#she’s made comments about how she wishes he were more humble

[epiphanytear]

The sudden urge to defend Jin’s confidence just came over me

[basketonthedoorstepofthefbi]

Spencer Reid x Read fic. Reid and Reader are friends, like best friends. Reader is always offering Reid donuts and listening to his fun facts and info dumps. It's one of those, they both like each other, but also are convinced the other doesn't like them.

Spencer is taking care of a slightly drunk reader whose grandmother called and asked why they're not engaged when they're younger sibling is married and expecting a child. At some point Spencer makes his ever classic comment about how it's safer to kiss and drunk reader, before being able to think, kisses Spencer. I hope that made sense.

OOPS I DID EXACTLY THAT

Safer to Kiss (Spencer Reid x Fem!BAU!Reader)

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Fem!BAU!Reader

Word Count: 2899

Warnings: Mentions of food, drinking alcohol, mild cursing, outdated expectations of women, and lots of pining

A/N: Hi I wrote this in 2 hours and was extremely entertained, please enjoy and if you send me a fic request I'll probably do it bc this is my hyperfixation hobby right now and very much keeping the demons at bay xD @bxm-1012 thank you for dropping by my inbox! I am VERY tempted to make a part 2 of this, I hope you enjoy! c:

-----

The whole expiration date thing that women faced was, in your humble opinion, complete and utter bullshit. Here you were, slowly approaching thirty (definitely still told people you were twenty-five, when, in fact, you were actually twenty-eight), and the biological clock was ticking. No, you didn’t want kids. Not right now, anyway. Not when you were only two years into your career as a profiler for the FBI’s prestigious Behavioral Analysis Unit. Not when you still had tons of things to check off your bucket list - go to Europe, visit an independent bookstore in every state, pilot a helicopter. 

And you didn’t buy into that whole ‘once a woman hits thirty, her stock plummets’ crap. Not usually, anyway. 

But Nan’s phone calls always left you questioning your existence. 

Back home in Ohio, your little sister, Kendra, had just announced her pregnancy. Three years younger than you (ironically, the age you told everyone you were), and married to a power plant manager, Kendra was living the dream of a woman from the 1950s. You tried your best not to look down on it, to wish for more for her - but Kendra was happy. She’d always wanted to be a mother, and you couldn’t imagine anyone better suited for the role. There was nothing wrong with wanting to be a wife and a mother, to devoting one’s life to it. You reminded yourself of that every time you spoke to Kendra. You especially reminded yourself of it every time you spoke to Nan. 

That sympathetic tone your grandmother used when she said, “Oh, Button, you’ll find someone eventually, and you’ll be just as happy as Kenny” was like nails on a chalkboard. You resisted the urge to gag into your speakerphone and simultaneously rip your grandmother a new one. You wanted so badly to explain to her that you were perfectly fulfilled with your life. 

You helped lock up bad guys on a weekly basis, you wanted to remind Nan. Your brain was one of few that had been chosen for a task force that caught criminals based on their behavior. It was amazing, working for the BAU, bouncing ideas off of your colleagues, finding a family within this small group of people that spent more than forty hours a week together. 

Nan didn’t see it that way. She wanted you to be just like Kendra. She wanted you to have that white picket fence in the suburbs, with a broad-shouldered husband and two little tykes running at your feet. Domestic bliss just wasn’t in the cards for you, you’d decided. And that was okay.

You were still reeling from your conversation with Nan the night before when you walked in to work on Monday morning. It was Derek who caught the raging RBF first. “Woah, pretty girl. Pump. Your. Brakes.�� He said, halting you just as you entered the BAU’s bullpen, holding a hand up to stop you. 

“Good morning to you, too, Derek,” You flashed him a phony grin, and he rolled his eyes. 

“And you’re grumpy this morning… why, exactly?” Derek asked, turning to walk beside you, essentially escorting you to your desk. 

“Because I’m allowed to be?” You proffered, shrugging your shoulders, not really wanting to talk about it with him. You loved Derek - hell, you loved all your coworkers - but he was not the person you wanted to go to with these thoughts. You didn’t really want to talk to anyone about it, actually. You just wanted to ride the cranky train until it came to a complete stop. 

Emily was returning from the kitchenette with a fresh mug of coffee and decided that the conversation concerned her as well. “What’s going on?” she asked. 

“Y/L/N’s wearing her cranky pants this morning,” Derek filled her in. 

“Oh, those so don’t match your blouse, Y/N,” Emily teased, winking at you with a smirk before looking at Derek. “Cut her some slack. No one likes Mondays.” Derek held up his palms defensively. “Alright, alright. Forgive me for being a concerned citizen.” 

“It’s appreciated,” You told Derek genuinely before setting your bag down at your desk. “But unnecessary.” 

It wasn’t until later in the morning, around ten, that anyone bothered you about your obvious bad mood again. This time it was Spencer, the one person you couldn’t possibly be annoyed with. He rolled on his desk chair around the partition that separated your workspaces, holding his hand out expectantly, like he usually did this time of day. 

Without speaking, you opened the bottom drawer of your desk and pulled out the white bag of mini powdered donuts that you always kept in stock. They were your guilty pleasure snack, and one of the first things you and Spencer bonded over when you started at the BAU two years ago. That, and the fact that you were the closest agents in age, was how you got along so well so quickly. Over several cases, varying in degrees of intensity, you and Spencer became really great friends. Best friends, actually. 

There wasn’t anyone else in your life that you trusted more than Spencer Reid. 

You opened the bag of powdered donuts and shook one haphazardly into Spencer’s palm, then grabbed one for yourself. Silently, you cheers-ed your donuts together, and ate them simultaneously, making weird-but-comfortable eye contact as you did. 

“Derek says you’re in a bad mood today,” Spencer pointed out with a teasing smirk on his face. A smirk, and white sugar blanketing his upper lip.

“Derek’s full of shit,” you grinned after swallowing your snack, the smile on your face totally facetious. “I’m extremely happy.” 

“I can tell,” Spencer snickered as you set the powdered donuts back in your snack drawer, closing it with a clank. You watched as he brought both of his legs up into his desk chair, crossing them like a kindergartner. 

The action made your stomach flutter. You’d felt strongly about Spencer for a really long time, probably a year and half, if you had to try and pinpoint it. But there was no use in going down that road with him. For one thing, he was your best friend, and you didn’t want to risk flushing the best relationship in your life down the toilet. For another thing, you knew it was one hundred percent impossible that he could feel the same way. 

“What’d you do this weekend?” Spencer asked, and you could tell by the question that he was trying to discover the source of your poor attitude. 

“Stayed home, caught up on chores,” You said, crossing your knees and leaning back in your seat, your expression telling him that you knew exactly what he was doing. As much fun as playing mind games with Spencer was, you decided to throw him a bone. “Spoke to my grandmother on the phone last night.” 

Spencer nodded understandingly. “Say no more,” he said with a chuckle. “She gave you the whole ‘when are you going to get married’ spiel again?” 

You nodded. “Unfortunately. I usually don’t let it bother me, but for some reason it’s just, like, lurking in the back of my mind today.” You shrugged your shoulders and exhaled through your nose. “What about you?” You asked. 

“What about me?” Spencer arched a brow, and you rolled your eyes playfully. 

“What’d you do this weekend?” 

“Oh,” Spencer began, pursing his lips for a moment, like he was hesitant to tell you. “I actually went on a date.” 

Your stomach flipped. “Oh yeah?” You choked out, forcing a smile. “Who with?” 

“That girl, Lisa, from the coffee shop, the one you told me wouldn’t stop ‘ogling my boy band hair’,” Spencer held up air quotes when he repeated your words from memory.

You recalled the cute barista from the coffee shop just down the highway from Quantico, a popular morning stop for agents on their way to work. You tried to stop the jealousy from turning your blood into fire. “How was it?” You asked, trying to resist the urge to sit on the edge of your seat, trying not to hang on his every word. 

Spencer shrugged his shoulders. “It was okay. She was very nice, but there just wasn’t…” he trailed off, gesticulating as the words failed to come to that supercomputer brain of his. 

“It was like a donut without powdered sugar on it?” You suggested with a small chuckle.

“Yeah,” Spencer agreed, nodding, meeting your eyes and smiling, mildly amused. “Exactly.” 

Spencer went back to his desk a few minutes later, and the rest of the day went on. It was quiet, especially for a day at the BAU. There were, weirdly enough, no open cases right now, so you spent the day catching up on paperwork, which there was always plenty of. 

You caught the elevator about ten minutes after five with Spencer in tow, and you held the door open for him. It was just the two of you as you made the descent from the sixth floor, and Spencer leaned against the back wall. “Plans tonight?” He asked. 

“Not really, no,” You said, shaking your head. “Why, you want to do something?” You asked. 

Spencer nodded. “There’s this landscape and nature photography exhibit at one of the galleries downtown,” he said. “Might be fun. There’s this artist, Milton Harvell, who takes photos of renowned locations around the world but zooms in on an obscure detail and gives the framed photograph to the person who correctly guesses the location.” 

You smiled slowly at that. You loved it when Spencer went off on one of his tangents. You found it completely adorable. “It’s actually quite fascinating,” Spencer went on, an amused tone lining his voice, making it sound lighter. “Kind of like a Where’s Waldo, but in reverse. There was this one photograph he took of the Louvre in Paris, but he zoomed in really tightly on a young boy enjoying an ice cream cone. He even went so far as to edit the photograph to make it look like it was a different time of day. The four thousand and eighth person to view the photograph was the person who guessed the correct location.” Spencer’s head bobbed and he was smiling like an idiot. 

God, you were down bad. 

“Was the four thousand and eighth person… you?” You asked, narrowing your eyes at him scrupulously and allowing a teasing grin to cross your face. 

“The photo’s hanging in my living room,” he confirmed. 

You laughed softly. “Will there be alcohol at this function?” You asked him, and he nodded. 

That was all you needed to hear. 

— — —

You and Spencer went straight to the art gallery from work, sharing a cab rather than bothering with your cars. You immediately bought a glass of red wine, and began to follow him around the gallery. You weren’t an art aficionado, not by any means, but you enjoyed looking at beautiful things, and you especially enjoyed spending time with Spencer that wasn’t hunched over a dead body or trying to map out a killer’s comfort zone. It was a rare occurrence, so you tried to soak it all up as much as possible. 

Plus, your Nan’s words were still lingering in the back of your head. It’ll happen for you someday, Button. Men just don’t find you strong, career types attractive. Maybe you should soften up your look a little. 

You downed your first glass of wine within ten minutes, and caught one of the catering staff passing out champagne almost instantaneously after. The champagne fizzled down your throat as you strolled with Spencer through the art gallery, listening intently as he went on about each piece, rattling off whatever contextual knowledge he had. But you were a little bit biased; you could listen to him list different types of soil and find it interesting. 

After the glass of champagne came another glass of champagne, and by the time you made it to the main exhibit Spencer wanted to see, your cheeks were flushed. It wasn’t that you couldn’t hold your alcohol; rather, it just made you a little bit silly. Your inhibitions were lowered, just like it would affect anyone. But with your arm looped through Spencer’s and your Nan’s nagging message still in the back of your mind, you were perhaps a little more loose than usual. 

As Spencer examined the exhibit, you tapped your foot, unable to keep still, and scanned the open space. Your eyes landed on another patron of the gallery, a conventionally handsome man about your age, and you found yourself unlooping your arm from Spencer’s, subconsciously not wanting to appear taken. 

“Are you gonna go talk to that guy?” Spencer asked, and you snapped your eyes back to his. “Because you can, if you want to. Don’t let me stop you.” 

It was almost like he was daring you to. Spencer’s jaw seemed tense as you examined his expression, the way his gorgeous brown eyes darted from the man and back to you. “You don’t mind?” You asked, arching a brow, almost like a challenge.

Spencer shook his head, his lips pursed. “Not at all. I’ll wait here for you?” 

You nodded, and turned towards the man. There wasn’t any harm in getting a guy’s number, right? Your feelings for Spencer were a lost cause, anyway. Plus, as Nan liked to point out, you weren’t getting any younger. 

The man’s eyes locked on yours and he seemed to understand that you were about to speak with him. He met you halfway, and you shook his hand. “Malcolm Greene,” he introduced himself, and you spouted off your own name in return. “You’re not here with that guy?” He asked, jerking his chin over to Spencer. Your eyes followed Malcolm’s, and you saw Spencer with his body turned towards the photography exhibit, but his head turned to the side, as if he were keeping an eye on you with his peripheral vision. 

“Yeah, I am,” you said, and Malcolm’s head inclined to the side. “I am. I’m here with that guy,” you panicked, suddenly realizing in that moment that you weren’t interested in speaking with Malcolm. No, you had absolutely no interest in spending your time with any other man but Spencer Reid. “I just, uh…” Your cheeks flushed, and you stifled an awkward laugh, anxiously trying to come up with some excuse. “I came over here to tell you that your shoe was united.” 

Your eyes followed Malcolm’s down to his shoes, which were loafers. Laceless loafers. Malcolm’s mouth opened as if to point this out to you, but you managed to stammer words out first. “Ok, well, have a great night, goodbye!” You turned on your heel and marched back over to Spencer, your cheeks red as you reached out for his arm. 

Spencer furrowed his brows down at you as your arm gripped his. “I need another glass of wine,” you confessed. 

Twenty minutes later, after two more glasses of wine and a very watchful eye out for Malcolm, you and Spencer left the art gallery. You were awfully giggly on the cab ride back to your place, cracking puns and humming along to the radio intermittently. Spencer seemed to be amused, but more so concerned with getting you home in one piece. 

As he walked you up the stairs to the door of your apartment building, he was teasing you about your conversation with Malcolm, which you still hadn’t told him completely about. “I still can’t believe you didn’t get his number. You were talking with him for exactly two minutes and twelve seconds. What, in that short of an amount of time, could have turned you off to him so quickly?” He pondered aloud, a playfully mocking tone lining his voice. 

“Listen, I shook his hand! I had my fun!” You exclaimed, bursting into laughter as you leaned against the handrail of the stairs that led up to the door. “Good, clean fun!” 

“You know, the number of pathogens that are passed during a handshake is staggering. It’s actually safer to kiss someone,” Spencer rattled off, and your eyes snapped to meet his. 

You don’t know what took you over. Maybe it was the wine. Maybe it was the way the street lamps reflected in the irises of his eyes, or how you stood just a few inches away from him. Maybe it was his stupid tweed blazer, how he looked like a tenured art history professor despite barely being thirty years old. Maybe it was the way he smelled like pine and printer ink, a combination you wouldn’t have ever thought was attractive. 

But when Spencer said that, you stood up on your toes and kissed him. It was slow and innocent at first, until it passed the border into lingering, and Spencer’s hands found your hips, pulling your body closer to his. There was a cool night breeze that filtered through the space between your bodies, and by the time you pulled your lips away from Spencer’s, and slowly opened your eyes, you were completely red in the face and breathless. 

No, that certainly wasn’t the safest choice you could have made.

——

read part 2 here

[hbyrde36]

STWG Daily Prompt 3/9/24

Written for the @strangerthingswritersguild

Prompt: Bite

Rating: G | WC: 867

Emotional hurt/comfort, Steve Harrington's parents being the worst, the best uncle Wayne Munson, supportive boyfriend Eddie Munson, the party loves Steve Harrington

Steve had given up on his dad long ago, he was never going to be the kind of man Richard Harrington had always wanted his sons to grow up and be, but he’d held out hope for his mom—hope that someday she would learn to love him the way she loved his brother.

More than ten years between them, and the fact that the Harrington’s had moved to Hawkins only after Christopher had graduated high school and gone off to college, meant no one really knew Steve had a sibling. 

The party, Robin, Eddie—especially Eddie because how could they have been dating for over a year now and him somehow still not know about this—were all stunned to learn of the existence of another young Harrington.

He hadn’t meant to tell them at all, but then Christopher and their parents made a surprise visit home so that his brother could take possession of their grandmother’s ring and pop the question to his girlfriend of a whopping 9 months. Less time than he and Eddie had been seeing each other and didn’t that get under Steve's skin to know he’d never get to propose to his boyfriend with a family heirloom, not only because gay marriage wasn’t legal, but because his parents would never dream of handing down a piece of jewelry to their least favorite son.  

Steve wound up having to make the rounds, letting everyone know movie night was canceled because his brother was in town. Naturally they all wanted explanations for why this was the first they were learning of this mysterious person, and by the time he got to Eddie’s place, Steve was a mess. 

Years of mistreatment and neglect bubbled to the surface, and not just the big things but the little sniping comments, the small injustices—inequities between the way Mr. and Mrs. Harrington spoke of their older son vs their younger—hurt feelings that he’d pushed all the way down in order to function, in order to put a fucking smile on his face and hide the fact that he was damaged goods who not even a mother could love. 

It all came spilling out of him on Eddie’s bedroom floor as his boyfriend held him, rocked him, was his rock, tethering him to the earth.

When it was all over and Steve was calm, Eddie asked him why he still spoke to them, why he still lived in their house when he and Wayne had both–on separate occasions–invited him to live with them instead.

“They’re my family.” Steve said, shrugging. “I don’t have a choice.” 

“Of course you do, Stevie. You always have a choice. If you were to decide right here and now that you never wanted to see or speak to them again, you are allowed to do that. You hold all the power here. I’ll support you in whatever you decide, but I have to say in my humble opinion, they never deserved you.”

Steve took the night to think about it, though in the instant Eddie had said the words, given Steve the power to take control of his own life, he’d known what he was going to do. It was his life, he could do with it as he wished. He was already doing that with almost every other part of it, so why was he still letting his mom and dad hold any power over him? Why did he subject himself to their passive aggressive comments and disappointed glares?

In the end he never went back, not even to get his stuff. Wayne and Eddie did it for him, leaving behind his keys and his beloved car. 

A small price to pay for freedom. 

He called the next day and left a final message on the answering machine. 

“Please leave your message after the beep.”

“Hey mom. You’re the hardest one to say goodbye to, the last member of this family I held out hope for so you’ll have to forgive me for not doing this in person. My car keys are on the table by the front door. I know the BMW is in dad’s name and I know he wouldn’t want me keeping it under the circumstances.”

“I am no longer a Harrington. I’m sure you won’t mind because you barely thought of me as one to begin with but it’s official now. I’m moving on, and moving in with my boyfriend. Yes, boyfriend, because I am nothing if not a consistent disappointment.”

“It took me longer to see it with you because I've witnessed the way you care for the people around you, most of them anyway, and what you’ve done for this community.”

“You are a good person, except when you’re not. And you were a great mom, just not to me.”

There was no bite in his words, just a sad truth finally spoken aloud.

Steve hung up the phone feeling lighter than he ever had in his whole life, and sat down to dinner with the people who really loved him. His found family, who’d all dropped whatever they were doing at a moments notice to throw him an impromptu moving-in party at his new home with Eddie and Wayne. 

Thanks to my beloved @penny00dreadful for having a look over this 🥰

[everything-fine-n-peachy]

agree to disagree (z.cl)

pairings: zhong chenle x reader genre: high school angst summary: y/n thinks chenle has the biggest head on the planet (literally and figuratively) and chenle is a boy with a crush and a lot of issues to work through.

warning: slight mention of parental neglect and ensuing anxiety

You hated Chenle’s guts. 

There was just something about this boy that made your eyes roll every single time he was with you in the same room. You had to agree that there were perks to haveing someone as affluent as Chenle in your grade. The sponsorships from his family during school events meant that teachers were inevitably more lenient. But behind this so called generosity, you could clearly see the humble brag that he was. 

Everyone adored the fair skinned boy who liked to laugh obnoxiously loud with his friends who all wore rolex watches. There was an undeniable envy behind the thin veil of admiration that everyone seemed to have though. Except you, ya’ll stay safe. 

You knew it since day one of the 7th grade when the teacher announced elections for class officers a week prior. Elections that you intended to win. The next day Chenle showed up with a bag of lollipops for everyone, automatically securing him a win as president of the class while you lost with less than five votes to your name. 

It wasn’t to say that he did a lousy job. But he wasn’t going to silently work behind the scenes, no. He liked to make everyone aware of his status and wealth in the most subtle of ways. Free snacks whenever he felt like it, free entrance at the golfclub their family owned, and souvenirs for everyone from when he would go overseas with his grandparents. And you hated it. The feeling of being treated as a charity case. Like this boy thought he could buy everyone’s love. But not you. 

“I hope everyone enjoys the free handwash mom says they cost a lot,” he announced. You with the long French braid and mouth full of braces promptly had enough by then. 

You approach him with your irritation having reached it’s limit within your stature of four-feet-eleven. “If you’re always going to tell us how expensive everything is, then I think you should just shut up,” you spat, shoving the pink paper packing into his chest. You walk away with satisfaction as Chenle muttered crap about how it was from the tropical islands of whatever country you couldn’t pronounce. 

Your hate was was palpable across the entire grade for the next five years. Everyone knew that you and Chenle didn’t mix except maybe your 12th grade English teacher. 

“Class this is just for the first term. No one is being forced to sign a marriage certificate so I would appreciate if everyone cooperated with their partner,” Ms. Son commented as she flashed the list of pairs on the screen in front.

You visibly frowned, “you gotta be kidding me.” Jaemin, who sat next to you tried to contain his laughter upon realizing that you had in fact been paired-up with Chenle. Ms. Son eyes anyone who dared to complain before explaining the project. “I want each pair to pick a topic that you disagree on. For the next nine weeks I want you to come up with a presentation on how communication skills will help you understand a different perspective.” 

Murmurs fill the room. Some of your classmates are excited. Many are quite bored and just wish the bell would ring. You are downright fumming at Chenle’s audacity to wave at you from across the room when your eyes meet. 

On the first meeting you drag yourself into the library for the inevitable. Chenle lounges lazily on one of the bean bags, engrossed in his tablet. You drop your things on an empty table before clearing your throat. 

“I think the sooner we get this over with the better,” you say with a tight lipped expression. He agrees before standing up and joining you on the table. 

You notice him studying you and can’t help but fumble with your pencil and notebook. “Why are you looking at me?” 

“I just can’t figure out why you hate me so much,” he mutters more to himself than to you. 

“We’re here to discuss the assignment.” you pointedly respond before proceeding to go over some of the topics you wanted to tackle. As you’re reading off the list you notice Chenle’s eyes linger on you a few times. You find the way he can keep eye contact unsettling but you push on wanting the assignment to be over sooner rather than later. 

The good news was that you found plenty of topics that you disagree on. The bad news was that none of you could get through a conversation without picking a fight, well mostly you couldn’t get through a conversation without picking a fight. 

You mutually decide that Renjun would be present on your second meeting. You both think maybe a mediator would help you. But not even 30 minutes in and Renjun’s hands are rubbing his cheeks in frustration. 

 “Let’s take this from the top shall we?” He reiterates,” you need to listen to each other first. Stop trying to win over each other.” 

“I think there’s nothing wrong with using your connections to get farther in life, if I have an advantage why shouldn’t I use it?” Chenle states.  

“If said advatange is within your reach because of privileges that you have, shouldn’t that be regulated by policy?” You bite back. 

“They /are/ regulated by policy. Don’t companies have referals? Isn’t that even better since people are vouching for them?” 

At this point Renjun let out an exasperated sigh. None of you were listening to each other, let alone him. “Guys, the pont of this assignment is to hear both sides. I need you to find some common ground,” he exclaims earning some looks from other kids in the lounge. 

The two of you promptly stop arguing. Renjun sighs again, “you don’t actually disagree as much as you think.” 

You snort in response, “yeah and Chenle just needs to get his big head back to earth to see that not everyone has a rich family who can get them places.” 

“Why do you always act like that’s a bad thing?” Chenle retaliates. 

“It’s a bad thing when you keep trying to buy your way through life!” you yell. 

You visibly see Chenle shrink back into his chair. His face morphs into something you’re not sure of. Even you are a little surprised at yourself. 

Chenle presses his lips together. He laughs to himself before speaking, “well, I don’t know what to say to that. But I have taekwondo training in five, so …” 

You watch Chenle gather his stuff in silence. You stare hard at the blue metallic surface of the table long after Chenle is out the door. 

“That was pretty mean even by your standards,” Renjun said. “I get that he’s annoying but isn’t that a bit unfair considering you barely know him?” 

That night you stare up at the ceiling finding it hard to sleep. You toss and turn thinking about Chenle. You remember the boy who bragged about his thousand dollar drone, the boy who accidentally dumped his iphone in the pond and had a new one the next day, the boy who liked to tell people that money wasn’t a problem. 

Then you also remembered that he was the boy whose parents didn’t show up to any ribbon ceremony, the kid who constantly brought nannies instead of family to his school shows, and the only one who hadn’t received a personalized letter from his mom or dad during the senior retreat in 10th grade. 

You think you don’t really know Chenle as much as you’d like to think. Maybe you were the problem for allowing your 7th grade grudge get the best of you for the last five years. Maybe, you needed to give this project a chance by not sabotaging it nearly as much as you did. 

You’re nervous when the third meeting comes up. Words have been scarce between you and Chenle but you at least have the decency to set up another meeting at the library. You’re a few minute early but soon five minutes turned into ten and ten turned into twenty. You attempted to text your partner but to no avail, you try and look for him yourself. 

A few steps into the 12th grade corridor you hear shuffling in one of the rooms. Curious, you follow the sounds and find yourself face to face with Chenle who was in the process of pacing. You can’t help but notice that his hands shake a bit. 

“Go away,” he says. When you don’t follow his command, he let’s out a shaky breath and a tiny laugh before slumping against the wall. You stand and watch as he sinks to the ground. 

“You’re probably right. All I have going for me is my family and I can’t even please them. Can't win a medal, can't get on the merit list.” 

You find yourself sitting next to him, leaning your head against the wall. Not quite sure what to respond, you let him drawl on. 

“I don’t even like taekwondo,” he laughed to himself again. 

“Why do you do it then if you don’t like it?”

“It’s the only tournament my dad ever attends.” 

Your eyes look straight at the windows that offer a view of the sun setting beautifully in soft hues of pink and stark orange while you both bask in the misery of the moment. 

“I got into university today. The university that they wanted for me so badly.” 

“Do you want to go?” 

“No,” he chuckled, covering his face with his hands. 

“Then don’t go. You’re plenty smart I’m sure you’ll find a good university that you actually want to go to,” you reply turning your face to look at Chenle. 

He takes a deep breath, shaking his head. “My parents have already paid for the first semester.” 

There’s a long pause before Chenle speaks again. “I was thinking about what you said a couple of days ago. It kinda stung but it wasn’t something I heard for the first time.” 

You unconsciously shift your position, uneasy at how Chenle’s demeanor changed from the last time you spoke to him with Renjun at the students’ lounge. He seemed so vulnerable, cocky have-it-all attitude all gone. Instead, a very much exhausted Chenle seemed to take his place. 

“I don’t take any offense, don’t worry,” he assured you. “I just reaized for the first time that I actually let myself use my pain as an excuse. I parade this generational wealth around since that’s all it was ever good for.” 

You feel yourself soften at his confession. Not that he was totally forgiven but it was a start. “That still isn’t an excuse for me being mean to you for the longest time. I apologize,” you mutter, eyes looking ahead. 

“I guess we can call it even since I’ve been a jerk to you, too. Sorry bout that.” 

You turn only to realize that Chenle was already looking at you. He had always been looking at you except you never did notice. He liked the way your eyes reflected the pretty sunset. Even after five years, his crush on you hadn’t worn off. 

Truth be told, he pulled half the stunts he did to get your attention. Winning class president, giving away free strawberry hand soap because he had overheard that you liked the color pink, engaging you in arguments, and everything in between. 

He knew from when you didn’t back down from him during class elections. Since then he only found more reasons to reaffirm his feelings with everything you do. His heart would skip a beat when your bright voice fills a room when you talk about social injustice, the way you were so proud of your dad, a teacher on career day, or the way you earnestly listen to your friends when they have something to say. 

Chenle offers his hand, “to new beginnings?” 

“To new beginnings,” you replied. 

As you’re both standing up to leave you can’t help but feel the urge say something. “Chenle, about the university. I guess there won’t be any harm if you honestly tell your parents that you don’t want to go. Just a suggestion,” you offer with your palms raised. 

For the first time, you experience Chenle smiling at you. Like, really smiling at you. You aren’t particularly sure why but you notice the crinkle of his eyes and the lopsided curve of his lips and you can’t help but feel endeared. 

“Well, there’s that,” he says. “But I’m hungry. We should order pizza.” 

You nod in reply, “as long as you aren’t getting them with pineapples, I’m down.” 

Chenle’s eyes widen as he slowly lowers his phone, “you don’t like pineapples on pizza?” 

“They’re disgusting, no.” 

“But they bring out all the other flavors!” he exclaims. 

You smile at him while he continues to tap on his phone. As you walk down the corridor you think- no, you feel that something has changed and even if you wouldn’t want to admit it, you were glad that it did. 

“Let’s just agree to disagree,” you finally said, putting one foot in front of the other. 

[tw1l1te]

𝖋𝖆𝖑𝖘𝖊 𝖍𝖊𝖗𝖔- 𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖙𝖜𝖔

ᨒ↟ ⋆｡°

“Oh, I like her already.” Wars speaks. The Vet just seems to roll his eyes, muttering something about the Captain’s ego.

You rise back into a standing position, eyeing the group again. You look back up at Time, stating, “I presume you’re the Hero of Time, based off of your moniker.”

“You would be correct, although hardly anyone calls me by that title.”

You hum at his comment, finding his humble nature pleasing. Turning to the one named Sky, you motion your hand at him, “And you must be the Hero of the Skies, or the Chosen One. The first of us, if we go by technicalities.”

He nods hesitantly, curious as to where you got all of this information about them. He would’ve been more uneasy if you weren’t a descendant, but you were one of them, after all.

“Why… do you call yourself the Forgotten Hero?” he asks.

You smile solemnly at him, “Because this era has been doomed. Utterly and completely in decay. By the time my quest is done, Hyrule, or what remains of it will collapse and rebuild itself over thousands of years. I will be too hidden in the past to be remembered.”

You take a small breath before continuing, admitting the truth out loud.

“I will also be forgotten because I’m not you, or your descendants. I’m not the traditional male hero. Quite the anomaly, aren’t I?”

He seems conflicted by your statement, eyebrows furrowing together.

“But if you’re the only female so far, wouldn’t that make you more memorable? The heroine of Hyrule?”

“Maybe in another life, but not this one. I’m considered a disgrace of a hero by most people outside of my village and a few others spanned across the land.”

“Why would you say that? Didn’t you save everyone from destruction?”

You smile sadly, “The destruction happened years before I was born. If anything, I caused more of it.”

He takes a moment to think before asking the inevitable question.

“Link… who exactly did you defeat?”

Your eyes snap back up at him, making sure he was looking right at you. The information you were about to reveal was going to create the rift of the ages. It was now or never.

“Hylia.”

~

The room was silent for a few minutes, the only sound being heard was the loud blizzard beyond the splintered walls of the shack. The loud silence made you wish the shack would finally collapse in on itself.

Sky finally speaks, eyes glued to you. 

“W-what do you mean by that? You’re saying she caused all of this?”

You sighed, knowing he was one of the more… innocent followers of her. 

“Well, a few thousand years after the Era of the Wilds, there started to be a lot of… religious issues surrounding Hylia. A lot of questionable and downright disgusting practices. It caused people to start grouping up and separating, causing the nations of Hyrule to close off from each other.”

Looking around the group, you take a moment to let them process the new information before continuing.

“The Rito, Zora, Gorons, Gerudo, Sheikah, and Hylians all started to conflict more and more, eventually ascending into a 50-year war, or the Reawakening. The followers of Hylia formulated a plan to resurrect her in the flesh, killing Zelda in the process.”

“A life for a life.” Time muttered, deep in thought.

“Exactly. The plan was successful, the goddess being reawoken after millennias of being dead. She came back… unrecognizable, both physically and in an ideological sense. Her morality and character had been altered so much to the point of her followers becoming a cult. The cult killed my parents, thousands of people that questioned Hylia, essentially wiping out most of the kingdom.”

“And the land? How did it come to be so… bleak?”

“Hylia is the Sun, both literally and metaphorically. The sun is technically up beyond the clouds, but the amount of destruction and chaos she brought forth made the landscape unrestorable. The entirety of Hyrule looks just like this,” you motioned out with your hand.

“Hyrule is also significantly bigger than any of yours. Probably still larger than if you were to combine the size of each of your era’s Hyrule’s. It has been a cold, snowy abyss for over 30 years now.”

The brunette piqued up, head tilting slightly, “So where is Hylia now? Hyrule Castle?”

You shake your head.

“Hyrule Castle is in utter ruins now, most use it to scavenge for rock or old weapons. I’m… not sure where she is right now, I'm trying to track her down.”

“Didn’t you say you killed her?” the Veteran asked.

“I did but… her psyche is still present. She may not have a physical body anymore, as I returned it back to its dormant state, permanently, but her essence is somewhere. Everywhere.”

Time walks up to you, arms crossed over his chest. Curse your short stature, compared to his at least.

“From what you're telling us, it seems that we were brought here to help you. We came here through a portal, and from what we’ve learned, we can’t leave an era unless we’ve completed the task at hand, regardless of our own opinions or standing on the matter.”

“What were your original plans before being brought here?” you ask.

“The Shadow and his army. It took us months to finally pin him down and defeat him.”

You remember something being mentioned in the archives about a dark version of Link, but only being a mere shadow. Now a physical form? That was something you didn’t experience in your own journey. Lucky you, you suppose.

“Right now Hyrule is… in limbo, I suppose. Hylia’s first form was defeated about a year ago and we’ve tried to track her essence down since. We don’t know if she’s using someone as a vessel or if she’s resting in some sacred grounds to gather strength. Granted, the blizzards have made it significantly harder to even make it past the woods.”

Four, one of the shortest and most colorful of the Link’s speaks.

“So where exactly are we, based off of older maps?”

You ponder for a moment, trying to recollect exactly what town you could use to reference the location you were in. Something that was familiar to them.

“If I were to use my ancestor’s typography maps,” pointing to Wild, “I’d say we’re in the location of the Great Plateau. The plateau collapsed in on itself thousands of years ago and grew thick forest and brush, impenetrable if you were inexperienced with the outside world.”

You take a pause before continuing.

“Though if I were to be more accurate and precise… this would be almost the exact location of Ordon Village from the Era of Twilight.”

Twilight perks up at that, intrigued by your expertise and knowledge of their past eras. 

“How do you know that name?”

“Ordon?”

He nods.

You were revealing way too much about yourself within hours of meeting your ancestors. This is definitely not what you had planned.

Sighing, you reveal another ability you had kept concealed.

“I have the memories of every hero before me. I can see and dream of their travels, their fears, desires, secrets, everything. Even their own thoughts, at times.”

Twilight’s brow furrows, confusion emulating off his features.

“Isn’t that only what the goddess reincarnated can do? How can a holder of the Triforce of Courage accomplish that?”

“I don’t know. All I know is that it started when I was seven and I have them almost every day, multiple times a day.”

Time bristles at the age it started for you: seven.

…

He was the youngest hero to start his journey.

Of course, it made sense.

The memories of the hero began as soon as his purpose was ignited.

He was going to speak again, but you beat him to it, mentioning something about supper and needing to attend to some matters.

“Once you’re fed, I’ll come find you and find you a shack to board in. It will most likely be mine, as the village is full enough as it is. Dusk and Colin will show you around a bit, let them know if you need anything.”

With that, you bundle the scarf over your face again and leave through the front door, not looking back behind you.

“...You think they saw that time I rode on a bear in just my undergarments?”

“Definitely.”

ᨒ↟ ⋆｡°

[annymation]

The Kingdom of Wishes- A “Wish” Rewrite

Chapter 11- Into The Eye Of A Storm

Chapter 10

The rain was falling down, and thunder could be heard humbling over Rosas.

Aster struggled to free himself from the king's chains that are coming from his staff, but to no avail.

The king just looked down on the star as he held him close to his face, so he began to speak casually:

"So, "Aster" was it? Hehehe I gotta say though, naming yourself just "Star" in Greek? Maybe not your... "Brightest" moment, hum? AH! HA HA HA" The king laughs at his own pun. He completely moved on from the bad mood he was in earlier "OH- I'm on a ROLL today!"

Aster ignores the bad joke as he keeps trying to use his magic to free himself. But their powers aren't responding to him, he's not able to shrink, nor glow brighter, nor unlock the chains, nothing. All he can do is fly and even that feels weaker.

"UGH- Why can't I-"

"Feel your power?" The king finishes their sentence "Dark magic: versatile, easy to use, but somehow oh sooo unappreciated. But I'm sure your magic isn't anything to sneeze at neither, right?" He grabs Aster's face with one hand and makes the star look at him "Care to share a little bit of it? Promise I'll give it back." He says with a very obviously faux gentle tone.

"Yeah right, if you take away my magic you're gonna KILL me!" Aster looks at him furiously.

"Oh you know that? Aw shucks, really thought I could trick ya... But then again" His grin widens "I think you'll come to find that you don't have a choice in the matter"

Asha is still on the top of the building, even though Aster begged her to run.

“LET GO OF HIM!”

Magnifico ignores her like she’s not even there. He’s floating about 2 meters away from where she’s standing.

He’s focused on analyzing the star closely while holding his face “Hmm and what a fascinating form you’ve chosen, it’s like you’re her little hero in cape and everything? How sweet.” He says in a mocking way while pinching his cheek “Though you surely look a lot more… Childlike than I expected, say, how old are you?”

Aster is still fighting but he doesn’t see why not answer the question “Eighteen.”

“18 what, boy? 18 hundred? 18 thousand? Be specific.” The king says nonchalantly.

Aster kinda stops struggling for a second and just gives the king a confused glance “… Well, if you want specifics, I’m 17, but I’m turning 18 in like 2 weeks from now so-”

“Wa-wait you’re serious?” The king interrupts him, staring at him in disbelief. The star nods… Magnifico quickly turns his attention to the girl below them and yells at her in frustration “ASHA! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? MILLIONS OF STARS IN THE SKY AND YOU WISHED UPON A WEAK LITTLE RUNT?! THIS THING IS A BABY” He says while shaking Aster side to side by the chains on his wrists like a rag doll, making the star a bit dizzy.

(A reminder that this man can switch from threatening to comedic at any second and I love it. Like he’s complaining to her like she just got him the wrong pizza toppings.)

“IF THEY’RE NOT WHAT YOU WERE LOOKING FOR THEN LET THEM GO!” Asha exclaims at him, her face is filled with rage.

Magnifico calms down and looks back to the star in his hands like he’s pondering his next move “Hmmmmm… Nah.” He shrugs with a smile “Beggars can’t be choosers I suppose. Besides, this just means he’s too weak to fight back. Isn’t that right, little one?” The king asks with a wicked grin while looking deep into the star’s eyes.

That comment made Aster frown a little.

Even though it’s raining, a few people start gathering bellow where they are to see what’s going on.

Magnifico smiles widely at that. He speaks quietly so just Aster can hear:

“Ooooh looks like we have an audience. Do me a kindness and try to look as defeated and pathetic as you can, okay? I could really use the positive image right now.” Aster has a sad face “Perfect! you’re a natural.” He says like Aster and him are about to perform a scene together in a play.

Asha is looking side to side trying to think on what to do… She notices something on the floor.

The king walks on the air to get few feet down, so his people can better hear him.

(Now let me explain how exactly Magnifico’s flying works, he’s not floating around like Aster does, he’s much more “standing” while underneath his feet there’s a green light, like he just created the steps of a stair. If you watched Onward you know what I mean, it’s exactly like this)

(So I guess Onward reference, huh, who would’ve thought, a Pixar reference at last, took me long enough.)

“REJOICE MY PEOPLE!” the king exclaims ecstatic “Our little “Wish stealing star” issues have been resolved much earlier than expected!” That got a reaction from Aster, his face became furious once again “Like I said, you can always count on me t-“

Aster screamed on the king’s face “THE ONLY WISH STEALER HERE IS YOU! YOU LYING SNA- HMmH!” The king used his magic to keep the boy’s mouth shut.

“Oh-ho and it’s FEISTY TOO! Heheh- GOOD! I was worried this would be way too easy-“

🪕B L A M🎶

“OUCH! AAAH!”

The crowd gasps.

Something just hit the king’s head and made him lose focus on the flying spell. He falls on the floor.

… Asha just threw her Saba’s mandolin on Magnifico’s face, she’s standing on top of the building breathing deeply, relieved that it was a perfect shot.

Aster is free from the chains.

The star doesn’t skip a beat and flies to Asha immediately, holding her in his arms bridal style.

“Hold on tight!” Aster says.

The two fly off in the rain.

We cut to King Magnifico laying face first on the floor.

He didn’t fall from too high up but it was still quite painful.

The crowd is all around him, worried for their king.

Queen Amable rushes to where he is, with some guards pushing the people aside to let her pass.

“DARLING!! OH MY- ANYTHING HURT??” The queen asks genuinely worried, as she sits on her knees next to him.

“… Just my pride.” His voice is muffled, because his face is still laying on the floor. He begins to stand up as he asks “Ugh- quick, how’s my face?” He asks his wife while touching his own face to feel if there’s any injuries.

“As handsome as always, mi rey” The queen coos, caressing his cheek lovingly.

His eyes light up as his excitement returns to him at full force.

“THEN NO HARM DONE!” He exclaims, smiling like a mad man, he’s high on the adrenaline of the hunt.

He stands up quickly to go catch those teens.

“A little bump in the road, sure! But no need for panic everyone!” The king announces to the people around “Just remain in doors and stay calm, things may get a little... Messy hehehe" He chuckles, thinking of all the forbidden and deadly spells he'll finally have an excuse to use.

He uses his staff to run upwards on thin air, he just can't wait to kill those two teens but-

He feels something pulling his cape.

He looks down.

... Amaya is holding his cape, looking at him worriedly... As in, ACTUALLY worried.

He looks at her puzzled, but his eyes for the first time show a gleam of humanity as he looks down on the love of his life.

"... Just... Be careful." She says, glancing at the storm above them.

... Magnus gives her a comforting smile as he removes his cape, it'll be easier to fly without it weighting him down.

He hands the cape to her, whispering softly "I'll be back before you know it."

...

And up he goes.

Amaya is holding his cape tightly...

She has a bad feeling about this.

...

Okay, so now you guys might think Asha and Aster successfully skedaddled from the king's grasp because he took too long on the ground, right?

Well I'm sorry to say but you thought wrong. Here's what was happening with our heroes while this was taking place.

Aster is flying with Asha in his arms, they're going back to the forest, his cape leaves a trail of light.

He sounds quite traumatized as he says:

"HOW DID THAT CREEP MANAGE TO DECEIVE A WHOLE KINGDOM FOR YEARS?? HE'S SCARIER THAN A VAMPIRE STAR!"

(Vampire stars: stars that sucks the outer layers of material from a companion star, stripping their "bitten" victim down to a mere stellar core.

This is a real thing, and now I'm adding to the lore of wishing stars that there are these evil vampire stars that suck away other wishing star's powers... We have fun here.)

"Welcome to Rosas," (🎶Come on, come this way- sorry) "Where everyone just sees what they want to see." Asha says with a saddened expression. She's looking down on her kingdom as they fly away.

She looks at the castle in the distance...

"Wait... Aster, we gotta go to the castle!" Asha tells him determined

The star stops flying abruptly.

"UUUH Why???" Aster asks her in shock, this is kinda deja vu to that other time she suggested they should run to the castle.

"You can un-curse wishes!" She exclaimed "You un-cursed my wish! We can save A LOT of people if we go in there and you use your magic on as many as you can!"

Now usually Aster would be more than happy to do just that... But he's still a bit shaken by the whole encounter with the king, he's afraid he might catch up to them.

"Asha... I'm not sure we-"

"We can do this, he flies way slower than you, if we hurry we can get there before him." She looks into Aster's eyes, she's full of hope that they can at least save some of her people.

Aster can see her light shining brighter.

"... Then we better hurry." He gives her a trusting smile.

He turns around, flying towards the castle as fast as possible.

As they're reaching the castle, there's indeed no sign of Magnifico.

They get near the window of the wishes room.

"See? Told you we could do it." Asha says with a smile

"Yeah... I guess I am a lot faster than him." He says while flying to get through the window "Now let's do this quick before- OUCH!" Aster hits something when he tries to get in...

There's a green forcefield that manifested on the open window when Aster tries getting through it.

"What th-" Aster tries to hit it to get his hand through but the magic seems to be as strong as concrete, he groans in frustration.

Asha’s smile immediately fell into a scowl.

“oooOOOH SERIOUSLY?!” Asha screams.

“Why, yes. I do take the safety of my people’s wishes very seriously.”

… Take a wild guess on who’s standing behind them with a smug grin…

As soon as Aster hears the king’s voice he JUMPS and flies to the roof of the tower.

He’s holding Asha tightly as he KICKS the roof with his two feet to push himself away from the castle, thus flying away even faster.

Magnifico simply smiles as he uses his staff to once again summons a green hand.

The hand moves quickly through the rain.

Aster is flying as fast as he can but-

The hand catches him.

Asha falls from his arms.

She screams as she falls down.

“NO!” Aster yells in desperation.

Magnifico is now right next to him, smiling maliciously.

“Ah the stars look so pretty when they fall, don’t they?”

Aster’s legs are still free, so he KICKS the staff from Magnifico’s hand, making the king lose focus on the spell.

Aster is freed and flies down almost at the speed of light

It’s a shame the moment was so quick, maybe Aster would’ve noticed Magnifico almost stopped floating when the staff left his hand for a second…

“… That was close…” Magnifico said under his breath

Aster catches Asha in his arms.

“YOU OKAY??” He asks terrified.

“NOPE” She says shaken to her core. Holding him tightly.

Aster weights their options in his head… If they go to to the forest the king is just gonna follow them, he won’t give up on getting his power…

His power.

That’s what the king wants, not Asha.

…

He’s gonna have to break Rule number 1 again.

“Asha, listen.” The Star calls her attention, sounding more serious than ever “We gonna have to split up again, but I PROMISE I’ll come back before you know it.”

Asha looks at him confused.

“What?”

His animation looks more sketchy, like it’s unfinished.

“I’ll send you to the forest, very deep into it, so he can’t find you, I’ll just keep him busy for a-“

“NO! You can’t fight him off! You gotta stay AWAY from him.” She’s holding him by the cape.

“I know, but it’s the only way I can keep you safe.”

He lets her go from his arms, making her float with his magic.

“ASTER WAIT!”

“I’ll know where to find you… I’m sorry.”

He stops flying away.

And makes his star dust cary her, flying away deep into the forest.

Asha is looking back at him in the verge of tears.

All Aster can do is sigh.

…

Alright.

Time to fight a sorcerer king.

That happens to be right behind him, again.

“You know there are wolves in those woods, right?” Magnifico asks sarcastically as he floats like he's laying down on thin air.

Aster turn around quickly and uses his star dust to make several swords.

He throws them at the king and-

*Poof*

They just disappear into glittery smoke when they touch him.

“PFFT AHAHAHAHAAH STOP IT- I didn’t sign up for a tickle fight! Hahah” Magnifico holds his sides as he laughs

Aster is stunned.

“W-what? How did y-“

The king casted another spell to capture Aster, but this time the star dodges it.

Aster flies upwards.

The king follows with a wicked smile.

Aster doesn't understand, why didn’t that work?... Maybe the king was just expecting it and shielded himself? Yeah. That’s gotta be it.

He tries again, this time trying to do what the king did to him before, creating chains made of star dust to tie him down.

When the chains reach Magnifico, he just dust them off his body with his hand like it’s nothing.

… Aster is pretty peeved to say the least. His animation seems more sketchy and rough.

“HOW IS THIS FAIR? Your dark magic thing makes my powers useless!” Aster exclaims while he flies away from the king.

“Ha! You think THIS is because of my magic?! Boy, come on, I know you’re young, but don’t tell me I actually know more about your kind than YOU do!”

Aster keeps flying away, but he looks back at the king as he asks “What’s that supposed to mean?!”

“Let me "enlighten you", little one.”

He charges up a lightning spell.

“Your magic is made out of… JOY!

⚡️

Aster manages to dodge the lightning.

“GOODNESS!”

⚡️

Aster barely managed to escape the second one

“AND LIGHT!”

⚡️

“AGH!”

Aster didn’t dodge this last one. Their chest has a hole in it now…

That didn’t feel like that time Valentino jumped through him, this actually hurts... A lot.

Magnifico takes the opportunity to capture him again, this time tying him up with a snake made out of green magic.

Aster doesn’t have time to react before he’s wrapped in the snake’s grip.

There's the sound of thunder near them.

Magnifico approaches him slowly, now that the boy is held still in one place.

“And those things- Well, they can’t really hurt anyone, now can they? Heh heh” Magnifico is now flying right next to the star “So... I’m afraid there's little you can do to defend yourself, or anyone else.” He makes a little pout as if to fake pity.

… Aster never knew his magic couldn’t hurt others… Then again, hurting others was never something that crossed his mind before he met this man.

“… If it’s only made of good things then… Why do you want it so bad?” Aster asks

Magnifico’s eyes light up with the question.

“Oooh because it just needs to be wielded by the RIGHT person, my boy. Yes, in you, this magic is very limited because your heart is pure… But in me and my beloved queen however… We’ll be able to do ANYTHING.” He leans in closer to look at the star straight in the eyes as he adds “And that includes hurting the petulant little brat that wished upon you~”

Aster feels a chill run down his whole body. He couldn’t let that happen.

He tried to struggle out of the snake's grip.

Magnifico is amused by the star's determination.

“Heh heh stubborn just like her, aren’t you?”

“YEAH! SHE IS STUBBORN, AND YOU KNOW WHAT?! EVEN IF YOU DO STEAL MY POWER, YOU CAN’T STOP HER, SHES GONNA INSPIRE EVERYONE IN THAT KINGDOM TO RISE UP AGAINST YOU!” Aster exclaims with no doubt that Asha can do it, even without his help.

“Now what are you blabbering about insp- … Wait” Magnifico looks at nothing as he starts connecting the dots “Don’t tell me- That little performance you two were doing at the plaza…” a smile starts creeping in his face, and he starts trying to hold in a laugh “was -pffff- waS THAT AN ATTEMPT TO- HAHAH TO “INSPIRE” THOSE PEASANTS?!” The king has a maniacal smile.

… Aster doesn’t respond, he just avoids eye contact.

“*GASP* IT WAS! WASN’T IT?! OH- HAHAHAHAH” He lets out an evil laugh that echoes through the storm.

Aster tries not paying attention to what Magnifico says.

He tries looking at anything else, the rain, the lightning strikes in the distance, the king's staff...

Wait.

“OH- oh that’s hahha! That’s too good! OH and let me guess, that was YOUR idea, wasn’t it?!”

Aster already muted Magnifico's voice in his head, he looks closely to the staff... It seems to be made of...

Copper.

Aster hears another thunder.

The boy has a realization… This man is not smart.

Said man holds the star’s face, so he looks at him in the eyes.

“And here I was expecting that the girl got some WISE and MIGHTY guide from the sky! But NOPE! All she got was YOU, a naive little boy that doesn't know ANYTHING about how the world works!" The king has a deranged grin ear to ear as his grip on the boy's face tightens.

"Did you actually think that SINGING and DANCING would change ANYTHING?! Honestly, how much of a FOOL are you?!"

...

The star's face crescents into... A smile.

And the king hear's something that he REALLY didn't expect to hear from the boy.

"...pffft hihihi hi hi he- hehe heeh he heh ahah aahha aha ha HAHAH HAHAHAHA HAHAHA AHAAAHHAHAAHHAHHAHA"

The star boy is just laughing… It’s a youthful and free spirited laugh.

Magnifico's evil glee is replaced by bewilderment. He blinks a few times as the boy keeps laughing in his face.

... Did he just break this kid?... Already? After just knowing him for less than an hour?... Well, that sure is a new record for the king.

Magnifico looks frustrated as he asks "What's so funny?"

Aster calms down, and simply looks at the king with a playful smile as he explains

"Hehe oh nothing it's just that- heh heh yeah, I may be a fool but..." Aster's smile turns into cheeky smirk, and there's a gleam of mischief in his eyes as he says confidently:

"At least I'm not the IDIOT that brought a stick made of copper... Into the eye of a storm."

Magnifico's eyes widens.

And at the same time that realization hits him... Something else hits him too.

And all he has time to say is:

"Oh no-"

(hahahaAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAAH aaaah… I waited 11 chapters to write this by the way.)

The king’s staff is hit by a lightning bolt, sending shockwaves through his body.

A painful scream echos above the Kingdom of Rosas.

“MAGNUS!!!”

The queen exclaimed in horror.

... Just as she feared... He got carried away.

Needless to say, Aster’s body is freed from the king’s grasp. The boy watches as the man plummets along with the rain drops.

Aster isn’t smiling anymore, even he is shaken by what just happened, even though he saw it coming.

But he has no time to dwell on this now, he has a friend to find in the forest. So off he goes, leaving a trail of star dust behind him, like a shooting star.

…

But we’ll be focusing on Asha and Aster’s reencounter in the next chapter.

Now. Let’s focus our attention on what’s happening down in Rosas.

…

We see the bare foots of the queen running franticly through the dampened streets of her kingdom, she left her high heels behind her.

She's lifting her long skirt up so she can run faster.

Her hair is soaked and messy... Her crown falls on the ground.

She doesn't care, the crown doesn't matter, nothing matters. All that matters to her is finding him.

She’s desperate. An emotion never yet displayed by the relentless queen before.

The guards are trying to keep up with her, as well as other citizens.

She sees people gathered in a circle, the queen pushes through them violently to find what they’re all looking at.

“OUT OF MY WAY!” She yells, her voice is a high pitched screech full of anguish.

The people quickly let her through as they realize who she is.

Amaya finally gets through the people to find…

King Magnifico is laying face first on the floor. Just like before.

“MAGNUS!" The queen runs to his body and hugs it.

He must have used a protection spell, right? He just want to make the star look worse in the eyes of their people, right? Yes, that has to be it.

She tries to take some deep breaths while holding him.

"I-I'm here my love... You may rise now"

No response.

"... Mi vida?... This isn't funny... I know you used a spell to shield yourself... Didn't you?"

She's still not facing him, his face is still laying down on the floor.

A guard approaches from behind her

"... Your highness, we must take the king to the doctor at once-"

"NO- NO HE- he's alright, he-he's just being dramatic, like always ah haha right, my love?"

She starts turning his body so she can see his face.

"Co-come on Magnus, you wouldn't want to keep our people-" She sees his face, a few people in the crowd gasp "... Waiting"

There's a scar.

The king's left eye has a huge scar.

Amaya caresses his face.

...

She hesitates as she places a hand on his chest...

She can't feel a heart beat.

His cold heart stopped.

The king is dead.

...

Final Thoughts

.

.

.

OOOOH I'M KIDDING HAHAHA- this isn't the end of the chapter yet :)

But it could be the ending though, right?

I mean, the villain died, Aster even gave a cheeky smile and a final line the likes of "And everything that comes with it" from Alladin.

In a Disney movie, you defeat the villain and the story can wrap up, right?

What more there is to it?

... Well, this rewrite is meant to feel like a proper Disney 100th anniversary movie, so this ain't your typical Disney movie.

And King Magnifico is supposed to the 100th anniversary Disney villain, so he ain't your typical Disney villain.

No... He has something that no other villain in the Disney pantheon had.

He has love.

And what is love?

Love is, and always will be, the most powerful thing on earth. That's what Disney taught us for 100 years.

So... What happens when the villains have love?

This is what I think happens:

...

Queen Amable’s eyes widen as it becomes undeniably clear… Magnus is dead.

... The rain now is dying down, becoming a drizzle...

She hears the sound of her people mourning for their king, crying and lamenting the tragedy.

...No...

She would not mourn. To mourn would be to accept that he's gone. And she knows him well enough to know that's not what he'd want. No.

She would never give up on him.

All this time she was worried about what these people would think of them, and now here they are, pathetically crying and moaning... They are weak...

She and her beloved don't need them. They never did. All they need is one another. It no longer mattered to her what they thought of her. It no longer mattered if they became afraid of her. It no longer mattered if they didn't love her anymore.

HIS love is all the love she needs.

And so, in this moment. She didn't care in the slightest about showing aaaaall these people... Why in the past they weren't kidding when they called her, well...

A witch.

Amaya suddenly get's up. Surprising the people around with how quickly she did so.

She RIPS the second layer of her long dress, revealing that inside there were many hidden pockets, each one with a small flask of colorful potions that she caries around for emergencies... Such as this.

The crowd gasps in surprise, they all stare at the queen in confusion.

She takes two of the flasks and begins mixing them, her face is cold and focused:

"Phoenix ashes mixed with two drops of scarab beetle juice" The queen says to herself under her breath.

She takes another flask from her skirt

"Newt saliva to heal the heart" She empties the flask and throws it on the ground, breaking it.

Another guard tries to talk to her:

"Uh- umm your majesty what are y-"

"Silence." She tells him, her tone is as sharp as a dagger.

She proceeds to name another ingredient.

"A tear of grief." She says as she takes one tear from her eye, and it really is one single tear.

She stops for a moment as if to remember the next ingredient... She remembers.

Her face turns to the confused citizens and shouts:

"I NEED A CHILD WITH LONG HAIR! NOW!" Her voice echoes, almost louder than the thunder from the storm.

The people are startled, their queen is usually so quiet and gentle, seeing her like this is like seeing a whole different person.

"QUICKLY! I DON'T HAVE MUCH TIME BEFORE THE SOUL COMPLETELY LEAVES HIS CORPSE!" She yells at them furiously.

"He-here!" A woman emerges from the crowd holding her daughter, a little girl with long blonde hair and green eyes.

(Because you bet I'll fit in a Tangled reference in this serious and tense scene)

The queen walks quickly to the girl and plucks a strand of hair, which the girl responds with a little "Ow!"

Amaya measures the hair strand with her fingers

"... This will give him about 10 years... Good enough." She says to herself as she puts the hair inside the flask.

A puff of smoke comes out from the flask... The potion is ready.

... It won't be long now.

She walks to her beloved husband, holding the potion in her hands.

She sits next to him... She pets his hair as she looks at his lifeless but still gorgeous face, scar and all. She looks at him with a wistful smile and...

She drinks the potion.

The crowd looks in shock.

Amaya coughs a few times, by the looks of it the potion tasted terrible... But it would be worth it.

She looks back to her king and says in a whisper

"And now, the most important step... True love's kiss."

She kisses him.

The people in the crowd look hopeful, everyone has read in fairytales what a true love's kiss is.

... But Amaya's magic isn't the same as the magic of a fairy... Oh no no no. When it comes to dark magic, you can't simply gain something for free... All dark magic does is take. And it does take something away from Amaya... Something she values a lot.

As she kisses their king, the people start to notice something is happening to their queen...

Her hair get's whiter, with a prominent white hair streak growing from her roots and embracing her whole braided hair.

(Because you bet I'll ALSO reference Anna's hair, from Frozen!)

Not only that, but her hands and face become more wrinkled.

... The queen is aging rapidly.

The people look horrified, worried they might get their king back but lose their queen

(And let me tell ya folks, that would be a TERRIBLE thing to happen because then our boy King Mag would straight up kill everyone in Rosas and then himself... Again.)

But the queen suddenly stops the kiss, she lifts her head up taking deep breaths, exhausted after giving away 10 years of her life to her love...

She looks 60 years old now.

... The king is still motionless...

...

The crowd is staring in anticipation.

...

Magnifico's eye's are shot open.

"*GAAAAAASP* *COUGH* COUGH*"

He sit's up quickly as he coughs while gasping for air.

"Shhhhh there there darling, just take some deep breaths now" The queen coos gently, her previous cold hearted demeanor vanished in an instant, and she's once again the kind and loving queen they all know her to be.

The crowd cheers and applauds the queen for successfully bringing the king back to life.

And said king is... Very lost on what on earth just happened, as he places a hand on his head and his eyes are closed, he seems to be in a lot of pain.

"UGhhh... My head-"

"Does it hurt? I can make something to help with that... Healing your face however, may prove to be more of a challenge." The queen says while petting his back.

The king's eyes widen at the comment, he quickly turns to look at his wife for the first time since he came back to life

"What's that about my fa- *gasp*" He get's startled when he sees HER face.

His queen is changed... She's smiling at him, which show even more all her new wrinkles... The white hair streak is very noticeable on her crown-less messy and soaked wet hair.

Magnifico stares at her incredulous... He starts connecting the dots in his head, as he also remembers what happened to him...

"... Amaya... What did you do?" He says as he places a hand on her cheek gently. His eyes are full of worry.

The queen stops smiling... She instinctively tries covering her face with her hands.

Magnus immediately holds her hands, as he looks her deep in the eyes and reassures her "You are... And ALWAYS will be the fairest queen of all, and no curse in this world or any other can change that for me." He says with certainty.

... Even though it's raining, by the queen's expression it's clear that she teared up with that comment.

The king wraps his arms around her gently, like she could turn into dust at any moment.

"... I'm so sorry that I failed you... This never EVER should've happened... But I swear to you, my love" His voice goes cold "I will not fail you... Ever again."

... He would not let himself get carried away again...

That girl is going to pay.

And that star will be theirs.

King Magnifico realizes they're still being watched... They'll continue this tender moment later. Now, he better make the most of the situation, after all, him being literally MURDERED by the star boy certainly helps his side of the narrative.

The king tries to get up but his legs are still feeling a bit numb, his body is still getting used to the fact that it's up and running again. Two guards help him stand up. And they also hand him his magic staff that was laying next to him

Magnifico is now standing up with his wife holding him tightly.

He takes a deep breath to start one of those long and inspiring speeches of his:

"People of Rosas... It seems even I underestimated just how vicious the enemy we're facing really is... The fallen star thought he could kill the heart of this kingdom, but as you can all see, this HEART is still beating! And it shall remain like this for many years to come!" The king says proudly.

The people cheer in unison. Some saying "Long live the king".

... Probably not the best time for Amaya to tell him she could only give him more 10 years soooo he's not getting past 65.

"Rosas shall never fall! For we are the kingdom of HOPE! And NO force in this world can stop-"

"*COUGH COUGH* Aah"

The king's speech is cut short, as the queen starts coughing and her legs go weak.

"Woah woah Amaya?" Magnifico looks worried as he holds her closer to him, stopping her from falling.

The people gasp in surprise

The king holds her close to him and whispers "Heh heh no need for theatrics my love, th-they're already on our side" Magnifico says, hoping the queen is just being dramatic to gain even more sympathy from them.

"... It's not pretending" She whispers to him "I feel... Weak."

(If this was a movie, the whole internal dialogue that will happen now, as well as Amaya's internal dialogue that happened earlier, would be just their expressions changing from worried to serious in a few seconds, and just by their expressions and the music the audience would be able to tell that this is a "Oh, they snapped" moment)

...

Only in that moment Magnus really starts to process what just happened.

He... DIED.

Just like that... He could've left her... Alone... Forever.

And why did he die?... Because he wanted to impress these people. He wanted to make a big spectacle about capturing that star. They made him weaker.

Not only that, but their love and loyalty was flimsy. It took only ONE GIRL speaking in front of a crowd for some people to start questioning him... Clearly, he and his queen are doing this all wrong.

All this time, pretending and deceiving to gain the love of these people, so they'd trust him with their wishes... But the situation changed. Once he harness that star's power, they'll have no use for these people anymore, will they?

So why be loved... When they can be feared?

It's not like he needs their love anyway.

HER love is all the love he needs.

And so, in this moment. He didn't care in the slightest about showing aaaaall these people... Why he wasn't chosen to be the heir to the throne.

...

The king's face morphs from worried to stoic, as he caresses his wife's hair gently.

The people are looking at him, expecting him to continue the speech.

But instead, Magnifico addresses one specific guard that is standing next to some others

"Captain O'Danohue." The king's voice is emotionless, he's still looking down to his wife while talking to the soldier.

The captain steps forward.

"Yes sire." The captain is a tall and large man with a beard and ginger hair just like Simon's

"Where did that star and that girl go?" Magnifico is still not making eye contact with the man

"They were seen flying to the forest, your majesty."

"Good, good. Send all your men to search for them immediately."

"Right away, your majesty. Do not worry, we'll-"

"And if they're not found til tomorrow night your men will burn that whole forest down." The king added, still talking monotonously.

That gets a few surprised looks from the people around them

The captain of the royal guard is taken aback by this "... Pardon me sire but I think I misun-"

The king finally takes his eyes off his wife to look at the captain with a bored expression "They can't hide in a forest if there's no forest, now can they?" He says like it's just common sense

The captain is perplexed "But- But what about the people that live there? There are houses in the woods."

"They have till tomorrow night to leave then." The king said simply "But of course, if that sounds too hard for you I can burn it down myself." Magnifico shrugs.

The people look shocked... The island's forest has been considered sacred for generations.

The king adds

"Oh, and speaking of "leaving", have your men also burn and destroy all the boats at the docks... No one get's in or out this kingdom until we find that star, was I clear?" He says while looking at the people around him this time.

Simon's father is speechless for a moment... The king seems to have lost his mind, but that's understandable, right? He died a few minutes ago.

The soldier tries to snap him out of it:

"My liege, with all due respect, I don't think-"

"Due respect?" Magnifico interrupts him once again, this time with a hint of anger creeping in his voice "I think you misunderstand captain. You all OWE ME all the respect you can possibly give, not only as your KING, but also as the one who MADE YOU who you are." He doesn't even raise his voice much, those words echo in the hearts of all the citizens that had their wishes granted "I didn't grant your wish of becoming my knight for you to THINK, O'Danohue, I did it for you to OBEY... Was I clear?" The king asks again.

The captain goes stiff.

He bows down to the king as he says "Crystal clear, your majesty."

... A sinister smile finally returns to the king's now scared face.

"There you go, that's a lot easier, isn't it?" The king says condescendingly.

That felt good... He should've done this a long time ago.

He looks down to his queen that he has been holding in his arms this whole time, she's looking up to him, also smiling wickedly.

They're on the same page, they won't pretend to be something they're not anymore.

That girl thought that truth would set these people free? Oh... They're more trapped than ever.

They both turn to look at their frightened and confused subjects.

The king’s glares at them as he says "... I believe it’s quite obvious what will happen to anyone who dares helping the traitor and the star" The green gem on the king's staff starts glowing "Right?"

The crowd all shakes their heads "Yes" quickly, as they know this is a threat.

The gem slowly stops glowing.

"Wonderful, that will be all then." He lifts the staff upward to hit it on the ground "And remember, Rosas... Just keep wishing." He has a subtle smile, this phrase is what he always says at the end of Wish ceremonies.

He hits the floor, creating a huge cloud of green smoke that engulfs him and Amaya, they teleport to the palace.

(I was gonna write Magnifico's reaction to his new scar... Buuuut I think I'll keep that off screen, I think you guys can imagine how he felt about it.)

...

The people of Rosas are at a loss.

Some think the king just went insane and it's all thanks to that star.

Other's think that he's right to take desperate measures to handle this threat.

And a few are now starting to realize that maybe they've been lied to this whole time and the king has always been a bad person.

No one is quite sure what to think of this.

...

Except for a certain group of teens... And a goat.

Who went inside to get cover from the rain just before the king went after Aster... So they didn't see the whole ordeal that just happened.

But they have seen enough to know exactly what side they're choosing to be on... Knowing what they know now.

...

Note that I didn't say how many teens are in that group.

Chapter 12

Final Thoughts

(for real this time)

... So ummmm... That was a lot, wasn't it? hahaha

I swear next chapter will be all about Asha and Aster and there will be WHOLESOME VIBES... After some sad vibes first.

Yeah, they gotta have a little heart to heart BUT it'll be more chill than THIS whole thing that just happened. In fact, from this point forward things should get a little bit more calm... For a while.

But now speaking on this chapter-

LETS GOOOOOOOOOOO CHARACTER DESING CHANGE!!!!

THE BROTHER KILLER HAS A SCAR!

THE WITCH LOOKS OLD!

REFERENCES ALL AROUND!!!

I usually don't say this, but ummm if I see fanart of King Magnifico with a scar on his left eye and Queen Amable looking older with a white hair streak it would be so awesome, it would be so cool... Just saying I would go insane, even more than I already am.

And the way I came up with this plot point weeks ago literally is the funniest thing, here's how my thought process went:

I want the confrontation in chapter 10 to feel tense... I'll say it's a cloudy day... Clouds bring rain... And rain brings a storm... And storms brings lightning... And lightning kills Disney villains... I'll kill Magnifico because he had it too good for too long. He needs to take an L. His actions have consequences.

SO THE NARRATIVE ESCALATED FROM:

"IT'S A CLOUDY DAY" TO "THE KING DIED."

LMAO

But seriously though, THIS is a big turning point for the villains.

Initially, they just wanted Aster's power for the sake of wanting it, because it would be fun to have it... Now? Now it's a NEED.

It's a need because they need immortality, Magnifico had a taste of his own mortality, and Amaya is older and weaker, they NEED to have that magic so they can live together forever. Have their happily EVER after, so to speak.

To me that feels more unique and compelling than just "We want power... Even though we already got it."

And speaking of Aster CAREFUL BOY! YOUR PETER PAN SIDE IS SHOWING!!! That laugh Aster let out is supposed to feel like a Peter Pan laugh by the way.

Yeah writing Aster and Magnifico's dynamic was SO MUCH FUN like wooooow you guys have no idea. It's Captain Hook and Peter Pan, it's Alladin and Jafar, it's Hercules and Hades, I wanna fit in all those vibes!!!

But let's address the elephant in the room... So true love's kiss, huh?

I just think it would be HILARIOUS if Disney not only gave us a villain couple for the first time ever... BUT ALSO USED THEM TO PROVE THE POINT THAT TRUE LOVE IS POWERFUL AS HECK.

I mean, they've shown us that

Over

And over

AND OVER

So I think having this classic trope happen, BUT TWIST IT in your 100th anniversary movie, would be pretty neat ya know? like, I think, you guys tell me, I don't know 🤷‍♀️

Anyway, this chapter was LOOOONG and full of emotions, mostly tense ones, but things are gonna chill a bit with Asha and Aster on the next one, I promise!

As always

Thank You For Reading!

[mvltisstuff]

so sorry to bother you! how’s summer going so far?

could i request a buck x reader inspired by the song “what was i made for?”, like in particular the lines “im sad again, don’t tell my boyfriend, its not what he’s made for”. i’m struggling with some stuff and this song bring me comfort, i thought that maybe you could combine the two things that make my day less heavy.

if not its completely fine! thank you anyway🫶🏻

what was i made for - e.b

summary: request

evan buckley x reader

gif from @housewifebuck <3

a/n: my summers been going well, thank you for asking! i hope your summer is going beautifully, and i hope august brings you the best! the barbie movie actually touched my heart so bad… i hate you greta gerwig (i love you thank you for barbie and little women pls never stop making movies) i kind of made this as my interpretation of the song, but i hope you feel connected to this as well <3 i’m not too sure how i feel about this yet, but i wanted to get something out for you.

bucks filled with glory every day. he walks into a room with a bright smile on his face, making everyone feel safe and loved. y/n loves his lovely grin, savoring every minute she can get with him. the moment she met him on shift, she knew that he was someone incredible.

she works at another station near the 118, and she also lives with buck in his apartment. missing him everyday, she comes home into his arms and everything goes away. he seems so calm, and she doesn’t understand how he does it. all he’s been through, and all he sees on the daily. it’s starting to feel like she could crumble up at work, and it’s formed a new branch of displeasure in her life.

when y/n got her new placement in california, she thought the station would be more of a warm welcome. when she walked in, the masculine energy was almost overwhelming. she didn’t want to get her hopes up, maybe it won’t be that bad after all.

the small comments were what did it. their humbling chuckles afterwards were the cherry on top. they weren’t outright degrading her for her gender, but the hints of misogyny peeked their way through.

it made every single day hell, her not getting to work to her fullest and being held down by the other firemen. she fought to get into the academy, and she worked her ass off every day. she’s as good, if not better, as everyone here, but they’re too blind with ignorance to see it. the worst part is that they seem like genuine people to everyone else. y/n felt like she had to fight to get a grain of respect, but the rest of her team accepts everyone else effortlessly.

she never once thought about this as a teenager, thinking about her dream job. she never imagined that she’d be tied down with ropes over something she could not control. y/n longed for that naivety again. when she could go about her life, not worrying about what anyone else thought. she wore her clothes however she wanted, and it stopped too early. she watched the men around her, and slowly realized that they’re not her friends. reality set in and took its course, slowing her down with the weight of society. she just wishes it could go back to the way it was when she was young and uneducated, and she never realized how quickly it ended.

she doesn’t say a word to buck about her days. she replies with a single word and she lets her boyfriend talk about his day. she’s sure it’s better than his, and there’s a part of her that envies him. their line of work isn’t easy for anyone, but somehow, it looked much easier on her boyfriend than it did for her.

firefighting once was her dream, her passion. now, it was her burden, her chore.

y/n didn’t want to fall into the stereotype of the ‘weak’ women who couldn’t handle the pressure. she stayed, letting herself fall behind as the others moved ahead. every single day was exhausting, and she wondered why she ever was told the saying, ‘you were born to do this’.

the days became monotonous, the same bullshit every day at work and then going home to sleep. it’s insane how words can hurt more than anything else, as they stole more of her energy with every remark and joke. she tried so hard not to let it get to her, but it just wore her out. was it really worth it if she was being treated like this?

buck noticed the changes in her attitude whenever they were to meet up again. he didn’t want to bother her, so he never mentioned it. he was so scared to make it worse. he’s gotten too much backlash from trying to make things better, so he tries to keep more to himself.

it became more visible to him the pain y/n had. she looked disappointed every morning, any mention of work, her face dropped. he never heard good things about where she worked, but he didn’t question it too much.

the five-alarm fire was the day buck finally pieces together the puzzle. he crossed paths with her, stopping to see her as the fire was settling down and was now under control. he had just ran back out, throwing his gear onto the engine and moving over to y/n.

“y/n!” he beams, seeing a corner of her mouth creep up. he was the sunshine in her dreary days, and she couldn’t help but feel a little hope when she saw him. it wasn’t enough of a cover for buck not to notice though. “how are you doing tonight? i think i’m off after this, if you wanna get drinks before going home?”

y/n wants to agree, to see her real friends at the 118, but she has a premonition that she’ll be exhausted anyway.

“sorry, buck,” she sighs. “i’m kind of tired already, and i just wanted to go home tonight.”

“that’s ok,” he tells her, still off about her mood. “hey, you know you can talk to me, right?”

“yeah, why?”

“i just feel like somethings wrong. i don’t want to make you upset but i don’t want you to be hurting alone.”

“i’m not hurting, buck,” she says through laughs, but he sees right through it.

“hey, what’s goi-“

“y/l/n!” her captain yells out. “did you get those files from earlier about the last five alarm?”

“not yet, sir,” she turns. “i was out on a call. i asked derosa to grab them for me before i left.”

her captain turns to face him, who just shrugs and comes up with an excuse. “sorry, cap, i forgot about getting those.”

“don’t worry about it,” he groans. “i told you to get those asap, what have you been doing?”

“i’ve been working, cap,” she replies back to him. it’s a clear answer, no lies or attitude.

“i don’t need the sass, y/l/n,” he sighs, looking down at her. she’s done what she’s asked, she’s saved lives and somehow it’s not enough. “i’ll be expecting those when we get back.”

he walks away, boots stomping and crunching on the cement beneath him. y/n turns back around to buck. “i guess i’ll be in a little after than you.”

“but didn’t the other guy forge-“

“buck, stop,” she tells him. “it’s nothing to worry about.”

“no, it matters to me if they’re not treating you right.”

“i’m being treated fine,”

“he just rolled his eyes at you and let the guys mock you. if derosa said the same thing, he’d be moving on,” buck throws one of his hands up, increasing y/n’s anxiety as he gets more and more upset. he can see it now, what’s been going on. he doesn’t see another woman with the same number on her helmet. y/n tries to deescalate the matter, but buck only wants to persevere and help. he knows he can, and he’s confused why she doesn’t want him too.

“i know what you want to do, but trust me, it only makes things worse. they don’t need to see my boyfriend defending me, it’s just another thing they can throw at me.”

“y/n, please-“

“no, buck!” her voice grows in volume, making her team look at her more. “just… i’ll see you at home, ok?”

he can see the slight shine in her eyes and she shakiness in her hands. he knows she gets like this when she’s anxious, and he feels even worse. he never, ever wanted to make it harder on her, and he can sense that he might’ve. when y/n turns to walk back to her engine, he overhears the little comments again.

“c’mon, y/l/n!” one of the men teases. “do you need a shoulder to cry on, sweetheart?”

“a smile would look nice on you,” another says. buck has no clue what to do. he knows anything he does will just fall onto her lap. he curses that it’s this way, but he knows he has to try and make a change.

he gets settled at home, the late hours of the night settling in. he’d been home for a while, y/n walking in with a folder in her hands and a weakened expression on her face. he stand up instantly, walking over to her and taking her bag to set it down. he lets the silence fill for a moment before speaking again.

“why didn’t you tell me they were like this?”

“you wouldn’t get it, buck.”

“i know that i don’t, but i want to hear you,” he tries to get her to open up, wanting so badly to comfort her through this. the reminders only aggravate her, and she feels guilty for feeling this way toward buck. he’s never done anything wrong, but she feels like everything is on her right now.

“fine,” she drops her phone down on the counter as he sits on one of the barstools. “that’s not even the worst they’ve said. i get shit like that every single day because they’re threatened by me. i have been getting through all my testing to get the hell out of there because it never stops. how i work, how i clean, how i look, if i wear make-up to work, i’m trying too hard, if i don’t wear any, i don’t look professional enough. if i try and intervene to give them the best option, i’m abrasive and bossy. if i don’t say anything, i’m submissive and that’s exactly what they want! i am nothing but a decoration for them. i am treated like a probie when i have probably been working twice as hard to get to where they are. maybe, if i had a dick, they’d say im a hard worker and i’d be praised, but im just a woman. and there is nothing anyone can do about it.”

buck looks into her eyes, seeing them fill with self-pity and hopelessness. he sees the tiredness in her eyes, his heart breaking even more. he fumbled with his fingers, not sure of what to say. “so, i have to help myself. on my own, buck. or the loop will start all over again.”

“i- um, i don’t-,” he mumbles, not really knowing what to say. “im so, so sorry, y/n.”

“you don’t have to be sorry, love,” she says. “i love you more than anything, but i never knew how sick i could get of men being this way.”

buck stands, walking over to her and taking her hands in his. “i want to help you. i’ll never understand what this feels like, but you have to know that i’m here for you.”

“i know, buck,” she smiles a little, starting to disintegrate the pain in her face. “i just didn’t know this was a competition.”

the night moves on, nothing at work changing despite bucks efforts. he texted his whole team, ranting and complaining and being taken aback by the way his sister and hen said, “that’s just how it is sometimes.” y/n pushes through the next few weeks, as well as cramming in any exams she has to move up and out of this station that can’t handle her.

when she’s alerted about a new position at the 118 from a retired firefighter, she knows what she has to do. she knows what she’ll say, but she knows the truth. she is worth more than any of what those men might say to her.

the last shift she has, she packs up her things as everyone leaves their usual stuff in. she has an extra bag, stuffing her belongings that she usually leaves there. “you finally fleeing, y/l/n?” her coworker says, gaining laughs from the rest of the men in the locker rooms.

“they all do, eventually.”

“actually, i got a job somewhere else,” she grins, looking down at them, watching them slip their shoes on as she stands up. they barely look at her, not a care in the world that she’s leaving. she’s reminded of the rankings at the 118, and how all of these firefighters would kill to be working at the highest station around.

“where, dispatch?” one jokes.

“the new lieutenant spot at the 118 is mine,” she tells them, turning heads as she picked up the rest of her stuff and started to head out the door. y/n can sense the jealousy on each of them creeping up. she peeks her head in one last time. “have fun here, firemen.”

as she drives home, she knows she has buck waiting for her. when she walks in, she knows she won. she has one of the highest spots in the city and the most loving man in her arms. buck noticed the change in her, seeing her at work finally content in a workplace free of scrutiny. she feels whole again, knowing that she’s wanted and appreciated here. it’s a family now, and it’s everything she’s wanted.

when buck sees that bright smile that he missed dearly walk back in the front door, he knows that he’s won.

[itostea]

dead serious (reo x reader)

warnings: they’re academic rivals!! (i’m reading if you could see the sun right now and oh god i forgot how much i love this troupe), reo is cocky in this but it’s cute

“Good job on the essay, (Name). That was a complex analysis and I had a fun time reading it. Keep up the hard work.”

A 97%. You think that’s a score worthy enough to beam and nod enthusiastically at your teacher’s praises. Nothing feels better to score well on an assessment that was regarded as difficult–not to mention, in a class that’s considered difficult. Naturally, you don’t let the score get to you but how could you not grin as you sat down, proud and relieved that your hard work paid off. 

Your eyes flit to a head of purple hair, watching as he taps his fingers on the wooden table, deep in thought but not particularly concerned about his score–as if he knew he was going to do well. His eyes glance over your paper, mumbling a congratulations at the red 97 plastered on your paper. 

“You look calm. You’re not worried about your grade? You might lose our bet.” You ask, considering him with a short glance. For a moment, you feel your heart pick up as your eyes meet, irritated at yourself for feeling so fidgety around your rival. There was no way you were going to lose another bet with him, especially one that you devoted so much time to. If you lost, then in his words, you’d have to grant him a wish. Needless to say, that commitment applied to him as well. 

His lips curve into a self-assured smile that’d surely make anybody swoon. “Worried? I thought that was more of your job.”

“What’s that supposed–”

“Mikage?” Your teacher’s voice suddenly interrupts and you see how she beckons him to come grab his paper. He flashes another boyish smile at you, his eyes lingering on you before he gets up to receive his score.  You tilt your head in curiosity as they spare a few minutes engaging in a conversation. Not the kind of talk where the student typically cries or angrily yells at the teacher for failing them. As a matter of fact, Reo was smiling, making small talk and nodding as if he were accepting a detailed compliment. 

“Thank you for your words Miss. I’ll be sure to take your insight into account,” he says in that business-man type of voice.

“What a dedicated student you are, Mikage. So humble despite making the highest mark.”

You blink until your lips part in astonishment. “No way,” you whisper, gazing at him in astonishment as he approaches his table. As if he did it on purpose, he slides the paper on the wooden surface for your eyes to see the large 98% scribbled on the top. The class bursts into discussion, with some students already going to their friends for comfort after they got their failing grades; others just satisfied that they passed; and of course the few outliers who managed to do well on such a difficult essay. 

“That’s a shame,” he grinned, leaning closer to you until you could smell his cologne and minty breath. “You almost had it. You know I’m a bit disappointed as well? I didn’t get 100% as I anticipated.”

You feel your eyes twitch at his last comment, realizing that he was just rubbing salt into your wound. “Let me read it,” you pause, noticing his awaiting smile before you sighed. “Fine. Please let me read it.”

He snickers, fingers reaching over to slip the papers into your hands. You scan the perfect handwriting and the neatly crossed out words. To add fuel to the fire, you realize that he chose to argue against the easier side and it made perfect sense. You grip his papers and bite the inside of your cheek, reaching over to your own essay. As you compared them, you suddenly understood why he managed to surpass you with a single percentage: the structure was only slightly better than yours. 

You perk up and frown. “We still have the math test–”

“Beat you in that already love. Did my score make you forgetful now?” He teases and you try to ignore how he called you “love.” Or howw it made your heart dance in your chest.

“Now about the bet…” he smiles, the kind of grin that makes you lean away in suspense. You’re expecting a strange one–like buy me a drink everyday or do a stupid dance. Lately, you’ve noticed he’s been hanging around that boy named Nagi and they’ve been playing soccer in the fields more often. You feel yourself growing increasingly worried as you consider one of his requests might be to become a ball girl for their practice. 

“Let’s see… What should I make you do for me? Hm,” he teases, pretending to think hard. 

“Just hurry up with–”

“Go on a date with me.”

You stare at him with a wide-eyed look, wonder swirling in your eyes as you grapple with his unexpected request. “What?” 

It’s almost a habit for you to scrutinize his expression to see what kind of mood or emotion played at his heart. He was serious. Dead serious. You could tell with the way his eyes were lit by the flame of determination, as if an ego took over him. “Go on a–”

“I heard you the first time!” You whisper yelled, covering part of your face in both embarrassment and bewilderment. “Why me? I thought you only thought of me as a rival?”

“A rival? Oh I guess we are like that,” he says and if this were any other time, you would’ve been offended by the fact that he just confirmed your one-sided rivalry. “So? What time works for you? 7 or 8? I’m thinking of–”

“Reo!” You stare at him, flustered, the kind of expression that grounds him to reality for a second. Just a minute ago, you looked like a kicked puppy and he had to resist the urge to just ask you on a date right then and there. He grinned again, this time wider. It was hard not to smile so wide when he was around you. 

“That’s the second time you interrupted me, love,” he teases light-heartedly. “So I’m guessing 8?” 

“Oh my god,” you groaned, your head in your hands. “You’re crazy.”

“You’re right. I am crazy. Crazy for you–”

“Reo!”

“That’s the third time you did it sweetheart,” he smiled and you can’t help but feel another wave of red hit you at the sound of “sweetheart.”

“Don’t joke around with me right now…” you mumble, averting your eyes from his purple gaze. 

As if a switch was flipped, you see how his face turned serious and hear his voice grow firmer. “I’m not joking. I want to take you out on a date. Truth is, I studied really hard just to win the bet with you so I could ask you…”

You gape as you see how pink dusted his cheeks. Yeah. He was serious. You don’t know how long you spent staring at him but it’s enough to make him sigh. “Look, it’s fine if you want to… Just–”

“I’ll go,” you muttered quietly against your palm. That’s makes it the fourth time you interrupted him now.

“Just–Sorry what? You’ll go?”

You can only give him a nod and this time, he’s the one who goggles at you. “For real?”

“Yes for real!”

It’s almost comical how quickly his mood shifted. With a blink of an eye, he’s already leaning closer to you, laughing in astonishment. “You’ll go?”

“I said yes–”

“You’ll go!” This time he says it as a statement and you have to shush him as a few eyes wander to the both of you. Luckily, the bell is enough to keep everyone’s attention off the two of you. He stands up, gathering his things and inching towards you again. “I’ll pick you up at 8 okay? Promise me you’ll go?”

It’s rare to see Reo like this and that makes it way harder for you to disagree. “I promise.”

He leaves with a grin, excited to tell Nagi all about how the two of you were going on a date with him. And midway through the hallways it dawns on him: he didn’t doesn’t know where you live. 

That night, you roll your eyes at how he spams you for your address. Yet, there’s no denying that your fingers shake as you respond, giddy at seeing him all over again.

[scandinavianfairytale]

Doubt

Pairing: Tony Stark x Millionare Reader

Warnings: A few mentions of sex, but no act itself and a small age gap (7 years) between the reader & Tony 😊

"I think you two would be great together. He works a lot, you work a lot, he's rich, you're rich, he's a nerd, you're a nerd-"

"I get it, Pepper." You stopped your friend who has been trying to set you up with her boss for a few weeks now. She has seen you go through so many boring men that you were rolling your eyes immediately after someone offered a date to you. Experience taught you it will be a dumpster fire.

The last one turned out to be homophobic, ignorant and went into detail how his Christian ex-girlfriend was into public sex. As you listened to him you wondered if it wouldn't have been easier for you to just stay single. So you deleted all the apps and decided that you won't be going on any more dates any time soon.

And now Pepper has been pestering you about her boss.

Tony Stark.

In all honesty, a date with him worried you. He was a billionare, while you just made your first million, and you came from a humble home, still feeling weird and queasy when attending anything remotely fancy. The thought of dating a rich old(er) man confused you. There was a 7 year age gap, which doesn't seem much, but you've been dating guys your own age your entire life. And none of them could've ever imagined being as rich as you. Let alone as Tony Stark.

"Just go out on a date. I'm not asking you to marry him." Pepper pressed. Tony has been driving her insane, working at all hours, meaning that she was also working insane hours. So she figured...maybe if Tony gets a girlfriend, he'll sleep once in a while. And who would be better suited for him than her sharp-tongued and a newly turned millionare friend who was into robots almost as much as he was.

She has been trying for weeks to get you to agree. She didn't worry that much about Tony. If she was to mention a woman, he was on that subject immediately, requesting a date.

You, on the other hand, with your string of very bad dates...you were the tough cookie.

"One date." You stated.

"One date. If you like him, more dates, but for now let's go with one." Pepper smiled.

And then Natasha got involved. The sensual, no holding back friend that also knew Tony was "tasked" with your make-over. Not like in the movies make-over, the kind where she went through your closet and told you what to wear. She pulled out the black dress that was reserved for fancy dinners. Not a first date.

"He's a man. Not like the boys that you have been going out with. You need to pique his interest and you're not going to achieve that wearing those disgusting jeans." Natasha commented as she glanced at the jeans that you were wearing at that moment.

"He's dubbed as the playboy." You conutered.

"That's because playman doesn't exsist. Now go change."

As it turned out, the first date was actually really good. You actually had a good time. Tony picked you up himself and you went to a new art exhibition at the Met, followed by a dinner and a ride home. As you were about to exit his car, Tony took your hand and kissed the back of it.

"Thank you for the lovely time." He said with a smirk.

"Thank you as well. But please, let me get the next one." You smiled back as he let go of your hand.

"Deal. I do hope you forget that you promised to pick the tab."

"I don't forget things, Tony." You smiled before wishing him a good night.

As the weeks went on, you met with him several times. It was always interesting and you spent hours talking and he even made you laugh. You could feel hope and contentment bloom in your chest. That little anticipation whenever he called or texted.

And then it all came crashing down. You noticing that he started getting cold. He was texting less, no face times were requested. It just died down.

"He's busy with work." Pepper told you over the phone. Tony has been holed up in his lab for days, barely getting out of that room.

It's not like you weren't busy as well. You also had a demanding job and a life outside of it. And you understood the fact that he gets sicked into work, you knew from experience, but this was different. It hurt, because you got your hopes up. That he'd be different. And he was, much different than all other guys, but this time around you might've gotten attached. Which has never happened and it made you mad. Mad at yourself for feeling this, mad at him for doing this to you, mad at everything.

"I don't care how busy he is." You responded.

"Just be patient, he has never taken this much time for a woman before."

"That's because he immediately sleeps with them." You rolled your eyes, pacing around your still empty apartment.

"You still haven't slept with him?" Pepper stopped walking.

"Of course not."

"What do you mean of course not?"

"We barely spent 18 hours all together." Saying that aloud made your blood boil. How the hell were you feeling this way after 18 hours.

"You talk everyday, what do you mean it's been 18 hours? And so what?"

"I don't sleep with men I don't know. And if this is how he acts in everyday life, I think it's better I stop seeing him altogether."

"If you gave him a reason to continue trying it'd be for the best."

"If he's not interested in me with what he already knows, sleeping with me is not going to pique his interest. I'm done, Pepper. I'm not the type to sit at home and wait for a man's text. I don't care what his profession or reason is. This isn't me, nor is this my style."

You hung up the phone and angrily stared at the blank walls and the pile of boxes waiting for you to unpack them.

I can't believe that I'm feeling bad because of a man. You groaned before taking off your jumper and started unpacking. You put your phone on silent and threw it in the bedroom, away from your reach. You noticed how much it put you in a bad mood when you saw 0 messages from Tony.

It must've been a couple of hours when the doorbell broke your concentration. You made significant progress as almost all the boxes have been unpacked. In all honesty, you were mildly annoyed that you were abruptly taken out of your flow state as only 2 boxes remained.

"Why are you ignoring me?" Tony asked as you opened your front door, getting startled as you saw him standing there.

"What are you doing here?"

"You were not taking my calls. Can I come in?" He didn't wait for your answer and entered your apartment.

"I've been unpacking. And also that's rich coming from the man that has been steadily ignoring me for the past two weeks." You rolled your eyes.

Tony started opening your kitchen cabinets, looking through them. "Do you have any coffee? I could use a cup about now."

"You're not staying that long. And my coffee would be wasted on you." You snatched your speciality coffee from his hands.

"Why are you angry?"

"Because you showed up at my door, entered my apartment without my permission, and are now snopping around my personal things."

"You were angry before that." Tony pointed out and leaned on the windowsill.

"I was annoyed. Now I'm angry and annoyed." You glared at him.

"Okay. Why were you annoyed?"

"Because I feel like you're playing games." You confronted him.

"Regarding?"

"Me."

"I'm not playing games. At least not that I know of. Do you want to play?" Tony smirked and winked at you, making you roll your eyes. "Can you tell me what's got you upset?" He crossed his arms.

"It's been two weeks since we spoke. And then you show up at my place, accusing me of ignoring you."

"I was busy at the lab."

"I understand. I get how quickly you can get sucked up in work, I've been there. But I've never ignored someone I was interested in. A clear deduction from that is that you're not interested in me. Which is fine, but then you don't get to show up at my place, demanding attention. You don't get to act hot and cold and expect me to go along with it. I have an ego too. And also you pride yourself with being direct however you love playing games. There are hundreds of women who would love to play games with you, but I'm not one of them. I take no pride in becoming one of the notches on your belt."

"Great speech, a couple of things, though, if I may correct you." Tony straightened and walked towards you slowly. "I am interested in you. That's a given. How could I not be? Secondly I am direct and as such I can tell you right now that the reason why I was holed up in the lab for two weeks with no contact was because I needed to finish something before focusing on you. I want to spend more time with you. Take a trip or two." He paused for a second. "And have sex with you."

You let out a snort, feeling your face heat up slightly.

"Lots of sex." He was standing right in front of you, staring into your eyes. It made you insanely nervous, making your skin crawl, but in a good way (?).

"You made your point." You found your voicebut you knew it sounded breathless.

"Did I?" Tony asked before tipping your chin up and kissing you.

It was such a good kiss. God, you haven't been kissed this good in such a long time. Your hands pulled at his collar, trying to bring him closer to you, and together, you stumbled backward until his hand extended behind you, slowly pushing you into the kitchen wall and preventing your head colliding with the hard surface.

As you separated to catch a breath, Tony stared at you. "Still doubting my interest?"

"No." You replied firmly before reaching for him again.

Thank you for reading 😊

The GIF doesn't belong to me, belongs to the amazing creator 😊

My first Tony story! 🙌

[masonmiamor]

love to hate - - mason mount x reader.

Summary: from innocent glances, to the necklace, from the honeymoon stage to the reconciliation stage, how will it all play out once you find out the real truth…

WC: 7k words… 🌚

a/n: HIIII… don’t hate me fr just struggled to get back into writing 🥲🙏🏻 i really hope you enjoy this piece, please do give some feedback if you can 💕💕

“Does everything look okay? Anything missing? Could I bring you anything else?” your kind waiter asked as he approached you and Sophia. “Everything looks great! Thank you!” you replied, thanking him watching as he walked away. You were at your traditional brunch date with the German girl enjoying her company as always, having your waffles and a side of fruit with your choice of coffee.

“So how are you and Mason going?” Sophia asked taking a sip of her Mimosa and then grabbing a bite of her food. “Well if I'm being honest there's a change in our relationship I'm not going to lie,’ you sighed.

About nine months ago, Mason asked you to be his girlfriend… It was a beautiful dinner on a rooftop overlooking London. The cheeky glances and shy smiles he offered, the hand holding across the table, the conversations that flew left and right that finally ended you and him watching the stars by an open field.

“Close your eyes Y/n, I want to give you something,” Mason whispered after having kissed you for the millionth time that night. Sure it was a dangerous move from both of you, having acted like a couple but with no label. But you loved Mason too much to care. You closed your eyes hearing as he shuffled around behind you, Mason gently moved your hair to the side, then leaned over to place and clasp the necklace on you.

Your fingers traced the gold letter M, “I’m confused..” you admitted. Mason crept his hand around your waist pulling you towards him. “First get rid of that cute frown on your face,” Mason began, tucking your hair behind your ear. “Second, it's a necklace because you’re mine, and I’m yours.” There’s still a glint of confusion on your face still, “Third, I want you to be my girlfriend Y/n.”

The words failed to come out of your mouth. You felt your throat close up and become dry, your pulse raising at an ultimate rate. “Your girlfriend? Ar-are you sure? I can be really annoying and impatient-” You began to ramble, but Mason cuts you off with a laugh and a sealed kiss. “Yes, my girlfriend. I'm more than sure, and I want this with you. I want everything you're willing to give me. Annoying or not,” he joked.

“Ok ill be your girlfriend I guess…” you said wrapping your hands around his upper shoulders, kissing the corners of his mouth, the tip of his nose, and then his soft lips.

“What are you implying? Is everything okay?” Sophia narrows her eyes at you. “At first we were in the honeymoon stage. It was a shy yet innocent love, then the arguing came in and it got ugly for a while, but the reconciliation came on and we fixed things… at least I think so… But now I'm just keeping up with his constant mood swings. One day he’s happy, then he’s upset and he won't talk to me, he gets frustrated and leaves, but then always manages to make me feel like the luckiest girl in the world?” you felt relief at saying it, the burden and weight carried off your shoulder.

Sophia would always be there no matter what, she would never judge or ever give a negative comment at all, she was humbled and honest, something you truly love about her. You could trust her with anything even if it wasn't easy for you to open up at times, but her kindness and assurance made you feel safe and wanted. The best friend you wished you had and longed for.

“I just don’t know what to do and it kills me at times when I can’t help him. I never want to invade his space but it hurts me too. I may sound needy or selfish, but I feel helpless… He hasn't even told me if he’s going this weekend. We’re lacking communication and we hide our real feelings from each other?”

“You’re not needy or selfish for wanting that love, if anything you're strong for still being able to keep it all together. I get what you're feeling believe me been there and done that. But you have to stop going to him first and let him realize the damage that’s occurring… As much as it may sting and hurt realization needs to be made first,” Sophia says, interlocking her hands and placing them beneath her chin.

“You're there for everyone, always placing a good smile and joking around and only I and him know what you go through… You deserve to put yourself first… Don’t wait for him if he can't see that, because the most hurtful thing in life is not valuing yourself and letting yourself crumble apart, not knowing where to start and rebuilding yourself…”

“And if it's too late?” you whisper avoiding the sting in your heart that begins to spread coldly through your chest. What if it is too late? What if Mason doesn't realize and leaves you? What if you give up and leave him?

“It’s never too late to realize…”

~~~

“Y/n, you home?” Mason yells out. You sigh and take a seat by the doorway where you remove your coat and boots. “Yes, I'm here!” you answer back before glancing in the mirror and putting your hair up in a messy claw clip. You notice just how drained you look after the past few weeks. The eyebags visible through your concealer, droopy eyes, the paleness around your cheeks and forehead, you looked like hell.

You walk into the kitchen to prepare a cup of tea in hopes of it relaxing you before you begin to pack. The pile of clothes haunting your head that you’ve let to fix. Mason walks into the kitchen and follows to where you were seated eating a small granola bar. “How was your day, love?” he asks kissing your head. There he goes again… not even a kiss on your lips.

“It was okay. Had brunch with Sophia, went shopping and bought my dress for this weekend, and then just drove around to clear my head…” you say resting your head on your propped hand on the table. Mason could sense your tired and distracted figure becoming a bit worried, “What color is the dress? Can I see it?” he asked wanting to hear your voice again. “Yes you can but later, it’s a dark red silky gown,” you said smiling remembering how Sophia kept complimenting you. The dress looked absolutely breathtaking, hugging your figure in all the right places, opened back, and a slight view of your cleavage.

You walked back to the kitchen and prepped your tea in your white mug, Mason watching your every move. You seemed distant and off, and he wondered what had happened. You weren't asking about his day or even looking at him at all when you talked with him, had he done something? He took out the trash and did his laundry as you had asked. So what was it?

“Hey… talk to me… What’s up?” you looked at him surprised, your mug stopping midway from touching your lips. “Me? I’m fine! Just tired and need to finish packing that's all,” you partly lie, taking a sip of your warm drink and face him. Mason furrows his brows and crosses his arms, leaning against the opposite marble counter. “You're lying to me… What’s truly going on?” Mason remarks, “You're avoiding me and fidgeting with your rings, I know you Y/n..”

“It's nothing Mason, I promise. I just don’t think I'm prepared to see everyone this weekend, the last reunion wasn’t the best…” you say finally looking at his brown orbs. “I had planned on riding with my close cousin from here but she ended up getting sick and won’t be attending-”

“I thought we would be going together? Wasn’t that the plan?” he cuts you off.

Oh? “Yes, it was but you haven't said anything to me if you’d attend or not. I didn’t want it to be a distraction from football and recovery,” you set your mug down and sit on the white counter. “I will be going with you, I bought my tux not too long ago, I just kept forgetting to remind you,” Mason said uncrossing his arms and walking towards you. You become shy, feeling your cheeks heat up. “You did?”

“Yep, even had help from my mum,” he chuckles and takes his phone out showing you a picture of him. It was a black tux with a white button-up, and his broad shoulder and arms fit the suit like a glove, “I was just waiting on you to see if I should buy a tie, bow, or leave it as is,” he said tucking a loose string of hair behind your ear. “I say as is,” you offer, giving him a sly smile and enjoying his warm touch against your skin. How long until he’d pull away?

Your heart began to pace quicker, looking at his freckles distracting you from the cold feeling that began to invade your spine to your arms. The urge to look away and clench your jaw to avoid any tears threatening to pour out. You just wanted him to realize how he’s making you feel but you refused to allow yourself to give in. This was harder, it wasn’t going to do any good if you didn't communicate with him.

“Can I be honest with you?” you whisper seeing how he nodded confused, “I'm afraid of you pulling away and going back upstairs to whatever you were doing,” you state. “I'm afraid of the cold air that will replace your warm palm once you go back. I'm afraid of thinking of losing you knowing so much can be done to prevent it…” you whisper the last part, not knowing how he’d react. Would he stay or go? Would he be upset or concerned? Would he pull away or hold you close?

“Losing me? Why would you lose me, baby?” Mason began to get scared at your shaky voice and sad tone. He moved between your legs, his other free hand coming to rest between your waist. He was holding you, finally, your hands continued to grip the counter, knuckles becoming sore from how hard you were gripping it.

“Because you haven't held me like this. Because you haven't kissed me. Because either you're mad at me or someone else and close me out of your life. Because when I try to help even if you may not want it you pull away… Because I'm afraid I'm not being the girlfriend you deserve,” you sigh and sniffle focusing on Mason’s hoodie strings, and how his thumb was soothing your cheek.

“Look at me.”

You hesitantly do so, “You're more than what I deserve. When I asked you to be my girlfriend I saw a future with you. You’ve treated me way better than how I have been treating you. I get it, my random mood swings and attitude aren't the best but you're always there, haven't given up on me… I'm just afraid of it being too much for you. The last thing I’d want is for my problems to distract you or make you leave as the others have…” Mason whispers.

“I won’t leave you, Mason. Not unless you give me a good reason too. I just want you to know that I love you so so so much. Trust me, you won’t be distracting me or putting too much on me. I know what I got myself into when I began dating you. I want it all, everything with you. You make me happy you know?” you grab the back of his head and then bring your hand to his jaw where you rub his cheek.

“Just happy?” he laughs and leans in, tracing your jaw with his nose, snuggling impossibly closer than he was before. He peppers kisses along the areas he just traced, his soft lips driving you insane along with how he was holding you made your head feel cloudy. “I can tell you how you make me feel? Hmm, how about that?” all you could do was nod still distracted by the way he was slowly kissing down your neck to behind your ear.

“I love these hands, how they bring comfort when I need them. I love your smile that never fails to make me feel all nervous all over again, especially when your small dimple comes out, like right now!” he kisses over it making you draw out a giggle. “God that laugh, knowing that I can make you laugh, knowing that you feel safe and sound with me, knowing that you love me no matter what? Makes me the happiest man on earth, and I couldn't ask for more.”

Mason kisses you, at first, it takes you a while to kiss back stunned by the harsh pull. But when your lips mold with his, tasting his minty and musky scent has you wanting more. His tongue teases your bottom lip, and you allow him to explore your mouth, not a fully heavy makeout session, but enough to have you panting after pulling away. “I love you, Mason,” you murmur, he carries you to the long grey couch, your legs tightly around his waist.

When he lays you down, he lays on top of your chest, his hands dragging up and down your sides in a soothing manner, your hand playing with his hair till he slowly drifts away. “I love holding you know? But right now I'm so wishing I could go and finish that tea I made,” you jest, you hear him snort, slowly lifting himself up and walking back into the kitchen. You sit up and extend your legs, looking at what he was doing. Or so tried to see.

“Here you go,” he places the mug on the side table giving you a small peck on your cheek, Mason grabs a pillow and lays it on your lap, laying back down while holding your legs. “I was thinking for dinner if you wanted to make your delicious teriyaki chicken? I'll help make the rice and veggies?” you heard him say, “Sounds delicious, but after this nap, because you deserve some sleep mister.” “After we can go get some ice cream, and come back home to finish packing?” he proposes.

“As long as we enjoy a late-night drive.”

“How about this outfit?” he turns to you, you look up and see him holding a white polo shirt with either a pair of black or slightly blue pants. “I like it! Perfect if we go out to eat together or to wear around,” you praise, he thanks you folding the clothes and setting them inside the small suitcase. You had just finished packing, you were now just setting up your makeup and skincare to carry in your main bag.

“Is this the dress?” you look up confused but then catch Mason staring at the red for the evening. “That’s the one,” you let out, walking over to him and tiptoeing enough to rest your chin on his shoulder. “It's beautiful Y/n…” he compliments, running his hand over the revealed parts of the dress, but also smoothing out the fabric. “Can you try it on now? Or will I have to wait to see it in person?” he questions with a small smirk on his face while he turns around.

“I’d rather you wait. I promise it will be worth the wait,” you laugh, “It's not that I don't want to show you but it's kinda delicate to take on and off you know?”

“I can wait, you're going to look absolutely sexy. I'm sure of it.”

Mason whines for you to get on the bed, but ends up helping you finish packing the other items you have to have ready. He is constantly asking questions about what the different products do, and if you could test them on him one day, which you found to be completely adorable. After assuring him you’d plan a night in and self-care, you fall almost fast asleep once you hit your pillow.

~~~

Mason currently sat on the bed, fixing his watch and rings. He had just fixed his hair, and steamed his suit jacket, waiting on you to finish so he could put it on. He felt nervous, there was a small pit feeling that made him feel off for some reason as if something bad were to go down but he pushed it away, focusing on the fact he could have some time to himself.

On the other hand, you were just finishing curling the last piece of your hair, applying some hairspray before finishing the bombshell curls with a small comb. You applied your lip liner, a darker shade of your red lipstick that you then applied. After spraying some setting spray, perfume, and deodorant you were ready. You slipped on your gown but had trouble with the zipper in the back. You managed to close it, making a mental note to ask Mason to clip the butterfly clasp in the back.

You put on your heels and opened the door, stepping carefully to meet Mason standing up. His eyes roamed your body, his mouth slightly open, and taking a gulp. Just like he had pictured, you look drop-dead gorgeous, the red on you was sexy. He walked over and walked around you in a circle feeling lucky, “Jesus Christ you look so good Y/n,” he said making you blush against his gaze.

His hands came around you, setting them dangerously close to your bum. “I don’t know if I might resist myself tonight,” he joked but he was being serious. This dress was taunting his head with dirty images of you, especially a picture of your lips smudged. “You look handsome, Mason. Can I fix something really quick though?” he nodded and watched as you unbutton two buttons from his shirt. “Leave it like this, looks way better than the turtle neck appearance,” you laughed.

He took one last glance at you, feeling grateful. He took a picture of you looking in the mirror placing your earrings, making it his wallpaper. He came up behind you and kept you close to his chest. “Are you ready to go?” he whispered near your ear, “I'm ready.”

You walked together down to the lift, Mason finding every chance to touch you which you kept laughing and pointing out. You had to make a line at the venue, but luck was on your side and you got there to be seated inside before the rain started to pour. You had seen some familiar faces and said hello to known relatives before going back with Mason. He poured you a glass of champagne, keeping his hand behind your seat showing his protectiveness on you.

“Y/n is that you?” you turned confused, Mason following your movements, where he felt his blood go cold. “Sue…” You stood up and saw your cousin. You and her always never got along, it was a long family feud that started years ago. She took every chance she could to embarrass and harass you. She wore a blue heavy dress and curls that weren't brushed out making you cringe. But next to her was John.

“John?” now it was Mason's turn to speak, John smirked and gave a sloppy kiss to Sue. You side-eyed Mason, becoming uncomfortable. “Just greet her out of respect for your family,” he whispered to where you could only hear, you nodded agreeing with him. “Guess it's a small circle, eh?” Sue snickered. “You still put up with her Mount, shame…”

“It was nice seeing you,” he ignored her grabbing your waist and dragging you outside to cool off. The outside area had almost a twilight theme to it, with big and small white flowers, and so many green trees. “I know him… I used to work with him, but I never saw them dating each other,” you said.

“Yeah me neither, but hey if the shoe fits?”

“Just forget about them okay? It's just us now. Let's grab a drink and sit back down to enjoy the ceremony and we can go back early to celebrate. How does that sound?” Mason suggests, “You mean the world to me you know? I love you so much Mason,” you hug his torso, appreciating the world for bringing a man like him to you.

You feel a gentle kiss on the corner of your mouth, “I’d give you the biggest kiss right now, but I don’t want to smudge this pretty lipstick,” Mason says along your lips, giving you butterflies. He settles with the kiss on your cheek, holding you by the waist as you walked back inside. After ordering drinks and sitting at the bar, you enjoy the presentations.

The evening is filled with waves of laughter and shared tears. You joked with the table mates around you, feeling comfortable for once when meeting new people. Mason kept kissing your head and shoulder, overall just holding you close, showing his affection which you couldn't complain about.

Once the lights turned off, the DJ began to play music, which made you and Mason get up and dance from time to time. He pulled out his phone and took pictures and videos of you, even posting some on his story to appreciate and show you off. A slow song played after midnight, and his hands were securely around you, while you rested on his chest, leaning your head into each other.

Your bodies swayed side to side, often time where he’d slowly spun you. “I’ll be right back I need a drink of water. Do you want a glass of water too?” you offered, Mason nodded and thanked you. After touching up your hair and makeup you were walking back to the table, a glass for Mason in your hold. Your heels clicked against the marble tiling, walking gently so your ankle wouldn't give up on you.

“Y/n, I want to talk to you,” you turned swiftly to be faced with your cousin, more so the one who has always tried to sabotage you for no reason since you started to date Mason. “Listen, I've had a day, and I don't want to speak with you at all,” you sighed and said sincerely, and it was true, you had no intention of getting along with her anymore. She smiled as you turned around and continued walking to the stairs.

“Are you sure you don't want to talk? It's important, has to do with Mason,” her words angered you, you turned around again and walked over to her calmly, but only god knew how you felt at that exact moment.

To say you were fuming was one word, but the picture of dragging her to make her feel what you felt was on another level. What could she possibly want now? Has she not had enough? You trusted yourself enough with the next words you said, but she had different plans that would forever taunt you. “Leave Mason and me alone, whatever you have to say save it, I'm sure it doesn't mean anything-”

“Not even if it's because Mason got with you for revenge?”

Revenge? What? She chuckled when she noticed the reaction on your face. The glass of water that you were carrying suddenly felt heavier, “What are you talking about?” you sound shaky. “You just never can pay attention Y/n? Can’t you? Mason is only with you because he believed you and John had something serious going on…”

John? John the one Mason grew up with? It didn’t make any sense why would he want revenge on you? What had you done for that to happen? The glass you had was now shattered due to you throwing it angrily. You let out a frustrated breath as your cousin continued with what she was saying.

“It’s true. Mason has never loved you, it was all calculated and planned from the start, he’s only with you for revenge. John slept with his ex-girlfriend, and since you and John had something going on… Well, you can picture the rest yourself…” She crossed her arms back and cocked her head to the said, smirking at your now broken and distraught look.

John had slept with his ex? Revenge? Has it all been fake?

“I'm sorry you had to find out this way my dearest cousin, but, not everything seems sincere and real once you find out in the end,” she walks off, leaving you now resting on the floor holding back the loud sobs. Your shoulders shake, attempting to take deep breaths but you fail, silently crying and holding your palms behind your neck.

The sound in the room all becomes quiet, just you processing what was revealed to you. How long was he waiting to drag it out? He knew John was nothing, an old friend and absolutely nothing more. Why did it have to be you? Was he pretending, was that why he was so quiet and distant during those times?

{ “What do you this is more important when meeting someone? Respect or honesty?” you ask, taking a sip of your red wine. There wasn't anyone else besides you and another couple enjoying their Saturday night out. For once you were grateful for the peaceful setting. Mason thinks about his answers, dragging his fingers along his chin before answering, “Weakness. It shows a lot of a person, and how they handle their surroundings…” }

{ Your dad sits back on his chair staring at you and Mason, who were lost in your own world. “Mason. What are your true intentions with my daughter?” it had caught both of you off guard, you sent a glare to your dad, not finding the timing perfect as others were around you. Mason grabs you and kisses your temple, “Only the best intentions to make her happy, sir.”

“Those are just words,” your dad scoffs, lifting the glass of whiskey and downing it in one gulp.

“I’d marry her right now if she said yes.” }

{ “How do you know John?” you question the brunette you had just met. His name was Mason. He had gorgeous locks of brown hair, his cheeks tainted with freckles and slightly red from being out in the sun. A perfect smile that was sure to make you feel nervous when being around him. He wore a simple baby blue button-up with some tan shorts.

John and you had met through a shared friend, and after some working together in the same town together you enjoyed his presence, but something about him always felt off. Always looking for trouble in the wrong places. You made it clear from the start you weren't looking for anything when he attempted to hit on you, and he respected that. You hadn't spoken since then. But he had just come up to you and Mason, catching up and asking you how you had been.

There was some tension, you looked between the two guys, who either gave each other fake smiles or glares. It wasn't your place to ask but you were curious, only accepting the answers he would give you. Mason opened your beer bottle and handed it to you gently before responding back.

“Let's just say we were like brothers at one point.” }

{ Your first holiday together started off by almost missing your flight, and once arriving at your destination the heat and exhaustion began to kick in. You sat near the luggage claim after passing customs, looking around and holding yours and Mason’s carry-ons tightly, knowing some people were desperate and would take the chance to steal. Or maybe it’s just an irrational fear of pickpockets after your incident in France.

“You okay?” Mason asked, taking the water you had just bought when you offered him some. Small hairs stuck to his forehead due to the light sweat, “I’m doing okay, tired but I'm here with you.” Mason smiles and kisses your lips sweetly. “I love you,” you say.

“Me more.” }

{ “I know I’m being annoying but I’m just asking you to help me really quick with something,” Mason rolled his eyes but listened anyway, you twisted your head at the attitude and wondered if you pissed him off. After struggling to set up the network in your new apartment, you finally caved in and asked him, but you regret it after his reaction.

“You need to start learning how to do things on your own.” }

You slowly found the courage and stood up, the room feeling smaller, or was that your head playing tricks with you? With a trembling hand, you managed to clean the broken glass, you grabbed a blanket and layed on the small antique couch that faced the double doors leading to a balcony. The urge to take off your gown was high, but you didn't have the energy to move from where you were.

You had stopped crying but the pain you felt was still so present. A stinging heart, the feeling of your stomach dropping every time, suddenly becoming cold and chill running up your arms, despite the cozy blanket. You fidgeted with your rings, tracing over the delicate designs, and jewels. What was the point of crying? It wasn't going to bring back the old you and him. The loud chatter and music began again, becoming aware of how long you were missing.

“Y/n? I was looking for you,” Mason said relief running to you. Mason saw your broken state, the dry tear streaks, and your lips were slightly swollen, but yet you looked still so stunning. “What the hell? What’s happened here? What's wrong?” he asked, taking a seat next to you and attempting to comfort you by rubbing his hand along your thigh. “Don’t touch me.”

You stand up and pick up your heels, “Woah, woah, hold on. You have been crying, just please talk to me,” Mason begged, walking around the couch and facing you again. His eyes roamed at your clenched jaw and fists, you were fuming, the pain is replaced with fury, just desperate for answers. “I can’t help you if you don't tell me what's going on-”

“I don’t need your help,” you spit out walking away back to your hotel room. It was clear it wasn't the time or place to discuss this but Mason wasn’t going to let go. He’d never seen you look this damaged and destroyed, your body language was off. “Is there anything you want me to do, I can’t look at you like this not knowing what’s troubling you. I'll give you space if it's what you need,” he said sincerely to you. You laughed loudly turning around and walking to where he was standing in the room, you pushed his chest with your index finger, seeing how he tumbled back.

“You know what I want? I want you to tell me how long you were going to continue this revenge you have on.” Mason looked at you with wide eyes, realizing that someone had told you about everything. His face went pale, shifting his weight from one foot to another, “You bastard! You lied to me, Mason! You only got with me to get revenge on John? I had nothing to do with him!” you yelped out loud, tugging your hair trying to contain other profanities that wanted to be shouted. “I'm so sorry,” he began to apologize and walk over to you, but you took steps back, creating a barrier.

“What do mean I'm sorry?” you couldn't believe him. “There is no excuse for what you did. You lied to me from the start, you made me suffer all those times you wanted to. I had nothing to do with him, or anyone else, was that not enough for you to believe or to at least tell me the truth from the start?” it became too much for you, you promised you wouldn't leave him unless he gave you a reason to, but he’d driven you to the point of betrayal.

“You have to believe me when I say I'm sorry! I regret everything. I was always told from the start it was you who had come into John’s life, who turned him into a better person, and that he had found happiness despite what he did to me. I hated him, for finding someone who valued him and probably didn't know what he’d done. He and others told me you would sneak around and do know gods what-”

“But we didn't Mason. We never did anything besides work that summer. I never liked him like that, he wasn’t the type of person I wanted to waste my time with even if I wanted to. The only thing I believe is that you're a coward who failed to tell me from the start. You should've told me long ago, would've saved us this,” you motion with your hand the distance between you and him.

“Im begging you to believe me I'm hurting too, it was slowly killing me, I wanted to tell you but I was so afraid of losing you. You're the first real person who has treated me better than I treat myself. It hurt me when I hurt you. Y/n I love you, everything we’ve done together, from the first glance, our first date, when I confessed to you that night, all of it was real! And you're right I was a coward for not telling you, but I couldn't bare seeing you like that.”

“How can you say that? How do you expect me to believe you after finding out that my boyfriend did what he did? What you did is unforgivable, and I want nothing to do with you ever again,” you express seriously. You wanted to be left alone, to forget this night ever happened, you wanted to so badly take this dress off and sleep through the pain that has been caused.

“I love you, Y/n” Mason cried out reaching over and grabbing hold of your hands but you pushed him away, seeing his now tears falling down his freckled cheeks, In another moment, where the situation would be different, you'd console him, hold him in your arms, assure him you were there for him, make him feel loved and wanted, but now, you never wanted to see him ever again. To forget everything you had to relive for the past few years and months. All the lies and promises.

“You never loved me, Mason. You bluntly dedicated yourself to humiliate me, to hurt me, to make me feel like the most hated and despised woman to exist? If that's love to you, then wow! I sure as hell put up with you, no? I hate you, Mason.” You had said it. The words that you’d promised yourself you would never say because of the worth they hold. Words even he knew how they'd make you feel.

Mason's eyes narrowed and presented a small frown on his lips not believing you. “You don’t hate me… You’ll learn to forgive-” he said approaching you, scared you’d slip away so quickly without thinking about the situation rationally. “Forgive? Forgive you? Did you learn to forgive, Mason?” your voice is laced with pure honesty and anger. You laughed and tug at your hair, desperate to leave and never come back.

“You condemned me from the start, and I never knew what you were accusing me of. I sacrificed everything, everything for you. I left my family for you, I followed you Mason, but for what? For you to mistreat and despise me? All I ever wanted and asked from you was love, for you to love me as I loved you. Do you not know what it means to a woman to feel ignored and rejected by the man she loves? It's humiliating and humbling Mason…” you whimpered tears staining your face. You could sense your makeup falling out of place, the beautiful lashes that once adorned your eyes were now stained by your mascara and eyeshadow.

Hate. Love. Those were the only things that ran through Mason’s mind, he was frantic now holding you by your waist as you struggled to get out of his hold. “It's all finished now. Forgive me baby-” he began to let out, if he needed to get on his knees and apologize, confess the love he feels for you he will, anything to not make you leave.

“I’d be more than stupid to forgive you…”

“All the lies and betrayal end here. Im giving myself to you, whatever it takes for you to believe me. I love you y/n, and I know you love me. We can work this out, it's not too late. Don’t give up on me just yet, please,” Mason holds you against him, just afraid you’d pull away and actually mean the words you let out. You softly push him away, resting your forehead against him, “I can’t trust what you say anymore. How do I know what you're saying is true?”

“Because as you said, I’m afraid of you pulling away and it being cold everywhere I go,” he refers to what you had said a couple of days ago. “You managed to make me fall for you deep and deeper every day, and I don’t want to lose you. You're mine y/n. It's my fault I get that but all those lies and John end today, they have ended. It was childish, and so stupid for me to do,” Mason says, he reaches over to hold your hand.

“Im going to make it up to you. I’ll prove to you just how much you are worth and mean to me because I see us growing old like we discussed that night long ago. I won't give up on us yet even if you claim to hate me. Be angry at me but don’t hate me.”

~~~

Things didn’t get easier. The distance and silence were killing you and Mason for about a month. You had set up a routine where you'd work and quickly come back home. Your night either ended up being tucked inside your sheets or going out with your girlfriends. You weren't technically broken up, but there was a break.

During that period Mason had finished his season at Chelsea. It was a long and excruciating period, the wins, the losses, the setbacks, and the injuries, he deserved more. He had also set a routine, always needing something to distract him from his thoughts, from you. He had texted you, sometimes gifted with a text back, but when you didn't he didn't push it. He was miserable. Everyone around him could see it.

He enjoyed morning runs, coming back to shower, and then napping. He’d go out with his teammates and or go to Portsmouth to visit his family. Although his family asked for you all the time, he couldn't bare telling them yet. “She’s busy at her architecture firm…”

Currently, he was sitting in the club with his phone in his hand scrolling through Instagram where you had posted you were alone, a book in your hand, and a glass of wine in the back. He liked the story and hid his phone away, humming at the current rap song playing in the back. “You good?” asked Kai, who took a seat next to Mason. “Nah man, I’m quite bored here,” Mason laughed and took a sip of his beer.

“She’s with Sophia right now,” he randomly said. “Sophia was telling me she preferred to stay home nowadays. Working or just hanging out with friends. She’s more reserved and quiet now but always asks how you're doing. Don’t tell Sophia I told you though…” he looked at the blue-eyed German, looking for a sign of lying but he wasn’t. “Don’t lose her now, you may want to give her space but the longer you distance yourself from her, the more of a chance you get of her never appearing again in your life is possible.”

You had been thinking of him? Asking about him? “Sophia is going home early because she's going to Germany. Y/n is free for the rest of the weekend, and I know she has been wanting to see you,” Kai says, opening a bottle of beer and taking a gulp of it. “Thank you, Kai,” Mason smiles at him, “I just don’t know what to say.”

“Don’t say anything then. Prove to her you're still the Mason she still fell in love with.”

When Mason had parked by the side of the road facing your apartment he noticed your living room light on. He was debating whether or not to go up and knock on your door or just go home and lose the opportunity he had waiting for him. His thumb kept brushing over your contact, the urge to call you to hear your voice. “Oh fuck it.”

He didn't look back, just quickly ran up the stairs and stood infront of your front door. He knocked on the door three times, hearing your footsteps coming closer to him. Mason stuck his hands in his pockets when he heard the door unlock. He saw you still wearing your clothes from the day and not your usual comic pj’s and a long sleeve or one of his shirts.

Mason was stunned, just as you were. You weren’t expecting to see him, but he also did not expect you to open the door this late at night. “Mason,” his breath hitched when hearing your voice again, desperately wanting to reach out and kiss you deeply. Hold you against him as he had been dreaming. To have you near him at all times as he desired. He just needed you. You felt the same way. You were willing to give him a chance to explain himself, or at least attempt to try and restart all over again.

“Can I come in?”

[sanicsmut]

Words of the Fallen

Technically Darien Gautier x Vestige!Reader, but all I can say is play Summerset's main quest in ESO before reading this.

part 2

Warnings : Use of Y/N once. Angst because it is. Spoilers for the end of Summerset. Language. The letter is taken directly from the game, which is why it’s written way better than what I’ve actually written.

Words: 1000 (I can't believe I got such a perfect count)

Robin’s comment: Cried making this, bon appétit. More seriously, this chapter (the game's DLC I mean) made me hate Meridia. She was one of my favorite daedric princes, but now it's over. All hail Azura. Anyway this is basically me telling Meridia what she deserves to hear. There's also a hint of a part two at the end ;). I'll try to write it, but I can't guarantee anything.

"Never trust a Daedric Prince. If there's anything I learned from all this, that's it in a nutshell. I used to think I had a purpose, a part to play in the grand scheme of things. I suppose I did, sort of, but the way things turned out, it wasn't at all the way I imagined. Meridia said I was her vessel. I guess my fate was sealed from the moment she brought me into existence.

Now, here I am, back in the Colored Rooms. I thought that when I gave my energy to restore the sword—and I did that for my friend, not for Meridia—I thought that was the end of me. I'm back, though, but this time is different. My light, it's fading. I can feel the darkness getting closer, pressing in. I expect that once the light goes out, that will be the end.

I need to tell you something about Meridia. She's a deceiver. She promised that if I served her faithfully, I'd earn my freedom. She never told me that freedom was just another word for the void. Don't trust her. Don't trust any of the Daedric Princes. Not ever.

I've found peace though. Meridia gave me a chance to see the world, and those I care about, one last time. To save those I loved. I'm grateful for that, at least.

I wish I had a chance to say goodbye to everyone. To Skordo. To Gabrielle. Gods, I'll miss them. But most of all, (Y/N). I don't know if she will understand how much she truly meant to me. Perhaps we'll see each other again, in another place, another time. I probably won't be the version of myself that's writing these words, though. That me will be gone. I can live with that.

I only wish I could have spent more time with everybody. Had a few more adventures. Ordered those drinks like we always talked about.

I hope my friends find peace, happiness, and love. They deserve what I could never have. If anyone ever finds this book, know that I will never forget those I named herein. And, if you find them, and I pray that you do, tell them this.

Protect the ones you love. Hold them close. Cherish their every moment. Make them laugh, and laugh with them. Smile together and never, ever, forget that the moments you have are so very precious.

Oh, and tell them not to forget me, either. I mean, I am a legend, as far as I know.

The polite, handsome, and humble knight,

Darien Gautier”

You let the book fall back on the bench where you found it.

No… No…

You were breathing heavily. And a few minutes later, surrounded by those trees, you let out your anguish.

Dawnbreaker gripped tight in your hand, you screamed.

“Take it back! Take your goddamn sword back!”

“It seems my vessel isn’t the only one who ended up having feelings when he shouldn’t.”

A bright light. There it was, this patronizing voice. This voice you had respected, after giving you back your soul and helping you in Coldharbour. This voice you grew to hate.

“You bitch, he was my friend!”

“Where is your respect, Vestige?”

Vestige. You hadn't been called that since that time you helped Abnur Tharn in Elsweyr. Only the companions called you that. The companions and Meridia. But even the Daedric Prince hasn’t called you that during this whole mission. It was like you were back in Coldharbour all over again. Back fighting for what you thought was right, back, fighting against and with forces you couldn’t comprehend.

“My respect for you died when Darien got condemned. By your fault.”

“He was my vessel, an empty shell, a weapon to do my bidding. He served his purpose.”

“He was my friend!” You yelled again.

“And a traitor.”

“How the f-”

“He sacrificed he life for you. He purified my sword, not to serve me, but to help you.”

“Oh, so this is it? You’re throwing a tantrum because your tool wasn’t devoted to you only?”

“Careful with your words, Vestige.”

“You owe me! I’m the one who fought Molag Bal, I’m the one who assembled all those allies to stop the coalition! I’m the one who just stopped Nocturnal! And you owe him too! He may have purified Dawnbreaker for me, but everything else he did was for you, to serve you, because he was your champion! Because he truly thought he could trust you!”

“And you owe me for your soul. And he owes me for the purpose I gave him.”

“You wouldn’t have been able to take my soul if I hadn’t fought in Coldharbour! It’s all thanks to me! And his purpose? He could’ve been a hero without disappearing for your fucking sake! Hell, he just wanted to help his friends!”

“Friends he shouldn’t have had in the first place.”

“I swear, I defeated Molag Bal and Nocturnal, I can defeat you too. Take back your fucking sword and give me back my friend.”

You could feel Meridia’s rising anger, the air feeling tense around you despite the Daedric prince not being here physically.

“You want your ‘friend’ back?” The prince of light asked, her voice filling you with a bad feeling.

“Yes!” You answered. “Free him from your realm!”

You swore you almost heard Meridia growling, even if that sounded out of character. But that being was strict and cold, full of authority, like a severe and cruel mother. But nothing about her was motherly. She might have been less ‘evil’ than other princes, but she still served her own interests, mortals were just tools for her, or obstacles she had to get rid of. And you were sure that she was now in the second category.

“You will have to free him yourself.” Meridia declared. “That is, if you can get out of my realm.”

Her voice was tainted in cruelty, and a blinding light burnt your eyes before everything went black.

[redheadspark]

Hello love! Could I request an Azriel fic with #1? I feel like it would be really wholesome! 🌹💜

A/N - AAHHHH! This is adorable! Simply adorable! Thank you for requesting this, friend!

Crown

Summary - It's the simple things in life that bring out Azriel's joy

Warnings - Just some cute fluff :D

"This is quite the collection, High Lady,"

"I know, I hate it! Oh, please don't tell Rhsyand anything, it'll break his heart!"

"Your secret is safe with me,"

Feyre giggled as you two strolled through her smaller chamber that housed all of the crowns, tiaras, and other jewelry that was given to her by her husband, High Lord Rhsyand. She was searching some of the jewelry she wished to keep and other pices that she could donate, and the rest will be in the Night Court Archives that were nestled deep under The House of Wind. Rhysand gave her permission to choose which ones she wanted to keep for her own use and the rest will be sorted, which was rather nice on his end some most of the pieces were handed down to him by his family. Feyre was no lover of jewelry, and even with the smallest earrings or necklace, she would rather decline wearing them. However, she was strickign when wearing her crowns or tiaras when meetings were held or visiting anoter Court.

Yet she was showing you this room for another reason.

"So, which one do you like?" She asked as you were a bit conflicted. You saw massive crowns with gems the size of your palm embedded on the headpiece, tiaras small and dainty with precious little rocks that looked more like raindrops or morning dew. Feyre could see the hesitance on your face, giving yoru arm a pat as she manuvered the pair of you to another section of her collection.

As part of her wedding gift to you and your fiance Azriel, Feyre offered you to wear one of her crowns at the wedding ceremony. You two were close friends, ever since she came into Velaris and she was introduced to the Inner Circle. You loved her spirit and stubbornness, not being a cookie-cutter mate to Rhsyand. You instantly loved her art and painting, taking a few pointers from her after the Battles against Hybren and when there was peace in Velaris again. You two grew close, and she was the first friend you told about your engagement to the Spymaster himself. Feyre and Rhysand wished to contribute to the wedding planning as much as they could, and although you and Azriel made them swear to keep the ceremony and reception very small and intimate, they still planned everything out for you two.

All the way down to the attire, in which you were going to wear the High Lady's jewels.

"Azriel told me you two were going to be married in Elaine's garden at the Townhouse, right?" She asked, you nodding your head as she then reached out into a small pocket in the wall, taking out a very delicate and intricately designed crown. The base looked like vines wrapped around one another making the circle, leaves made of pure gold, and some yellow gems that looked molded into gold. Throughout the rest of the piece, there were small emeralds and yellow diamonds, making the crown look more like a halo of enchanted leaves.

You gasped, Feyre's face beaming as she held it in her delicate yet deadly fingers.

"I think we found the right one," She commented, reaching up to place in your hair. It wasn't heavy, nor was it light. The weight almost threw you off for a moment, but Feyre moved some of your hair from your eyes and along your jawline to see how the crown would look.

She moved you over to a mirror that was propped on a cabinet, you saw your reflection in the mirror and the shock ever leaving your face. You felt like a princess with a crown on your head, something you never thought you would feel. Coming from humble beginnings and needing to survive on your own to get your own food, you always had to endure and adapt to what life threw at you.

Yet ever since Azriel came into your life, blessings were coming in left and right. He made sure you were loved, that he supported you in all the choices you made, and he always made sure you never had to go hungry again.

You were seeing the reflection of your inner soul wearing that crown: a Princess about to marry her Prince.

"Perfect, simply perfect," Feyre said from behind you. You nodded with evident tears in your eyes.

It was perfect. Beyond perfect

"Almost done back there?"

"Mmmm nope. Are we being impatient?"

"Never!"

Azriel chuckled behind you as you were facing the view of Velaris in front of you, sitting cross-legged on the blanket that you brought for your picnic as you were working on the cross stitch that you also brought along. The small buzzing of bumble bees to your left, the soft wildflowers along the right side, and the howling winds that were swooping down from the mountains were in front of you.

The perfect day for an outing.

Being married to the Spymaster of Nigt Court was nothing short but adventurous. You knew going into the marriage that Azriel would have to make some compromises. If he had to go give aid to Rhysand or the safety of Velaris was at risk, if he had to go in the middle of the night to spy on another Court, it was always up in the air with your husband. Yet you never once grumbled about it, because you knew he would always come back into your waiting arms. It was his promise to you on your wedding day and in his vows that he swore he worked on for months on end: Azriel promised to never have you be alone in your bed or in your relationship with him.

He has fulfilled that promise.

It's been a good 5 years since you two were married, only the Inner Circle and a handful of priestesses in attendance. He wanted it that way since Azriel thought a massive wedding and mating ceremony would be far too much for you two. Yet you had the best night of your life with him as your husband and surrounded by people who loved and supported the pair of you. After your honeymoon, you both found a small little house that was near the outskirts of town, near the farmlands and the forests that seemed to be more of a fixer-upper. Yet you found it a challenge, rolling your sleeves up and getting right to work with a shocked husband right behind you.

Within a month, the house was liveable, and within a year's time, it was perfect.

"Alright, I think it is finished!"

You placed your cross stitch down and turned around, seeing your husband and your 8-month-old daughter named Eve in his lap grinning at your as Azriel was holding a flower crown in his hands.

"A crown fit for a queen," he said lightly, Eve babbling in his lap as she tried to reach up to take the crown with her chubby fingers. Both you and Azriel chuckled while he placed the flower crown on your head. Massive twigs were molded into a circle, with daisies and wildflowers laced around along with a few poppies that were nearby. Once the crown was placed in your hair, Eve shrieked at the sight of her mother wearing flowers and Azriel beamed.

"Just as gorgeous as the day I married you," He hummed, leaning over to kiss you softly on the lips.

There were trials and struggles coming your way with Azriel, but you two always faced them together. Small spats and fights were had late in the night about his well-being and safety, yet they always ended with you two holding each other in bed and whispering apologies. Stress from work and from working with the High Lord and High Lady would try and defy the pair of you, yet neither of you would let it.

And lastly, a small health scare you had left you with more questions than answers. The smallest possibility that you couldn't bear children broke your heart for some months. Azriel held you close as you cried into his chest after Madja told you the news, having you feel more broken than ever.

"You mean more to me than anything. If being parents is not our path, then I'll live with that. I can't live in this world without you or your joy, and if it's just the pair of us in this life, I'll take it," Azriel reminded you as a vow when you two were wrapped in each other's arms in bed. You knew it was true, and although it was a saddened feeling that you may not have a child, you would rather have Azriel.

However, your daughter Eve came into your lives a year later. Her father's wings and eyes, your hair and freckles, she was perfect. Seeing her swaddled and held in her father's arms, watching his eyes fill with tears as he kissed her dark mop of hair hours after she was born, it was all worth it.

"My little Eve Star," he cooed at her.

Eve cried out in Azriel's lap, not getting attention from either parent. You pulled away from Azriel, laughing as you scooped her into your arms and kissed her cheeks.

"Did you help your father make my crown, my little Eve Star?" You said to her playfully, tickling her sides and hearing her giggle in delight.

"Of course she did, she had her mother's creativity you know," Azriel joked.

Sometimes you thought back to the crown Feyre lent you for your wedding, which later was given to you as a Winter Solstice and Wedding Anniversary gift, and you thought of it as a blessing. But the true blessing was the flower crown on your head, made by the one being that brought you more joy than anything.

You would take flowers over gems any day.

The End.

Spring Prompt Session

[dorizardthewizard]

Galactik Football season 3 rewatch, eps 25 - 26

The final let's go!

Episode 25:

Mei has a plushy awwww

Announcer: And now, here are Callie, Nork and Barry! Artegor: And Artegor ☝.

LOL he says it so calmly. The disrespect tho

Sonny: Still looking for the multi-flux bomb. Clamp: Let's just hope they find it in time. Otherwise Akillian will share the same fate as the Shadows planet in the last GFC. And the Breath could disappear, definitely not what we need right now

Yes Clamp, the Breath disappearing is the main concern if there is a big explosion on your planet

Remind me again why Sonny and the gang don't run over to Akillian to find the bomb? Or why no one alerts Akillian authorities at all? Shouldn't we get SOMEONE other than Aarch and Norata to look for it?

Aww Tia getting Mark to open up, she's such a good captain and friend to everyone <3 She's come far from her more distant self at the very beginning

Mark: Thanks Tia, maybe you're right. It must be my imagination!

Mark how on earth did you come to that conclusion from what Tia just said

So on Sinedd's integration in the team...

While everyone else, even D'jok, seem to have accepted Sinedd back well enough, Mice still hates him and literally gags at the idea of him being on the team. I kind of wish his objection was taken more seriously in the writing – the narrative acts as if D'jok is the main person that has to settle his scores with Sinedd, but forgets that Micro-Ice was Sinedd's main target for years, and according to that flashback, they used to be a trio (although from the flashback you could also say Sinedd didn't care for him back then either lol). His reaction is pretty understandable and although he should still be keeping it professional, they shouldn't really expect him to forgive him. That dynamic could have been interesting, but we never get a confrontation or any closure between the two because Micro-Ice as a character is just there to be laughed at this season.

When Maya calls D'jok she kind of makes it sound like they should accept Sinedd because he's had it hard, which I'm not a huge fan of. First of all because in this season they had her act more as a guardian to Sinedd than D'jok, who also lost himself down the wrong path for a while there, but also because I think the reasoning for accepting him should be that he has swallowed his pride and is genuinely trying to be a better person. Otherwise it sounds a bit like “having a sob story is a justification for acting out”. I know that wasn't the intention, but still, it's in the details.

But Maya is right that D'jok and Sinedd are parallels of each other. Both grew up without their biological parents, both are extremely competitive and put huge importance on their ambitions and success, both are prone to lashing out at others when distressed. But D'jok was luckier and had an adoptive mother, and ended up with good friends who could keep him in check. They turned out differently due to different upbringing but both made mistakes and hurt others – D'jok knows this so is more humble and doesn't give Sinedd a hard time. Sinedd also saved his life, so there's that too.

Rocket: Even if D'jok and Sinedd are rivals, they're still like brothers.

UMMMMMMMMM that's taking it too far. Sinedd running off to the Shadows wasn't what put them against each other, neither was the fact he dated Mei. He was already being unpleasant all the time in season 1 and it was implied it has been that way for a long time. D'jok didn't show any regret or whatever in season 1 - he had no problem responding to Sinedd's provocations with taunts about him not having friends LOL. If they were like brothers, it was way too long ago for Rocket to be making that comment

When bro grabs your wrist instead of giving you a normal handshake #nohomo

Anyway I like this convo between D'jok and Sinedd and how it ends, for all the reasons that they're parallels as I mentioned above. But the first few lines are a bit funny because D'jok actually HASN'T been fighting him lately, it sounds as if they're making up after fighting about Mei but that's... not really what's been happening? But moving on, this is functionally an apology from Sinedd, but again he should apologise to Mice too.

Also with Sinedd saying he wants to be a good person now so his family can be proud of him... ehhhh I still think his development should have started earlier. His whole problem was that his response to growing up without family was to put others down – so the solution is to... give him a family so he'll stop doing that? I'm simplifying it but I just think it would be more impactful if he tried to turn things around before meeting his actual parents. Sure, they can still be a motivation and encourage him, but yeah.

I mean it still works with him finding his parents, realising that love and affection was all he wanted and that he was wrong to take it out on others... but at least bring the parents in earlier in the season because as it is, it's just too rushed. Honestly you could just get rid of the fake parents storyline – it was done so we can see Sinedd at his low point, but you could already have him like that after the events of season 2. It would feel like a natural continuation and you can bring the real parents in earlier.

Last note: MAN does the voice acting suck here lol

SDJHSDFHJSDF AARCH AND NORATA ON THE SNOWMOBILE I LOVE OLDER MEN ACTION

Norata, watching Rocket use the jet ski is not the same as knowing how to use the jet ski. Wait why does Aarch call it a jet ski, it's a snowmobile. A jet ski is on water lmao – his mind is still in Paradisia. I get it, Aarch, I get it

Aw Dame Simbai stepping in to do the speech giving now that Aarch is gone, it's nice to see how much she cares about this team succeeding too. But a bit hyperbolic to say this is the most important match of their lives, as opposed to the other finals :P

Technoid's security is on maximum alert? So barely functioning then

Nikki-4's voice is so surly I love it lol

I was complaining about Aarch leaving the team but him getting to have galaxy-saving shenanigans with Norata? Iconic actually

Aarch: Holy ice age!

Ah so there's our expletive stand-in

Damn that was an intense face-off, Nikki-4 is so strong

Tia earlier this episode: Don't worry Mark you won't have to face off against Nina -> FAST FORWARD OOPS

GO MARK!

Why is there a cloud of dust every time someone gets thrown to the floor, do y'all not clean it

Why is confetti already flying? Must be reused footage.

Tia telling Ahito to pay attention but this goal? That didn't happen because he woke up too late lol, defence should have been helping more

Ayo why do other goalies not have protective gloves like Ahito? I guess most aliens can take it

In hindsight they should have really predicted there would be some sort of security around the bomb

I just wanna showcase this comment and all it implies:

Episode 26:

Oooo Aarch and Norata are using the Breath to fight this robot, I wonder if this will have consequences. Perhaps they would have shown it in season 4?

Yaaay Micro-Ice with the sick dribbling!

SDFJKDFSJK THEY'RE JUST CHILLING THERE LIKE THEY'RE IN A LOONEY TUNES CARTOON

Aarch pressing the big red button before Norata that's SUCH a sibling moment, reminds me of when my brother and I would fight to push the button for the lift

The players have been using the flux more externally lately, like shooting it at the ball instead of just using it to power themselves up. I feel like this has been happening more since the Paradisia final where they had to use flux to evacuate the planet, which makes sense

Bennett: Someone has activated the bomb, it's going to explode any second! Sonny: Did you hear him? Get out of there, now! Aarch: We're not going anywhere! Meanwhile, Norata: 🏃‍♂️💨💨💨

Honestly what a comedic duo I'm enjoying this

The solution is to just yeet the bomb into space ahhahahahha I know the Breath makes them strong, but THAT strong?

It's so funny how due to losing the Breath, Sinedd is just free-falling for like 100m but it cuts away to show the other players losing their flux LOL. RIP Sinedd, what a way to go.

Kind of interesting that compared to the Shadows last season, who physically didn't seem affected by the loss of flux (they just suddenly sucked at football. love that match), the Akillians are immediately drained physically and wiping out.

Wait..... being tired out.......... is Ahito gonna restore their flux because he's been storing it inside him?

Omg yes he is

Woahh!! He not only drew the Breath back to the Snow Kids, but pulled in so much it manifested in all flux holders around him! Ahito so powerful they had to nerf him with the narcolepsy

Sonja has the Breath! Wait so even before the glaciation and the ban on flux, only certain people could manifest it? Interesting

Maybe one day Sonny can just watch his son play in the GFC final without having to save the galaxy at the exact same time, but until then it's business as usual

Is it just me or does the Breath look like a deeper shade of blue sometimes in this season

Artegor: And he passes to Tia, who takes flight!

Yeaaaaahhh angel Tia imagery again

Y'know considering how much time D'jok spent with team Paradisia I feel like they should have had more moments of rivalry in this match but hey ho

I know it's just animation reuse but Sinedd scoring the final goal with the exact same move D'jok scored his first epic goal with is pretty poetic. And of course Sinedd generally being the one to score that point (but still, couldn't we get some new animation for the winning goal?)

The way they animate Harris really looks like they wanted him to be like the Joker

Mark jumping up to save Nina from falling – oh so NOW falling from a great height can kill them! Honestly there have probably been fatalities in this sport

Awww Tia getting them to all hold the cup, that's so sweet. I love her

Iconic last shot, I'm not crying you're crying ;v;

Yes one last Mice delight advert is exactly what this season needed in its finale /s

So looks like Mei and Sinedd are going ahead as a couple

They really settled the Team Paradisia stuff with one sentence about them being taken care of by Chief Maddox huh. I suppose they were gonna put the Mark x Nina resolution in season 4? Idk, Team Paradisia deserved better

So Aarch is back to coaching, but for Club Galactik right? Makes sense, he still wants the job but this will be less intensive and will allow him more time to settle down with Adim and their future child. The Snow Kids will be just fine on their own. Well, when it comes to football anyway. Can't make any promises about Pirate-related adventures :P

Aaaaaand there it is... ok I always knew this was coming even when I watched the show for the first time, but it must have been so insane to watch back when it first aired. Like, everything is calmly wrapping up and then SUDDENLY the holo-trainer goes weird and the kids disappear with Mei and Micro-Ice. We linger on this for a few seconds aaaaaand.... THAT'S IT! END OF SEASON! I would have gone apeshit too

This is like a transporter malfunction from Star Trek lol, although I'm wondering how that can even happen, like does the holo-trainer actually teleport people then? Anyway I honestly don't care THAT much about the ending if I'm honest, like I get that it was a last ditch effort to get the show renewed as the higher ups obviously didn't have much faith in it with that budget slash, so I can easily just pretend those last few seconds didn't happen and it ended with the Snow Kids happily going into the holo-trainer to help teach the next generation. It's not great, but it doesn't really ruin the season for me

Soooooooooo uuuuuuhhhh.... that was it! Yeeeah I'm not a huge fan of this season, but I don't hate it with a burning passion. Except at certain points. As a whole it's more,, disappointment for what could have been. I think I'm glad we have it, because it really is jam packed with interesting concepts and I think if the writing were better, it genuinely could have been the best season. The previous seasons certainly aren't ATLA-levels of writing either but the main emotional beats worked well, whereas here it's a lot more all over the place.

Generally I feel like the team behind this season had the ambition and the vision, I mean we have Sinedd redeeming himself, a multi-flux tournament, a non-Akillian joining the team, players leaving for other teams, Aarch deciding to retire and the Snow Kids being experienced and mature enough to handle that, a "main" couple not staying together since they were teenagers... all interesting things! It's not a soulless production that doesn't try to change the status quo, but I think they just didn't manage to pull it together. There was a LOT going on with a lot of characters but ultimately there wasn't enough time for the development to feel natural and stick.

Outside of that, some characters were flanderised, yeah. Looking at you, Micro-Ice. Wait, they never even finished that plotline about him, Yuki and Zo-leen! Wtf! On the other hand, I was pleasantly surprised at how some characters were handled, like Mei. It would have been so easy to villainise her but they treated her with respect, which was cool. As for the other Snow Kids, a lot of it was just romance drama shoehorned in, which gets boring when the supporting cast don't have anything else going on.

Production-wise, they did the best with the budget they got but yeah it does suck because the matches with all the cool moves were one of the selling points of the series. But here most of the games just felt like "A, B and C needs to happen, and for the rest let's just throw in some filler moves". Direction is not just down to the animation itself - types of shots, camera movement, transitions, music... all these little details were lacking so the matches ended up being kinda bland in comparison to the previous seasons. There were some creative additions though, like the Elektra's flux.

I think I've already expressed my thoughts on everything else during the commentaries, so yeah it's been fun! Hope they've been fun to read ^^

[pickledpascal]

Killer Queen

Chapter Three: Sweet Emotion

Warnings: smut for sure brother, penetrative sex, collars, BDSM elements, slurs, ben likes it rough i guess

Word Count: 3.8k

Killer Queen Masterlist

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Eventually, Eden was able to coax Amber and Soldier Boy out of their room to have something for dinner. Well, she mostly wanted to get Amber to eat, Soldier Boy was… a change, that's for sure. Something about him when Eden was in school or, hell, even when she grew up, she thought he'd be shorter. The boots had to give him an extra inch or two so they lied about his height. But they didn't. Soldier Boy was a six-foot-two all-American man. Eden always thought he'd be five-eight. 

Amber grabbed a few slices of the pizza Eden provided and stuffed a piece in her mouth. On the other hand, Eden kept staring at Soldier Boy. Nervous wasn't the right word, no, more like she was sizing him up. She knew she likely couldn't take him in a fight, even if she was a Supe, but she would probably be able to do something that made him suffer. 

“Who's that?” Ryan said when he came out of his room. He was looking up at Soldier Boy. Butcher was one of the only other men who had ever entered the house.

Soldier Boy glanced down at the kid and narrowed his eyes a bit. Why the hell did he look so much like him? He kept his mouth shut, opting to follow Amber's rules. For now. So he ate. 

Eden answered, “He's gonna be staying with us for a little while, kiddo. He's, uh,” She didn't want to lie. Ryan was a smart kid and he'd likely figure out why he was here in the long run but she also didn't want to say Soldier Boy was going to kill his dad. “He's one of Amber's special friends.” 

“Oh.” Ryan recoiled at the comment. 

Soldier Boy cocked an eyebrow at Amber. “He doesn't know what a f–”

“Shut the hell up.” Amber cut him off, gaze hardening. 

Once dinner was done and Ryan was away from Soldier Boy—Eden immediately decided they couldn't be together for more than fifteen minutes since Ryan would likely learn something he wasn't supposed to at ten. 

“So who the fuck are you?” Soldier Boy turned to Eden, lips pursed into a thin line that showed his dimples. A sign he was discontented. 

Eden looked at him unimpressed. “The smartest person in any room.” She shrugged. She liked to brag as humbly as possible. She wished Amber would do it more or else people wouldn't test her as much as they did. 

Soldier Boy scoffed, “You're a woman.” 

“And you don't know what an OnlyFans is so who's really winning here?” Eden countered with a lop-sided smile.

Soldier Boy tilted his head, glancing at Amber for an answer. She didn't give him one. 

“Do you think if we can get Homelander, Butcher will let us psychologically torture him? We’ll let him kill him afterward. Or, we could all bitch him together.” Eden suggested, an excited glint in her eyes before she glanced back at Soldier Boy. “Sorry your son turned into such a fucking bitch, by the way–”

Soldier Boy’s eyebrows shot up. “Wait, what the fuck does she mean?” He'd seen pictures of Homelander, pictures of him were plastered almost everywhere.

Amber glared at Eden. She was glad Ryan wasn't here for this. Especially considering his grandpa had quite the mouth on him. 

She and Eden knew of this after Eden hacked into Vought. Partly for fun, partly for work. They just so happened to come across a file about Homelander and his origins. And how Soldier Boy, by artificial insemination, was his father. Immediately after finding out the information, Eden blamed that on why Homelander was so horrible. Amber didn't know all of the details of Soldier Boy’s life but she didn't think that was the case. The file also included all the American propaganda Homelander was forced to watch as a child. 

A boy who grew up only watching American propaganda was going to fuck him up somehow. 

“You remember when Vougelbaum called you into your lab? It was 1980. Some sort of genetic test,” Recognition dawned in Soldier Boy’s face as he leaned back into the couch he sat on. “He was born in 1981. And part of the reason Payback did what they did. So he could take the spotlight once he was older.” Amber explained softly. She had a feeling it would be jarring for anyone to find out they had a secret child, no matter if they were a fascist piece of shit. 

Soldier Boy’s lips drew back into a snarl as he tried to choke down his emotions. Amber, he was fine with crying in front of, but Eden? Fuck that. He didn't need other people to know he was weak. 

He had a son. A fucking child. And he wasn't there like he wished he would. Anger rose in his chest. Soldier Boy abruptly stood and Amber could feel the air in the room shifting. She didn't have a radiation counter on her but she could tell, if she did, it would be skyrocketing. 

Amber lifted a hand to try and calm Soldier Boy which he slapped away. “Shut the fuck up and don't say you understand. You fucking don't. You don't even have the fucking parts to have a kid, you tranny bitch.” He spat, chest heaving. 

Eden's eyes widened, looking between the two of them. Even most bigot fucks Amber came across, they didn't say it to her face. Amber's stare turned cold. Any sympathy she had for him was flushed down the drain. 

“Yeah, uh… I'm gonna take Ryan downstairs.” Eden excused herself. The basement was soundproof for the most part. And built like a fortress. She was glad she decided to make it out of metal. Sound didn't travel that well through it. 

Soldier Boy let out a sharp breath from his nose as he stared at Amber. There was a small part of him that regretted what he said but he was too prideful to go back on it. A muscle in his jaw tightened while his nose turned into a sneer. 

Amber wasn't intimidated by whatever tactics Soldier Boy was trying to use. “You think you're strong? That you scare me? Not more than an hour ago you were gagging on my dick. Some small part—or, hell, big part—of you is scared you like me,” The air in the room was tense, the radiation rising when she hit a little too close to home. “But another part,” She stepped closer, causing Soldier Boy to step away. “Is excited by that. You're not the most powerful in the room anymore. Maybe that way you'll be a little normal for once.” 

“Fuck you, you don't know shit about me.” Soldier Boy’s shoulders were rigid as he tried to stand his ground. 

Amber cocked a doubtful eyebrow at him, a smirk on her lips. “Uh-huh. I know for the past few seconds, your eyes have been on my dick,” Soldier Boy’s lip quivered with his anger but he made no move to deny it. “What Eden failed to mention is that Ryan is your grandson.”

Blinking, Soldier Boy's shoulders slumped. His jaw unclenched as he drew in a sharp breath. “He's—”

“Homelander’s son. The reason why he's here. Homelander wants to make Ryan like him,” Amber explained softly. Maybe she did have a little bit of sympathy for Ben. A shred. But it could easily be snuffed out and replaced with that white-hot feeling from earlier. “This could be your chance to be a father like you wanted. And, maybe, he could be better. Not like you or him.”

Soldier Boy dropped onto the couch, frame creaking underneath his weight. His whole world was shattered and put back together again in a matter of a few minutes. How could he have failed Homelander so badly? Hell, he would've let him take the spotlight. What kind of father wouldn't? He bit his cheek. Ryan wasn't his and he never would be. Sure, they were related but it was different. He'd know it would be different. 

But Ryan was so young. A whole life ahead of him. Soldier Boy pushed his hands through his hair, tears stung the edges of his eyes. He wanted kids. For selfish reasons. As a big fuck you to his father that he could do better than him. 

“Does he know?” Soldier Boy looked up at Amber, hands falling in his lap.

Amber shook her head. “No. I mean, Ryan knows who his father is. Not that you're his grandpa. And Homelander, as far as I know, doesn't know about you.” She sat next to him. 

“God fucking hell.” Soldier Boy sighed. Why did this feel a hell of a lot more messed up than anything he'd ever done before? He'd be stealing his son’s son away from him. Perhaps for good reason. “You–You’re—” A part of him really wanted to yell at Amber, accuse her of turning him against his own kin, but he had a feeling Homelander committed far worse atrocities than he did. At an even larger scale. 

Soldier Boy ran a hand down his face. “Ryan—he’s a good kid?” He asked after a while. 

“Yeah,” Amber hummed softly. Besides a few times of him slicing open the roof with his laser eyes or hugging Eden a little too tight, it was sunshine and rainbows. Eden was durable enough not to get immediately crushed. “I think he looks a lot more like you than Homelander anyway. Especially with that fucking box-dye. I mean, if you're gonna be the epitome of ‘blonde and blue-eyed,’ at least make sure it looks good before you base your entire personality on it.” 

Soldier Boy let out a small breath. A laugh. Even though he didn't understand half the words that came out of Amber's mouth, he knew the point she was trying to make. Homelander was an artificial fuck. Quite literally. He and Homelander's surrogate never even touched, he just sent his seed to Vougelbaum and never thought about it again. Whoever she was, they would've had a good night if they did it the proper way. Or Soldier Boy would've broken her. 

Amber hooked a finger under Soldier Boy's chin and tilted his head so he looked at her. “You remember that deal we made?” Her eyes flicked from his lips to his eyes. Soldier Boy’s breath hitched. “You called me something bad. Which means…” She intentionally trailed off. 

“Consequences.” Soldier Boy finished for her with dilated pupils. 

Amber winked, “Bingo.” 

After a scramble to get upstairs, Amber's door was locked behind her while she and Soldier Boy were inside her bedroom. He breathed heavily while she appeared calm. Way too calm. It was unsettling. Something about it made Soldier Boy’s pulse hasten. With dread or something else, he wasn't sure he'd want to admit.

“Turn around and strip.” Amber instructed with a smile. 

Soldier Boy wanted to ask why he'd need to turn around but the words were caught in his throat. He complied, taking off his Dodgers jersey and sweatpants along with his boxers. He heard a scraping of a drawer opening and closing. And then a light ding of a bell. He flinched as he felt his neck constricted. Soldier Boy glanced down and caught sight of the small jingle bell on his neck. Connected to a leather collar. 

Avery pressed a kiss to Ben's jaw and hummed as she stood behind him. “On the bed for me, hands and knees.” The way she sounded, it was more of a request. But he knew if he didn't comply, something worse would likely happen. 

Soldier Boy hated the way he so easily followed her order. And he hated it more when Amber pushed his head into the sheets and he liked it. If only his father could see him now. He wondered what he'd say. Probably something worse than what he could come up with. But, then again, that would take a lot more work than what his father wanted to do. 

“Take a deep breath,” Amber advised. Soldier Boy could hear a cap opening and closing. He had an idea as to what it was. “Or don't. You might like it better.” She teased as she pushed her finger inside him without any other warning. 

The muscles in his legs tensed as he moved his head, the bell on his collar ringing as he did. “What the—” Another finger. Soldier Boy was even less prepared than before. “Fuck!” Pain seared inside him. Not overwhelming but a lot more than he thought he'd ever experience in this setting. “What—”

“Shhh,” Amber cooed softly, “Bad boys don't get to speak. Now, I want you to be quiet. Or else something worse might happen.” Soldier Boy couldn't see her face but he could imagine what it looked like. A nice, but unsettling, smile on her face as hooded eyes stared down at him. “Give me a nod that you understand,” She pressed her fingers deeper inside and he had to bite on his bottom lip to keep a noise from escaping him. “C'mon, sweetheart, please?”

Soldier Boy nodded, eyes screwed shut. A satisfied noise left Amber's lips. She curled her slender fingers inside him while his face contorted, trying his best not to let out a strained moan as he gripped the sheets. His whole body tensed when Amber's hand started to move. 

In and out. In and out. In and out. Harder, harder, harder. He wanted to scream. Yell. Maybe kick a door in. He wanted to do something. But this power Amber had over him made him have second thoughts. The way she made him feel. Like he was a teenager again. Powerless. Soldier Boy had lived so long that he forgot what it was like. A life that was mostly filled with drugs, women, and alcohol to ease some sort of pain he didn't want to acknowledge. But Amber fucked it out of him. Somehow. 

So Soldier Boy stayed quiet. Like she asked—no, demanded—him to. And then there was that bell. It rang with each push. He felt like it was too much. The noises, the sensations, the fact that he couldn't let the tension in him release in some way. But it also wasn't enough. He wanted more. Needed more. That gnat inside him was going insane. He needed to feel sore the next morning, needed to be reminded of what happened, needed to follow her rules.

“That’s a good boy,” Soldier Boy could hear pants being unzipped. He drew in a sharp breath. “Only good boys get to be fucked by my cock. Do you think you deserve that?” Amber's voice was smooth and sweet, like honey, but grounded and strong. He couldn't get enough of it. “Use your words.” Her movements stopped so he could form more coherent words. 

“Please.” Soldier Boy panted softly, finally easing some of the tension built in his shoulders and arms. 

Amber tsked. “I can't hear you, sweetheart. Louder,” She thrusted her fingers in suddenly, eliciting a sudden, choked whine from Soldier Boy. And another ring of the bell. “Like that.” 

“God, please! Please! Amber, I-I need you so much.” He whined, pleading with every ounce of want in his body. His knuckles were white as they fisted the sheets. Soldier Boy was painfully aware that he tore them—he was so close—Amber would have half a mind to stop and think of something worse to put him through. “Like—fuck! Like nothing else I've ever needed in my life.” The words jumbled out of him faster than he could think. 

The air stilled. For just a moment. 

He was surprised at himself for admitting such a thing. Was meeting Amber really all it took for his walls to start crumbling? Not completely, but enough. To the point where maybe falling in love again wasn't so hard for him. 

Amber slid a hand up Soldier Boy’s side and let out a hum. “Really?” Her voice was amused. “Get on your back for me, then.” 

Quickly, Soldier Boy turned on the bed. His knees were bent in front of him. He was happy to finally be able to see her face. And appreciate her body. Amber was stripped back down to her underwear. Well, minus her actual underwear. Her bra was still on but he couldn't find it in himself to care. Amber pushed his legs apart and looked down at him. 

The view of Soldier Boy below her made her feel accomplished. Prideful somehow. Amber did always like the idea of a man begging for her. And this man just so happened to be a really powerful one. Yeah, that was gratifying. 

“I want you to promise me something,” Amber began with a light, intentionally, sweet smile as she pushed inside him. Soldier Boy's jaw dropped open. He felt like he was being split down the middle. “Don't say anything like tranny or fag or, hell, even pussy again to me or anyone else. Okay?” Her smile dropped from her lips, eyes glaring down at him. 

The bell on his collar rang frantically as he nodded, eyebrows furrowed with pleasure. 

Amber lifted Soldier Boy’s calf over her shoulder as she leaned over him, admiring the way he looked in the black leather collar as she pushed her pelvis into the flesh of his ass. His chest shook as he took in a sharp breath. 

“Please—please move!” Soldier Boy begged softly, lifting a hand to Amber's neck to gingerly caress underneath the curve of her jaw. He wanted to sob with need. He was way too close to having his fortress be completely and utterly destroyed. And he didn't want to stop it. 

A wicked smile graced Amber's lips. A twinge of desire churned in his stomach. “A little more, sweetheart, I like this.” She admitted as she jerked her hips. 

That goddamned bell chimed again.

Soldier Boy choked on a whimper. “Baby, fuck—I need you to move! Please.” His brain was buzzing louder and louder as time went on but he was still very much conscious and hadn't turned Amber into dust—not that he'd be able to do that in the first place. 

“Hmm. Okay.” Amber relented. Only slightly. 

Her immediate pace was hard and fast and Soldier Boy panted heavily, a whine or whimper at the end of every single noise he made. The bell rang with each movement, swinging softly. He pushed his head back onto the bed as his whole body tensed up. His muscles ached while his mind reeled with delight.

Soldier Boy had never felt anything like this before. Pure ecstasy. Better than the drug. Any drug for that matter. His ass was starting to get sore with each thrust but he couldn't have cared less. The ache made it all the more worth it. Hell, even the sound of her skin pounding into his made his mind whir like an old computer. 

“Your sounds,” Avery panted into his ear. “They’re fucking beautiful.” She attached her lips to Soldier Boy’s jaw, nipping at the skin. She wanted to do this more often. 

And judging by Soldier Boy’s sounds, he'd like that too.

“Ah, fuck!” Soldier Boy’s free hand gripped at Amber's waist, digging his nails into her skin. “Baby–Baby, shit—I can't—I can't—” He sobbed. He couldn't hold on anymore. All the touching and feeling and everything was rising and rising. A part of him was surprised he lasted this long. Especially with the finger-fucking he went through earlier. 

Avery flipped the bell around Soldier Boy’s neck as she sucked a mark above it. A helpless whimper escaped his lips. 

“Be a doll and hold it in,” Avery ground out, giving Soldier Boy a particularly hard thrust. He drew in a sharp breath which morphed into a whine. “You'll do that for me?” 

Soldier Boy whimpered, “Uh-huh.” He was so drunk on feeling that he couldn't stop himself from obeying her. But it got harder and harder with each snap of her hips. “Shit–” He breathed as the muscles in his legs started to twitch. 

“You're almost there,” Compared to the almost carnal way Amber was fucking into him, the way her lips pressed against his skin was soft, gentle, and felt strangely more sensual than everything else. “I can feel it, sweetheart. So am I. Just—” Amber grunted lowly into Soldier Boy’s ear. “Just hold on. A little more.” Her voice was strained.

That's when Soldier Boy had a moment of clarity. Amber was going to cum. Inside him. A shiver of delight ran throughout his body. 

After a few more deep pushes, Amber let out a harbored sigh. The tightness in her stomach broke and Soldier Boy cried out as he felt her paint his insides. Not more than a few seconds later, as Amber slowed her hips, he came as well. Drops of white landed on both of their stomachs. 

Soldier Boy had to resist the urge to actually cry. He had never felt more thoroughly satisfied in his life. 

“Oh, my sweet boy,” Amber cupped his face, tilting it so he would look her in the eyes. “You like this, hm? Me inside you? You'd like it if it was like this all the time, wouldn't you?” She teased softly. 

The man underneath her loved the weight of her inside him. Maybe he secretly wished she would split him in half. He nodded silently, his face red as he felt a bead of sweat run down the back of his neck. Soldier Boy didn't sweat. Not in a long time. 

Amber caressed the side of his face and smiled down at him. “I could arrange that.” She hummed. “But,” She pulled his leg from her shoulder and let it fall. “We have things to do tomorrow.” Her cock slipped from him and he immediately felt empty. 

He pursed his lips, a crease between his eyebrows when he let out a whine from the loss of her touch. He could barely speak after feeling something so intense. Amber went to the bathroom connected to her room to grab a towel and cleaned him up. Soldier Boy’s whole body was sore but his ass was where he felt it the most. 

“C'mon, sweetheart,” Amber sighed, running a hand through his hair which he gladly leaned into. “Don't be like that.” She sighed as she picked up her underwear to put it back on to, at the very least, have something to cover herself in bed. Amber didn't like being naked underneath covers. It just felt wrong. 

After some coaxing, Amber was able to get Soldier Boy to put his boxers back on himself and lay in bed correctly. However, he immediately clung to her like a vice once they were both in her bed. He buried his face into her neck while an arm rested over her stomach. Amber hadn't bothered to take the collar off his neck and Soldier Boy didn't mention it. He liked how it felt. A symbol of her ownership over him. 

That little bell stopped ringing. And so did his head. 

-----

A/N: I JUST WANTED TO SAY THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT ON THIS FIC !!! i never thought so many other people would want to read about soldier boy getting dicked down but here we are !!! 🫶

taglist: @aleemendoza2425-blog

taglist open here !!

[slimeybee]

Hi I don't really post much of my writing but I've been bit by a bug lately that has me absolutely drowning in MM lately so! That being said, have the first part of a reader fic I started writing. (It will eventually turn into smut but this section is sfw)

Important: Reader is depicted as trans masc and roughly 20 years younger than Paul/John. Also I don't know a whole lot about Catholicism so I'm winging it with Google's help 🫡

Summary: transmasc!reader is desperate for someone who accepts him as he is and turns to (a rather hungry) father Paul Hill for help. Vampirism ensues.

“Y-yes, child? Is there something I can help you with?”

His voice was deep and steady, nearly monotone. You never tired of hearing him speak, not even as he rambled, lost in his own devotion to the very God he worshiped. You tried your best to understand, you really, truly did, but it simply never took root. That didn’t stop you from coming to mass as often as you could for him and him alone.

He was always kind, and though you could sense he knew about your lack of faith, he never once chided you for it. A gentle push here and there to encourage you in hopes you would finally see the light, but never a shove. Still, the thought of disappointing him sat heavy in your body as you stood just outside the rectory. It seemed almost inappropriate to seek help like this, after hours and in the comfort of his home, but it was nearly impossible to get the man alone in the church. Beverly Keane seemed to always take up his time, silently judging you from afar whenever his attention was focused elsewhere. She must have known what it was that hung so heavy on your shoulders, the very thing that you had sought the man out to discuss.

“Oh- Father, I am so sorry to bother you-…is everything alright?” Your frantic apology is quickly forgotten as the very state of the man catches you off guard. Dark, short curls clung to his forehead and his priestly attire was long forgotten, replaced with humble lounge wear. His eyes looked dark and wild though it was clear he was trying to mask whatever it was that had him so on edge.

Brushing aside your concern, Father Paul nods, albeit a bit too quick. “Yes-yes, of course. I just, uh...wasn’t expecting company at such an hour. But no matter, how can I help?” He seemed to have a hard time holding your gaze, clenching his eyes shut and blinking a few times as he spoke.

“I...was hoping we could have a quick chat?”

“I always have time for one of God’s children. Please, uhm, come in...and excuse the mess. I’m still settling in.” He seems reluctant as he steps to the side, holding the door open to allow you to pass.

His own hesitation seemed to reach out and grab hold of you as you paused, suddenly having second thoughts about this whole thing. Ever the observant one, he takes notice and beckons for you to come inside. “You have nothing to be shy about,” he encourages, “though I understand if you would rather have this meeting inside the church, instead?”

For a moment, you consider your options. It was evening and the sun had just begun to set, most of the town was settling down for the night but a few still made their way around the island. Some had set about to finish some errands before the town’s businesses closed, others simply wished to connect and wind down for the night with friends, but the whereabouts of one in particular concerned you, one who often seemed to hang around more...sacred sites. The idea of her overhearing such a conversation as the one you were about to have made you grimace.

The priest frowns but gives you a chance to answer.

“Oh, no, here is fine, thank you,” Taking his invitation, you step inside and he quickly closes the door behind you. You take a second to take in your surroundings and notice a few things out of place, but it was not as nearly as messy as he made it sound.

“I would be doing myself a great disservice as a host if I didn’t offer you something to drink,” he comments, the sound of his voice closer than you had anticipated.

This was the first time you had ever been alone with the man and the intimacy of the moment was almost frightening. As much as you had wanted to trust him, there was always something in the back of your mind that screamed at you to never let this kind of thing happen. To always keep someone else around, just in case. Unfortunately, your curiosity and desire to connect often outweighed your sense of self-perseverance. Not to mention the undeniable pull you felt towards the man, be it admiration for his passion or something more primal within yourself was nearly impossible to differentiate. You tried not to think too hard about it and turned your focus onto the task at hand.

“Oh, that’s very kind of you. Water is fine. Or tea, if you have it. I don’t want to inconvenience you for it, though.” You take a few more steps into the quaint space and stand awkwardly between the couch and dining room chair.

“No, not at all. Let me see…” he finally moves to walk past you and the smell of aftershave on his skin hits your sinuses. That and something metallic. Maybe he had cut himself shaving? Though there was no evidence on his face from where you were standing. Odd. “That’s what I thought…” he mumbles to himself, “I’m afraid all I have is black. How do you take it?”

Apparently, your mind had begun to wander as the question caught you completely off guard. In an attempt to mask your surprise, you cough into the crook of your elbow and quietly excuse yourself before answering him properly.

Something must have had him distracted, too, as his gaze lingered on your throat for a moment too long before he noticed, eyes widening slightly before glancing up to meet your own, eyebrows raised a little. “Yes, of course. Um, please, feel free to sit while I get that ready for you.”

You nod and let your gaze soften on the spot where he had been standing before you decide to take a spot at the table, as the couch felt too...domestic. This was a serious conversation with a well-respected member of the community, the last thing you wanted to do was raise any suspicions about your relationship- being here in his home felt intrusive enough.

He fidgets as he sets a small kettle on the stove, you realize, watching as he silently taps the tip of his finger against the counter-top. The motion is consistent but quick, like he’s waiting impatiently. You wonder what he was up to before you knocked on his door- he seemed so guarded when he first arrived on Crockett, rarely opening up about himself. When he spoke, it was always about God or Pruitt or miracles and not much else. The question that started to burn at the back of your throat was quickly interrupted by the squeal of steam billowing out of the kettle.

Father Paul makes quick work of preparing cups for the both of you and carries them over to the table not long after. He holds one out to you with a soft though slightly forced smile and sets his own on the table before grabbing a hold of the chair across from you and dragging it around, taking his seat at your side.

As if things weren’t uncomfortable enough already.

“So,” he starts, addressing you by name, “what is it I can help you with, child?”

Child, he says. You knew he had to be nearly twenty or so years older than you, but you were by no means a child anymore. Part of you wondered if he meant to chide you before you remembered what he had called you when you’d arrived. Of course it had been religious. Surely.

You nervously take a sip of your tea before promptly jolting, having burnt yourself. You clench your eyes shut and force the scalding liquid down your throat before attempting to regain your composure, eyes opening to look at him. His expression read concerned.

“Are you-?”

“Yes, yes, sorry. Overzealous.”

He tries to suppress a small, amused smile.

“Um. Anyway, I guess I don’t really know what to do about this...problem I’m having and thought you might have some insight? You seem very...what’s the word...open? For a man of the cloth- I mean, well, I don’t mean to offend, I am so sorry.”

He makes no attempt to hide his expression this time, his smile growing but still gentle enough to be polite.

“None taken. Please, continue.” He pinches the saucer below his teacup between finger and thumb, continuing to fidget, but his eyes remain fixed on your face.

You find yourself only able to hold his gaze for a fraction of a second before tearing it away to look at your own cup, the table, his legs.

Staring at one knee that he had crossed comfortably over the other, you begin to lay yourself bare before him.

“This is...really hard for me to confess to you. Well, to anyone who doesn’t already know, but…” Your body stiffens, as if preparing for impact before the words start tumbling out of you. “I’m not-...Everyone thinks I’m-.”

Narrowing his eyes, he tilts his head, trying to figure you out before you could tell him.

“I’m not a man. I mean, I am. I’m just not...not one in the way that you might understand-.”

He pauses picking at the saucer with his nail long enough to consider what it was you were trying to say, the length of that very same finger now curled and pressed against his top lip as though he were deep in thought. Brows furrowed together, he looks you over, almost with an air of scrutiny. You swallow hard and wait for him to kick you out.

But he doesn’t.

“I’m sorry, I’m afraid I don’t understand,” he confesses, moving to sit up straight in his chair with a soft sigh, both hands now resting on the table. “I’ve never seen you as anything but male.”

You wished that it didn't comfort you to hear it but it did. You couldn’t recall the last time you had heard such a thing, if ever.

“I wasn’t born like this.” There it was, the cold and honest truth. You could feel your heart in your throat as you swallowed hard around it.

“As a grown man? I should hope not...your poor mother,” he jokes poorly with a goofy half-smile on his face.

You blink and raise your eyebrows at him.

His expression quickly drops as embarrassment takes over. “Oh, that was-...I apologize. Simply trying to make light of the situation.” He clears his throat. “I’m sorry. Please, continue.”

“I don’t have the same-”

It must have finally clicked for him. “Oh. Oh.” His gaze raises to the ceiling, following the joint of the wall to the ground. “No, that’s...you are very brave. Very, very brave to admit that and live the life that you do. It’s commendable.”

Before he can begin to reprimand you, you cut in.

“Please, father, don’t- don’t talk down to me. I can take a lot, but I can’t take that.”

He looks surprised, then almost saddened by your words.

“No, oh, no, I would never-” he reaches out to take your hands in his own. They’re colder than you expect. “No, I meant what I said. Now God, you know, yes, he made us in his own image as the bible tells us, but what people often overlook is that he also gave us everything we need to grow and become who we were meant to be. Not- not to say that we all look like God, because if we did, why would diversity exist at all? No. God gave us a body and a spirit that resembles his own, that is what it means.”

All your life people had chastised and lectured you for the decision to live the way that made you happy, claiming it to be an affront to God. Now here, out of all the people you’d never expected to have had your back, was a priest you barely knew. There was a passion and warmth in his eyes that made up for the chilly digits clasping around the dorsum of your own hands.

You don’t know why you felt so compelled, but soon found yourself leaning in as if to kiss him. The worst part of it? He seemed to want you to. His wide eyes were now half-lidded, lashes almost obscuring his sight as he stared down at your lips and waited.

Realizing what you had nearly done, you jolt and move to pull away from him but find yourself stuck. His grip had grown firm, your hands now in his tightened grasp as you stare at him, dumbfounded, as fear starts to crawl up your spine.

“It’s...fine,” he consoles you, eyes still not meeting yours and unfocusing slightly. “If I didn’t want this, if I thought it was wrong, I’d-…” Suddenly, you found yourself too scared to move as he started to close the distance between you again. You clench your eyes shut.

Nothing happens. Nothing touches you- not his hands, not his lips. When you open your eyes, you freeze.

His face had disappeared completely. Just as you were about to panic and move to stand, a dark head of hair appears near the corner of your vision. Soft, warm breaths bounce off the side of your neck and you feel a cold hand move your hair out of the way before pausing over your carotid artery. He breathes in deeply and you feel the bridge of his nose bump against your throat. “...I hadn’t noticed it until just now, but you smell...really good,” he admits. “Like...soap and cologne and- something I can’t place.”

Your brain seemed to short circuit as he spoke, his words and his presence and his own scent flooded your senses. You couldn’t move even if you wanted to. And you did want to, didn’t you?

All you can manage is a soft confused noise.

A noise that you replicate when you feel his teeth press to your skin. A noise that grows louder when those very same teeth poke through, blood rushing to the surface.

You feel his tongue lapping at the wounds like some kind of animal. For as much as this hurt, you found yourself growing increasingly more comfortable with the sensation with every swipe across your neck. It isn’t until you feel him start to suck on it that you begin to panic a little.

He finally lets go of your wrists to cradle the back of your head with one hand, the other sliding to press behind your shoulder. Your own hands move to grasp his own shoulders tightly, trying to distract yourself from the pain long enough to survive this...whatever this was.

You sit and you wait. And wait. And wait.

Your head starts to swim and that’s when you finally come back to your senses.

“Father?” You call for him weakly. “Father Paul, please. That’s enough, I-...I can’t-.” Your nails dig into his shoulders through the fabric of his shirt.

He pulls back long enough to shush you wetly against your throat.

“Shh, sh, no, it’s fine,” he coos. “It’s fine, I promise, just a little more-…”

“I can’t take any more-”

“Yes you can. Of course you can, beautiful boy. Not much more, I promise. Please.” His voice was distant and low, the need obvious in his tone.

Your heart flutters at the praise and you begin to wonder how you could possibly refuse him like this. Until your vision starts to blur.

“Stop!” You shout, loud and sudden.

That seemed to cut through the fog in his brain. Letting go, he pulls back from you so hard that his chair falls to the ground as he comes to a stand. He starts mumbling something that sounds like a prayer, eyes wrenched shut with a rosary wrapped around his hand. The movement had been so fast that you hadn’t even noticed him pull it from his pocket.

Panting, you stare at him in disbelief, your own fingers prodding at your neck. When you pull them back, you find them coated in thick blood. You felt delirious.

“I-….I’m….”

Your weak pleas snap him from his lamentations. “Fuck,” he curses at the sight of you.

You think you see him bite into his wrist before he tilts your head back, holding the wound just above your mouth. Blood drips directly onto your tongue and you gag, struggling to swallow it.

“No, no, come on, it’s alright, truly. Please, you need to let me do this. Let me help you. Let me fix this,” he babbles, practically sitting in your lap as he pushes his forearm into your mouth, not allowing you the chance to try and cough the blood up.

Powerless, you take as much of the blood into your mouth as you can and swallow before passing out.

[dreamingon-forever]

Levihan Short Story Promps and Ideas

From the last poll I posted, most of you wanted another multiple chaptered story after I finish Black Tea is Fine. And I will 100% do that! I already have an idea of what I want it to be, so don't worry I will get to it. (Here's a link to the preview I've posted before). But since it will be about two or three more chapters before the finale of the series, I still want to upload other written works. Here I have added a few story ideas and I want to know which one you guys want me to publish into a full written short story first. Feel free to private message me or leave a comment under to let me know!

High school students Hange and Levi are best friends, and always have been as they grew up next to each other. One day Hange overhears Levi and Kenny talking about her, where she hears her best friend badmouthing her and wishing she would leave him alone. Taking it to heart, Hange distances herself from him, hurt from his words that seem contradictory to how he interacts with her. When in reality Levi only said those words because he couldn't properly word his true feelings to his friend, and ended up saying the opposite of what he felt so his uncle would leave him alone. Levi unaware of Hange hearing it all is confused as to why she no longer visits him, talks to him, or even hangs out with him anymore. Then he witnesses the one thing that he never wanted to see- Hange sharing her first kiss with someone else.

Levi is the vise president of tea company and Hange a botanist hired by him to help figure out a way to increase tea leaf production. He's a stingy man who doesn't know or care much about his staff, but Hange humbles him real quick, forcing him onto "company field trips" and getting him to work alongside her and his farmers. He absolutely hates her and her overly bubbly/optimistic ways, but eventually starts developing respect towards her and possibly deeper meanings that go beyond work partners.

Librarian Levi and writer Hange who is a regular at their branch. Levi honestly thinks she's only there to bother him as she's there at his every shift without miss, constantly chatting him up despite the customers coming by his desk for check out. She constantly blabbers on about books she reads, most doing with history but occasionally the fictional chapter books she's completely engrossed by. Hange eventually ends up no longer showing up to the library anymore, leaving Levi to always eagerly look up from his desk whenever someone comes through the door, secretly hoping it's a certain bespectacled brunette.

Exes. Levi was a poor farmer while Hange was the daughter of their lands. The two were madly in love with each other and Hange made it well known to everyone and her family that she only wanted to be with him, much to her family's horror and disapproval. Rumours started spreading that Hange is secretly seeing someone else behind Levi's back, and of course, Levi doesn't believe it. Until he runs into them in the man's house while on one of his deliveries. He breaks up with Hange later that day when she comes to visit, without allowing her to give her side of the story. "Do me a last favour and throw it away when you get home." Hange tells him before leaving, confusing as to what she could mean. But when he finally returns home, finds a wrapped gift on his table. But it's too late and Hange doesn't want to see him anymore.

Prince Levi and princess Hange from enemy nations. He was meant to kill her on their first encounter, but failed repetitively. Eventually he falls in love with her and is unable to even think of hurting her. Hange ends up finding out his initial intents and banishes him from her lands.

Nanaba and Mike set up Levi and Hange together as part of a TV program they have in production. While Hange joined because she's the newest member of their company, and therefore asked to enroll as a last minute substitute for the original cast member, Levi is put in because Mike forced him as his friend. The two don't get along at all during their first recording. But as time went on, and the closer they got to the ending of the show, where they both had to declare whether they fell in love or not, both of them eventually realize they have caught feelings for the other.

High school teachers where they are obviously in love with each other, but too dense to realize it themselves. So their students take it upon themselves to set them up so they can finally get them together. Other teachers get a whiff of what they're up to and instead of calling them out for it, secretly aid them behind the scenes.

Hange is a princess and Levi is one of the knights. Due to hate towards the kingdom and the king for what happened to his family, he infiltrates the castle as a knight, wanting to work his way up until he's the king's personal guard to assassinate him. The quickest way he can think of getting there being to earn the princess' favour and getting her to fall in love with him. She does eventually fall for him, but what he didn't foresee is himself falling for her as well. Conflicted at seeing how he didn't want to lose her trust, he starts questioning his plan. But the princess finds out eventually about it. At this point Levi no longer cares about the assassination, but Hange no longer trusts him, and pays him off to leave the castle.