#she knocked my socks off when i first saw her. my surprise when i learned everyone hates her!!!!!

[colorful-horses]

My most toxic opinion is that Cosmobug is one of my favorite miraculous designs

[lydiahosek]

An Ounce of Prevention

[My story for this year's @inklings-challenge! Thank you for a third great year!]

“What are these made of?” Pendula handles one of my mangled Keds with fascination.

“Uh…canvas. It’s a type of cloth.” I have no idea what their frame of reference might be for anything from our world, what Dylan may or may not have already told them. “And the soles are rubber…I think.”

“How do these last you any more than a day?”

"Well...the terrain's not as rough."

I hear a thump and then Picea squeaking in surprise. I turn and see the toddler staring at one of Dylan’s shoes, the red bulbs in its sole blinking. Dylan laughs. He picks the other one up and taps it against the floor for her to see. She is dazzled by the light show.

Dylan has always been an imaginative kid. An overturned watering can becomes a supervillain helmet. Elaborate dramas are concocted not just for his action figures but for his toy trucks, his silverware, his socks. His room is practically papered with his drawings of heroes, monsters, adventures. So when he told me that he had found another world in the back of the laundry room and invited me to see, I don’t think I could be blamed for agreeing to a visit without packing a change of clothes.

I should count my blessings. After all, how many children would keep this all to themselves, or among their friends, rather than bring Mom in and risk her spoiling the fun? This is hard to do, though, with my feet still stinging from the teeth of fifty or so things with too many legs to be fish and too good at swimming to be lizards. I had barely registered the marbled sky suddenly above us and the water suddenly up to our ankles before a crowd of them was barreling down on us from every direction. Swallowing a scream, I scooped up Dylan and made a break for the nearest structure. Pendula saw us coming, let us in, and introduced herself to me. I learned that Dylan met her and her granddaughter the last time he was here, but the hungry little creatures outside are new.

As I took in the space into which we’d been welcomed, I was reminded of an old picture book I used to have, The Elves and the Shoemaker – though in this case our host is both. The spacious room is lined with shelves of materials and tools and jars of who-knew-what, with a long table in the center piled with foot-shaped objects at different stages of creation. Pendula herself looks like she was once tall but now walks stooped. Her skin hangs in folds around her face but her complexion is rosy and elastic. Her movements are quick and sharp, as when she caught a small wooden bowl when Picea first bounded into the room and knocked it off a table. Her voice is raspy but not weak, as when she asked Dylan to take the little girl to the other side of the room (as close to a division between the living area and working area as there is) so she could focus on bandaging my feet.

Now she brings me a roll of something thick and shiny, gold with streaks of red like veins. She begins to unroll it and wrap it around my calf. “This is a strong hide coated in worpwax,” she says. “It will be pliable again once heated, so I’ll have you and your boy fitted and shod before nightfall.”

“Oh…well, thank you, but, um…” I have no idea what this material is worth or how much Pendula might charge under normal circumstances for whatever she has in mind to make for us. Even if I did, I am certain she doesn’t take American Express.

Apparently the guilt of those unaccustomed to unconditional hospitality is multi-universal, because she understands and shakes her head at my concern. “This is overdue. I meant to at least take Dylan’s measurements last time, but he left so suddenly. Granted, it was still the dry season then, but nobody should be out in this country unprotected.”

“Dry season?”

“Yes. For about a month the waters draw back to only the deepest parts of the valley, but you can count on them – and their inhabitants” (she very lightly taps my foot) “– nearly up to the door the rest of the year.”

I’d noticed outside that the door, the whole house, was about a foot off of the ground on a stone foundation. I’d noticed once we were inside the effort it took her to close the door, how heavy it was, how very, very little space there was for anything to get through once it was closed. I glance out the window and see other houses not far away. A breeze has picked up and miniature waves lap against their sides.

Again, Pendula seems to know what I’m thinking (perhaps telepathy is another feature common to this world, or maybe I’m just more obvious than I thought) and laughs. “Just a matter of preference. I could move up to the hills and have my house near blown down by the winds. Or I could move beyond the mountains and stuff it with featherweed to keep out the poison arrow flies. Or...”

I sigh. To think Dylan just stumbled into this place one day. What if it hadn’t happened to have been during the dry season? What other seasons await…here or back home, for that matter? Just this morning Alec and I were discussing whether we should let him take his bike to the library by himself. That should seem like nothing compared to this, but somehow now I'm only more uneasy at the thought.

Pendula holds the hide against my feet and legs at various angles and marks it with a tiny blade. “My Parsonsy, she was the same. She would have stayed in this house barefoot all her life. But if she doesn’t leave, she doesn’t sell her candles.” She nods her head backwards. I look and see another window, in which sits a pale pink candle, carved with an intricate design and embedded with colored stones. “She doesn’t learn to make honey bread from the market stand next to hers.” The corners of her mouth turn up nearly to her eyes. “She doesn’t meet an honest, loving ironcaster and bring me back a Picea.”

We both turn to the children. Dylan’s shoes are now on his hands and he crawls on the floor, growling. Picea alternately runs to and away from him, giggling.

“Who knows? Maybe someday she’ll go to visit him.” She smiles, then stands up and takes the hide to the table and picks up a large curved knife. “Wherever she goes, though, one thing is sure: she will have proper shoes.”

I keep watching my son. He’s always been an imaginative kid, and the more reality he is forced to face the more I worry. Now he has two whole worlds of it to deal with.

He did tell me about this one, though. He knows enough to know not to deal with it alone. And when the day comes that he’ll have to…well, before it comes I’ll have to make (keep making?) him some proper shoes, too.

[r0chrok-blog]

Who is the toxic one?

I was so excited to play BG3. I didn't bother with early access cause I wanted to play it all at release. I downloaded mods for the game the moment the game finished downloading cause I prefer playing RPGs with mods. My main goal was to create a beautiful as hell pretty boy to romance that hot as bloody hell vampire Astarion. I wanted to create a character that would knock his socks off in the beauty department. Astarion was worth it.

Behold! My Durge, such a pretty boy, you wouldn't think he'd need to bang corpses.

I roleplay my Durge as morally grey, leaning on black. He's a dark guy, charismatic, a Shadow Sorcerer (mods) and a Bard. I spent all of Act 1 crafting what type of person he is, why he is making the choices he is making and for the most part, Larian has done a great job of providing the dialogue options and choices for me to do that. Whether I saved the Grove, Raided it, or left them all to rot, I at least felt like I was able to come up with reasons why my Durge would do it. Now I admit, that I created my boy to romance Astarion, but I had no idea what type of character Astarion was and I'm the type to get heavy into roleplaying my character so if the romance didn't happen, then it didn't happen. I'm not going to pick dialogue options just to please a companion nor would I use mods to fake a connection that isn't there, at least not on a serious playthrough.

Lucky for me, Astarion was all over my dark morally grey edgelord. They really did have a connection and I found that my Durge actually fell in love with Astarion to the point of wanting no one else but him.

Even if he felt that Astarion was only using him, picked up on that during the third sex scene (that was just a replay of the first sex scene and picked the cuddle option). Even if Astarion didn't feel the same, my Durge was trading his blood for the shred of intimacy that came with the act. I guess you could say he was prostituting his blood for intimacy. Even false intimacy.

So imagine my surprise when Astarion confesses that he was doing the same, but for protection.

I saw them as two lost souls who always dreamed of finding someone like the other and now that they did, they don't know what to do. They're both learning how to love and they're both terrified of losing the other.

Once again, Larian did a great job of giving me choices here. I didn't want to roleplay as Dr. Phil, knowing all the answers and what's healthy and right. My Durge was not a healthy person. He would question Astarion's attraction to him, and he certainly wouldn't tell Astarion that they shouldn't have sex. This leads to Astarion telling him that he could be so much more. This is something my Durge can believe in. After all, it was always Astarion who seemed to have great insight into my character, he's the one who notices Durge not feeling well, and the one who treated him with kindness after the Bard incident. My Durge also thanks Auntie Ethel for the same thing and its the reason he doesn't bother her when she can't help them with the tadpole.

Durge was ready to accept this new type of relationship with Astarion, something deeper and more meaningful. My Druge is a sexual guy, but sex meant nothing if it wasn't with the man he loved. Cuddling in the tent, talking for all hours of the night, these are the things I pictured my Durge and Astarion doing. Now sharing his blood wasn't for false intimacy, but true, real intimacy between him and his lover.

Astarion gives him the courage to fight to the death against Bhaal. My Durge wanted to live more than anything, and honestly would have just chosen to kneel and serve Bhaal had it not been for Astarion's passionate plea for him to not become Bhaal's mindless puppet.

My Durge wouldn't have been able to face Astarion unless he had a total Victory. So death it was.

When he was brought back, he knew he wasn't suddenly going to be a good little boy. He wasn't redeemed, merely given a second chance to live again, for himself, free of any other influence but his own. Once again, Kudos to Larian for giving me the options to roleplay this out.

Now we come to the infamous Ascension mission. Naturally, my Durge thinks ascension is for the best. He loves Astarion, wants to see him rise above Cazador, take his power for himself, walk proudly in the sun. Those spawn were dead already, they couldn't be released, killing them would be a waste and their souls would just wander the Fugue plains or wherever the faithless go. What did it matter if they were sent to the Hells? My Durge worried about Astarion's mental fortitude when confronted with the past, but once Astarion made it clear that ascension was what he wanted, then my Durge went into goblin mode to give him just that. Ascension meant ultimate freedom, security, and safety for the man he loved.

So far, Larian did a great job here and Astarion's speech after Ascension was breathtaking! Kudos to Neil.

"You hold your breath while I speak..."

I actually was! IRL

Anyway, Everything was fine...well, Act 3 as a whole was leaving much to be desired, but other than that it was fine.

Then comes the long rest and the Astarion conversation.

I take a look at my options and see that everything is most certainly NOT fine.

For some reason, Larian decided to ASSUME DIRECT CONTROL over my Durge and assign motives to him that were not there before. I either ascended Astarion for Vampirism and Sex or I'm a massive fucking bitchass moralizing Karen who suddenly needs Astarion to "Learn a lesson" *Finger Wag*

Everyone keeps saying how Astarion becomes toxic after ascension, but I completely disagree, It's Durge/Tav who becomes the toxic party here. Sure Astarion falls back on Act 1 antics but that doesn't at all compare to the toxicity Durge can bring to the table.

He proves to Astarion that he was just a selfish fuck who wants only pieces of his body, either the blood or the penis.

He's a self righteous gaslighter who dumps the ritual all on Astarion's head.

This time, I have no way to roleplay this garbage, Larian does a total 180 on me, this is NOT the Durge I've spent hundreds of hours crafting, this is now Larian's Durge and now they are going to give him motivations and behaviors, to hell with your roleplay!

Honestly, if Larian was going to take over my character's personality like this, then why couldn't they just give me a voiced protagonist. Cause isn't this type of crap supposed to be what silent protagonists are meant to prevent? It's supposed to give you plenty of options without costing the studio and arm and leg in voice recordings. There are several dialogue options they could have written that all led back to the recorded audio.

"I want to be yours forever."

"I just want you to be safe."

"You gave me the courage to fight and I'm glad I gave you the courage to the do the same."

And let's say you get past the first gauntlet of crap dialogue choices, you're given more if you opt to say yes to becoming a vampire.

Reading his thoughts without his consent.

Then verbally and even physically attacking him.

And over what? His THOUGHTS! Not even words he says to you, but thoughts in his own private head that you choose to pry into.

And what do you get, that he thinks you're better than him. Apparently, that's an insult to people. It's clear that he has low self-esteem issues and the response to confirming those issues is to kick his balls, berate him, compare him to his abuser (With not a ounce of proof), tell him he'll be lonely without you...

Which btw is just abusive insane behavior. It's like telling your ex that if you don't want them then no one else will. Mind you, Durge knows Astarion has issues with thinking he isn't worth anyone loving, so you pretty much play on those fears. When I saw that dialogue option I couldn't help but think of Raphael's line at the start of act 3 if you say he wants your soul in exchange for the hammer.

"My My, you do think highly of yourself."

Granted, I'm complaining about dialogue options I didn't take cause I just started ranting here. But my point, is, which one of them is truly the toxic abusive partner here? Considering that ascended Astarion is punished for dialogue he doesn't say in everyone's playthrough, romances that the player isn't even experiencing.

Like someone telling me that ascended Astarion is abusive because of his romance with Karlach.

You mean this Karlach?

I'm sure that all things considered, she would prefer abusive Astarion to my Durge.

TL;DR Seriously, I didn't think I would write this much. If we're going to judge a character based on dialogue options, whether we take them or experience them or not. The clear winner of the abusive partner awards go to Durge or Tav without a doubt. The sheer amount of shit you can say to Ascended Astarion without him tearing your freaking head off is just crazy. That alone is testament to how much he loves Durge.

So far, I've had multiple playthroughs of this game (some of which I added to my retelling above cause it makes up my overall canon roleplay for my Durge), all romancing Astarion cause I can't stop and yeah I always ascend him. I just have to say, bad form on Larian's part. IMO, I don't need dialogue options to break up with Astarion as a mortal if I speedrun to the end, I need them to write in more varied options post ascension after the first long rest. Don't decide what my character's motives are, don't hijack my freaking character! Fix that Larian!

**I do not hate the devs, they did a great job on this game, I just think that taking over a person's character after 100s of hours of crafting who they are is a mistake. This is a fantasy game, I don't need a lecturing, I do not want to roleplay as a Karen, sex addled freak or user of my romantic partner (against my will). I'm not saying those other options shouldn't exist, but just that it wouldn't hurt to add in one or two more options that aren't hostile, or a user.

[tetsunormous]

Prove yourself useful

pairing: dom!Kenma x f!reader x spectator!Suna x Spectator! Osamu

genre: smut (18+), established relationship, post time-skip university, gamer boyfriend

word count: 2.4 k

warning: thigh riding, exhibitionism, voyeurism, swearing, hair pulling, mentions of edging, spanking (?), degradation

It’s just past 2 in the afternoon and your lecture finally finished. University is nothing like what you grew up thinking it would be, but it would be a lot worse if you didn’t get to live with your boyfriend.

You met Kenma during your first year and it didn’t take long for the two of you to begin falling for each other. He is more complex than you’d ever imagine and everyday you learn new things to learn about him. At the surface level he’s incredibly successful; being a youtuber, a pro gamer, a fucking CEO, all while taking university classes. However, Kenma is so much more than that.

The Kenma you know and love is the Kenma that’s cooped up in his gaming room spitting insults at his friends while they practice for a match they have later on in the night. The Kenma that you find yourself daydreaming about is the one obsessed with your apple pie and insists it's never too hot to eat right out of the oven. Your Kenma doesn't show the world all his little quirks, but you’ve learned to understand all of his many facial expressions and what he needs at the time. Everyone sees Kenma as this shy intelligent man who prefers to keep things to himself, which he is, but your favourite Kenma is the one he only lets out behind closed doors.

For someone so reserved none of his following would ever expect him to be the kind of lover to share you with others. No one would ever suspect Kenma for being the kind of lover to get off on seeing you completely ruined and embarrassed. This version of Kenma is definitely the one you find the most interesting because he kept it from you for the first year of your relationship, but two years in and his friends have seen more of you than you could keep track of.

Just thinking about him gets you worked up and it's times like this that you’re grateful for online classes. You tiptoe into your shared bedroom to discard the panties you’re currently wearing. The mere thought of riding his thigh gets you so excited the pair of black lace you previously wore didn’t stand a chance. You stare at your reflection in the mirror, your outfit isn’t anything special but it's his favourite. The sweater you’re wearing just big enough to cover your ass, sleeves long enough to hang past your fingertips, no bra or panties, the sheer thigh high socks that never fails to leave him hard, and the little cat ears resting on your head he bought for you months ago.

If he saw you now, there’s a chance you’d get your way.

You knock softly on the door before entering. The blinds are shut and there's a purple hue emitting from his LED lights. He’s sitting in front of his three monitors with nothing but a pair of sweatpants and his headset on, “Kenma? Are you in a game right now?”

His back is towards you so you begin to walk towards his desk, closing the door behind you. Osamu and Suna have seen the two of you naked plenty of times but for some reason, you still get a little shy. You wave at them on screen as you stand behind your boyfriend and you can hear their remarks through his headset.

“Oi, I think a little kitty wants to join before we play tonight”. Suna is always the first to say something, but Osamu definitely teases you more.

“You didn’t tell us we’d get a special treat today, Kodzuken”

Kenma stares blankly at his friends before turning to you, “Hi pudding, you finished with class?” he asks as his eyes wander down your body. You can see a slight smirk form on his lips before reaching out to give your hip a squeeze, “Miya was right, what a special little treat you are”

You know Kenma is observant but you can’t help but act a little cuter when there’s an audience around. “If you’re just practicing for now, can we cuddle Kenken, I missed you”, you ask with a slight pout on your face and your sweater paws reaching out for his arm, eyes glancing down at his bulge.

His eyes soften a bit and he chuckles at your act, “yeah yeah, sit on my lap you little brat”

You happily oblige and sit on his left thigh. Your head leaning on his shoulder as he presses a kiss to your temple. With your arms resting on his shoulders, you begin playing with his hair and rocking your hips ever so slightly.

“We haven’t seen you wear those little ears in a while y/n, don't tell me you put them on after class just for some cuddles” A blush creeps onto your face as Suna continues to tease you about your intentions.

“Awh, don’t hide your face from us y/n. Kozume has shown us you’re not really as shy as you seem, did Suna’s little comment really make you blush that hard?”

You feel your boyfriend nudge you lightly with his shoulder, a breathy chuckle leaving his mouth. “She knows I won’t fuck her till tonight yet she still climbs up onto my leg without panties on, she can act shy all she wants but we all know how shamelessly needy she is” You lift your head from his shoulder with a surprised look on your face. He’s still staring at his monitor, fingers busy with the controller, “you didn’t think I’d feel how wet you are? Your pussy is soaking through my sweats kitten”

The boy's laughter rings through the headphones and a whine escapes your lips. He takes his headphones off and has them resting around his neck before putting his controller down. You feel his hands under your arms and he positions you so that you're sitting on his left thigh facing his desk, legs resting on either side of his.

“Awh Osamu, look at the little kitty pouting cause her big bad boyfriend turned her away”

“She’s always so needy, aren’t you y/n? And in front of us too? You like putting on a show and having everyone see what a slut you are, huh”

Your thighs squeeze around Kenmas as your entire face starts to become red. You can hear your boyfriend clearing his throat before landing a hard smack against your thigh. “He asked you a question kitten. If you’re going to be a needy slut and come in here while we’re practicing, at least show some manners”

“Y-yes Samu” you whisper, “I like having you watch”

All the boys hum in unison and Suna leans back in his gaming chair, leaving his controller on the desk. “Well since you interrupted practice, I think it’s only fair you give us something in return, isn't that right Kenma”

“Suna makes a good point. I treated you so well last night cause we both knew I would be busy until later tonight, and I wouldn’t be able to give you the attention you need.” His slender fingers weave through your hair at the base of your scalp before pulling hard, exposing your throat for his friends to see. His nose softly traces your sensitive skin, inhaling your scent, “I let you cum all night long, but here you are with your greedy little cunt rubbing itself against me trying to get off”

“Maybe you need to be more mean with her, she should know better than to come in here if she isn’t going to make herself useful”

“You hear that?” Kenma’s other hand travels up your sweater and pinches your hardened nipple making you hiss in pain. “Should I listen to Osamu and be extra mean to you so you learn how to act?”

All three boys are now smirking at you but that just makes your body more aroused. Your pussy is throbbing and it takes everything in you not to start grinding on his leg. You feel him flex his muscles and you can't help but to cry out as the additional pressure on your clit sends an electric shot throughout your body.

“The poor baby can’t even respond”, Suna chuckles and pretends to pout “you are just a dumb little whore, aren’t you y/n?”

You let out a whine as your eyes meet Kenma’s. His cold stare alone asserts dominance over you and without thinking your hand reaches out to touch him. You feel a sharp pain as he smacks your hand away, “I don’t remember giving you permission to touch me kitten”. He yanks his hand back from your hair causing you to jerk forwards and grab a hold of the desk for balance. “We all know you won’t get allowed to cum later on but you will put on a show for us and prove you aren't just a useless slut”. He leans back with one arm resting on his armrest, “shall we make things interesting boys?”

Osamu stares intensely at you before laughing in your face, “Yea, let’s see if she can prove herself. If she can’t, I don’t think she deserves anything tonight”

“Y/n can be more than just Kozume’s dumb fuck, right? You gonna put on a show for us?”

Your mouth parted and eyes wide, you whip your head back to meet your boyfriends but he only smirks at you. “You have eight minutes kitten. Your hands stay on the desk and I won’t be touching you. If we hear a peep slip out of your lips, you lose. You better ride my thigh like you’re chasing the last orgasm you’ll ever have because if you fail to cum, I will edge you all night long to the brink of insanity, but all you can do is watch me fuck my fist instead.”

Osamu and Suna are rubbing themselves through their sweats as they snicker at our boyfriends rules. They continue to tease you but all you can focus on is the way Kenma is looking at you. He reaches back to tie his hair into a low bun and bounces his leg lightly, “are you ready?” he asks with his eyebrows slightly raised and a smirk. All you can do is nod back in his direction as you feel him flexing his thigh. He reaches for his phone and you watch as he sets a timer for eight minutes, “alright kitty….start”.

Your legs squeeze around your boyfriend's thigh as you begin to roll your hips. You shimmy yourself forwards a little bit so your clit can press against the base of his quads every time you rock forwards. Kenma was right, you're so wet it’s almost embarrassing how your own juices have lubricated your folds. Even against the fabric of his sweats, your pussy is drenched with your own arousal, helping you grind against his leg with ease. Your teeth sink into your bottom lip, trying your hardest to control your breathing so the overwhelming pressure doesn’t cause you to moan out loud.

You can hear the two boys teasing and laughing at how filthy you really are but all you can think about is chasing that O. The noises coming from your riding, the way your juices have dampened his pants, making a wet slapping noise every time you rock. Your fingers are gripping his desk hard and all you can do is throw your head back, chest heaving, trying to swallow your whines as you start to feel the tension building in  your stomach. “I can feel the way your pussy is twitching every time you rock forwards, sometimes close isn’t she?” Kenma moves forwards and speaks softly by your ear, “You only have three more minutes, why don’t you let us hear your pretty voice hmm?”

“Oh y/n, you look like you’re close to cumming, we’ve never heard you this quiet before. I bet it would feel even better if you moaned for us”

“Suna and I always talk about how pretty and desperate you sound, let us hear you”

The constant egging didn’t help but it definitely made you more needy. They all knew how loud you were when Kenma would stuff you full and just as you let out a heavy breath, your boyfriend flexes his muscles. Your mouth falls open as you roll faster, knowing your orgasm will happen soon. The way his thigh feels against your slick folds should be illegal, it shouldn’t feel this good before he even touches you.

“Oh I think someones going to cum, show us how you fall apart. Ride my fucking thigh and imagine how much better it would be if my cock was in your needy hole”. Kenma now palming against his dick as he watches your eyebrows furrow, your eyes squeeze tight, your cheeks glowing , the baby hairs sticking to your forehead, all while you bite down on your bottom lip trying your hardest to keep all your noises inside. You look absolutely stunning to him, falling apart over his leg. He keeps flexing his thigh at a fast pace to help you reach your high, no longer caring about the challenge. He’s so mesmerized by the way your pussy feels as it’s throbbing, and how your legs squeeze harder against his as you completely come undone.

You can hear the boys let out soft moans as you cum all over your boyfriend's thigh with a force that even you’re surprised about.

“Fuck Kenma, you get to see that every time?”

The timer goes off and you limp over the desk, “fuck off Suna, consider yourself lucky the two of you got to get off to her”, he says with a smile on his face.

“We know we’re very lucky,” Osamu says chuckling, “ thank you y/n, we’ll definitely win our 3v3 later”

Kenma looks over at you and pulls you close to him. He slips his hand under the sweater and rubs your back, “you did so well baby, I’m surprised you didn’t make a sound”

“Promise I did good? D-does this mean I get to cum later?”

“You really think I’m going to forget why this all happened in the first place? You just came all over me and you’re already thinking about getting stuffed huh” he cradles your face with a faint smile on his face. “You did so well, so we’ll see” and presses a kiss on your lips, “for now, you can stay here for the next while and sit in embarrassment as they continue to tease you about you cumming just from my thigh”

© tetsunormous 2021 lmk if you want to be added to my tag list

[miekasa]

your dad!levi headcanons made my day. would you happen to have any thoughts about dad!eren?🥺

Unfortunately... I do 🤒🤒 he’d be such a determined but fun dad, like I don’t think he'd be completely lax, but he's not an authoritarian either, but he definitely butts heads with his kids when they get a little older and more rambunctious, and you gotta remind him to be patient with them because... because they're exactly how he was when he was 8 😭😭

He was stupid excited when he found out you were gonna have kids. Like, way more excited than you thought he’d be; you’ve maybe mentioned kids in passing or casually, and he was never negative about the prospect of them, but he had never shown this level of excitement before.

He gets even more excited when you find out you’re having twins. And then reality hits him that you’re having twins. That means two of them. At the same time. Yeah, he might have been excited about one, but two... the whole dad thing really kicks in right there. 

He has this period of time where he’s definitely still supporting you and being positive throughout your pregnancy, but then he’ll lay awake at night scared shitless of the fact that he’s gotta raise two kids. He starts freaking out so bad, Mikasa has to slap some sense into him. 

He’s losing it one night at her place, completely having a downward spiral of doubt and anxiety, going off about what ifs and how maybe you’d be better with someone else being a dad to them and Mika literally slaps him to shut him up. “You are going to be a dad to those kids, and you’re gonna be a good one, too, Eren. Nobody’s saying you won’t fuck up, but you’ll have help along the way.” 

He feels better after that (his cheek hurts like hell for two days tho), and the reassurance from Mikasa and you really does help, and he’s back on track to bouncing off the walls about having kids. 

Obsessed with the concept of baby clothes (“Babe, are they really gonna be this tiny??”), but he doesn’t understand the sizing of them. Is there really that big of a difference between four month olds and ten month olds?? He hasn’t grown that much in six months, why would they?? 

Don’t even get him started on baby shoes, he thinks those are completely ridiculous: “Their toes are gonna be the size of my pupils, why would we put shoes on them?? That’s dumb, we’ll just get those fuzzy socks to keep em warm when they’re cold, I don’t wanna squash their growing toes.” 

He cries when he holds them for the first time, because, they are, predictably, tiny. Tinier that he ever could have thought imaginable; he can hold is son and his daughter with one hand each and it’s an incredibly tender and heartwarming and humbling thing to him. 

He literally cried more than you throughout the whole delivery, too. He was a complete emotional wreck; happy and jittery one moment, anxious and nervous the next, crying no matter what, and yeah, he might have passed out once or twice, but don’t mention it. 

Gives the twins a “house tour” when you take them home from the hospital, narrating it every bit of the way. He holds them both to his chest, slowly parading around your house like, “And this is the kitchen, and this is the fridge where we keep your baby mush. It tastes bad, I tried it, but hopefully you’ll like it.” 

Your daughter looks like you, but also like Carla; and your son has damn near all of Eren’s features, and they both got his green eyes (lucky them). Eren is obsessed, and loves playing peek-a-boo with them. 

When his paternity leave is up, he figured he’d go back to work first and leave you at home with the kids to give you more time to rest and let your body have more time to adjust after giving birth. Half-way through his first day back, he calls out early under the pretenses of being sick because he misses you guys that much. 

He calls out sick for the remainder of the week too, and finally by Friday he sits down with you and is like, “I know we said I would go back to work first but I don’t think I can do it, babe. I wanna stay and hang out with them all day before they’re too big and have to go to school.”

And that, is essentially, how Eren comes to the conclusion that he wants to be a stay at home dad. It doesn’t surprise you, or anyone really, it was only a surprise to himself; but it was a surprise to him that nobody else was surprised. 

“What do you guys mean you ‘saw this coming?’” he questions you, Mikasa, and Armin sporadically, “I could have gone back to work if I wanted to!!” To which, you look around at his friends, before Armin finally speaks up, a slight roll to his eyes, “Eren, you can hardly leave them with me or Mikasa for two hours. How did you expect to make it through the work day.”

When they get a bit older, he’s the champ of playing games with them. Acts out the most dramatic “deaths” when he gets shot by a Nerf gun, becomes the most convincing doctor when playing fake hospital, and has learned a pretty damn impressive Mickey Mouse impression to entertain them. 

It’s your daughter that turns out to get most of Eren’s... determined personality. She might only be three years old, but she can argue with him as if she graduated from law school, and swears he never wins with her. How could he; it’s like arguing with himself, please they both stomp away and have to cool down after. 

They make up pretty quick tho, because Eren hates it when they’re mad in general, much less mad at him or you; and he sulks to you, borderline whining about how he doesn’t want her to hate him. You reassure him that she does not hate him, she’s just... feisty like he is. 

It’s her twin brother that consoles and calms her down, because he’s the more tame of the two. By the time Eren’s knocking on the door to their room to talk it out and apologize, she’s already knocked out, leaning up against her brother as they both take a nap. (It’s a sight that could bring him to tears, and he slowly closes the door and goes to cuddle up to you, while he waits for them to finish napping). 

He absolutely loves to lift them up, and even has they get bigger, he insists they’ll never be too big for him to hold them. Both he and the twins get a kick out of having them hang off his arms while he spins around in a circle like a little human sprinkler. 

Family picnics and/or beach days happen often, and more often than not, it ends up with Eren and the kids coercing (see: pulling) you to the water or to play with them.

By the end of the day, Eren’s laying on the blanket lazily eating a sandwich hich you’d packed earlier, with his son sat criss-cross on his stomach. He teases him by airplaining the sandwich near his mouth, only to take a bite of it himself after, because he adores the betrayed exclaimation of “Daddy! No fair!” Eren’s always sure to give him a bite for real after, and a little kiss on the head to make up for it. 

Your daughter sits in your lap, half-asleep, even tho moments before she was oh-so determined to play volleyball against her dad again (“And I’m gonna win, mommy, watch! Daddy’s tall, but I can win!”)

He lets them draw/color/paint on his back. He’ll just lay down on a blanket in the living room and let them go to town. Face painting, too, though that’s for when they’re a bit older; he learns the hard way that a two year old can have pretty rough hands. 

The complete and utter disappointment and betrayal in his eyes when he hears your son proclaim that he thinks Jean is “cool.” Eren has to take a lap, he can’t believe his own kin would say some shit like that. 

Your daughter loves Mikasa, thinks she’s the absolute best person in the world, and always asks if she can be the one to babysit. They both like Armin, too, but Armin’s gotta stay away from your son for a bit because for whatever reason, his blonde hair is very amusing to him, and the kid’s got a pretty strong grip. (“Stop bullying your Uncle Armin, it’s not his fault he’s blonde.”)

You often catch him doing push ups with either one or both of them on his back, and the kids fucking love it. They’re cheering him on, counting completely out of order about the amount of push-ups he’s done, and clapping every time he comes up again. It becomes his favorite workout. 

He swears they’re his best friends and his favorite people in the entire world. He does everything with them: getting the oil changed in his car, going to the store, picking up the mail. He just loves being around them and swears he’s gonna be the best dad for them. 

[joshslater]

Jägermeister

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She traced the raised text on the side of the square bottle and looked at the indifferent stag on the label staring back at her above the fraktur font on garish colors spelling out "Jägermeister". It looked sinister in the back alley light. The perfect bottle to fill with a cursed hex potion. She took another swig. What more harm could it do that it hadn't already? She thought back at the past few hours and if she should have done something differently.

Accepting the bachelorette party in the first place was of course a huge mistake. She was surprised to hear from Kathy at all, given how frosty it had been between them over the summer. But this wasn't about any of them but Beth's wedding. Kathy had taken it on herself to arrange the bachelorette party and all the guests would show up as fairies. She didn't have to partake in the kidnapping or anything, just show up at the booked venue at the given time. She accepted.

They had the nightclub for themselves until nine when they would open up for the public. The bouncer checked her off from a list and right inside Kathy was handing out goodie bags with plastic tiaras, fairy wands, and other items for the evening. "I put something special in yours. Don't share it," she said with hushed voice, then continued cheerfully "Welcome prosecco straight ahead at the bar".

On her way over to the bar she had a glance in the bag and to her surprise saw a full-size bottle of Jäger. It made no sense why Kathy had put one in her bag. She wasn't even sure she was allowed to have a personal bottle inside the bar. Perhaps that was the game. Wait until the celebration was over and the bar opened for the public, then accuse her of having smuggled in some liquor. Nah, that was too contrived. She was an evil bitch, but a cunning one.

Happy to be rid of Kathy she hurried to the others who had arrived before her. Plenty of familiar faces, and a few new ones as well. The prosecco was cheap, but the bar staff kept topping up everyone's glasses as the noise level in the room slowly and steadily kept rising.

What she had thought would be a pleasant chat with old acquaintances turned out to be much more labor-intensive. Apparently a lot of the girls had been informed of the fallout between her and Kathy, but with a few exceptions they had only heard Kathy's side of the story. It wasn't outright lies, or consistent inaccuracies either, but she learned Kathy had invented lots of different distortions of the truth and spread them into different groups with no interactions. Why was she invited here at all if she had just poured poison in everyone's ears the past few months? Perhaps it would look suspicious if she hadn't been, though she certainly had worked up lots of reasons why she shouldn't be invited.

"She's been kidnapped. They are 45 minutes away!" someone announced through the speaker system. There was a short pause in the chatter before it resumed, if anything invigorated by the news. She wasn't sure how many glasses she had had, it's hard to count when you never actually empty the glass, but she saw a few of the girls peeling off the group and heading for the restroom. She felt she needed that too.

With the muffled chatter of the bar outside the restroom and stall doors she sat down on the toilet, more than tipsy, exhausted, and distressed. How could she have missed what Kathy had been doing to her reputation over the summer? She glanced down into the silver foiled paper bag and saw the top of her bottle of Jägermeister. Fucking Kathy! Well, at least she had known she needed a drink.

She unscrewed the cap, filled it with the dark liquid, and downed it. She winced at the herbal horror and put the cap back on the bottle. The high proof made her throat and chest warm. Then it spread to her bowels. Then she really started to get concerned. She tried to stand up, but fell back onto the seat. The warmth, now turned to heat, was spreading out into her limbs as well. She could feel sweat breaking out as well as shivers as she slowly lost consciousness.

"You OK in there?!" someone asked, knocking hard on the door. "Yeah" she answered back, immediately shocking her back into reality when she heard her own voice. Was it reality though? She looked at her body, still sitting at the toilet. Her legs, while still freshly shaven, looked way more muscled, as did her arms. Her blouse was open with all buttons ripped out, exposing her chest and stomach. It was clearly a man's torso with a flat chest, faint six-pack, and to end it all dangling at the bottom, a dick. "Eh. OK, dude" replied the woman on the other side of the stall door. She had answered her with a man's voice.

She stood up, this time without any problems. It felt like she was sober, or at least way less drunk than just seconds ago. Or how long had she been in there? She bent down, grabbed her panties, and quickly pulled them up. There was the sound of a snap somewhere and the panties felt limper. She dropped them, grabbed the tutu, prayed that at least something would fit, and pulled them up to her hips. It stayed up. She was still wearing her black converse and her white and pink striped shin socks. She stepped out of the panties and stuffed them and her tattered blouse into the bag. She noticed several tattoos on her arm and chest as she did that.

She braced herself and stepped out of the stall. The mirror wall right opposite showed a lean man with shaved head wearing a tutu. This must all be Kathy's doing. She couldn't even begin to understand how.

What followed was a walk through a packed bar with drunken women, all of which believed he was part of the entertainment, and none of whom had any qualms about putting their hands on him, squeezing his pecs or ass, or trying to pull his dick and balls. A few even tried to rip his tutu off him. "Ladies, ladies, there's time for everyone, but first I need to get out and have a smoke," he tried. He was soon standing panting in the alley next to the bar with three cigarettes and two lighters in his hand that he'd promised to return.

[comfortscripts]

May I Have This Dance? ¬ Steve Rogers

Plot - After retiring his shield, Steve's partner realises that he seems to be missing something.

Requested? Yes/No

Genre - ☁️️Fluff ☁️️

Note/Warning - Steve didn't return to Peggy after Endgame (I refuse to accept that ending honestly), I think this is GN but please let me know if I have used fem!pronouns, also the reader wears a dress in this so if you are uncomfortable with that be aware.

Word Count - 1.7k

After your husband Steve retired from the superhero living, life seemed dull in his eyes. You could see that his once vibrant baby blues had lost their sparkle, their joy for life.

Whilst him having more time meant that your relationship thrived, Steve was missing something and you were missing him being truly happy.

It was Sunday and a rule of the Rogers relationship is that Sunday was an "Old School Day".

No technology, no going to the city and no current news or media of any kind.

It took a while to get use to but you soon learned to love it because it meant that you had the whole day with your soulmate, no distractions. But today was different, there was one thing that had taken up your entire focus all day.

A few days prior, you were in line at the supermarket when you spotted a flyer.

DANCE YOURSELF BACK TO THE 40s!

Have you ever wondered what a 40s dance was like?

Well if the answer is yes, get yourself down to the Michaelton Hall this Sunday at 7:30pm

The cashier was a motherly looking woman in her late 60s named Dorothy, her family had owned the supermarket here since the 1920s and being a cashier here was her first job. Twice a week she would come down and "relive her youth" as her husband always jokes.

"I thought that might catch your eye" Dorothy spoke after watching you inspect the flyer. "The old music, the clothes and just that feeling of a simpler time. I'm hoping to convince William to take me but getting him to dress up like a princess is more likely than getting him to dance."

You laugh at the woman's joke but mainly at the idea of William in a frilly dress. William and Dorothy had been married for 52 years but the only time William ever danced with her was on their wedding night, a story that you thought was sad but Dora took it in her stride.

"Well I am thinking that this might be a good way to get Steve out of his funk, even for only a night" You say with a wistful look on your face whilst piling fruit into your shopping bag.

"What a wonderful idea my dear!" Dorothy exclaimed whilst scanning the final item "There is a quaint little vintage store about half a mile out of town, I am sure you'd find a dress to knock Steve's socks off"

Smiling at the woman, you hand her some cash before taking one last look at the flyer "You are like a fairy godmother Dora. Have a lovely day and hopefully see you at the dance".

By the next morning, you were keen to start prepping for the Sunday surprise. Giving your husband a kiss goodbye, you headed off to 'run some errands'.

First stop was buying the tickets, then that left you with finding the perfect 40s dress.

You headed out of town to the vintage store Dorothy mentioned but you were not prepared for how beautiful the shop was. Flowers in corners all over the place, fairy-lights decorated the clothing racks and old pieces of sparkling jewellery was displayed throughout the store.

You could have spent hours in there, it felt like a visual time machine but it seemed luck was on your side. As you strolled further into the store, you noticed a stunning pastel floor-length satin dress with light embellishments near the sleeves. That was exactly what you needed.

Everything was ready. Tickets were bought, dress was found and Steve's old military suit was ready to be worn. All you had to do now was keep it from your husband till Sunday.

Making it to Sunday evening was difficult, you had nearly exposed the plans twice but thankfully Steve believed the excuses you came up with. But now it was time to get ready.

"My love, guess what I found the other day in the attic" You call out to your super-solider husband. "Your old army uniform. Perfect condition as well".

Handing the outfit to Steve, you see his eyes light up with the memories of his time back in the 1940s. Although he looked only slightly older than he did the last time he wore it, it was like looking back in time.

"Wow, I didn't think I would ever see this again." He spoke caressing the material.

"Steve, do you think you could maybe try it on again? I would love to have a glimpse of what use to be the fashion" You asked carefully, trying to make sure he didn't suspect anything else.

A small smile graced his face. "Of course, I probably would have wanted to try it on either way" And with a laugh, he headed upstairs to suit up.

Whilst the super-solider was getting ready, you slipped into your dress and quickly slipped on an oversized shirt which made it look like you were wearing a long skirt and t-shirt. Applying a bit of makeup before double checking that your purse was ready with the tickets, car keys and some other essentials.

Hearing footsteps descend your staircase, you turn around to a fully suited and confident looking Steve Rogers. This man has managed to make you fall more in love every day for the past 6 years but in this moment, he took your breath away.

"You look so handsome. How did I ever get lucky enough to call you my husband?" You express as you reach up to lay the corner of his collar down. Even though you compliment your husband all the time, Steve still flushes a bit red at the sweet words.

Leaning in to give him a small kiss, you suddenly remember that you are on a time constraint. You pull back with a mischievous grin dancing on your face.

"Oh no, I know that face. What have you done?" Steve asks with a little chuckle. Instead of responding, you grab his hand and head out to the car. After instructing him to get into the passenger seat, you settle yourself in the driver's seat and start the car whilst Steve sits beside you watching like he was trying to solve a puzzle - the puzzle being you.

"I have a surprise for you but I am going to need you to put this blindfold on whilst I drive us there" With a grin on your face and your hand offering a silk blue blindfold to your incredibly confused but handsome husband.

Cautiously Steve reaches for the blindfold and puts it on, he would trust you with his life so why not trust you with a small surprise.

After driving for 15 minutes or so, Steve feels the car stop and turn off.

"Wait one second" You say before he hears you open your door.

Bubbling with excitement you quickly discard of your t-shirt, place some kitten heels on and apply a sultry shade of red on your lips before throwing anything you don't need in the trunk.

Walking over to Steve's side of the car, you calm your nerves slightly with a deep breathe. Opening the passenger door, you take a hold of Steve's hand and carefully guide him towards the entrance of the hall.

Sounds of Moonlight Serenade songs fill his ears as he enters, still completely oblivious to his partner's scheme. He notices that it is far warmer in this area and that he can smell a mix of perfume and whiskey.

"Okay baby, when I count to 3, you can take off your blindfold" You finally say.

"1"

"2"

"3"

As Steve removes the silk blocking his vision and is immediately hit with a feeling of nostalgia. The hall looked like something out of his memories; men and women dressed in 40s fashion dancing the night away, a small band playing all the most popular songs from the decade he yearned for, men who reminded him of Bucky trying to pick up girls at the bar.

Steve thought that he was blown away until he saw his Y/N. The person who made life worth living, who made everything seem light again. There they stood, looking like they had just walked off the silver screen from an old movie. Steve never really believed that he could live such a happy life but somewhere along the way, he must have done something right because now he is married to an angel.

Walking up to you, he placed his hands on your waist and looked deep into your eyes. Drowning in Steve's ocean blue eyes was a favourite past-time of yours but this felt more than that.

"I noticed you have been a bit down since you gave up the shield and I couldn't see you frown anymore." You whisper quietly as if you were nervous that this plan wouldn't work.

"I know I say it constantly but I love you, Y/N Rogers. Your kindness, your care, your effortless beauty, you." Steve recited, filling every word with pure love and appreciation. "Sometimes I think that I am no one if I am not Captain America or I don't belong in this world but you. You, Y/N, you made me realise that you are my home, not the past. You are the only one I need in this life-time or any other life-time because you taught me who I am beyond the shield."

Tears start to well up in your eyes as you hang off his every word.

"This dance is amazing but what makes me happy is that I get to spend tonight and every night with my soulmate" Steve takes a step back and extends his hand. "So, may I have this dance my darling?"

Reaching for his hand, you make your way onto the dance floor amongst the other couples. As the song dies down, Stella by Frank Sinatra starts filling the hall with a romantic atmosphere and you feel Steve place his hand on your hip before placing another in your hand. This was truly a night to remember.

As you sway with your husband, you let your eyes wander to the other dancing couples and near the centre of the dance floor, you spot Dorothy and William smiling and swaying like teenagers again.

All you can do is hope that you and Steve will be dancing together when you are old and grey.

[weasel-b33]

500 Miles (j.p x fem!reader)

Description: A few years after the birth of your son Harry, you and your husband James recall the beginning of your relationship. (NO VOLDY I CAN NOT DO THAT TO MYSELF) 

Warnings: Fluff, Kissing, A little Swearing, idk Cute Daddy James, Prolly many spelling errors I wrote this late and I am very tired...

 (THIS IS MY FIRST TIME EVER WRITING SOMETHING KINDA SIRIUS hehe SO IM SORRY IF IT IS TERRIBLE) 

Also the dates may be a bit wrong so im sorry in advance!! 

italicized is flashback!! 

Lyrics used in the song are from “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” by The Proclaimers (I KNOW THE SONG CAME OUT IN ‘87 BUT SUSPEND YOUR DISBELIEF PLEASE)

(not my gif)

The rambunctious laughter of the four year-old toddler and his father echoed throughout the large estate.

“Daddy!” exclaimed the messy haired Harry, “Can I please have a story.” Heavily emphasizing the puppy dog eyes he learned from his godfather, Sirius, a few years prior.

James Potter, the man unable to say no to anyone, tried to recall a story he had not told his son. Thinking back to the fairy tales of a prince slaying a fictional dragon, even though they are very much real, to save the princess that his mother used to tell him, James realized he was all out of good material. 

“I’m sorry bubs, I have nothing new too share,” the bespectacled man added lamely. The disappointment was instant on the child’s face, but luckily before the waterworks began, Y/N Potter strolled through the foyer into the den.

“Mommy!” Harry exclaimed, jumping up and bonding over to his mother, nearly knocking her over with his brute strength.

“Umph- Where’s the fire lovey?” you questioned with a slight chuckle. The dramatics of your son were never a surprise. Between his father and Sirius, you were surprised he had not acted much worse. Walking, more like sliding due to the child gripping your calves, over to your husband and lightly pecking his lips you ask, 

“What’s wrong now?”

Rubbing the back of his neck, he sheepishly stated, “I sorta don’t have a new story to tell him... he’s a bit peeved, if you couldn’t tell.”

A loud laugh tore through your throat as you pet your son’s hair affectionately.

“Come off Harry, Mommy has a perfect story to tell you,” you crooned softly.

“You do?”Harry questioned, rubbing the tears out of his stunning green eyes.

You picked him up and sat down near James, “Yes poppet, I have a very interesting story about how two very special people fell in love.” 

James quickly turned his head and quirked a questioning brow, “It all started when they were 15...” 

November 7, 1975

Quietly sitting on the vermilion couch of the Gryffindor Common Room, you began to fade out the noise of Lily ranting about the recent History of Magic exam, and Marlene’s long monologue over if she should or should not cut bangs. Instead, you were beginning to rip out each and every one of the hairs on your head because your Potions essay was nearly finished, yet you could not get those final words to conclude it all. 

Across the common room, a rowdy group of teenage boys, better known as the Marauders, were planning the newest prank on Snape. 

"We should give him that shampoo that will change his hair pink,” Sirius added.

Remus shook his head disapprovingly, “Pads, we did that last time come on..”

“WE HAVE NOTHING! WHAT IS WRONG WITH US, MOONY, HELP I’M DYING OF NO CREATIVITY!” Sirius exclaimed throwing himself across the scarred boy.

Although, many people turned their attention to the dark haired pureblood, James seemed he could not take his eyes off the girl nearly burning holes into her parchment, the girl he has fancied since he was 12. 

While playing with the snitch he stole, he said, “What if we tried that new rain spell we learned in charms today?” 

“Too difficult, we have not had enough practice.” Remus dismissed. “Well what if I found someone to practice on?” James added quickly turning to face his werewolf best friend. 

“Sure... Whatever, I could care less- Pads, get the bloody hell of me before I kick your arse,” 

“I’D LIKE TO SEE YOU TRY REMUS JOHN,” Sirius yelled beginning his quick climb up the stairs to the boys dorm, with Remus and Peter quickly following.

“You comin’ Prongs?” Remus asked to the brunette still staring at the girl with shaky hands.

“No, I’ll come up in a few, still want to try to figure this prank out...” he said quietly. The lanky boy followed his best friends line of sight and quietly smirked to himself.

“Alright, don’t wear yourself out too much.” 

Even throughout the commotion, you still made no move to change your line of sight. That was until Marlene nudged you and whispered into your ear.

“Psst! Oi! Y/N! Why is Potter staring at you?” 

You quickly shook your head and waved off her question, opting to continue to find the right words.

Well until your blonde friend gripped your jaw, and turned your head to the direction of the boy. You instantly made eye-contact with the messy haired Gryffindor and quirked a brow. He smirked and turned his head away. You thought nothing of the interaction, until you felt a sudden drop above your head...

Instantly, it seemed as though there was a storm in the common room. Looking towards the ceiling you saw the dark rain cloud above your head. Quickly turning your head to the essay you were writing you noticed it completely wet and ruined. You jumped into action, trying to salvage what you could, but it was too late. Ignoring the screeches of your friends and fellow housemates, you began to look for the source of the cloud.

That was until you made eye contact with the laughing and smug James Potter.

“POTTER!” you yelled. Almost immediately the rain stopped, but the damage had been done. “JAMES POTTER! YOU BETTER HAVE A REASON YOU STARTED A STORM IN THE COMMON ROOM!” 

Hearing the commotion, the rest of the Marauders came down to the common room to witness what was happening. But all they saw was a yelling match between you and their brunette best friend.

“YOU ARE A DICK JAMES POTTER! KARMA IS A BITCH AND SHE IS COMING! IT’S GONNA BE SO NICE TO SEE YOUR FACE WHEN ALL YOUR ACTIONS FINALLY COME TO KICK YOU IN THE ARSE!” you yelled.

“What? I did nothing, I don’t mean to dampen your mood, but I have no idea what you are on about.” James replies smugly.

“UGH- YOU ARE A BULLY AND A RIGHTEOUS, STUCK UP, EGOTISTICAL ARSEHOLE! I HOPE YOU ARE ENJOYING THIS BECAUSE-- OH MY! I-” You were quickly being dragged away by your red head companion. 

“Y/N, he is not worth it... let’s just leave.” 

“NO! I HAVE TO RESTART MY ESSAY! I WAS THIS BLOODY CLOSE. UGH- YOU ARE AN ARSE JAMES POTTER I HOPE YOU KNOW THAT!”

“Y/N, it was just a prank, its no big deal relax.” James said.

“RELAX! ARE YOU KIDDING... I-” you paused taking shallow and rapid breaths, ‘you know I can not believe you think its funny. You truly have no regard for people and how they feel do you?” you asked slowly and meticulously. 

“Prongs, just apologize and lets go..” Remus said quickly.

“I- I didn’t realize it would be that big of a deal.” James tried to say to you, but it was no use because you had already dragged Lily and Marlene out the common room and to the library to re-start your assignment. 

“Oh, COME ON! I did not” James stated jokingly.

“Darling, you must certainly did, I barley passed that essay as well. I blame you for me getting an E in that class.” You replied giggling.

“Moooommmyyy! Story, get back to the story,” Your son said dramatically, grabbing your cheeks and turning to face him for extra effect.

Hearing a chuckling from James in the background, “Alright bubs, back to the the story”

January 23, 1976

After months of back and forth between you and James, he was fed up trying to get your attention. From roses to chocolate, to even a firework show in your honor, James believed he had done everything to apologize to you for his stupid prank and prove his affection.

Tired of his friends constant whining, Remus and Sirius decided to take matters into their own hands and talk to someone who knew you better than anyone else, Lily and Marlene.

“Oh Evans, Mckinnon, we are in grave need of your beautiful minds” Sirius flirted. Remus smacked him across the head adding, “Ignore the git, we need some help its about-”

“James?” Lily and Marlene said in unison.

“Yeah...how did you know” Remus questioned. “Are we gonna ignore the fact they spoke at the same time” Sirius said, once again receiving a blow from his friend.

Rolling her eyes, Lily remarked, “Well, Y/N has been complaining about him for months,” Marlene quickly interjected, “...and you never are without him so its an easy assumption. 

Now its was the boys turn to roll their eyes to the back of their heads. “Anyways, he will not shut up about getting her to forgive him... so we were wondering if you had anything that could work to get her to forgive him?” Remus pleaded with the best Sirius puppy dog eyes he could muster.

“Fine,” Lily and Marlene said jointly.

“THEY DID IT AGAI- OH NOT YOU TOO AS WELL!” Sirius exclaimed rubbing the now sore bump on his head. 

Ignoring the dog’s dramatics, the group of four began conducting a plan for James that would knock Y/N’s socks off.

At this point, Harry had nestled between his parents and fell into a deep sleep.

The two of you put him to bed and settle down back into the living room.

Looking longingly at his wife, James says, “Well, might as well finish the story love... it is the best part.”

Giggling at the antics of your husband, you shrug and began to finish the story...

February 14, 1976 

The Great Hall looked as though Cupid had just went on a decorating rampage. The room lined with pink and red hearts and the sight of loving couples nearly made you want to gag. Then, you remembered the boy who has dying to get your attention for the past months and can not seem but to get excited.

What does he have planned for you? Is he gonna get me a gift? Do I look presentable? 

“WHAT!” you quickly think to yourself, “Why in Merlin’s name am I excited to to see Jame- Potter. Godric I can’t feel like this for him... He his as a fly that buzzes and will not leave me alone... but he is not the worst to look at”

You quickly snap out of your thoughts as Lily starts to put food onto your plate. You begin to eat, but can only think of one thing.

James Potter.

“Why?” You begin questioning again, “Godric, Y/N You like him... No I do not.. You realize you are having this whole conversation within your brain, right? It is obvious you like him...” you grumble to yourself as you realize your psyche has won once again.

Lily noticing your strange behavior begins to question if you discovered what they have planned. 

Almost as though the boys heard Lily’s thoughts the beginning of the plan is activated.

Instantly, the candles in all of the Great Hall extinguish and there is the beginning of a song plays.

Suddenly, a spotlight shines onto the teachers table where atop, James and the rest of the Marauders stand, Remus and Sirius with guitars and Peter on the drums. James holding a mic begins to sing...

When I wake up, Well I know I’m gonna be, I’m gonna be the man who wakes up next to you.

Your head snaps to the noise and there you see in all of his glory, James Potter holding a microphone staring straight at you.

When I go out, yeah I know I'm gonna be I'm gonna be the man who goes along.

Quickly shoving the breakfast roll down your throat you nearly choke as you see the boy slowly make his way towards the front of the Gryffindor table.

When I get drunk, well I know I'm gonna be I'm gonna be the man who gets drunk next to you.

Your eyes widen comically when you see James Potter jump onto the Gryffindor table. 

And when I haver, hey I know I'm gonna be I'm gonna be the man who's havering to you.

Slowly, the boy begins his walk across the table to where you sit. You try to make a run for it, but Lily and Marlene quickly grab your arms and anchor you down to the bench 

“What friends you are!” you hiss at the two.

Marlene just rolls her eyes and Lily pinches your hip.

And I would roll 500 miles And I would roll 500 more Just to be the man who rolls a thousand miles To fall down at your door

Once the boy is standing in front of you he reaches down for your hand. Stubbornly, you ignore his gesture, well until your two friends throw you up onto the table with the love struck brunette. 

When I come home well I know I'm gonna be I'm gonna be the man who comes back home to you And when I grow old, well I know I'm gonna be I'm gonna be the man who's growing old with you.

You grip onto the boys biceps for stability and are forced to look into his ravishing hazel eyes...

In that moment you forget all that he has done to you in the past and all you can think about is him and you. 

But I would roll 500 miles And I would roll 500 more Just to be the man who roles a thousand miles To fall down at your door.

Smiling, to yourself, you grab the face of the boy in front of you and mold your lips together. Ignoring the cheers of your classmates, the only sounds you hear are the background noise of the boy’s best friends signing backup. 

Da da da  Da da da                                                                                                            Da Da Dun Diddle                                                                                            Un Diddle Un Diddle Uh Da Da.....

Smiling to yourself and grabbing the hand of the man you love you start laughing.

“What’s so funny, love?” James asks.

“Nothing.... Just we began dating because you performed a whole song and dance in front of the entirety of Hogwarts.” you reply breathlessly.

“Well, hey, look at us now... happy, healthy, and a true family.” he replies smiling at your antics.

You lay down your head into the lap of your husband, and look up into his hazel eyes you got lost into all those years ago, “Such a sap, Potter, such a sap...”

Kissing your cheek softly, “Only for you, my darling girl... only for you...” 

“I love you Jamie”

“I love you more, my love.”            ______________________________________________________________

AHHH I HOPE YOU ENJOY!!! IM SORRY IF IT IS SO BAD!! THIS IS MY FIRST FIC PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF I COULD DO ANYTHING BETTER!!! AHHHH (but like kinda like this story... kinda proud ;))

[mikauzoran]

Lady Noir/Ladrien: I’m Learning to Love (Walking Away from Things): Chapter Two

Many thanks to @shadownoble for the prompt for this chapter!

Read it on AO3: I’m Learning to Love (Walking Away from Things: Chapter Two: Starlight

Groaning in exhaustion, Adrien collapsed facedown onto his bed.

Yet again, his father had run him ragged with photoshoots on top of magazine interviews on top of variety show appearances. That wasn’t even counting the extracurriculars he still had to do and the significant workload of his university classes.

He was so wiped, he almost didn’t move to look at his phone when it pinged with an incoming text.

When he saw the sender, however, he was glad that he’d put forth the effort. It was Ladybug checking in on him.

“i remember you saying you had a busy day so i wanted to see how it went”

A second message quickly followed the first: “hang in there!”

His heart melted a little at her concern.

“Thanks for thinking of me, Buguinette. <3” he typed back. “Today”

He paused, briefly considering lying and telling her that it had gone fine. Ultimately, though, he decided on honesty.

“didn’t go very well. There were a lot of problems that put us behind schedule, and my father was in a bad mood. I’m surprised no one got akumatized, honestly.”

“are you okay?” she replied immediately.

He bit his lip.

“he didnt take it out on you did he?” she prompted, and he suspected that she already knew the answer.

Adrien winced, hedging, “I’m all right. Just tired. It was a long day.”

His father had, in fact, lashed out at Adrien, but he wasn’t about to tell her that. Ladybug was already on the warpath against his father, and he didn’t need to give her any more reasons to hold a grudge.

Several minutes passed with no response from Ladybug, so Adrien flopped back down on the bed and closed his eyes.

He was just starting to doze off when a knock on his window pulled him out of the dazed limbo between sleep and wakefulness.

Adrien sat up with a jolt and found Ladybug smiling and waving from the other side of the glass panes.

He fumbled for the remote on his nightstand and hurriedly pointed it at the windows.

“Good evening,” she greeted cheerily as she stepped down into his room. “It’s not too late for a visit, is it?”

“A visit from you?” he chuckled. “Never. For you, my window is always open.”

“Good to know,” she laughed, taking in his rumpled, worn state. “I actually came to make sure you were doing okay and see if you wanted to go stargazing with me, but you look pretty beat.”

Sheepishly, he admitted, “I might be a tiny bit dead on my feet, but I’d never pass up the opportunity to spend time with you, My Lady.”

She didn’t know if she was ever going to get used to hearing him say that with Adrien’s face. It was taking all of her available energy to keep it together around him because she knew that treating him differently would only make things worse and defeat the purpose of her knowing his identity in the first place.

Oblivious to his partner’s internal struggle, Adrien got to his feet and was just about to call on his transformation when he remembered and winced.

“…Except…I promised Plagg that if he were good today, he could relax and watch his Netflix shows and eat Camembert in his sock drawer the rest of the evening.”

Ladybug shrugged, unconcerned. “You don’t have to transform. Just put a jacket on so you don’t get cold, and I can carry you.”

Cheeks burning, Adrien did as bid, slipping on a jacket and then taking her proffered hand.

The feel of her suit on his bare skin was odd but not uncomfortable. He couldn’t compare it to any material he was familiar with.

Not for the first time, he wished that there didn’t have to be a barrier between them.

“At least we’re one step closer to that reality with her knowing my identity,” he tried to comfort himself.

Meanwhile, Ladybug was internally freaking out and glad she still had the thin veil of anonymity to hide behind.

Almost a week after learning her partner’s identity, she was still struggling to reconcile Chat Noir with Adrien, and the feelings she had for both of them were making things complicated.

With a smile carefully pasted in place, she scooped him up into her arms and set off over the rooftops.

She didn’t go far—only to the Eiffel Tower a few blocks from the Agreste Mansion.

“Do you know much about the stars?” he asked as they settled into their usual spots at the top of the monument, away from the prying eyes of the public.

“Not really,” she confessed, sheepishly pushing a lock of hair out of her face. “You?”

“A little.” He pointed up at the sky. “Even though it’s autumn now, you can still see the summer triangle. There’s Vega, Deneb, and Altair.”

She nodded as she made out three bright stars that seemed to form a triangle.

“Over there by the moon, you can see Jupiter and Saturn,” he added, motioning to what looked like two big, dazzling stars.

She frowned. “How can you tell them apart from regular stars?”

“Planets don’t twinkle,” he explained. “Since they’re closer and bigger, their light doesn’t get distorted by the Earth’s atmosphere as much as the stars that are farther away. So, while stars twinkle when dust particles pass between them and us, planets shine more steadily because the dust particles don’t obstruct as much of their light.”

It was the kind of thing that wasn’t out of place coming from Adrien, but Ladybug couldn’t imagine having the same conversation with Chat Noir.

She blinked at him in amazement. “You’re really smart, Chaton.”

“Me? Smart?” A short bark of laughter caught him by surprise, and he shook his head. “I’m just a nerd whose parents kept him locked up most of his childhood. I read a lot to fill the time, so I’ve got a ton of useless trivia floating around up here.”

He tapped the side of his head. “For example, did you know that cats purr to self-sooth? Or, how about that the first cat video was filmed in 1894?”

Now it was her turn to burst out laughing.

That was her dumb cat, all right.

“You are such a dork,” she chortled, shaking her head in disbelief.

He shrugged, looking back up at the sky with a grin.

It was a huge relief that things between them hadn’t changed all that much since she’d learned his identity. It made him think that maybe things would be okay.

Her laughter slowly faded, and she scooted in a little closer, joining him in gazing up at the stars.

They sat there for several minutes before she spoke again.

“…You know…” She swallowed, mentally steeling herself for the confession. “…there was something I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Hm?” He tipped his head to the side, his curious gaze meeting her apprehensive one.

“I thought you should know that, about six years ago, I had this ridiculous crush on you—Adrien you,” she clarified.

His eyes flew as wide as galaxies. “You… What?”

“It wasn’t a celebrity crush or anything!” she rushed to assure, waving her arms wildly. “I…I sort of know you in real life, and I had a crush on you.”

His mouth opened and closed several times, and, after a handful of false starts, he managed to respond. “You said that you had a crush on me. Like…as in past tense.”

He drew in a slow breath, mentally preparing himself for the worst. “May I ask what I did that made your crush a past tense thing? Did I do something wrong?”

“Oh!” she gasped, waving her arms like an air traffic controller yet again. “No! Nothing like that. It wasn’t your fault. It was me.”

He winced. “So…‘it’s not you; it’s me’ is what you’re saying?”

She cringed, realizing what an insincere cop out that sounded like. “No. For real, Adrien. It was me. I needed to prioritize my duties as Ladybug, so I didn’t have time for dating, but…mostly…it was that I realized that I didn’t know you as well as I should for how obsessed with you I was.”

She averted her eyes as shame bubbled up hot and red on her cheeks. “It was unhealthy, and I decided that I needed to take a step back and focus on my friendship with you…so that’s what I did. I concentrated on being your friend.”

Tentatively, she looked back up at him. “I think you needed a friend more than anything at the time anyway. …Though, I’m not sure if I even did a good job being your friend. I mean, I completely missed how bad your home life is, how much you hate your hobbies, how little control you feel like you have…”

He shook his head, setting his hand on her shoulder. “Buguinette, no. Don’t beat yourself up about it. I don’t let people see that side of things. Not even Nino knows the whole truth. I’m sure you did your best to be a good friend to me.”

He bit his lip and hesitated. “…Though…I kind of wish you would have said something about your feelings for me.” He accompanied his words with a wink and a teasing Chat Noir grin.

She rolled her eyes and swatted his arm. “Flirt. You would have turned me down flat. You would have been nice about it, but you’d never have gone out with me.”

He grimaced when he realized that she was most likely right. “Probably. I may be stupid, but at least I’m loyal.”

“You’re not stupid,” she groaned. “Be nice to yourself, you dumb cat.”

He leaned in and rested his head against hers. “…Thank you. It means a lot to me that you care.”

“Of course I care,” she sighed. “You have no idea how much I care about you—both sides of you.”

She took a slow, steady breath. “…Plenty of other people care about you too, Adrien. That’s why I think you need to open up with your friends. Nino at least should know about how bad things are. He loves you, and he’d do anything he could to help.”

Adrien pulled away, straightening up and shaking his head. “I don’t want to be a burden on them.”

“They would never think of you that way,” she insisted vehemently.

“I don’t want them to worry when there’s nothing really they can do,” he amended.

“They can at least listen,” she argued. “They can text you cat memes and check in on you and let you vent. Isn’t that all you really want? People supporting you and validating your feelings and reminding you that you’re loved?”

He pursed his lips, silently considering for a long stretch. “…Yes, but…”

“Marinette told me what happened at the photoshoot today, what your father said to you.”

Adrien winced.

He’d known that Marinette was there at the shoot interning, but…

“Marinette heard that?”

Ladybug nodded.

Practically everyone on site had heard Gabriel railing at Adrien.

“He was wrong, you know.” She reached up and gingerly started massaging his scalp. “You’re not useless. He has no idea what he’s talking about.”

Adrien made a noncommittal noise as he closed his eyes and lowered his head to her shoulder.

“You’re amazing and wonderful and hardworking and kind and smart and brave…and the best partner ever,” she stressed with unwavering conviction. “Your father is blind if he can’t see how incredible you are.”

“Thank you, My Lady,” he whispered, voice brittle and trembling as he held in tears.

“…You should tell your friends,” she repeated, gently urging. “You should have support in your daily life, Adrien. I can’t always be there for you, but I want you to have that kind of support. You deserve it.”

“Maybe,” he mumbled into her shoulder. “It’s just…my friends all have really solid family relationships. I don’t think they’d even understand.”

“But they’d try,” she countered. “They’d want to try to understand. They love you.”

“It’s hard to tell people you respect that you’re not all right,” he sighed.

She kept pressing, desperate to get him more support. “They’re not going to think any less of you, Chaton. I don’t. …Maybe start with someone you know will be on your side. Maybe Nino? Or…or Marinette? She was awfully worried about you today. I’m sure she’d want to help.”

Adrien winced and pulled away, sitting up to meet Ladybug’s gaze. “Yeah, but I already told one girl I like that I’m a mess this week. I don’t think I’m emotionally prepared to tell the other one too.”

She stared at him, blinking slowly as her braincells tried to reconfigure what he had said into something that made sense.

“You… You like…?”

An adoring smile spread across his lips, and a soft blush lit up his face. He nodded, rubbing sheepishly at the back of his neck.

“Marinette,” he completed, voice full of affection when he said her name. “Yeah. I do. I have for a while now. She’s so sweet and thoughtful and fierce and courageous.”

He laughed. “I’m lucky she deigns to be my friend. Ladybug, she’s so out of my league.”

“I’m sorry. What?” she scoffed, not believing what she was hearing. “You—you who are not only Chat Noir but also Adrien Agreste—you think that Marinette Dupain-Cheng is out of your league?”

Earnestly, he nodded. “Ladybug, she’s amazing. She’s like you.”

She covered her face with her hands as her brain overloaded from how adorable he was.

“Marinette’s not out of your league,” Ladybug grumbled. “…and neither am I.”

His eyebrows slowly climbed up into his hairline.

“Shut up,” she replied preemptively.

A broad grin broke out on his face as he realized that maybe Ladybug’s feelings for Adrien weren’t entirely a past tense thing after all.

“Stop that,” she groaned.

“What? I’m not doing anything,” he chuckled, cuddling up beside her once more.

“You’re being smug,” she pouted, dropping her hands from her face and wrapping an arm around him.

“I would never,” he playfully protested.

A comfortable silence fell between them as they snuggled and gazed at the stars once more.

“…Maybe I should talk with my friends about what’s going on,” Adrien whispered after a long stretch. “It’s just really hard to be vulnerable like that.”

She gave him an encouraging squeeze. “We can practice, if you think that will help.”

He took a deep breath. “Hey, Nino? There’s something I want to talk with you about, if it’s okay.”

“Sure, Mec,” Ladybug responded, doing her best Nino impression. “What’s up, mon pote?”

“…My relationship with my father is in the rubbish bin, and I kind of hate my life,” Adrien groaned.

“Dude. That is it, Mec. I’m adopting you,” Ladybug as Nino decreed. “I’ll fight anyone who gets in my way. We’re gonna make this right.”

Adrien burst out laughing, leaning heavily on his partner. “I don’t know what I’m so afraid of. That’s probably exactly what he’s going to say.”

“So, you’ll tell him?” she pressed, mentally crossing her fingers.

Adrien blew out a long exhale. “Yeah. I’ll try to talk to my friends soon. You’re right. It’s more than I can deal with on my own, and I could seriously use my friends.”

“That’s what we’re here for,” Ladybug reminded, giving his hair a nuzzle.

[satendou]

⟼  full circle

previous: roundabout | 2/2

・‥…━━━━━━━☆☆━━━━━━━…‥・

⇢ pairing: osamu/reader

⇢ au: aged up!au

⇢ summary: learning to trust again is a hard thing to do, if it’s even worth it    

⇥ masterlist

⇢ warnings: angst, insecurity, smut, unprotected sex

⇢ word count: 8652

・‥…━━━━━━━☆☆━━━━━━━…‥・

⇢ a/n: is this an unrealistic representation of making up? probably. is it how every man should act? yes. anyway i love osamu i hope you guys like this.

The next day, you wake up with a minor headache and surrounded by a confusingly familiar smell. It all slams back into place in a rush and your eyes pop open to find Osamu beside you, his arms wound so tight around you that you have no hope of escaping without waking him up, so you still. You spend an untold number of minutes just staring at him, his long lashes fluttering against his cheeks, eyelids twitching as he dreams. There are dark circles under his eyes and his lips are turned down in a frown. The longer you stare the more anxious you become, specific memories and revelations swirling around you confused mind.

Osamu showing up, admitting that Kana was cheating, admitting that he still loved you-- the last one hurt the most and was the most dangerous. You had told yourself everyday since he left that he hadn’t loved you, because it had been easier than the alternative. Believing that he loved you but had loved her more was somehow worse, and suddenly you couldn’t stand laying there.

Pushing at his chest, you watched his eyelids flutter open, soft brown hazy with sleep. He blinked a few times, brows furrowing before he looked at you and panic overtook everything. It mixed with hurt, fear, and more confusion, and he let you pull away to sit up.

The two of you sat there in a tense silence for a few minutes, neither of you wanting or knowing how to broach the subject of how you ended up in this situation. You stared down at your lap, chewing on your lip as you picked at your nails while Osamu gazed up at the ceiling, his arm resting across his forehead.

The moment stretched to a breaking point, a taut line of things that needed to be said, and you took a deep breath.

“What’re you gonna do?” you asked, and felt him tense beside you.

He sighed, scrubbing his face with his hand as he said, “I guess I’m gonna go get my stuff from Kana’s. I need ta talk to ‘Tsumu about stayin’ with him fer a while.”

At the mention of going to her place, you froze, a myriad of thoughts bouncing around inside your head. “Alone?”

He knew what you were asking, could hear the unspoken question in your words. What if you see her and change your mind?

“I’ll get ‘Tsumu and Bokuto ta help me. Can’t move all my stuff alone anyway,” he said, reaching out to you. His fingertips came to rest on yours, a gesture of comfort and a promise.

I’m coming back.

Well, it didn’t matter what he said. He would either keep his word or he wouldn’t, and there was nothing you could do about it.

You pulled away.

His face flashed with hurt and he rolled over, picking up his phone.

“You said Kana was cheating on you,” you said, and watched his eyes widen when the screen lit up. Against your better judgement, you leaned over to see. 

He didn’t even try to hide it, and your heart skipped a beat at the number of missed calls, voice mails, and text messages from Kana. The texts didn’t seem to surprise him, starting off with apologies and pleas for him to come back, slowly devolving over time into threats and curses. One in particular caught your attention and you looked away, your pulse thrumming in your ears as you mulled it over.

‘i know you’re with her. i knew you would run back to that bitch just as soon as things got tough. i saw you were texting her too, don’t think i’m stupid samu. but that’s okay, you’ll come back to me just like you did last time.’

That was the last message she sent at around 4am, a few hours after Osamu showed up at your door. 

Your fists curled into the blanket and you stared blankly at the door, a whole new flood of insecurity sweeping through you. She was probably right, you were just a backup, just like before. He would never love you the way--

“Hey, _____, don’t,” he whispered, his hands cupping your face and tilting your head up to look at him. “I told ya I’d prove it, and I will. Just give me a chance.”

What choice did you have, really? It had always been Osamu, and it always would be. He said jump and you asked how high.

He left soon after that, promising to call-- if you wanted-- once he was done getting his things. You nodded, watching him walk out the door with an impending sense of unease and a pounding heart, wondering if you could learn to trust him again. Following the soft click of the door closing, you whipped out your phone and dialed Hana, who sounded none too pleased to be woken up at such an ungodly hour on the weekend.

At least until you told her why you were calling.

--

When Osamu called later, you could hear Atsumu and Bokuto whooping in the background and he sighed around his laughter at them. There was a shuffling noise over the line and what sounded like a door closing, then his soft voice was back, crackling as he said, “I know we got a lot ta talk about, so do ya wanna meet up for lunch? ‘Tsumu wanted to go over to Kana’s to rub it in ‘er face that I’m leavin’ ‘er so I’m--”

“Hungry, I know,” you said, laughing softly. “Aren’t you always?”

There was a beat of silence, then he laughed awkwardly. “Yeah, guess I am. So, food?”

That was how you found yourself sitting across from him in a hole-in-the-wall diner ten minutes from your apartment. The air was still thick between you and you kept stealing glances at him over the menu. He was still staring at the menu even though you knew he already knew what he wanted.

The waitress came over to take your orders, and then there was nothing left to use as an excuse. But still, neither of you said anything, staring out into the rest of the diner or down at your fingers or up at the posters above your head-- anywhere but at each other.

“I blocked Kana,” Osamu said, startling you from reading the back of the “house brand hot sauce” bottle in the basket. He would have laughed if his heart wasn’t in his throat.

The way you looked at him made him nervous because he couldn’t tell what you were thinking. Contrary to what you probably believed, he did know you and, if he did say so himself, rather well at that.

Thanking the waitress when she set another glass of soda down beside you, you turned back to him. “How did it go, getting your stuff?”

He shrugged, swirling his straw around in his drink. The ice clinked against the glass, knocking beads of water loose to roll down the side, and you watched it pool at the base. “She wasn’t happy, I promise ya that. Screamin’ ‘n hollerin’. The neighbors were probably ready ta call the cops by the time we got outta there,” he said, lips curling in amusement. It was an empty gesture, devoid of mirth, and you responded with a frown.

“How-- I mean, you said you knew Kana was cheating on you at-- at Bo’s party, right? How did you know?” you asked, stumbling over the reminder of his garbled, drunk texts from that night. If the flush on his cheeks was anything to go by, he hadn’t forgotten that either.

“Ah, yah, sorry ‘bout that. Dunno why I-- anyway, she was probably foolin’ around with him still even when we got back together.” Quieter, he whispered, “I was so stupid.”

It was hard for him to be so candid about the whole thing with you. It had to be hurting you and he would much rather spare you the sordid details, but he knew that open honesty was the only thing that was going to win you back-- if it didn’t push you away first. So he would answer your questions and watch your face twist in disgust and pain, just hoping it wouldn’t be the final straw each time.

“How long? How long were you seeing her before--” You hesitated, pretending to examine an imperfection in the laminate table top. “Well, you know.”

His stomach twisted into knots as he hid his face in his hands. It hadn’t been long, but what did that matter when it happened in the first place?

“Not-- Not long. Uh, about a month,” he said, muffled by his hands.

A month. It was like a sock to the gut. Only a month and--

“A year. We’d been together for a year, had moved in together not two months prior and you-- and you-- a month. Wow,” you whispered, raking your fingers through your hair. You didn’t even wince as you snatched the tangles out of it. The room was spinning as fast as your thoughts and tears burned at the corners of your eyes as you stood up suddenly, knocking the table closer to Osamu, who looked up at you in confusion. “I need air. I can’t do this.”

With those words you were gone, and the waitress approached the table a moment later, confusion etched on her face as she asked if he needed a box for your food.

He nodded, resting his head in his hands to stare down at the dull tabletop. He deserved that, he knew he did, and he didn’t have a right to be hurt by your reaction. It was warranted, it was valid, and he hated himself for it.

--

He texted you an apology later on, which you were kind enough to at least respond to, and he left it at that. He knew pushing you too far would do no good, would only push you further from him. He still checked his phone every few minutes anyway, so much so that Atsumu snatched it from his hand and sat on it.

“Stop yer mopin’, ‘Samu. She ain’t got nothin’ ta say to ya, so get over it,” he said, giving his twin a pointed look. He had told Osamu more than once what an idiot he was over this whole thing, and he would continue to say so until he died. You were a hundred times better than Kana had ever been, had even tried to flirt with you at one point, but he had been erased from the equation as soon as Osamu had entered the picture.

He was a bit of a blindspot where you were concerned and Atsumu knew that you would forgive Osamu eventually-- provided he kept his head out of his ass for more than ten minutes. He wasn’t about to tell his brother that though. He needed to suffer a little for hurting you.

Softening at the forlorn look on his face, Atsumu sighed. Quieter, he said, “Look, just give ‘er some space. Can’t believe I have to give you relationship advice, but that’s what happens when ya do stupid shit. Remind me why ya ever thought Kana would be better’n _____ again?”

A pillow thumped him upside the head, knocking him over and the phone he was sitting on was snatched back. When he sat back up, Osamu was typing at light speed on his phone, the swoopy noise of a text sending out playing through the speakers, and then the phone was shoved in his face.

“Don’t ya know what dark mode is, ya pleb?” he grumbled, squinting at the brightness. Then he smiled and nodded, clapping Osamu on the shoulder. 

‘i’ll give ya space, if that’s what ya need. i’m here when you’re ready to talk.’

A few minutes after they had returned to playing Madden, Osamu’s phone lit up again, his lips quirking up in a sad smile at what he read.

Atsumu leaned over to read the text and mirrored him, sympathetic brown eyes meeting with twin ones filled with pain, nodding. “It’s the best ya could hope for.”

‘Thank you, samu. I’ll talk to you later.’

--

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Miyu asked, leaning against the kitchen counter. You were standing across from her, swirling a wine glass in your hand, staring at the rich red liquid. Your eyes were puffy from a bout of crying, which had started shortly after you left the diner. All but running, you had headed towards her apartment without hesitation and pounded on her door until she opened it, looking more than a little alarmed.

When you had spilled about everything that had happened over the last two days, she sat down on her couch and called him too many names for you to remember before leveling a glare at you.

“You’re gonna forgive him, aren’t you?” she asked, sighing when you looked away.

Falling to the couch beside her, you wiped your eyes clear of the residual tears as you stared up at the ceiling. “I really don’t know. I want to, but I’m scared. A part of me knows I shouldn’t but--”

“Yeah, yeah, but you love him. Typical romance movie garbage, I get it.” She sighed and mimicked your position. “What if he does it again?”

You bit the inside of your cheek to stifle the prickle of tears again and shrugged. “That’s like, the whole problem, isn’t it? Is it possible to trust someone again after they cheat?”

“Dunno. Never been cheated on before. Or...if I have they hid it better. Yikes.”

You laughed at that and closed your eyes, a smile remaining on your face as you thought-- about Osamu, about Kana, about the two of them, about the two of you. It was hard to imagine the two of you together again, the way you were before. There was a fracture in the very foundation of your relationship and you had to decide if it was worth trying to repair.

“He blocked her. He didn’t do that last time,” you said after a moment, and Miyu huffed beside you.

“Who are you trying to convince?” she asked, and you laughed again. More softly, she said, “Look, I know you love him, so I won’t be surprised if you go back to him. But I don’t wanna see you get hurt again like that. That was awful and I wanted to kill him. Just...I don’t know. Do you think you can learn to trust him again?”

That was the million dollar question. The next one was could you learn to live with the distrust that would be there even if you did forgive him? And for that matter, did you want to?

The little voice in the back of your head whispered yes, yes, and yes-- and it was a traitor.

All of that had led to where you were currently, leaning against her counter, sipping more cheap wine a week later while you stared down at his name in your phone.

Parting your lips, you thought better of answering, instead hitting the send button on your message, and she sighed.

“I really, really hope this doesn’t end badly.”

--

Osamu’s heart was in his throat as he walked into the restaurant you had suggested, giving your name for the reservation, and he was led to an empty booth. Before the waiter even came back with his drink, you showed up, dressed cute but casual, sliding into the seat across from him.

“Hi,” you said, and Osamu was pleasantly surprised by the shy smile you gave him. It reminded him of his first date with you all over again, when you hadn’t been able to look him directly in the eye. That was also the night the restaurant he had intended to take you to had shut down due to health code violations and, when he mentioned going somewhere else, you had pointed out a popular food truck across the street. Dressed in nice clothes, you had ordered your food and found a bench, laughing at the mess you made as you ate and Osamu knew he was in deep right at that moment.

He smiled at that memory, eyes softening as he stared at you, and you tucked your hair behind your ear as you asked what he was thinking about.

“Our first date. We never did go back ta try that restaurant,” he answered, resting his head in his hand.

You laughed at that, open and light and it made his heart stutter in his chest.

Picking up the menu, you said, “Yeah because I didn’t feel like picking cockroaches out of my food, thank you very much.”

“They cleared it like, a month later. I’m sure it’s fine now,” he said, chuckling at the feigned grimace you gave him.

“No thanks, but I wouldn’t mind finding that food truck again,” you said, scanning the list of pastas.

The waiter returned a moment later and took your order, silence falling between you again when he left. Before, it wouldn’t have been awkward, and Osamu would have reached out to take your hand in his as you stared at each other. 

But that was no longer something he could do. So instead he said, “Thank ya for givin’ me a chance. I know I don’t--”

You cut him off, expression suddenly serious as you said, “I don’t know yet if you deserve it or not. That’s for me to decide. Osamu, if I so much as think you’re talking to her again, I’m done. Completely and totally done. I can’t go through that again.”

There was something unsaid in your words, a ‘but’ lingering in the air, and he tilted his head as you bit your lip. “That’s totally fair, ya know? I said it before and I’ll keep sayin’ it ‘til I prove it, but I won’t hurt ya like that again, I swear it.”

Instead of responding to his words, you said, “I don’t want you to get your hopes up, ‘Samu. I’m not...sure if I can trust you again. I just want you to know that before things get too serious again.”

He nodded, but had to wait for the waiter to set your food down before he said anything more. Your words made him nervous, but at least you were trying. He couldn’t ask for anything more, could he?

“If-- If that’s what ya decide is best for ya, I’ll understand. But I mean it, thank ya for tryin’ anyway,” he said when you were alone again. He gave you a half-hearted smile and you gave him your own shy one in return. 

He allowed himself, for that moment, to hope.

--

Over the course of the next few months, Osamu made it his mission to keep his word, so much so that even the others noticed.

Flowers and dates abounded, and he made an extra effort to see you whenever he could between classes. He kept seeing Kana around in the halls, and you would tense when you caught sight of her before glancing at him. Whenever she happened to pass, he made sure to keep his expression neutral or to smile at you, whichever he felt would be better.

She made an attempt to talk to him the first time she saw him after that, asking if she could speak to him in private. He could see the burning jealousy in her eyes as she stared at you, red painted lips quirking up just the slightest bit at the corners and he could see you were ready to panic.

When you tried to pull away from him, his grip on your hand tightened, drawing you behind him, placing himself in front of you as a shield as he snapped that she had nothing to say to either one of you. Your fingers curled in his shirt, hiding your face as people in the cafeteria stared.

Good, he thought as people started to whisper. A spectacle was exactly what he wanted, a public display to show you he was seriously done with Kana and her shit. The way you looked at him when he pulled you into his arms just after that, tilting your head up to stare into your eyes as she stormed off, was an exasperated mixture of amusement and embarrassment, but you couldn’t force a smile.

She kept her distance after that and, though Osamu wanted to put on a show every time her eyes would alight on the two of you, he refrained. This wasn’t about her, it was about you. So instead, he would squeeze your hand a little tighter and look at you, willing you to believe he only had eyes for you.

His attempts seemed to work.

Ever so slowly-- so slowly he didn’t realize until it smacked him in the face one day-- you stopped looking so alarmed whenever she came into view, squeezing his hand in a deathgrip before you would look to him. He rejoined his group of friends for lunch and Friday nights out-- or in, if that was what you all decided. Things felt right again, the warmth of your palm against his, fingers intertwined where they rested on your knee as you laughed along with something the others were talking about.

They seemed to have forgiven him too, at least after Miyu had chewed his ear off after cornering him one day. 

He was reminded, from time to time though, that things weren’t as perfect with you as they were before, and each time those reminders felt like a slap to the face. A well deserved slap, but it stung nonetheless. 

“Who...is that?” you asked, looking at the girl he had just parted from. He had been talking to her as he walked out of the classroom, smiling and laughing with her. For just a moment, paranoia and suspicion flooded your system. Your hands curled into fists, your heart pounding in your chest, causing Osamu to quirk a brow at your question.

He was confused by the wary look on your face and the glimmer in your eyes as you watched her walk down the hall-- then it clicked. His usual go to would have been to tease you for being jealous, laughing it off but--

“Jus’ someone in a group for class. We have ta make this huge presentation and she was askin’ for some help with an icin’ recipe. Said she jus’ can’t get it right an’ I offered-- but I can pass it off ta someone else, if it--” he was rambling, his hands already cupping your face and guiding you to look back at him. He was already thinking of Hikaru when you shook your head.

“No, I-- It’s alright, I guess. I don’t want to get in the way of your group project or anything,” you said, but even you could hear the insecurity in the words. You hated that something as innocent as this was enough to make you paranoid, but it was a reaction you couldn’t help.

Osamu shook his head, pushing your hair back off your face and leaning down to kiss your forehead. “No, it’ll make ya feel better. Hikaru has the same notes I do, so he can help ‘er. Why don’t we go get something to eat?”

You trailed along behind him, staring down at your intertwined hands and wondered, not for the first time, if you would ever feel secure in your relationship again. Every time you saw him with another woman it was like this, the paranoia and insecurity welling up and clouding what you believed. And every time, you would ask the same questions-- who is she, how do you know her, what were you doing with her?

It was taxing and you thought each time that Osamu was going to finally throw it in. It had been months now and you still couldn’t trust him to do something as innocent as talk. 

Which was why it was a relief when guilt would flash in his eyes as he reassured you, pulling you into his strong arms, answering you without ire-- it was the only reason you could bring yourself to believe him. You never knew that learning to trust someone again would be so hard and you wondered how long it would take-- if ever-- for you not to flinch whenever you caught him with someone else.

“Hey, _____? Ya don’t have ta say it back, and I know ya won’t believe me just yet,” he said, breaking through your melancholic thoughts. He had pulled you to the side, a little ways down a mostly empty hallway. Crowding you against the wall, he was staring down at you with what might have been pain. “But I love ya, and I’m not gonna hurt ya again like that. I promise.”

His words were like a balm on the pain in your heart, soothing the ache that your insecurities brought on, and you nodded. Your smile didn’t quite reach your eyes, but you let him hold you for a moment as students moved around you, some giving you strange looks as they passed by.

When you pulled away, it was you who took his hand and rejoined the flow of students leaving the building, dragging him towards your favorite restaurant. 

Maybe, you decided, it wouldn’t be so hard to trust him, so long as he kept his promises this time.

--

The biggest milestone to Osamu was when you asked him one Friday evening if he wanted to come over instead of going out, and his room seemed to tilt 180 degrees. He was typing an agreement before he even realized it and launched himself off his bed. 

“Goin’ ta _____’s, don’ wait up,” he practically slurred as he passed through the living room.

Atsumu shared a glance with his flavor of the week after the door had shut, snickering at his expense.

When he knocked at the door twenty minutes later, you opened it and laughed.

“Did you run over here, ‘Samu?” you asked, staring at him bent over with his hands on his knees.

“M-Maybe,” he snapped back, grinning as he panted. When he had caught his breath, he stood up straight again and shot you a lopsided grin. “Why wouldn’t I race over here ta spend the night with my pretty girlfriend?”

Your eyes widened a fraction, your smile falling a little, and he winced at his slipup. You had never labeled what the two of you were in the aftermath of everything, preferring to let it exist as it was.

Then you gave him a half-smile and gestured him in.

“I, uh, thought maybe we could bake something or, y’know, something,” you said, leading him into the kitchen. 

There were ingredients all over the counter, interspersed with bowls and measuring cups, and Osamu instantly recognized what you were after.

“Cinnamon rolls?” he asked, smiling at you. You flushed a bright red, letting him pull you in close so you could hide your face in his chest. “Yer too cute, _____.”

“Well, I missed cooking with you, ‘Samu,” you whispered, linking your fingers together behind his back. 

You sounded sad as you said it, and he rubbed your back to soothe you. “I missed it too, princess.”

The name slipped out so easily he didn’t even realize he had done it at first, but you nuzzled closer instead of pulling away like he expected. His throat closed up as he stared down at you and believed, for the first time since he had showed up at your apartment months ago, that things were really going to be okay.

“So, _____ wants som’a my cinnamon rolls,” he said, letting you go. You turned to face the counter and he studiously ignored the way you wiped at your eyes, instead examining the ingredients in front of him. “I think that can be arranged.”

“Do you remember when Atsumu and Bokuto tried the Cinnamon Challenge?” you wheezed a little while later as Osamu choked on some of the fine powder. He had been eyeing it in the measuring cup and sneezed, causing it to puff up into his face. He glared at you as he coughed, eyes watering while he pounded on his chest. You were supposed to be getting him a glass of water, but your hands were shaking so bad you couldn’t do it.

“Yeah, and I understand now why it’s so unpleasant,” he croaked, nudging you out of the way so he could get his own glass. “I can’t believe those idjits tried it twice.”

“Oh can’t you?” you asked, taking deep breaths to recover. The image of them spitting out clouds of red cinnamon all over the kitchen would stick with you forever, and you snickered again. “Those two have one brain cell between them and Sakusa owns it.”

He breathed a sigh of relief as moisture returned to his mouth bracing himself up on his hands beside you, staring up at you with a mixture of amusement and feigned aggravation. “Remind me ta never trust ya to save my life again. I almost died and ya just stood there laughin’.”

“Well, it was pretty funny,” you said, tapping your lip as you thought about it. It was Atsumu all over again, and you giggled. “I’ll try harder next time, I swear.”

“There won’ be a next time, ya brat,” he grumbled, moving around you to stand in front of the mixing bowl again. “Now, are ya gonna help me or not? If ya don’t pull yer weight, I’ll eat all these by maself.”

Faking a shocked gasp, you crowded in beside him, picking up the measuring spoon he had dropped. “Pig.”

A little while later, the apartment was filled with the rich, warm aroma of baking sweets and you were curled up on the couch beside Osamu. Your legs were in his lap, his warm hand skimming up and down your calf while you watched Big Hero 6, much to his amusement.

But you seemed to be distracted, tensing up under his touch from time to time, your eyes unfocused when he would look over at you. At long last, you sighed and sat up, pulling your legs from his lap. Sitting cross-legged, you looked up at him and his mouth went dry.

“Uh, what’s up?” he asked, giving you his full attention. Whatever it was, you were serious about it and he was nervous.

Your heart was thrumming in your chest, even though what you were going to say was supposed to be good. But your insecurities cropped back up again, causing the words you thought you were ready to say to stick in your throat. Sure, neither you nor any of your friends had seen him so much as look at Kana since he broke up with her and, yes, he had made a valiant effort to keep his promise, but was it enough?

You had thought it was, until it came down to saying it. So you were just sitting on the couch, staring up at him with slightly parted lips, and understanding dawned on his face.

His eyes softened as he reached out, grazing your cheek with his fingertips. “It’s okay. If ya aren’t ready-- I’m here anyway.”

His words were like magic, warmth stilling the tidal wave of negative thoughts crashing inside you, and you leaned into his touch. His hand smoothed out, cupping your face, smiling when you did.

“It’s...okay, if you wanna call me your girlfriend again,” you said, staring into his eyes.

His smile turned into a smirk at that, and he pushed your face away. “What else should I call ya? My little brat sounds more fitting for ya, don’t ya think?”

You scoffed and lunged at him, getting caught by the wrists before you could do anything. “I’ll show you who’s a brat, you jackass. Here I am trying to be cute and--”

“Well, ya’ve succeeded. Want yer prize?” he asked, wrestling you down into his lap. He was far stronger than you could ever hope to be holding you close with one arm.

You squirmed anyway, pushing at his face as you laughed. “I don’t remember you being this smooth before. You’ve been hanging out with ‘Tsumu too much.”

He snickered at that, finally letting you up only to be knocked down to the couch. He grunted in surprise as you straddled his hips, smirking down at him in triumph. Resting his hands on your thighs, he said, “I’ve always been this smooth, princess. Maybe I just dazzled ya so much ya missed it.”

“You are the worst,” you groaned, rolling your eyes. Osamu sat up underneath you and you looped your arms around his neck, the air growing thicker as his breaths mingled with yours.

Mischievous brown eyes dipped down to your lips and back up, a brow quirked in question. When you only cocked your head with a grin, he sighed and asked, “Mind if I kiss ya now?”

Instead of answering, you closed the distance between you, relaxing into his arms when your lips met. He groaned low in his throat, fingers tightening on your hips as your tongue delved into his mouth, tangling with his.

You were breathing heavy when you pulled apart, forehead coming to rest on his, and he gave you a lopsided smile. “Damn, I missed that.”

It was never like that with Kana, who was all about getting hot and heavy. Osamu realized that as he kissed you, lips soft against his, wearing one of his t-shirts that you had stolen again at some point and leggings, sitting on the secondhand couch the two of you had got from your parents.

You returned his grin, fingers carding through his hair, tilting his head to the side to kiss him again. 

The sound of the timer interrupted you, and you giggled when he pushed you backwards off his lap, shouting, “Rude!” at his retreating back.

The smell increased tenfold when he opened the oven, and you spent a good twenty minutes decorating the rolls with homemade icing, half of which ended up on your faces as you fought.

“I can think of better places ta lick this off,” he said as his tongue dragged over the smear of icing on your cheek, leaving a trail of drool behind.

You squealed, pushing his head away while swiping at the sticky wet path with the back of your hand. “Don’t push your luck, romeo. Keep it up and I’ll make you go home.” Osamu’s eyes lit up at that while yours narrowed. “What?”

“So ya were already plannin’ ta let me stay, huh?” he asked, advancing on you until you were crowded against the counter. There was still a dab of icing on his nose, and he smirked when it touched yours.

“Wha-- I-- I didn’t say that,” you said, but you sounded oddly unsure as your fingers curled in the collar of the hoodie he wore. “Maybe I would have let you sleep on the-- on the couch…”

His lips had latched onto the side of your neck, nipping and sucking his way down to the curve of your shoulder, and he grinned in triumph when your breath hitched. 

His lips were hot against your skin, warmth erupting between your legs as he zeroed in on one of your pleasure spots, your back arching into him.

“Doesn’t sound like I’ll be sleepin’ on the couch tonight, princess,” he said, smirking as he trailed back up to your ear. Flicking the shell, his voice dropped, gravelly in you ear as he said, “I’ll bet ya the bed I can make ya cum in five minutes.”

“You’re on,” you said, your voice shaky. He was on his knees before you even stopped speaking, your leggings were all but ripped off by the time you were done.

He didn’t waste any time, flinging one leg over his shoulder and latching onto your clit, groaning around it as he suckled. His lithe fingers slid through your folds, gathering up the slick there and he pulled back for a moment to growl, “Already so wet for me, princess. Yer makin’ this too easy.”

“Shut up and-- fuck,” you moaned, one of his fingers slipping into your needy cunt. It pumped in and out of you, seeking out your g-spot with laser precision before you were filled with a second one. Your fingers tightened in his hair, tugging roughly as he fingerfucked you with abandon, building the pleasure pooling in your gut.

He was moaning around your clit, lapping and sucking as he praised your taste and how good you felt while you whined at him, rocking your hips in time with his thrusts.

“‘Samu, please,” you begged, back arching as your head thumped against the cabinet.

He groaned, focusing on the swollen spot inside you, and said, “Cum for me, princess.”

You wailed, drenching his face as you came, thighs clamping down on his head and he just kept going even when you pushed at his head.

“‘Samu, ‘Samu, please,” you whined, hips squirming in his hold. 

He grinned up at you from between your legs, chin covered in your slick and a smug look in his lazy eyes as he said, “Guess I get ta sleep in the bed after all, huh?”

“Ha, I guess so. I’ll just sleep on the couch then,” you panted, pulling your pants back up. 

Osamu stood up as well, licking his lips in a satisfied manner before wiping his face clean with a paper towel. “Fine by me, princess. Better than sleepin’ beside ‘Tsumu’s room.”

“You are such an asshole, Miya,” you said, pushing him back down onto the couch. He landed with a grunt and was quick to yank you down with him so that you were straddling his hips like earlier. “What, you think it’s your turn?”

He laughed at that, fingers tangling in your hair and guiding your lips to his. “Maybe I do, or maybe I just wanted ta kiss ya. It has been six months since I got ta. Gotta make up fer lost time ‘n all that.”

You moaned into the kiss, tongues fighting playfully in your mouth as your hands slid up into his hair and pulled. He let you dominate without complaint, letting his hands wander up your sides to cup your breasts and back down to your thighs again. 

“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” you murmured, even though you were doing nothing to stop his sneaky hands. “I never said you could--”

He pulled back, hands suddenly finding your face. He was serious all of a sudden, and you were confused. It cleared up with a rush of warmth when he asked, “Ya are okay with it, right? We don’t have ta do anything if ya aren’t ready, you know that right?”

It was like your first time all over again, when your boyfriend was constantly worried about if you were comfortable, causing you to giggle. “Yeah, ‘Samu. I’m okay with it. I’ve missed you so much, I just want--”

You squealed when you were picked up, legs locking around his hips while he held you up in his arms. He was littering your neck and jaw with soft kisses, broken by a whisper of, “I’ve missed ya too, _____. So fuckin’ much.”

You landed on the bed with a thump, bouncing once before you were pinned under his weight. He wasted no time in stripping the both of you, letting your clothes hit the floor without care, and then he was sitting up on his knees to admire you. Rough hands slid over your knees and down your thighs as he stared down at you with a warmth in his brown eyes that made you squirm.

Then he snickered and leaned over to kiss you, tongue slipping into your mouth again as his fingers finally found your clit. He swallowed the soft noise you made as he slipped inside you, walls still soaked from your previous orgasm and easing the way for his fingers.

“‘S-’Samu,” you moaned, pulling away from the kiss. Your hips rocked up to meet his thrusts, touch far too gentle to bring you anywhere near your orgasm, but you didn’t ask for more. “Feels so good. I missed you.”

He hummed against your cheek, hiding his smile against your skin as his heel rubbed against your clit. You clenched around him, fingers tugging at his hair when his lips found your nipple, rolling and sucking the taut bud between his teeth. Between moving to the other one, he breathed, “I missed ya too. Missed these too. So fuckin’ pretty.”

He pulled off your tit with a wet pop and withdrew his fingers. You whined at the loss, just basking in the attention he was lavishing you with even if it wasn’t enough to make you cum. You just wanted to be close to him, and your arms locked around his neck as he pulled your legs around his hips.

His lips were on yours again as he guided himself inside you, your pussy parting easily around him. Your back arched as he stretched you, moaning out his name as your fingers tangled in his hair. His warmth surrounded you, caged in his arms, chest brushing yours as he hilted inside you.

“Yer so damn tight, princess. So wet, feels so good,” he groaned, snapping his hips out and back in, feeling you squeeze around him. “Missed this so much.”

Your nails bit into his scalp as you held yourself to him, lips parted in pleasure as moans spilled from you. “‘Samu, ‘Samu, feels so good,” you babbled back at him.

He swallowed your sounds with a kiss before whispering, “Shh, princess, I got ya. Gonna take good care a ya from now on. I won’ let ya go again, I promise.”

He couldn’t tell if the tears were from how good you felt with his hips grinding into yours or from his words, but you hid your face in his neck and whined, “Don’t let me go, ‘Samu, please.”

At those words, he sat back on his heels and pulled you up with him, laughing when you clung to him as he slid back inside you. Pressing your forehead to his, you rolled your hips into his, bouncing on his cock.

“‘Samu, I love you,” you whispered, eyes fluttering closed at the feeling. “Please, please, don’t leave me again, I--”

He cut you off with a kiss, teeth colliding with yours in an effort to convey that he was there, he wasn’t leaving, wouldn’t leave you again. Tears were rolling down your cheeks now and he wiped them away with his thumbs, holding you as close as he could.

Pulling back, he whispered, “Never leavin’ ya again, baby. I swear it. Never want anyone but you again.” You whined at that, capturing his lips again before he fell back to the mattress, letting his hands guide the way you moved against him.

Every roll of your hips was dragging your clit across the curls at the base of his cock and he could feel you squeezing tight around him, moaning his name with every pass. He was lifting you up, helping you bounce as your fingers dug into the blanket on either side of his head. You were so beautiful to him with your cheeks flushed and lips parted, the feel of your tight cunt around him driving him towards his climax.

Braced on your hands, you hovered over him, eyes half-lidded as you focused on the way he felt inside you, brushing over the sweet spot as he pounded into you. “Gonna cum, ‘Samu,” you moaned, collapsing to your elbows. Your legs were shaking with the effort of moving and you found yourself flipped onto your back.

“Me too, pretty girl,” he whispered. He was on his elbows, hips pistoning into yours, cock twitching as you spasmed around him. “Come on, cum for me.”

Angling his hips up just right, he grazed your clit and you fell apart, back arching up off the bed as your nails dug into his arms. You wailed his name, legs locked around his hips to keep him in place and he choked as he came inside you. He rocked into you until you lay limp beneath him and even then, he didn’t pull out. Not that he could, with your arms around his neck pulling him down further, until he was fully resting on you.

Your pants mingled together and he nuzzled your nose until you gave in and kissed him. There were still tear tracks on your cheeks which he kissed away too, basking in the warmth between you, the feel of your body against his. 

Until that moment, he hadn’t realized just how worried he was that he would never get the opportunity to be this close to you again. Letting out a shuddery breath, he kissed you again, and again, and again, until you were breathless all over again.

“I meant it, I’m never lettin’ you go again,” he whispered between each one. You made a small noise of contentment in the back of your throat, trying to pull him even closer, though there was no space left between you. “I love ya, _____.”

Fresh tears were in your eyes and he kissed them away as they fell, his heart banging against his ribs as he tried to decide if that was good or bad. Probably a mix of both, that he had even made it necessary to reassure you of his affection in the first place. He would fight everyday to prove his words were true, no matter how many times you doubted him.

“I love you too, ‘Samu,” you whispered hoarsely.

You stayed like that for awhile, until your breathing started to even out, at which point he lifted himself off of you. 

Whining at the loss, you reached out for him again only to be pulled into his arms, your head tucked into his neck while he rubbed your back. He chuckled when you squirmed closer and said, “I forgot how needy ya got after sex. It’s still adorable.”

“‘Samu, shut up. ‘M tired,” you mumbled, tangling your legs with his. His hand came up to cover yours and you listened to his laughter rumble in his chest. “You’re so annoying.”

“Tha’s not what ya were sayin’ earlier, princess,” he said, earning himself a smack.

“I’m going to smother you if you don’t shut up right now,” you said, pulling on the pillow behind you. 

He caught your wrist before it connected with his face and said, “Careful, princess. Yer gonna get me goin’ again.”

As if to prove his point, you could feel him against your thigh, half-hard, and groaned. “Why are you like this?”

“Gotta make up for lost time, don’ I?” he said, rolling over and pinning you to the bed again. “Better get ready, princess. We got all night.”

--

“Wait, you’re what now?” you asked, pausing mid-sip to stare at Osamu across the table. “Paris?”

He nodded, watching your reaction carefully. Your eyebrows furrowed, your lips turning down as you set the glass back down on the table. “Ta study culinary arts. I’ve found someone willin’ ta teach me there, and it’d be a good opportunity.”

There was a brief flicker of something across your face, maybe insecurity, maybe fear, but it was gone in a flash, leaving Osamu to wonder whether he imagined it or not. You nodded, stirring your straw and staring into the swirling drink thoughtfully. “You’re right. It’s an amazing opportunity, ‘Samu. You’re gonna take it, right?”

He watched you still more closely and finally picked up on what he’d been afraid of, that little glimmer of doubt that you were trying so hard to hide. You were putting on a brave face for him, but even after almost a year, he still caught the signs of insecurity in you. It had eased up, for which he was thankful, but it still twisted him up inside to see it at all.

“I want to,” he said, evading giving you a straight answer. He didn’t want to see the fear that he knew would come with his revelation, though he knew he would have to face it soon enough. “I haven’ decided--”

“You should take it,” you said, cutting him off. His eyes widened at the blunt tone, but he didn’t find the doubt he expected, and you didn’t stumble over your words. “You’ll come back, right? You shouldn’t pass up an opportunity like this because of me or anyone else. It’s always been your dream, so you should go.”

His mouth dropped open but no words came out, his thoughts tangling up in his head as he tried to process what you were saying. Of course, he had expected you to tell him he should go, but not with such assuredness. “Are ya-- Are ya sure? Yer not upset or--?”

Then you smiled and he could see the sadness blighting your security, but you shook your head. “It’s been hard, ‘Samu, you know it has. Trusting you again has been really tough, but I can’t, and don’t want, to hold you back for selfish reasons. Promise me you’ll come back, and we can deal with the rest as it comes, ‘kay?”

He just stared at you, blinking rapidly, and then--

“Come with me.”

The words poured out before he could think them through, and it was your turn to blink. 

“Pardon?”

“To France. To Paris. You’ll have graduated by the time I leave, so why not?” he said, quickly catching up to what his brain had decided. You were still staring at him with confusion, then you hummed.

Resting your head in your hand, you said, “Paris, huh? You plannin’ something while we’re there, Miya? It is the city of romance, after all.”

Osamu chuckled at that, settling against the back of the booth. “We got enougha that already, doll. But if a Paris proposal is what ya want, all ya had ta do was ask.”

Your laughter filled his ears, and he could finally see that you were really thinking about his offer. It was a serious thing, moving across the world for someone who had hurt you once already, and he would be hurt but not exactly surprised if you didn’t want to risk that. He waited with baited breath as you hummed again, staring up at one of the posters hanging above your head.

“Paris would be pretty nice, I guess. I wonder if I’ll be able to find a job there,” you murmured, and jumped when Osamu gasped.

“Wait, ya mean--?”

“Yeah, sure. Why not? A fresh start for us might not hurt,” you said, laughing when he jumped around the table to sit beside you. 

Peppering your face with kisses, he said, “Yer the best, babe. Ya won’t regret it, I promise.”

The waitress came by at that moment with your food, smiling lightly at the way Osamu was acting, and you flushed red.

“I already do. Get off me before we get kicked out for indecency,” you said, poking him in the side.

He smirked at that, thanking the waitress before whispering in your ear, “Oh, we’ll be indecent soon enough, but I can wait ‘til we’re home, at least.”

Groaning, you hid your face in your hands while he laughed, feeling at last like things were falling into place the way he’d always wanted. As he looked at you, your shoulders shaking with laughter into your hands, he pressed a kiss to the side of your head.

“I love ya, _____. Always will, if you’ll have me.”

⇥ masterlist 

⇥ taglist: @sluttony​, @visaintes​, @yunhosblackgf​, @super-noya​, @byebyes-world​, @newfriendjen​, @atsunakaashi​

[sunlight-moonrise]

The Five Dates (Reid Request)

Summary: Reader decides that she wants to help Spencer experience the things he missed out on when he was a teenager. 

A/N: I had a couple of people ask for a part 2 to The Five Times so here it is. Originally was gonna leave that fic as a standalone but writer’s block on my other WIPs led to this sequel. I strongly recommend reading the first part before reading this one so that the story-line makes more sense. As always, thank you to the lovely @spencer-reid-in-a-pool and​ @wishingwellwriting​ for being fantastic betas. They have amazing fics, so if you need another Spencer Reid fix, they can most definitely deliver. Enjoy!

Category: Fluff

Content Warnings: None

Word Count: 6.0K

Masterlist

The first date I had with my neighbor, I don’t think it really counted as a date.

Spencer and I were eating dinner at my apartment after he told me the man who tried to attack me was in custody. We were sitting on the couch with the TV on but I didn’t know what was playing since we were talking the whole time.

He told me that he does magic tricks, enjoys ghost stories, and loves to learn. In return, I told him my favorite hobbies, some habits that I can’t get out of, and food that I enjoy cooking. He listened with rapt attention, hanging on to every word I said. It was amazing being able to spend time with someone like this. It felt like I’ve known him for years rather than a few months.

“…and that’s probably my worst experience from school,” I finished, recounting the tales of my teenage years. “What about you? Anything you wish you can take back from the early days?”

Spencer suddenly turned away from me and became silent. I looked at him in confusion. Was it something I said? Did I offend him?

“Oh, I—I’m sorry. Did I say something wrong?” I asked, my voice coming out as a whisper because of how low I spoke.

He quickly shook his head, as if driving away some bad thoughts that plagued his mind. “It’s not you. It’s just that I was a 12-year-old prodigy at a public high school in Vegas. I didn’t have a lot of fun experiences.”

I could hear the sorrow in his words when he told me this. I know how cruel kids could be, especially to someone they considered an outcast. My heart ached for the little boy who went through so much misery at such an early age.

There were a few more seconds of silence before I had a lightbulb moment. “Well, maybe we can change that,” I suggested. “We can do some things that typical teenagers do.” A million ideas immediately came to mind. We can go bowling or ice skating or bike riding.

“I don’t know. I kind of got over that point of my life.”

“Oh.” There was no hiding the sadness in my voice, which made me feel worse. There’s no reason for me to feel dejected over his statement. I shouldn’t be so selfish.

Spencer must have sensed that something was off with me because he quickly tried to correct himself. “It’s not that I don’t want to have these experiences. I just find it embarrassing that I haven’t had them yet, even now.”

“I’m not going to judge you, Spencer. I don’t want you to feel embarrassed with me,” I assured him. I moved my hand towards his as an offer to hold, which he surprisingly took. His hand completely enveloped mine. “Tell me some things that you’ve always wanted to do when you were younger but never got the chance.”

He took a moment to think while I anxiously waited for his response. “I never had the chance to have a sleepover. I had too many responsibilities at the time. I always wanted to go to a festival or a carnival. I also—” he suddenly stopped talking. I noticed his face turning slightly red as he bit his lower lip, his other hand patting against his leg.

“What is it, Spencer?”

“I-uh always wanted to wine and dine a girl, maybe take her to see a play or movie. I wanted to take an evening stroll and just stargaze for a while.” His voice became smaller the more he talked. I hated that he started to feel self-conscious around me but knew that it couldn’t be helped. I was going to change that. I was going to make sure that Spencer Reid experienced teenage fun.

“Anyway, it’s getting late,” he said, removing his hand from mine. “I have to go in tomorrow and I am sure you have an early day as well.”

“Let me put these dishes away and I’ll walk you to the door.” I grabbed our plates and walked to the kitchen, placing them in the sink. My mind was racing with thoughts on what to do for Spencer. When I returned to the living room, he was already by the hallway, grabbing his belongings.

I slowly opened the door for him, watching as he stepped out of the apartment. Before he made it too far, I grabbed the sleeve of his arm, prompting him to turn around. Here goes nothing.

“Spencer Reid, would you like to go on a date with me?” I asked, the pitch of my voice a lot higher than normal. Despite feeling nervous, I made sure to look him in the eye and maintain contact. He stared back at me, mouth agape while his face was turning pink.

“Are you sure?” he questioned, looking down at his feet. Mental note: build up Dr. Reid’s confidence, at least around me.

“I have never been more certain of anything in my life,” I answered honestly. I smiled at him when I noticed his lips tugging upwards.

“Yes. I would like to go on a date with you, (Y/N).” The smile on his face was adorable and I was happy to be the cause of it. “Uh m-maybe I could get your number, so that we can talk,” he added.

“Sure.” I took my phone from my pocket before giving it to him. He put in his number, a bit slowly but I wasn’t complaining. I saw it as more time I got to spend with him. Once he handed my phone back, we just stood in front of each other for a while.

Before I lost my resolve, I stood on my tiptoes and pressed my lips against his cheek. Before either of us could do anything, I muttered a quick “Goodnight Dr. Reid,” and closed the door. My heart thumped erratically as I slid down the door.

“Goodnight (Y/N)” I heard through the block keeping us apart. His footsteps got quieter and quieter until he eventually opened and closed his own door.

At that moment I couldn’t help but think that I was definitely infatuated with Spencer Reid.

●●●

The second date I had with Dr. Reid, I was a nervous wreck.

Spencer and I have been texting back and forth these last few days. Luckily, we were both free this weekend, so we planned on going out. I haven’t told him yet where we’re going, much to his dismay. The only hint I gave him was to dress casually.

I’ve done some research and found that there was a food festival happening Saturday afternoon. A lot of local restaurants will have stands and distant establishments will be sending food trucks. Their theme is “Around the World” so we’ll get to explore various cultures. I’m hoping we can learn some new things from the different cuisines that would be showcased.

Saturday came around and I made sure I had everything ready. I wanted our date to go off without a hitch. I wanted this to be one of Spencer’s best experiences.

I heard a knock on my door, causing my heart to pick up a bit. I don’t know why I started to sweat. Sure, I’m going on a date with a good looking and successful man but there’s nothing to be nervous about, right? Right.

I heard another knock, more hesitant this time. I quickly made my way towards my door, taking a deep breath before opening it. Thank the angels I took in that breath because I immediately lost it again at the sight of him. 

Spencer was holding a bouquet of flowers in his hand. Lavender roses and red carnations were a few that I could identify. I think the purple flower might be an orchid. 

He lifted them towards me, a slight tremor in his hands. “These are for you.” 

“They’re lovely Spencer, thank you.” I grabbed the flowers from him, taking in the smell of the blossoms. “I’m going to put these in a vase. I’ll be right back.”

I made my way to the living room to do just that. I grabbed my bag and a jacket before checking myself in the mirror one last time. Happy with my appearance, I returned back to Spencer. I shut the door behind us as we walked towards the elevator.

“You look beautiful, by the way,” Spencer said as we entered the elevator. I can tell he was still nervous, the thrumming of his fingers against one another and the bouncing on his feet a few signs hinting towards his anxious state.

“You look dashing as well. Although I do remember telling you to dress casually, mister,” I said, a small smile appearing on my face at the sight of his own.

Spencer was wearing a dark pair of slacks with a light purple button-down shirt. His hair was slicked and combed back. He was rocking back and forth on his beat-upped chucks and I can see the mismatched socks peeking through. He looked a bit silly, especially considering where we are going, but handsome nonetheless.

“I don’t have casual clothing. Plus I wanted to look good for you.” I could feel my face getting warm because of his words. “By the way, it’s doctor.”

I giggled at his comment, which caused him to laugh as well. We exited the elevator and out of the lobby.

“We’re going to take the subway to our destination,” I informed him. “It should take less than half an hour to get there.”

“Are you going to tell me where we’re going now?”

“It’s still a surprise, doctor,” I beamed at him.

Fortunately, we did not experience any delays on the train. We spent the duration of the commute getting to know one another even more. He told me some stories involving outings with his co-workers and I could tell that he really loved each and every one of them. I shared some work stories and funny memories with my colleagues as well.

Once we got to our stop, I grabbed his hand and led us to the festival. It was a 10-minute walk from the exit. I turned to him as soon as I saw our destination within our sights.

“A food and wine festival?” he questioned.

“Yeah, I know this isn’t exactly what you had in mind when we were talking the other day but I thou—“

“I like it, especially since I’m  spending the day with you.” There goes my heart again, picking up pace as if I ran a marathon. I’m sure he says these things on purpose just to see me flustered.  

Spencer squeezed my hand in his and we explored the grounds. We decided to share a plate from each stall so that we can experience as much as possible. Spencer walked us to the first stall he saw, which showcased food from the Philippines.

“Did you know that Filipino food draws roots from their neighboring Asian nations as well as some Spanish countries?” he stated as we looked at the menu, “It is considered to be a perfect blend of Western and Eastern food. Actually—” he suddenly stopped himself. I looked at him curiously, wondering what caused his interruption.

“Sorry, I have a tendency to ramble.”

“There’s no need to apologize. I want to hear what you have to say. Let’s order something and you can finish telling me.”

He smiled brightly at me and squeezed my hand. After ordering a siopao to share, we sat at a table while he finished telling me facts about Filipino cuisine. As a matter of fact, he told me a lot of information about various cultures and countries as we walked from vendor to vendor.

We tried risotto from an Italian booth, which Spencer said was not as good as his friend’s cooking. We also got carne asada tacos from a Mexican food truck, where I discovered that tomatoes, dragon fruit, and vanilla originated from Mexico. We ate some sake nigiri sushi from a Japanese stand. I found out that Spencer cannot use chopsticks to save his life. I decided to feed him so that he doesn’t accidentally drop our food. We ventured to numerous vendors and had our fill in almost everything that was offered. We even had desserts and some drinks.

By the time Spencer and I made it back to our apartments, we were both stuffed. I was close to going into a food coma and I knew Spencer wasn’t far behind either.

“I don’t think I’ve ever eaten that much food in my life,” he commented as we stood in front of my door.

“You and me both. I’m sure I gained 10 pounds,” I joked, enjoying the way he laughed at my attempt at being humorous. I still held his hand in mine, not wanting the evening to end, but I knew it had to. We had spent the whole day together and we were tired.

Spencer made the decision for us. He lifted my hand, placed a chaste kiss on my knuckles and wished me sweet dreams before he retreated to his own home.

At that moment I couldn’t help but think that I was definitely charmed by Spencer Reid.

●●●

The third date I had with Spencer was ruined, but then fixed.

I was organizing a picnic basket when I received a call from him. I was puzzled as to why he was calling, especially when we’re supposed to meet up in a couple of hours.

“Hey (Y/N)” His voice came out gruff as if he just woke up.

“Hi Spencer, are you okay?” I heard some coughs coming from his end and I immediately became concerned over his well-being

“I don’t think I can go out this afternoon. I’ve been sick these past few days. I was really hoping to get back on my feet by now. I am so sorry.”

Before he could say anything else, because I knew he would in his remorseful state, I interrupted him. “Spencer, it's fine. We’ll raincheck,” I assured him. He tried to thank me, but another set of coughs came over. These sounded worse than the first ones.

Spencer managed to get out a goodbye before hanging up the phone. I contemplated what to do. He sounded so sick and miserable on the phone. He likely has a sore throat, maybe even muscle aches. The idea of him alone and shivering caused a dull pain in me.

I decided that I was going to see this man. I could make him something warm to eat and lend him my thickest blanket. We could even watch a movie together too.

With that in mind, I made some chicken soup and herbal tea. I put the items in containers before placing them in my picnic basket. I grabbed my largest and heaviest blanket, placing it over my shoulder. It wouldn’t fit in the basket, no matter how many times I folded it. Lastly, I grabbed my laptop, so that we can stream movies. Spencer once told me he wasn’t big on technology so I had no idea whether he owned a TV or not.

Once I had all the essential items, I made my way across the hall, knocking on his door. Unsurprisingly, it took a while for him to open the door. I waited a minute or two before he answered and was disheartened by what I saw.

Spencer was pale, well paler than usual, with a light sheen of sweat on his forehead.  His under eyes were dark and his nose was so red. He wore a robe over his pajamas. He looked as if he was about to fall over any second now.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, eyeing the blanket wrapped around me. His voice was slightly slurred and he was leaning on the doorframe to keep himself up.

“Well I figured since I couldn’t take you out on a picnic, I’ll take the picnic to you.”

He looked down at my hands, noticing the basket I was holding.

“You shouldn’t be around me, you’ll get sick.”

“Spencer Reid, you’re worth the cooties. May I please come in?”

He relented, leaving the door open for me to follow. I took in his apartment, appreciating his more vintage style. He had a massive collection of books, some of them in languages I couldn’t even identify.

“You have a miniature bookstore in here,” I commented. I turned towards him, seeing his figure laying down on the couch. 

“I like to read,” he simply said, the words muffled by the couch cushion he was lying on. I went towards him, shrugging off the blanket from me and placing it on top of his lap.

“If you get cold, use this to keep you warm. I’m going to heat up the soup and tea. Try to stay awake for me.”

Spencer nodded his head, bunching up the soft material in his hands. I quickly grabbed the content from the basket and dashed to the kitchen. It took me a few minutes to find where he puts his utensils, but I had everything taken care of in no time. I even found a tray to help me carry the food.

I brought the dishes to him, warning him of the heat. “I hope you like chicken soup and ginger tea. I added some honey to satisfy your sweet tooth.” He thanked me, holding the bowl close to him to keep him warm. I settled myself on the couch next to him, happy that he wasn’t complaining about our proximity.

“I have my laptop with me. We can watch some movies if you want.”

“I’d like that a lot.” We ended up watching The Matrix and Minority Report. Spencer tried his best to stay quiet during the films, but couldn’t help but to comment about certain technicalities and improbabilities. I found his rambling endearing, adding in my own opinions after he finished sharing his thoughts. I had to remind him to not strain his voice when he got on a tangent on how the idea of living in a simulation is not possible. He lost me once he started talking about quantum physics.

Spencer looked at the clock, noticing the late hour. “Are you going to leave?” His voice was low, and I am positive it was not because of his ill state. He was talking with passion and intensity a few moments ago.

“Do you want me to?”

“No. Is that selfish of me?” My heart skipped a beat. Knowing that he wanted me to stay with him gave me feelings I couldn’t quite describe.

“Of course not, Spence. We could have that sleepover you missed out on,” I stated enthusiastically. He stared at me for a moment, and I wondered if I misunderstood the situation. Before I could apologize for my assumption, he started talking.

“That’s the first time you called me Spence.” He’s right. All this time I’ve been addressing him as Spencer or Dr. Reid. “I like it,” he finished.         

“Let me grab my pajamas and some toiletries. I’ll be back before you know it.”

I sprinted to my apartment, changing into my sleepwear and grabbing my necessities before returning to Spencer’s. I am sure I was there and back under five minutes.

Spencer and I continued our evening playing board games. We played some chess (which I lost at) as well as poker (which I also lost at). He showed some card tricks and tried to teach me a basic one. I couldn’t do it as smoothly, but he said that with practice I could become a magician.

I knew the night was coming to an end when he began to yawn every few minutes. Despite saying that he could stay up longer, his body needed to recover.

“You should take my bedroom,” he offered after coming back from the restroom, “You’ll be comfortable there.”

“Absolutely not. Slumber Party rules dictate that we sleep in the same room.” He laughed at my proclamation.

“That’s not true.”

“Yes, it is. Now I’m going to use your bathroom. Do you keep your spare sheets in the closet?”

He nodded drowsily as I made my way to his bathroom. I did my nightly routine and grabbed a blanket from the closet. When I returned to Spencer, he was already dozing off.   

He looked so peaceful at this moment, I’ve never seen such a look on him. I kissed the bridge of his nose and made my way to the armchair.

 I settled myself as comfortably as I can.. Before I fell asleep, I could have sworn I heard a “Goodnight” coming from his direction. When I peeked to see if he was awake, his eyes were still closed but he had a wide smile on his face.

At that moment I couldn’t help but think that I was definitely captivated by Spencer Reid.

●●●

The fourth date I had with Spence, he was in charge.

Spencer told me that he wanted to take me out as a way to show his gratitude. I wanted to tell him that it was unnecessary, but he looked so eager and I didn’t want to take that away. Plus, I was looking forward to whatever he came up with. I know that with Spencer, I am bound to have a good time.

He kept everything a secret for me, which was no surprise considering how our first official date went down. The only thing he told me was to dress nicely, yet comfortably.

My body was pulsating with excitement. I made sure to spend extra time with my makeup. I didn’t want to go overboard, but I definitely wanted to accentuate my features. I chose to wear a maxi skirt with my favorite blouse. I added a few accessories and paired everything with some heels.

I didn’t have to wait long before hearing a knock on the door. He always seems to have impeccable timing. I practically floated towards my door with how happy I was.

Spencer was dressed in black dress pants and a deep blue button-down. The outfit was accompanied with a dark tie and blazer combo. He even had dress shoes on, which came as a surprise since this man loves his chucks.

“You look as handsome as always, Doc.” He smiled at my words. I love that he was more comfortable with my compliments. It seems like we came a long way from him stammering over his words and fidgeting with his hands. Although I must admit that I am going to miss his bashful behavior.

“I got this for you.” He revealed what appeared to be a corsage in his hands, the flowers of the accessory matching the one pinned to his blazer. “Uh- I-I know it is probably a bit um juvenile. You don’t have to wear it if you don’t want to.”

“Spence, I love it. And I’ll love it more if you put it on me.”

He beamed at me, taking the corsage out of the casing and carefully securing it on my wrist. He was so gentle and patient while doing the task. Once he was done, we headed down to the lobby.

“I hope you don’t mind that I am driving,” he said as we made our way to what I assumed to be his car, a two-door pale blue Volvo. I was not surprised, this is his exact style.

“As long as you get us to our location in one piece, I don’t mind at all.” He opened my door for me before settling in on the driver’s side.

As Spencer drove, we talked about the antique style of his possessions. He shared that his Mom had a similar taste and he was very close to her when he was younger. I wanted to ask more, elated that he was telling me about his family, but decided to hold back. The way his voice wavered as he was talking showed me that this was a major effort for him. I decided to share some stories about my family and their influence over my own lifestyle.

Time always seems to fly with Spencer because before I knew it we were already parked. Being the chivalrous man that he is, Spencer made sure to open my door for me. He held my hand as we walked to the restaurant. I admired the ambiance of the venue. There was a band playing soft jazz music and lights scattered upon the ceiling. The décor was beautiful and the overall atmosphere was very cozy.

The hostess led us to our seats after Spencer informed her of our reservation. We sat at a corner table, providing us the perfect amount of privacy.

“Have you been here before?” I asked.

“No, I haven’t. As a matter of fact, a friend of mine recommended this place. He said that it was the perfect place to...uh, woo a girl.”

“Well, I am entirely wooed. But that is mostly due to the present company.” He smiled at me, before looking at the menu. I decided to do the same after noticing the pink tint at the tip of his ears. I still got it.

The rest of our dinner went smoothly. We ordered our meals as well as a glass of wine, in which I was informed of the many health benefits that come with drinking a glass of red. I was able to convince Spencer to show me a magic trick using a coin and napkin. He did it multiple times, yet I couldn’t find out how it worked. We talked about music, literature, art and so much more. We were so deep into our conversation that we didn’t notice our food had arrived.

My food smelled amazing and tasted even better. I couldn’t help but ask Spencer for a bite of his. He was willing to share as long as he got a piece of my food as well. We ended up splitting our meals with each other.

After paying for the entire bill, much to my protest, Spencer took my hand and led me out of the restaurant. I thought it would be the end of our night together but was wrong. Spencer said that there was one more surprise for me.

The car ride this time was a bit on the longer side and I wondered where on earth he could be taking us. It wasn’t until I saw a sign that a large smile appeared on my face.

“A drive-in theater?” I excitedly asked.

“Yes,” he confirmed, “I hope you don’t mind watching a scary movie.”

“As long as you don’t mind me holding you when I get scared.”

“Deal.” 

It was not difficult to find a good spot to enjoy the film. I screamed and jumped multiple times for two hours straight, much to Spencer’s amusement. He attempted to distract me by telling me facts about certain aspects of the movie which marginally helped. By the end of the film, I had started to get drowsy due to all the mini shots of adrenaline.

“Did you have fun?” he asked as he drove us home. I could hear the uneasiness in his question. I’m not sure why he was nervous, this was hands down the most fun I ever had on a date.

“Of course, Spence. This had to be the best date I ever went on. Thank you.”

He smiled widely at the road and I made sure to cherish the moment. It was not often that I got to see such a large grin on Spencer’s face. Happiness was such a good look on him. It makes him appear much more lively and handsome.

I closed my eyes, allowing them to rest momentarily. I didn’t expect to be so tired from an outing. The motion of the car driving on smooth pavement was almost like a lullaby that lured me into a light slumber.

I’m not sure how much time has passed before I was lifted into someone’s arms. If it wasn’t for the scent of coffee and cinnamon, I surely would have panicked. I felt the press of warm lips on my forehead and couldn’t stop the sigh that left my mouth. I buried my head deeper into the arms that cradled me.

At that moment I couldn’t help but think that I definitely adored Spencer Reid.

●●●

The fifth date I had with Spencer was unplanned.

Spencer has been going on cases more often recently, so we didn’t have a chance to meet. We’ve been texting one another, even calling if time allows it, but I wanted to see him.

When he told me that he was finally flying back home, I decided to meet him at his job. I considered whether or not this would be crossing boundaries, but chose to accept the consequences of my actions later.

The drive to the building where Spencer works was not as long as I imagined. After receiving a visitor’s pass from the front desk and a vague direction of where to go, I found myself lost on the sixth floor.

“Can I help you sweetheart?” a feminine voice asked me. I turned to see a brightly colored fashionista in front of me. I was in awe of her vibrant attire. “Hun?”

“Oh uh, I’m sorry. I’m—I’m waiting for Spencer Reid to return. Umm, is there a place where I can wait for him?”

She beamed at me, her comforting smile providing me some relief. “The team isn’t coming for another half hour. You can wait in my office if you’d like.”

I nodded my head and followed her, taking in my surroundings. I have never been in such an official building before.

“Here we are,” said the kind stranger, leading me to a room filled with a bunch of monitors and computers. “I’m Penelope by the way. I work with Spencer and friends.”

“I’m (Y/N), Spencer’s neighbor.” I practically saw a lightbulb go over her head as she let out a squeal. Penelope started talking a mile a minute, I couldn’t understand what she was saying. It wasn’t until she saw the bewildered expression on my face that she paused and took a deep breath.

“I’m sorry, it’s just that Spencer has spoken about you a few times. I didn’t want to assume initially but I figured who you were earlier. Our resident genius doesn’t get many visitors here.”

My face heated up. I was stuck on the fact that Spencer spoke about me to his colleagues, the people he considers his second family. I wondered what he said. Hopefully nothing too embarrassing, he always seems to catch me at some mortifying moments.

“Anyway,” Penelope continued, “you have to tell me about yourself. Spencer doesn’t share enough details and I promised not to search you up.”

For the next half hour, Penelope and I traded information about ourselves. She told me how she got the job as a technical analyst and some other activities she does outside of work while I told her about my typical routine and favorite pastimes.

Penelope’s phone vibrated and she immediately looked at her screen. “They’re here. Let’s go meet them upfront.”

We walked back to where I came from, standing in front of the elevators. We didn’t have to wait long for the doors to open before I saw a pack of people exiting. My eyes instantly landed on Spencer, he was the tallest in the group.

Spencer was currently looking at his phone, typing something on the screen. He finally brought his head up once he put his cell away and I felt mine vibrate with a notification. Once his eyes landed on me, he pushed past the people he was with and darted towards me.

I opened my arms as he drew me into a tight hug. It is a shame that I have not embraced Spencer more because he gives the best hugs. Everything about him automatically puts me in a tranquil state of mind.

“What are you doing here?” he asked once he put some space between us.

“I wanted to see you. Is that okay?”

“It’s more than okay. I missed you.” That beautiful smile graced his face one more. How is it possible that this man is in my life?

The sound of someone clearing their throat pulled Spencer and I away from our bubble. My face heated up as I saw his friends surrounding us.

“Who’s this pretty lady Reid?” asked the muscular man. I looked at all his colleagues, recognizing the blonde as the woman who was at his apartment a couple of months ago. That was when I mistakenly thought she was his girlfriend. She smiled at me, no doubt knowing who I was.

“This is (Y/N), she’s my gi—uh she’s my ummm …” he trailed off, glancing at me. I didn’t notice that we have yet to establish our relationship with one another.

“I’m his neighbor,” I finished. Spencer introduced me to his team before telling me to wait while he gathered his belongings. During his absence, Penelope convinced me to join her for a girl’s night out in the future with the other ladies. I couldn’t say no to the offer, her enthusiasm was seeping through her pores.

When Spencer returned, he grabbed my hand and said his goodbyes while leading us to the elevator. I saw Penelope whisper excitedly to the muscular man that I learned was named Derek, before the doors even got a chance to close.

“My car is here. I can drive us back home,” I informed Spencer.

He nodded his head as we exited the building and made our way to the car. I know that Spencer does not particularly like to discuss his cases, so instead I asked him questions of the places he has been at recently and whether he had the chance to explore. He animatedly told me of a book he purchased that was in a foreign language as well as a vinyl record he got at a music store.

“Can we go to the park?” he suddenly asked. I was a bit confused but decided not to question him.

“Yea, sure.”

The park was not far from where we currently were. After finding a spot and getting out, he took my hand in his once again, leading us down a serene trail. The sound of crickets chirping while the soft wind breezed through us was very relaxing. I looked up at the sky, taking in the tiny visible stars and full moon.

Spencer stopped walking in the middle of the trail, tugging my hand so that I was closer to him. He stared at me as his tongue brushed across his lips.   

“(Y/N)?” His voice had that shy tone once again.

“Yes, Spencer?” He brought his hand up to tuck some loose strands of hair behind my ear.

“May I kiss you?”

My heart started racing at his question. Yes, yes, a thousand times yes. My voice was stuck in my throat so I nodded my head instead.

Spencer’s hand gently held my cheek as he leaned down towards me. I closed my eyes once his soft lips landed on mine, wrapping my free hand around his neck. He tasted sweet, as I knew he would. I pressed more firmly against him, enjoying the sound of his moan when I swept my tongue across his lower lip. He allowed me to explore his mouth as he did the same to me.

I pulled away after a while to catch my breath. Spencer placed his forehead against mine, breathing heavier than I have ever seen.

“(Y/N)?” he panted out, his voice a lot more confident than it was beforehand.

“Yes, Spencer?”

“Would you like to be my girlfriend?”

I looked into his gentle hazel eyes, embracing all the emotions he was showing me through them. That gorgeous smile adorned his face once more. He looked so beautiful right here.

“I would love to be your girlfriend, Spence.”

I captured his lips this time around, relishing the warmth of his mouth on mine.

At that moment I couldn’t help but think that I was definitely in love with Spencer Reid.

[httpsohnpouts]

𝓼𝓽𝓾𝓬𝓴 𝓲𝓷 𝓪 𝓭𝓪𝔂𝓭𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓶.

�� pairing: eric x fem. reader

⊱ warnings: i’m pretty sure i wrote ‘ass’ a couple times

⊱ word count: 2.8k

⊱ a/n: i try my best to make my work gender neutral but for my collab pieces where i have a lot to write, i tend to forget to write from all perspectives and therefore found it easier to make them from fem. reader perspectives, i apologise if this upsets some of my readers <3

my first collab piece! @atbzkingdom thankyou for the opportunity! i planned for this piece to be longer and better, please don’t hesitate to give me feedback as i’m still a little unsure on some parts. i’ll possibly edit and rewrite some parts in the future! thankyou and i hope you like it!

⊱ taglist: @heartyyjeno @atbzkingdom @chaoticdeobi

inserting the cassette into its player, the nostalgic melody slowly echoed around the room; you were entranced into a flood of beautiful and precious memories playing on repeat in your mind.

you were seated, cross-legged, on your roommates bed. she had invited you over upon your arrival at campus, to which you gladly took her invite, considering you wouldn’t really have a lot of time to spend with her with classes starting so soon. she was currently parading around in several different dresses, some tight, some loose, some just outright hideous. she claimed she was in a rush - her boyfriend, sangyeon, on his way to pick her up for the party they were attending that night. she ushered you to go with them but you opted out, wanting to get settled in before rushing off to a party.

pulling on the tiny bobbles on your socks, there was a knock at the door, and the next minute you were met with two guys. one in which you assumed to be sangyeon, considering your roommate sprung herself into him upon seeing his face. and the other - someone you didn’t know. that was, until he was introduced to you, as eric sohn.

your second encounter with eric, was - funnily enough - at a party. you were in your last years at college when your friends wanted to let off some steam and somehow had managed to get you to tag along with them. you couldn’t handle your alcohol very well so let’s just say you were pretty befuddled.

“woah, watch where you’re going there, princess” someone chimed.

you were wobbling slightly and accidentally backed up into someone, sending their drink down the front of their shirt.

the next thing you knew, you were being swept up by your legs, your face in vision sight with the person's back, “hey! put me down.” you screeched between each punch of your fist. whoever it was, was really enjoying themselves, chuckling at your childish behaviour.

you were finally put on your feet, coming face to face with the ever-so-rude person who happened to escort you out of the building before a fight occurred. for some odd reason you just felt feisty tonight, probably since you haven’t let yourself loosen up since the start of classes and all of your wild and chaotic energy was protruding through all at once.

“i’m guessing you’re y/n, right?” he looked oddly familiar, as did his voice, but through your blurry and clouded vision, you couldn’t really make out who it was. he must’ve sensed your hesitance, tugging at your wrist before giving you a small high five, “i’m eric.”

ever since that night, he would take you out somewhere. and for someone who hadn’t explored much or had never even gone out of their comfort zone, it meant you had a lot to see and a lot to learn.

your favourite hangout had got to be the night where he drove the two of you to an outdoor cinema, seated on a plaid blanket that laid flat against the grass, your jacket shared between the two of you, your thighs pressing against one another whilst the pillows you brought propped your heads up comfortably to watch the movie playing. every so often, you could smell eric’s perfume as it blew with the wind, intoxicating you almost. without him realising, his hand would unconsciously fall and lay on your thigh, you ignored it however, knowing he didn’t mean it and is something you shouldn’t really be making such a big deal out of.

you were occupied in the screen played before you, giving eric the chance to etch your features into his brain. he had liked you for a while, even before you first saw him in your roommates dorm, sangyeon brought him along, knowing you’d be there and thus giving eric the chance for you to finally meet him. your hair was tied back, checking the weather before leaving knowing it would be windy and figured you’d pull it back to avoid the nuisance of doing it later on, except your baby hairs escaped it’s capture in the bobble and floated around with the direction of the wind. the screen’s light shone and bounced across your face, illuminating it in a way that made you look like you were an angel visiting earth but without the wings and plus, he knew you were real. he couldn’t help himself but to occasionally stare at your hands and wonder what it would feel like fitted between his, wondering how smooth they were. oh, how much he wished he could just squish your hands together right there and then. so he settled for leaving it purposely nearer to you, hoping you’d feel the same as him, yet a little braver by slipping your fingers together. you didn’t, but he figured it was wishful thinking anyways.

or there was another time, where he snook you out of your dorm past midnight just so you could both watch the sun rise. his safe place, he’d never brought anyone there before and he told you just that, causing butterflies to flutter crazily from inside of your tummy. just like how you smiling and letting out a little giggle at one of his lame jokes, he told the boys the same one and earned an eruption of laughter but it just didn’t create the same feeling compared to when you did it.

no. your favourite moment had got to be the moment you realised you loved him. you had been working yourself to the bone upon exams nearing and eric knew this, trying his best to relax you and to take your mind off of everything causing you distress. engulfing you into his warm embrace when the tears began rolling down your face. promising to stay the night with you in his arms to keep you safe and comforted and just so you weren’t alone. it’s also the moment you shared your first kiss.

what followed consisted of a few things. you celebrated your three months together before leaving education to finally turn into your own independent people with individual plans and paths they want to take. in other words: growing up. becoming an adult. and hence, you split. it was hard, at first. eric became your rock, as did you, become his. you never left each other’s sides and maybe that was why it was so hard for the long distance to work. you were both affectionate, both two loving and caring soles that just needed that physical touch, facetime can only go so far.

the door chimed, indicating someone had come through the door, “hi, welcome to moonlight’s diner what can i get for you?” you cringed at your superficial tone of voice as you casted a smile to the new customers, one of which left to find the pair a table. what a cute couple.

the woman was pretty, the way the sun shone through the open glass windows as she peered behind you at the menus, “hi, can i get two hot chocolates and chocolate chip muffins please?” she gleamed, fiddling with the cash notes she held in her hands as she looked at you expectedly.

“of course,” imputing the order into the cash register, excusing yourself as you went to prepare her order as she left to accompany her friend.

you were quite used to the machines at the diner, considering you had worked there long enough to learn everything like the back of your hand, so it only took you a couple of minutes before making your way to the table, placing each saucer and plate in front of the two, concentrating too much to notice the eyes watching your every moment.

“here’s your order and the bill, enjoy.” pushing the tray between the fold of your arm as you slid them the bill, only just having the chance to spot the man sat opposite the woman you served at the counter.

“oh hey y/n.” eric spoke, flashing his pearly whites as he began to stir his hot chocolate, “i haven’t seen you in… years. it’s nice to see you again.” the girl now staring at you instead, curious as to how eric knew you.

turning on your heel, wanting to get out of the situation as quickly as you could, you were just about to leave but god had other plans for you, “hey, i’m hanna, eric’s girlfriend. nice to me you.. y/n.”

you didn’t see eric for weeks after the encounter with his girlfriend. nothing much happened after that, your manager had called for you from the back room to tell you it was the end of your shift and how you could go home. not even sparing eric or his girlfriend a second glance or word, you gripped the tray tighter and scurried out the door, not caring to even say much as a goodbye or see you tomorrow.

“so that’s y/n, huh? is that why you brought me here?” eric had been watching you leave, you looked different from the last time he saw you. god, he couldn’t imagine you being any prettier but there you were; proving him wrong. proving to him that he never actually stopped loving you. all those nights he would stay awake silently hoping you would surprise him at his dorm and you never leave his side again, “was a surprise for the both of us it seems.”

he met hanna through a mutual friend from his baseball team. they weren’t really that close, only a few civil greetings shared between the two but when he stopped eric in his tracks on the way out of the changing room, pleading him to go on a date with his love-struck friend, there wasn’t much to lose. he was lonely and she reminded him of himself; bubbly, energetic, and hence, they started dating, seeing one another more often. something he wasn’t able to do with you. he told hanna all about you. the girl he was once head over heels with, quite frankly, she knows everything about you. as do his group of friends.

except, the difference is, they met hanna and hardly know anything of her. but you, someone they have yet to meet, hell, they know everything from how you can’t eat dairy due to your intolerance to how when you were a child, you got bit by a donkey and still have the scar on your wrist. it wasn’t pleasant, comparing the both of you. you both have different traits, different personalities, different styles, you were polar opposites. and maybe that’s why things weren’t working well between eric and hanna and why he still loves you. you match him like a missing puzzle piece. hanna knew it too, but she was too blind sighted by the four letter word called love, that she didn’t want to lose eric. maybe it was out of nerves or worries, not knowing what the future had planned for her: would she ever get married? have kids? would she even meet another boy if she broke up with eric? she was being selfish really, but she couldn’t help it… especially when she saw the sparkle in his eye and the fond, lingering smile on his face by just the slight glimpse of your shadow.

it seemed like someone in the clouds above were playing some kind of god, putting scattered pieces together. almost like a person putting a broken jigsaw puzzle back together, nothing happening too fast, but also too noticeable for it to be just a coincidence.

life was hard, to say the least. some days better than others, some appearing as though it’ll never end and whilst some, you wished would stay around forever. but that’s how it goes, time still ticks on and moves through the waves of reality and if you just happen to stumble and trip, there’s the risk of never being fully able to catch up. time. something that is very limited, something people take for granted, that some people have too little of and others struggling to stay just one foot in front of; the fear of falling behind being all too real.

“penny for your thoughts?”

he spoke, breaking the tranquility that filled the empty playground.

“how funny, sohn.”

“so tell me,” he softly murmured, turning on his side to look directly at your side profile, “what brings you here? this is where we always went during school on our breaks.”

you nod, “i know. it brings peace, you know? i like it here.”

to which the male simply nodded.

“and you? shouldn’t i be asking you the same thing?”

“me and hanna broke up. came here to clear my head.”

“oh.”

abruptly, eric stood up, his hand outstretched towards you as he dragged you to your feet, “c’mon, we’re going to get ice cream from that place around the corner.”

and with that glimmering smile, you couldn’t refuse.

“and that, is how sunwoo managed to get stuck inside of our dorms dustbin.”

“so, you’re telling me, at half three in the morning, sunwoo climbed into a tiny ass desk bin as he wanted to prove to you that he could get from one side to the other in thirty seconds or less?” letting out a cackle, your head thrown back as your hand covered the ice cream in your mouth.

sighing, “i miss how things used to be.” putting your spoon into the ice cream tub, resting your chin in your palms as you stared at the scenery occurring outside of the parlour, “i feel the same.” eric replied, huffing a little whilst his lips protruded into a pout as he copied your form, looking at you.

“want to restart?”

“restart?”

“yeah- why not? i’m not saying forget about what’s happened, just, i miss you.”

popping the spoon back into your mouth, a small smile forming on your face, “me too.”

eric was true to his word, every chance your schedules allowed, were you spending time with one another. like nothing had ever changed, and that you were still in school.

but there you were, sprawled across eric’s bed in his small - one man - apartment. both of you laid beside one another on your backs whilst observing the coloured star projector he had pointing to his ceiling.

“hey y/n?” eric whispered, closer to your ear than you expected, the tip of his nose rubbing against the shell of your ear slightly.

copying him, your noses now skimming each other but neither of you daring to move, “yeah?” you whispered back. unknown as to why you were whispering, possibly not wanting to burst the bubble the two of you were entranced in.

“do you miss us?”

smiling slightly before it dropped, recalling all the memories from your younger years, when you lost the love of your life, your best friend, the person who was always there in your time of need. just like you were to him, “i never stopped.”

never did your feelings for eric disappear, some might say you were meant to be together; soulmates your friends and family would say.

in which, probably explains why you were here to begin with, the same place, the same position, the same old

ceiling with the star projector. except, this time you were saying goodbye.

goodbye to eric’s one-man apartment, your life together with your identical rings located on your ring fingers as tiny hands held each of your empty hands. leaving heartbreak in the past, and focusing on loving one another for eternity whilst bringing up your two children that came after three years of marriage.

maybe it was always meant to be this way. maybe you’re meant to go through hard times to be stronger for the person you were always meant to be.

the puzzle was complete, and your happy family decorated the pieces. memories were memories for a reason. what was important was to live in the present, to stop daydreaming of the past, things that could’ve been better, regrets, mistakes- all made and done, but accepting you for you. and being complacent with that.

maybe you’d be stuck inside a daydream for the rest of your life, especially during the tough times. or just maybe, life itself is your daydream.

a knock on the door was what brought you out of your trance, and there you were - seated, cross-legged, on your roommates bed when her suited up boyfriend waltzed in with a familiar man trailing behind him.

eric sohn, the infamous, and handsome, baseball player on campus. the same boy of whom you’ve harboured a crush on for as long as you could remember and-

oh my god?! is he walking up to you?! okay y/n, stay calm!

“hi. i’m eric sohn.”

and that’s where the cassette stops.

[dnarez]

Chapter 2 - Dinnertime

When Y/n got back to the bathroom she saw one of the cutest scenes ever.

Keigo was chirping to the duck that was in his hand, then he would squeeze the duck, as if they were having a conversation.

She knocked on the door and saw him panicking a little, but when he saw it was her he calmed down.

"Excuse me young master, it's time for me to wash your hair" he blushed heavily and nodded, turning his back to her.

She got close to him, took off her blazer, then started to wash his hair, being extra careful with her nails.

"Why do you call me 'young master' lady?" He was toying with the duck squeezing it from time to time.

"Why do you call me 'lady'?" She asked while rising the shampoo off

" 'cause you are one" he shrugged. "I also don't remember your name"

She giggled and started putting conditioner on his hair "exactly, I call you young master because that's what you are for me, and my name is Y/n"

"(Mispronunciation of Y/n)?"

"No, Y/n"

"(Another Mispronunciation of Y/n) ?"

She sighed and rinsed the conditioner from his hair "Call me one-san, that is way easier for you to pronounce"

He nodded with a heavy blush on his cheeks.

Y/n let the water be drained and took the towel that she had picked for him. "Can I pick you up?"

He looked at her for a bit and then nodded, standing up on the tub.

She smiled at him, then wrapped the towel that was obviously too big for him, and picked him up, letting him wrap his legs around her waist while holding his butt with both arms, keeping him safe.

Y/n got closer to the sink to let Keigo pick his plushie up. "Let's not forget your friend."

"Thank you" he took the plushie and hugs it.

"Your welcome young master" she goes back to the bedroom, that was all tidy again.

"Wow! You cleaned up!"

"Of course I did, I will be the one to fix your room until you tell me not to" Y/n sat him down on the bed "I am going to get the hairdryer, please change yourself while I am taking care of that."

She gets out of the bedroom and leaves Keigo alone.

The boy gets up on the bed and start to dry himself.

'This towel is extra fluffy, and it smells nice'

He rubs his face on the towel.

'Smells like flower'

He finishes drying himself and put the clothes that she gave him, but doesn't put on the shirt.

'There is no hole for my wings...'

Keigo heard a knock on the door and flinched.

"Young master? It's me, may I come in?"

He sighed relieved "yes, you can"

Y/n got in and was surprised to see him with only the pants and socks on. "First, when someone say 'may I...' you answer with 'you may...' " she goes to the bathroom with the hairdryer in hands

"And why aren't you with a shirt? Please come here so I can dry your hair"

He got up from the bed with his plushie in hands and follows her to the bathroom "There is no hole for my wings, if I try it will hurt to put it on"

"Oh! That's true! Don't worry, I will fix them for you, may I pick you up?" She tried to catch him on her trick

He looked at her then gave a small smile "You may"

She hummed happily while picking him up "You learn fast!"

"That's good?" He tilted his head.

Y/n put him sitting on the sink and said "Yes, since I am your teacher" then turned on the hairdryer and started to dry his hair and his wings.

Keigo closed his eyes and felt her nails massaging his head, he never had someone take care of him like that... it was nice, by the looks of it his life had really changed.

"There! A cute and clean boy" she let him there while she fixed his shirt. "Now he just needs to put a clean shirt, and he will be done"

Y/n got back to the bedroom and gave him the same shirt, but with slits for his wings.

"A hole wouldn't be better?" He asked after putting the shirt with some difficulty

"It's important to cover the base of your wings young master, since it is a very sensible part" she walks to the door "Tomorrow you will have clothes that can fit you properly, since it's 18h right now, I will prepare yours and your mother's dinner, while I cook you and your plushie can explore the house"

He walks to her with the toy in hand "Can I stay with you?"

She shook her head "You need to get familiarized with the house, and I do a better job alone, but here..." she took a little box with a bottom in it "this is a way to call me, but please do it only when needed, I still have to do my chores"

"And if I press it on accident?" He took the bottom box from her hand and held it with one hand.

"Meet me in the middle of the way to the kitchen, this house isn't as big as you think, I will almost always be on the kitchen or the backroom that is where I live"

"Okay..."

"See you at dinnertime,  just... stay away from the door with the black doorknob, it is your mother's room"

He nodded.

"Now if you excuse me young master" she bowed to him and went to the kitchen.

Keigo didn't know what to do, he could sleep, or explore the house, since his curiosity was very big he decided to explore, if the dinner wasn't ready until then, he would take a nap.

"I think it will be better if you stay here" he said while putting his plushie on the pillow "I will see you later"

The winged boy went to the hallway and started to explore.

There was an office, with a small desk and chair that he could fit comfortably, a normal sized desk and chair, with a blackboard behind it, with a lot of bookshelves.

He found on the hallway a bathroom, and another bedroom.

The house was very empty, with no paintings and plain furniture, maybe he could change that with lady's help.

Keigo went to the living room and found his mother on the couch watching T.V.  he was about to sit by her side, but she laid on the couch taking all the space.

He looked at her with the same blank face as always and goes to the snow globe, when he was about to take it, he heard her.

"Don't break it."

"I won't" Keigo got the globe from the top shelf and looked at it curious about the city that was inside it, he sat on the floor and lightly shook the globe seeing the fake snow fall on top of the small city made him smile.

He heard foots steps getting close to him, he shrunk into himself, feeling dense, but then he felt someone pet his head.

Keigo looked behind him, he hoped to be his mother, but was meet by the young (h/c) haired lady.

"This is my hometown, is one of, if not the most precious thing I have, can you read the name that is written there?" She sat by his side and pointed to the name, on it.

"L-los A-a-an-ge-gelis, Los Angelís?" he tilted his head to and heard she was holding a laughter.

"Almost there, it's Los Angeles, it's a very far away place that I once lived."

"Really? How far is it from here?"

"It's on the other side of the world"

"WHAT?! That's very far! How did you get here?" Keigo looked at her surprised.

"On a plane, I came to live with mi gran mama, and mi gran papa, but they died when I was around your age, if it weren't for the commission I would be with my mother... let's say that... I didn't like her very much, I am very grateful, and you should too" Y/n got up and put the globe back on its place "The dinner is ready, let's eat?"

She went to the dinning room, another place of the house that was plain, but the food on it was looking delicious.

"Woooaaah!!!!" he gave a big smile with stars in his eyes.

"Since I don't know what you two prefer, I decided that it would be better if I cooked something more common, you can tell me which one you liked the most, so next time you will eat it again, or something like that" Y/n smiled at their reaction, "eat as much as you like, I can cook more if you so wish" she bowed  and stood behind Keigo's chair.

"Ah! My toy, I forgot it!" He looked at her panicking.

"I will go and get it for you, don't worry" Y/n went to fetch the toy.

When she exited, the room became dense, but Keigo ignored it and started to eat, neither of them said a word to the other.

When Y/n came back with the toy Keigo looked at her with his face all dirty and gave her a smile. "Thank you very much" she put the toy beside his plate and cleaned his face with a napkin.

"Your welcome young master" she smiled at him and got back to her place behind him.

He stopped eating and looked at her "Aren't you going to eat?"

"Not right now, don't worry, I will eat after cleaning the kitchen" she waved him off

"Okay..." Keigo went back to eating.

Y/n noticed that he was eating more of the fried food, he ate his vegetables, and also most of the cooked chicken that was there.

'tomorrow I will make fried chicken, let's see his reaction' she smiled at the thought.

They both had eaten everything, Y/n gave a big smile, happy that they liked her food. "How about some desert?"

Keigo's head turned to her fast, his eyes blown wield "CANDY??!" I CAN HAVE THAT???"

"Stop shouting" his mother scolded, which made him deflate a bit.

"Yes you can, but always ask, like right now, you two will eat ice cream"

"I always wanted to eat that!" Keigo's wings fluffed up, he chirped a bit.

"You never ate ice cream before?"

He shook his head "I almost never have candy"

"I will be right back, I think you will like it"1+ she started to clean the table, he tried to help, but she didn't let him.

After cleaning the table she came to them with two ice cream cones, each with two balls.

He had stars in his eyes when he saw the ice cream, and as soon he took the first bite his face lighted up.

"Don't eat it too fast! Or you are gonna-"

"AAAAH! MY HEAD!" he started to rub his hand on his head.

Y/n giggled and petted his head "If you eat it too fast you are going to have a headache, people call it brainfreeze"

"It... hurts..." he took a deep breath and took a smaller bite.

"Eat it slowly and there will be no pain" she keeps petting his head

When he finish it she gives him a napkin "clean you face please, I will explain to you how all of this is going to work"

Keigo cleaned himself, his mother ate her ice cream, not saying a word to him.

"Right now you are malnutricied, so for the next 2 weeks we will be focusing on that, I will be you teacher, you won't go to school, but if you want to go out, I will be acompaning you, and only on weekends, on week days you wake up at 07h and will be studing with me until 10h where we will take a brake, then until 16h, beyond that you are free. Just remenber, when you are healty enought your physhical training will start, you scheadule will change when it happens."

"How will the physical training work?" He tilted his head

"I just know that you will probably get hurt frim it, I'm not fit to that kind of job, now, what would you two like to do?" Y/n asked.

"Do you have alcool?" His kother asked

"Sorry, but no"

"I'm going to bed, keep it down"

"Yes ma'am" Y/n bowed to her and turned to Keigo "You ate, bathed, how about some historys until you fall asleep? How does that sound young master?"

"That sounds great!" He picked up the toy

"But first brush your teeth"

"Common!" He winned, which made her giggle.

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

As you all can see, the progress is slow

I also have another fanfic so I'm not quite sure as to how organize my time, but I will do my best.

❤~

[tomfreakinghollandneedsaoscar]

Pass the Time

Pairing: Drew Starkey x Reader.

Summary: You feel like you spend more time outside of you dorm and so does your neighbor. Why? Both of your roommates are hooking up.

Word Count: 1,548.

Note: It took me longer than it should've to write this since Tumblr was keep messing up so please don't let this flop ( I reached my breaking point with trying but I still like it) and tell me what you think :) I hope you love it! Thank you @snkkat for posting the photo and inspiring me to write this!

Hey," your roommate, Jazmyn, speaks softly from her side of the dorm to see if you are still awake or not. You hum in response, not looking away from the episode of your newest favorite Netflix original TV show- the reason why you are not studying right now- Outer Banks. Jazmyn moves to sit upright on her bunk bed and swings her feet back and forth and gives you puppy eyes, "Can I ask for a favor?"

Knowing what she will ask, for not the first nor late time, you say, "I'm not moving, Jaz."

She jumps off and walks over to you and must go on her tippy toes to learn against your mattress. It is a fail on her part when she tries to grab your throw blanket off of you since you're wrapped in it.

You sing, "told y'all" in a teasing tone and Jaz response is a weak, "shut up."

"Why can't you just go over? I'm comfortable right here in my dorm."

Ignoring your point of view, she easily lies as she says, "I swear it won't be long."

"Really? Two nights ago, Andrew said the same thing to Drew before you went over there for three fucking hours!" Before she can try to deny it, you hold up your hand to add, "I actually mean fucking for three hours."

You roll your eyes as she blushes and gets lost in dream land that is made of all the sex, she and your next-door dorm neighbor, Andrew, have.

Which is a lot.

You knew that going to a University there would be a huge chance to live crazy college stories that one day will blow your kids' minds whenever they accidentally find one out. Getting locked out of your dorm on a weekly basis so your roommate can hookup? That is not one of them, it is annoying as hell.

The first time you got locked out was just last month, three months in your freshman year. After taking two tests in one day, you just wanted to go in a nap coma for the rest of the year. Since the elevator in your building did not get fixed yet, you had to drag yourself up to the firth floor. You could not help to wish the sock on your dorm knob was just a part of your imagination. But it was not. From the noises you could hear from the other side of the locked door, Jazmyn had someone over. You jumped and cursed when the door next to you opened and an extremely attractive and tired boy smiled at you as he tried to fix his bed hair. He noticed the sock and grabbed it to throw it over his shoulder, inside of his dorm. "I was wondering where Andrew went." He holds out his hand and as you shake hands, he told you his name and you told him yours. You agreed that you did need coffee, so you two left the hallway to grab some.

“You know, it’s weird that we are finally meeting.”

You looked over your shoulder and silently wished Jazmyn would open the door so could lay down, “We’ll probably see each other more in the hallway if they keep this up.”

A week after you talked with Drew over two refills of coffee for who knows how many hours, he saw you walking up the stairs after your last class of the day. He kicked himself off the floor to learn against your door.

"Are they...?"

He nodded in response and told you that he does not know how long, or how much longer. He followed you into your dorm after you slightly pushed him away to unlock it.

"I was planning on doing something with Jaz tonight but since you're here instead... have you ever done a face mask?"

He wiggled his eyebrows and used a husky manly tone to ask, “Sexually?"

His laugh echoed after you throw one of your pillows at him.

The third time was a couple of hours later and Drew agreed to go as far away as possible. You two went through a drive through before going to a park to eat in comfortable silence until he tried to be sneaky to grab some of your food. A small food happened before you two acted like big children on the swings, trying to see who could go up the highest. Since he is so tall, it was easy for him to do the monkey bars.

Now what was supposed to be a relaxing and do-nothing day, you let out a fake cough. “You can’t let Andrew come in here, I’m sick.”

“I’m sure Drew would be willing to take care of you.”

“I hate you.” You mutter as you get up to put your shoes on. You try not to think about how he told you he wants to make you his famous homemade chicken casserole soon since you’re been stressed with all of your school work, working part time and being home sick.

“You love me! Have fun whenever you guys do this time to pass the time.” She winks at you as you slam the door closed behind you. You stop knocking on Drew’s door with your blanket still wrapped around you and carrying your laptop when his voice comes the end of the hall, “fancy seeing you here.”

He knows your smile is half fake so he nervously asks, "You can come over if you want? I can let you in before heading to the showers."

 Andrew comes from the end of the hall, looking like he ran up the stairs while holding a plastic bag from the nearest gas station. You can see Jazmyn’s favorite candy and a box of condoms. Classy. You do not think twice before reaching into Drews maroon gym shorts to grab his keys while they have silent conversation. You miss how much his eyes widen for leaving them both in the hallway.

“I swear to God I’ll give up on being your wingman and move out if you do not make your move.”

Drew pushes Andrew out of the doorway and glances over at you to make sure you are not listening. “You are not my wingman!”

“Yes, I am! I am giving you two alone time as I have sex! It’s a win-win for everyone!” Andrew pushes him inside, “I’ll see you tomorrow!”

From his bed, Drew hears the confusing in your voice when you say, “it’s only one am?”

“I stopped listening to what he says a long time ago.” Drew states as he can hear Andrew’s and his own voice in head saying, “she’s on your bed” repeating.

You mutter, “same” for trying to do the same thing with Jazmyn.

Over the trim of your laptop, you watch Drew stand in front of you and starts taking off his gray and black long sleeve hoodie in slow motion.

"Oh my god."

"What?" He asks, amused.

"What?" You ask, embarrassed.

“Take a picture, it would last longer.” He teases, sitting next to you. You shove your elbow in his ribcage, “Shut up!”

You should not be surprised when he teases, “make me.” But your skin gets covered with goosebumps.

“Okay, last time we hangout it was two, three nights ago?” You try to change the topic, “I just remember that I beat your ass at Family Feud. Wanna play that again?"

Drew lets out a breathless, “no” as he puts both of his arms around you, his hands resting against the wall. “Let’s play a new game.”

He grins ear to ear when he feels you take a big breath in, the air faming the side of his face. “Let’s see who can the be the loudest, them or us.”

You look at him like he grew a second head when he starts hitting the wall and making grunt noises.

“You want to make it seem like we are having fake sex?”

He laughs, mostly to himself, “It’s not like you are taking me out of my misery and-“

You cut him off by pulling his hands off the wall to put them on both sides of your waist as you to help you saddle his lap. As you trace the outline of his abs, you cannot help to lick the rest the way up until he puts one of his hands under your chin to pull your face upwards to his. Both of you do not know who kisses who first.

When you need to catch a breath, you mutter, “what?” since his smile makes you smile too. “I want to take you on a date and stop using our roommate sex lives as an excuse to hangout.”

“Okay.” You feel like you are on cloud nine when his smile becomes even bigger. “When?”

“We got time to figure that out. For now…” He gives you a quick kiss before setting you to lay on the bed so he can get up.

You watch him grab a sock before opening the door wide enough to put it on the doorknob. “I want to keep on doing what you started.”

He runs his way back to his bed to tackle you while you have your arms wide open.

─────

Tagging the people who reblogged or comment on the post about which college AU to write first:

@ilovejjmaybank @softstarkey @pixelated-pogues @everydayimfangirling @maaybanks @scandalousfemale @thelocalpogue @sunnypogue @sortagaysortahigh @tembo-ndoto @arthiriticcricket @jjsbxtch @thatsme-johnbookerroutledge @rudysrings @ptersparkers @obx-saltlife @ssjiara @drewsephsmiles @obbx-tings @jjmaybanksbaby @jjaybank @mahleeyuh @jjcultmain @tcmhollnd @teamnick 

The college AU for Rudy will hopefully be posted tomorrow!

[ps-i-dont-even-know]

Devil may cry headcanons

You know I wasn't expecting you put a lot of Kyrie stuff in this one but I couldn't help it. Also there's dadgil in here because I really love it, sorry for no young Dante and Vergil I'm running out of ideas since I can't remember most of my childhood. Also for those who are interested, I’m thinking of starting taking request/ask for headcanons and writing, possibly drawing but their not the best, but I need to work stuff out at the moment.

Sometimes when Vergil has a mission near Nero and Kyrie, he stops by their house

The first time he did this was shocking to Nero, not only was Vergil there, but V and Urizen was there too, and it was going to be extremely ridiculous to explain this to Kyrie

And he knew how this was go and how she is protective over Nero since losing her brother and nearly losing Nero.

"Nero, who's at the... door", " Oh, um Kyrie I would like to introduce you to my dad, er … Dads?", "Your, Dads?", "Look its complicated and a long story, anyway this is my main Dad, Vergil, he's kind of nice but doesn't really talk that much. This is my dad's human half, V, he's nice, likes poems and has animals, strange one that is. And lastly is my dads demon half, um I'm not sure if he's nice or not since he raised the demon tree", "Oh that's nice, by the way which one was the one that hurt you", "Wait, Kyrie, No!"

Nero has to hold Kyrie back from trying to attack Vergil, mostly for her safety. Of course she doesn't forgive Vergil at first, because of what he has done and while she gives off a nice demeanor, her glares and scowls are anything buy warm and welcoming. Which Vergil approves of Kyrie dating Nero, having someone who will fight for you instead of turning tail when something bad happens

After a while Kyrie finally forgives Vergil, because she shouldn't hold grudges that are already in the past, and to move on. But she does tell him that if he were to do something like this again she would not hesitate to hurt him, and Vergil knowing that it would be impossible for her to hurt him agrees. And the tension is finally gone and she is more welcoming to him. Which is great for Nero's case since he felt like he was being smothered in between all their glaring and the tension.

Kyrie also makes apple pie when Vergil visits, since apples are one of his favorite fruits and because the one time he visit she made some for the orphans and she asked if he would like a slice and at first he said no, but soon gave in and had a slice, well maybe two or three but he wont admit to it.

He will also go grocery shopping with her when he has free time and Nero is busy, only to help find ingredients for new food Kyrie wants to try, and to get to know each other better.

On holidays when Vergil and Nero will help Kyrie cook some of the food. Sometimes Dante will try to sneak some sweets only for his hand to be hit by a spatula as Kyrie tells him, he needs to wait or he'll spoil his dinner. In which Dante's pouting, Nero and Nico are giggling, and Vergil is smirking.

Nero has Kyrie fix his jackets when he comes back from missions sometimes, normally he will tell her he doesn't want to put work on her, but she wants to do something nice for him. She also teachers Nero how to sew and stitch so when there are days she can't fix he can do it himself, which took a while but he got it down and not only does he fox his jacket but also helps make clothing for some of the kids, sure his stitching or sewing not the best but they love it nonetheless. Kyrie has also has sewn cat like ears on one of Nero jackets without him knowing until Dante was laughing at him, he chewed him out but still kept the ears on his hoodie because he likes it.

Kyrie got Nero into cooking and remodeling house shows, sometimes he’ll turn it on just to see how the house changed and kind of debated on doing it with their house. What surprised him was the time he came into the living room where the tv was and saw Kyrie watching crime investigator shows, saying she finds its interesting about how they solve the problems, which Nero also got into, along with most of the kids.

The kids will dog pile both Dante and Vergil, Dante loves it, play fighting with the kids and stuff. Vergil on the other hand he doesn’t expect it and isn’t used to the contact, so he gets stiff and weirded out.

Dadgil

He got a school suspension, because well doing his first judgement cut on an apple sitting on a desk while cutting the apple but also the desk was something he wasn't supposed to do, and also because there not supposed to bring weapons to school

Nero had brought the Yamato, Cerberus, Nevan, and Agni & Rudra to his school show and tell, because he want to knock the socks off the kids who brought in pets, toys, or food from a different country

Vergil was frustrated that he had gotten a call from the school that his son brought weapons to school and was being suspended because of it and was mad that Dante let the Nero bring the weapons to school in the first place because it was Dante’s day to take the kid to school and he was busy

He was proud that Nero had done a judgment cut for the first time even if it was tiny and told him not to do this again.

Nero technically has two dads. Vergil and V, he loves when V visits him because of his strange pets, and the way he acts, he's mysterious but kind and loves his poems

Nero will not sleep unless V or Vergil reads him something be it a poem or story, and will try to stay up when Vergil is out on a mission. Being read to helps Nero sleep

On that subject of sleeping, Nero has frequent nightmares. It might be something he has gotten from Vergil, but there will be times where Nero leaves his bed and walks to his dad's room asking if he can sleep in bed with him, and half awake Vergil will agree. Sometimes Vergil will softly sing to Nero because after his nightmares it takes him a while to get back to sleep, and god forbid if Dante heard him singing he knows that he will not let him live this down.

Nero wanted to learn an instrument because his dad knows how to play a violin, and his uncle knows how to play both the drums and guitar. Though the problem was he didn't know which one to go with, there was many to choose from, he kind of stuck with a trombone since it slides a lot and the style is kind of it is great, also he can get away with spitting on Dante.

Nero has only two fears, spirits/ghost and frogs. Its mostly Dante's fault for letting Nero watch paranormal horror movies at night. And Nero doesn't know why he is afraid of frogs, maybe its the way they look or something he doesn't know nor care.

When he was at the park with Nico and Kyrie, did his fear of frogs really show. They were over by the pond and Nico comes over to Nero with the frog in her hand, only for him to scream and start running, while Nico chase after him giggling. Kyrie was also giggling watching Nero run from Nico was too funny.

Nero also begged his dad and uncle for a pet, he didn't care what it was as long as its not a frog. Dante was close to getting Nero a hellhound or Cerberus, but Vergil literally had to stab smack some sense in his brother. They decided on ferret, they didn't want a cat or bird because V has one and they weren't sure if its territorial or not. Hamster and Guinea pigs are tiny and live I cates not much fun there same with Lizards. Dogs are a hassle and no one wants to clean up after it, so a Ferret is what they decided on.

Nero absolutely loves it and its a noddle he can wrap it around his neck and wiggle the creature. He decided on naming it Furret cause it looked like the Pokémon and he couldn't think of anything else

Every year for fathers day Nero will try and make Vergil something, he's make weird cup looking thing that you cant drink out of it because of holes, macaroni art, drawings, cards filled with glitter galore, paper hats, the list goes on and on. But he tried making those flower thing Dante makes, he asked him how he did it and Dante responds it comes to him naturally which doesn't help at all. So he tries only for nothing to appear to his disappointment, he tries and tries until he gets the tiniest and wimpy looking thing. But happily gives it to his dad who really appreciates it.

Vergil's refrigerator is covered with child like drawings given to him from Nero, he loves them and encourages Nero to do more and that he will be the greatest artist.

When Nero first met Patty was the same day Dante was given the mission to babysit her. She was kind of bratty and annoying at first and he didn't like that she would take all of Dante's attention. They argued a lot and Dante would yell at them to stop because it was giving him a headache and they should try to get along. After having to take Patty to retrieve her family money he did start to get along with her and they started to both annoy Dante together.

Nero absolutely loves dinosaurs and has loads of toys of them, and when he was going to the Zoo with Vergil he told him he was excited to see Dinosaurs there. Only for Vergil to tell them that there aren't any dinosaurs at the zoo. (This happened to a friend of mine).

Trish and Lady likes to take Nero out shopping, normally he doesn’t mind going with them, as long as he gets something out of it. Poor Dante and his debt when he finds out how much stuff they bough for Nero

Dante watching Nero while Vergil out can lead to many, many, different ways, and Vergil dreads all of them. Dante could feed Nero only sweets and junk food instead normal healthy food, Dante could probably lose Nero somewhere be it the park or his own damn shop, Dante could probably get Nero in danger because of the demons that show up to his shop and destroys it.

Nero does get into a lot of fights at school, half of them are kids making fun of him others are he’s a hard head and doesn’t let go of grudges. The school is very frustrated in how Nero always gets into these fights, but are nervous of his dad, because of his stubbornness and how he knows that half the time its not Nero’s fault. Like one time a teacher and Nero argued about how Demons do exist and how his dad, uncle, and two aunts go out and defeat. It resulted Nero getting embarrassed in front of the class and being sent to the office and a very angry Vergil that nearly killed the teacher.

[swarmkeepers]

riz & gorgug for #5! ✨

5. heard you tell the same story multiple times but doesn’t point it out to you when you excitedly bring it up to them again + riz & gorgug (prompts linked here)

(starting immediately post-fhsy, and a little more angsty than the other prompt fills so far because it deals with some of the aftermath of spring break. sometimes friendship is late nights and brownie recipes and old stories.)

There are forty minutes left until Elmville when Riz digs his claws into the headrest of the passenger’s seat and clambers over the seat backs to sit shotgun in the Hangvan. 

Everyone else is asleep, or as Riz suspects in Tracker’s case as she stays oddly still as a human pillow for Kristen in the backseat, at least pretending to. But Riz is quest-restless even though they’re heading home, and Gorgug’s awake because he’s driving, and both of their darkvision light up the street ahead for them. 

Gorgug doesn’t look surprised when Riz lands in the seat next to him. Of course. Because his whole party knows that Riz doesn’t sleep, or at least has to be told to, or has to know that there are hit points to be regenerated and a fight to be alert for the next day. 

Streetlights speed by and Gorgug brings the van to a smooth stop at a light, accelerating smoothly up afterwards to not jostle anyone in the backseat. He’s practiced, easy, calm. Meanwhile, Riz’s thoughts are a messy turbulent maelstrom. He can’t sleep, and after everything in the Nightmare Forest if he never saw a bed again it’d be too soon. But, forget sleep, his brain isn’t even letting him relax right now, and Riz is struggling to figure out the questions that are on the tip of his tongue. His fingers itch for a ball of red string, trying to figure out why he wanted to be up here with the passenger seat and the windshield and Gorgug.

“What’s being a barbarian like?” he asks quietly, and Gorgug doesn’t exactly startle but does tip his head to the side curiously. 

“Can I ask why?” 

“I’m—angry,” Riz says, surprising himself, but it feels true enough. “I killed Kalina, but she said she was with me my whole life. And I hate that.” He wants to hiss, to bare his teeth and make the hair on the back of his neck stand up, but it’s not Gorgug he’s mad at. “Sometimes I wonder if I should use that to. Hit things.” 

“Okay,” Gorgug says. 

“And you—you know about that. About being angry, and not being. As comfortable. Or at least you’ve said stuff like that.” Riz picks at his long fingernails, pretending to be nonchalant and not looking up to see if Gorgug’s insight is better than his shitty attempt at deception. 

“Tell me about why you wanted to be a rogue?” Gorgug asks instead, and Riz understands it’s not really a question. He trusts Gorgug. He thinks about it. 

“Um, my mom was always a detective, I guess. And my dad was a spy, but I guess I didn’t know that.” Riz spends a lot of his time thinking. He’s realizing he doesn’t spend a lot of time thinking about himself. Maybe he needs to make a new conspiracy board. “Uh. I guess the first time I ever saw Penny sneak attack someone was really cool, I definitely knew I wanted to do that.”

Gorgug makes a soft hm? noise that asks Riz to keep talking. “Because I was little and Penny’s little too, and we were at the mall and some asshole catcalled her? And oh, man, you should have seen her, Penny was probably an Aguefort freshman then? But she told me to hide behind this vending machine and—”

--

They’re all the way home, with the Mordred Manor crew taking their stuff out of the trunk while Gorgug and Riz keep talking. Riz finished his story hurriedly as they pulled into the driveway, ending with Penny teaching Riz to make brownie bars at Strongtower after the sneak attack incident and being so cool and badass and nonchalant about making that guy’s nose gush with blood. He’s talking fast and gesturing big like he doesn’t usually, caught up in a story that he can tell well and that he hadn’t thought of in a while. Him and his rogue friends are tiny badasses. 

“That was a good story,” Gorgug says. “Rogues seem pretty cool.” 

Riz grins, all his fangs out and happy in the driveway of the manor. “Thanks, dude.” 

“I think you can be angry and not a barbarian,” Gorgug says, gently. 

And “Okay,” Riz says, gentled. 

--

It’s the tail end of one of Fabian’s all-out summertime ragers. The Bad Kids are in a big cuddle pile that barely fits on the picnic blanket on the lawn of Seacaster Manor, and Gorgug’s at the very bottom. Riz is tipsy on half a beer (goblin metabolisms are not good and it’s not his fault) and he thinks Gorgug looks a little lonely, lying on his stomach and tapping at his crystal with all the wind knocked out of him from everyone lying on top. He scrambles down the pile of friend-bodies and sits on the grass by Gorgug. Riz racks his brain for something good to say. He doesn’t want Gorgug to be lonely, not when Riz is going to be up all night and Riz is usually the lonely one.

“Di’ I ever tell you about the first time I saw someone get sneak attacked,” Riz says, words big and bubbly and coming out too fast. He doesn’t care, he’s buzzed and happy and Gorgug looks like he could use a good story.

“I don’t remember, tell me,” Gorgug says, putting his crystal down face down so its glow goes dark. 

“Oh man, you’re going to love this story. It was, like, me ‘n Penny at the mall, and there was this real asshole of a dude, and I didn’t know Penny went to Aguefort but she took out this knife? And it was like she flew at him—”

At some point in the story Gorgug falls asleep, and Riz is more pleased than annoyed. He looks cozy. And not lonely. 

--

“What’s this, The Ball?” Fabian asks when Riz takes a fantasy tupperware of brownie bars out of his briefcase and puts it on the the table in the cafeteria.

“They’re sneak attack brownies,” Riz says. 

It evidently does not clear up any of Fabian’s questions. 

“Penny—Penny Luckstone?—they’re her recipe, she taught me how to make them the same day I ever saw her sneak attack a dude,” he explains. “She like, jumped out from behind one of those fake potted plants at the mall and slashed him so bad with a dagger and then she didn’t even get sneak attack on it but she also socked him in the nose and it was like the coolest thing I’d ever seen. And then she just went home and washed the blood off her fist and then we made brownies.” He puts a hand on his chest. “And I’ll never forget it.” 

“Okay, The Ball,” Fabian says, but he takes a brownie. 

Next to him, Gorgug’s already halfway into his second, nodding happily and energetically so his hair flops in front of his face. “I love that story!” he says. He’s all leaned in, listening to Riz’s story.

Riz lights up—he’s no Fabian, with expensive magical gifts, and he’s no Gorgug either with little artificed trinkets and sweeping big gestures. But he’d remembered the story and remembered the brownies and wanted to make some, and he’s just glad his friends like them as much as he does.

“Because the secret ingredient is sour cream,” Riz confides. Fabian fake-sputters, sending tiny brownie crumbs everywhere, and Gorgug swats at him. 

“You were eating it just fine before!” Gorgug says indignantly. “Respect the brownie, dude!”

“You’re right, Gorgug,” Fabian sighs. He takes another bite. “They’re not bad, The Ball.” 

--

Riz only dimly registers footsteps pounding up the stairs and also a greataxe brute forcing its way through the booby traps at his office door. His crystal is abandoned on the floor next to him, the last text he sent to Gorgug still on the screen. It’d been “Having a bad time. At my office. Can you come help? Thanks, Riz” and it’d been typed out with shaky fingers as his breaths started coming too fast, the way it does whenever he lets himself be alone in his own office for too long. Riz hates it but he needs help. He forgot the period on that text and it’s been staring at him for the past few minutes. 

His brain is whirring too fast—Shadow Cat, Kalina’s eyes in his own eyes, Baron in his mirror in his own office, darkness and danger and Fabian in churning waters, he died in that forest and so did Adaine and so could any of his friends, bullets dodged and bullets fired and it’s too much, too much. His breaths are coming too fast but also not fast enough. Riz feels suffocated. 

He’s wedged himself into his own briefcase of holding, the sides squeezing his arms in a way that’s grounding and comforting when nobody else is here in his office to help.

But Gorgug is. Gorgug is here to help now. He skids to a stop in front of Riz and sits on the floor and Riz only dimly registers it out of the corner of his eye where his head is curled into his chest trying to make himself small, make himself safe. 

“Riz, can I touch you?”

Riz does his best to nod and Gorgug just wraps long lanky boy arms around his torso, gently lifting Riz out of his own briefcase and settling him in Gorgug’s lap as they sit on the floor of the office. He doesn’t let go, just squeezes tighter. It’s so much help, and also— “Can you. Talk? Anything— Anything’s fine,” Riz says. 

“Um. Sure, Riz. I guess I can. I could list a recipe? My parents have been trying to teach me to cook more, for when we go to college in a couple of years. I’m sorry, I’m not like Adaine, I don’t have lots of interesting things memorized,” Gorgug says, apologetic. Riz wants to be able to tell him not to be, but he’s a little preoccupied trying to make his brain tell his lungs to breathe.

“Uh, so these are called sneak attack brownies?” Gorgug says hesitantly. Riz realizes what he’s doing and tries to laugh, the giggle interrupting the choked breath he was trying to take.

“They’re called sneak attack brownies because they’re my badass friend’s recipe. And he learned it from his badass friend. Um, I don’t know this super well, actually, but I really should by now and I’m just going to keep talking and if it’s wrong then I guess it’s wrong? I know that you need chocolate for a brownie. And eggs and sugar. You told me the secret ingredient is sour cream.”

Riz nods, thudding his head into Gorgug’s chest a little. He takes a deep breath. Gorgug’s hoodie is soft. And he’s a good listener.

“Right, uh. After sour cream. Flour. And butter?”

“The butter’s— the butter’s unsalted,” Riz manages to eke out, voice small and quiet and mostly talking to his own knees. 

“Got you. Unsalted butter,” Gorgug agrees, easy as anything. 

“Penny said— Penny said that dude she punched’s tears were salty enough, that’s how I remember it,” Riz tells him.

“Tell me more?” Gorgug asks, and he waits patiently as Riz lets his brain just focus on a recipe, an easy recipe and a badass story. It helps, to be given something focused to do. And Riz is just so, so glad he has friends who will give that to him, will listen over and over again when Riz needs to talk. 

And Gorgug waits. And Riz tells him. 

from the prompt list linked here! i’m closing prompts from this particular list simply because i have so many excellent ones to get through