towards Ezor, heedless of her fingers in his hair ready to yank his head back at a moment’s notice. “So you’ll have to be more specific, Your Highness.”

“But I’m not done hearing you speak about this one!” Lotor says brightly. He rests a hand on his shoulder, the man’s head tilting back to keep his face in view. “I have a name - I may even have remembered killing her...father, is it?” He raises an eyebrow, his heart skipping a beat in excitement, in triumph just within reach, and the fear rapidly spreading over the prisoner’s face only confirms all his assumptions.

“So unless you want this friend of yours to suffer the very particular attention of my comrades, why don’t we stop wasting this truth potion and you tell me what you know about Princess Allura?”

(From the corner of his eye, he sees Ezor’s sharp grin and Acxa nodding a confirmation at Zethrid, and all for the better. Lotor is nothing if not a man of his word, and if this Lance needs proof he means what he says, he’s all too happy to provide it.)

[javocjovian]

Ride ‘Em Cowboy, SPN Bingo

Title: Ride ‘Em Cowboy Link: Square Filled: Sexuality Crisis Ship: Destiel Rating: E Warnings: Homophobic Upbringing/ Repression Problems Tags: Repressed Sexuality, Sex Problems, Healing Sex, Grace Sex, Sam the extremely reluctant relationship counselor, Clothing Kink, Dean has a Cowboy Fetish, Roleplay, Love n Fluff, Humor, First Time Confessions, no seriously there’s Cowboy Cas, Dean’s still a power bottom Summary: Dean has never come when Castiel tops him. Castiel is determined to get to the bottom of it :) with Sam’s totally enthusiastic help, of course. Word Count: 2802

Created for @spnkinkbingo​ Beta-ed by @felix-the-white-wolf

Quote:

Castiel almost smiled. He had never seen Dean’s eyes so wide. He was utterly dumbfounded. When it became apparent that Dean was too tongue-tied to speak, Castiel spared him and pulled him into a smooth kiss. Castiel had taken a shot of whiskey (or six) for his nerves, and the flavor made Dean swoon. Castiel got a rush of confidence and opened the kiss. Then in his deepest, darkest voice, he rumbled against Dean’s lips, “What do you say we break in the this motel room?”

Ride ‘Em Cowboy

Sam was enjoying a quiet morning alone in the Men of Letters’ library. He had a book open at the table and was sipping a fresh cup of coffee when he heard the familiar whoosh of air that signaled Castiel.

“Morning, Cas.”

“Good morning, Sam.” Castiel came in and looked around, “Where is Dean?”

Sam shrugged, “No clue. Probably out getting breakfast burgers.”

Castiel deflated on the spot.

Sam had noticed Castiel acting weird lately. He suspected something was going on between him and Dean, besides all the sex. They’d been not so subtly hooking up for a while, so much so that Sam had become very good at going temporarily blind and deaf. He was so good, in fact, that it took him a few minutes to realize Castiel was still standing there, watching Sam work. Staring at him.

Sam cleared his throat, “You know you’re still here, right?”

His voice made Castiel jump. He glanced around, then slid into a chair and sighed hopelessly.“Sam. Can I ask you a question?”

“You just– yes,” Sam sighed, closing his book, “As long as it’s not about Dean.”

Castiel nodded solemnly, “It’s about Dean.”

Sam made a small noise in the back of his throat, “I, uh... I’m not sure I’m the best person to help you with that. I mean, I am his brother.” He gave him an apologetic smile.

“Exactly. You know him better than anyone,” Castiel pleaded. He had this look on his face that made Sam shift awkwardly in his seat. He was like a heartbroken puppy.

Finally Sam relented. “Alright... What’s up?”

“Thank you, Sam.” Castiel sighed in relief.

“Sure. Just don’t ask me about sex, okay?”

“Okay,” Castiel agreed, then he took a deep breath. “When Dean I have intercourse...”

Sam rubbed the bridge of his nose.

“Sometimes I can’t… I mean, it can be difficult...” He made some strange hand gestures then said, “...sometimes I can’t bring Dean to climax.”

“Uh! Yeah, okay. No.” Sam rose a hand, but Castiel carried on innocently.

“Usually Dean is the one penetrating, but recently I expressed interest in penetrating him.”

“Oh my god–”

“It’s just… Dean is so, so good at intercourse...”

“Cas!”

“...yes?”

Sam had turned a spectacular shade of pink, “Just…” he took a steadying breath, “it’s called sex, okay? And...”

“Right. Dean is very good at sex,” Castiel clarified, “I just wanted to make sure I was satisfying him in every way possible. But whenever I try having sex with him, I just can’t make him orgasm.”

Sam was stony faced.

“I don’t know what to do. I’m not as experienced as he is and I… I’m afraid I’m doing something wrong. You’re his brother – do you know if there’s any way I can...” he started making that hand gesture again and Sam cut him off abruptly.

“Ah! Ha...No. Sorry, Cas, but I just...” Sam was struggling to find the words. He cleared his throat twice then said, “I try to stay out of my brother’s love life, so I really don’t know what to tell you.”

Castiel finally stopped talking. He sunk into the chair and stared at his fingers in defeat.

Sam sighed. He felt like he’d just had his brain washed with bleach, but a part of him really wanted to help Cas, and by extension Dean. He took a calculating breath and tried to think of a solution that didn’t involve visualizing his brother with an angel dick up his… no. Just no.

“You know...” Sam sighed, “maybe...”

Castiel looked up hopefully.

“It might not be your fault, Cas.”

Castiel looked at him curiously. Sam knew there was no turning back now.

“Okay, look.” He shifted to face him, “When we were growing up, our dad was kind of… weird… about dating. We were hunters, you know? It wasn’t good to get attached. But still...” Sam realized he was approaching a subject Dean probably wouldn’t want him discussing with anyone, but the more he thought about it the more relevant it seemed, “Don’t tell Dean I told you about this.” He warned. When Castiel nodded, he continued, “When we were kids Dean was always hitting on everybody. Girls and boys. Well, one day I bought a friend over. I think I was nine. He was just a friend, but dad got suspicious of us and...”

Castiel was listening raptly. He thought he sensed discomfort in Sam, so he waited it out with him. Sam continued quickly enough.

“Well, let’s just say John’s generation wasn’t so keen on guys dating guys.”

“You mean, homosexuality? Yes, I’ve read about that.”

“Yeah.” Sam cleared his throat. He smiled a little at the thought of Castiel researching Dean like a case, “Anyway. Dad told me off in front of Dean. He obviously didn’t know Dean had been into guys since I could walk. I think he said something like, ‘I have enough to worry about with you boys being hunters. I don’t need you becoming fags’.” Sam sighed, “And that was that. I never brought home guys, and Dean… well, I never saw Dean with a guy again. Until you, of course.”

Castiel was silent. He considered this deeply, “Are you saying Dean is… repressed?”

Sam shrugged, “Yeah, maybe. I mean, it makes sense.”

Castiel frowned.

“Look, just make Dean feel safe and I’m sure he’ll come around.”

“I always carry protection.” Castiel gestured to the angel blade in his coat.

“No,” Sam bit back a smile, “I mean, safe in your relationship. Tell him how much you care about him, and then… well...” Sam looked awkward again, “you know.”

“Then I penetrate him.”

Sam sighed into his palm.

“Sorry. Have sex with him.”

Sam closed his eyes and mustered a rigid, “Yeah. Now can we please talk about something else?”

Castiel smiled in relief, “Yes. Of course. Thank you, Sam.” he looked around for something else to discuss while Sam reopened his book. He noticed the cover said “Occult Lore”, so Castiel said, “Is Dean into roleplay?”

Sam stared at him.

Despite their conversation, nothing seemed to have changed between Dean and Castiel. In an effort not to repeat their conversation ever again, Sam decided to give Castiel a little more direct help.

After a successful vengeful spirit hunt in Northern Texas, Sam suggested they stay an extra night to enjoy the Wild West town. Dean was surprised, but agreed instantly. It had been a while since the three of them had some fun away from the bunker. Plus, Dean would never turn down eating steak under a buffalo head.

Except, Sam then announced he was going to a bar. Alone. Dean eyed him suspiciously. He was used to Sam giving him and Castiel a wide berth, but he didn’t see any reason for it at the moment. Dean hadn’t gotten any action in days. But Dean let him go anyway. A few seconds later he was pounding on the bathroom door.

“C’mon Cas, let’s get dinner. I’m starving. Sam’s out playing with dice or whatever nerds do instead of getting laid...” The door opened and Dean’s voice faltered.

Castiel walked out dressed head to toe in leather and denim. He had an open leather vest exposing his broad chest and a loose Kentucky bowtie dangling off his collarbone. The bulge in his form fitting jeans was framed sinfully by leather chaps. His look was completed by tall leather boots, a large belt, and a cowboy hat shadowing his face. He had on a look that could only be described as Kilmer-esq.

“Howdy, pardner.”

Dean’s mouth went dry. It felt like his center of mass had shifted to his crotch, causing him to sway a little, “H...howdy.”

Castiel almost smiled. He had never seen Dean’s eyes so wide. He was utterly dumbfounded. When it became apparent that Dean was too tongue-tied to speak, Castiel spared him and pulled him into a smooth kiss. Castiel had taken a shot of whiskey (or six) for his nerves, and the flavor made Dean swoon. Castiel got a rush of confidence and opened the kiss. Then in his deepest, darkest voice, he rumbled against Dean’s lips, “What do you say we break in the this motel room?”

Dean gaped at him, then finally mustered three words: “Oh… hell yeah.” He grabbed Castiel and kissed him eagerly.

Castiel was elated. He helped Dean strip all the way to the bed, practically hearing a Spanish guitar and whip cracking in his head. Then Castiel pushed him buck-naked onto the mattress. Dean grinned. Castiel threw his hat on Dean’s chest and Dean put it on cheekily while he watched him get out of his jeans. He used a bit of grace and managed to keep the chaps still on, shamelessly showing off the slope of his hips and his fully erect cock.

Dean’s breath left him at once, “...fuck.”

Castiel smiled slight and kneeled on the bed. Dean had never been so turned on. Castiel was dressed only his vest, tie, and chaps as he slid over Dean. Despite his enthusiastic consent, he was shaking a little. Castiel kissed him soothingly, mutterings words of encouragement in his false accent. Dean had only ever ridden him before, so Castiel was surprised when Dean lay back and let him between his legs.

While they made out on the bed, Castiel used a little grace to lube and stretch Dean. He could tell by how handsy Dean was getting that he was more than okay with it. Finally, Castiel broke away from the kiss to line himself up. Once he was pressed against Dean’s wet entrance, he swatted Dean’s hand away from his own erection, earning a cocky little smirk from Dean, and held him like a saddle horn as he slowly pressed in.

Dean was used to this part, but it was still jarring. Castiel’s thick cock parted him with ease, although it still felt tight. Castiel groaned and Dean grunted, arching up for him to find the right angle. It felt good, but Dean couldn’t help but tense. Castiel fondled Dean’s cock to make him relax, allowing him to slide in the rest of the way.

Dean looked winded, so Castiel gave him a moment. He knew Dean didn’t like being coddled though, so it didn’t last long. Castiel began moving his hips and Dean groaned in approval.

Castiel ravaged him into the mattress, while Dean panted in pleasure. His hands were balled up in the headboard and his hat had fallen behind his head. It’s strings bounced on Dean’s glistening chest with every thrust.

Things were going better than usual. Dean was loose and groaning freely. Castiel would say things like “Giddyup, cowboy”, making Dean smirk and fuck back. His expression screwed up whenever Castiel found his sweet spot. Castiel could tell Dean felt good, but it wasn’t enough. Something was still off. Dean’s lips were parted and his head was tipped back like he was concentrating hard. Much too hard.

Castiel slowed down a little, making Dean look up. His green eyes were hazy with lust.

“Dean...” Castiel mumbled between thrusts, “You know I care about you, right?”

It took a few seconds for the words to navigate Dean’s pleasure-soaked brain. “Yeah, Cas.” he nodded distantly. He looked like he just wanted Castiel to keep going, but Castiel didn’t relent.

He let go of Dean’s cock and smoothed his hands up Dean’s body, nestling under his jaw and ears. Dean’s eyes fluttered closed in surprise. Castiel was amazed such a gentle touch could affect him so strongly.

“Dean, I want you to feel good.”

Dean half laughed, “I figured that out already.” He shifted his hips a little.

“No...” Castiel leaned down and kissed him gently. He was nearly laying on him, their bodies rolling together with each thrust. Dean trembled. “I mean, you should know that I truly, deeply, care about you. More than anyone.”

Dean stared up at him, winded, “That’s called love, Cas.”

Castiel nodded in understanding, “Then I love you.”

Dean stopped moving and just stared at him. A small smile parted his lips, “Rookie move, Cas. Saying I love you during sex,” he joked. But when Castiel’s expression didn’t change, Dean’s did. “You don’t mean that...”

“I do.” Castiel assured him. For a moment he feared he’d said something wrong. But then Dean’s expression softened.

“I love you, too,” he breathed.

Castiel smiled in relief, then took him into another kiss. Dean was still for a moment, but then he folded his arms around Castiel and kissed him back. Castiel resumed fucking him at once.

This time, Dean melted. He gasped out of the kiss and moaned as Castiel rocked his body so perfectly. Castiel had never heard anything so beautiful. He held him close, nearly brushing their noses together, just listening to Dean’s voice as he panted out his pleasure. When Dean started cursing, he knew he’d gotten the angle right. Within seconds, Dean was completely unraveled, taking everything Castiel had and wanting more. He was moaning out encouragements and undulating against the mattress.

“Dean… oh, Dean,” Castiel panted, “that’s it.” Dean had once told him he liked the sound of his voice, so Castiel tried something new, “Dean… I love you so much.”

Dean moaned, so Castiel kept talking to him. He whispered sweet nothings into his ear and made love to him, and Dean began to tense up in to time.

“Cas…!”

Castiel knew he was about to come, but in the next second, Dean was moving. For a wild moment Castiel thought he had changed his mind and was getting up, but instead he pushed Castiel onto his back and threw a leg over his leather chaps. Breathless with arousal, Castiel watched as Dean sank onto his cock and rode him like a bull.

They were both groaning in seconds. Dean looked like a god rolling his hips on Castiel. Inspired, Castiel fumbled for the hat and put it on Dean with a small smile. Dean returned the smile with his eyes then tossed his head back in absolute pleasure.

Castiel’s hands swept up Dean’s body, feeling his muscles shivering with pleasure, “Yeah, Dean. Yeah...”

Dean’s thighs were burning, but it just made his ecstasy spin faster. He was sweating and swallowing air, while Castiel told him he loved him over and over again. With a sudden jolt, Dean’s body seized up and he came on Castiel’s chest and neck with a soundless groan. His mouth flew open and his eyes slammed shut. Castiel could see the shock waves ripple through him like waves in a pond. He watched, dumbfounded, as Dean’s orgasm wrecked his body. Dean’s pace had changed. He rode Castiel nice and slow, working him like a stud, and Castiel grabbed his hips and came instantly, groaning in ecstasy.

Dean either didn’t care, or enjoyed being filled with Castiel’s angelic seed. He didn’t say a word until he collapsed on Castiel, their bodies completely spent and ringing with bliss.

“Oh my god...” Dean breathed. He’d never had an orgasm like it. He didn’t even think Castiel had touched his cock.

Castiel pulled him close, panting softly in his ear, “Call me Cas.” he put the accent back on.

Dean grinned.

Dean wasn’t always in the mood to cuddle, but that night there wasn’t an inch of space between the two of them. They lay together in the sweat and mess of their bliss, exhausted and carefree. Eventually Castiel cleaned them up with grace and rolled over to lay on Dean.

“How was that?” he asked.

Dean covered his eyes with his arm, but he couldn’t hide his grin, “Awesome, Cas. That was… awesome.”

Castiel beamed with pride, “We can do that whenever you like.”

“You’ll keep the clothes?” Dean eyed him.

Castiel nodded, “You can keep the hat.”

Dean smirked and checked to see if it was still on, “Ride ‘em cowboy.”

Castiel chuckled.

The peaceful silence went on a little too long, until Dean finally asked, “So, you really meant all that, huh?”

Castiel got up on his elbows to look at Dean, “Are you asking if I said I love you just so you would let me p… have sex with you?”

Dean looked at him hesitantly. Castiel’s pale, blue eyes were piercing in the dim light, “Yeah. I am.”

Castiel sighed and began playing with Dean’s fingers, “No, I didn’t. I meant it.” He said simply, weaving their fingers together.

“Oh.”

“Did you mean it?”

Dean looked at him for a moment, “Yeah. I did.”

“Good.” Castiel leaned forward and kissed him gently.

Dean smiled and kissed him back.

“I love you, Dean.”

“I love you, too.”

Castiel needed to send Sam a gift basket. Dean just so happened to be thinking the same thing.

[doptimous]

Vloeistofmechanica en chocolade (Fluids mechanic and chocolate) – A RebelCaptain Food Travel Show Collaboration

A huge thanks to @moonprincess92nz for the organization and the beta. It was supposed to be one chapter for two destinations, it’ll be two chapters for three cities because I couldn’t escape Brussel and it became a bit of a monster. Sorry not sorry? Anyway, enjoy!

Chapter one – Netherlands

Amsterdam was cold and so incredibly humid Cassian was pretty sure he may lose a toe or two if they stayed outside any longer. After Scotland, he honestly thought no weather could really get him but he was wrong. Very wrong. At least Scotland had some mystery, a charming side that warmed you up the moment you walked in a building. Amsterdam was just cold everywhere, people were incredibly rude and there were bikes everywhere. Of course, tourists were the worst: a bunch of stoners who only came here to enjoy coffeeshops and girls in underwear behind their window. Pathetic.

“Hey, loosen up, hombre! It shouldn't be long.”

Kes’ arm wrapped on his shoulders and Cassian fought the urge to shrug it off. He was having a bad day but the team wasn't responsible so he wouldn't blow on them. Plus, Kes was having a hard time too because of all those damn bikers, so really, Cassian knew he had to behave. Bloemenmarkt, the flower market, was a must see in the city and if he wasn't so cold, maybe he would have appreciated all the stalls full of bulbs and seeds of every known decorative plants. At least, some of the stalls were a bit warmer but Cassian couldn't linger. They had a show to film and even if it would be nice to have some shots of the popular sites of the city, it wasn't the main purpose of their presence here. Or at least, it wasn’t why he was there.

Glancing around him, Cassian caught Jyn's eye as she was waiting for Draven's signal and he wondered how she could stand being there, in the middle of the street with nothing more than a sleeveless jacket and a scarf over her shirt. He had a huge parka line with fur and he was freezing! Finally, they managed to get a clear shot of the place and Cassian could ask for the famous herring sandwich he was supposed to taste. The Frens Haringhandel was a very small wooden box just on the south side of the Singel, the first canal around the heart of Amsterdam and it was a good place to get fresh fish but it was a cold meal and truly, Cassian wished he had something hot to at least warm his hands.

But the smoked fish was pretty good, the pickles crunchy and the sauce, soft and creamy wasn't too heavy. The taste of dill was a bit too much for him but it went pretty well with the rest of the ingredients. After doing his part and talking with the people in the restaurant, he watched with envy as Wedge picked something akin a fish 'n chips that looked awfully greasy but hot and when he saw Jyn stealing a nugget out his cup, he truly regretted going for the local especially when he could have had a hot meal and something to share with his camerawoman. But at least Draven was happy with the shooting and since he wasn't needed outside any longer, he crossed the street to the Starbucks he'd found a block away.

“Already feeling homesick?” Shara joked beside him in the line and he shrugged because unlike her, Starbucks wasn’t something he really enjoyed at home. “You know, I saw a nice Argentinian place near the station earlier and since we don't have anything scheduled for tonight, I thought we could go. Do you wanna join us?”

“Who is us?” Cassian asked because he saw the looks exchanged between Kes and her and even if it was nice of her to propose, if he had to be the third wheel between a newly formed couple, he'd rather stay alone in his room. Or he could go to a pub with Wedge and Kay, or maybe try some of the city museum.

Shara grinned at him and pushed his shoulder to signal him to place his order, which he did without really thinking. He wanted something hot and since he had no idea what the drinks were called, he just chose a plain coffee with double cream while Shara took some spice latte with lots of extra. As they waited by the register, she told him Jyn would be here too, because like him, she didn't have anything to do for the evening and Cassian may have stopped listening to whatever she said after that because suddenly his hands where blissfully full of warm cardboard cups for the whole team.

Apparently, Shara wasn't ordering a very fancy drink but many drinks for everyone, so she used Cassian to help her carry everything. As she went on her free time for the afternoon and the evening, Cassian wondered why they even had to stay so long in this frigid town if they didn't film anything else and he must have been too loud about his recrimination because suddenly both Draven and Mothma were pulling him to the side.

“Look,” Draven began in a stern voice, “we all know that Netherlands aren't the good place for food, right? But we're doing a family food show so we can't just have you drinking beers and eating a round of space cakes, even if Skywalker seems pretty eager to make photos of all the kind of weeds available here. And after all you ate in France, it couldn't be that bad for your blood system to take it easy for a few meals.”

He eyed him carefully and Cassian could only nod, because honestly, he was quite pleased with the slowdown in the calories intake. He just found this town tiring.

“We've only got two days here and we've already did one, at least for your part. We'll meet with Luke and Kay who went to get some pictures for the social media and for editing later but we don't need you. Tomorrow we have a typical breakfast and a fancy Indonesian place and then, we’ll move to Belgium,” Mothma said in her most appeasing voice. “Try to enjoy your free time here, maybe go out with your friends. I can ask Jyn to come with me for the outdoor filming instead of Kay, that way, you two could catch up.”

“No, it's okay.” He spoke a bit too fiercely and both Draven and Mothma raised their eyebrows at him. Cassian cleared his throat and added, “I don't want to mess with your schedule. It's okay. I'm tired anyway so I'll just go back to my room and catch some sleep. Thanks.”

Shara smirked behind her cup and mouthed at him with a wink, “See you tonight.” She seemed awfully pleased but Cassian refused to think about it.

--–

tellmewhatyoueatofficial Welcome to Netherlands! Ready to enjoy the ride?! #tellmewhatyoueat #Amsterdam #Netherlands #Bikes #biking #streetfood

@K2SOff Please, don't smoke and drive, even if it's just a bike. You're dangerous and some of us are working just there on sidewalk

@Jynserso erh, @K2SOff, you may want to rephrase your contribution, it can be misleading...

@walkstheskies BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA !!!!

--

The Argentino Luna was a small place on the ground floor of a nice red brick house and all the windows were covert with fairy lights and old ivy. In summer the place must be gorgeous. It still was in late November but with the grey sky and the grey street all around, it lost a bit of its southern charm. At least, since it was on one of the few roads of the center, there weren't too many bikes. And the moment Cassian passed the door, he felt better.

The smell, the music, the decoration, everything spoke of Latin America. There were soccer player's jersey on the wall and lots of black and white photos along the bar that showed tango dancers and singers. And the waiters all spoke in Spanish and even if their accent wasn't quite right, it was better than anything he heard in days. Dutch was truly an awful language and even if all the people he had to interview spoke English easily, they all had that heavy accent that made things difficult for him to understand.

Here he could speak easily. It was warm and dry and the light was soft, and when he went to the bar and found Kes and Shara already sharing a bottle of red wine. He would have felt bad to intrude on them if he didn't see Jyn in a corner sipping a beer by herself. He took a glass to pour himself some wine before making a tour of the small room to read the menu on one of the slate hooked on the wall.

He must have been still for too long because he felt Jyn move beside him and when he turned to face her, she asked, “Aren't you a bit too hot?”

Cassian frowned a bit but the question died on his lips when he saw Jyn flush.

“I mean, your parka isn't necessary here, right?”

Realization helped him relax and with a chuckle, he admitted, “I may be a bit of a nesh.”

Jyn smiled at him and his heart fluttered dangerously.

“Yeah, I've seen that. But I agree with you, it was cold this afternoon.”

“Say the girl who stays outside for three hours with only a scarf. That's nice of you to spare my feelings but it's okay. I'm totally conscious of my dislike of cold weather.”

She smiled again and turned her head to the side, looking for something, someone maybe, and he didn't know what to say anymore. If she was as uncomfortable as he felt maybe he should spare her the boredom of his company. Then she surprised him by taking his arm and leading him to the window.

“Come on, we've booked a table, you can at least get rid of that coat. If not, you’ll really feel cold when we leave.”

He saw she had her vest and scarf down on a chair and he chose to put his parka on the one right beside it before sitting down.

“How many are supposed to be coming?”

Jyn sat across from him, leaving all her mess next to him and she shrugged. “I'm not sure. Luke said he'll join us later but he may be a bit-” she made a gesture with her hands in the air and smirked slightly, “and maybe Kay would want to come since you're here.”

It was more of a question but Cassian hadn't any answer so he looked back at Kes and Shara, still talking in hushed tones by the bar and he asked, “Do we wait for them to remember they're not on a date or do we order without them?”,

Jyn looked at to the couple but before she could answer her stomach grumble and she flushed some more.

“Okay, they obviously have forgotten about us, I'm hungry and if I have another of this devil drink without eating anything, I'll make a fool of myself. So...”

He peaked at her bottle and saw a white snake wrapped around something red but it couldn’t read more than Mamba on the label so he didn’t know what to expect. When a waiter arrived, Cassian exchanged a few words in Spanish with him but he didn't get any real advice on the food. It was a steakhouse with good Argentinian beef but nothing out of the ordinary. So he picked a mix of grilled meat with potatoes and Jyn followed him, ordering the same.

“I have no idea what you said but I suppose you know your stuff, right?”

Cassian smiled at the compliment and explained to her briefly what he chose then he asked her about her strange bottle. He was pleased to listen to her when she began a tirade on the different beer brews the restaurant had to offer.

“I’m not an alcoholic, you know,” she said suddenly without looking at him in the eye and with her lips nicely pursed.

“That’s totally the kind of thing an alcoholic would say but I believe you.”

“How nice of you! No seriously. I usually don’t drink much even if since we started working together I may have had more than my share and…”

Cassian put his hand on her wrist to calm her and he was surprised by how warm her skin was under his fingers.

“Don’t worry about it. This job is crazy and from what I got, beer is the only thing Dutch can do.”

She pouted and stopped picking at the label of her bottle.

“And that’s why we’re here, amigos!” Kes said loudly behind him.

“Oh nice of you to remember us!”

“Yeah, well, I wanted to let you enjoy the very good company of miss Erso all for yourself for once!” Kes winked heavily at both Cassian and Shara who shook her head fondly.

“Well, they have nice cheeses too. But for now, meat!” Jyn’s smile brightened when she saw the waiter with his arms full of huge plates of grilled steaks and Cassian shared eagerly her enthusiasm. 

---

When Luke and Wedge arrived, they were already waiting for their dessert but he didn't seem to notice. Kay, on the other hand, looked peeved no one waited for him but didn't say a word about it. Jyn saw Cassian tensed a bit, probably prepared for an earful at the first occasion but for now, the Social Media Manager was high, both on weed and excitement so it was difficult for anyone to do more than listen to his rambling.

“I love this city!” He was bouncing on his chair and Kay had to intervene two times to prevent him from falling while Luke related their trip in the Red Light district. He showed them the photos he took and Kay and Wedge commented here and there about the shots he made to get a bit of the atmosphere but Luke kept on interrupting. Kes seemed fascinated but tried to play it cool because Shara was watching closely but the poor guy lost it when Luke told them about the weird condom shop he found.

“Why would anyone wear something like that?”

“Hey! I love condoms!” Shara must have had a glass or two too much because she was speaking way too loudly, especially for such a topic but Jyn refused to acknowledge anything around her and she kept looking for the waiter. She missed some exchanges but was suddenly brought back into the conversation when Shara grabbed her arm and asked, “Don't you too prefer when men have condoms? I mean, it makes things so much easier... No mess around, no stain on the sheet...”

Jyn blinked at her and she regretted her choice to face Cassian because he was looking directly at her and she didn't know what to say. Luckily Kes saved her by saying proudly, “I'm sorry, Bonita, but if your partner does his part right, it's not him who would make a mess and stain the sheet!”

Shara gaped at him and as if it wasn't embarrassing enough, he had, “Don't you agree with me, Cassian? It's your role as a man to make sure your partner is a mess before you even need a condom!”

Cassian looked as horrified as she felt but at the same time, Jyn really wished he voiced his opinion on the subject. Not that she even contemplated the eventually of needing a condom in her very professional relationship with Cassian Andor, but it was always good to know. On a very professional and informational way.

“That's the most nonsensical statement you could ever utter, Dameron. If you engage in a sexual encounter with a partner you need to protect yourself from, you can't really do anything that would involve fluids without being protected. The notion that a condom is sufficient to prevent infection is fairly biased. Most STI can be caught without intra-vaginal sex and-”

“Thank you, Kay,” Cassian cut brusquely, “we already know. Do you want something to eat?”

Kay sniffed, clearly offended at having been interrupted but he was also clearly hungry so he focused on the menu and let the topic drop. Kes was more difficult to deter but Shara did a pretty good job to grab his attention. So they could finish their night without glitch and it was only when they stepped outside that Jyn noticed how late it was. Maybe the idea of ordering another White Mamba hadn’t been such a good one because the world around her was swaying and she was fairly sure she was still on the ground and not on the canal.

“Are you going to be okay tomorrow morning,” she asked Kay and Cassian on the way back to the hotel.

“Of course,” Kay scoffed, “I'm used to getting up early and I'm perfectly able to function properly with minimal sleep.”

Jyn blinked, a bit stunned by his prissy answer but she saw Cassian shake his head and smiled when he told her in a conspiracy tone, “He's always more uptight when he's tired, don't worry about it. And thanks for your concern, but we'll manage. What about you?”

She shrugged and put her scarf a little higher on her nose. The night was colder than she thought and as they went along the canal, she caught in a freezing wind that made her shiver.

“I napped nearly half the afternoon today so even if we start early tomorrow, it’ll be okay.” She shivered again at a crossroad and suddenly, felt something heavy on her shoulders.

“You look cold,” Luke whispered in her hair as he wrapped his arms around her. “You should have put a coat or at least, something with sleeves.”

“Maybe it's just her way to get someone to heat her up,” Kes suggested before getting punch in the arm by Shara.

“Well, sorry to disappoint, then,” Luke answered with a laugh but before he could move, Jyn grabbed his wrist and said, “Actually, I think I prefer it that way.”

“Oh, come on, girl! You wouldn't say that if Andor were the one trying to warm you up and...”

“Cassian is always cold,” Kay cut, “so he won't be of any help.”

“That wasn't what he meant,” mumbled Shara but Jyn glared at her so she closed her mouth and made sure Kes get the message too. Suddenly Jyn didn't feel cold anymore but she still walked briskly, without Luke, just to avoid looking at Cassian. Her heart in her throat, she didn't say a word till she bid the whole team goodnight, praying for the low lights in the lobby to mask her burning neck.

---

tellmewhatyoueatofficial Careful, Amsterdam  is very humid! Don't forget to take cover if you're going outside! wink wink!#tellmewhatyoueat #Amsterdam #Netherlands #Safe love #humour #Red Lantern District

@sharathebae I love those condoms, they're all so colourful and fun! Stay safe people and have fun!

@bodhitherook oh please, please @walkstheskies, @jynsereso bring me some green stuff!

@jynserso YOU WANT WHAT?! I'm shooked, mate!! Did you meat someone when I'm not here?! We totally need to talk!!

---

If Cassian thought English breakfasts were greasy, heavy things, he had to admit it was nothing compared to the traditional Dutch breakfast. He was sitting in front of sausages, cold meats and a soft-boiled egg but mostly different slides of dark bread, some buttered some not and he had a variety of toppings, from various cheeses to chocolate chips called vlokken, and even colourful aniseed sprinkles. And yes, he was supposed to put the candy on the buttered bread and maybe he was a bit of a prude but he found it weird. Really weird. And honestly, it tasted even weirder.

Although he was used to cocoa in his meal, here it wasn't just cocoa, it was real chocolate, sugary and heavy with butter and cream and to put on very buttered bread, it was... something. But he had to try and to make it look good on camera. After three bites, Jyn put down her camera to Draven's chagrin, and she smiled sympathetically at him.

“Maybe you should just have some cheese. The orange one, the mimolette, is quite good. Not too strong, it tasted a bit like cheddar. Or the other one with cumin seed in it. It's quite good.”

As if to prove her point, she took a slide and rolled with some kind of ham, or maybe smoked fish, he didn't know, and put it all in her mouth.

“It's good, I promise,” she said while chewing and Cassian felt his smile grow. Trusting her was easy and he didn't see Luke with his phone out to take pictures of them nor did he see Draven mentioning for Kay to resume filming while he tried bit after bit, following Jyn's advices.

When finally, the filming was over, he moved to thank Jyn but she waved him off with a smirk.

“Honestly, I don't get why we're here. It supposed to be a food show and...” Her face was priceless when she looked at the horrendous amount of food on the table. Kes was having a good time with the vlokken and kept on teasing Shara to taste it but he was clearly the only one.

“I can't tell you. Draven himself told me yesterday that it wasn't a good place for local food so I don't know. Maybe that's why we have an Indonesian restaurant-”

“Actually, it's because Indonesian used to be part of the Dutch kingdom,” Kay cut in crisply and Cassian couldn't help but roll his eyes. For once, he was able to have a conversation with Jyn and of course, his friend had to interfere. But then he saw Jyn's teasing smile and they shared an amused look while pretending to listen to Kay's impromptu history lesson. It wasn't so bad until she announced, “Well, since you know the subject so well, I'll let you do the shooting. I want to enjoy a bit more of the city before we move. Because even if the food is pretty lame, the buildings are really great and I want to see more of it.”

She packed up her camera and went to tell Draven about the change of plan. He didn't seem pleased but when Luke suggested they take more outside photos, he relented and Cassian couldn't do anything but watched them go, a heavy feeling on his stomach that had nothing to do with his horrible breakfast.

---

Part of her knew she was acting like a brat but some other part was quite pleased with herself. Luke wasn't difficult and he went on his merry way without asking any question, as if he perfectly understood her mood without a word from her. So she was free and alone at last and even if she regretted leaving Cassian like that, he would be glad to work with his best friend again and she needed time for herself. The days in France had been hard, reviving too many memories she thought she had buried and the worst was she didn't have time to speak to Bodhi. The only free time she had had been in the middle of the day when he was working so she couldn't have a real conversation to maybe sort out some of her feelings.

Crossing another bridge, she stopped to look down at the water moving lazily under her feet. Amsterdam was peaceful and truly beautiful. Every house was different, some of red brick, some yellow stone, other forest green with huge windows and white timbering... It looked right out of a fairy tale book. And since so many people traveled on foot or bike, it wasn't noisy like other town its size.

Taking a deep breath, she turned to lean on the railing and looked up at the sky. Maybe it was the only drawback of this place. The sky was always grey, even if the sun tried to peak every now and then. On the other hand, it was the last days of November so maybe summers were better. With nowhere to go and nothing to do for half of the day, Jyn wandered the city by herself and she was quite happy to sit down in the back of the bus later that evening when they had to move to their next destination.

Cassian went to sit beside her and she couldn't repress her smile even if she saw how he mostly did it to avoid being with Draven and Kay any longer.

“Long day?” She asked in a hush tone and she enjoyed the slight flush of his neck when she came closer.

“You have no idea. And you? Had fun with Luke?”

She chuckled and whispered in his ear, “I ditched him at the first canal. All he wanted was to go back to the Red District and I couldn't care less about girls in windows. Plus I'm pretty sure they don't work before noon, at best.”

He chuckled too and she felt warm all over at listening to the sound. He stayed pressed against her and kept his voice low when he said, “Maybe he found love, you know.”

“In a bong of pot, yeah. I'm pretty sure his luggage is full of glass.” She smiled brightly then looked very pointedly at Kes and added in the same hushed tone, “But he's not the only one, and at least, Luke didn't try to get into anyone pants.”

“Did Kes hit on you?”

The question caught her of guard and she blinked stupidly before laughing out loudly. “No, I'm not talking about me. Nobody in their right mind would want to...” She shook her head and missed the confusion on his face. Then Shara's voice interrupted whatever she could have added by saying, “Hey, lovebirds, do you want some beer? I picked a few bottles earlier and I think we should try them to train our liver.”

“Why is that?”

“Because we're going to Belgium and from what I get in the planning, we'll be drinking a lot. Or at least, you will.”

She beamed at Cassian and made her way to the back of the bus and showed them an impressive collection of beers and a few snacks all shove haphazardly in her bag. Jyn chose one for her and one for Cassian and she rummaged through her own bag to get a small packet of dry waffles line with chocolate.

“Aren't you the thoughtful one”, Shara teased with a wink and Jyn felt her neck burn but before she could say anything Cassian answered with a smile, “Don't be jealous, you already have someone who looks out for you so go back to him and let us enjoy some calm for once.”

He waited for her to be out of earshot to apologize without looking at her and Jyn mumbled, “It's okay,” before taking a long gulp of her beer. It wasn't long before she started regretting it. Even if her T'IJ IPA was a light blond beer, she saw too late it was at seven percent so that explained why it quickly made her head spin. And after a day walking outside, she was tired and now in the back of a slowly moving bus, her eyelids felt more and more heavy. She tried to stay awake. She tried to make small talk with Cassian because he seemed to really enjoy being here with her and he asked questions about the placed she'd seen, what she'd liked and she couldn't focus.

She felt herself fall but she also felt Cassian catch her and when her head rested on his shoulder, her body curled against his, she didn't feel embarrassed at all.

Cuddling Cassian felt dangerously like home.

[everlarkficexchange]

Prim's Plan - Part 2

Written by: @mega-aulover

Prompt 107: Everlark fic based off of the song “Thinking Out Loud” by Ed Sheeran. [submitted by Anonymous]

Rated: T for everlark Smooching ;)   Part 1

A/N: Thank you for submitting this prompt I hope you enjoy it. Thank you @everlarkficexchange for the opportunity to exchange ideas and grow our fandom. Aslo to @norbertsmom for your extraordinary beta skills I need to get you some flowers.

Katniss plopped on her bed in pure shock.

Three dates.

Her sweet stubborn sister wouldn’t take the application letters Peeta wrote until they agreed to go on three dates.

She stared up at the ceiling willing for an apocalyptic catastrophe to suddenly happen. The odds were not in her favor.

She couldn’t believe she’d agreed to go out with Peeta. Peeta Mellark, who she drunkenly confessed her feelings for to Gale. It was the reason they weren’t speaking.

“Damn you, Ed Sheeran!”

Four years ago, Peeta was waiting for her in his car. It was one of those frigid winter days. He had just bought his used car. He was the first one to get a car at sixteen. They had just gone through the drive-through when the song came on.

Katniss still wasn’t sure how it happened. Maybe it was the food, or the twinkling Christmas lights, or the fact that they got stuck in his clunker overnight and she slept nestled on top of Peeta until the tow truck came.

But that song, Thinking Out Loud, came on and Katniss recalled looking at him and really seeing Peeta for the first time, not the eleven-year-old boy she played tag with as a way to comfort her after her father died, or the 14-year-old boy who had to have his leg amputated, because a drunk driver mowed him down on his bicycle. She saw Peeta and her heart wobbled and danced in her chest as she listened to the song.

It wasn’t the first line about his legs not working that did it for her. It was the line about finding love right where they were. Katniss found her love sitting right next to her. He’d always been there, and she was irrevocably in love with him.

Her only problem, it was one-sided.

Peeta only saw her as a friend.

At the time she’d kept her mouth shut because he’d been dating that witch Clove who dumped him a week before Prom night for Thresh.

She’d tried to tell him, many, many times, but she didn’t have the courage. All of Peeta’s girlfriends were superior to her. Katniss didn’t have the boobs Johanna had. She wasn’t an older woman like Clove, and she didn’t look like Glimmer who was currently in Hollywood making movies.

She wasn’t that pretty or impressive.

Silently, Katniss carried her love for him in secret until last may when she turned 21.

“You’re not getting out of this Katniss,” Prim said from the door.

Katniss raised her head and narrowed her eyes at her baby sister. She’d forgotten to close her door.

“Prim, it’s Peeta? What if this doesn’t work? I don’t want to lose him.”

Primrose smiled sweetly like one of those baby angels with wings. “Don’t worry, sis. You’d never lose Peeta?”

“Glad you have more faith than I do.”

“Stop it, I will not have you back out of going on these dates. You’ve never been a quitter besides, do you really want me to have a bonfire with those letters Peeta wrote?”

Katniss grimaced her eyes, “No.”

“Now that we are clear, get some shuteye you need your beauty rest for tomorrow.”

“Whats tomorrow?” Katniss swallowed.

“Your first date is for tomorrow night,” Prim smirked. “Before you ask, it’s easy, a movie. I called in a favor and got tickets. Peeta will get them tomorrow afternoon. He’s coming tomorrow precisely at 6:45 pm.”

Prim closed her door and Katniss groaned, letting her head drop to the mattress and silently hoped for lightning to strike her.

The lightning never came, and the next night Katniss learned how much of a dictator her sister Primrose was. Prim nixed all of her comfy, cargo pants, pajama looking pants, sweats, and loose jeans she purchased at the thrift store to hunt in. Besides, her hunting pants had stains Prim didn’t want to even try to identify.

Her sister attacked her collection of misshapen sweaters, and shirts as well. She had a few that had special meaning for her. The baseball t-shirt had Peeta’s number on it from when he played. The state fair shirt he purchased for her two years ago. Almost all of her t-shirts had a history. The only ones she could do without were her waitressing shirts.

Primrose forced her to wear a pair of tight, uncomfortable skinny jeans, a form-fitting orange sweater, and uncomfortable flat shoes with floppy bows. Katniss wondered why designers would put such childish decorations on adult shoes. Her sister was so determined, she lent her a coat as well. Katniss doubted the wool coat would be warm enough. Her big puffy coat kept her nice and toasty. Prim was firm, no sneakers, and under no circumstances would she wear her hunting boots.

“Okay,” Prim said, circling her.

“Good, you look decent. Do you have a handbag?”

“A what?”

“A purse, Katniss.”

“Prim, I have dad’s old game bag and my old knapsack from school.”

“Katniss, you need a purse,” Prim said, running out of the room.

Katniss shook her head and turned to finish putting her rejected clothing neatly back in her dresser. When she came home she didn’t want to have to clean up. By the time Prim came back, Katniss had made sure her room was spotless.

“Here.” Prim thrust a soft leather bag toward Katniss.

“Why do I need one again? Aren’t pockets-,” Her argument died on her lips. The darned pants pockets were narrow.

Prim began putting the things she would need to carry inside of the bag. “You need a place to put your phone, your ID, antibacterial gel, debit card, cash, maxi pad, and a condom.”

“Condom,” Katniss said horrified.

“A lady always needs to be prepared,” Prim said holding out the bag.

“Who, what, where, when and how the hell did you get condoms? Are you using condoms?” Katniss stood hands akimbo in total shock to think that her sister was having sex. “Why are you using condoms?”

Prim rolled her eyes. “Katniss, I’m not a virgin and I need to protect myself. I don’t want to have kids.”

“Does mom know?”

“Yeah, she took me to get my birth control pills as well when I was 15, not that I was sexually active at that age.”

“Mom never did any of that with me,” Katniss said, sitting down on her bed.

“That’s because you’re pure, Katniss.”

“I am not pure.” Katniss blushed as she said the word.

“Oh yeah…” Primrose raised an eyebrow, “…then why do you say condoms like we’re talking about a deadly disease.”

Katniss couldn’t disagree. She did sound like she was a character in the 80’s cult classic movie, St. Elmo’s Fire.

“Okay, enough with the mourning of my no longer existing virginity.” As Prim spoke the doorbell rang.

“It’s him,” Katniss whispered. She wanted to run and hide.

Prim pushed her out of her room. Katniss thought of a thousand different things she would rather be doing, but when Prim opened the front door all of them went out of the windows.

She’d never seen Peeta dressed for a date before. He looked handsome in a button-down shirt, jacket, and dark denim jeans. His blond waves were combed back. She thought he looked like one of those male models in those Ralph Lauren advertisements.

“Here, these are for you.” Peeta held out yellow gerbera daisies. Katniss couldn’t help but grin. “You look pretty.”

“Thank you.” Her voice sounded soft and gushy, as she recalled she was wearing his favorite color.

“You ready to go?”

Katniss nodded. Together they walked out into the frigid air and Katniss wanted to kill Prim for making her wear the flimsy excuse for a coat. Thankfully Peeta’s car was warm. When he turned it on, Ed Sheeran’s song, Thinking out Loud, began to play on his radio.

Katniss’s heart thundered in her chest as the notes filled the interior of his car. Katniss glanced at Peeta as he hummed the song. She wished Peeta would take her into his loving arms, and kiss her. She wished she could wake up every morning listening to the beat of his heart.

She wanted to remember his smile. She wanted to touch his hand, have him fall in love with her. She wished so hard for him to fall for her the way she had fallen for him. The sentiments were too much for Katniss. She turned her head away to watch the twinkling lights of the small stores as they drove to the only movie theater in town.

It was ironic. They had come to the movies all of their lives and this was the first time they were going on an official date. Peeta parked the car, and together they walked toward the booth.

“Come on. Primrose got us tickets to see La Boda de Valentina,” Peeta said with his high school Spanish. Peeta was great at languages. He could pick them up easily. Katniss was lucky she knew how to speak English properly.

It’s why she avoided foreign flicks. Primrose knew this, knew how much Katniss loathed subtitles. Prim couldn’t have picked something great like Tomb Raider or Black Panther. Nope, her sister decided to choose the worst kind of torture.

Much to Katniss relief, the movie was half in Spanish, half in English, but she got frustrated with all of the subtitles she had to follow when the movie jumped from New York to Mexico.

It dawned on her as she watched the movie that the main character Valentina had to choose between two guys, and they represented her needs and wants and the expectations of her family. It was reminiscent of her own life.

For a long time people always just assumed she would end up with Gale. They had a lot of things in common, especially their fiery personalities. Gale had a worse temper than she did. Truth be told, she always saw Gale like an older brother. Hell, she and Gale even looked alike. That’s why she could never see herself with him, no matter what their mothers thought. She glanced at Peeta, who was totally engrossed in the film.

By the end of the film, Katniss understood it, but she didn’t like the movie. They were walking out of the theater.

“So, are you hungry?” Katniss glanced at Peeta. He was quiet.

“Yeah, but I have to take you someplace nice. Prim said no Sae’s.”

Katniss chuckled. “The little tyrant is going to pay for this one day.”

Peeta laughed. “I have an idea, if you’re up for an adventure.”

“Sure.” Katniss grinned.

They got in the car and drove to the bakery. He raised an eyebrow at her. “I won’t tell if you won’t?”

Peeta wasn’t a rebel, but when he put his mind to it he could be devious and at this moment she loved him for it. “If there are a pair of your comfy, fluffy socks on the other end, I’m in.”

They snuck into the back of the bakery. Peeta ordered a pizza and snuck upstairs for a pair of his socks. He sat her on the counter and much to her chagrin, he insisted on slipping them on her feet.

Her mouth went dry as he stood up. He braced his hands on the counter on either side of her and looked like he was going to step away. Katniss desperately wanted to keep him close. She said the first thing that popped into her head. “What did you think of the movie?”

He shrugged. “It was good.”

She was very curious as to his take on the movie. “But?”

“The ending was expected. She was going to pick the guy that was most familiar to her, the guy who reminded her of her home. The guy she had most in common with.”

Katniss found his statement interesting. “I didn’t like it.”

“Really, why? He knew her from before she moved to New York. It’s like you and Gale. You guys are meant to be together, because you both have so much in common.”

“Having a lot of stuff in common is not always a good thing.” Katniss couldn’t believe what she was hearing. It was revolting to think she and Gale could be a thing. “It can be disastrous.” Katniss watched him. She was looking to see if he had any feelings for her other than friendship.

“But in order for a relationship to work, you need to have things in common.”

“Shared experiences, are one thing Peeta, but being too alike can almost be like dating a sibling or a first cousin. Both are gross.”

He looked down, took her hand in his, his voice shy. “Is that why you and Gale broke up?”

“Gale and I,” Katniss was disgusted by thinking of Gale and herself in a romantic relationship, “never dated.”

“But you guys were inseparable in high school. Besides, Johanna said she saw you both at the Slag Heap motel one time.” He looked up, searching her eyes. “I mean you guys hunted and used to hang out all of the time?”

Katniss wanted to hurt Johanna and her big mouth. Why Peeta dated her, Katniss never understood. “Ugh no, Peeta. Gale and I were working there, cleaning rooms before I had to go to school. Besides, we are neighbors, Peeta, and yes, when our fathers died in that mining accident, we bonded over it. We did what was necessary to provide for our families.” Katniss twined her fingers with his. “Bottom line, he’s not you, and I think he’s a little jealous of what we have.”

“Really?” Peeta smiled.

Katniss nodded. Her hands moved up his forearms. “You’re why we fought.”

“I was?” Peeta got closer.

Katniss nodded.

“You haven’t spoken to him since Christmas Eve. I noticed he gave me a death glare.”

His face was so close to hers. “Gale and I fought. I told him I…I-” She didn’t get to finish her sentence because Peeta kissed her. She panicked momentarily because this was her first kiss.

Peeta pulled away. “I’m sorry. I just couldn’t help myself,” he whispered. His hot breath fanned her lips.

Katniss grabbed his shirt and pulled him into another kiss. This time her body tingled. She wanted more, and pressed herself to him, causing their faces to angle and the kiss to deepen. His hands gripped her knees right before they ghosted up her legs and around to her back, pressing her closer to him. A small groan escaped her lips.

His warm lips were soft, and better than anything she ever imagined. He tasted sweet and minty. She felt cherished in his arms. Katniss was glad she waited to have her first kiss. It was even better than the cheese-buns he made her.

Neither one heard the insistent knocking at the door. They blushed when they realized their food was there. Katniss wanted to melt into him.

“Don’t go anywhere. I’ll be right back,” Peeta said.

Katniss grinned, and her smile didn’t go away all night. As they ate, Katniss was glad there wasn’t any awkwardness between them. They were themselves. They laughed, joked around, and talked about silly things and serious things.

“You didn’t?” Peeta asked incredulously as he laughed.

Katniss was so relaxed and she couldn’t believe she confessed to stealing Haymitch’s prized knife.“Yeah, well you were away at camp and I was super bored.”

“In my defense, if I would have stayed here, I would have been a felon.”

Katniss swiped at his arm.

It was a perfect evening. As they left the bakery, he took her by the hand and pulled her close. They kissed once more. She felt those butterflies girls talked about in high school. She was still smiling when he took her home. She placed a chaste kiss on his lips, but it caused the butterflies to flutter in her stomach. When Peeta left, she floated to her room.

“So, how did it go?”

Katniss didn’t know how to describe how she felt or the craving she developed for Peeta’s kisses. Her face was her sisters favorite color.

“Good.” Prim nodded. “Then tomorrow night’s date is going to be a breeze. I put the dress in your closet.”

It was only after the door closed did Katniss realized Prim was making her wear her least favorite item of clothing in the middle of winter. As she went to sleep her phone went off and there was a text from Gale:

Gale: We need to talk.

Katniss gasped as below the text there was a grainy picture of her and Peeta kissing outside of the bakery.

[wematch]

Only You

In their second year a deal is made. Andrew wants to explore his boundaries and there’s really just one person he trusts around himself.

Set in a universe where everything is the same except that Andrew never kissed Neil on the rooftop that night. Instead, they just got closer and more comfortable around each other.

Read from the start if you haven’t yet! [Part 1]

You can also read it on [AO3]

As always a huge thank you to @velvetnoodle for being an amazing beta <3<3

Part 7

It's Sunday afternoon when Andrew parks the Maserati at the Fox Tower. They step out of the vehicle and climb the stairs into the building. Once they reach the third floor, Neil opens the door and steps into the corridor. He immediately notices Dan and Allison talking near their dorm entrance, and at the sound of the door opening, they both turn.

“Hey Neil, did you get my message?” Dan asks when they get closer and once she notices the confused look on Neil’s face she continues, “About the movie session I planned once everyone was back at campus?”

Neil puts his hand in his back pocket in search of his phone but it isn’t there. He begins to frown, trying to think of where he could possibly have left it until Andrew interrupts his train of thought.

“You left it at the house, didn’t you?” Andrew asks looking sideways at him.

“Yeah,” Neil says turning to look back at him, suddenly remembering that the last time he touched his phone was the previous night when he placed it on the side table when he and Andrew were in the living room eating pizza.

“Fucking idiot,” Andrew comments, then he turns to Dan and asks, “Renee?”

“She’s inside,” Dan tells him and steps out of the door frame to allow him to pass. As soon as she’s out of the way, Andrew moves to enter the girl’s dorm room in search of Renee.

After a moment, Dan turns to share a look with Allison and then she grabs the doorknob to almost close the door behind herself.

“What?” Neil asks when they both turn to look at him.

“What's up with you and the monster?” Allison asks straight to the point.

“What do you mean?” Neil replies “And I told you already: stop calling him that.”

“I mean what I heard the freshman talking about,” she starts. “I thought they were just making it up but--” she pauses when they hear the sound of elevator doors opening and she looks over her shoulder to see who’s arrived before continuing in a lower tone, ”but they aren't, aren't they?”

Neil freezes for a second not entirely sure on what to answer. He moves to the side to be able to see who just arrived and sees Matt stepping out of the elevator and walking towards them.

“Hey guys, am I the last one to arrive?” Matt half shouts from the other side of the corridor when he notices them all staring.

“No, go get your roommates,” Dan tells him; Matt gives her a nod and walks towards his room three doors down from where they currently are.

As soon as Matt opens his door and steps in, both girls turn to focus on Neil again. He sees Allison about to open her mouth but he speaks first. “Just mind your own business,” Neil tells them sharply and steps into their room to find Andrew.

***

Days later, once Neil is done with classes he waits for Nicky so they can go to the library together. Once there, they find Renee and Allison at a table and decide to join them. Neil has a Spanish paper due in two days so he pulls his laptop to work on it.

After what feels like an hour, Allison puts her manicured hand in front of his screen to break his concentration. Neil looks up and finds the others all looking at him. “What?” he asks.

“We were just making plans to go out for dinner tomorrow, and we thought that it would make Dan happy if we could gather the whole team for it,” Renee explains.

“You know, to unite the team like Dan keeps nagging us about,” Nicky adds.

“Okay?” Neil says unsure. He knows that not everyone will appreciate the idea. The twins won’t like it; Kevin won’t want to go unless he actually thinks it could help the team, and Mike still keeps his distance from everyone on their group after Andrew gave him that warning a few weeks ago.

“Can you talk to Andrew about it?” Allison asks him, almost as if knowing what he was just thinking about.

“What about Mike? I don’t think he’ll accept the invitation,” Neil asks instead.

“He’ll go,” Renee answers. “I’ll talk to him.”

“So? Will you talk to Andrew or not?” Nicky asks excitedly.

“Fine, I can ask but I can’t guarantee that he’ll agree to it.” After last year, Andrew hasn’t completely shut down the others but there’s only so much of everyone’s presence that he can handle at a time.

“Oh Neil, you’re so adorable when you say things like that,” Allison says with a smile.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Neil asks.

“Oh, nothing,” she tells him with a dismissive wave of her hand and goes back to look at her laptop.

Neil begins to frown, he doesn’t get what Allison means by that. But there’s really no point in trying to understand it at the moment, so he decides not to care and focus instead on finishing his paper.

***

It’s only when the floor is filled with empty takeout boxes from their dinner later that day that Neil decides to bring up the subject of dinner with the team. He looks at his roommates unsure about how to ask this. Andrew is sitting on his desk reading a book while Kevin watches the sports channel on the TV, so he gets up from his own desk to stand near Andrew. “How about tomorrow we go to dinner at the Italian place just outside of campus?”

“We can order in from that place, so why bother?” Andrew replies, not taking his eyes off his book.

Neil gives him an unimpressed look and adds, ”The whole team is going.”

Kevin mutes the TV. “Why?”

“To see if it helps to bring us together,” Neil answers glancing at Kevin. And judging by the thoughtful expression on Kevin’s face, he seems to be considering if it’s worth going or not.

“I think you’re spending too much time with Dan and Renee,” Andrew comments.

Neil rolls his eyes. “I didn’t say I believed a dinner could do that... but I’m willing to give it a try.” Neil’s not actually looking forward to the dinner but he’s not going to say anything, even if Andrew can read it in his face.

“Why tomorrow?” Kevin asks. “We won’t be able to practice at night if we go and we have a game in a few days.”

Andrew seems to consider what Kevin just said, then he closes his book and looks up to meet Neil’s eyes. “Fine, we’re going.”

Neil can’t help but roll his eyes again when he sees the look Kevin sends his way after hearing Andrew’s answer. He stares back at him and after a moment Kevin turns the TV off. “Take me to practice,” Kevin says to no one in particular and gets up, putting on his shoes and not pausing to see if they’re following him out of the room.

Neil puts on his shoes almost amused. Thanks to Kevin, convincing Andrew to come along had been way easier than he’d expected. He watches as Andrew walks in his direction to put on his own shoes. “Stop staring,” Andrew tells him without looking up from tying his laces.

“I wasn’t,” he lies and quickly looks away from Andrew’s back. Once Andrew is ready, Neil starts to walk towards the door. “Let’s go,” he tells Andrew and without looking back he starts to open the door.

Andrew puts his hand on the door to stop Neil from opening it.“One hundred and thirty-four,” Andrew states. Neil slowly looks to his side to face Andrew and begins to grin.

Andrew looks at him unimpressed. “Stop with that stupid grin,” he tells him and removes his hand from the door. “Kevin’s waiting,” he reminds Neil.

Neil takes a deep breath and looks away from Andrew. “I know,” he says and fights the urge to keep grinning.

***

The next day, after the Foxes finish practice they all go to the cars and make the short drive to the restaurant. Once in there, the waitress directs them to a big table reserved by Allison.

When they're all seated, Nicky, Allison, and Dan start to make small talk in an attempt to fill the silence. Andrew, who is sitting at Neil’s side, has decided to glare at his brother sitting in front of him texting while they wait for the food, so Neil looks around the table to study his teammates. He knew this would be awkward, and he doesn’t really feel like joining in their conversations so he starts to listen to Kevin’s conversation with Caroline, a freshman that idolizes Kevin and is always eager to listen to him talk about anything Exy related.

Soon the food comes and everyone is busy eating. Neil half listens to the conversations around the table, and by the number of drinks already ordered he starts to wonder if he and Renee will have to drive everyone back to campus. He looks to Andrew’s side to see how much Kevin is drinking and he’s surprised to find him still with his glass half full and the bottle in front of him untouched. He seems to be too invested in talking about Exy to pay attention to the food. Neil notices, however, that Andrew’s currently holding his empty glass with his knuckles turning white from how tightly he’s holding it, and his expression indicates to Neil that he’s becoming annoyed.

Neil frowns, unsure on what is pissing Andrew off, until suddenly he remembers Andrew asking him last year if he could talk about anything else besides Exy. So Neil begins to talk to Andrew in a quiet tone by his side; about his school work, about Columbia, and as they eat he sees Andrew relaxing slightly by his side.

When they’re almost done with the food he notices that Andrew’s looking at the end of the table where Mike is sitting beside Renee.

“He has stayed as far away as he can,” Neil points out. “Just like you told him to.”

“Yes, he has.” Andrew agrees. “Renee must be teaching him some things,” he says in a bored tone and returns his attention back to his plate to take a bite of his remaining pasta. “He is her problem after all; we’ll see if she can keep him in line.”

Neil shoves some food into his mouth and thinks back to what happened with Mike. It’s been a few quiet weeks since he’s had people bothering him and he’s just glad for the peace. “Speaking of Renee, any predictions about that last book she let you borrow? The one about the maze?” Neil asks to try to change the subject away from Mike.

Andrew takes a sip of his drink before answering. “The girl is going to be a pain in the ass until the end.”

“Is she going to die?”

Andrew seems to consider it. “Probably,” he says, then he adds, “Renee is on the last book if you want to ask her.”

Neil hums in acknowledgment. “I’ll just wait for your summary of the book.”

“Why don’t you read it yourself?” Andrew asks him. Neil glances to his side and notices the corners of Andrew’s mouth turning upward, indicating that he’s amused, so Neil ignores him until dessert comes.

He’s already full so he only eats half of his ice cream. He sees Andrew eyeing his plate when he finishes his own so Neil pushes his plate to the side closer to Andrew as an offer. And after a moment, Andrew pushes his plate away in order to make room and brings Neil’s plate over to finish.

Not a moment later, Neil feels someone’s eyes on him so he looks up to scan the table. He finds Matt leaning towards Dan at the end of the table whispering while they're both looking at him. Neil frowns at them until they realize he’s onto them and immediately they look away.

Soon they leave the restaurant and Neil drives the Maserati back to the building. When they park the cars at the Fox Tower, Matt calls after him so Neil walks towards his truck instead. They stay quiet as the others go inside and when Andrew is about to enter the building he pauses to stare at Neil. When he sees that he has Neil’s attention he taps the cigarette box he’s holding with one finger. Neil gives him a small nod to indicate that he got the message, that Andrew will be waiting for him in their usual spot on the roof, and turns to lean against Matt’s truck.

Once the parking lot is empty, Matt turns to look at him. “You know that you can talk to us, right? About anything?”

“Okay,” Neil says unsure where the conversation is going.

“Even if it’s about Andrew.” Matt looks down at his feet and shoves his hands in his pockets before he continues, “I mean, even I’ve started to notice some things.”

“Please stop.” Neil closes his eyes wondering how this is happening right now.

“Come on, I don’t know what’s going on with you too but you’re clearly hiding something,” Matt points out and they stay quiet for a minute. “I know you don’t like to talk about things but if one day you want to, we’re here,” Matt adds more quietly.

Neil takes a deep breath. “Are we done here?” he asks, and Matt starts to grin apologetically. “And we’re not hiding anything,” Neil clarifies before he begins to walk away. They’re not; whatever is happening is between him and Andrew.

Neil comes to a stop and runs his hand through his hair. “Thanks Matt,” he says after a moment and without looking back he starts to walk again towards the building. He knows that Matt means well, but things are complicated and he doesn’t have to explain anything to anyone, not until he’s ready to do it. He’s suddenly craving the familiar smell of smoke in the air so he rushes up the stairs to where he knows that Andrew is waiting for him with a cigarette ready.

[Part 8]

[sterekexchange]

Masterlist of Sterek Exchange 2017 Fics

AO3 collection

Thank you for every author, pinch hitter, beta and cheerleader for working so hard to make this exchange so much fun and such a huge success!

Please, show some love to the authors in forms of kudos and comments on their fics!

#librarynerd by yodasyoyo | 7k | T

“I’ll likely get far more done in  the group if I’m not distracted watching you with your pen–”

“My–My pen?”

“Pens. Drinking straws. Don’t act like you don’t know,” Derek says darkly.  “You know.”

____________

In which Stiles follows Scott into his Spanish study group, takes one look  at the hot nerd who runs it and then decides to stay… even though he doesn’t  actually speak Spanish.

(Don't) Work Your Magic by Saori | 6k | T

Stiles is the Hale pack’s emissary in training. He’s good at what he does, and ninety-nine percent of the time he knows what he’s doing. He does. Too bad that one percent is when he permanently links his soul to Derek’s.

Or, not quite a soulmate AU, but it kind of is, which is totally Stiles’ fault.

A Family Portrait In Soft Lightning by Fearful_Little_Thing | 4k | G

Everything was so much easier when  the kids were small. When the kids were small their problems had been small  too. Easily fixed by hugs or hot chocolates, with kisses to boo-boos and ten  minute time outs when they misbehaved.

Now things aren't so simple and  the problems aren't so small.

Derek and Stiles love their kids.  It's just that raising two delinquent teenagers is a lot harder than it  looked.

Adderall and All by IronRoseWriter | 4k | T

From the prompt: Derek can smell amphetemines on Stiles thanks to his  Adderall, but because no one ever thought to sit him down and say “Hey so  Stiles has pretty severe ADHD” he just thinks Stiles does drugs. Cue a super  judgemental misunderstanding.

For Sterek Exchange 2017

And After All by red_crate | 5k | T

The world fucking ended while Stiles was clear across the country from his  dad. He trekked that distance on his own, surviving the elements, fighting  monsters and scavengers. Stiles rescued a goddamn werewolf who ended up  saving him in return.

Blue Eyes by KFlynn | 4k | T

It had all begun with Stiles slowly driving his Jeep along the road, in  the direction of his home…..

or the story where Stiles finds a wolf Derek, takes him back home and  cuddles with him, only to wake up with naked human Derek the next morning;  then they have breakfast and an important talk where they both realise that  they’re in love with each other.

Can’t Start a Fire Without a Spark by Nerdy_fangirl_57 | 9k | T

After the whole ordeal with the nogitsune Stiles struggles with proving to  himself that he can be good again. He starts learning to control his spark in  hopes that he could be helpful to the pack once he manages to channel it’s  power. Everyone thinks it’s a great idea and are willing to help him anyway  they can, but Scott, Scott doesn’t see the point in it.

It’s not like Stiles’ tiny spark could ever be powerful enough to be an  actual asset to the pack.

Stiles just wants a chance to prove himself.

Charm Misdirect by froggydarren | 4k | T

There are only so many times that Derek will go along with Peter’s plans.  He swears there is a last one, and it’s pretty likely that this is it. Really,  it should have been the time when he almost got arrested, or some of the  times before.  So when Peter asks Derek to be his wingman in Jungle, Derek says no. And  thinks that that’s the end of it.

He’s wrong.

Collision Course by grimmypuff | 5k | T

Roller Derby and Stiles Stilinski: a pairing that should not exist in nature. Add Derek Hale and somehow it works.

Come To My… by Gonardo | 8k | M

It starts out with Derek meeting a new group of people. One standing out:  Stiles Stilinski. So he may seen a little strange at first, but that’s  alright.

Then they are put together for a project. Derek catches feelings. Cue the  pining.

While Stiles looked at other guys objectively, he pretty much thought he  was straight. Boy he was wrong. Maybe he’s just dereksexual.

Can they figure out their feelings in time.

Defenses by inatshej | 10k | T

“Do you know the Molotov Cocktail  café near the station? I think their pastries are the best. We could go there  this weekend.”

Oh wait.

Oh shit.

Oh fuck. He’s proposed a date.

“Sure,” Stiles agrees easily with a shrug.

Immediate friendzoning.

But did he really get friendzoned just now? Can he get friendzoned when  they aren’t even friends?

Does that make them friends? It would be nice, actually-

god, he just feels so lonely at times.

Derek Hale’s Undercover Summer: How to Attract Your FBI-Partner in These 10 Short  Steps (While Also Killing Bad Guys) by the_problem_with_stardust | 4k | T

Written for jennysparkles’ awesome prompt: Derek wasn’t sure why, but if  his time busting the biggest smuggling- and drug-ring in Northern California  had the chance to become a book or a movie, it would be named ‘Derek Hale’s  Undercover Summer: How to Attract Your FBI-Partner in These 10 Short Steps  (While Also Killing Bad Guys)’. It was ridiculous, how killing people  bare-handed turned into a romantic comedy whenever he looked into Stiles’  eyes.

events  may be different than they appear by icarusinflight | 4k | T

The first time Stiles sees the couple, the hot dude is giving the gorgeous  girl a ride on his back through the main walkway of campus.  It’s pretty dumb

it doesn’t stop him from feeling jealous of them

Feelings He Didn’t Know He Had by StaciNadia | 5k | T

Derek is absolutely not in love with Stiles.

Finding warmth in your arms (I’m not even cold) by Saori | 10k | T

When Stiles and his father move to Beacon Hills, they have to get familiar with new rules. Being a werefox, Stiles sticks out as a thumb in the small town, but thanks for his luck, he’s not the only one. He doesn’t expect that Kira and him will get close to the pack of ‘wolves whose territory they live in, so when they both fall in love with one, it takes him by surprise.

Or, Stiles and Kira are both werefoxes, recently moved into Beacon Hills. They quickly steal their way into the heart of the local werewolf pack.

For  If Dreams Die by veritas_st | 23k | M

“I had a dream about a boy last  night,” Mischief says through a mouthful of pancakes.  His dad points  the spatula at him and he swallows before he says anything else.  “His  name was Derek.  He called me Stiles.  I want to be called that  from now on.”

Forever Young by thegirlnamedcove | 12k | T

“What do you want Laura?” he  groaned, “Why am I up?”

“Because you’re going to pack a bag with whatever’s clean and come with me  back to California,” she fished a folded page out of her back pocket and  handed it over, “Someone is on our territory with a vendetta in mind.”

He accepted the paper and opened it up, smoothing it against the side of  the mattress. It was a picture, printed out from an email, of a deer with a  spiral carved in its side.

Fuel  a Fantasy by Delightful_I_Am | 19k | T

Let it never be said that Stiles wasn’t able to keep his cool when faced  with awkward situations. It’d be right maybe, but it should never be said.

 Stiles gasped and spun around,  eyes finding Derek immediately. The poor guy looked a bit shell-shocked.

 “Oh my god! Dude!” Stiles  flailed his arms and lunged forward, tripping a bit and catching himself on  Derek’s arms. “You have to fake date me!”

 “What?”

Hold the Cheese by sheerpoetry | 3k | T

Derek wasn’t sure how he’d gotten himself into this particular  situation. Sure, he’d gotten used to the pack in his space. But Stiles? He  hadn’t gotten used to Stiles.

Prompt:  Fluff. Adorable Derek, maybe some pining, Stiles being his flailing, sassy  self. Lydia and Laura would totally be a power couple. Laura is an awesome  big sister. Stiles as a potential Emissary.

I got the first half, at least? ;) Hope you enjoy it!

How Long Will I Love You? by vaguelyobscene | 6k | T

Stiles is finally marrying his boyfriend of 8 years and Lydia makes a surprisingly  sweet offer on his wedding day, but she’s not the only one who seems  determined to make him cry today.

I Call All The Bullshit by lodgelinski | 3k

An incident occurs at a rave where  a group of people end up with superpowers (the same hand-waving bullshit that  gives anyone superpowers).

They, of course, decide to use  their powers for good–with the blessing of local law enforcement, which gains  them a few enemies, mostly other people at that rave who also ended up with  superpowers but have decided to be evil instead. Also, Derek is trying to  control his powers since the last time he was the weakest link. However, his  partner is Stiles, and it’s hard to control his powers (and emotions) when it  comes to Stiles, especially when Stiles is in danger.

I don’t know why, but I guess it has something to do with you by LunaCanisLupus_22 | 18k | E

“You smell like me,” the guy says,  scowling as he crowds in and Stiles staggers back between the coats and  finally hits the wall. “Why do you smell like me?”

He barely lets out a garbled sound as the blood rushes to his cheeks. “No  reason,” Stiles yelps, struggling to get his footing and grasping at a  whirlwind of puffy fur.

Or the one where Stiles goes thrift shopping and steals an alpha’s shirt.  And gets a lot more than he bargains for.

I’ll Be Your Thrill by red_crate | 5k | E

Stiles asks, “What are you waiting for?” He still hasn’t made a move to  join Derek on the bed.

“I’m waiting for you, Daddy.” It takes everything in him to hold Stiles’  gaze.

There’s a hesitance in him every time they start this. Derek is older, an  alpha werewolf. He can’t quite get over the spike of humiliation that  occasionally works through him at the thought of wanting to give over his  control. He closes his eyes for a moment.

Wanting Stiles to take charge and take care of him isn’t a shameful thing.  

It helps that Stiles is never anything but enthusiastic.

I’m at one, and I’ve been quiet for too long by LunaCanisLupus_22 | 11k | E

“All in favour of Derek not dating for a full year so he can get his shit  together and stop romancing people who want to kill us?”

Everyone raises their hands. Every single pack member.

Or the one where the pack insists Derek can’t date anybody for a full year  but he ends up finding romance much closer to home anyway.

if only by petals | 47k | M

“I could totally stop talking to him,” Stiles interjects, feeling a sudden overwhelming urge to defend himself and brush the whole thing off as nothing. “I could. Easily. That’s the beauty of talking to someone online; you can just, like, talk to them for however long you want and then disappear for however long you want without any real impact on your daily life. It’s not like I’m going to run into him at the grocery store. I could stop at any moment.”

“But you don’t,” Lydia points out.

“No, he doesn’t,” Scott replies, forcing Stiles to scowl at him. “He just got a new one this morning and he hasn’t stopped talking about it.”

Or, the one where Stiles has been talking to some guy that he doesn’t know online, but that’s the least of his worries when a new pack moves into Beacon Hills, and Stiles suspects the alpha of bringing a coven of witches with him.

In Which Derek Has the Worst Luck, Maybe by maraudersourwolf | 7k | M

Derek has a crush. He’s doing all he can to hide his feelings. It’s pretty  easy, since Stiles barely seems to know Derek exists. Hook ups, a school  project that’s half their grade and teenage awkwardness puts his luck to the  test.

In Your Eyes by Hi0ctane | 3k | T

Since the first day of moving in, Stiles had never really seen the  neighbours do anything. His father (who had apparently met some of them  early, before work, and exchanged some pleasantries) told him that it was four  of them: two girls and two guys, all siblings of one family, but that was  about it. Sometimes Stiles thought he saw one of them exit the house, usually  early, even before he headed to school himself; he could only hear voices,  then, drifting up to his bedroom window, loud and usually cheerful, sometimes  rowdy.

“They’re lively,” his father said, with the indulgent smile of a man that  raised a teenager himself on the back of macaroni and cheese and sometimes  far too much hard liquor. Stiles preferred the term “They’re really  annoying”, but sure, lively should work for them, too.

Or, five times Stiles got into trouble with his elusive neighbour D. Hale  - and one time he really, really didn’t.

Knar by LupusScintilla | 17k | E

Derek had not had a clue that this was something that actually existed.

Five times Derek knotted Stiles, and one time, well. You can see what’s  going to happen here, right?

Loyalty Is A Virtue by bellamyhale | 24k | T

Feeling the full wrath of Lydia Martin, Scott quickly changed his argument  to one of defense, leading to one small comment about how Stiles hit Theo  first, which only stirred a hurricane of harsh insults. Lydia’s face  brightened, just a tone lighter than Scott’s own crimson cheeks.

“Stilinski, Raeken, and the rest of your little entourage! Principal’s  office, now!” Coach shouted over the mayhem, as he pushed his way through the  crowd. Taking one look at Stiles who was still attempting to catch his breath,  Coach motioned his hand towards the teen, “oh, for the love of God, someone  get Stilinski to the nurse!”

Or, the time Theo Raeken ruined Stiles’ life, which somehow ended with him  being even closer with the Hale’s. Oh, and did he mention that he was apparently  magic?

making waves by haleofStilesheart | 6k | E

Stiles is no stranger to pining, especially when it comes to Derek Hale.  When his gorgeous crush graduates high school, Stiles figures he can move on  from his pathetic crush. But things don’t work out that way.  Not since Derek just so happens to be working at the same public pool where Stiles  is volunteering as a lifeguard.

Once Upon a Dream by gryvon | 14k | T

Stiles has been dreaming of the Hale family burning alive since he was a  child. After being locked in Eichen for a year, Stiles learns to keep his  visions to himself. That doesn’t stop him from keeping an eye on Derek Hale  while he waits for Kate Argent to make her move. Only watching Derek becomes  loving Derek and stopping Derek and Kate from getting together turns into  Stiles dating Derek Hale. He’s in love with Derek but his visions haven’t  stopped, only now Derek dies with the rest of his family.

Only the Moon Howls by gremlins-came-and-got-me | 7k | T

Derek begs Cora to get him hired at the Supernatural Crisis Center where  she works as a field agent. It was a better option than the coffee shop by  his apartment. However, innocents are being killed by a supernatural creature  and it’s up to the SCC to solve the case, but when they close in on the  culprit, the team is attacked.

Operation Girl Scout Cookies by nogitsune_lichen | 19k | E

After a minute Derek looks back up, his lips puckering in thought, “so…we  just…see each other in secret. Then in November after local elections we can  see each other for real?”

“We are seeing each other for real! It’s just us who know about it for the  first few months,” Stiles corrects.

“Okay.”

Stiles holds his breath, eyes widening, “okay as in okay let’s secretly  date?”

“Yes,” Derek adds his tone a little less bitter as if he is just now  warming up to the idea.

“Awsome! Holy shit, dude we’re mates,” Stiles beams.

Our Little Lives by CallieB | 18k

yodasyoyo prompted:

“There are loads and loads of ridiculous reasons for Derek and Stiles to  be in a fake/pretend relationship. Maybe another pack is visiting, maybe one  of them is trying to impress an ex, maybe they’re trying to win a bet, that’s  three off the top of my head. I bet you can think of more. My point is, pick  one and then tell the story from an outsiders POV. Because if there are two  tropes I really love it’s Fake/Pretend Relationship and Outsider POV. Thing  is, I hardly ever see them together. If you could include the Hale pack (Boyd,  Erica and Isaac) that would be great. Also, I really love stilinski family  feels, so if that could be in there too then fab. Also, I really do prefer  Derek to be a werewolf, so there’s that. Other than that I leave it to you!”

Paint Me by SuperWhoAvengeTrekLock | 14k | M

When Stiles’ laptop breaks, he realizes that it’s not the only expense he  has. He can’t pick up any more shifts at work and he’s desperate. Allison  comes through with a last minute save for him with her connections to the art  world.

Perfect for Each Other by CinnamonLily | 5k | G

Professor Peter Hale has a new TA, Stiles Stilinski. He’s the best TA  Peter has ever had, and Peter wants to reward that somehow. Peter’s nephew  Derek is a socially awkward mechanic whose type Stiles fits to a T. They’re  obviously perfect for each other, now all Peter has to do is make them see  it, too.

Somebody tell me why I’m on my own by phoenixflyinghigh | 5k

Who doesn’t long for someone to hold  Who knows how to love you without being told  Somebody tell me why I’m on my own  If there’s a soulmate for everyone

Since he was a child Derek has dreamed of the morning where he’ll wake up  and know who his soulmate is.  

Since he was a child Stiles knew he would be alone forever and that the  only person he could count on was himself.

Luckily Fate has a plan for everyone.

Something More by kaistrex | 19k | E

When Derek and Stiles stumbled into a friends with benefits relationship  purely by accident, they weren’t expecting it would one day save their asses  when a threat from Derek’s past comes knocking. All they need to do is  pretend to really be in love to avoid an arranged marriage agreed to years  ago with a pact of blood. Considering they hadn’t bothered setting up  boundaries when the ‘benefits’ first started, it’s no surprise that the lines  begin to blur and Derek’s eyes are eventually opened to a truth he hadn’t  been ready to face.

Sovereign Next Door by KARIN848 | 9k | G

Stiles Stilinski defeats the corrupt Argent rulers and inherits their  kingdom and the title of King. With his close group of advisors, he must find  a way to fit into this new role. The first step - attending a celebration  thrown in his honor by the neighboring royals, the Hale pack.

Spring Training (Is Hard To Do) by tiedtogetherwithadagger | 12k | T

When Glow magazine outs MLB starting pitcher Derek Hale, his older sister  gets him a bodyguard until the news blows over.

Stiles Stilinski is on a leave of absence from the military after his  childhood friend dies in combat. When his best friend asks for a favor, he’s  reluctant to accept the responsibility of another person’s life in his hands  anytime soon.

But when these two people meet, they’re surprised when unexpected sparks  begin to fly. And maybe… they can learn how to cope together.

Strains of the Heart by clotpolesonly | 21k | G

Stiles has always worked with Scott for end-of-year projects. Only this year,  Scott wants to work with his new girlfriend Allison, leaving Stiles without a  partner. The only person not already partnered up is Derek Hale, first chair  violin who has played for his sister Laura and only his sister Laura since  joining the academy.

If he was just an asshole, Stiles could handle that. But Stiles has a vision  for this project, one he’s spent his whole life cultivating, and Derek? Derek  just doesn’t get it, and that Stiles cannot handle.

Strong Essences are Held in Small Bottles by addict_writer | 8k | E

Stiles has been training to become the best emissary, but nothing could  have prepared him for meeting Derek Hale. The young Hale Alpha is lucky  Stiles has the power to save him from the sticky situation he got himself in. 

take a break by anticupid16 | 6k | T

Stiles, needing a break from his dad’s lack of trust, decides to take  shelter somewhere he can chill without being asked a lot of questions.  Derek’s loft just so happens to be such a place.

Thanks, Barbie by 138andcounting | 3k

“This one is kind of inspired by a  Tumblr post I now can’t find, but basically Derek is at the movies and there’s  this kid that won’t. Shut. Up. He babbles, he talks about the movie, he talks  about any old shit, and Derek is getting increasingly pissed off. There  aren’t many other people in the cinema, but the ones that are there keep  shushing him so Derek doesn’t have to.

Twist is, the movie sucks. So Derek finds himself actually listening to  the kid’s continuous babble. And it’s kind of… intriguing? This ‘Stiles’, or  whatever he calls himself, is clearly ten different kinds of crazy, but Derek  can’t help but want to find out more about him. Like, when Stiles is talking  about something random, Derek is imagining the questions he would ask if he  could. And does a mental high five when Stiles answers them anyway. And kind  of. Gets annoyed. When the other people in the cinema shush him so he can’t  finish his sentences. God, what is HAPPENING to him?

Up to you how it ends, but a happy ending would be nice! I also thought  about maybe Stiles being off his ADHD medication, which is why he’s talking  so much, but again, up to you.” -CallieB

The Best Men by grimmypuff | 13k | T

Planning a wedding? Not really something Stiles ever wanted to do, thanks.  But when best bro duty calls, you answer. Luckily, another best bro has been  called up, as well. Enter Derek Hale.

The Best Opportunity Yet by Starshaker | 6k | G

Stiles is at a loose end. His thoughts are beginning to send him on a  downward spiral and in the early hours of the morning he finds his way to  Derek’s apartment seeking advice and comfort. Derek offers him a new learning  curve to distract him and in a very short space of time the pair settle into  a closer relationship.

The Dogs of War by moretomhardy | 22k | M

Derek is a warrior prince of a nation in conflict. Stiles is a newly  minted spymaster sent from the capital to help turn the tide of the war.  Somewhere along the way, they start to mean a lot more to each other than just  their titles.

The Farthest Star by Anefi | 9k | T

When an emissary is ready to find their place in the world, they get a  Call. If Stiles answers it, he’ll have to leave behind the only life he’s  ever known. And Derek.

The Hardest Thing In This World by yodasyoyo | 4k | T

Stiles is not a wolf, but he has  the heart of one.

–

After the Hale fire, Derek and  Laura go to stay with the Stilinskis, and end up finding more there then they  could ever have hoped for

The Sea Wolf by TheyDraggedMeInNowIAintLeaving | 7k | M

[…] but this voice you must give  to me           The Little Mermaid

Skinny arms wrapped around him, a head resting on his shoulder and long  fingers idly scratching behind his ears. It’s easy to forget that this is but  a dream.

The Spark by MysticMerc | 11k | G

When two witches arrive in Beacon Hills in search of the Spark, it seems  Derek is the only one who knows what they’re talking about. Can Scott’s pack  save Beacon Hills from the witches or will they capture the Spark?

The Switch by honeymoonmuke | 13k | T

After a fae gift wreaks havoc on Beacon Hills, Derek is left to pick up  the pieces. He doesn’t know what’s harder to deal with - the fact that he’s  been made human or that Stiles has been turned into an extremely doting  gladiator.

Thieves Like Us by Hi0ctane | 5k | T

Stiles chuckled as his father waved him off from the distance, slipping  into the driver’s seat of the car. He waited until the Sheriff started the  car, headlights biting through the dark, growing smaller and paler by the  second until they were gone entirely.  The teenager closed the door behind himself and let the amused expression  slide off his face, making room for one of devious glee.

Time to call in the team.

(Or: The master art thieves AU I didn’t know I wanted, until now)

Things I Never Told You by gremlins-came-and-got-me | 7k | T

“I never want to see you again!”  –  Stiles and Derek have a fight. There’s no way to fix it this time.  –  Read the tags.

Those Red Lights Keep Bringing Me Around by gryvon | 10k | E

Stiles moves back to Beacon Hills after his father retires, hoping for  somewhere quiet where they can both relax. His first day as a paramedic for  Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital lands him in the midst of a werewolf-hunter  war that he knows nothing about. Oh, and his childhood friend, Derek Hale,  wants nothing to do with him. That jerk! 

Waiting There For You by BulletBlaze | 4k | M

“Just give me another week, I’m  sure I’ll make a breakthrough-”

“Stiles, this is not up for discussion. Either take the partner, or you’re  off the case. It’s your decision.”

We Can Work from Home by samanthahirr | 5k | T

A rom com AU in which Derek and Stiles are neighbors with a  misunderstanding:

Derek’s new neighbor is distractingly hot. He goes by “Mr. Magic Fingers”  on his business cards. And he has a steady stream of customers moaning and  screaming in his apartment every day.

Derek doesn’t care that his neighbor is a sex worker; he just wants to get  his own work done.

when the moonlight hits your eyes by the_problem_with_stardust | 8k | M

“Do you have any holiday plans?”  The question is out of Derek’s mouth before he’s even all the way through the  door.

Stiles looks up from one of the ancient books he has spread across the  floor. He sticks a post-it underneath the sentence he was on and rolls onto  his back. “Nope. My dad is going somewhere and he won’t give me any hints.”  Craning his head back so he’s looking at Derek upside down, he frowns. “It’s  weird because I usually can annoy all kinds of information out of him. I must  be getting rusty.”

Would it Have Been Worth While by Cantabo | 11k | E

There’s a smile on her face, but Stiles knows the real reason she’s asking  the question, because she’s a crazy jealous person who literally started  crying when she found out he was (briefly) dating some guy named Lucas during  his sophomore year.

And then Stiles has an idea. A brilliant, terrible, wonderfully  self-destructive idea. Because despite his bravado, most of Stiles’ ideas are  terrible.

“This is Derek,” Stiles says, looking at Derek with big, pleading eyes.  “He’s my boyfriend.”

Or, Stiles and Derek are fake(ish) boyfriends in the name of warding off  unwelcome stalkers. Also, they’re kind of in love with each other.

Would you take one for the team, and go out with me? by fairyfey | 4k | G

Written for this prompt: Maybe something with a kiss cam or Derek winning  a contest to meet his favorite baseball player and sparks fly.

You Better Run Like the Devil by exhibit | 8k | E

The Hale pack was slaughtered but the alpha and emissary escaped alive  though it doesn’t matter much, they died along with their pack that night.  Killing the hunters won’t bring them back, no, but it sure would feel fucking  good.

You’re the Spark (that sets my soul on fire) by TheyDraggedMeInNowIAintLeaving | 7k | E

 There’s a wolf in your bed     "careful, it might bite"     Your smile is wide as you answer     "He’d better"

Your Love is Like an Ax to the Face (or, Plundering Hearts: Viking Edition) by Toxin | 16k | E

Prompt: College AU in which Derek is the junior TA of a freshman  history seminar, and Stiles is a competitive shithead freshman who likes to  argue just to argue. One day, after tracking Derek to a coffee shop on campus  to argue about his grade, Stiles realizes that Derek’s actually a swell dude  and they bond over common interests.

 In which Lydia is a ruthless walking fortune cookie, Scott is  exposed to the relationship-curing potential of ménages-à-trois, and more  importantly, Stiles is convinced he’s pissed off the wrong deity in Valhalla  because the closest thing he gets to action is the weekly ‒and deadly‒  debates he has with his grumpy TA from History 201: Introduction to  Vikings. All of this to Erica’s enjoyment.

Urgh, college.

[fantroll-purgatory]

On left side theres him before entering the medium,on right side theres him when he gets an new shirt and prototypes to make shoes with light laces,striped shorts,blue tooth headphones(badum psst)and an way more portable virtual boy glasses,i want the players to wear gray shirts on this universe,also i want my kids to look or have to do with alpha and beta kids,i wanted him to get same face,text and maybe hair as John and Jane,also the kids will get the remaining aspects:doom,blood,rage and mind,fun fact,jellyfish troll was an trollsona of him and this is a kid?sona of me,and same with all the other kids.

Lives in Earth,but in an alternative universe

Name:???? Martinez

Martinez is too long (it’s 8 letters, where you need 6 or 7), so I’ll probably recommend Martine. For the first name… maybe Odel? As a reference to Odell Down Under, a 1995 video game about the ocean/being a fish. It seems like you enjoy the water and ocean creatures a lot, and you have a theme of underappreciated old games here, so I thought it’d be fitting! 

Odel Martine. 

Age:14 years

Strife Specibus:Spade kind,as reference to one of his favorite games,dig dug

The shape of a spade looks kind of like a jellyfish, so that is fitting.

Fetch Modus:relation modus,he relates stuff to another stuff,if he wants an kitten,he will need an 7,number of lifes of cats,if he needs a bar of chocolate he thinks on division signs,they are divided on little rectangles

How about Ordered Jelly-Fish modus instead. It’d act kind of like a tree modus with the Base item at the top, but there’s a relational structure going down. So like you said, for example, if he has a cat in his Main Slot, all branches from there have to be somehow related to cats. So he could have one tentacle that involves the number 9, one tentacle that involves Softness, one tentacle that involves meat, etc. 

Blood color:red??

Symbol and meaning:same as trollsona,jellyfish

Looks too much like a plain squid right now. I might change it to 

This Jellyfish from Yoshi’s story!

Username:i will re-cycle the Joven_Bidente to the way he swaps letters and the desire to see stuff,the fact that he likes pairs and he speaks spanish

what about vivalaAguaviva, theoretically “Long Live The Jellyfish” ?

Quirk:tries his best on perfect grandmar but swaps words and letters,tries to make everything a pair numb#r,uses $ymb°l$ depending on stuff and tries censor when saying sheet,funk,etc.

I don’t think you need the symbols, it clutters too much for a human character who has no real reason to utilize such a quirk.

Special Abilities (if any):he can summon his “fuaa” and destroy everything on a 1meter ratio,also light synesthesia

I don’t… know what this means, the “fuaa” thing. The closest I can find is a meme? Like a psychic energy? But the guy claimed fortune-telling and the ability to raise the dead? And that it’s an internal willforce when you think you can’t do more… I’m guessing this AU world you’ve created is one where people have superpowers, so if you want this, I guess it would be more of a ‘last resort’ power than anything? Him summoning his will in order to effect change around him? 

Light synthesia works fine, though.

Lusus/pet??:he got an betta fish that will prototype to an sprite)

Did the fish raise him or does he have an actual parent?

Personality: shy but alternate to strong

This is a really vague personality! If you want him to be a doom player, you should focus on him being someone with a hard life. Someone who’s not so self-assured, but who is a good ear to listen to. Maybe someone who needs to learn to stand up for himself- the Potential to be strong. To justify the dersite assignment later, you need to make him someone who’s either really worried about the past or future and someone who isn’t satisfied with his current position in life.

Interests:Underrated/old videogames,keychains,ghosts and art

He should also be interested in the ocean and such.

Title:seer of doom

Page of Doom is what I would recommend, because of the fuaa ability and the potential I mentioned. 

Land:hmm….

Land of Frills and Tendrils, maybe? Both references to jellyfish, really. A risky, dangerous land with creeping, dangerous tentacles hidden among the pretty frills.

Dream Planet:Derse

Since Derse was the recommendation in the Glauce review, I’ll agree to keep it here, too!

Design:

First off, not to be rude, but please No One ever submit a double sized sprite with such terrible color artifacting ever again or I will just not be touching it. Anyways here we go. 

Hair: It was just John’s with some missing parts, so I made it not that. I based it vaguely off of the protagonist of Secret of Evermore’s hair, since that’s an old underrated game. 

Glasses: I decided not to leave them just a black blob and instead I made them a pair of goggles. I specifically based them off of the Light Amplification Visor from Doom. I thought it made a lot of thematic sense with his light synthesia. 

Mouth: The big teeth just looked awkward. He’s not a troll, he’s a human. So I made them into smaller, more even-sized. 

Shirt: I didn’t want it to be too similar to John’s, so I moved the outline out a little to make it wider and then reduced the belt size somewhat. I also made it a flat color. Which was so hard. All those colors. All those disparate, artifacted colors… I’ve seen hell. 

Symbol: Like I said, I replaced the squid with the Yoshi’s Story jellyfish. I also changed the color to sea green! 

Shorts: I didn’t want to rip right off the John shorts, so I sprited some new ones that are a bit shorter.  

Shoes: I had to edit the shoes a little to make up for the gap between them and the shorts. I also decided to make them darker just to fit the general grey you’d been going with on his clothes. 

I hope I provided helpful feedback!

-CD

[formerprincess]

A tale written with fangs and claws || Chapter 29

Chapters: 29/? Fandom: Teen Wolf (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Liam Dunbar/Theo Raeken Characters: Liam Dunbar, Theo Raeken Additional Tags: Alpha Liam Dunbar, Slow Build, Friends to Lovers, Dunbar Pack, Bisexual Liam Dunbar, Werewolf Theo Raeken, Alpha Theo Raeken, Canon-Typical Violence, Smut, Mates, Liam and Theo are mates Series: Part 1 of Morning Dew Pack

Liam shares the new about his full shift with the pack, and then he and Theo have some things to sort out.

Liam had said he wanted to keep it between Theo and himself that he could fully shift because he needed time to wrap his head around it. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust his pack or wanted to exclude them but it was overwhelming. Although Liam had not expected it to be that hard and almost impossible. Because the minute his Betas saw him during the morning, they pounced and demanded to know how he felt. Liam was in such a good mood after the great morning run and his time with Theo in the bathroom, but they still worried about their Alpha.

 “Are you okay?" “Do you feel better?” “Did you sleep enough?” “Guys, whoa, deep breaths! Don’t forget to breathe, you all need air.” Liam said and raised his hands to calm the group down. “Are you still feeling sick? Do you feel worse? Will you die?” “Nobody dies here!” Liam said firmly. “I am feeling fine, great even. I....” He sighed and looked at Theo who chuckled and put one arm around his waist to pull him close. “Tell them.” He whispered into Liam’s ear, lips brushed the shell softly, but loud enough for the others to hear.

“Tell us what?” “Are you getting married?” “Are you adopting?” “Did you broke up? Don’t tell us you broke up!” “Look at them, as if they would ever break up. They smell even more in love this morning!” That one was true. Since they both could shift and had their run and their wolfy cuddles this morning, Liam felt an even deeper connection to Theo than before and he knew his mate felt the same. The mated couple now smiled at each other. Liam’s blue eyes shone with happiness. “I fully shifted last night for the first time!” He blurted out and the Betas got quiet.  

“That’s not what I had expected.”, Maya said stunned. The others were not less perplex than her. “You really can do a full shift? Like Theo?” Nolan asked. Liam nodded and smiled. “Yeah.” He said happily. “It’s amazing.” The Betas were quiet for a moment, processed what Liam said, and then: “Show us! Show us! Show us!” 

Liam and Theo shared a look and laughed at their Beta’s excitement. Liam pushed himself off the counter where he had braced his arms on and pulled his shirt over his head. It was still strange to undress and be naked in front of others, but the counter gave him a bit of privacy to completely undress. When he finally had dropped his clothes on the floor, he concentrated on his wolf and not long after felt the sensation he grew familiar with. 

The pack gasped when they saw Liam in his wolf form for the first time. Theo knelt down and gently kissed the bridge of Liam’s nose. “Look at this beautiful wolf! Isn’t our Alpha the most beautiful one?” He raved and Liam grumbled pleased by the compliments. Who would not like to hear his mate fancy about his wolf form?  “He is really pretty. Can we pet him?” Tim asked Theo. “Why are you asking me? It’s still Liam. He can hear you just right and his animal may be closer but he still has his human way of thinking. He just can’t answer with words.” Theo said with a laugh and Liam snuggled into his mate. Theo chuckled softly and wrapped his arms around his mate to kiss Liam’s neck. “My pretty Alpha.” He mumbled softly. “My beautiful mate.”

Liam loved to hear those words and would have loved to return them but right now he could not really do that and just brushed his nose against Theo’s cheek and grumbled happily. Then he stepped forward and allowed his Betas to pet him.  “This is so cool. A real fucking wolf.” Mike whispered devoutly. Yet after a while, Liam realized why Theo didn’t like to be touched when he was shifted. Liam touching him was okay and Liam had no problem with Theo touching him but too many people grew to be pesky and he pulled away to shift back. 

When he stood on his two human legs again, he heard Theo’s growl and smirked. “I don’t know why you’re gaping. Yes, my mate is attractive and gorgeous but he is just that: Mine! Eyes up!” The chimera snapped at the Betas. “I remember a similar situation months ago. The roles were just reversed and you had absolutely no problem with parading around butt naked.” Liam mocked his mate when he put his clothes back on and Theo glared at him. Liam just smiled innocently.  “I was single at that time.” Theo reminded him.  “So?” Liam asked, still keeping that innocent act up. “I didn’t like it either.”  “You are now taken and Betas or not: Mine!” “You two are really possessive of each other. Is this a wolf trait?” Nolan asked curiously.  “It’s a Thiam trait.” Liam and Theo said at the same time while they still looked at each other. Liam smirked and winked at Theo. Theo chimera held his glance and then his eyes dropped to Liam’s lip when Liam playfully bit it. Liam felt quite proud he could get this reaction out of his boyfriend. 

“Come on, I’ll make you breakfast. Somebody wants to help me?” The young Alpha asked and when he walked past Theo, he brushed his fingers over his boyfriend’s chest in a teasing manner.  “We’ll help you.” Maya and Sadie said. “And you tell us how you managed to shift, okay? Every detail.”  Liam laughed and opened the fridge. “Okay.” 

Liam kept his promise and told his Betas what happened. How his condition yesterday led to him shifting into a full wolf. They all marveled at the story and Liam felt the pride rush through the mating bound and when he looked over he saw Theo smile. Something Liam had to mention later when he and Theo were alone. 

“You really like the fact I can fully shift now, hm?” He asked while he grabbed his laptop and settled at the desk in their room.  “It takes a lot to fully shift and it’s an admirable work. Of course, I am proud of you.” Theo said and kissed Liam’s cheek. “You are amazing.” He muttered into Liam’s ear and sucked on the earlobe. Liam moaned softly and tilted his head when Theo kissed his neck.  “You are amazing as well, T.” He mumbled and felt Theo smile against his skin. “And I love you.” “I love you too.” Theo muttered. 

He leaned his head against Liam’s. “Do you want to work or why did you grab your laptop?” “Well, it’s Christmas break but I still need to figure out what to do with my major. Yes, I said I will stick with history as long as I don’t know what I rather want but I still want to try and figure it out, you know?” “You have to do what makes you happy. I want you to be happy.” Liam tilted his head back so he could look at Theo. “And what about you? I know you’re not happy with your job currently as well. So, have you thought of switching?” Theo shrugged. “Not really. It’s just a rough patch. I handled worse.” He smiled at Liam. “Don’t worry, okay? I can handle it.” “I know you can. You’re a tough cookie.” Theo rolled his eyes. “You’re lucky I love you, puppy.” He muttered and patted Liam’s shoulders. “if you need me, I will be in the library.”

“Okay.” Liam smiled and when his boyfriend left, he turned his attention towards his laptop. Before Winter break started, he had scheduled a meeting with the counselor and got a list of potential majors that might be interesting for Liam and now Liam planned on working through that list.  He read through that list and at some point got joined by Koda who curled up next to his person and had Liam pet him from time to time. 

“Cooking. Am I a chef?” Liam asked the little fella and Koda blinked at him. “Right. I like to cook when I have time but I hate to get stressed in the kitchen.” Liam scrolled further down the list. “What about game design? I like video games.” Koda yipped. “But I’m not artistic enough.” Liam muttered sadly and Koda put his front paws against his leg and looked up at the Alpha. Liam picked him up and put him on his lap, eyes still on the screen.  “Mathematics?” Koda yawned. “Literature. Maybe I could become a writer.” Liam asked out loud and raised Koda so they could see eye to eye. The puppy licked his nose and Liam laughed. “Thanks for the support, buddy.”

“Literature? You want to major in literature?” Theo asked when Liam talked about his choices and possibilities later on during lunch. He still had not decided on anything but maybe it wasn’t so far-fetched and he shared his thoughts with his pack. Theo chimera had an eyebrow raised and looked at Liam. “It’s a possibility. Why not?” You look at me like I completely lost my mind.” “It’s just....” Theo shrugged. “You don’t like to read.” “Do I have to read in order to write?” “Would be useful, yeah. You are also not very good with words.” Being brutally honest with each other was their thing. Didn’t mean Liam had to like what he heard. “Wow, thanks, darling. Always nice to get a compliment from you.” He said sarcastically and Theo rolled his eyes. “I’m just being real, sweetheart. That’s almost as if I would switch to major in Spanish.” Theo hated Spanish with a fierce passion. Liam could remember the many tests Theo almost failed and just passed because Liam sat him down to study.

Liam narrowed his eyes at his boyfriend and Theo held his glare relatively unimpressed. “What else do you have?” Liam shrugged. “I’m still working through the list.” He mumbled and continued eating his food. Maybe history was the best for him.  “What about Med? Following in your dad’s footsteps?” Tim offered and Liam grimaced.  “I wouldn’t be a good doctor and besides I have enough blood and pain in my daily life, I don’t need to add to this.” “The second reason agreed, but I can actually see you being a great doctor. A pediatrician. Kids would love you.” “Speaking of kids: Kindergarten teacher, how about that?” Maya suggested. “Ah, yes that would be a great fit.”, Tim said with a nod. “No! No job for Liam where he has access to finger paint and glitter!” Theo strictly said and Liam snorted into his water he had been drinking. “I smell a story behind that.”, Sadie responded with a grin and Liam chuckled. “Uh, I know that one.” Nolan remembered. “The blue handprint on Theo’s truck door.” “On the truck door. On the seats, On the freaking window. With glitter!” Theo growled and Liam laughed “That was a fun day!” “Not for me.”, Theo said dryly. “I even had a handprint in blue on my cheek and glitter in my hair because Liam felt the need to touch my face.” “You looked good.”, Liam said innocently and Theo growled again. “Save it!”

****** Liam had been bored after lunch and decided to clean up a bit. While he started, he had found a box full of things belonging to Theo. He cradled it to his chest and carried it in the library where Theo had moved back to after they ate. 

“Baby?” Liam asked and Theo raised his head from his book with a sigh. He hated to be interrupted when he was reading.  “I’m cleaning up a bit and found this box. Do you want to keep those things inside?” He asked. “It stood in the closet.” Theo sighed again but put his book aside and moved closer to look through the things. It was various stuff and he shook his head. “Not really. If you want something from it, you can keep it, but if you want to throw it away, that’s fine by me too.”

Liam put the box on the ground and sorted through the things. Some old and empty pens, old notepads, papers, two art magazines, things you gather over time.  “And you’re mocking me for being chaotic?“ Liam asked while he sorted through the box of things Theo kept but never really needed. “We don’t live in this house for so long, how did you manage to gather all this already?“ “I gathered it over the years and just stored it there.“ Theo defended himself. “Can I continue reading or do you insist on continue mocking me?“

Liam grinned at him and Theo rolled his eyed before he raised his book again and began reading again. Not for long because Liam found something.  “You have drawing chalks?“ Theo groaned and Liam knew he was stressing it and really going on his mate’s nerves but he couldn’t help it. It was interesting, to say the least, and he was bored but also wanted to spend time with Theo, even though they were not doing something together per se.

“I got it sometime, think it was in a set I once brought.“ Theo drawled. “Why?“ “Nothing. Can I have it?“ Liam asked and grabbed a large drawing pad. “And that one?“ “Sure. I don’t need it. I don’t like drawing with chalk and I rather draw on smaller pads than that. Feel free to do whatever you want to do with it.“ “Kay, thanks.“

Theo hummed and returned his attention back to his book and Liam settled on the floor underneath the window to spread out everything and have enough space to work. He opened the box carefully and marveled at the array of colors before he picked the black chalk and started with the outlines. He didn’t have a complete idea but a vague image in mind. Enough to get him started and give him something, to begin with.

“If you were a hero on a quest to save the kingdom, what kind of companion would you like?“ He asked while smudging some lines with his index finger. He didn’t even need to see it, to know Theo rolled his eyes because he heard the deep sigh from his boyfriend. “An Ork.“ Theo grumbled but didn’t elaborate. “Okay. Thanks.“ Liam said and continued drawing and Theo huffed and turned a page in his book.

It took two minutes and Liam spoke again. “Which shade of red is prettier?“ Theo tilted his head back and let it thud against the backrest oft he couch. “Liam, I swear!“ “I’m sorry, I’m just curious!“ Liam knew Theo wanted to read in peace but he couldn’t help himself. “Liam, I love you, but you are annoying. Like a really overexcited puppy. Think you can let me just read? Pick whatever color you like and let me finish my book!“ “Okay, sorry, sorry.“

Liam decided on one red chalk and began to color what he had drawn before. He stopped every once in a while to rub the chalk and create a better look. Some particles of the chalks got in his nose and she sneezed. “Liam!“ "I sneezed!“ Liam defended himself and tried to refrain from rubbing his nose with his stained fingers. Theo just growled and moved into a better position to read. It didn’t need their deep connection for Liam to know his boyfriend was mad. That wasn’t what he wanted and he bit his lip while he tried not to make too many sounds from now on. When even his sneezing set Theo off, the chimera was pissed as hell. Liam was sorry about that. He knew he could be annoying but he wanted to just tease Theo a bit in the beginning. That it was all serious now had not been what he wanted to achieve. 

“Theo, I’m so….“ “For fuck’s sake, Liam, just shut up! All I want is to read, is this so hard to understand?“ “I just wanted to apo…“ “You’re still talking!“ Theo snapped and looked at him. “And you have chalk on your cheek. Seriously, sometimes you’re worse than a little kid and I feel like your babysitter.“ Liam rubbed his cheek where he supposed the chalk to be and it came back stained with black. Theo’s words hurt but he knew he had brought this upon himself. He nodded and said nothing to his defense. Theo was right, he was annoying and it was better when he stayed silent for a while now. He just had been excited to be a bit creative and be with Theo. Since his full shift, he felt an even stronger connection to Theo and wanted to be around him. Guess for Theo he just came off as clingy.

He quietly grabbed the drawing pad and the chalk and slowly got up again and sneaked out of the room. He walked upstairs into their bedroom and moved in front of one of the window seats to work there. That way he didn’t disturb Theo too much. And to tune out the silence, he grabbed his music player and plucked in his headphones. 

Liam drew what came to his mind and was currently working on a set of beautiful hummingbirds with vibrant colored feathers. He had an idea where he wanted to go with it but it was also fun to play around with the various colors the box had to offer, mix some of them together and create something entirely new. When it was time to cook dinner and Maya called him for help, Liam’s hand were stained with chalk dust and he spent a minute scrubbing them in the bathroom before dutifully cleaning the sink ere he walked downstairs into the kitchen and started cutting potatoes and helping Maya preparing her potato gratin. “Are you okay?” She asked him.  “Yeah. Why?” Liam said with a brave smile.   “You are so quiet. Sure everything is okay?” Liam nodded and obviously, he got better at lying because his Beta didn’t pick up on the lie. Liam was not really okay, he was more or less avoiding his grumpy mate. 

Theo had several moods, one when he was in a really bad one, where he needed to get pushed to the point where he exploded and just yelled out his frustration; but there was also the mood he currently was in, when he was annoyed and pissed, and Liam knew the best thing was to avoid the chimera when he was like that. It hurt, even more, because he was the reason Theo was so mad right now, but that’s how the twenty-two-year-old worked.

When Ever called Theo for dinner, he grumbled about disturbing his peaceful time but he followed her towards the table and sat down to grab something to eat. During dinner, Liam thought Theo’s mood was slowly getting better, but right at the end, Theo received a text from his boss with his schedule in the new year and his mood reached a critical point. He gritted his teeth, scoffed, and slammed the door to the library shut behind him.  “Let him.”, Liam said. “He’s in a bad mood today. We all have those days. It’s human.” 

And he followed his own advice and left Theo to his books. He returned to their room and kept on drawing for a while longer until Theo suddenly stepped into the room and went straight to changing into his pajamas.  “You literally have chalk everywhere, even on your shirt.” He said with a sigh but it wasn’t really fond. More like he was exhausted and fed up with Liam’s antics. “You know, I can wash, that’s not a big deal, and I will clean up after I’m done.” “You look and act like a toddler, you are aware of that? So much for strong Alpha. It’s so exhausting sometimes.” Theo shook his head.

“Okay, I am aware you are in a bad mood, we all are aware of that. But calm down now, okay?” Liam said. He really tried to keep his voice calm, even though his hurt feelings and his anger issues were starting to boil inside him.  “Maybe I wouldn’t be in a bad mood if I had managed to read in peace without some hyperactive human puppy always interrupting me!” “I wanted to spend time with you!” “Well, I wanted to read. But let me guess, if Liam wants something, we all have to drop everything, right?” “I never said that!” Liam called out. “Right. But that’s what you are thinking.” “It’s not. Stop telling me what I think and what not!” Liam snarled. Theo just smiled smugly. “Is the little wolfy getting irritated?” “Stop that.” Liam said with a shake of his head. “You’re being mean.” “I’m just keeping it real. Something you obviously don’t like that much.” Theo sneered. “But really, this is not how I will spend my night. Curl in the bed and cry yourself to sleep because everybody is being so mean to the poor little Alpha wolfy. I think I’m going to sleep in the library! As far away from you as possible.” He grabbed his pillow and his blanket and rushed out. And Liam was left standing there.  “Fuck you!” He shouted after Theo and slammed the door shut. Moments later the door to the library slammed shut too.

It was hard to fight with Theo, Liam knew it would always be hard. But they both were stubborn, they both had their pride, and both could be emotional. Their fights were meant to be nasty and hard. And devastating when the anger receded and the sadness came up. Liam hated fighting with Theo, always had hated it since they became friends. Theo and he had this connection and now they only deepened this connection by becoming a couple and sharing the mating bond. 

And like always when he and Theo fought, Liam felt cold. He put his drawings together and cleaned up, then he washed his hands again and changed into PJs as well before he slipped under the covers. The bed was way too big for him alone and Theo’s side looked strange without pillow and blanket. Liam turned around and decided to ignore this as well as the ache in his chest. He wrapped himself in the blanket to be as warm as possible and tried to fall asleep. 

But the longer he laid there, the more it became prominent he couldn’t fall asleep. His thoughts were with Theo downstairs and he thought about everything. Did Theo feel sorry too? Or was he still mad at Liam? Their mating link was blocked since their fight, he had no idea who Theo really felt. Liam sighed and rolled on his back, stared at the dark ceiling. He missed the chimera, missed his body beside him, his arms around Liam, his scent, his heartbeat, his warmth. He even missed Theo’s smile and the fond way he looked at Liam.  Liam groaned an pulled the blanket over his head, hid from the world. He swallowed and curled up under the covers, hands grabbed the pillow so tight, his knuckles turned white. It felt like his whole body shut down and even swallowing hurt right now. Every bone ached but the worse was his heart. His heart which felt like an ice cold chain was wrapped around it and squeezed every drop of life and every ounce of happiness out of it. It hurt and the longer he laid in bed, the worse it got until he finally couldn’t take it anymore. He threw the covers back and got out of bed. 

Liam struggled a bit on his feet, which was new for him and when he walked towards the door he bumped against the doorframe with his shoulder. It was a short numb pain and he rubbed his shoulder while he tiptoed down the stairs. The house was dark and empty, everyone seemed asleep, and Liam moved carefully.

He hesitated in front of the library and thought about knocking but then decided against it and just opened the door to slip inside. The room was dark too but he could make out Theo curled on the couch. His heart ached when he thought Theo was sleeping peacefully and seemed to not have the same problems as Liam, but then Liam noticed the small whimpers, stifled by the blanket pulled over Theo. The young Alpha slowly walked over and then simply lifted the blanket to slip behind Theo and immediately wrap his arms around him. 

Theo let out a startled sound but Liam didn’t stop, tugged the covers over their heads, and hid his face in the crook of Theo’s neck. Even if Theo kicked him out again, he needed this short moment of being close to his mate. God, he sounded so needy and clingy again... “Liam.” Theo murmured softly. Liam didn’t butch. He wanted to make this last as long as he could. “Liam.” Theo tried again. He moved softly in Liam’s grip, so Liam was forced to move his head too, yet when Theo finally faced him, Liam didn’t dare to meet his eyes. Against Liam’s fears, Theo reached out and softly stroked his cheek. “Please, don't cry.” Was he crying? Liam had not really noticed but now that Theo mentioned it, he realized his cheeks were wet and the tears were rolling down his cheeks. Theo wiped the tears away with his fingers but new ones were falling down immediately. 

And then Theo engulfed him in this tight embrace and a strangled sob escaped his lips before he clung to Theo like he was drowning and Theo was his lifesaver.  “I didn’t want to annoy you.” Liam sobbed and Theo buried his head in the crook of Liam’s neck while he shook his head.  “Theo.”, Liam mumbled. “Theo, please. I’m sorry.” His voice broke at the end and he whimpered. He needed Theo to say something! “Theo, please! Kick me out! Punch me! But talk to me!” He begged. Theo remained silent and Liam grew desperate. Was Theo that mad at him? Did he hate him so much? Liam could not bear this any longer but then Theo suddenly did speak. “I am sorry.” He whispered and swallowed harshly. “I am sorry for being such a terrible mate and making you cry.” “You are not terrible! I am sorry for making you so mad you snapped.” “I’m sorry for snapping.”

Liam sighed. He knew them both, this could go on and on. So he simply pulled Theo tighter. “Come here.” He whispered and hugged Theo as tight as he could without hurting his boyfriend. Theo hugged him back and for a while, they just laid there and hugged it out. 

“I missed you.” Liam murmured after a while. “It’s why I came down. I couldn't stand being separated from you any longer.” “I couldn’t stand it any longer either but I wasn’t sure if I was allowed to come back. If you wanted to see me.” Theo confessed. Liam pulled back and made Theo look at him. “Hey, look at me! I always want to see you. No matter how much we fight, no matter how angry I am, I always want to see you, okay?”

They stared at each other and finally, Theo nodded. “Good.”, Liam said with a small smile. “Can I kiss you?” “You can always kiss me. Even in the middle of a screaming match. You are always allowed to kiss me.”

And so Liam did kiss Theo. Soft and sweet and full of love and it felt like his broken heart snapped into one again. He had his Theo back for good. Maybe it was just imagination but this kiss tasted sweeter than any other kiss they ever shared. Theo sighed into the kiss and returned it as soft as Liam started it and when they finally broke apart, he smiled.  “I love you.” Both muttered at the same time and laughed.  “Everything okay between us again?” Liam asked and Theo nodded softly.  “I had enough emotional drama to last a few months.” The older replied and yeah, Liam could get behind that. 

“So, do you want to sleep?”  Theo shook his head. “Can’t. I’m too riled up. Too many emotions to calm, down and just sleep, you know?” “Yeah, me too.” Liam thought for a moment. “We could build a blanket fort in our bedroom. That way we have something to curl up in, have something to shield us from the world, and it’s a fun thing to pass time. It’s also years since I last build one.” "The last one was on our first Christmas together, right? After the war.” Theo remembered and Liam smiled. “When we watched How to train your dragon and discussed which dragon we would like to train.” He added.  Theo chuckled. “Yeah. Okay. Let’s go build a blanket fort.”

He slowly untangled himself from Liam and the blanket and the stood up and held out his hand for Liam. Liam took it and let himself get pulled off the couch. He grabbed Theo’s blanket and Theo grabbed his pillow before they sneaked back into their room hand in hand. 

In there Liam got pulled against Theo again and he received another soft kiss. “I love you.” The chimera muttered and nosed along Liam’s jaw.  “I love you too.”, Liam said and gently squeezed his arm. “Now, come on, let’s build the fort, then we can cuddle.” Theo chuckled and kissed his cheek but then he let go of Liam to gather everything they needed. If you asked Liam, he would say he didn’t have many talents but building a blanket fort was one of them. He knew what to place where to get the best and coziest blanket fort ever seen. Theo was a great helper and soon enough they had the blankets strapped to the wardrobe and the bed and had created a comfortable and fluffy base with lots of blankets and pillows. 

“Those?” Theo asked and held up a string of fairy lights. Liam looked up from where he had fiddled with his laptop and nodded. “Of course. No blanket fort without lights.” He said and Theo grinned before he got up and hung up the lights on the makeshift ceiling of their little hideaway. Liam had managed to get the laptop running so they had some soft music playing in the background while they worked. 

When they were finally done, Liam was proud of their fort. “It looks awesome!” He said with a proud nod and his hands on his hips while he surveyed what they had done. Theo hummed his approval and then pulled the blanket aside that they used as curtain fo the entrance. “Get your sexy ass inside.” 

Liam chuckled but then crawled into the fort and slipped under the blankets there. Theo joined him not long after and when the curtain fell, it became darker and only the fairy lights and three bigger lights that looked like candles but were LED lights Liam had placed on the side, gave them light. It was cozy, it was secluded, it was everything. 

Theo crawled next to Liam and both laid there, shoulders touching and both on their backs, while they looked at the sparkling lights above them. “We really need to learn to cope better with our emotions.” Liam said after a while.  “We are both emotionally so invested in each other, this will be hard. But you’re right, we need to work on this.” Theo agreed. Liam hummed and slowly reached out to rub the back of his hand against Theo’s before he finally laced their fingers together. “We will work on this together because together is where we belong. And together we will manage it.” He was sure of that. “Yeah. You and me, we’re quite the dream team. We could take over the world.” Theo said with a chuckle and Liam laughed. “Seattle today, tomorrow the world.” He liked that idea and rolled on his side to face Theo. Theo turned his head and looked at him.

“Hi.” He said with a smile. “Hi.” Liam replied with a chuckle.  They looked at each other with all the love and adoration they had for each other and Liam slowly moved closer to put his head on Theo’s chest and toss his arm over Theo’s stomach. “I’m so happy to have you.” He said lowly. 

Theo wrapped his arm around Liam’s shoulder and stroke over his back and between his shoulder blades. “I’m happy to have you too.” He responded and pulled Liam momentarily closer to press a soft kiss on his forehead.  “You’re my favorite blanket fort building partner.” Liam confessed and Theo laughed loudly. “Don’t let Mason hear this!” “Nah, I’m sure he takes Corey over me any day.”  “I’m sure he takes Corey...No, I’m not making this dirty joke!” Liam chortled. “You just did, if you finish or not doesn’t matter. Dirty mind!”  “You love my dirty mind.”  “Oh yes, I do.” Liam pushed himself up so he could lean over Theo. “I’m your naughty little Alpha after all, aren’t I?” Theo smirked. “Damn right you are.” 

He put his hand on the back of Liam’s neck and pulled him down to kiss him. Liam melted into the kiss and pressed against Theo to kiss him back. Soon enough Theo wrapped his other arm around Liam’s waist and completely pulled the young Alpha on top of him. It was not even sexual at this very moment, both just wanted to be as close as possible. 

“I love you so much and I actually loved it when you came to stick around in the library. It’s nice to have you that closeby. Even though I still have no idea what exactly you were doing and just wanted to read at that point.” Theo told Liam in a break between the soft kisses they shared.  “I did some drawing with the chalks, nothing important.” Liam waved it off but he had not counted on Theo now showing actual interest in his work.  “Well, will you show me?” “I can show you one other time. It’s really nothing major.” “Liam, hey. You spent hours with this, so please let me see what you did. I showed you my art too.” That was something he could not argue with and he sighed. “Okay, fine. But don’t laugh.”

He pecked Theo’s lips and then got up from his boyfriend (which sounded dirtier than it was) and crawled out of their fort. He walked to the desk to grab his drawings and carry them over to the fort. When Liam crawled back in, Theo had sat up. “I would never laugh.” He promised Liam and held out his hand.

Liam bit his lower lip and handed the drawings over. He viewed Theo as an insanely talented artist so he was afraid what his mate would have to say about his ragged drawings. Theo looked through them all and took his time to inspect every single one closely. “You drew this? I really had no idea you could do that.” “I can’t draw shit with a pencil but with chalks, it gets easier. Probably because I can smudge the lines or whatever, I’m not sure. I’m better when I can I use my hands fully. I mean, I know it’s nothing compared to your art but it was fun for today.” “This is stunning, Liam. Absolutely amazing. Those hummingbirds are certainly pretty.” Liam smiled softly. “You mean that?” Theo looked at him. “You know I’m not lying to make you feel better. Never have and never will. We keep things 100 between us.” He held up the drawings with the hummingbirds and pointed at one with bright blue feathers and a dark blue head. “I especially love that one.”

“Those are hummingbird fairies.“ Liam explained. “This is their animal form.“ “Hummingbird fairies?“ Theo asked. “They are part of a world I once created inside my head. Mason and I once thought it would be cool to create a video game like Skyrim – I know not very innovative – and I started to invent some beings of this world. The hummingbird fairies were part of that. They can either transform into a hummingbird or be in their fairy form with their little wings and all. They are very rare and most say they don‘t exist. Very shy creatures and usually peaceful, even though they can defend themselves.“

Theo looked at him the same way he had looked at Liam back then at the zoo when he talked about Mykonos. “I take back what I said about you becoming a writer. You should definitively write a book.“ Liam blushed. “This is just one idea and it’s not even very innovative. Also, I don‘t know how to design a game so it will never be a reality. And I don‘t have a good enough idea or a better idea to turn it into a book.“ “I like what you already drew and you can always develop the idea and either work with somebody to turn it into a game or turn this idea into a real book one day. Some bestsellers grew from less than that. You don’t need to have that one idea no one else ever had before you. It’s simply important to pour your heart into it and get your own twist on the thing.“ Theo put the drawings carefully aside and put his arms around Liam to bring them both into a lying position. They faced each other and Theo had one arm over Liam‘s hips, stroking him through his shirt.

“Tell me more.“ He said softly and Liam smiled. “I think it would be cool to have different dragons. But not really as enemies. I mean, of course, some you have to slay, but I think it would be cool if lots of the enemies in the game could become your friends. Like, if you feed the wild animals instead of attacking them, they don‘t kill you but join you, you know?“ “Sounds very interesting. Do you have any main storyline in your mind?“ Liam shook his head and reached out to play with the pack pendant on Theo’s necklace which had slipped out of his shirt. “As I said, it was just a crazy idea.“ “Not really that crazy. You have Mike who has money on one hand and is great with computers on the other. If you two work together, you may be able to realize this game one day, baby.“ “Are you having a fever? Are you delirious?“ Liam asked and felt Theo’s forehead. The chimera huffed. “I’m trying to encourage you here, idiot.“ “Aww, you say the sweetest things, you dork!“ Liam replied dryly and yelped when Theo rolled on top of him and pressed him down on the pillows and blankets.

“Does my little Alpha get cheeky? Guess I have to teach you some manners!“ He teased. “And here I thought you enjoyed me being your naughty little Alpha. Now you want to teach me some manners? That‘s a shame.“ “You seem to like this nickname a lot since you so often tease me with it.“ Theo noticed and grinned. “Maybe.“ Liam said with a grin of his own and then pulled Theo down to kiss him.

Their kiss was sweet and loving and when they parted, both smiled like the lovesick young men they were. “I love you.“ Liam told Theo. “I love you too.“ Theo said and kissed Liam’s nose. “More than the stars and the moon. You are my everything, Liam.“ “You sure know how to make me feel special, Dore.“ “You are special, baby.“ Theo kissed Liam’s lips this time, gently tugging at the lower lip with his teeth. Liam chuckled breathlessly and arched against him. His hands stroked across Theo’s broad back and he loved to feel the muscles shift under the skin and the shirt every time Theo moved ever so slightly. 

When they looked at each other again, Theo’s eyes glowed gold, but not with the unhidden lust and hunger as usual but with fondness. “You are the most amazing person in the whole wide world and I can’t believe you’re really my mate.” He whispered before he kissed Liam’s lips again and gently licked them. 

“I am yours as much as you are mine because no one else gets me like you. No one makes me feel like you do. You too are an amazing person, Theo Raeken.” Liam replied, eyes glowed red, and when Theo smiled at him, this one private smile he had reserved for only Liam, the happy and carefree one that made his eyes light up, his heart skipped a beat and he smiled back. 

Theo looked down and gently put his hand right over Liam’s heart. “When the ground opened again and I could crawl out, that was the first thing I heard. Your heartbeat. Not Hayden’s, not Mr. Douglas’, yours.” He suddenly said and Liam’s breath hitched in surprise. He reached up and laced his fingers with Theo’s above his heart. “Did it scare you?” “I spent my whole time in hell being scared, so yeah. But it also led me out and I knew where to go so I could crawl out. Since then I noticed your heartbeat over anybody else’s.” Liam kissed him gently. “I love you.” It was all he could say right now. He had no words for how happy Theo made him, how amazing it was to hear those words. So he stuck to the simple love confession but when he saw the way Theo’s eyes lit up, he knew his mate had understood him.

Theo curled next to him again, close as possible, and gently kissed Liam’s neck before he rested his head against Liam’s shoulder. They still had their fingers laced together and Liam stroked over the back of Theo’s hand with his thumb. “Have I ever thanked you for helping me break the whole werewolf news to Mason?” Liam asked thoughtfully. Theo hummed in amusement.  “I don’t think so. But you know I only did this to go through with my scheme around that time?” “Hush and take the thanks. Without you, I probably would have never told him. So, thank you.”

“You’re sweet, puppy.” Theo kissed his forehead. “I love this about you. And I also love that you kept your childlike excitement, even though I said differently earlier that night. I am sorry about that too by the way.” “Stop apologizing. We both did things the other didn’t like today.” Liam stroked through Theo’s hair and snuggled closer to him.

“No matter how often we fight, there is no one else I’d rather be with. You are the love of my life, Theo, I want to be with your forever.” Liam muttered and Theo gently squeezed his hand.  “I feel the same way about you, Liam, and I hope I can show you this every day.” “You do.” Liam told him. “In everything you do.”  He meant every single word. Liam was well aware Theo loved him and he loved Theo just as much. They finally got together after years and he would keep it that way for the rest of their lives. They came such a long way and had so many amazing years ahead of them.

Liam sighed. “Beacon Hills, everything we’ve been through, feels like it happened in another life. Trashing my coach’s car, transferring to Beacon Hills, getting bitten and meeting you, me and Hayden being a couple, the Ghost Riders, the war. As if that happened to different people.” “I know what you mean. It’s crazy.” Theo agreed. “I like how it turned out. Especially that you are my boyfriend now.” He sounded proud at the end and Liam’s lips curved into a smile. “Imagine if we had gotten our shit together in high school and had dated there. Imagine how different it would have been.” “Different?” Theo asked. “I’m not sure it would have been that different. Sure, I would have been a lot happier, but the main events wouldn’t have been different, would they?”

“Uh uh.” Liam raised his head so he could look better at Theo. “Take prom for example. We would have gone there as a couple, not just as friends.” “We didn’t go to prom.” Theo reminded him. “Because someone had to land himself in the hospital.” “It wasn’t my fault the hunters came after me! But that saved me the humiliation of dancing so I guess that was something good out of the whole mess.” Theo laughed. “Liam, you can dance!” “I certainly can’t. Drunk me maybe, sober me is like a turtle on ice. Not made for dancing.”

Liam needed one look at his boyfriend’s face to know Theo got an idea. The chimera smirked and sat up before he leaned over Liam to change the song playing on his laptop to something nice and slow. He then pulled the curtain aside and left their fort before he looked back at Liam. “Come on, let’s dance.” “I will not dance with you now! This is too fucking cliché.”  “First of, nobody’s here to judge. Secondly, we are hopelessly in love with each other and when it comes to the two of us we can be insanely cliché, so don’t make a fuss.” “I can’t dance.” Liam argued but still got out of the fort and stepped to Theo. “But of course you can, even when you’re sober. You’re good at almost everything, huh?”

Theo chuckled and pulled Liam closer before he put his hands on Liam’s hips. “I don’t plan on teaching you how to dance the tango. It’s just swaying back and forth, Alpha puppy.” “Easy for you to say.” Liam muttered. Theo naturally moved good in every situation. He was very gracefully and Liam was...not. He was more forceful, had gross sensory motor skills, and graceful wasn’t really something that Liam associated with himself. He still wrapped his arms around Theo’s neck and let his boyfriend guide his hips into swaying.

“You have no idea how you move sometimes, right? When you’re out on the lacrosse field for example. You play and then you make a great shot or manage to outrun your opponent and you get this beaming smile on your face and you just ooze self-confidence. When you’re in that state, you move so amazingly and, Liam, you look hot as fuck. Hotter than usually. And even more attractive than usual. It’s not my favorite look of you but it’s in the top five.”

“How can you say something and sound sexy and sweet at the same time?” Liam was actually amazed by this. Theo grinned. “It’s a special talent.” He kissed Liam’s cheek, then his jaw, then his neck. “I just worship everything about you.”  He kissed Liam’s neck again and gently tugged at the skin with blunt teeth. Liam moaned softly and tilted his head to the side so Theo had even more space. The chimera used it to lick and kiss the skin for a while but then he pressed a kiss on Liam’s shirt, right where the mating bite was hidden, and his hands sneaked over Liam’s side and his ass and then slipped between their bodies to rub Liam’s groin. Liam moaned and pushed his hips into Theo’s grip. His mate used it to stroke him until Liam was fully hard and then he dropped to his knees. 

Liam looked down and gasped when Theo pulled his pajama pants down and right along with it his boxers. His cock sprang free, hard and leaking, and Theo’s eyes flashed. This time they had the full hungry and lustful glimmer inside them. Liam moaned again and bit his lower lip, never took his eyes away from the pretty picture in front of him. 

And then Theo engulfed Liam’s hard cock in his mouth and Liam’s moan turned into a gasp. Theo swallowed him inch by inch, tongue teased Liam’s length all along and licked the underside of his cock, trailed over the veins there, and within minutes Liam was reduced to a whimpering mess. He steadied himself with one hand on Theo’s shoulder, the other gripped Theo’s hair when the head of his cock hit the back of Theo’s throat. His mate was an absolute expert in this regard too and Liam could have come from the sight alone; Theo on his knees, lips wrapped around his aching cock. 

He raised his head slightly and looked at Liam with a mischievous glint in his eyes, then he hummed. It sent vibrations down Liam’s cock and he gasped again. Theo continued to tease him and used his tongue to it as well. “Fuck, your tongue should be forbidden.” Liam groaned and pressed his eyes shut. 

Theo hummed again and then he began bopping his head. Liam’s grip on his hair tightened and not long after Liam started to move his hips and fucked into Theo’s mouth. Theo groaned around Liam’s cock and eagerly continued to move his head. Liam’s other hand also darted to Theo’s hair and gripped it tightly. Theo groaned once more and sucked hard on Liam’s erection. Liam’s eyes flew open again and he looked down.

“You call me naughty little Alpha but I really need a nickname for you. When you do things like this...Oh, fuck...because you look gorgeous...My pretty sinful  Beta.” Liam gasped out and his grip tightened momentarily before he loosened it to not hurt Theo. “I’m going to cum, Theo...”

The chimera looked up at him with his intriguing green eyes and Liam’s heart sped up, more than it already did. Theo kept his eyes locked with Liam’s and then they flashed gold and he sucked hard again which was a point of no return for Liam. He moaned Theo’s name and spilled into Theo’s awaiting mouth. 

His heart hammered against his ribcage and he bit his lips while he watched Theo swallow his cum. When Theo pulled back and released his cock with an obscene sound, Liam reached out and ran his thumb over Theo’s lower lip. “Such talented lips and such a wicked tongue. I surely have the best mate.”  He smiled and leaned down to kiss Theo, licked into his mouth and tasted himself on Theo’s tongue. He moaned.  They were breathing heavily when they pulled apart and Liam gentle nudged Theo towards the fort. 

“Undress and get your ass inside so I can fuck you.” Theo’s eyes flashed gold. “Yes, Alpha.”

I guess it's safe to say Theo is hopelessly in love with his mate and insanely proud of his full shift♥ But as it happens in every other relationship, there are problems and it can’t always be cotton candy and roses. Theo is still relatively new to the whole feelings thing, especially feeling so deep for someone. And Liam is also very emotional. Not always the best combination. Most times it’s perfect, but sometimes it gets too much. Good thing they sorted it out. They need each other so much, I guess that chapter proved it once again.

[weekinethereum]

December 14, 2017

Ethereum News and Links

Protocol

Karl Floersch: Casper FFG in depth

Latest Casper standup call

Parity proposed an unfreezing through allowing some retroactive changes. This specific proposal seems to be DOA.  Phil Daian and Lorenz Breidenbach and Nick Johnson detail what they see as being dealbreakers. [For those of you who want an apology from Parity: Jutta, Jutta again, Maciej. I'm confident I could easily find more examples]

Solidity compiler audit report from Sergio Lerner for Augur

ERC 792: Arbitration Standard

A thorough explanation of all the ways blockchains aren't ready for mass adoption by Preethi Kasireddy

Stuff for developers

Maurelian: when you might consider breaking Solidity best practices

Remix IDE updated

uPort + Ether + Infura + React boilerplate

Kovan testnet hardfork

Video tutorial of Solidity security basics

Joseph Chow: Audit the code deployed on chain, not Github.

Methods for upgrading your deployed code using Truffle

Circular linked list Solidity code

Towards cracking the cryptokitty genetic code

Why Lee Fallat chose LLL over Solidity

Calling the precompiled contracts added in Byzantium from Solidity

CryptoZombies -- learn Solidity by building a game

Ecosystem

EthGasStation: progress on the Safe Low gas price.  Also, the gas price estimator code is now open source.

Ethereum is over 900k transactions a day, or about 10/sec as the block gas limit is around 8m now. Though we should remember that not all transactions are the same in terms of gas cost.

Upswings always make Vlad Zamfir nervous.

"Barclays, Credit Suisse, KBC, SIX, Thomson Reuters and UBScollaborate to advance MiFID II data reconciliation" using private Ethereum chain on Azure.  Going into production to agree on public reference data for compliance.

Graphic: how an Eth address is constructed.  Also more basics on keystores and cryptography

The winners of the Blockchain for Social Impact hackathon.

New whitepaper for Maker's Dai.  Go live on December 17th.

Project Updates

AirSwap's Token Trader is live in beta on Rinkeby

Will Warren promises neutrality toward those who build on 0x

Around the Block trailer on Paratii's player

CryptoKitties is now on Toshi

How Dether (localbitcoins for ETH) is thinking about adding an affiliate program

Project Announcements and Whitepapers

ixo protocol -- decentralized impact exchange

Dock -- professional data and reputation

Interviews, Videos and Talks

Ryan King presenting FOAM with Spatial Index demo at Philly Ethereum

Conor Svensson web3j talk at Ethereum London

Joe Lubin on a Singapore Fintech panel

Griff Green talks Giveth on The Bitcoin Podcast

From blockchain to cryptokitties podcast interview with Jake Brukhman

Kevin Owocki from GitCoin and Mark Beylin from Bounties Networkepisode on my podcast

Stephan Karpischek 15m talk on Etherisc at Blockchain World Conf

Jarrad Hope 20 min talk on Status and decentralization at Blockchain World Conference

Token Sales

SEC halts Munchee sale for securities violations.  Speaking as a non-lawyer, the order details the many ways Munchee promised profits through the Munchee team's efforts. Sounds like a security.

Also see Chairman Clayton's statement.  He doesn't seem to exactly understand the technology but emphasizes the right themes around not scamming Main St.  The scams are distressing to everyone. Clayton even mentions a token he would find to be a utility token and not a security.  I found footnote 7 to be particularly interesting.

Tokenized Debt Payable by Assets. A tokenized SAFT from Dharma Protocol.

Nichols Chirls quantifies valuation differences between tokens and equity

Luke Duncan on governance, network effects and defensible token models

Token Sale Projects

RocketPool 101: Casper staking pool FAQ

Building lending apps using Bloom

IndieGoGo ICO - their first sale is Fan Controlled Football League who I recently saw pitch on Dragon's Den Canada.  Here's the NYTimes coverage, though it doesn't mention that the IndieGoGo site appears to just be an affiliate site for Microventures?  Also: seems to be an ERC20 token that doesn't accept ETH in its sale.

Leo Messi is the latest celeb ICO shiller for Sirin Labs.  Which as a result has of course raised 100m USD. For a hardware company.  [Did anyone else notice that what he said in Spanish doesn't really make sense?]

General

NY Daily News: Man accused of kidnapping friend, robbing him of $1.8m in crypto assets

Kik leaning towards building on Stellar instead of Ethereum.  No shocker there.

Steam dropped Bitcoin over transaction fees

The mission of the web3 Foundation

DuckDuckGo + Brave = private search in private tabs released

Vitalik tweetstorm: Cryptoassets are worth $500B.  But have we earned it?

Linda Xie's list of beginner guides to cryptoassets

The New Yorker on blockchained Estonia

Leonid Bershidsky on Brave's Basic Attention Token: Google and Facebook Too Can Be Disrupted

Dates of note

From Token Sale Calendar:

Upcoming token sale start dates (will start updating this week with 2018 sales):

December 23 – Rocketpool (proportional refund cap, started November 25h)

Ongoing token sales:

Aurora DAO from IDEX

Gazecoin

Neufund ICBM

Debitum

Nous Platform

Bloom

Relest

CanYa

Realisto

FundRequest

Dopameme

Aigang

Hirematch

ScriptDrop

SeedsTokens

WARNING: list may include or even likely includes scams and quasi-scams.  Do your own research and due diligence before putting value at risk.

[I aim for a relatively comprehensive list of Ethereum sales, but make no warranty as to even whether they are legit; as such, I thus likewise warrant nothing about whether any will produce a satisfactory return. I have passed the CFA exams, but this is not investment advice.]

If you appreciate this newsletter, thank ConsenSys

I'm thankful that ConsenSys has brought me on as an employee and given me time to do this newsletter.

Editorial control is 100% me.  If you’re unhappy with the content, blame me first and last.

Sharing

I'd love it if you shared this newsletter.  I included sharing buttons right below the links section and above the calendar. I'm curious whether it results in more sharing.  So far, it doesn’t seem to be. Here's the usual link:  http://www.weekinethereum.com/post/168542901538/december-14-2017 Follow me on Twitter? @evan_van_ness

This newsletter is supported by ConsenSys (surely you have seen that we're hiring?) and Status.im.  Many thanks to both.

Sign up to receive the weekly email.

[viv-heart]

Title: Picatrix Author: viv-heart Pairings: Draco Malfoy/ Hermione Granger Rating: K+ Warnings: none Wordcount: 3647 Status: completed Summary: Dramione, EWE, not your usual bookstore-AU

A lot of things changed after the war, but Hermione's dedication to her causes wasn't one of them. When she is dragged into a new antique bookstore, the unexpected happens. Written for purplehedgehog13

FULL TEXT UNDER THE CUT & LINKS ON MY PROFILE!

Today is the 20th birthday of the first HP book and somehow I spent the whole day writing fanfic and listening to the audio book. I remember how I got my first hp book pretty well (It was actually the thrid one, Prizoner of Azkaban, and my mom brought it to me in a small book shop during our holiday when I was six or seven. I had nothing to read and the lady owning the shop showed me the new popular series and I was hooked instantly, not caring that it was the third book. It's still my favourite :D)Anway, this fic is a gift to purplehedgehog13 for being one of the people who left most comments/reviews on my fic Of ends and beginnings. Thank you so much again and I hope you like this!Thanks to Nantai for betaing

“Hermione? Are you alright?” Cho waved a hand in front of her friend’s face.

Hermione blinked a few times before scanning her surroundings quickly. Three pairs of eyes were looking at her, various degrees of worry and boredom in them. “Yeah, sure,” she said quickly and smiled. “I just zoned out.” “You do that quite a lot lately,” Padma said before taking a bite from her sandwich.

“I am sorry. I just have a lot on my mind,” Hermione replied with a shrug.

“Just don’t let that happen on a mission,” Marcus muttered and Hermione rolled her eyes.

“You know better than anyone that I am at my best when we do field work.” “Doesn’t change the fact, that you haven’t been yourself lately,” Marcus said, looking at the others for support.

“Oh, come on, Flint. Give her a break. It’s not like we have had some interesting work those past weeks. I am sure the boredom is just getting to Hermione,” Cho said, leaning back in her chair.

“Speaking of which, we should probably go back to work,” Hermione glanced at the clock, before reaching back for her jacket.

“Why should we?” Padma asked. “We will be finished with that pile of trinkets in less than an hour, leaving us with nothing to do the rest of the afternoon.” “Even if it’s a pile of junk, we have to take it seriously. One of those things might have some powerful curse on them and if we aren’t paying attention, we could injure ourselves!” Hermione protested and Padma rolled her eyes.

“Really, Granger? We all could do that in our sleep,” Marcus joined in. “We are the best curse-breaker team in England. Relax. Everything will be fine.”

Hermione went to say something, but bit her tongue when she saw Padma’s expression.

“Fine,” she muttered. “We can stay here a bit longer.” “Good,” Padma grinned in satisfaction. “But back to the topic: have you heard about the new antique bookstore that opened just around the corner?” Hermione shook her head.

“Rumours say, that it has the rarest of books, both wizard and muggle and that if they don’t have what you are looking for, they’ll look for it for you and get it within a month. It has been open for less than a month, but everybody says, that they’ve gotten their special orders already. Apparently, it usually takes less than three days!” Padma explained with excitement. “Do you understand what it means?” Hermione grinned back at her. “We might finally get our hands on Picatrix!”

Cho exchanged an amused look with Marcus, as she took a sip from her tea. Hermione and Padma were obsessed with the idea of getting their hands on Picatrix and talked about it on every occasion.

“I guess we are going to stop there before we make our way back?” Marcus asked.

“Oh, you don’t have to join us!” Padma replied.

“We do,” Marcus sighed. “Or you won’t come back to work for the next two days and I really don’t want to deal with that rubbish all by myself.” “And what am I? Decoration?” Cho rose an eyebrow and Hermione snorted. “Well, you could do the paperwork,” Marcus winked at her, earning himself a glare.

“Forget it, Flint. It’s your turn to do paperwork!”

Hermione stood up, supressing her laughter as good as she could. “We should leave now, if we want to get to the bookstore. Marcus is right after all, we all love our books.” “You mean Marcus and I love our books, you and Padma are obsessed with them,” Cho muttered, but stood up as well.

They paid for their meals and left the small cafe, chatting along the way to the bookstore. They stopped in front of a recently renovated Victorian building that had two shops on the ground level. A sign over one of them announced, that the store was called “Magical books” and Hermione rose an eyebrow.

“This is a muggle shop, isn’t it?” she asked.

“It is. And the owner of this shop has quite the sense of humour,” Marcus said, before pushing the door open.

They entered, and Hermione closed her eyes immediately, taking the smell of old and used books in. It was amazing, and she had to agree with the owner, that the books felt magical, even though she was clearly standing in the muggle part of the shop.

“Let’s go,” Padma pushed past her in an attempt to go to the magic section, dragging Cho with her.

“Go ahead,” Hermione told Marcus, who was waiting for her. “I want to look around here for a bit and will join you later. If you find what we are looking for, get me.” Marcus nodded and left without another word. He had had the pleasure to go shopping for books with the girls before and knew, that the one he had to worry about was Padma, even though Cho was with her. Sometimes one person wasn’t enough to restrain her.

Hermione wandered through the aisles, occassionally stopping to scan the back of a book before putting it back, until she found something that really piqued her interest.

She took the battered copy of the Iliad from the shelf and opened it, closing her eyes to take in the smell again. She knew that this edition had amazing artwork in it, but she could look at it later.

“Granger?” somebody called from behind her, and Hermione startled, letting go of the book in surprise. Luckily, the person standing behind her caught it mid-air and Hermione exhaled.

“I am so sorry and thank you,” she said, turning around quickly, her hand outstretched in a silent request to the stranger to return the book.

Hermione blinked a few times when she saw who was currently looking down at her, amusement on his face.

“It’s fine,” Draco said and offered her the book. “Did you find what you were looking for?” “Um, I didn’t have time to look properly yet,” she said uncomfortably. “But why are you asking, Malfoy? I mean, this is the first time we’ve seen each other in what, five years, and it’s quite the weird way to start a conversation.” “Oh. You don’t know,” Draco stated, his hand shooting up to scratch his neck as he shifted from one foot to another. “I own this place.” “Oh,” Hermione echoed. “Padma didn’t mention that. And neither did Marcus… I am sure they all didn’t know.” “Marcus as in Flint?” Draco asked in confusion. “Is he here too?” Hermione nodded. “Padma Patil, Cho Chang, Marcus and I came here together,” Hermione explained and Draco rose an eyebrow.

“That’s quite unexpected,” he said slowly.

“Well, we are looking for a book, and Padma heard that you get rare books for people.” Draco smiled suddenly, tilting his head a bit and a strand of hair fell into his face. It was longer than in school and ruffled, complimenting his sharp features perfectly. Hermione’s breath hitched at the sight, and she couldn’t help herself but to question how she hadn’t noticed before how attractive he had become. He had always been pretty, but his personality had always overshadowed that, making him absolutely unattractive to Hermione. Now that he was acting decent to her now, she could appreciate his looks.

“I am almost sure, that we have what you are looking for, and if we don’t, I can get it,” he said and Hermione nodded. She felt like she had ended up in some kind of parallel universe or a dream. But then, why would she dream about a ridiculously hot Malfoy?

“I have to say this is all quite unexpected,” she said suddenly. “You owning a shop with both muggle and wizard books and trading the rarest of rare. I would have never expected it.” “People change,” Draco shrugged. “But would you kindly tell me now what you are trying to find?”

Hermione’s brows furrowed. “You’ve asked me before?” she asked and sighed when Draco nodded. “Sorry. We are looking for Picatrix. But the original Spanish or even better Arab versions! Have you heard about it?”

“Of course. Who hasn’t? But I have never seen it before, at least not in the old translations you want. What do you need it for? I could get you the Latin version easily.”

“That’s none of your business,” Hermione replied harshly and Draco’s face fell.

“You are right,” he said. “It’s not my place to ask. We should get your friends now and go over the details of the hunt,” he turned on his heel, but Hermione caught his arm.

“Look, Malfoy,” she said, “that was uncalled for. I am sorry. It’s just… I have my reasons for wanting it and I don’t like talking about them. But we all are mostly interested in the archaic counter-curses. We are curse-breakers, you know.” Draco’s features relaxed slightly. “I understand. It’s just that most people aren’t too happy to see me and come here only because I am their last resort. You are one of the people who actually have every right to be angry at me and… Well, you are civil to me. It’s really unexpected and I don’t know what to say,” he shifted from one foot to another. “I am just really sorry about everything.” Hermione nodded awkwardly. “Maybe we should get to the others?” she said and heat rose to Draco’s cheeks.

“Sure,” he said and led her to the magical part of the store.

“Malfoy!” Marcus called out as soon as he saw them. “What are you doing here? I am surprised that you are still alive!” “I own this place,” Draco said automatically and Marcus rose an eyebrow.

“You are hunting down rare books?” “Growing up surrounded by the Malfoy and Black libraries does this weird thing to you, where you are an expert on rare books,” Draco shrugged. “I mean, your home library is huge, but I had two which were both even bigger, with my mother’s inheritance consisting of their family library and all.”

“That’s true,” Marcus admitted. “Makes quite some sense if you put it like that.”

“Now let’s go over the details. Granger here said you were looking for Picatrix. I have to admit, that I haven’t seen one yet, but I am sure I can manage to get a copy for you given enough time,” Draco said. “Usually I am able to deliver within the week, but my deadline is a month. With this, it might actually take that long. If you manage to get your hands on the book faster than I do, you can cancel the order any time. The price of the book depends on the quality of the copy I am able to get.” “The price doesn’t matter,” Padma rushed to say. “What matters is that we get the book.” “Alright,” Draco nodded. “Do you have any questions?” “No,” Cho, who had just checked her watch said. “If they have, they’ll owl you. We have to go now or our boss will kill us.” They all left reluctantly, Padma and Hermione looking wistfully at the books, and made their way back to their office, where a pile of trinkets was still waiting for them.

Ooo

Two days later, Hermione found herself standing in front of the book shop once again. She had a day off work, as they still hadn’t gotten any real work thanks to the summer break, and had wandered off, her feet carrying her here.

She pushed the door open and stepped inside.

Draco was sitting at the small table at the back of the room, reading, and looked up when he heard the bell signalling that he had a customer.

Hermione walked over to him, and he smiled at her.

“Back so soon?” he asked. “I don’t have your book yet.” “I came to look at other books,” Hermione replied. “Like the Iliad from last time.” “Ah, the one you almost dropped.” “Exactly,” she said.

“Well, I believe I sold it earlier today,” Draco said and Hermione grimaced. “I hope you are joking,” she muttered. “I was really looking forward to it.”

“Maybe there is something else I can offer you? Like the magical version of the book?” he pulled out a beautiful leather-bound copy from his bag that was swung over his chair, and wiggled his eyebrows. “It’s even better than the muggle version. The illustrations are the same, but they move.”

“Let me take a look,” Hermione took the book carefully and opened it, scanning the pages with interest. “They aren’t the same,” she said finally and put the book in front of Draco, who had been watching her. “Look,” she said, pointing at one of the illustrations, “this illustration is missing in the other one. And in the muggle version, you have a picture of Agamemnon and Achilles arguing over Briseis on its place, not Apollo shooting the Greeks!” “You are describing the third muggle edition,” Draco drawled. “The first has this exact same motive there.” Hermione snorted. “No. The second edition had this motive there. The book you had was a first edition and had Agamemnon and Achilles.”

“If you know so much about the book why do you even want it?” Draco asked, leaning back in his chair.

“It’s beautiful,” Hermione shrugged. “Will you get it for me? You know, since you sold the copy I wanted.” Draco rolled his eyes. “On one condition.”

“Which would be?” “Have dinner with me,” he grinned at her and Hermione blinked a few times, reminding herself that she was indeed awake.

“Excuse me?” Draco sighed. “Come on, Granger. You’ve grown up quite nicely and you are still one of the only people who can match me on an intellectual level. And I know that you and Weasley broke up – I’ve read about his engagement to Parvati Patil in the Prophet.”

“Fine,” Hermione ran a hand through her hair. “I’ll have dinner with you. But I want the book.”

“It’s a pleasure doing business with you, Granger,” Draco grinned up at her. “I’ll pick you up at seven.” ooo

Draco picked Hermione up exactly at seven, just as he had promised and they went to a small Italian restaurant in muggle part of London.

“I still think it is weird that you frequent muggle London,” Hermione said after they ordered.

“Magical London wasn’t exactly welcoming after the war,” he shrugged. “I just wish I had had taken Muggle studies or had any muggleborn friends. It would have made things a lot easier.” “You could have asked me,” Hermione took a sip from her wine.

“You hated me.” “I testified in your favour at the trials,” she shot back and Draco’s cheeks turned slightly pink.

“I haven’t thanked you for that yet,” he whispered.

“Just let it be,” Hermione sighed. “I just want to let everything behind. We all lost too much and deserve a new start.” Draco smiled weakly at here. “Is that why you aren’t usually dating? You want to let everything behind?” Hermione chuckled darkly. “No. I don’t usually date, because it’s hard to have a relationship if you are constantly away. Sure, we don’t have much to do right now, but we work all around the world the rest of the year. I mean, Marcus and Oliver Wood work only because Oliver travels a lot too, and Marcus tries to be at the same place as him if it’s possible.” “Well, under these circumstances I might be the perfect match for you,” Draco smiled smugly.

“Oh really?” Hermione rose an eyebrow.

“Really. I travel a lot too, with looking for books and all, and I am quite flexible,” he winked at her and Hermione snorted.

“You are unbelievable.”

“I tried to tell you that all during school, but you didn’t listen,” he said, putting on his most angelic face and Hermione rolled her eyes.

“Yes, because that was what it was. I am sorry to inform you that my memory serves me just right. But really, why did you ask me out?” she asked, not looking at him, and playing with her glass instead.

“I told you. You are smart and pretty. And a good person. I would be stupid to not ask you out.”

“Even after everything?” Hermione looked up at him.

“Especially after everything. Though I have to admit that I am surprised you agreed. It is you who has more than enough reasons to hate me. I have nothing that I can or want to hold against you, as it was my behaviour that caused our rivalry and hatred back in school, and I am deeply sorry about that.”

Hermione nodded, biting her lip. “When did you stop believing in… that?” she asked finally.

“End of the fifth year, just after my father had been arrested. Everything went to hell after that and when I saw that he treated his followers as bad as his enemies I reconsidered everything. Some ideology wasn’t worth going to Azkaban or losing my life, but he had leverage and I had to follow the orders. I wish I had had a choice.”

“I am sorry for asking,” Hermione whispered and Draco gave her a crooked smile. “It’s fine,” he said just as their meals arrived.

After that, the tension lifted considerably and they chatted about their lives after the war and got into several heated discussions about books and curses and books about curses. The last one ended with Hermione jumping up from her chair and pointing her finger at Draco, announcing that she couldn’t understand how he was collecting rare books if he clearly had absolutely no idea about them.

They were asked to leave after that and Draco paid, before their exited the place, laughing.

“I am so sorry,” Hermione said, trying to catch her breath. “But you were wrong.” “I wasn’t!” Draco protested, a smile on his face as well, and pulled Hermione closer by her hand. “Should I bring you home?” he asked and when Hermione nodded, they walked together to her place hand-in-hand.

“Well, that was nice,” Hermione said awkwardly when they stood in front of her door and Draco grinned.

“It was. Thank you for going out with me,” he said.

“Thank you for inviting me out,” she replied.

“May I kiss you now?” Draco asked, his eyes on Hermione’s lips.

Hermione blushed, and nodded slightly and Draco leaned down, capturing her lips with his. She put her arms around his neck as he pulled her closer.

“Well, that’s what years of sexual tension do to you,” Draco said after they finally broke apart, his cheeks flushed and lips slightly swollen.

Hermione, who was still in his arms, huffed and hit him playfully on the chest. “That’s your excuse now, isn’t it?” Draco leaned down and pressed another chaste kiss on her lips before letting go of her. “It is. And I think I should leave now before we test the effects of that sexual tension any further.” Hermione rolled her eyes, but grinned to herself as she watched him leave.

Ooo

They went on several dates in the following three weeks, until Draco announced that he had to go out of the country to get Hermione and her friends their book.

He had been away for six days when an owl knocked at Hermione’s window late at night, disturbing her reading. She stood up and walked over to let the animal in and took the letter after offering it a few treads.

Hermione opened it and squeaked in delight when she skimmed the contents, grabbing her jacket immediately, before running out of her apartment to get to the nearest apparation spot.

She apparated to work and ran to Draco’s shop from there, knowing that he had a flat above it. The light was still on in the shop and Hermione pushed the door open.

The bell alerted Draco of her presence once again and he stood up from his chair behind his desk when he saw her to greet her.

“Where is it?” Hermione blurted out instead of a greeting and Draco rolled his eyes. He pulled the book from his bag, but lifted it over his head when Hermione reached for it.

“Haven’t you forgotten something?” he said with amusement, looking down at Hermione’s pouting face.

She stepped closer to him and stood on her toes to kiss him, and Draco swung his free arm around her waist.

Hermione snatched the book from his other hand suddenly, stepping back, her eyes glued to it. Draco cursed himself as he had gotten distracted, lowering his arm subconsciously.

“I still don’t know why you wanted it so badly,” he said, stepping behind Hermione and resting his chin on her shoulder as to peek into the book alongside her.

“If I am not wrong there is a way to reverse the effects of the Cruciatus,” Hermione explained, not looking up from the text. “I promised Neville I would help his parents a long time ago and I might finally be able to do it.” Draco hummed, indicating that he had heard. “But don’t you want to thank me to finally getting it for you?” he drawled into her ear and Hermione reached behind to pat his cheek with one hand. “Later?” she asked and Draco sighed before stepping around and swooping her up into his arms together with the book.

“If you have to read it immediately, at least do it in my bed. I can’t let you catch a cold,” he said, carrying her to the back door of the small shop that lead upstairs and to his comfortable bed. “That way, I actually might get my reward some time next week.” Hermione laughed and kissed his jaw and Draco grinned back at her.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“It’s the least I could do.”

*Picatrix is a magic book from the middle-ages. Read up on it on wikipedia. It's quite interesting!

I hope you liked it and I would be really happy if you left some comments and reblogged! (Celebrate the HP anniversarry by commenting on the fics you read today. You will make your writer's day!)