#so if i'm just straight up wrong that they skipped over the bridge

[writing-in-the-impala]

Secret Smokes (Part 15)

Pairing: Teacher! Remus Lupin x Reader

Series Summary: When the reader bumps into the new DADA professor on the bridge in Hogwarts she begins to build a friendship with him all thanks to their shared feeling of not belonging and love for muggle cigarettes. Their friendship blooms while they both fight internal battles deciding what is wrong and what is right leading to a lot of fluff, angst, flirting and a rollercoaster of emotions.

Warnings: Swearing, smoking, drinking, teacher-student relationship, angst, jealousy, fluff, smut.

Word Count: 2311

A/N: wow it's been a while I have no excuses I just have a soul-draining full-time job and no free time. Enjoy! I missed you all <3

 | SERIES MASTER LIST (All chapters) |

Previous Chapter, Part 15, Next Chapter

You spent the whole Sunday sulking as you walked around Hogsmeade trying to lift your own spirits. You couldn't take it anymore. On one hand you thought about how maybe you just need to go one a date with someone else to break this fixation you had on Remus on the other hand you felt like you may have a lot more than just a crush on him and that no one will be able to replace him. You simultaneously wanted to bump into him and to not see him for a few days. But something pushed you to try and force him into bumping into you. So you pulled out the marauders map and saw he was in his classroom. You went to the corridor adjacent and sat with a book waiting for him to walk out, yet the next time you checked the map he was in the library so you headed straight there. Once you arrived to the library he was nowhere to be found, you checked the map and saw he was walking towards the courtyard you followed him but couldn't catch up with him until you saw him disappear from the map. You knew he left Hogwarts, and you knew he was avoiding you as he probably saw where you were using his own map. It was hopeless. He was impossible.

Your next interaction with him was Monday morning in class, one of the only places he couldn't avoid you, especially that you knew he couldn't skip classes as he had to do so at the end of each month anyway. When you walked in Remus's eyes flicked to yours and then straight to the floor to avoid yours. He kept his composure well during class but spent the whole hour tapping his finger on his wand and falling over his words. He barely answered questions and took deep breaths. After the lesson finished he let out a sign simply saying "that's all, thank you very much. Remember keep studying I know you'll all do great." In this moment he gave you a short glance breathing in, closing his eyes slowly and turning to walk up to his office. As everyone funnelled out you followed him. "Professor, I have a question about one of the exams." You said nearly running up to catch him as he was already half way up the stairs.

"Miss L/N, I can't go into too much details about exams you know this. I'm sorry, I'm afraid I won't be of much use to you."

"But professor I just want to understand more." You pushed hugging your books for comfort and looking around as some students were still in the class, he shifted his body weights to his other leg.

"I'll be honest I've never ran a class through exams, you know I'm new to all this. It would be better for you to speak to a different professor on this subject." He pained and you knew you were both speaking in double meanings at this point.

"But you're the one I want to speak to as you are the one who teaches defence against the dark arts."

"Was I not clear that I'm not the right match for you on this topic when we last spoke about exams, I suggest Professor McGonagall could help." He said looking past you at the last few girls in the room both you aching for them to leave you you could speak normally as he knew you wouldn't leave and there wasn't much you could say like this.

"Yes I do understand that Professor however what she explained wasn't that clear either, it left me with a lot of questions specific to defence against the dark arts." At this moment the last two girls left saying "bye Professor Lupin." He said goodbye to them before turning back to you and saying "Follow me, let me see if I can help." You followed behind him, he held the door open for you and let you in his office first before shutting the door behind you, you didn't make yourself comfortable in the room but rather stood by the door. "You shouldn't speak to me like that while there's other students around." He said in a low tone.

"I needed to get your attention somehow."

"You know you've always got my attention." He words were almost a low growl.

"But you avoided me all Sunday."

"It's what's best for you." He took a step closer closing the space between you forcing you to look up if you want to look into his eyes.

"How do you know what's best for me?"

"Trust me I do." He leaned down his lips were an inch away from yours.

"Really?" You asked and his lips met yours as he moaned a "mhm" in confirmation. He pulled away to say "you know you really shouldn't act like that in my classroom while there's other students still leaving, begging me to talk to you, to give you attention." His words were making hot flashes go through your body as you said nothing just looked up at him. "Do you understand?" He asked and you nodded.

"Good girl." He said the words catching you off guard. He walked away from you to go and lean against his desk as you stood in the same place confused.

"I thought you were avoiding me?" You asked not understanding his sudden change in behaviour.

"I am." He said signalling for you to come closer with his hand and you followed his command. He stood up straight in front of the desk as you looked up at him he picked you up and put you down on the desk so you were now sitting on it.

"How is this avoiding me professor?" You ask him as he looked down at you, he got on his knees in front of you, his head at desk level as his hands moved up and down your thigh.

"Well right now we don't have to discuss all the stuff I'm avoiding." He said moving his head between your thighs and teasing you through your clothing.

"How are you so sure?" You asked as you resisted all the feelings he was sending through you.

"Because dear you can't even think straight and I haven't bent you over my desk yet." He said standing back up leaving you aching for him.

"Please don't stop." You said looking into his eyes that seemed a lot darker in this moment. He began to kiss you as he undressed you and you unbuttoned his shirt. He grabbed you by your hair to turn you around and bent you over his desk. You felt his body against you before he leaned down to whisper in your ear he took a deep breath and then he let you go and walked away sitting on the sofa opposite the desk while saying "I can't do this."

You turned around in confusion to see him buttoning back up his shirt, you quickly fixed yourself before questioning him. "What do you mean you can't do this? You started it!" You attempt to protest.

"and I'm ending it."

"So what happened to wanting to bend me over your desk?"

"I can't, I care about you too much. I don't want to throw you around this room like an object of desire. Don't get me wrong I do desire you, and you do something to me when you out me on the spot in public like that but I can't treat you like this."

"What if I want you to treat me like that?" You asked afraid of moving anywhere closer to him in the room.

"Then you don't understand your own worth." He simply stated.

"So now you won't speak to me or even sleep with me anymore?"

"You know I think it was William Blake who said sooner murder an infant in its cradle than nurse unacted desires."

"Well if you studied Blake like I did you would know Blake is telling you to act on your unacted desires, unless you're telling me you would rather kill a infant in its cradle than kiss me again."

"You've got it wrong dear. I may have been homeschooled by my parents but don't underestimate how many hours I spent reading. The enacted desires are the things you should murder. If you nurse them, they must be in a cradle. They are the baby in a cradle so strangle your unacted desire, don't act on them."

You felt almost embarrassed at you pointing out school, you didn't know he was homeschooled but it made sense with his condition and the fact they moved constantly, it added up and now not only were you angry at Remus for his recent actions but you felt guilty for your own words. You didn't reply, the silence was thick before Remus breathed heavily and continued to speak.

"Therefore it's time for me to strangle mine, if you remember the day we went to the British Museum I asked you to promise that if you developed any strong feelings for me to tell me so we could cut it off before either of us gets hurt." He said and you nodded slowly to show you're following along. "Well I may have not been too truthful and I feel neither have you, and it has resulted in us both becoming victims of our own misfortune."

"Are you saying you have strong feelings for me Remus Lupin?" You asked feeling both nervous and excited.

"Not exactly, what I'm saying is there was a line that I tried to set and I believe somewhere that line became blurry. So after you left on my birthday I decided to establish that hard line again. I decided we will stop sleeping in my bed, we will stop all the cuddling nonsense and all the softness. However I simply can't do that Y/N, I can't be as stern and strict as I want to be with you."

"That's okay, I want to cuddle with you."

"I'm aware however I told you that day, I would like to take you on dates, I would like to walk around and hold your hand, I would like to bring you to see my friends especially during my birthday but we can't do that, I told you it will hurt to not be able to live in public, I didn't want to risk the pain for you. You deserve so much more than this." He looked weak.

"Can you not tell you're what I want no matter how many times you deny me?" You were almost in tears.

"I simply don't believe you understand what you're signing up for with me, and it's emphasised by you asking me to take you on dates, to go see Sirius, to go to my cottage. I always told you those weren't options with me especially while you study here but you didn't listen." He was angry but also frustrated like he was mainly fighting with himself.

"What if I didn't study here?"

"What? Y/N don't try and ruin your education?"

"No, as in when I finish. What happens then?"

"Then we're free, but then you have the burden of being associated with me.  I fear that the stigma attached to me will affect you before you even have a chance to become the amazing witch you can be."

"I don't care." You simply shrugged. "But would you take me on dates?" You asked and he thought for a second.

"Of course if you're not my student there no reason not to." He replied thoughtfully.

"Would I be able to visit Sirius with you?"

"It would be encouraged." He replied instantly.

"Okay, then we'll continue this whole conversation when I finish."

"So what happens now?"

"You tell me, you're the one who knows what's best for me." You said and he laughed for the first time since you entered this room. "Touché."

"I think we hold off for a little bit, you're right you know, I'm not being truthful about how attached I am to you. And I haven't been really seeing my friends this year because all I can think about is you." He gave you a sad but understanding nod. "So I think I should come here less, but I don't want to stop coming. Maybe we become a bit more casual, see each other every so often, I'd still like to be able to come for tea, listen to music and sometimes kiss you if that's okay."

"It's always okay." He said with a soft pained smile.

"Okay, so we do that, and when I finish school you can ask me out and show me what dating Remus Lupin is like, deal?"you put your hand out for him to shake.

"Deal." He said reaching out to shake your hand. "Would you like to stay exclusive still?"

"You don't?" You were caught off guard.

"No I do, but I'm not in my last year of school, I'm asking you?"

"I don't think I would be comfortable finding out you're kissing someone else, so could we please stay exclusive even if we don't see each other as often?" You asked nervously.

"Of course dear, now what would you like to do stay here with me today or go back to your friends I won't be offended if you leave right now."

"I'd like to stay." You said and he reached out his hand to pull you to sit beside him.

"I'm very proud of you for putting your foot down like this, don't get me wrong it hurts to know I'll see you less but I think you've acted more mature than me in all this."

"If we had it your way we would still be smoking and flirting on the bridge." You pointed out as Remus put and arm alright you and got comfortable making him laugh. You felt safe, and like you made the right decision. You hoped.

NEXT CHAPTER | More stuff I wrote

A/N: sorry for the angst I had to do it.

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[argisthebulwark]

"Would You Kill For Me?"

summary: asking your partner the most intimate question of all - would he kill for you? gn reader, no pronouns or y/n used. feat: Cicero, Teldryn, Vilkas, Miraak, Brynjolf, Erandur, Farkas, Mercer warnings: obv allusions to violence, nothing explicit. alcohol.

"I already have."

Cicero giggles, slapping a gloved hand on your shoulder. "Of course I've killed for you! Silly Listener, asking your poor, beloved Cicero such a question." Rationally, you know any other person would be upset - but it's endearing. You know deep in your heart that Cicero would slice through anyone who even looks at you wrong without a second thought. "Would you kill for your Keeper?" He asks coyly, sliding closer. It's too difficult to resist his charm. You find yourself grinning, remembering the many threats of bodily harm you've inflicted upon any initiate who breathes a negative word about your beloved. "Any day, my love."

"Why? You offering to return the favor?" Teldryn smirks before taking a drink from his mug. The tip of his boot knocks into yours under the table, earning a nice flush in your cheeks. You've clearly had too much to drink but Teldryn looked so pretty in the low tavern lighting, the alcohol loosening your tongue enough to voice all those silly little questions you've had floating around. "You have?" You urge, leaning so far over the table you're practically laying on it. Teldryn grins, bowing toward you and his voice conspiratorially low when he speaks again. "Of course - why do you think all that chatter about you being an untrustworthy outlander stopped so quickly?" "I thought my good deeds were enough to earn their trust." You pout, thinking back on the sudden shift in opinion. "Oh yes, yes - that too, but a few well placed jabs never hurt."

"I'd die for you."

"Isn't that better? To die for you?" Vilkas laments, lips stained red from his third glass of wine. The question had hardly been in your mind before it slipped out - late nights toasting to the Companions often left you tipsy. "I'd rather you lived for me." You hiccup, leaning closer to him. Those dark eyes still track every little move you make despite the intoxication. "A happy, long live if I have any say in the matter." He lapses into silence but you know his mind is still chewing on that question. Swirling the wine in his glass Vilkas reclines into his seat, staring earnestly into the low burning fire. "Vilkas, it was just a silly question." Those eyes cut straight through you, blinking away whatever retort he'd come up with before simply placing a kiss to the back of your hand.

"I would die in your stead." Miraak's hands cup your face, each word soaked in adoration. "I've died in your arms once, my Dragon. I would gladly do it once more." You will never truly grow accustomed to this version of him - stripped of the malice he'd lived with for so long, he's become devoted to you. Too many pupils gaze lovingly into your eyes, the crooked bridge of his nose bumping yours. You've never known a love like his and doubt that many ever will - he's had lifetimes to yearn, to want something more and hone a vocabulary that often leaves you a flustered mess. "You're far too serious." He grins at those words, the ones you've said dozens of times. "I would tear the world to shreds for you, my love. I would tear myself to shreds."

"I cant."

Brynjolf's words carry a silent apology - of course you knew his answer but watching him squirm can be fun. "I'm sorry, love - I know it isn't the romantic answer but I don't think I could bring myself to do somethin' like that. Not after -" "Bryn." Grasping his face, your heart still skips a beat when those green eyes find yours. "I know that blade you wear is simply decorative, I would never ask you to draw it." "It is not merely decorative, it serves other purposes." "Such as?" "It's fairly useful for intimidation. And breaking windows." He huffs, pressing a kiss to your palm. He pauses for a moment, eyes falling closed and nose nuzzled into your hand. "Truth be told, I like to say that I wouldn't - hell, I tell myself I won't take a life every day, but after Mercer takin' you away from me, I'm not so sure."

"I swore against such actions, my love." Erandur murmurs, forehead pressed to yours. "Lady Mara may have forgiven my past transgressions but I took an oath to bring no further harm to her people." "Of course, dearest." You smile, a bit entertained by how easy it is to get him talking. Erandur's fingers play across yours, rings bumping into your knuckles. "Would you kill for me?" You're a bit shocked by his question, even further surprised by the little hint of hope buried in his words. "Without second thought." It's the easiest answer in the world. Of course you would kill for Erandur - you would fight through hordes of enemies to ensure his safety. "I can only pray that your Lady's forgiving attitude extends to me."

"Of course."

Brows raised, Farkas assesses you across the training yard. He sucks in a deep breath, wiping the sweat from his brow before heaving the giant practice sword over one shoulder. "Any day." He says easily, a quick kiss pressed to your brow. No matter how long you're together this sight still seems too good to be true - muscles glistening in the midday sun, his hair tied back and an easy smile on his face. "Why, you need someone killed?" "Not at the moment." "If one of those recruits gets too mouthy, you come find me." He grins before turning his attention back to a battered training dummy. You notice after that question that his sword strikes just a bit harder, hammering that point home.

"No." Mercer lies, kicking his feet atop the desk. You mirror his position - boots on the desk and arms crossed, though the scowl is hard to mimic. He's perfected it. "Yes you would." You counter, fighting back a laugh when he rolls his eyes. That little divot appears between his brows - it's cute. You'd tell him but fear being assigned some awful job across the continent. "Why bother asking?" He grumbles, shoving a stack of paperwork toward you. "If you insist on hanging around asking inane questions, least you could do is make yourself useful." "I'd kill for you." "Lovely." He mutters, though you note a bit of color rising in his cheeks when he turns to some parchment he'd pointedly ignored all evening. It's too easy to get under his skin.

[thestrawberrybard]

HL Boys reactions to a heartbroken F!MC

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Listen I ain't gonna lie I broke up with my boyfriend weekend before Valentines day and I just wanted to indulge in some fantasy comfort from my current obsession

I've never dabbled in this kind of writing so I'm sorry for any issues in the writing, please feel free to leave a constructive comment if you have one.

✨if there's enough wish for it I'll do a girls version ✨

pairings: Sebastian x F!MC, Ominis x F!MC, Garreth x F!MC

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Sebastian Sallow

You were hiding the restricted section of the library; it was the only safe place away from the constant reminder that love was nowhere in your grasp. You wiped your eyes in the cuff of your robe as you sat curled up in the corner, it was Valentines day but last night your partner, well Ex now, broke things off with you.

You couldn't exactly say you were surprised, you two had grown distant over the last few months, first they stopped showing up to your study dates claiming they was too tired from school and quidditch practice, then they stopped finding you at lunch in the Dark Arts Towers courtyard.

Luckily you had your friends you could eat with like Poppy and Natty, when they were busy you tended to join Ominis and Sebastian in the Undercroft as Sebastian would complain about your ex skipping out on you and Ominis would agree that it was no way to treat a lady.

When you had finally cornered your Ex asking them if they would like to go Hogsmeade for Valentines Day they just looked uncomfortable before taking you to bridge leading to lower Hogsmeade and began to break up with you.

“We just don’t have anything in common MC” they began “you're always running off on errands with either Poppy or Garreth and quite frankly I think you’re little too close to that Sallow friend of yours” they rested a hand on your arm as your eyes widened at what they were saying.

“Honestly MC…...I think its just better if we break up” and that was it, your world shattered underneath you and you went straight to the room of requirements so no one could see you fall apart.

And now you were here, sniffling in the restricted section feeling worthless when you heard the sound of the gate squeaking open, you held your breath frozen in shock horror at the thought of being caught like this.

“MC?” You recognized that voice, suddenly Sebastian undid his invisibility charm and crouched near you, he looked so worried.

“MC? Hey MC, what’s wrong? Did someone hurt you?” He placed a hand on your shoulder as he tried to look for any signs you were hurt.

You explain to him what happened, and his jaw tightened as he listens.

“That bastard” He growled under his breath.

He was mentally planning all the different ways he would make them eat their words for hurting you, on Valentines Day of all days! He moved in closer and held you as you sobbed a little

“They never deserved you MC” he said as you calmed down.

“Anyone would be lucky to have you as their girlfriend! You’re so loyal and kind to you’re friends, Hells! You go out of your way for people you don’t even know!” he pulled you back so he could look into your eyes.

“If they can’t see that then honestly MC, you’re the lucky one! Merlin’s beard if you were my girlfriend, I’d never disappoint you like they did!” his eyes held an intensity at his confession leaving you speechless and eyes wide.

“S-Sebastian…thank you” you mumbled as your cheeks turned hot.

He nodded as he started to think “MC will you be my Valentines? Platonically! if it’s too soon I just…. I can’t bear the thought of you alone and sad on a day like this.”

You looked into his deep brown eyes, your heart fluttering. You smile as you pull him closer.

“I’d be honoured Sebastian” and with that you close the gap between you two in passionate yet sweet kiss, after you pulled away Sebastian gave you the biggest toothiest grin and hugs you tight as you enjoy each other’s embrace.

The next day you couldn't help but notice that your Ex had mysteriously developed a significant limp, you turn to Sebastian with a questioning look, he simply winked and gave a mischievous smile as he wrapped an arm around you as he led you to class.

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Ominis Gaunt

The Undercroft was cold and silent, the perfect escape from the day that you honestly wish would end and never come again, it was Valentines Day, and all the other students were getting ready to go on dates, confess feelings and overall be happy and rub your misery in your face.

Ok that wasn’t fair it wasn’t the student’s fault that you got dumped on the romantic holiday, it was your now Ex’s fault. You were coming back from summoners court after a victory and was feeling pretty good about yourself.

Your ex was waiting by the main door for you, you went to hug them in greeting, but they just moved out of your grasp looking pained and asked if you could go somewhere private to talk, looking back you shouldn’t have been surprised, they had been avoiding you for months spending more time with their friends or just not inviting you out anymore.

Your friends had been trying to convince you that it might just be exam stress and to try not to worry, Imelda even offered to get your mind off things by giving you flying lessons. Sebastian and Ominis took to hanging out with you on your own errands, so you didn’t feel alone, it had actually been Ominis’ suggestion.

Your Ex took you to the greenhouse where they begin their little speech,

“Look MC we just aren’t compatible, we can never agree on what to do or even what we talk about.” They ran a hand through their hair in frustration.

“All you do is talk about your friends and when I try to speak you look completely uninterested and like you’d rather talk about Ominis like he’s god’s gift, so I’m done, its over” they didn’t even stay long enough for you to respond.

You acted on instinct after that, you just started walking and didn’t stop until you found yourself in the Undercroft and fell to your knees before the tears began and that’s where you remained until now. Your eyes red and puffy, your mouth dehydrated and your head pounding as you absent mindedly fiddled with a nearby pebble.

You almost didn’t notice the sound of someone entering, you looked up in time to see it was Ominis, you felt a little relief he couldn’t see your dishevelled state. You remained silent as he entered, wand guiding him.

“Hello? Sebastian? MC? I can hear whichever one of you breathing.” He stated turning, his wand scanning for her presence.

You bit your lip as you debated if you trusted your voice enough to call out for him as he made his way to your general position.

“Sebastian, I swear to Circe if you plan on jumping out at me I wi- “

"Its me Ominis!” you cringed at the sound of your croaky voice.

His face instantly melted into one of worry as he followed the direction of your voice sitting not too far from where you were, he looked a little panicked as he spoke.

“MC? What happened? Why are you hiding down here?” he reached out for you concerned.

You guided him to where you were sat as you explained what happened, his face unreadable as you went on before finally stopping you.

“They’re the biggest prat for breaking your heart” he spoke dangerously calm, his blank stare darkening.

“I can talk to Professor Black and have him give them a lifetimes worth of detention if you’d like?” he offered, a hint of a dark chuckled played on his lips.

You shook your head as the ghost of a giggle left your lips “its fine Ominis, truly they’re not worth it.”

“But you are MC, you’re worth so much” he interrupted earnestly.

“They’re blinder than I am if they can’t see they just lost the most valuable person in this school.” He felt for your hand before grasping it firmly “if I held your heart, I would cherish it as if it was the rarest gem in the world.”

You felt your breath catch in your throat and before you could stop yourself you engulfed the blind boy in a hug, he snaked his arms around your waist whispering softly into your ear.

“Even if its platonically I would cherish being your Valentines if you’d have me.”

You angled his face to meet yours in a tender soft kiss as a tear rolled down your cheek.

“I couldn’t think of anyone better to give my fragile heart to Ominis.”

You heard a rumour the next morning that snakes had inexplicably found themselves in your Exes pillows last night and gave them such a freight they refuse to enter the bedrooms, you went to ask Ominis about such a strange event and he just gave you a soft knowing smile as he acted shocked at the news before kissing your hand as you lead him to breakfast.

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Garreth Weasley

Is this really what you were reduced to? Hiding in a supply cupboard because the sound of others’ giddiness was starting to grate your nerves, it wasn’t the girl’s fault for your mood, but they weren’t helping either, you sighed leaning against the cauldrons.

You were going to meet your partner, well Ex now you supposed in the Great Hall for lunch but was surprised to find them waiting outside of potion class for you, they shuffled you into this cupboard asking to talk, instead of having compliments and kisses showered over you like you had hoped they instead five simple words.

“I want to break up.”

You nearly popped your eyes out of your skull with how wide your eyes went, you nearly thought, hoped even it was some cruel Valentines prank but no they were serious.

“Look this isn’t easy but I just don’t want this…I don't want a future with you, I’m sorry”.

They gave you an awkward pat on the arm before leaving you there dumbfounded, at first you giggled, then laughed, then the tears started falling as you laughed and sobbed like a women gone mad.

You eventually calmed down as you sat there, you felt like there was no point in leaving, you were a state and didn’t feel like being reminded of the pain in your chest, as you wallowed in the dark cupboard the door suddenly flew open, and you looked like a deer in headlights as Garreth stared down at you confused.

“MC? Why are you in the storage cupboard?”

You couldn’t help it, you let out a whimper as the tears started falling again.

“Oh shit! I’m sorry MC! For whatever I did I’m sorry please don’t cry!”

He panicked as he held you rubbing your back, you could hear the panic beat of his heart as he scrambled to fit inside the cupboard and close the door, it was a tight squeeze and you had ended up in his lap in the chaos, you couldn’t help but laugh as Garreth went red.

“It’s not you Garreth” you sniffed as you shifted so you were facing him.

You explained to him everything and why you were still in here crying, Garreth’s reactions went from concern, shock, disgust and finally a smile as he grinned down at you, an idea popping into his mind.

“Don’t worry about losers like them MC, they clearly can’t handle someone as great as you! And I know exactly what they need” he winked as you blushed at the enthusiasm.

“Well, I don’t have a Valentines either and I’d love to take you Hogsmeade for a butterbeer, we can go as friends if a date is too much” he looked down at you in his arms hopeful.

You couldn’t stop yourself and started laughing again and snuggled into his chest.

“I’d love to go as a date Garreth.”

His grinned somehow widened as he scooped you into a kiss, it was enthusiastic with a hint desperate relief before he pulled away and kissed away the few stray tears that fell from your eyes before carrying you out the cupboard, you squealed as he carried you to the corridor before letting you down and grabbing your hand “let’s get going MC!”

You didn’t see your Ex until dinner time the next evening, they were completely bald! You gawped as you turned to Garreth who simply laughed.

“Looks like someone slipped a hair loss potion in their shampoo, what a shame ey MC” he nudged you as the two of you chuckled amongst yourselves.

[hanadulsetaad]

RICH KIDS OF SK ( HYUNJIN X READER (Y/N) X BANG CHAN)

"the truth"

part one part two, part three part 5

Hyunjin's POV: she was dying inside that no one texted her after he uploaded a picture of him and Yeji, but when the notification popped up that Y/N wrote she is happy and called both Yeji and Hyunjin her best friend, he got anxious and didn't know what to do. When Hyunjin saw Y/N again, getting on first day of college, it sort of did something to his heart. He realized he missed her, and it was the first time he didn't talk to her for this long; he felt desperate. He wanted her and the group back, but Y/N was not alone; she was with a guy. And when he realized she was sitting with them, he was taken aback. Hyunjin was born into a family where traditions and reputation were above anything. Hyunjin was taught that since he was born in a rich family, his friends should always match his wealth or should be richer than him. Watching Y/N hang out with a bunch of nobodies irritated him. Later, when he saw Y/N in the pink gown at his father's art gallery event, he couldn't take his eyes off her and thought, "What is happening to me?" Hyunjin felt that this was the first time Y/N didn't come behind him or gave a damn about him, so Hyunjin started to feel attracted towards her. He was pissed when he realized Y/N skipped his party for those nobodies, and all the friend group did that too. He wanted to talk to everyone and make Yeji a part of the group again. Seeing those nobodies and the gang together made Hyunjin mad. And he texted in the group.

Hyunjin arrived at Y/N's place 15 minutes later, his hair still damp from the shower, emitting a subtle fragrance of roses that made Y/N momentarily forget her annoyance. She greeted him with a casual offer of water, but he cut straight to the chase.

"Why the cold shoulder?" Hyunjin's voice was laced with frustration, his eyes searching hers for answers.

Y/N's irritation flared up as she replied, "Do I really need to spell it out for you?"

Hyunjin's expression softened as he guessed, "Because of Yeji?"

"I don't have romantic feelings for you anymore, Hyunjin," Y/N declared, her voice firm. "You distanced yourself from the whole group and started going out with random girls. Then you didn't even come to Changbin's campaign. I thought you were in Korea for the dance academy, but when I saw your Instagram, I understood why you didn't come to the campaign. Whatever happened in school, I thought that was over. You were fine with it, but you changed after Yeji came back from America. Do you think what happened back then was my fault?"

Hyunjin's voice trembled slightly as he spoke, his gaze fixed on Y/N, searching for understanding. "I didn't date anyone," he began, his tone earnest. "When Yeji left, she tried to contact me, but I told her I didn't want to. After a year, she sent me a letter explaining her part. Even though she was wrong here, she apologized, and I spent the entire year just talking to her."

A pang of guilt flashed across Hyunjin's face, his eyes reflecting the turmoil within. "I just told you that I am dating other girls, but I was actually just talking to Yeji," he confessed, his voice barely above a whisper. "When she came back, I realized that I like Yeji, and I distanced myself from you guys because I was guilty." Each word hung heavy in the air, laden with remorse and the weight of unspoken emotions.

Hyunjin's heart sank as he watched Y/N's numb expression, a veil of pain masking her features. He pleaded desperately, "Hey, talk to me, please. I'm sorry, Y/N. I know she did you dirty, but please, Y/N, at least talk to her once."

Y/N maintained her composure, her voice steady despite the turmoil raging within. "Hyunjin, it's fine," she replied softly. "I don't think I feel like discussing this issue anymore. I need some space from you and Yeji."

Hyunjin's plea hung in the air, a desperate attempt to bridge the growing chasm between them. "Y/N, take as much time as you want, but please, do the project with me and Yeji," he implored.

Y/N's anger simmered beneath the surface, her frustration palpable. "Shut up, Hyunjin," she snapped, her tone cutting. "Are you being for real now?"

Hyunjin recoiled, his words faltering as he struggled to find the right response. "Sorry, I just... um, nevermind," he muttered, his gaze falling. hyunjin said: i miss you.

But Y/N remained resolute, her need for space unwavering. "I miss you too, Hyunjin, but I need space from all this drama. I'm done with it," she declared firmly. "I really need friends outside of our group, so please, let me have my space."

The weight of Y/N's words settled over them, a somber reminder of the rift that had formed between them. Hyunjin nodded solemnly, his heart heavy with regret. "As you wish, Y/N. I just want our old group again," he murmured.

Y/N's expression softened, a glimmer of understanding in her eyes. "Don't worry, I won't ruin our group because of Yeji," she assured him. "See you later, Hyunjin. Bye."

Wooyoung emerged from his hiding spot behind the door, a concerned expression etched across his features. "Hey, do you want to discuss?" he asked gently as Y/N returned to the living room.

Y/N shook her head, her resolve unwavering. "Nope, I just don't wanna talk about this topic. Can you tell this to Changbin and Felix too?" she requested, her voice tinged with exhaustion.

A small smile played on Wooyoung's lips as he nodded in understanding. "Okay, love," he said softly, pressing a kiss to Y/N's cheek.

taglist: @lee-knows-cats @midsoulz

[pettypuppy-jonghyun]

Sad Movies | Bang Chan

Summary: you get emotional over fictional characters, bf!Channie does not

Notes: fluffy, mention of sad movies but not in description

Warnings: idk what this is I just hurriedly finished an old draft😓

Chan straightens up when he hears a soft whimper throughout the house. He turns his head slightly to listen again, pausing any other movements. When he confirms his thoughts, he starts to walk to where he thinks the crying is coming from.

He knocks quietly on your shared bedroom door. "Sweetheart?"

You tell him to come in through your sobs. You knew why he was there, checking up on you. You were crying so hard it would be weird if he didn't come at the sound. But you couldn't help it. Not when the show you were watching killed off such a good character.

"What's wrong, baby?" His eyes were full of worry as he entered the room, immediately crawling on the bed to get to you.

You lean into his arms as they wrap around you for protection. "The show! They killed him, Channie. Just killed him off!"

Chan pauses for a second, changing his focus to the tv. Then he lets out a breath of relief and squeezes you tighter. "You're crying over the show?"

Smacking his shoulder, you pushed back from him. "Yes I'm crying over a show! It's sad, dude. Very sad."

Your boyfriend nods in agreement, recognizing the show as something you both watched when it first aired. It had been quite some time since he'd seen it, although he knew this was a rewatch for you. Still, he was quite aware of your emotional connection to fictional characters, regardless of how many times you've seen it play out. You know the character dies and it still hurts you.

"Honey, can you warn me when you watch something like this again? I need to know when to be concerned."

Chan hadn't meant for it to sound as harsh as it did, truthfully. He wanted you to feel a little guilty for making his heart race with worry, hearing you cry so hard. Instead, he made you push him away in annoyance.

"I'll have you know, Sir Bang Chan, that this is concerning that you have never once cried to this show, let alone any show!" You scooted to the far edge of your bed, moving to place pillows in between him and you as a barrier.

His eyebrows raised at your action. Instead of fighting, he nods momentarily while raising his hands in surrender. Chan watches as you turn back to the television, reaching blindly for a tissue and bringing it straight up to your nose for a harsh blow. He cringes softly and begins to back away and off the bed.

"I'm just glad you're okay," he laughs lightly, heading towards the bedroom door to escape.

You began to sigh heavily as the show continued, the scene of your favorite character's death playing over again as a next episode recap. Instead of skipping it, like you should have, you watched it over as you felt your frustration pent up. Chan would never understand how devastating it was to watch the people on the show cry so desperately in hopes to have their loved one back in their arms.

"You just don't have a heart!" You suddenly say to your boyfriend, catching his attention again. "Anyone with emotions would cry at this tragedy. They didn't even need to kill him!"

Chan felt the challenge that came with those words. His head tilted to the side as he narrowed his eyes, slowly turning to meet your gaze. "I think I have more emotions than you."

You shook your head defiantly, wiping the tears away with more tissues. "Not a chance. Only psychopaths don't cry at sad movies." You paused for a moment, thinking about your words. "I'm sure you didn't cry for the 'Bridge to Terabithia' movie, or maybe even 'Big Daddy's couldn't make you cry."

He eased himself back onto the bed on the opposite side of your pillow barrier. "Well maybe I would if I had ever seen those."

You gasped at the new information. "What?! Never seen them? Were you born under a rock?!"

Chan picked up a pillow, tossing it at your face in an attempt to quiet you. "That's what I said, isn't it?"

You say up on your knees, completely ignoring your show as you turned to face your lover completely. "Okay so what about A walk to remember'?" At the shake of his head you continued to list," 'The Notebook', 'A Werewolf Boy', 'Always'?"

You stared at him in shock, listing both American and Korean movies with no luck. If only you knew popular Australian movies, maybe that would make a difference.

You hesitated to offer one last sad movie, " 'Marley and me'?"

Chan jumped, pointing a finger towards you. "Oooh, yes! That one. I've seen that one, it's actually a really sad movie."

Finally finding a common movie, you looked at him expectantly. "So? Did you cry?"

He shook his head. "No."

You sighed, throwing yourself back onto the bed in defeat. You were right after all: only psychopaths don't cry at sad movies. You could never watch 'Marley and me' without bawling your eyes out. In fact, you had only seen it one other time because of it. Sure, some people had a range of emotional strength when it came to sad movies, but there's a limit.

"You're just plain heartless," you muttered beneath your hands that covered your face.

Chan giggled beside you, maneuvering so he hovered directly above you. He gently pried away your hands, smiling brightly at your distressed expressions. "I cry when it comes to you," he reasoned thoughtfully. "Everything about you is so beautiful and perfect I can't help but tear up sometimes."

You rolled your eyes at his flirting. "Not the same, Christopher."

He laughed loudly, leaning down to peck your lips. "Alright you got me, I'm a cold hearted animal. Just please, for the love of everything living in this world, tell me when you're wanting to upset yourself by rewatching sad things."

You watched as he began to leave the bedroom again. "I know you can't be human if you didn't cry at Highschool Musical whenever Gabriella left Troy-"

"Now that!" Chan pauses in his steps, turning to point a finger at you again. "That I cried to. Every time."

[zeesodacan]

"I have no clue"

Zee x Reader

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

this one's kinda cringe to be honest, i wrote it for my old td account but oh well!! it's still kinda sweet

i remember this being a request, but i've completely lost the ask, since it was on my old blog

☄. *. ⋆

fluff

word count: 1,575

proofread: yes but i'm tired so i might have skipped over something

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Ever since you got to the island, you'd been a confident and straight forward kind of gal. Whenever Ripper opened his mouth to say anything, you were able to combat his statement and shut him up for 5 minutes. Better than anyone else on the island could, at least.

Most of the other contestants enjoyed your attitude and your willingness to speak your mind. You helped lead your team to victory many times and worked hard.

There were moments when you 'lightly' berated a teammate for slacking off, but there was that one person that you just... let slip under your radar.

Zee.

You hadn't truly realized your feelings for the boy until Bowie said something about it. You two were walking in the forest alongside Emma, as you all had formed a little alliance due to hitting it off on the first day on the island.

"So," Bowie began. "Y/N. You and Zee?"

This caught you off guard, quickly looking over at Bowie. "Ex-Excuse me?" You felt your heartrate pick up and your face go red, your eyebrows furrowed trying to figure out what he meant. "Oh my god, it is true!" Bowie laughed, holding onto Emma. "You so totally like Zee."

"No, I don't!" You objected. Where did he get such a stupid idea from?

"You definitely do." Emma butted in, laughing alongside Bowie. "It's so obvious! You're harsh on everyone but Zee! Even though he's the easiest to be harsh on."

"I mean, just yesterday during the catapult challenge you literally cheered for the guy! We aren't even on the same team as him!" Bowie added on. "You do not do that to anyone else. There's some love goin' on and I'm gonna get to the bottom of it."

"No, you will not. And, if you do, so help me I will beat your ass tenfold." You threatened, staring straight into his eyes. "Ooh, feisty." Bowie snickered, waving you off. "Listen, girl, he totally likes you back. You just gotta, you know, push yourself out there! I know you can do that, at least."

You breathed in and sighed. Maybe… just maybe… Bowie was right.

"I'll... think more about it. Can we drop the subject? Thanks." You pinched the bridge of your nose in an attempt to release the tension building up in your face. “Alright." Bowie shrugged, sneaking a glance over at Emma and smiling.

A few more challenges passed and you'd slowly managed to grow closer with Zee, especially after the merge. It wasn't much, just a simple friendship. To say the others were shocked by this was an understatement. Someone as straightforward and determined as you, friends

with the chill, laid-back Zee? It was unheard of!

Today's challenge Chris said you all had to canoe across a river, walk through a field, climb a mountain, and ring a bell! Easy, right? Wrong. While the challenge had hardly started, you were already being plummeted with jumping salmon! Disgusting.

As the taste of salmon filled your mouth every time you were hit in the face, your canoe was being assaulted by said salmon even more. You hadn't even noticed you started sinking until you felt water on your ankles, causing you to look down and take notice of your canoe flooding.

You tried to keep a calm head, but there was no one in your alliance close by, so you slowly accepted your fate. You could try to swim to shore, but that would only end up in you drowning from the salmon and the extreme waves of the river.

You braced for impact with the water when the canoe flipped, and you desperately held onto what was floating as a last attempt.

Just as you were about to go under, you saw someone’s oar appear in front of you, signaling you to grab on. Immediately you grabbed it and watched as your canoe fell into the river, never to be seen again for hundreds of years...

You looked over to your savior and your eyes widened when you realized who it was. Zee! You smiled at him gratefully as you climbed onto his canoe, sighing.

"You looked like you were in trouble." Zee chuckled, looking over at you.

"Man, those stupid salmon destroyed my canoe. If it hadn't been for you I would have been fish food." You laughed along with him, the familiar feeling of fuzziness appearing in your stomach. “I can't thank you enough."

"Nah, it's nothing, man. Anything for a friend." He smiled at you. Friend. Right.

"Well... let's continue the challenge, alright?" You stated, looking towards the ever-looming fields Chris mentioned.

You both sat in an awkward silence before you made it to the field, noticing there were already a few other contestants ahead of you two. Not a moment later, the ground started shaking, and out poured water from the ground.

"It's a geyser! Sorry, geysers!" You exclaimed, looking all over at the small indentations with holes in the field. "How are we supposed to get through without being blown sky-high?"

"I have an idea,” Zee said nonchalantly before grabbing your wrist and running off into the field.

"Zee, what the hell are you doing?" You yelled, trying to be louder than the geysers exploding behind and in front of you.

"Trust me!" He yelled back. "Just gotta run fast so the water doesn't find you!"

You couldn't help but furrow your eyebrows in confusion. Why your heart chose this man, you had no idea.

After a few more seconds of blindly following Zee, you guys actually made it to the end of the field. You sighed in frustration, knowing this wasn't the end.

Emma had caught up to you two and exchanged glances at you both. She gave you a tiny wink and a grin, which you returned with a glare, before looking back at Zee.

"I gotta admit, Zee. You're way sneakier than I thought."

"I don't know what you mean?" Zee replied, clearly confused.

Emma just responded with a sarcastic "right" before being blown up by a geyser. Karma truly is real in the world.

You looked away for a couple seconds to take a look at the mountain and gaze at its beauty. Nature truly was magnificent when you tried to forget the fact that you were on an island for a few more weeks with a sadistic psychopath for a host.

And yet, you looked back to Zee stuck in a geyser, and you couldn't help but groan as he got flown into the air. At least he was enjoying himself, you thought.

After that, you two got separated for the rest of the challenge. Nothing truly eventful happened to you, other than some small bee stings that were mere minor inconveniences. You pretty much knew you weren't going to win after becoming so far behind with the little canoe incident.

In the end, Julia ended up winning, to your alliance's dismay. That girl really needed to be gone and put in her place. But alas, not today...

In the short time between the end of the challenge and nightfall, signaling the beginning of the elimination ceremony, you decided to talk to Zee.

"Hey, Zee." You caught up to him, apparently today he decided to take a stroll across the beach. He had his signature soda in hand, taking a few sips here and there.

"Oh, Y/N! What's up?" Zee's face brightened when he saw you, smiling.

“I... had something I need to talk to you about." You muttered, taking deep breaths. You fiddled with the hem of your shirt, closing your eyes for a moment. The worst he can say is no.

Suddenly overcome with a wave of confidence, you look him in the eyes and confess these feelings that have left you sick for the past weeks. 

"Zee, I've really been wanting to tell you that... I like you. Like, like like you. It's weird, I don't normally do relationships, y’know? But like, you're the only person that doesn't constantly frustrate me and that I don't have to put in their place like, ever." You took one big deep breath before finishing, "What I'm trying to say is, will you go out with me? Once the show is over?"

You looked back at Zee awaiting an answer, but he just looked at you absolutely dumbstruck. "Zee? Please say something..."

After you said that, a grin appeared on Zee's face, causing you to release some of the tension in your body. "Sure, I mean, yeah!" Zee nodded. "You're super cool and awesome. I'll be honest, I've kinda like you for a while. I didn't realize until Chase told me how obvious it was. Was it obvious?"

"If it was obvious, it wasn't to me. Probably to everyone else, though. I mean, Bowie and Emma figured it out before even myself." You laughed. "It's so weird, being able to just relax around a person. I like it."

"Me too." Zee smiled. "I'll be honest I... don't know much about relationships. Never been in one myself."

"Me neither..." You admitted. "But I suppose we could figure it out together." You smiled up at him, taking his hand in yours.

"Cool." Zee grinned, taking a sip of his soda.

"I've always wondered... What flavor is your soda?

“Like what kind?"

Zee pondered the question for a moment, staring at the can, before looking back at you.

"I have no clue."

[ladylilithprime]

Day 20: Limbo

(Set in the Familiar'verse. Sam Winchester is a lawyer and practicing witch. Detective John Castiel Novak is a cat shapeshifter and Sam's familiar. Dean Winchester officially works for the FBI as a hunter community liaison.)

THE BAR FOR doing basic research on a hunt is so low that it's practically a tripping hazard in Hell," Sam Winchester groaned as he pinched the bridge of his nose, "yet here you are trying to Limbo with the demons."

"You'd know all about that, wouldn't ya, freak?" the man tied to the chair spat, struggling against the ropes. He wasn't getting out any time soon; Sam knew how to tie very good knots, and he'd been thorough frisking the guy after he was knocked out before doing it. "Which one's got your contract, huh? Had to get those damned witch powers from somewhere."

"Mary Campbell Winchester," Sam drawled, lips quirking a bit at the sudden look of shock that crossed the man's face. "These powers run in her side of my family. No demon deals needed, and no demons allowed. Though that line of thinking does explain what you thought you were doing breaking in here if you're the kind of idiot who hears 'witch' and skips straight over the 'natural' part."

"No such thing!" the man protested, glaring. "Ain't nothing natural about freaky powers what scare the shit out of nornal people, turning 'em into cats--"

"Bite me, bitch," snapped a smoke-roughened voice from over on the couch. "I was born this way!"

"How're you feeling, Cas?" Sam asked, his lazy tone belying the very real concern he felt for his lover and familiar.

"Like I got flung across the room by an armed intruder after clawing his gun hand to keep him from shooting my partner," Cas answered dryly. "Is that animal abuse, or assaulting a police officer during an armed break-in?"

"I'm inclined to let Dean and Vic worry about that one, honestly," Sam said with a shrug. "Along with whatever other charges they want to throw at this guy."

"Charges?!" the man echoed, having the gall to actually sound offended. "You can't arrest me!"

"Me? No," admitted Sam pleasantly. "Him, though? He's a police detective, and caught you red-handed breaking into his home with lethal intentions towards his domestic partner. And if he doesn't arrest you himself, well, my brother Dean and his partner are already on the way. They're FBI, incidentally. Actual FBI."

"You'll get what's coming to you, witch," the man spat. "I ain't the only hunter out there--"

"And most of them are smarter than you and already know about me and mine," Sam interrupted with a roll of his eyes. He wasn't feeling like indulging this guy's weird self righteous bullshit or whatever it was he felt justified him trying to kill anyone who showed the slightest sign of being "on the spectrum of supernaturally gifted" as his familiar's twin brother had once phrased it. To Cas, he added, "You'd think he'd have at least heard the Winchester name before and had second thoughts before barging in. Dean's gone legit, yeah, but he's not out."

"Extremists are rarely burdened with an abundance of critical thinking skills," Cas snarked. "And that was a further admission of intent to incite violence. Do we have to leave him conscious?"

"I kinda want to see how much he keeps talking despite my warning that he's being recorded," Sam admitted with a smirk and the suddenly wide eyes on the man. "Seems to have slipped his mind along with whatever he might've heard about the Winchester family before tonight."

"Pity," Cas deadpanned.

The hunter, finally showing some amount of intelligence and self-preservation, mercifully shut up. Just in time, as Sam could feel Dean's approach to his and Cas's apartment, his brother's mind a thundercloud of anger and protective concern with Vic's steadier steel following behind. Thank Gaia, he thought as Cas gingerly got up off the couch to open the door. They might actually have a shot at going back to sleep tonight.

As if just to try and prove him wrong and get in the last word, the bound hunter hissed, "You're gonna burn in Hell, you disgusting freak. You and your pet monster."

Like Sam hadn't heard that before.

"Keep watch for me once you get there, then," he said, bored and more than ready to be done with this. "For now, you can go rot in a cell."

[the-most-adorkable-smile]

The Worst Mission: Impossible is 3

I just watched it. I just watched all of them. People may dislike M:I II, but I'm here to say they're wrong.

Mission: Impossible III is the worst Mission: Impossible.

Look, it has it's good moments. The Vatican job. The building swing. Escape from IMF custody. Arguably it sets up what has become a staple of the series: Ethan getting disavowed. It introduces Julia and Benji as characters, and it gives Luther more to do. In all areas I agree that these are good things.

But the narrative as a whole is bad, and it's a miserable viewing experience.

The opening is this grimdark, realist psychological torture scene which could be straight out of 24. The colour-grading is dirty, the camera is shaky... it feels like they were trying to make a Jason Bourne movie with Ethan Hunt.

To be fair, the engagement party after the opening credits is good. I like it, it adds a bit of levity and it's nice to see Ethan Hunt being a happy, normal guy (side note: Ethan being a guy any girl would marry whilst simultaneously boring sitcom-husband senseless is gold). But our second action setpiece comes up not long after - it's another miserable, joyless military scene, that ends with Lindsey dying an ignoble death because the defbrillator didn't charge up in time. And then we linger on Lindsey's dead face for a while. For no real reason - it hits hard enough when it happens, why linger on it?

Our first two action pieces in Mission: Impossible III are miserable exercises in failure for Ethan Hunt, and really cement a depressing atmosphere for the film.

I'm gonna skip over Ethan getting chewed out for his agent dying (it seems... bad, professionally), and move to the Vatican job. Because it's good! It feels like a M:I setpiece proper, with Ethan sneaking into a place and striking surgically, something which is missing from the other setpieces in the film. Genuinely very good!

Also the first time we see Davian. Our villain arrives some half an hour into the film. It feels like we've started in the wrong place - I get why we started when we did, but it hurts the film.

Oh, and then Ethan tortures the guy to try and get information from him, which makes him look morally dubious because there isn't even a world-shaking threat in this film. And that leads into the Bridge Sequence.

The Bridge Sequence is a series of explosions which serve very little purpose except to undo a key part of the Vatican job - that Davian is for all intents and purposes, dead to the world.

(Only he's not. Because someone from IMF is in on it. For some reason. Despite the fact that Ethan is working to get the location of the Rabbit's Foot, and then presumably to get the Rabbit's Foot, anyway. So the IMF will get the Rabbit's Foot anyway.)

So Julia gets kidnapped, serving as a secondary motivation for Ethan to get revenge on Davian (the first being that he killed Lindsey, the agent he trained - this is why it hurts the story to include that bit, because it makes that feel like a secondary motivation to the death of someone Ethan had spent hours training, to the point that we get a funeral flashback to times Ethan had spent sparring with her.)

He gets the Rabbit's Foot, gets kidnapped, we go back to the start, everything is miserable and spy thriller-y. I'm skipping over a bunch, because it doesn't add much to the story. We learn that Musgrave was working with Davian - for cold, calculating reasons which make some sort of awful, racist non-logic that could pass for sense in a bad light and heavy makeup - and is going to sell the Rabbit's Foot to a Middle Eastern arms dealer so they can get blown up by a US Army drone, official-like. Which is, frankly, a wild plan of the sort the IMF stops, showing Musgrave has no idea what organisation he works for. If he was head of the CIA, he'd be lauded. But because he's part of the group that stops these things before they begin, he's an asshole.

Anyway, Davian gets killed off quickly, as does Musgrave. Ethan dies and then un-dies, all is good.

My biggest problem is the Rabbit's Foot. "What is it?" Ethan asks at the end. "The Rabbit's Foot?"

Well according to JJ Abrams, we don't need to know. Except we do. Because it never does anything.

In Mission: Impossible they're fighting to stop the NOC list getting out. It's a list of spies and their covers that the CIA knows about, and if it gets into terrorist hands it could cause the deaths of millions.

In Mission: Impossible II they're stopping Chimera, a superspreader virus that kills in days, to foil the plans of faceless pharmaceutical companies who want to earn billions from selling the cure. It would kill millions, just to line the pockets of millionaires.

In Mission: Impossible III they're preventing an arms dealer getting the location of the Rabbit's Foot, because... what? If he gets it, it will be... bad? Will it? It seems like we're kidnapping someone from a foreign country to get revenge for the death of a US agent who should have been disavowed anyway. An agent Ethan trained, and the director of the IMF tells him off because he did a bad job training her? Don't they think he feels that already? What does it accomplish, besides making Ethan miserable again and contributing to a negative work environment? He already wants revenge on Davian for her death, what does this scene accomplish, except to make Brassel seem like an asshole? So we suspect Brassel before the inevitable twist that Musgrave was racist?

The Rabbit's Foot is a nothing device that people want to justify their asshole behaviour. Davian so he can kill Lindsey and kidnap Julia. Ethan so he can beat up Davian for the same. Musgrave so he can be a little more racist and stupid. It sits in its secure vault - or wherever the Hell it is, Abrams taking "just get there" to a whole new level by skipping an entire heist - until Ethan steals it to give it to Davian to save his wife. It doesn't feel like a world-ending weapon. It doesn't feel like anything. The world-saving stakes in this Mission: Impossible film are zero. It ends up feeling like two guys having a pissing contest over who's more justified in their righteous anger.

(And Davian may have a leg to stand on there, having been kidnapped and tortured by a US military agent)

Anyway, Mission: Impossible III. It's a few good moments surrounded by bad, early-2000's spy-thriller grunge over a thing that doesn't matter, so two guys can each try to hurt the other more through psychological torture. It's depressing as Hell and needlessly complicated, and the whole plot feels unneccesary.

[evilkitten3]

@e---l hey! sorry, i only just noticed your comments lol

i'm gonna start with the last bit, bc one of the things i enjoy the most about naruto is people getting things wrong and/or straight-up lying about shit (itachi is really good at both of those lol).

the two main sources we have for madara's past are obito and hashirama, both of whom ofc have their own biases, but obito's story is a lot less reliable imo for a few reasons. first of all, he wasn't there; he just heard about it from the real madara. second of all, many of his claims are later revealed to be untrue - madara didn't want to keep fighting the senju, madara didn't kill izuna, hashirama stabbed madara in the back and not the front, etc. whether these inconsistencies are because madara lied to obito, because obito was twisting the truth to make it more convenient for his purposes, or simply bc kishimoto changed his mind, we never actually hear madara's side of things, so it's hard to say what his take on the matter was. what is clear is that at some point people began to believe that madara stole izuna's eyes for power (although the two main sources for that claim are obito, who isn't trustworthy, and itachi, who is both even less trustworthy and also possibly getting this info from obito in the first place)

also, and this is something that i think gets skipped over a lot, we actually have no clue what izuna's dying words might've been. what we know is the last thing hashirama heard him say, but it seems unlikely that those were his true last words. he was still alive when they left the battlefield, and hashirama has no way of knowing what happened between that moment and the next time he saw madara. we the readers are never told if izuna died from the damage the wound caused, from an infection later on, or from something else that hashirama never knew about. he wasn't there. he has no clue. and he doesn't try to pretend otherwise. so all we - and hashirama - know is that the next time hashirama and madara fought, madara had izuna's eyes in his face and izuna's wasn't there anymore.

of course, once you factor in black zetsu, there was no way for izuna to survive no matter what happened, and losing him was always going to be emotionally devastating for madara. if there was no black zetsu and the war had still happened for whatever reason, it's unlikely that madara would come up with the idea to just put everyone in a coma forever on his own, but i do still think he'd end up leaving the village, and if he fell into despair badly enough, he might still attack it just to get hashirama to kill him (or. to save him? idk man sometimes even madara doesn't seem to fully know what he wants. he tells himself he does, but. he's also crazy)

the last thing i want to say is that, while i absolutely understand both tobirama's fear of the uchiha and specifically madara, i don't think madara did all that much to feed into it. from the looks of things, madara mostly just tried not to spend any time with him (which. is entirely valid given everything). we only really see them interact once after konoha is established (pre fourth war ofc) and it's just. glaring a bit at each other. most of the antagonism between them seems to be coming from tobirama's end - he's the one who tries to persuade hashirama against his desire for madara to lead the village (which might've actually been the only thing that could've kept him from leaving, even if it probably wasn't something he wanted), whereas madara just notes that tobirama is probably going to succeed hashirama as hokage (which he did) and that that would likely lead to the uchiha clan's erasure (which it did, although i'd hesitate to say that that was part of any master plan on tobirama's part tbh). if anything, madara's fault in their downward spiral is his lack of action in trying to bridge that gap and show his guts, so to speak. which, again, i kinda get. hard to make nice with the guy who (presumably) killed your little brother.

all that aside, my personal take on madara's fall to villainy is that the main catalyst was never izuna or hashirama or even the clan, but madara's own "hope". as a child, we see him awaken his sharingan (presumably for the first time, judging by izuna and tajima's reactions) when parting ways with hashirama, and even which also to madara rendered the dream they'd shared unattainable. his motivation was to protect his younger brothers, and so losing the last one destroyed that "hope" as well. on top of that, it was his duty to protect and lead his family, and they lost faith in him and didn't listen when he tried to warn them that the clan was in danger if things didn't change. so he also lost "hope" for his clan. moreover, seeing his childhood dream, even without izuna, being achieved and then realizing that their boyhood ideals weren't enough to truly create peace, and so he lost "hope" for the world. so long as black zetsu could destroy madara's "hope" (that's starting not to feel like a real word anymore.....), he was always going to become what he became.

and black zetsu is nothing if not good at slowly and steadily getting what it wants.

one pet peeve of mine in founders-era fanfics is when madara's whole,,,, everything is solved by izuna just being there

like maybe this is just me, but i don't think izuna surviving or even coming around to the idea of a truce with the senju would've been enough to keep madara from the path he ended up on.

izuna wasn't the reason he left - he was definitely part of madara's issues, but he wasn't the why. even if izuna had stuck around, and even if that had been enough to keep the uchiha clan from losing their faith in madara, i think he would've still come to realize konoha wasn't what he'd hoped it would be.

best case scenario, i think izuna's survival might've caused madara to stick around a bit longer, but i don't think it would've lasted. honestly, even then, that might've just made the inevitable break-up between madara and hashirama even more agonizing (particularly for izuna)

it's a fun idea to play around with for sure, but frankly i don't think canon!madara could've ever been 'saved' from that path. certainly not if the hidden village system ended up getting set up in the same way.

[skadren]

on the infantry!cloud post: i think i vaguely remember something from before crisis where cloud got angsty about the group of troopers he was on a mission with getting killed by ravens? (didnt the same thing happen in nibelheim? ah the mc proximity to curse of nameless support characters) it seemed like cloud cared about them at least a little so that couldnt have been that bad.

so before crisis is, um... before crisis lol. i've never sat down and played it or watched a playthrough of it, so i can't comment too much on it. but yeah, it's likely he wasn't severely bullied or anything, whether he had friends in his squad to support him through it, or it just didn't happen at all. it's still important to remember though that before crisis and crisis core didn't exist for a good portion of the ffvii fandom's lifespan, so a lot of people might focus mostly og ffvii and what it tells us for their headcanons.

i ended up looking deeper into the nibelheim incident for this ask, though, and this is where things get interesting. not directly related to the topic of cloud’s hypothetical bullying during his time as a trooper though so if that’s all you’re here for, i put everything else under the cut.

og only gives us a passing mention of the death of the other trooper in the first nibelheim flashback during kalm, after the bridge collapses and tifa brings up that someone is missing. sephiroth says they can't afford to go back and look, and they move on.

cloud's sprite doesn't show any sort of reaction during that series of dialogue.

during crisis core, though, as far as i can tell, the story skips directly past any mention of the bridge collapsing, and only shows a small photo montage of the ascent up the mountain with some commentary subtitled underneath it. stuff like this:

so, only one trooper in all these shots. even though they start the trip with two, it cuts straight to the reactor with only one left, no mention at all of what happened to the other trooper. it also skips over all the fun bits like sephiroth absolutely wrecking dragons and his criticisms of calling materia magic and, of course, the bridge breaking.

from a logistical perspective, it makes sense that the devs would want to skip over reiterating the “uninteresting” things that we’ve already seen in og and go straight to the juicy stuff aka sephiroth’s breakdown. but from a meta perspective, we could essentially say that the og version is what cloud remembers, while crisis core is what zack remembers. cloud’s version of events, since this is before he remembers everything in disc 2, is also clouded (ha) by his false presumption that he’s the soldier first in these events, not zack.

tifa agrees with cloud’s version of events of ascending the mountain, so it’s not likely he made anything up there. it’s possible that cloud puts extra focus on the bridge breaking compared to zack because with a coin flip, it literally could have been him who was left behind to die. so even if he thinks he’s the soldier first in that moment, him deeming the death of the other trooper important enough to put in his story (as small as a mention it is, it’s still more than zack gave it) is a fun bit of foreshadowing for his real identity. he still doesn’t outwardly react in the moment, though, which means either a) zack didn’t react either or b) he thinks that’s what zack (or at least a “cool” and “powerful” soldier) would have done.

i just thought it was interesting that zack doesn’t seem to mention it at all, even though fandom perception of him is as this super friendly guy who knows everyone and genuinely cares about them. yes, he had a lot on his plate at the time, and it’s not possible for a soldier first to care about every single random trooper in the army. and it’d be reasonable to assume he’s grown jaded towards shinra at this point, given he’s seen a lot of deaths and failed to save people of his own. but still. feels a little odd.

to be honest, i don’t know what my point was. maybe the fact that it would have totally been reasonable for cloud to assume he wasn’t anything special, given the way even zack seemed pretty indifferent to troopers. thoughts?

[jboofan]

There's something wrong with Manager Kim YN part 28

Ahjussi

YN poured out another whiskey, skipping the ice and felt it burn nicely down her throat.

She did her best to distract herself, but when it has been almost an hour and no movement she decided to go investigate.

YN knocked and swung open the door, watching as Yoongi stood nursing a bloody nose.

"For fuck sake Seokjin!" she headed straight for him. "I said don't do something stupid! You can't go beating up people," she shouted at him, grabbing tissues and pushing them at Yoongi.

She knew her brother would have thrown the first punch, because if it was her she probably would have done the same thing.

YN wiped the blood off her hands and tilted Yoongi's head up towards and felt the bridge of his nose. "It's not broken."

Yoongi blinked hard, as she walked into the room speaking, but his ears were muffled due to taking one too many hits.

Jim grabbed his cardigan nonchalantly as though their altercation had never happened. 

Yoongi felt her soft hands on his chin tilting it up toward her face. She lowered her gaze to his nose and pinched it all the way down. He did his best not to look down her top as she dipped down in front of him, but he was seeing double now. The sight of blood made most people sick; she didn't even bat an eyelid, and there was plenty of it.

"Why the hell did you follow him into here, hmm?" she mumbled, not that Yoongi could hear it over the ringing in his head.

"YN, you're here!" he gave her a gummy smile, reaching out his gloved hands and squishing her cheeks.

"How hard did you even hit him?" she managed, as Jin laughed at her looking like a puffer fish.

Jin just shrugged, pulling at the velcro with his teeth. YN felt for Yoongi's gloves but realised he had swayed and fallen to the ground in a heap.

"Jesus Seokjinna!"

Jin shook his head, "I didn't hit him that hard, how was I supposed to know you'd make him pass out again."

"Ya! You knocked him around the ring, it's not my fault if he happened to faint just after I walked in!"

Her brother shot her a look. "It is too!" he said loudly.

She moved away from Jin and looked over him, tired.

"Meh, give him a minute I'm sure he'll be okay, but what on earth is he doing here at this hour?"

"Drunk. Spilling the truth. It's too late to send him home anyway, especially in this state."

"What tea?"

"It's not my tea to spill," he explained cryptically.

"Well, I'm not running a hotel here, I had spare rooms but Uncle and Jackson have one each, Ari has her own and you stole my last one."

"I warned you if you came back I would live with you, stop acting like you don't like having your brother around," he argued.

"Fine, but stick him in your room," she waved him off, stepping over Yoongi and to go to bed.

Jin scoffed loudly, stepping over Yoongi too. "No way. You take him."

"He's your band member. You've known him longer," she argued back.

"Yeah, well he was your husband. And is your baby daddy."

"Listen we don't even know if the pabo is even going to do the right thing."

"Look I will be generous and help you take him into the house. And then I need some beauty sleep."

"Fine," she sulked, "help me get his ass upstairs."

**

YN dragged his heavy body to the landing outside her bedroom, struggling to keep him upright and simultaneously open the door.

Eventually pulling him in, she wanted more than anything to drop his ass to the ground.

"If you so much as fart in my room, you will not see the light of day," she threatened him as he mutely plopped onto the bed.

She owed him no niceties. YN threw his wallet and phone on the dresser, dumping a pair of large PJ's on the bed beside him.

"See ya," she waved him off after grabbing clothes.

"Wait," he called. YN turned around, and watched his eyes grow big, covering his mouth and run to the bathroom, and vomit loudly.

YN dry retched, just the sounds alone had her wanting to gag. She rubbed her eyes, sighing loudly.

"God I hate you," she berated him loudly, leaving her PJ's on the dresser. She padded slowly to the bathroom where he lay in a small figure, clutching his stomach.

"It serves you right," she looked at him in his pathetic state.

"I don't need a fucking lecture right now," he told her. "If you found out your fuck buddy had deleted all hopes of a reconciliation off your phone, you'd be just as drunk too."

She looked at him, her expression stony. "Sobered up all of a sudden?" God why did he make it so hard to be angry at him.

He lay, his head on the cold floor, hair smeared against his sweaty forehead, breathing erratic.

"I'm sorry. I genuinely thought you didn't want us. Want Ari," she corrected, "I should have tried harder."

Begrudgingly YN sat him up and rinsed a hand towel under warm water.

"You didn't do anything wrong. Don't say sorry. I never deserved you the first time. I would never say I didn't want you. I cried every night, and I couldn't talk to anyone cos I knew they all loved you and hated me for making you leave."

He clutched his stomach and crawled back to the toilet and puked again.

Trying hard to not vomit herself, YN helped him up as he sat on the edge of the bath.

"I'm sorry baby," he sniffed and looked down at the floor. She lifted his droopy head, rinsed the towel again and gently cleaned his face. Unable to give a witty comeback and feeling nauseous again Yoongi knew to just shut up.

YN silently peeled off him the now vomit ridden t-shirt off him and chucked it in straight into the waste bin without a second glance. Yoongi sat motionless as she wiped down his neck and chest and gave him a towel to hold.

"Do you need to vomit again?" she asked quietly, emotionless.

Unable to speak, he closed his eyes and shook his head. She placed a clean towel around his shoulders and helped him to the bed.

She shook out the bed clothes, indicating with snappy fingers which he understood. Yoongi raised his arms up, the areas wiped down early now cold with goosebumps as she pulled the T-shirt over his head roughly. She smoothed his hair back for him neatly, giving him a 90's curtain style judging him hard as he tried to look everywhere but at her.

YN was furious at him.

But he looked like a bag of hot garbage left out in the sun, and she told him so.

"You look like shit."

"We can't all look at pretty as you."

He just about dragged himself to the basin in time to vomit, even then most of it was over himself again, as his legs shook. Even she wasn't so heartless, that she would leave him in such a state.

YN sighed loudly, but still helped him stand again and he managed to pull clean pjs on. Embarrassed beyond words he couldn't bring himself to acknowledge the fact, as a grown man he had to be helped into his night clothes, because he had drank himself into oblivion and then allowed himself to be almost beaten to a pulp by her brother.

Now stomach empty of the alcohol, he shook with a cold sweat. YN put some socks on him, and sat him down, rubbing his back.

"Are you thirsty?" she asked.

He nodded, as she gave him a glass of water. Hands shaking he tried to drink it.

"For fuck sake" he growled.

YN swiftly took the glass off him and held his chin as she fed him the water slowly.

"Why are you even helping me after everything I have done to you?" he mumbled.

YN ignored the question, on the grounds she didn't know why, as Yoongi managed to get himself into bed.

"Lay on your side."

She helped him roll over and put another empty waste bin next to his bed. 

YN rubbed her head again and sat down on the end of the bed and waited for him to fall asleep. He groaned in pain as he lay there.

"Please don't go. Don't leave me," he held her hand tightly, refusing to let go. "Just stay, till I feel asleep. Please?"

"It's fine, I'm here" she repeated a few times. Sick of during awkwardly in a stool, she eventually have up and sat beside him.

She'd only closed her eyes a moment, the dim room was making her sleepy, as he almost climbed into her lap. Cradling his head YN, as though on autopilot stroked his hair until he fell asleep, much like she did for Ari. Eyes closing she yawned as her own head began to falter.

She'd ordered herself to make sure, when satisfied he wasn't going to puke anymore or choke trying, that she would leave him some more water by the bed, and let herself out.​​​​​​

**

Yoongi awoke groggy and seriously hungry.

With absolutely no idea where the hell he was.

He rose from the most comfortable bed ever and wondered around the bedroom.

"Did I check into a hotel?" he took in his dishevelled appearance as he tried to remember where he was. His eyes went to the dressing table, his wallet and it's contents seemed correct and his clothes were cleaned and on the nearby stool.

YN wiped the counter as Ari ate her breakfast with her uncles. Conversation naturally lulled as she turned to offer more eggs.

"Any one for any more," she called out, "then I'm gonna sit down." She paused as she felt something move behind her.

Yoongi's eyes locked onto hers.

"Decided to join us?" Jin asked, chewing his toast.

"Yeah," he cleared his throat as he tried to get her to look at him, but she expertly avoided him.

Eventually she looked up at him, "What?"

He kept staring at her and wouldn't stop, and it was starting to annoy her.

When she snapped her fingers in his face, he gave a slow smile, catching her snapping fingers in his, pulling her towards him to kiss them.

"Yah," she snatched her hand back.

He was looked at her, smitten causing YN to mumble expletives under her breath and move away.

Yoongi mumbled something about thanks and sleep and other things, but she couldn't understand what he was saying nor the order of his words.

God, just the sight of him is painful. Why is he here dragging out my pain?

Yoongi looked at her, at Ari at the table and then back to her. He shook his head, grabbed her hands again, removing the whisk and pulling her towards him.

His nerves kicked in again as she stood there staring back. Speechless.

Holding her hands in his he said, "I want you back. Please. I need you. Let me be a father to her."

"Let me explain it to her please. I don't want to startle her," she replied in hushed tones. "But we need to talk. You do not turn up at my house drunk."

"They don't make a medicine for my heartbreak. Wherever I went, I went looking for you. No one helped or told me where you went."

Unsure what to say, and almost choking on her own spit she looked back at him.

"W-what?"

Yoongi dare not repeat it in front of innocent ears. "Can we spend some time alone? I need to tell you the truth."

"Later," she tried her best to cut the conversation off.

He took a seat at the table, Ari's eyes followed him like a hawk until he was sitting opposite her.

"Mama?" she nearly put the spoon down in the empty bowl.

"Yes baby?" YN came over with the last of the scrambled eggs and toast.

"Yoongha uncle having food with us?"

"Um, yes monkey he is," she avoided the looks around the table from Jackson and Jin.

"Who is he?" Ari blurted out, making Uncle Kim chuckle into his coffee.

She gripped her hands in her lap, anxious.

"Remember when you asked where Daddy was, and I said he was in a different country?"

She nodded.

"Well, this is the country he's in. Ari, this is your dad, Yoongi is your father."

No one was expecting to hear what YN said next.

"Are you sure Mama?"

Jin sniggered.

"Pretty sure sweetheart."

Suddenly she didn't have an appetite.

"I don't think that's right mama," the little girl slipped off her chair and walked around to Yoongi.

Ari took a few steps toward Yoongi. He got down on his knees to meet her eye level; she pierced his heart with her steely eyes.

That was the defining moment he became a father. He instantly recognised her as the second thing he has to protect for the rest of his life.

Ari looked to her mother for reassurance, YN nodded and turning Ari stood, analysing him.

"I don't think you're my Dad," she told him matter of fact. "If you were my Dad you would have been with us. Why didn't you stay with us?"

"I-im sorry," he managed. "I promise to do better."

"We don't make promises in this house. Mama says words don't mean anything mister."

Yoongi cleared his throat and looked at YN but she refused to meet his eyes.

"Your mama is right. And I will show you with my actions okay?"

She stared at him, "okay," she agreed, not believing him wholly, "I look forward to seeing that."

She shook his hand quickly before running back. 

YN looked apologetically to Yoongi as she ran past her.

"Do you have any other questions for me?" Yoongi asked Ari.

Ari looked at the bowl but nodded. 

"You can look at me sweetheart," he walked back around the table, he held his hands, palms up to her and she placed her small doll-like hand in his. 

"Go on sweetheart," YN encouraged her. "Ask whatever you want."

Ari looked at him closely. "Why are you in big trouble with Mama?" her American accent came through thick and clear. "She's angry because she isn't eating."

Jin and Jackson laughed.

"I will sit down with your mama and try and explain. Maybe then she won't be so angry okay?"

"Good luck," the little girl patted his shoulder in sympathy. She nodded her head quickly, "Jinny and Jackson samcho are my favourites," she touched his shoulder gently, "you could be my favourite as well."

"Can I?"

"Yep. But you have to earn it.. Ahjussi."

"You can call me daddy."

"No thanks."

"Damn girl. What's it gonna take?"

Ari stared hard, hand out.

"Credit card please."

"Sweetheart," Yoongi looked back at YN, "now where've I heard that before."

YN watched her daughter slowly open up to this stranger that had been placed in their lives.

Please God, don't let this backfire on them she prayed.

"I'm off out to the park with Ari," Jackson excited.

"I'm going to the office," Jin grabbed his jacket.

"I'll join you," Uncle Kim added, leaving the house empty.

Yoongi turned in his seat to face her fully.

"She has some sass, Jin wasn't joking."

"She's confident. That's how I've been raising her."

"I know," he conceded, "but I want to help, with raising her."

"We can figure it out," she acknowledged.

"Can we talk now? It looks like it's just us home now. Go to dinner with me," he ordered.

"What?" she squealed in surprise.

"Go to dinner with me, let's please talk."

"I think you should go home and think about what you want," she hadn't touched her food as she cooly went back to the kitchen.

It was Yoongi's turn for the wide eyes as he immediately ran after her, snapping her around sharply as soon as her hands were free.

"I want you."

The heat of his hand cradling mine makes me a little dizzy.

YN gulped hard.

God why have I missed touching her?

He leaned into her, rubbing his thumb along the side of her waist, as her blouse rode up slightly, walking her into the counter behind her.

"I have to go," YN tried to get out his grip but he pulled her forward, an arm between them as he hugged her hard.

"I'm begging you. I have no pride baby girl. You're mine. Princess. Only mine," he pulled her into him until their lips almost touched.

"I need to go finish getting ready, I need to leave for the office," she pleaded on deaf ears.

"You don't need it, you look amazing," he commented.

"I need to grab lipstick, my lips are dry and I'm outta here. You can see yourself out."

"Here."

He spin her hard, hoping to make her dizzy enough to

"You-you kissed me?"

He snashed his lips to her again, "you said your lips were dry."

"Doesn't mean you kiss me!"

"Raise your voice and I'll do that again," he tightened his grip. "I just need a chance. Baby I fucking love you."

"You just love the idea of it. So did I before. Before this all happened. Things are different now."

"You left me. When you should have stayed."

"Well colour me surprised, it's not like you were that sad since you shacked up with your ex Yoongi."

"She never ever stayed over. I didn't let her."

"That's why she was always out with you? You hold hands with all your friends?"

"Did she keep me from drinking myself to my grave? Yes. Did I use her in public so I could keep people at arms length? Yes. Did I stay with her because I felt sorry for myself. I did."

YN looked the other way in disgust.

"But she wasn't you. A poor man's YN. But she wasn't you. And she went to such lengths to keep you from me."

"She's gonna pay, ain't no mistake about that," YN gritted her teeth. "She ruined Ari's life. And we had an agreement and it finished. Why would I stay and mooch off you?!"

"I would have let you. Hell, who else says to a woman they're about to marry you can have all my money? Damn it YN, I don't give a shit about the money if I ain't got you, who the hell am I gonna spend it on baby?"

"Baby?" she scoffed, "I don't care."

"Baby, I care. Don't say baby who cares, I know you care!"

He dodged a kick to the privates and nimble, jogged after her as she checked herself in the mirror one last time.

"Run all you like Princess, but I'm not going anywhere," he called out as she escaped his clutches and fled.

Yoongi stood watching her leave hurriedly, a small sigh came from behind him, as it tugged his t-shirt.

"Ya Ahjussi!"

Yoongi turned around and faced the little girl.

"Daddy? Or Papa or Dad. Choose one," he told her, "I'm not going anywhere. Here forever Ari. You and mama need to get used to it okay?"

"Fine," Ari folded her arms, "but first let's go toy shopping."

"What happened to the park with Jackson?"

"We should spend time together. Dad."

"You are just like your mother," he mumbled as he let the child lead him out.

**

"So how did it go with Yoongs.. Has he manned up to his responsibility?" Jin looked at her.

"Yes he has Seokjin. He's manned up," she replied dryly to his question as she reached for her seat belt.

He gave her a kiss on the cheek and a side hug. "I'm glad for you," he told her. "And my house is your house."

"You mean my house is your house. Bitch you live rent free and pay no bills!"

"True, but I support you. He can come around whenever. To see Ari, or maybe even see you," he whispered the last bit.

"For Ari, not me" she corrected him. "Ari is in need of him Seokjinna, not me."

Jin looked at her, damn her hearing was good.

"Even the great YN needs someone too."

[mae-dwrites]

Jasonette July 2022

Day 3 - Strike

[Finishing up previous two prompts]

day 1 | day 2

←•→

“I’m gonna kill that fucking clown!”

Jason pulled up the tracker folder as Alfred walked into the cave.

“Master Jason, I believe it would be wiser to wait for others so you may have assistance, also to take a moment to calm down.” Jason sent Marinette’s current location to his phone, she was in a warehouse of all places. Jason just ignored Alfred as he headed to get his gear on. Alfred caught Jason by his shoulder, “Master Jason I advise you go get your friend with assistance of your family. It would not be helpful to saving her if you go in by yourself, it could be a risk of getting you both killed.”

Jason’s jaw clenched, Alfred was right. Alfred was always right, he was never wrong.

“Can you see if Damian or Dick are available, and talk to Tim about heading to the warehouse? The coordinates are on the screen already, I'm getting my suit on.”

Alfred nodded and went to work contacting the boys. He messaged Bruce about the situation, he couldn't come cause he was dealing with some meetings and paperwork. Damian was upstairs and came down, he had come to the decision that his school work was simple enough he could finish it when he came back from giving his assistant to Jason and his roommate. Also, it would give him a chance to evaluate her in person. Dick was on a plane to Jump City and the bridge had already been closed off. Tim was headed over to the warehouse, he was gonna try and see what the Joker had going on.

Jason came out of the changing room heading straight for the computer with Damian soon following out. Jason grabbed his comm before putting his helmet on, he heard Tim as he headed to his motorbike with Damian in tow. It would just be easier to take a smaller mode of transportation and faster.

“All the windows are covered, and there’s one guy at the back door but no one at the loading bay door is down.” Tim replied over the comms, “I think we should go in through the roof windows.”

“We will be there in a few moments Todd,” Damian stated as Jason drove. He had to get there immediately, he needed to be there now. He didn’t even know Marinette was going to the bank today, he would’ve made the excuse he needed to go there before going to dinner. He should’ve stayed at the apartment longer, better yet skipping this weeks’ dinner like he had wanted.

Red Hood sped through the busy road, weaving around the cars and trucks. He came around a corner and then parked his bike in an alley nearby, they got off and climbed the building. Red Robin was on the roof of the warehouse looking in from a window, he waved them over, “He doesn’t have anyone on this side of the building besides the girl, and the only guy he has is in the back at the door. I think I’ll go get the guy in the back and then head in. You guys go to the front-”

“No I’ll go to the back, you and Demon Spawn can go to the front,” Jason declared. Jason headed to the end of the building. Red Hood dropped down and made his way to the corner. After knocking out the guard, he got the door open and dragged the unconscious body into the building. Jason gave him some taps on the check, “Heh, you’ll be fine.”

Red Hood continued down the warehouse on the wall, gun pointed down as he moved down. It was fairly quiet causing Jason to become more anxious. Then Joker bursted out laughing, and began to speak loudly, “I just want to see Batsy again! So don’t worry you little head, you won’t be hurt. Not much at least.”

Jason heard Marinette chuckle as he came closer, “You don’t need me for that, and you know that.”

“Really and why would that be?”

“Because your darling ‘Batsy’ can’t come to the phone right now,” Red Hood stepped out. Joker’s smile slowly melted, “Now why would that be?”

“Batman can’t always come to play, me on the other hand,” Red Hood raised his gun up. And like how this started it would soon resolve after, not permanently but for now.

Jason would probably tell her that she was the only reason he held back, he shot him in the thigh. Just seconds after Marinette got up and took the ropes that had just held her bound around the Joker’s neck. Red Hood ran up and punched him in the gut before going to knock him out. He turned to Marinette, “Miss you need to exit the building. The back door is open-“ He pointed to where he had come in. “Maybe wait a ways away till the police arrive.”

She nodded, “Of course, than-“ she was interrupted by the double doors on the opposite end opening with Red Robin and the current Robin fighting some guys with guns and in clown masks. Red Hood sighed as Mari said, “Can’t catch a break.”

The guys started to shout about Red Hood and the girl.

“Okay just get out now,” Marinette nodded and ran to the back. She pushed the door open wide enough that it would look like she left, she jumped behind a stocked shelf. The Reds and Robin were doing well, but Red Robin was complaining about Hood’s usage of guns while Hood just said screw Batman’s rules. Marinette pinched her nose, well this is what she expected having read blog and tweet posts about Gotham’s resident heroes.

“Marinette,” peeped a high-pitched voice. She looked down by her leg, “you should go. They can handle themselves, you need to get out.” Mari shook her head, “What if they need help, whole thing of when I was Ladybug I helped cause it was needed. Even though I didn’t want to.” Marinette made her way closer to the fight from the side wall. Tikki followed her, “But Marinette we don’t wanna risk you.”

“Tikki you should know life sometimes means taking risks.” Right after she said that Red Hood came flying over her way, head hitting the wall and fell to the ground. A big chunk broke off on the right side of his helmet, he stumbled as he tried to get up and muttered about strength metas. He had a domino mask on under his helmet, which is very smart. He turned facing Marinette, she stiffened as she fell under his gaze. She couldn’t see it but she sure could feel it.

“Marrriss I told you to leave, you need to get out of here.” Red Hood straightened himself doing so made a strand of hair fall into view out of his helmet. It was stark white, Mari squinted her eyes taking him for a moment. Then it hit her, of course.

Of. Damn. Course.

“Of course you’re Red Hood! The late nights, closed off about your family, going everywhere with me.” Mari exclaimed, Jason stiffened. He cleared his throat, “Miss I believe you have me mistaken with someone else. Please leave now.”

“Jay stop the bull,” Marinette snapped hushed. “We’re talking about this later.” Jason groaned, “Fine just get out of here now, I’ll tell you anything. Just. Get. Out.”

“I can help!”

“No-“

“I have more experience than you know or can find. You’d only know if I gave it to you on a silverplater! So I’m staying.” Marinette glared at Jason with crossed arms. Jason turned Marinette around, “Mari go.”

He then began to walk away, “Tikki spots on.” Pink flashed and Jason turned around to see Marinette gone and young women with long dark hair in a ponytail, black knee high boots with red accents, a belt connected to two pieces of fabric that semi rapped around her leg to her knees. She had forearm armor, and a thick black cape that started from her neck down to her mid thigh, the inside had a extra layer that was light blue, the rest of the suit of skin tight ladybug themed. She marched right up to him yo-yo in hand, “I am Ladybug, Guardian of the Chinese Mother Box. I have defeated Hawkmoth and countless of his victims, and I will help in this fight.” Ladybug marched towards the more obvious metas then Red Hood followed in to fight.

“Red Hood, who is this?” Red Robin shouted after knocking down a goon. Before Jason could respond Ladybug beat him to the punch, “I’m Ladybug. I was in the city and decided to drop in.”

“I don’t believe that is the whole story but we can get back to that after,” Robin declared as he passed her. By the time they were done the police had arrived and Mari was running to go grab, well herself.

“And there was a civilian girl here too you said? The one from the bank,” the officer asked.

“Yes. Actually I took her a few blocks away when I saw her leave the warehouse, I can go see if she's in the area and get her.” Ladybug spoke, her hand naturally drifting to her yo-yo. The officer nodded, “Would you? If you don't mind, it’s just so hard to find the key witnesses and victims.”

Ladybug threw her yo-yo towards a fire escape, “It’s no worry. Of course I can.” she then zipped up, she ran across a few buildings before dropping down hiding in a dead-end so she could detransform. She gave Tikki a cookie and started her way back to the scene. She frizzled her hair a bit and shook her head, trying to imitate how she remembered civilians' hair being after she swung with them across Paris. She ran up to the officer and Robin, “Hello the bug hero said for me to come over here? She had to leave for some reason. I don't have to be here long do I?”

Mari tried to ramble a bit before she was cut off, “it’s all fine Miss, I just need you to tell me what happened and we get you on home.” So she told him everything, of course not the heroing part. “Is there anything else you need from me, officer?”

“No, you're good to go now.” Mari sighed and started walking after a few yards she took a right into an alley so she could call Tikki. But before she could she heard a person drop down behind her. She turned around to find Jason, still in his Red Hood suit with his helmet off. They stood there looking at each other, it made Marinette uneasy she couldn't see his eyes.

Jason cleared his throat, “If you would allow Miss, I would like to escort you home. We need to talk about your kidnapping and what followed.”

Mari couldn't stop the soft smile that came with a chuckle as its partner. “I don't believe I can but Ladybug can fill in and rely what followed my kidnapping.”

“Well she better get her ass here then.”

Mari smiled as she called the transformation, she grabbed her yo-yo, throwing it up. She nodded her head towards the building.

[ac-liveblogs]

(1) They really skipped straight to the end of the shoguns character arc, huh... While we knew she was beginning to understand from her character quest, now, she's become a wizened expert offscreen. Consequences are a far off dream, and any potential is thoroughly dead. Also the filth in the roots is such an anticlimactic telly way to express Inazuma's past. I think ur right, they def need to invest in some 2d animations.

(2) The sad part is, this would have been a perfect middle part. Imagine the shogun, doubtful, but still confident in her decisions, being guilt tripped for an hour straight by everyone who made the mistake of believing in her, until she realises that she betrayed their expectations, and betrayed her sister, and it is then that she finally realises her mistakes. then you push the shogun robot fight, and this whole introspective attitude to act 3.

(3) I also cant believe MHY is pretending the puppet shogun is a character. Though to be honest I prefer her character to Ei's. Also kudos to Genshin for having us use an immortal c3 electro with an infamous c2 powerspike in a bossfight where electro is mandatory, thereby hiding shitty game design. (Unless it changed after Beta) I also feel like the fact that Ei still thinks erosion sucks is bad. Erosion is change, you're supposed to have accepted it, lol. Muddy concepts

(4) but hey, if she acknowledges her mistakes, maybe there will be consequences soon! Maybe she'll personally go apologise to Kokomi, Thoma, Kazuha, Itto....oh who am I kidding. Of course she won't. It's just, everything in this quest, her attempt to improve, etc, feels so hollow when she never experiences the consequences of her actions. I wish I could have skipped this honestly but Ayato boss mats demanded weekly boss unlock.

This chapter really should've been part of the Archon Quest. Probably not as is, but elements of it would've been more impactful if Raiden's realisations about her people's strength, what they want, etc. were actually linked to... her people actively doing stuff within the story, instead of the memories of people that died 500 years ago.

To like. Make all that rebellion and 2 acts worth of showing us how badly Inazuma is going to shit actually worth something...? Inazuma's presentation still fucks with me, like.

Traveller: The Shogun is fucking over Inazuma and everyone hates it

Yae: You don't have all the facts

Traveller: What are the facts

Yae: She's depressed and very stupid

and we just. accepted that? ???? And because we accepted that, the game doesn't think she did anything wrong besides lock herself away??? And everything in this arc is built on top of that???? Agh????

Hello, Yashiro Commission whose Lady decided to fight me because she thought I was doing a terrible job leading this country. May I borrow a tea set and then not give it back?

I'm also perplexed by Genshin's choice to just tell us this arc was going to happen? Like if at the end of the arc with Zabuza and that bridge the AN in Naruto is just like - heads up, Sasuke's going to leave the Leaf Village and become an antagonist. :)

I didn't mind the filth in the roots so much, but more could've been done with it imho. And as for 2D animations - yes! It really does! Do you know how much time can be saved by just using spritework??? Though, while my initial thought was that it could be used for better dialogue, MHY has just decided to have really long chunks of absolutely pointless dialogue so maybe we don't want to give them that power

[clean-bands-dirty-stories]

The Best Things ~ J.V. (part 12)

A/n: I would like to apologize for not marking warnings on each part like I should have been. I get too excited to post and skip over them on accident. I’ll do my best to add them from here on! Also, I was adding the warnings as I wrote but then they didn’t save so I tried to remember them as best I could. If I forgot anything, I sincerely apologize.

Warnings: Recounting past trauma (physical abuse, homophobia), explicit talk of death, badly handling others’ trauma, light smut (foreplay: slapping, choking, degradation, daddy kink, handcuff restraining, brat/dom dynamic, punishing, teasing, masterbation)

Word Count: 5200+

MASTERLIST

The air was so thick with tension that a knife could have cut through it. No matter how much Harley was fighting his instincts to lounge and be himself - the self Jeremiah was used to, at the very least - he felt like he had to be the self he used to be. The one Bruce was expecting. Jeremiah knew Harley was trying too hard, and Jeremiah was far too easy to read - which meant that Bruce knew too. So Harley sat there trying to behave and Bruce sat there brimming with suspicion and pain and hesitation and Jeremiah sat between the two boys, wishing this had never happened and he could just escape the two brothers who seemed seconds from either running or fighting.

Echo, as if sent from God, walked into the room with a pitcher of water. They were at Jeremiah's instead of Wayne manor as Harley had absolutely no intention of being back there or anywhere near Alfred. The butler was far too good at accepting change, which meant that the man might pick up on the fact that Harley was no longer Y/n and the whole thing would fall apart. Honestly, it seemed like so much work. Harley wasn't sure why this plan was so important but Jerome was feeding off of it so Harley did it anyway because he'd said he would. If this is where Jerome lead, Harley would follow.

"So," Echo cut into the silence as she walked around pouring drinks. "How is everyone this evening?"

Harley smiled at her, amused. She was poorly hiding a sort of awkward expression that was dashed with a little humor. She was mocking them in her head; Harley could almost hear what she was thinking. A bunch of dumb boys sitting around a table unable to swallow their pride. Idiots. "Oh you know," Harley mumbled casually, shrugging. "Indulging." He motioned to his food but his words were obviously directed at the ambiance.

"Having a good time?" Echo asked.

"Not at all," Harley immediately answered with the same casual, chipper tone. Jeremiah choked on his drink as he laughed at the exchange. The humor delivered saltiness in Harley's voice and the passive aggressive mocking in Echo's had always been an exchange that could make Jeremiah chuckle at least a little. Echo and Harley were very good at banter and it lightened the mood significantly every time they went at it. After all, it was just in good fun. Bruce seemed to relax as a smile curled everyone else's lips. "So... Harley." His lips seemed to want to reject the name.

Harley's smile dropped. Hearing Bruce call him that made him uncomfortable. Not just because he was nervous about Bruce not calling him Y/n as he had all up until this point but because he had cut Bruce out of this new life very purposefully and now... he was in it anyway. "Yes?"

Echo sighed and left the room as she sensed Harley jerk back, even with her attempt to loosen everyone up. Jeremiah focused on his food. Bruce looked at Harley but Harley did not look back, instead choosing to stare at the door Echo had gone through. "Why Harley?"

That was an easy question. "When I was in Arkham, a few of the guards used to beat the shit out of me every single day to try and convince me to be straight." Harley looked Bruce in the eye when he said this, completely calm. He had long since gotten over it. "They even put me in isolation to keep me away from people who might protect me or care about me."

"Jerome." Bruce didn't form it like a question.

Harley answered anyway. "Yes. But see this is a smaller world than everyone thought and my therapist, Harleen Quinzel, became my friend instead. She's like me, but for girls." Bruce nodded, accepting that. "They couldn't kill me without having to mark me as a loss. That and they'd have lost their punching bag. To teach me a lesson, they killed her. And then made sure the TV that was never supposed to be on the news would be on the news, on just the channel and at just the time that would allow me to see her bloody, bruised, cold, dead body strewn out for the public to see. And no one gave a single shit because no crimes in Gotham get solved unless someone important is involved. And even then- well, you know first hand."

Bruce's expression grew very dark. "I didn't know."

"Of course you didn't," Harley purred, still eating as if he was talking about the weather.

Jeremiah has stopped eating. "People are really like that?" His voice was small and his eyes moved to Bruce, his hands tightening around his silverware as if picturing Bruce's face cold and dead and staring at him through a TV. Bruce felt his eyes and looked back to Jeremiah, but the red head averted his gaze to Harley instead. "I mean, people really act like that just because of... how someone loves?"

Harley nodded, swallowing the food in his mouth. It tasted like sand but he kept eating it. It made him feel powerful to while the others in the room had forgotten their food altogether. Although... Perhaps he hadn't chewed it as well as he thought because it felt as if it had gotten stuck somewhere along the way. A thick lump had lodged for a second and a sick feeling had settled in the bottom of his stomach. He hadn't thought about that image in so long... the daily bearings and the isolation and the one ray of light he'd gotten being extinguished and displayed because he had dared to be himself and therefore allowed her to do the same. Because they were different than how most people were.

"Do you know who did it?" Bruce asked.

"Yeah." That didn't seem to be the answer Bruce was expecting. "This isn't great table conversation," Harley eased, changing the subject. "But that is why I go by Harley. Do you like it?"

Bruce shrugged. "Do you still go by Wayne?"

Internally, Harley sighed. "Harley Quinn."

At that Bruce nodded. "You're not coming back are you?"

Harley laughed dryly. "You're not very good at casual, light conversation are you Brucey?"

"Don't call me that," Bruce snapped, body going stiff.

Rolling his eyes, Harley sat back in his seat. "Why not?" It came out harsher than Harley had meant it.

Meeting hostility with hostility, Bruce got angry as well. "Because that's what Jerome called me, and after how many times he tried to kill me it's not a name I like."

"Get over it," Harley sneered. "It's just a name and we're in Gotham. Trauma is kind of a part of life here. Adapt or get trampled."

Bruce jerked back. "Get over it? Since when are you...?" He trailed off, as if hesitating, before his face set and he finished his sentence with a much harder tone. "Like Jerome."

Harley felt his knuckles turn white. "Stop saying that like it's a bad thing." "It is!" Bruce hissed.

Harley shot to his feet, dropping his silverware on the table. Jeremiah flinched but Harley didn't notice. Bruce did. "Look, Jerome is fucked up and dark and broken. He doesn't have a grip on reality or know how to human because he wasn't fucking treated like one. He killed people. He was crazy and insane and unhinged and dangerous. Yeah! You know what else he was? He was understanding and accepting. He got why people lived their lives differently than he did and didn't really judge anyone, ever. He thought they were boring and chose to live differently, sure, but he lived to make people laugh and have fun. Maybe his sense of fun was fucked up, but he genuinely just wanted people to laugh along with him for once. He didn't hide who he really was. He wasn't ashamed. He didn't shun me and shove me in a corner and try to change me. He accepted who I was. He CELEBRATED me. I'd rather be with him than at this stupid fucking dinner or anywhere near you because I'm not some poor gay boy who needs saving. I'm strong and I matter and I FINALLY love myself, and you won't ever take that away from me because you see self respect and see Jerome because no one taught you that you are more important than everyone else. I refuse to sit here and let you try and turn me into some pathetic whiny brooding mess who's never happy because my priorities are fucked up. I won't be you. That isn't my goal anymore."

The room was dead quiet. For a long time, no one said anything. The brothers just stared each other down until Bruce shook his head. "Perhaps this was a bad idea."

Jeremiah pinched the bridge of his nose. "You guys are idiots." The other two in the room looked at the red head with shock. "My brother is dead, and honest to god it's a relief that he is. He's out of my life and I'm safe from him. I never had the chance to have a real relationship with him. I used to read the newspaper about your family and think that you guys were some kind of dream. Two brothers that loved each other despite everything and parents that were like... actually good people on any level." He sighed. "Obviously I was wrong. You're too busy trying to make him how he used to be." This he directed at Bruce. "And you're too busy hurting and bottling up your emotions and pushing everyone away to let anyone care about you or see the real you." This was for Harley. Jeremiah didn't stop when both other boys went to speak though. "Just shut up and make this work because you guys are the only true family you each have left. Harley, you grew up and I have to say you wear your changes very well. You're happier and sturdier and if someone isn't happy about that then they're insane. Right, Bruce?"

The Wayne boy hesitated before giving in. "Yeah. I am happy for you. I should have started with that. I just... I'm scared for you."

"Why?" Harley demanded, exasperated.

"Because I don't want you to become Jerome. I don't want you to end up like that. I don't want you to be some criminal, when you used to be the best person I knew. You said your life goal used to be being like me? No. I wanted so much to be like you. You couldn't speak about a huge part of you, but you accepted it with the knowledge no one else ever would. I refused to even look at the fact that I'm attracted to guys until you and Jerome got together and then..." his eyes shot to Jeremiah and then back. "Things happened and- and you were always so bright and happy and free. Like a bird in flight or- something." He shook his head. "You were inspiring, Y/n. Seeing you like this... it looks like you've been broken. And I just want to bring back that light you had before. When you seemed so much happier."

"I'm not broken." Harley looked at the boy who was supposed to be his brother. The boy who used to be his best friend before one lie after another had pulled them further and further apart until they were on completely opposite sides. Secrets had torn their relationship up into so many little bits it could never be repaired. They were just too different now. "I'm not lost or struggling. I'm just not... sitting there and pretending all the bad things aren't happening. The friends I have now actually like and respect me as a person, not just because I'm Y/n Wayne. I'm myself, proudly, and I wear my experiences as a reminder of what I can endure. Things hurt less. What you see isn't some poor boy waiting to be saved. It's darkness. And maybe that scares you, because you're used to hiding your darkness. But darkness, Bruce, isn't a bad thing. Darkness is what makes us who we are. Like everything it can be used as a weapon, but Darkness itself isn't dangerous. What you do with it is."

Bruce considered that for a long time. "That... is a good point."

Jeremiah released a breath. "So... truce?" The boys looked at each other before shrugging. Harley sat back down. Jeremiah seemed pleased. "Okay, now lets talk about something a little more pleasant."

"So you mean literally anything other than what any of us have been up to recently?" Harley sassed. Jeremiah shot him a look. "Okay fine whatever." He searched for some light conversation. "So you guys are like boyfriends now or what?"

That seemed to make Bruce and Jeremiah both blush and the air in the room cleared significantly. Harley pulled off being cheery and invested as he teased and prodded and asked questions and engaged. Things almost seemed like they used to be when Bruce and Y/n would sit with their parents and Bruce mentioned a girl and Y/n would go off about how he was going to be the best man or the world would surely end... but Harley wasn't Y/n and Jeremiah wasn't their parents. This wasn't Wayne Manor and as good of a server as Echo was, she wasn't a butler. She wasn't Alfred.

Under the light tone, Harley formed a plan. A plan he carried out as he and Bruce began to hang out more and more as time passed that night and stretched for a while. Jerome became nocturnal in favor of being awake when Harley finally returned at home. The boys would spend some time together and then sleep and then Harley would wake up and go out and spend time with Bruce and Jeremiah again. Slowly the time with the other boys began to cut into Harley's time with Jerome and both he and Harley were getting restless. They'd begun arguing about it.

"Stay in tonight," Jerome whined.

"Bruce wants me to come back to Wayne manor tonight." Harley sighed, an odd expression on his face. "I've finally earned his trust and am getting along with him - as much as it pains me. I think Jeremiah is talking to him when I'm not around, convincing him to behave and respect my boundaries. He calls me Harley and has stopped expecting me to be the person I used to be. I don't know, I think he'll be enough to convince Alfred though I might have to try a tad harder." He rubbed his forehead. "Soon I'm sure I'll be chummy with them again and that'll definitely lead to interacting with all of Bruce's friends - which will be a whole other adventure of its own."

Jerome huffed. "If you're going back to Wayne manor, won't Bruce want you to move back in?"

The thought had occurred to Harley if he was being honest. Where did he draw the line in being buddy buddy with his brother again? Where did he stop things? How far did Jerome want him to go? "Probably," Harley voiced, shrugging. There was a long pause. Jerome was more guarded than he usually was and it set Harley on edge. When the red head did speak, it was in a dangerously quiet tone. "Would you go?"

"W- would you want me to?" Harley was distracted by the way Jerome's Adam's Apple moved when he swallowed.

Jerome hummed. "So this is still about what I want?"

That made Harley defensive. "You think I'm dealing with my arrogant brother because I want to?" It had a biting edge to it.

"And what about my brother?" Jerome pushed.

Now Harley was confused. "Jerome I did all of this for you. To convince them you were dead so you'd be free to have some free time and then make your grand entrance whenever you wanted to. I did this because you asked me to." Jerome rolled his eyes. "You've been gone a lot. You come home... lighter. You enjoy your time with them."

"I'm sorry, you WANT me to come home miserable?" Harley sneered, his hands coiling into fists.

Jerome's eyes darkened. Harley realized what was happening. Before he could react, Jerome's hand shot out, fingers curling around Harley's throat. Jerome pressed his boyfriend against the closest wall, his face close and words sharp like knives. "You're getting angry again. Talking to me like that, as if I'm one of our dumb brothers or that blonde idiot Jeremiah carries around. You might have been gone for a while now, but SURELY not long enough to have forgotten to respect me."

Harley gasped, eyes fluttering closed. Jerome's grip wasn't dangerous but it could go that way if Harley wasn't careful. Jerome only ever got like this when he was frustrated. Usually when he was bored and wanted to do something other than sit around. To be fair, he was cooped up which was something he HATED to be. He hated feeling trapped. And on top of that Harley had been spending less and less time around the place. It was a miracle the redhead had behaved so long. Harley had spent more nights with Jeremiah, talking to Bruce so late into the night and fake catching up and playing nice that it was just easier for them both stay at Jeremiah's. Alfred had even gotten used to a simple text from Bruce letting the older man know where he was and that he was safe. If Bruce wasn't home by 10pm Alfred had come to expect that he wouldn't be back at all. It had become a sort of habit.

Perhaps Harley had been a tad neglectful.

He sighed, letting his guard down and releasing all the tension he'd gained from being around Bruce. Jerome didn't deserve this. "I'm sorry, you're right." Jerome didn't let up. "Oh so you shoot me puppy dog eyes and say sorry and that's supposed to be it?" Harley could feel his insides warming as Jerome grew closer, the air in the room slowly becoming infected with sexual tension. The sudden mood change was hard for Y/n to switch gears to, even though he was immediately eager. "You've forgotten who you belong to."

"I-"

Jerome's hand tightened on Harley's throat, cutting off any attempt to speak. "What was that?" Harley coughed a little as the initial shock took him off guard. His eyes fluttered but he could still breathe which is what mattered. "Come on, Harley. Come on, Y/n." Harley jerked at the name. "Is that what you want me to call you? Is that who you want to be?"

Harley wasn't dealing with that shit. His body jerked, arms wrapping around Jerome. He pulled hard, twisting to turn Jerome around so he'd have to let Harley go, or risk hurting his arm. As predicted, Jerome let go. Harley twisted their bodies with extreme force, pushing Jerome's face into the wall aggressively. "What the fuck did you call me?" He growled. The words were raw from his throat being a little sore. It made Jerome smile. "Answer me. Now." Harley let his free hand thread into Jerome's hair. He pulled, the red head squirming underneath him as it began to hurt. "I said, now."

"I called you Y/n," Jerome answered softly. His tone was half reluctance and half defiance. He didn't want to answer Harley like he'd been told to, but saying the name again did give him power.

Harley leaned back, pulling Jerome away from the wall just by his hair. He dragged him over to the bed. "Kneel. Now." Jerome was giggling as Y/n hurt him, getting off on the pain. "NOW, Valeska!" Jerome smirked, taking his precious time with following the order. When he was down, Y/n maneuvered his face into the bed. "Stay there. If you move, I will know and you will be punished. I will be back in a moment." He left Jerome there, ducking out of the bedroom to the trunk in the bathroom, shoved in the closet. He opened it, pushing around some things they'd collected in their time together. This was the stuff they used when things got more kinky. Handcuffs Jerome had gotten from cops even before he and Y/n were together. Rope from a construction sight. Some things were specifically from sex stores - stolen of course.

Ignoring most of it, Harley grabbed the handcuffs and went back into the room. He returned to see Jerome had indeed moved. In fact he was sitting on the edge of the bed, leaning back on his hands. He was smirking at Harley, a dare in his eyes. The red head seemed to be expecting Harley to lose his shit, but Harley didn't. Instead, he got very still, thinking. That seemed to actually make Jerome nervous.

Slipping the handcuffs into his back pocket, Harley slowly approached Jerome. His eyes cut into Jerome's soul, his jaw so tightly shut that Jerome shivered. "What, you think you're going to look at me and-?"

Jerome didn't get to finish his sentence. Out of nowhere, unexpectedly, Harley backhanded Jerome, causing the sitting boy's head to snap to the side. The red head was shocked, but found his stomach twisting with the familiar sensation of arousal. This wasn't like when he was a kid. Harley was calm and controlled - even his hit was direct. There was a safety in the way that Harley controlled himself. Jerome didn't fear him. It left room to enjoy what was happening. Harley gripped Jerome's jaw, bringing the red head's brown eyes around to meet his. "What did I say when I left the room, Jerome?" Harley not using a pet name in a sexual situation made Jerome shift nervously. Was Harley actually mad? "You told me not to move."

Harley released a breath, smirking as he got turned on just by getting Jerome to answer his question without being pushed. When Jerome was being bratty, he refused Harley any amount of control. So when he let up even the smallest amount, it never failed to excite Harley. "And what did you do?" Unwilling to let Harley win twice in a row, Jerome shrugged. Harley slapped him again. The red head blinked, breathing sharply outward as he felt the stinging on his face. "I moved."

A hum came from Harley as he stood, crossing his arms. "You know I had to punish you for using the wrong name, but it was going to be pretty light. Now..." Jerome shivered under that look - like Harley was trying to figure just how to kill him. "I'm going to take your clothes off Jerome. If you fight me, you'll get immediate punishment do you understand?" Jerome nodded. Harley rose an eyebrow.

"Yes, Daddy."

That seemed to please Harley. He stopped glaring at least. First Harley removed Jerome's shirt. Then he gently nudged Jerome, and the redhead followed the flow and laid back on the bed. Harley then removed his pants, and his socks one at a time. Slowly. Jerome felt himself get antsy. "Do you want something, baby?" Harley asked evenly.

"I'm fine," Jerome responded.

Unfortunately for him, his erection gave him away. "You don't want me to do... anything?" Harley asked again, pausing to look at Jerome very carefully.

The redhead looked back for a long time, a battle happening between the two men. Jerome lost. "Jesus Christ Harley, touch me."

That got Harley to smile. "Ask nicely J, or I'm going to have to punish you." Jerome went to glare but Harley reached up, threading his fingers through Jerome's hair and pulling roughly. "Listen here bitch, I'm not here to mess around. You're going to listen to me or you're going to regret it, understand?" They had come a long way since having sex in a cell and trying to keep quiet. Back then, Harley had fumbled and blushed a lot and been overwhelmed very easily. Back then, Jerome would stretch out, getting comfortable as he bossed Harley around - a true power bottom. Or, he would top, and then he'd get very soft and quiet and affectionate... Well, compared to how he usually was when he was impossible to please and degrading to an extent that had driven Harley insane.

Now adays, things were different. There was a huge power play between the two men constantly, and endlessly pushing buttons. What would often happen was that Harley would be a bit of a brat but otherwise let Jerome blow off steam, unless it was a day that Jerome desperately wanted Harley to "take hold and ruin" him. A direct quote from the ginger. On those days, Jerome did what he did best: he kept talking. He said all the things he knew would piss off Harley the most, like calling him by his old name. He would make Harley snap and then Harley would retaliate exactly how he wanted.

Not today.

"Fuck, you're such a baby," Jerome grumbled, rolling his eyes. "I'm bored with you playing daddy, I already know all your moves and we both know that you're just going to give me what I want anyways. You're a soft top, Sweetheart." He was smirking, proudly flaunting the power he usually had over Harley.

Today though, Jerome had pushed him too much. After all the shit he'd gone through with Jeremiah and Bruce, hearing Jerome call him Y/n had pushed him in a way that had sent him over the edge. And if he was being honest, he had his own frustrations. He wanted to run free as much as Jerome did and break things and scream as loudly as he wanted and sock his stupid brother in his face any time he dare even mention Jerome's name in Harley's presence. He was tired of behaving. He was tired of feeling like some toy. He was tired of being used. He was really, REALLY fucking tired of being ignored, too.

Harley's smile was dangerous. Jerome looked at him, unsure of what was going through the other boy's head. "You know, you have a little too much attitude for someone who's currently desperate for me to touch him. You want something from me? You need to learn some respect." Harley reached over, grabbing Jerome's wrist and forcing it toward the top of the bed. It happened so fast that only when Harley had used one cuff to get Jerome's right hand, and then had threaded the second cuff through the bars at the head of the bed, did Jerome react.

"HEY!"

At the outburst, Harley didn't hesitate to slap Jerome again. The redhead gasped, body shivering. He would absolutely never admit it, but this kind of aggression had always turned him on, when he was comfortable with the person. He'd wanted someone to be like this with him for ages, but not many people were willing to go far enough to please Jerome Valeska. By the way Harley was looking at him right now, this time might be different.

"I didn't give you permission to speak. Granted, I didn't tell you to shut up either so I'll be forgiving, but if you shout at me one more time you will regret it." He gripped Jerome's other wrist, cuffing that as well. Now Jerome's hands were over his head, trapped by the cuffs and the bar. "If you want to say something, I want you to address me first. I will allow you to continue then. Or I will not." Jerome hesitated, then nodded, intrigued by this side of Harley even he had not the pleasure of exploring before.

What came next surprised Jerome. Harley didn't take him right there, rough and hot. He didn't move slowly around and tease until Jerome wa a desperate mess of begs and whimpers. Harley didn't touch him at all. In fact, he moved off of the bed completely. He left the room even, returning a moment with a chair. Only then did he undo his own clothes, only lowering his pants enough to allow himself access his erection. He didn't even pull his pants off all the way! Jerome felt completely exposed, tied up and naked for viewing pleasure, when Harley was so far away and completely dressed.

To Jerome's intense frustration, Harley sat down on the chair and began stroking himself, eyes on Jerome. Harley's eyes were wide and lust blown, his tongue flicking out every once in a while to wet his lips. After a while, his eyes fluttered shut and his head tilted back just a little as a small moan came from him.

Jerome shifted. He was getting uncomfortable with how long he'd been hard without being touched, and watching Harley be like this was not helping. Jerome really liked to be involved in sexual acts. He had gotten rather pouty anytime Harley was caught masterbating, and there had been an unspoken rule that Harley didn't really restrain Jerome for stuff like this. If Harley wanted to be touched, Jerome would touch him. They both preferred it that way. This was ridiculous, and frankly rude. Jerome wasn't going to give Harley the upper hand. This was a low blow and he wasn't going to let Harley get away with it.

As Harley continued though, getting more into it and completely ignoring Jerome, it was becoming increasingly hard to keep his mouth shut. Trying to play it off like he didn't care as much as he did, Jerome finally spoke up. It had seemed an eternity for him, but it had actually only been a few seconds and Harley had to swallow his smile to not give himself away. "Okay Harley, very funny. Let me touch you. I'm sorry I called you the other name. You know I can do this better than you can. Let me out." When Harley continued to ignore Jerome, the cuffed ginger raised his voice. "LET ME OUT!"

"Why?" Harley growled, eyes finally on Jerome again. "Because you told me to? Because you asked me to?" He stood, pulling his pants up again. "I'm not your little bitch Jerome, you're mine. You want to kill someone? Fine. You want to steal or break something? Fine! But you don't call me by that name. You don't mess with me, because I'm all you got. If you want me to leave, you ask like a big kid."

Jerome's lips twitched, slowly rising into a smile. "Are you actually mad at me?"

Harley grinned. "No, not really." They both cracked up, losing it for a few extended seconds. Then Harley cut off and Jerome faded into quiet, soft chuckles as Harley began to speak. "I respect you, J. My little joker." He moved towards the bed, caressing Jerome's cheek. The ginger leaned into the touch, his eyes closing. He fed off of the contact, as if it was a drug or he was starving and the gesture fed him. Harley smiled softly. "You gotta respect me too. You don't have to piss me off to get me to break you, joker. All you have to do is ask me nicely, like a good boy. Do all the bad things you want. But not to me."

A sigh escaped Jerome, and then he finally gave in. "If I behave will you let me out? I want you to touch me. Please."

That pleased Harley. "That's what I wanted to hear." He leaned back a little, eyes scanning Jerome's exposed body. "I will let you out. And then it's time to play for real." His eyes glinted with a darkness that made Jerome jerk in expectation. Needless to say, Harley didn't disappoint.

-

Story Tags: @wanna-plan-world-domination​

[the-bloodycircle-cb]

𝙏𝙒: 𝙈𝙐𝙍𝘿𝙀𝙍, 𝙈𝙀𝙉𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉𝙎 𝙊𝙁 𝘽𝙇𝙊𝙊𝘿, 𝘿𝙀𝘼𝙏𝙃, 𝘿𝙍𝙊𝙒𝙉𝙄𝙉𝙂, 𝘿𝙀𝙋𝙄𝘾𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉𝙎 𝙊𝙁 𝙑𝙄𝙊𝙇𝙀𝙉𝘾𝙀 𝘼𝙉𝘿 𝙃𝙊𝙍𝙍𝙊𝙍 𝘾𝙍𝙀𝙀𝙋𝙔𝙋𝘼𝙎𝙏𝘼 𝙏𝙃𝙀𝙈𝙀𝙎

𝙋𝙇𝙀𝘼𝙎𝙀 𝙋𝙍𝙊𝘾𝙀𝙀𝘿 𝙒𝙄𝙏𝙃 𝘾𝘼𝙐𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉 𝙊𝙍 𝘼𝙑𝙊𝙄𝘿 𝙁𝙍𝙊𝙈 𝙍𝙀𝘼𝘿𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙄𝙁 𝙏𝙍𝙄𝙂𝙂𝙀𝙍𝙀𝘿 𝘽𝙔 𝘼𝙉𝙔 𝙊𝙁 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝘼𝘽𝙊𝙑𝙀.

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𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩: 7398

𝓟𝓪𝓰𝓮 2 𝓸𝓾𝓽 𝓸𝓯 8

❝𝓨𝓸𝓾 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓶𝓮𝓽 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓪

𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓻𝓲𝓫𝓵𝓮 𝓯𝓪𝓽𝓮, 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮𝓷'𝓽 𝔂𝓸𝓾?❞

It was a warm Sunday evening in a quaint little suburban area. The sun peeked over the fluffy clouds, golden rays spilling onto the red shingles of the roofs.

A young boy- somewhere in his teens- was skipping with joy down the sidewalk, clutching a clear plastic bag in his hands. He had waited incredibly long for this day, saving up his allowance to finally purchase the very thing he's been eyeing for almost three months now.

"I can't believe I finally got the collector's edition of Majora's Mask! This thing is antique~!" He chirps to himself, watching the game cartridge jiggle around in the plastic bag.

The walk back home took no less than five minutes, kicking off his shoes and making his presence known to his mother. He was quick to shower and have dinner before rushing back upstairs, already done his homework in advance so he could finally game in peace.

Throwing his hood over his head, he inserts the cartridge into his Nintendo GameCube he got two Christmases ago, grinning when it goes in easily.

"Finally, I hope the game doesn't lag. I spent all my pocket money on this shit, it's old but still playable." He mutters to himself, remembering the words from the antique shopkeeper earlier that day.

The smile that spreads across his face at the sight of the game loading successfully was filled with excitement and relief, clicking on a new slot before pressing play.

“Huh. There's a few glitches in this thing.. heh, must be the age. It did come from the early 2000s.” He snickered, getting used to the controls of the game.

A few hours passed and it was late into the night now when the male began to feel uneasy. He had passed through a few locations in the map and he felt as if something was watching him play. But that was impossible, his parents were sleeping and he was the only child.. it should definitely be impossible, shouldn't it?

He could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand when he finally found the source of his anxiety in the dimly lit room. Eyes widening by a few fractions, he stared at the pixelated character in the background of the screen, blinking in disbelief.

“Is that... The Elegy of Emptiness statue of Link?” He sputters, watching as the pixels shift around, as if reacting to his words.

His fingers shook a little as he held the controller in his hands, chewing on his bottom lip.

“This must be like.. an easter egg or something, right? Yeah, haha, definitely. It's like.. and extra companion.”

The teen thinks to himself, feeling himself calm down at the thought. He disregards the way the statue continues to slink through the map with him, resuming his gameplay.

Things seemed to have calmed down, the male sinking back into his gamer zone but deep down in his stomach he could feel fear bubble. Ever since his revelation the dialogues that he encountered kept glitching, some of the words too pixelated to make out and some even being changed to words like “why?” and “stop”.

He doesn't let the goosebumps stop him though, pushing the sight of the uninvited visitor to the back of his mind as his fingers pressed the buttons to move his character.

But then, things.. went terribly wrong.

“Ah finally, now if I cross this I'm pretty sure I'll get to the other cliffside. Just walk down the bridge and I'll arrive at the next town!” He chirped to himself, eyeing the digital clock on his bedside.

01:34 a.m.

Right as he stepped foot on the long bridge, he heard it. The change of soundtrack from the normal roaming one to a more.. unnerving one. The teen's eyes searched around the screen, unable to find the statue anymore.

“That's funny.. it was there a few minutes ago.” He mutters to himself, continuing to move down the bridge. The music picked up, sharp notes piercing his ears as he watches the pixel water below churn and glitch.

He continues to feel uneasy, breath hitching in his throat when he spots a text box pop up under the Link character. Eyebrows furrowed, he felt ice cold fear wash over him despite being wrapped in a blanket. The text glared at him in the darkness of his bedroom as he jumped when his clock ticked.

02:00 a.m.

“You shouldn't have done that.”

A cold voice rasps, the sound grainy and distorted as it resonates through the headphones he was wearing. He almost screamed, unable to move his fingers to click the next dialogue.

But he didn't have to.

The next text box appeared by itself, again with the same glitchy letters and the same cold, disembodied voice.

“How foolish of you to have continued playing even after knowing there was something wrong with the game. How desperate are you youths to play this wretched game?”

His words couldn't seem to exit his mouth, being stuck in his throat when he froze up in absolute terror. He doesn't know what was going on, who was talking to him? Were these dialogues supposed to be apart of the game?

“You look absolutely terrible, did I scare you? I was waiting for you to finally realize it, take a guess what music is currently playing.”

Without needing to move, he saw his laptop screen lit up from his desk, eyes flying to stare at it in shock. He got up with shaky hands, staring at the game file before falling back onto his bottom.

DROWNED.wmv

He scrambled back to his GameCube, seeing no more glitchy dialogues but his own character nowhere to be seen. He blinks, gasping when he sees he statue yet again, this time it seemed to have his Link avatar in its grasps, dragging it over to the water's edge.

It took him too long to finally process what was happening, and it only hit him full force when he heard the first piercing scream. It was that of a young boy, fearful and pleading as he cried bloody murder. The teen's eyes could only stare helplessly as he watches Link kick and squirm in his statue's grasp, the sound of the struggle evident over the music.

“LET ME GO LET ME GO LET ME GO.”

He fell back in horror when the statue pushed Link's head down into the river, hearing the drowned out screams coming from the still alive Link as he's forced to take the water down his lungs.

The male finally found the courage in him to stand up and make a run for it, right as Link's lifeless body starts floating down the river.

Then again, he was too late.

Right as his fingers touched the doorknob he was flung back to the floor by an unseen entity, groaning in pain. He had hit his head on the desk side, swimming through consciousness and unconsciousness when he felt it.

Drip

Drip

He looked up, about to scream when he had his mouth covered, the man above him giggling from the terrified look on his face. He had no visible eyes to be seen, only pure black voids of his eye sockets and a single red dot as his pupil. What was more unnerving though, was the sight of him seemingly crying with the tears dripping down his cheeksn

And those tears were blood.

The man dragged his limp body to the GameCube, a small flash of light before he no longer felt the carpet of his floor. Instead, he felt cold damp grass underneath his body, looking up to see the moon shining.

His assailant had brought him into the game. He was transported straight into Majora's Mask.

“Y'know, I expected some more struggle from you. Are you just gonna stay there and let me drag you all the way before the inevitable happens?"

The male could only attempt to toss and turn as he was dragged by the legs, finally orienting himself to struggle once he hears the rush of the river a few feet away.

The teen finally screamed, he screamed and kicked and flailed and tried as hard as he could to free himself.

But did he really think his captor would let that happen?

“Aha, now this is more entertaining~ You remind me of myself, far back from now. I was here too, struggling and screaming for my life. But who came for me?”

His eyes grew cold, brushing the bloodied tears away. “No one.”

With that, his assailant tossed him into the river, gripping him by the hair. The man's hair shimmered to an almost silver in the moonlight, though streaks of gold were highlighted by the dim lighting. The teen let out another plead, clawing at the man's fingers to free himself only to elicit another giggle.

“You're funny when you beg.”

SPLASH

He started to flail again, screaming as he feels his lungs burn. He kept struggling, and with every struggle more water enters into his mouth and nose. He screams and screams and screams, the music of DROWNED.wmv getting louder and louder until it stopped.

Yuta hummed, finally loosening his grip on the boy's hair. He watches his lifeless body float down the river in a similar fashion to when he ‘killed’ Link just now, a satisfied grin on his face.

The next thing you know, the mother would go to wake her son up only to find an empty bedroom. It would be classified into one of the many missing children cases, remaining unsolved, forever. No sign of any struggle, no windows opened and nothing out of the ordinary. The only exception was the GameCube, the screen now completely pitch black with a text box in distorted letters.

“You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?”

𝓑𝓔𝓝 𝓓𝓻𝓸𝔀𝓷𝓮𝓭! 𝓝𝓪𝓴𝓪𝓶𝓸𝓽𝓸 𝓨𝓾𝓽𝓪

【Ｔｈｅ　Ｓｅｃｏｎｄ　Ｐａｇｅ】

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙤𝙧: @yanlee @yanlee-spam

𝙑𝙞𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙨 (?): @time-for-confession @m00n-purplerose-chatbot @yourdaddychan @hunter-chaeyoung @domyukhei @amazingspiderhan @yanderexhoshi @yourcupidchuu @m00n-miaka-cb @xx-macabre-chungha-xx @your-jaemin @seventeen-chatbot @soft-hyunjin-chatbot @playboy-jun @leextaeyong @moonlightchn @ateez-zombie-wonderland @camboy-superm @madmanwoodam @midari-jieun @underground-ateez @ghost-hyunjin @gryffindorxjeno @yanderesungie @mafia-chaeyoung @angelhyuck-cb @caretaker-johnny @dancertenbot @roomie-xiaojun @heartbroken-yeji @exoticdancer-chatbot @criminalinvestigator-mingyu @softbf-skz @seoyejibot @lawyer-jungwoo @la-soleilmafia-cb @mafiaxwayv @sk-tao @jungseonghwa @incubuswooyoung @floristluda @empress-jiaqi @yarindere @alteredjiaqi @ateez-treasure9au-chatbot @yandere-jaehyun @spn-seungwoo @demon-nct (DM if you want to be +/- especially if this kind of concept makes you uncomfortable.)

[sillyrabbit81]

Her Heavy Cross

Summary: Three years after tragedy hits, Lana she decides to start dating again. She meets Will through a dating app and they begin an online romance. After months of constant requests, Lana relents and agrees to meet and go on an irl date with Will. But is Will who he says he is? Lana is quickly pulled into an intense relationship forcing her to confront her tragic past. Will Lana face it or will she close her heart forever?

Pairing: OMC x OFC

Word Count: approx 3.6k

Warnings: smut, swearing, Dom vibes, dirty talk

Authors Note: The story started as a Henry Cavill fanfiction but I changed it to be an original character, but shades of Henry are still there. Hope you enjoy the story and thanks for reading.

Part 14 Part 16

Part 15

After lunch, Liam took me on a tour of his house. We skipped the ground floor as I had already seen pretty much everything.

The first floor was a complete mystery to me. First, Liam showed me his study. It had two desks; on one, Liam had a fancy-looking PC, the other had a laptop and scripts and other paperwork scattered around. It had a large built-in bookcase with only a few books in it, most of them mine. I frowned at this. For an avid reader, he had a small collection. There was also a tiny bathroom, a guest bedroom which Liam says sometimes Ryan stays in.

The last room was a cinema room, all painted black with three rows of reclining chairs set on raised platforms with a projector screen. "This is fantastic," I said. There were cupboards, also black to store discs. When I opened them, I saw Liam's movie collection was also surprisingly bare. "For someone in the film industry, you don't have a lot of movies."

"I do, but most of them are back in London. It's the same thing with all my books and half my wardrobe. I don't know how long I'll be here. If the show is a success and gets picked up for another series, I might ship some of it here."

I let his words sink in. I don't know why, but it never really occurred to me that he may pick up and leave in six months. I felt myself close up and shut down. Regret started to set in. I tried to ignore it and tell myself to cross that bridge when the time comes. I forced a smile as I closed the cupboards and said to Liam, "What's next?"

We went up to the second floor. Liam's bedroom was there with another two bedrooms and a sitting room. The final floor was where the real master bedroom was. It had the gorgeous bathroom we were in last night and a huge bedroom that took up nearly the whole space. It had an even bigger wardrobe than Liam's, split in two with distinct areas for each partner. The bedroom had its own lounge area, and the whole room was arranged like a hotel suite complete with en-suite balcony and city views. It was exceptional. I was so blown away by the house, mansion really, that for a while, I forgot to worry about the future.

"Why didn't you use this as your bedroom? It's amazing."

Liam shrugged. "I did when I first moved in. But it was too big for just me. I felt lonely up here, and it was that bit harder for Cole to come and see me. I almost moved down to the first-floor bedroom, but it doesn't have a dressing room, so I went to the one I'm in now. What do you think?"

I was leaning on the balcony railing, looking towards the city. The trees were a colourful mix of green, red and gold. A few were starting to lose their leaves. It was so pretty. I felt Liam come up behind me and wrap his arms around me. He put his chin on my shoulder, and we both looked out towards the city. "Of the house? It's amazing. I don't know how else to describe it. I mean, it's a bit much for me. I'd cry if I had to clean it. But I assume you have cleaners?" Liam nodded. "Yeah, I wouldn't live in a place this big without a cleaner."

"I'm glad you like it. I want you to be comfortable when you come over."

I interlaced my fingers with his and held them against my belly. "I'm definitely comfortable right now." We stood there for a while and relaxed into each other. Thoughts of Liam leaving reared it's ugly head a few times, but I ignored it. Instead, I focused on now. All I could do was enjoy the time I had with Liam and make the best of it.

Soon the wind started to pick up, and I grew cold. Liam took me back inside.

"I've got to work out for a bit," Liam said as we took the stairs down. "Do you think you can keep yourself occupied for an hour or so?"

"I could join you if you want? I didn't go to the gym yesterday so I could do with some exercise."

"Yeah, ok, let do it."

Liam went into his dressing room, and I changed in his room. I put on a pair of white and black ankle grazer tights and a white sports bra. I felt good in it and knew I looked good too. I went over to the chair to put my shoes and socks on and caught Liam looking through the door.

He was dressed already in shorts and a singlet. Guys always seem to get dressed so quickly. It takes me ages to dress unless I'm in a rush. Liam leaned in the doorway, arms crossed over his broad chest, watching me. I ignored him as I did my shoes up.

"You look good in that." He said. I caught myself straightening my back, and a warm tingle flowed through me. I liked his little compliments.

"Thanks," I said, getting up. I put my hair in a ponytail, deliberately sticking my chest out as I did.

"Is that what you normally wear to the gym?"

"I usually wear a singlet over the top."

"But not today?" A smile spread over his face.

I smiled and said airily, "Nope, not today."

"I know what you're doing, Sweetheart." He walked past me, patting my bottom as he did. I tried to look innocent. "Come on. Let's go."

Liam put some music on and got started. Cole heard the music and came in, plopping himself on his mat in the corner. I blocked both of them out as much as I could and focused on the music. I was not going to get caught looking at Liam. I was going to make him look at me.

I got on the bike to do a bit of cardio. After warming up, I spent 10 minutes doing some interval training and worked up a decent sweat. I went over to the barbell, removed several weights, muttering "fucking hero" under my breath. I started my weights with a few sets of deadlifts. I noticed Liam in the corner of my eye with a kettlebell. He was sweaty too and looked amazing doing his lifts, but I pulled my eyes away. He was watching me. Good. I tried hard to keep the smirk off my face, but it was bloody difficult.

I focussed on my next exercise. I changed the weight again for the overhead press. These were hard for me, as my upper body was weaker than my lower body. I did these as quickly as possible because I hated them and only did them now because I knew they would drive Liam to distraction.

I did some goblet squats with a dumbbell before moving to my favourite, the weighted hip thrust. I got the barbell again, sat with my back against a bench, and brought the barbell to my hips. I planted my feet, and exhaling, I leaned back onto the bench, squeezing my glutes until my upper body and hips are straight. Then I lowered and exhaled again and repeated the exercise. When I had finished the set, I lowered myself to the floor and rested.

"Do you do that at the gym?" Liam asked.

I didn't look at him, knowing I would smile if I did. "Yeah. Why? Am I doing it wrong?" I knew full well I was doing it right.

"No, your form is lovely," I ordered myself not to blush. Liam paused and asked, "Are there men at your gym?" Got him.

"Yeah, it's usually 75% men."

"Lucky bastards." I looked at him and giggled. I wanted to smack myself. I was trying to be sexy, not a fucking child. He was sitting on a bench press. His legs were on either side of the bench, and his elbows rested on his knees. He was still sweating, his curls plastered to his forehead. His arms glistened. I wanted him to fuck me so badly.

Composing myself, I said. "I have another set to do."

"I'm finished." He said, "Go ahead. I'll wait."

I got back into position and repeated the set. When I finished, I lowered myself back to the floor. Liam asked. "Done yet?" Liam was standing now. He had moved closer and had his hands on his hips.

"One more." I was excited. My heart rate was raised, not just from the exercise.

Liam growled impatiently.

I started my last set, and my body was trembling. I didn't know if I could do the full set. I was too excited, too turned on. Liam entered my field of vision, watching me as I worked. I wasn't going to be able to do it with him watching. I closed my eyes, found my focus, and continued.

As I finished and rolled the barbell away, Liam lifted it and put it away. I laid down on my back and stretched out my muscles.

Liam stood over me. "You did that on purpose." It wasn't a question.

Still trying to play innocent, I said, "I don't know what you're talking about. I was just working out."

"Get up."

"I'm stretching."

"You're done. Get up."

I smiled at him and put my hand out. "Help me up?"

He grasped my hand and lifted me. He pulled me close and kissed me hard. "You're a fucking tease." He said. He didn't let me go. He held me tighter, his hand resting on my arse.

I started to protest that I didn't know what he was talking about, but he spanked me and said. "Don't deny it." He said, lifting me and wrapping my legs around his waist. "You know you were trying to get me hard." I could feel him against me. It had worked. "Since it worked, you can deal with it." His voice had taken on the gravelly tone he used when he was turned-on. It thrilled me. I put my arms around Liam's neck. Kissing me again, he walked out of the room. His lips tasted salty as I kissed him back.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked.

"I'm giving you what you want. I'm going to fuck you."

"I didn't say that I wanted that," I said. Oh, but I did want that.

"You didn't have to," Liam said. He pushed me against the wall in the elevator as he pressed the button. "You know what to say if you want me to stop." He looked me in the eyes, "Anytime you want me to stop, I will. Don't hesitate or do anything you don't want to." I nodded to show him I understood. "Good."

When the lift opened, he took me to the bathroom we had used last night. I chuckled when I saw his clothes were still in a pile on the floor. He had let the water out of the bath and replaced my robe.

Liam took me over to the shower. "Shoes off," he said, and I took my shoes and socks off while he did the same. "Let your hair down." I pulled the band out and shook my hair until the curls fell around my shoulders. "Take your pants off." I lowered my tights slowly and stepped out of them. Liam did the same I could see how hard he was now. He continued to tell me to undress as he did the same until we both stood, our bodies bare.

He was beautiful standing there naked and hard. His arms looked more impressive than usual because of his work out. I wanted to touch him. I stepped closer to him and put my hand on his bicep. I felt my way up his arm, over his shoulder and across his collarbone. I stood on my toes to kiss his neck while I felt his chest. I reached my hands around his back and pressed myself against him. "Get in," he said. "Hurry."

I let him go and got into the shower. The temperature was perfect, and I let the water run all over me. I ran my hands through my hair to make sure it was all wet before turning around and facing Liam. He turned me around until I met the wall and used his body to shepherd me until my whole body was against it.

The tiles were cold, instantly making my nipples grow hard and tingly, sending ripples of pleasure down to my sex. My arms were pulled behind my back, elbows bent and forearms next to each other. Liam's body pushed into me, holding them there. In this position, I was helpless, and at his will, he could do what he wanted. It excited me. My whole centre throbbed. I wanted him. He was taking too long.

Liam's knees forced my legs apart, and I could feel my slick arousal on my thighs. He tilted my hips so my bottom jutted out. I thought of how I must look, arse out, legs apart, arms behind my back with my breasts and face pushed into the wall, his huge body covering mine. He leaned his head on the tiles next to mine, and his teeth nipped at my ear. I shivered in pleasure, in desperation and need.

I cried out in shock and relief as I felt Liam's fingers reaching around and parting my slit. "Fuck," he growled into my ear. "You feel so fucking good." He found my clit and played with me.

I cried out. I was so aroused I was almost too sensitive for his touch to feel good. I tried to pull away, but Liam's hold was firm. His fingers followed my every movement, not willing to let go until their mission was complete. He kissed and bit my neck and shoulders, adding more sensations to my already overwhelmed body. I didn't think I'd be able to take it.

Then it felt good, better than good, and I was able to stay still and let him have me. Liam's fingers danced over me. My cries quickened, and my body felt tight. I knew my climax was fast approaching.

Liam knew too. "Are you going to cum, Lana?" He stopped kissing me and watched my face. I couldn't say anything. I was too strung out, too close. I nodded as best I could. Liam put his hand into my hair and pulled my head back.

"After you cum I'm going to stick my cock into your tight wet pussy and fuck you until I cum. Is that what you wanted, Lana? Is that what you wanted when you got dressed in your skin-tight clothes? When you wore that bra that pushed your perky little tits together? When you lifted those weights, and I had to watch you thrust your arse and hips around? Is this what you wanted?" I tied to say yes, but instead, I came undone.

Liam kissed me, his mouth consuming me, his tongue owning my mouth as little aftershocks rippled through me. He took what little breath I had, and I was left gasping. The sound of the shower was suddenly thunderous in my ears as my senses returned. The stream of water was hot against my cooling skin, but it felt good. I was still gasping when I felt Liam's cock at my entrance. He stood up straight, releasing my hair and arms. Although they ached, I put my arms against the wall to brace for what I knew was to come.

His hands steadied my hips as his cock parted me, opening me up to him. I heard him groan as he entered me. I was tight from my orgasm, but I was so wet and relaxed he slid in quickly. His size stretched me until I was full, and he had sheathed himself completely. He wasted no time and immediately ploughed into me. Each thrust was rough, almost reaching the point of painful, but always just shy. I pushed back into him, arching my back further to give his movements more room.

His fingers dug deep into my hips as he forced them back to meet his. Each push seemed to elicit a deep exhale from Liam's throat, a growl that grew more shallow with each moment. I heard him bellow as his hands reached up for my shoulders. He pulled my shoulders down as he pushed so hard into me, I thought I would split in two. He held me there for a moment as he let go into me, and I cried out, unsure if it hurt or felt like heaven. I felt him release inside me, pulling me down while he pushed into me. I almost cried no more, but it would have been a lie because the hurt was too sweet.

Liam's head lulled onto my back as he released my shoulders and regained his breath. He lifted his head to turn me around. With my back against the tiles, he once more leaned into me, this time just to hold me, his head buried in my neck. I held him to me, wanting his comfort, and he kissed my neck softly, moving up to my face and kissing my lips.

He was smiling as he brushed my hair off my face. Then he moved me under the water. He found the body wash, couldn't find a sponge or anything so he just used his hands to wash me. He ran his hands all over my body, and it felt heavenly. He rubbed my shoulders, massaging deep into me, his thumbs moving so deeply they almost hurt. Any tension I had left fell away, and I felt light and free. He gave himself a quick wash before he stepped out and brought me a robe and slipped one on himself.

"Finally, you decide to cover up," I said as I watched him use a towel to dry his hair. His curls were a cute little mess on his head almost fluffing up like a duckling.

"Yeah, righto mate." He said, using my slang back at me.

I laughed. "Seems I'll make an Aussie out of you yet."

"Pull your head in," Liam said, complete with a halfway decent accent.

"What the hell? I don't think I've told you that one!"

Liam smiled and kissed me on the nose. "That one I learned from Boyd."

"Who's Boyd?"

"Boyd McCarthy. He is going to play my best friend. He's helped me out with a few phrases. However, I don't entirely trust him. He tried to get me to believe in drop bears."

"I like him already," I said as I gathered my clothes.

"Well, you'll meet him on Thursday."

"I still don't know what to wear to that."

Liam had his clothes, and we went downstairs. "I can take you shopping tomorrow if you'd like."

"I wouldn't even know where to start."

"Usually, high-end fashion boutiques or department stores."

I thought for a minute. We had arrived in the bedroom, and Liam went into his dressing room.

"Ok. I think a department store. They will have everything I need, shoes and a bag. We won't have to go to a million places."

"If you want to go to a few boutiques as well, I don't mind. We can take as long as you want."

I shook my head. "I don't like clothes shopping. I order most of my stuff online. I'd rather spend a day online shopping than dealing with crowds in shopping centres. I'm only agreeing to go into a shop because I have no idea what's in fashion or if I enough time to get the right dress online." I looked at my bag, "Hey Liam, what are we doing for dinner? Are we staying in?"

"What does it look like?" Liam came out in his tracksuit pants.

"Fair enough, tracky dacks it is."

Part 16