#tell everyone you know that you love them and today is basking shark day

[kriskross]

have you told your local basking shark that you love them?

[woniepop]

TYPES OF DATES ENHYPEN WOULD TAKE YOU ON!

Pairings: Enhypen x Gender Neutral! Reader

Warnings: cursing and mentions of alcohol if you squint

Word Count: about 300 - 400 per member

a/n: this is my first enhypen work if it sucks pls tell me LOL I ALSO LEFT HEESUNGS ON A SAD NOTE OOPS. Also I wrote some of this at 2 am and it is raining so hard. I live in SoCal and I feel like I can’t function when it rains so I had to blast music in my headphones but it’s okay Iz*one’s Fiesta is top tier. I did not mean for it to turn out this long lol.

༑ ࿐ྂ。Lee Heesung

- Karaoke

Sitting on the couch of the private karaoke room, exhausted having just sung and danced all of I Can’t Stop Me, Heesung reaches out to take some of the kimbap you had made together before karaoke happened, kind of like two dates in one day. Since he was always busy, he wanted to spend the most amount of time he could with you this weekend, in case he couldn’t meet you the next. Heesung always did a great job of making you feel loved and appreciated, and today he especially wanted to give all his love and attention to you.

“We should rap all of Canceled in one breathe” Heesung suggests, knowing it was a whole three minute song. Although you know you’d die, you nod excitedly, ready to shout at the top of your lungs “THIS YOU?” because Tana definitely gets canceled every 5-7 business days. He starts off the song, both screaming at the top of your lungs, starting off with Bryce Hall 😼. The song goes very swimmingly actually, definitely taking more than one or two breathes.

Taking a call from your phone, you step outside so as to not disturb the caller with Shake it Off. Your mother wanted you home soon, but you desperately wanted to spend more time with Heesung. Stepping back into the room, you decide one more song is short enough to catch the last train home, you grab the remote and pick your last song, Perfect. It was definitely slower paced than the songs you had sang before but you wanted to have at least one moment of romance before it’s completely dead. Taking your hands, he wraps them around his neck and places his hands on your hips and sways side to side as he sings every word beautifully. Even if you could sing as good as him, he was always so hypnotizing when he sang to you. Ending the song with a kiss, you guys both pull away, very sad at the fact that the night has come to an end.

THE REST ARE UNDER THE CUT!!

༑ ࿐ྂ。Jay Park

- Aquarium

- Aquarium

Walking through the hallways hand in hand, you enjoy each other’s presence while admiring all the children excited about the stingray that just swam by. Watching Jay’s face light up when he had finally found the sea otters, you giggle at how cute it was. “Look at all the baby sea otters, Y/n, they’re so cute ahhhh'' He says eagerly. Pulling out your phone to take a picture of him, he grabs your hand and takes your phone. “No, Y/n, we have to take this picture togetherrrr.” he whines. Sighing, you agree and wait for him to find someone to help take the picture for him, obviously right next to the sea otters. 

Continuing down the aquarium building, you find the automatic sliding door leading to the outside. Knowing exactly what lies beyond those doors, you pull Jay’s hand and rush out. As a kid, you loved coming to the aquarium to spend time at the petting tank, and now you got to experience it with Jay. Finding a spot at the tank, you dip your hand in and touch the bamboo sharks. You sigh in relief at the nostalgia of it, and turn your head to Jay. “Don’t you want to touch them too?” You ask innocently. Faced flushed, he frantically shakes his head, giving you a blatant no.

Laying your head on his shoulder, you bask in his presence, exhausted by the exciting day you had. Turning on his phone to check the time, you notice he’d set his lockscreen to you. “Did you take that while I was petting the sharks?” Embarrassed, he turns away and avoids the question. “HEY, I could take a picture of you alone for my wallpaper but you could??? Why is this so unfair???” you ask. 

“Because…” He says with a sheepish smile on his face. You quickly take out your phone and snap a picture. After a moment of playful fighting and begging to delete the photo on Jay’s end, he ultimately gave up and let you save it as your lock screen as well.

༑ ࿐ྂ。Jake Sim

- Laser tag

Having Jake as a partner, he’d always taken you on more high energy, adrenaline rushing dates, and today was no different. This date, however, he decided to take you to play laser tag, something you had never done before. Entering the lobby, you both decide to be on the same team for the first round, which helped you feel a bit of relief. Choosing a vest to put on, you get very very tangled in it, which causes Jake to laugh a bit but he eventually helps you out.

During your first round, Jake helps you out, staying by your side the entire time and even holding your hand to lead you through the room. It felt really nice, seeing him so protective of you in the moment, but you knew better than to like the thought of it too much, because the next round was going to be a lot different. Unexpectedly, your team lost, which made Jake feel even more competitive and pumped up for the next round.

The next round starts, and surprise!!!!! You and Jake are on opposing teams. It starts off very well actually :D. As soon as you enter the room, your heart starts beating out of your chest and you’re so nervous to be alone. Cautiously maneuvering through the hallways, you scan the premises thoroughly, knowing if Jake ever sees you throughout the game you’d be screwed. Surprisingly enough, you go a bit of time before you hear your vest’s alarm go off, signalling to you that someone has gotten you. You look all around you taking some time before finding Jake crouching on the other side of the wall. You run to the other side of the same wall, and decide to scare him before he could shoot you again. It works out very well, because the next time you see him, he screams and drops to the floor in shock. Taking this chance, you shoot his vest and run away, leaving him no time to get you back.

༑ ࿐ྂ。Park Sunghoon

- Birthday Party

Laying on the floor of your living room with Sunghoon, you lie on your back, trying to cool your body down as much as possible. The hot and humid Korean summers were definitely always fun, but not when you were craving cuddles. Thinking of activities the both of you could do without overheating, you think back to how refreshing all the ice cream was at your friend’s recent birthday party. Although it wasn’t even close to your guys’ birthdays, it gave you a great idea. You shoot up and rush to get dressed, leaving Sunghoon very confused. 

Finished, you come back to the living room. “Sunghoon, get dressed. We’re going to the market.” Without question, he does as you ask and you both head to the market in no time. 

Walking hand in hand down the ice cream aisle, you grab all the flavors you enjoy, filling your whole basket with different ice creams, toppings, fruit, drinks, and even a cake. “You’re quite hungry, aren’t you?” Sunghoon teases, earning him a slap to the arm.

As soon as you get home, you send Sunghoon alone to the bedroom, telling him you need time to prepare everything. You had pulled all the stops, whipping out the cheap snoopy shaved ice maker, birthday party hats, streamers, balloons, and banners. It was no one’s birthday in particular, but the fake birthday party put you in a festive and refreshing mood. You had set up a giant ice cream sundae bar, and had even made lemonade. 

Calling Sunghoon to come out of the bedroom, he was not surprised but very appreciative. He knew you’d pull sh!t like this Wanting to make it even more fun, he suggests to make sundaes for one another, which you happily agree to. The day was so fun, you had forgotten all about the time you had a few hours earlier, suffering in the heat of your apartment. 

Sunghoon on the other hand, was so happy that you planned something like this. He was never one to do anything cute for you unless you asked, begged so this time he wanted to show you how grateful he was to you by giving you one FREE boop on the nose. Scooping some ice cream with his fingertip, he lightly taps your nose, leaving the melted strawberry ice cream to drip off your nose.

༑ ࿐ྂ。Kim Sunoo

- Brunch

Being a foodie yourself, you and Sunoo would always go cafe hopping to try out different desserts and drinks. This Saturday morning in particular, you both decided it was time for a change. This change for the greater good would include brunching for hours like stuck up rich moms and judging everyone in the facility, as you do when you are a brunching mother. Dressing in your finest brunching attire and of course, sunglasses, your waiter leads you to the table and you strut down that walkway like you know the difference between regular and Belgian waffles.

Crossing your legs at the same time and sipping your orange juice, wishing you could have added some champagne. Your orders finally arrive, having ordered the classic avocado toast and eggs benedict. Starting with the avocado toast, as per tradition, you and Sunoo construct the perfect first bite, shove it into your mouths, make eye contact and a disgusted face, even though it was very obvious that you guys thought it was delicious.

“I feel they nailed the seasoning because avocado, egg, and bread are known to be very bland flavors. The poached egg was perfectly runny in the middle, which was so satisfying to me, especially knowing that the chef can actually cook an egg right.” You start off, pretending you were some high status food critic, above Gordon Ramsey almost.

Sunoo takes his spoon and splits apart the poached egg on the eggs benedict. The egg just so happened to be a tad bit overcooked and the yolk didn’t rush out as smoothly as the other one did. You make eye contact with Sunoo, the most disgusted look plastered on your faces. A couple seconds pass by and you burst out laughing, forgetting about the egg yolk and shoving a huge bite straight into your face.

༑ ࿐ྂ。Yang Jungwon

- Zoo

When you first suggested going to the zoo with Jungwon he looked at you with a confused face. He loved spending time with you, but why the zoo? It’s stinky and there are too many children everywhere. Nevertheless, after much convincing, he gave in and went with you. The screams of all the tiny children were giving him a headache, but he kept reminding himself he was here for you. Seeing the alligators first, it was definitely acting up and snapping its mouth very angrily and hissing. Just because he wanted to be nice by coming to the zoo with you, didn’t mean he was going to hold back on his snide remarks. 

“That’s you that one time I accidentally ate your pastry.” He comments. Rolling your eyes and smacking him in the arm, you continue on the path looking at all the animals in awe. The whole time you walked around you bickered back and forth, many “That’s you when/cause”s being thrown around mercilessly. 

The comment that took the cake and left both of you speechless was one made by you. Walking towards the flamingos, everyone knows them for being notoriously stinky. Pinching your nose to go with the comment you were about to say, you chuckle. “It smells like that one time you accidentally farted in your VLive.” you manage to get out with a straight face. I made that up lol

Jungwon stops in his tracks, looking at you like you had just betrayed him. .He stomps his feet on the floor and whines in the middle of the walkway. “Y/nnnnnn you know I’m sensitive about thatttt.” The time you spend with him after you get home consists of him clinging to you, demanding your undivided attention, cuddles and kissies, and for you to blow dry his hair after he showers. 

༑ ࿐ྂ。Nishimura Riki

- eating competition

Watching mukbangs all day and cuddling with Niki definitely got both of you hungry pretty quickly. With Niki being a bit homesick and you wanting to improve your cooking, a great idea pops into your heads. You wanted to cook Japanese food for Niki, hoping to aid his homesickness, and Niki wanted to see how much food he could shove down his face until he explodes. And with that, your whole date had become a food eating competition. 

Setting all the food down on the table, you had done a very good job. Working your ass off to make not only omurice with curry, but also yakisoba and fried chicken, you were very ready to start your whole competition. Portioning it out evenly with a scale beforehand, you and Niki countdown together and start scarfing down food like you’ve never eaten before. With a mouth full of rice, Niki manages to get out a “It’s really good.” Knowing he liked your food made you feel so proud even though you had just shoved a whole piece of fried chicken in your mouth. 

Several minutes, three enhypen members walking past you judgmentally, and 10 napkins later, you and Niki were too stuffed you even have food this close to you. Queue the rest of the enhypen members, they oh so generously gave you their service and finished the food for you guys. Concluding that you and Niki could not in fact eat two family sized meals in one sitting, you lie on the couch about to pass out. 

“That was so fun. We should do that again.” Niki says while groaning from stomach pain. “And thank you for thinking about my homesickness and making me Japanese food. I love you so much.” He adds. Ending the day with complaining about being too full, planning the next competition, and even inviting the other members, you both pass out an hour after you had eaten and were punished with the dishes in the morning for being cringely in love out in the open like that. 

[lizzy-of-the-valley19]

Fall From Grace, Right Into Your Arms.

Summary: An angel had fallen out of the sky, straight into his arms. Her lovely, glittering amethyst eyes met his wide, soulful, burgundy ones. She thought of how they reminded her of the sky at the blush of dawn. And at that moment, something within them sparked a brand new start on feelings they never knew existed. Oh, how she felt wonderstruck right then, marveling at how pretty his eyes were..." Or rather, this one time where Tsuyuri Kanao's 'superior motor reflexes' did not work. Set in Kimetsu Gakuen AU.

Note: This is very self-indulgent so here’s my first take on one certain sunshine lad and butterfly lass. Shoutout to @sparkleswritings​ for being so patient with me on beta-reading this work. thaaaaankkkk youuuuu so much I couldn’t have done this without your help T_T Also, thank you very much Manu of @tankanaweek2020​ for kindly giving me permission to use the prompts and motivating me to greenlit this! And I’m sooo sorry this came in verrry late and for some marginal errors! But better late than never, right?  Hope you enjoy lovelies! :D

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She thought this was the end.

Time flowed around her as if in slow motion yet fast, all at once. The girl was startled by a loud ‘snap!’ from a loose tree branch that she has been holding on to guarantee her safe descent from the cherry tree. And just her luck, she suddenly lost her footing and slipped. With a startled yelp, gravity took over her body as Tsuyuri Kanao felt herself slip away from her hold. For once, her fast reflexes and nimble body were rendered useless when her anxiety suddenly kicked in.

She'll have some broken bones, a few bruises, and cuts, maybe even some blood (she hopes not) all over her body. Her Kanae nee-san would be worried sick and would fuss over her nonstop. Shinobu nee-san would still do the same but she'll give her one hell of a lecture full of poisonous quips. And oh dear, Kanao does not want that. They would skin her alive, that's for sure if she had not died here first.

Had she lived a life with no regrets? Were the last sixteen years of her existence worth it? Will she meet her biological parents in heaven? What or who would she reincarnate into, she wonders. Would the words "Cause of death: A bad fall due to a misstep from a broken branch of a cherry blossom tree" be etched forever in her death certificate? She feels ashamed, this is embarrassing compared to those who died fighting disease and war!

At least those baby sparrows didn't get hurt and were placed back safe and sound , she hoped that their mother would find her nest soon. Kanao doesn't mind if she'd die knowing that she'd rescued something or someone. What a pretty sight, the last thing that she sees on Earth is this old cherry blossom tree in full bloom.

Ah, perhaps that she might become a spirit and haunt this tree to watch over her sisters and the other students at her school. Is this one of those, "When your whole life flashes before your eyes," moments that she has often heard from movies or books?

But here she was right now, her face and skin getting scratched from tree branches and her body was slowly hurtling towards the ground from a 30-foot drop. As she braces for impact, she instinctively wraps her arms closer over her chest, scrunching her eyes shut as the ground approaches nearer and nearer.

How did she get into this mess anyway?

*20 minutes earlier*

"Kanao, I'll be going home earlier today. Mom needs me to help her at the diner because you know… today's Friday and more customers are going to pour in during suppertime. Are you sure you're gonna be okay on your own?" Kanzaki Aoi queried her friend as she adjusted the straps of her bag, slightly worried at her. Club sessions were already done several minutes ago, and the two had just finished cleaning the clubroom.

Kanao shook her head, smiling a bit. "Thank you, Aoi. Besides, I'll be fine! I'll just wait for Shinobu nee-san when she's done with her club activities. I'll lock up the clubroom for today." Aoi was about to say something when a sudden chime made the pigtailed girl flinch, fishing out her phone from her skirt pocket.

"Oh dear, Mom's already calling for me! Gotta run now, bye! And tell Shinobu-sama I said congratulations on passing her exams!" She began to dash to the door, muttering about 'orders' and 'customers'.

Kanao waved at her retreating figure, slightly amused at her friend's antics.

Shortly after Aoi left, the clubroom seemed to be quieter now. The distant holler of the students from sports clubs doing their drills outside is all she can hear at that moment.

Oh… she's now all alone. She still has a bit of time on her own.

Kanae nee-san was still at the meeting with the faculty. Shinobu nee-san, meanwhile,  was still at the Biology room where she convened with the rest of her fellow Pharmaceutical Club members, no doubt testing another poisonous chemical that they had just concocted with ingredients only-God-knows-where came from.

Gathering her things, she exited the Flower Arrangement Clubroom and locked it.

‘Perhaps I'll go to the old cherry tree at the back of the school.’ she mused.It was spring, after all, and she wanted to see what it would look like when it blooms in full swing. The sun was already setting, casting the sky in a rosy hue, basking her surroundings in a warm, golden glow.

By the time she had arrived there, she felt her breath take away at the lovely sight before her. The delicate pink petals fell to the ground like snow, their scent bringing in the fragrance of the new season. The windy breeze swayed the branches slightly, dancing along the springsong. Spring was indeed her favorite season. The flowers blooming, the sweet sakura mochi that she and her sisters would always share while celebrating Hanami, and the warm weather were the few things that she loved about spring. Kanao feels her heart swell with bliss. For her, such moments like these are the ones she cherishes the most.

She also remembered, her sisters would always fawn over spring, gushing that this season was the best time to fall in love for the first time-

"Cheep! Cheep! Cheep!"

"Eh? Birds?" A loud chirping noise interrupted her train of thoughts. A few feet away from her, a fallen nest of baby sparrows laid haphazardly on the ground, no doubt being blown away by the wind. It seems that the thick carpets of grass and cherry blossom petals had somehow cushioned the nest's fall, miraculously rendering the chicks still alive and yet.. Helpless. The girl approached the nest and picked it up gently, making sure the little birds wouldn't get hurt in the process.

"Poor little things. I'll bring you guys back up to the tree, I'm sure your mother is looking for you..."

She craned her head from left to right, checking to see if anybody was around. It would be very improper of her to climb a tree if someone saw her - she'll be damned if it was Tomioka-sensei, their P.E.teacher, and school disciplinarian. The latter had the reputation of hunting rule-breakers like a crazed shark on shallow waters. And she was still dressed in her school uniform with an above-the-knee skirt. If some poor unfortunate soul would see what's under it, she'd made sure that they would never see the light of the day again.

After making sure that no one was indeed around, she slipped off her loafers and started to climb the tree while her one hand held the nest securely. Luckily the tree's trunk had a lot of bumps so it is easier for her to climb the way up. Though she did struggle a bit along the way, she reached near the canopy of the cherry tree successfully.

"There." She spotted a nearby branch dotted with buds, thick and sturdy enough, she remarked. "That'll hold them." she thought, and she pulled her body up to the said branch, sliding the nest to the branch until the twigs held them secure. Kanao smiled, feeling accomplished that she put the baby birds back where they belong.

Now that both of her hands are free, she moved to begin her way down. But suddenly her sock-clad foot took a misstep on a knobby part of the trunk and the branch that she held on to broke. Unfortunately, it was a thin, hollow branch and it broke on her tight grip. Shoot, she should've removed her socks back then to avoid her from slipping. But it was too late - losing her balance, Kanao felt her right hand getting scraped as she slipped off the branch, her body slowly hurtling to the ground the same way the cherry blossom petals fell…

*Back to the present*

No,no,no,no,no,no,no… These words were repeated on her mind like a broken record. This is it, she's going to die, this is the end. But a part of her wished that she wouldn't die yet. She wanted to see her older sisters again, to spend more time with them. With her fellow club members, Aoi, everyone…

"WATCH OUT!" She heard a voice from somewhere down below, but what happened next was not one that she was expecting.

The sudden thud of a fallen branch, the wind picking up, and a person groaning and wincing in pain-

Instead of falling onto the hard, solid, grass-covered ground, she felt two strong arms holding her back and the back of her knees. She landed on a body, a man’s to be exact, judging by the hardiness of it. She gripped his broad shoulders a bit too strongly, her body instinctively seeking an anchor to hold on to. She still scrunched her eyes shut, adrenaline pumping in her veins wildly, her breathing ragged.

"Are you alright, Miss? That was quite the fall that you had..." the words died by his throat as Kanao snapped her eyes open. This time, she felt her breath taken away for the second time that day the moment their eyes met.

Her (unexpected) savior was a young man about her age; with messy, slicked back maroon hair, a noticeable scar on his forehead, and hanafuda earrings dangling on his ears. But one feature that stood out the most is his eyes - wide, soulful burgundy ones that reminded her of the sky in the blush of dawn that seemed to shine against the sunset's golden rays. He stared at her with his lips parted, almost in disbelief that this random beautiful girl fell right into his arms.

As if on cue the wind picked up once more, sending the petals scattering on a graceful dance on the air. Her heart thumping wildly, all she can hear is her heartbeat ringing loudly in her ears. She and this handsome stranger looked at each other, her wide amethyst eyes meeting his dawn-red ones. Their faces were only centimeters apart, noses almost touching. She was rendered wonderstruck, marveling at how lovely his eyes were, his gaze was magnetic and deep as if they saw each other's souls at that moment, beckoning-

The school's last bell snapped them out of their reverie, breaking whatever spell that was cast in that ephemeral moment. The realization hit them like a ton of bricks as she just processed what happened: she crash-landed on some random guy and fortunately caught her ungraceful fall from the tree. With a yelp, she flailed off his arms and the young man grunted with an 'oof!' but still he helped her down, albeit a bit too unceremoniously.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!!! Are you okay? Are you hurt?" She flailed, oh dear spirits, she hoped that whoever caught her was alright or she has broken anything! Really, what was she thinking?!

"No, no, no, it's really alright! I'm okay!" The young man in front of her flailed his arms as he helped her up. Their eyes met again, this time a hint of crimson dusted their cheeks. The two instinctively averted their eyes, too embarrassed at the events that just happened. For her being caught by a random stranger was rather shameful and for him, he was rather flustered of the girl before him.

A few beats later, Kanao gathered herself. She slipped her loafers back on and gathered her bag from the ground. With newfound courage, she apologized to him once again. "I'm sorry! I've crash-landed on you… Are you okay? Are you hurt somewhere? Did something break? I'm very, very sorry!"

To her surprise, he chuckled. "It's okay, I promise! Don't worry, I've had worse. I have a friend who loves to roughhouse with me and boy, it's like I'm fighting with a wild bear or a four-legged beast!"

"I... I see..." Kanao raised her hand but she suddenly flinched, feeling a sudden shot of pain, particularly at her right palm.

"Your palm, it's bleeding..." He noted, and she raised it. He was right - a gash was blooming on it, slightly bloodied due to the broken branch that she held on mistakenly earlier that caused her (literal) downfall. Thank goodness there were no splinters. She touched her wound gingerly, wincing at the slight pain. "Ow..."

"If you don't mind, can I tend your wound for a bit?" The red-haired lad implored. Kanao was about to refuse when he fished out a handkerchief with a forest green and black checkered design from his pocket.

"Don't worry, this one's clean! My little sister, Nezuko, made this handkerchief by herself! This should stop the bleeding in the meantime," He stepped closer to her. Then he proceeded to wrap her wounded palm gently, making sure that it's not too tight. "There we go..all done!"

"Th-thank you….” she timidly thanked him, gently prodding her newly wrapped palm.

"It's no problem at all!" He cheerily replied. She looked up to him and he gave her a radiant grin - the kind where his eyes crinkled at the corners, the dimples on his cheeks showing. Kanao felt her heart skip a beat.

'He's such a kind person… He looks adorable with that smile of his-'

Wait, what?

"By the way... what were you doing up there in the tree?" he queried with his brows raised, pointing at the canopy above them.

"Oh! I.. uh.. I was returning the baby sparrows' nest there," she said, motioning for him to follow where she pointed on a branch that's quite… high. She gulped, he wasn't kidding that she'll quite have an incident, heaven forbid. Right now, the mother sparrow was now back on the nest, feeding her chicks with the food she brought for them.

"I see! Good thing I just came by, I was just about to head to the front gate! Who knows what could've happened to you or the nest, I mean, that's quite the drop, don't you think? You should be extra careful next time!" he chided her, but with no bite. His light-hearted tone somehow reminds her of Kanae nee-san admonishing her sometimes.

"I couldn't just leave them here on the ground..." Kanao trailed off, pushing a stray strand to her ear. She looked shyly at him.

"Oh… You're very kind to animals, Miss... Ah, I forgot to introduce myself! I'm Kamado Tanjirou, a first-year student! Nice to meet you! " He bowed, albeit sloppily, and took out his hand, which made the girl in front of him giggle.

"Tsuyuri."

"Eh?"

"Tsuyuri Kanao. Second-year, member of the Flower Arrangement Club. Um..." she gathered herself, "Thank you! For.. um, catching me, I mean. And for treating my wound!" she frantically clarified, and took his extended hand.

"You're very welcome, Tsuyuri-senpai..." Tanjirou's crooked yet bright smile once again graced his features, directed at her only. Once their hands made contact that inexplicable tingly and fluttery sensation coursed through their veins once more.

It’s like earlier, the moment our eyes first met.  

They just stood there, his dawn-red eyes meeting her amethyst ones, both of their lips drawn into a soft smile. In that ephemeral moment, she felt something piercing her heart, perhaps the season was getting on to her. She must admit, this feels nice…. Is this what her sisters meant about spring?

He was the first one to relinquish his hand from her hold. For some reason, she's now missing the warmth in her hand.

"It's gonna get dark soon, we should head home, huh?" She heard him mutter. She silently agreed, now trailing beside him. Leaving one last glance at the blooming tree, they left the place together. Tanjirou was now enthusiastically talking about bread and the bakery that his family owns. As they approached the school gates, Kanao already spotted her two elder sisters there, waiting for her.

"Oh, Kanae nee-san and Shinobu nee-san's already there," she remarked.

"They're your sisters?!" Tanjirou exclaimed.

"That's right!" she quipped, giggling a bit at his bewildered expression.

"Yoo-hoo, Kanao! And oh my, Kamado-kun too!" Kanae cheerily waved at them. Shinobu greeted them with a smile too. But when she spotted Kanao's wrapped right hand, her eyebrows shot up. She looked at her little sister in question. Kanao pursed her lips guiltily, mouthing "Later."

"Well then, I'll be taking my leave now! I'll see you next Monday, Kochou-sensei! Shinobu-senpai! And..." Tanjirou paused to look at her, smiling crookedly at her again. "Tsuyuri-senpai!" With a wave, the red-haired lad trotted off.

Kanao waved at him, whispering, "Take care..."

Once Tanjirou was out of earshot, two pairs of hands immediately fell to her shoulders and she turned to see her two sisters smiling sweetly at her. Kanae's eyes were shining with excitement and joy. Shinobu, meanwhile, smiled at her graciously too, but her expression literally said, “Explain or I’ll extract from it to you forcibly”.

Oh no. Once intrigue swept over them, they would never stop.

"My oh my Kanao. Care to tell the story between you and Kamado-kun, hmm? And what's up with your wrapped hand?" Shinobu said sweetly but laced with a little apprehension.

"Ahh! Shinobu, spring has finally come for our cute little sister, I'm so proud of her~! Let's eat some sakura mochi for dessert later, we have lots to celebrate for tonight!" Kanae passionately declared while she grabbed Kanao in a one-armed hug.

"Nee-san! We have to treat her wound first!" Shinobu said exasperatedly, raising her little sister's hand for her to see.

"Oh my~! Kamado-kun did a great job patching her up, no? I'll give him some extra points in the next class for this! He deserves a reward for treating our cute little sister~!" Kanae ignored her younger sister's quips, too excited that her Kanao had finally found a friend of the opposite sex (and a potential little brother too!)

"Isn't that a bit too much, nee=san? And you, Kanao, I didn't know you're now canoodling with rule-breakers? I see that boy running into trouble with Tomioka-sensei all the time!" Shinobu quipped.

"N-no! It wasn't anything like that!" Kanao stammered, her cheeks and ears now fully red.

Kanae giggled. Then she wrapped her arms around their shoulders, with Shinobu on her left, and Kanao on her right. "Let's go home now shall we? We can tell each other's stories tonight! I'm also curious about what happened to you Kanao. Shinobu, take it a little easy for our little sister, she's now starting to bloom and broke out of her timid shell!"

The two butterfly girls sighed but smiled fondly at their elder sister nonetheless. "Yes, nee-san.."

----------------

"I'm home!"

"Welcome back, onii-chan!" Tanjirou's little siblings, Hanako and Shigeru, greeted their eldest brother, running up to him for a quick hug. The oldest Kamado sibling immediately hugged them both tightly.

"You're a little late than usual today Tanjirou-nii chan, did something happen at school?" Hanako questioned after he set them down.

"Well..." he averted his gaze, picking on his blazer until he found a stray small cherry blossom flower that somewhat got stuck in his breast pocket.  Ah, a small remnant of that 'little incident' a while ago… and her image suddenly flashed in his mind

"An angel from the sky fell right into my arms and she had the most beautiful eyes that I've ever seen..." Tanjirou unknowingly mused, holding the small flower in his fingers with a wistful smile.

Hanako and Shigeru tilted their heads at their elder brother's mysterious words. “What are you talking about nii-chan?”

Instead of answering, he just patted their heads lovingly. "Ah, nothing. Let's help mom prepare dinner, shall we?"

~End of Prompt One~

[jaeminlore]

Darlin’ | Lucas

summary: i love the way you soften my life with your love

words: 4K+

category: biker!lucas, fluff, tattooist on the boardwalk!lucas, reader just wants some sun

“I told you, I don’t want to move.” You open one eye and squint towards your best friend, Hana, who for some reason can never sit still.

It’s summer break, you can’t help but think. Exams just ended and it’s time to stay on the beach every day until you turn into a merperson. Summers in Salos are the best for this reason, and you have decided to spend your first week of summer promptly sleeping on the beach. 

Hana doesn’t know how to relax, or rather, doesn’t know how to stop putting her nose in places that don’t belong. “But the bike show is starting today. There are going to be so many hot guys and girls there with their bikes.”

“I want a bike,” you grumble. Your timer beeps, so you restart it and turn on your back. “Go check them out and I’ll be here.”

Hana whines and pulls the hem of your bottoms, letting the waistband snap against your skin. “I can’t go alone!”

“Ow!” You rub at your waist. “I’m coming, okay? But you’re buying me dinner afterward.”

“Whatever,” Hana grabs your arm as soon as you’re done covering your top half with a hoodie. “Let’s go, I heard that all those hot tattoo artists have their bikes set up in front of their shop.”

You know what shop she’s talking about. It’s Neo Tattoos, owned by a few handsome, yet intimidating boys. They’re often the center of attention at most beach parties, always revving their bikes too loud in the parking lot just beside the beach. Parties with them are always exciting, because they come armed with a stick and poke gun and a business card for the customer’s more sober morning, where they can cover up what they drunkenly got at the party. 

Businessmen, for sure.

“What do you even do at a bike show?” You grab your bag and swing it over your shoulder. Hana barely waits for you to slip your sandals on before she’s forcing you to trudge up the sand dunes, past the snow cone cart, up to one of the many boardwalk entrances. 

An entire part of the boardwalk is set up with bikes. People’s motorcycles line the pathways, and their owners just sit in lawn chairs with cups of beer, waiting for someone to come up and spark a conversation about their souped up motor vehicles. Tourists fall right into the trap, traveling to the island just to take a peak at what these people have been working on for the entire year.

You like the show, mostly because you have sort of always wanted a motorbike, and these shows are a nice chance to find people willing to seek their old rides. But they can be terribly boring, and you have no idea why Hana would put the two of you through it. Even if there are cute boys attending.

Neo Tattoos sits further down the boardwalk, away from the pier and closer to the nightlife scene. Bars and restaurants line the boardwalk for people who have spent their entire day shopping or swimming. There’s a club somewhere around here, run by the same people who keep the karaoke cabana down by the beach up and running.

You stop on the way, looking at the different bikes. Hana drags you on, and the two of you stop just in front of the tattoo parlor.

The place doesn’t look like it belongs in front of a beach. The entire storefront is made of black bricks, all splattered with different neon paint. It looks cool at night, the neon paint glows in the dark and draws excited university students in. 

You’ve considered getting a tattoo there, but you aren’t sure you what design you want. Even if you did, you might go to a different one just to escape the embarrassment that is Hana around cute boys.

Apparently today, you don’t get a choice. 

There’s an annoying tingling of chimes that rings throughout the shop as soon as the two of you enter. 

The man behind the counter greets the two of you. “I’m Johnny. What can I get for you two, today?”

“I want a tattoo,” Hana says. She’s putting on that sugary sweet voice that can win over just about anyone’s heart. “But I only have a twenty.”

You want to call bull on her lying ass, but she’s batting her eyelashes at Johnny and he seems to be actually considering it. 

“Let’s see what we can do,” Johnny winks at Hana and then cuts his gaze towards you. “Did you want one too?”

“Not today, thanks.” You hug your arms close to yourself. “I’m just here to support.”

Johnny stands up, and he’s a pretty big guy. He towers over you both, with his wide, but lanky, posture. He’s wearing a white t-shirt tucked into blue jeans, and a long chain hangs off his neck.

You’re eye-level with the lock charm on the chain. 

“Follow me,” he says. “Lucas is the only one taking walk-ins today, so hopefully you like his style.”

“She doesn’t get to choose a style with only twenty bucks to her name,” you quip, making Johnny laugh.

He turns the corner into a small, square room, where only one tattoo chair occupies the floor. Some unknown song plays from the large black and yellow speakers. It’s surfing music, something similar to The Beach Boys. It fits the location, but rejects the atmosphere of black and neon that these boys have cemented as their staple design.

There’s a sketching desk in the corner, where the previously mentioned speakers rest alongside a large monitor. The screen is taken fully by photoshop, where a tattoo design basks, just waiting to be praised.

You walk over; rest you hand on the back of the rolling chair, and stare at the design. It’s black and white ink. The silhouette is of a shark, but the body is a drawing of the beach. His fin is a wave, and his underbelly is the sand. It’s really beautiful. And when you look up at the sketches on the wall and notice that all of them are similar in their surrealistic nature. Charcoal sketches of beach scenes and ocean life and local fauna have you sort of mesmerized from the start.

“Do you like them?” Someone asks you from behind. It’s a new voice: deep and boyish, and you feel suddenly vulnerable for looking so deeply into someone else’s art.

“They’re really good,” You turn around as you reply, and any other words that might have made their way to your mouth are swallowed back down your throat, along with your dignity. 

He’s just as tall as Johnny — Does this place only hire tall guys? — but he’s cuter, in your opinion. You can barely see his big eyes, hidden behind dark brown strands of hair. You follow the line of his nose down until you reach his lips. They’re ruddy and seem to be permanently formed into a pretty pout. 

Then he’s smiling, and his teeth are bright and straight and you feel you breath knock out of your chest.

You manage to tear your eyes away from his mouth long enough to form a coherent sentence. “They’re really beautiful. Worth much more than twenty dollars.”

“Sorry?” He asks, cocking his head to the side.

Johnny nudges Hana forward gently. “Lucas, this is Hana. Hana, Lucas. She wants a tattoo but only has twenty dollars.”

Hana gives Lucas a shy wave. “Sorry if it’s an inconvenience.”

“Not at all!” Lucas chuckles, and it’s soft and melodic and boyish. “Most of these are customs or just freehand. Tell me what you’re thinking design-wise, and I’ll see what I can cook up.“

Lucas walks past you to sit on his chair, so you retreat to the wall, awkwardly cocking your hip, arms crossed over your chest. 

“I’ll leave you guys to it,” Johnny slaps the doorframe and heads back towards the front of the shop, and you’re left to wonder what you’re supposed to do.

Lucas uses the wheeled chair to get around. He wheels to the other side of the desk and pulls a large binder out of one of the drawers. “Here are some of my minimalist designs. That’s pretty much all a twenty is going to get you, so see if any of these interest or inspire you.”

Hana flips through the book, and Lucas turns to you. “I didn’t catch your name.”

“Y/n,” you say, shifting your posture. “Here for moral support.”

Lucas locks his gaze into yours and repeats you name slowly, like he’s mulling it over. “Y/n. Would you like to sit down? You can take my spinny chair and I’ll go get a spare stool.”

“Are you sure—” he’s out of the room before you can finish your concern. You turn to Hana and shrug.

“He’s cute,” she whispers. She sits back on the chair and straightens her shirt.

You sit in the chair and roll over to the other side of Hana’s chair. “Are you gonna ignore the google eyes Johnny was giving you?”

“Oh, of course not.” Hana waves away your concern. “I got his number while you were snooping on Lucas’ monitor.”

“I wasn’t snooping!”

“You so were,” Hana grins at you, resting her chin on the palm of her head. “Anyways, I was gonna say Lucas is cute for you.”

“You’re impossible,” you shove her shoulder back with a shake of your head. “What did I say about summer boyfriends?”

“We don’t need them.” Hana pouts. She sticks her tongue out at you just as Lucas walks in. “I’m gonna get one anyway.”

“Get what?” Lucas sets his stool on the other side of Hana’s chair and looks at you.

You blink. “Um...” You avert your eyes to the loose thread sticking out of the chair handle. “Hana wants us each to have summer boyfriends.”

Lucas hums. He turns back to his desk and extracts the tattoo gun and a wrapped needle. He unwraps it and fits it in the gun. “Just for the summer?” His eyes are twinkling. Again, he’s asking you. It’s like Hana isn’t even in the room, which is new to you because everyone notices Hana first.

You almost answer. You’re about to when Hana shoves the book into Lucas’ hand. “I want the key design.”

Lucas pulls his gaze away from you and smiles at Hana. “Alright, let’s get started!”

☼

You visit the bike show later that week on your lunch break. Working at the small perfume shop on the boardwalk can be fun, but it certainly makes you want fresh air by noon.

You take a sip of the lemonade you bought and browse the bikes, stopping every once in awhile to talk to the owners.  

“Y/n!” Lucas’ voice rings across the boardwalk. He’s in front of Neo Tattoos, leaning against a cherry red Ducati. 

It’s way too hot for him to be wearing what he’s wearing. He’s wearing black skinny jeans and a leather jacket. His hair is down across his forehead again, slightly matted with sweat. He wipes his forehead and waves at you, arm long and tall above everyone’s head.

He looks incredibly dorky, and it puts a smile on your face. You walk over. “Aren’t you hot?”

“Just a little bit,” Lucas pinches his thumb and pointer finger together. Then he runs his fingers through his bangs and pushes them off of his forehead. “I look cooler this way, though.”

You look around, to see everyone else with their bikes. Most of them are in their swimsuits, or at least wearing only bottoms. You turn back to Lucas and push your lemonade towards him. “Take a sip before you get a heatstroke. And take off your jacket, at least.”

Lucas shrugs off his jacket, to reveal a red t-shirt underneath. “At least I match my bike.”

“This is yours?” You reach out and touch the shiny chrome. “It’s pretty.”

“Thank you!” Lucas brightens up. He slaps the seat. “It’s the first thing I bought after opening Neo with Johnny.”

“I’m gonna get one one day,” you tell him. He gives you your lemonade cup back and you take a sip. “And a tattoo.”

“You’re gonna ask me to do it, right?” Lucas grins down at you.

How could you say no to that face? “Yeah. I really liked that shark design, if it isn’t reserved.”

“No,” Lucas hugs his jacket to his chest. “I was just messing around with designs. Give me a call when you’re ready, alright? I’ll give you my number.”

You return from your lunch break with an empty lemonade cup, the number of a cute boy, and a smile on your face.

☼

The next time you get a day off, you head over to Neo Tattoos for your appointment with Lucas. 

You two have been texting back and forth throughout the days. You’ve found that Lucas has a large arsenal of memes always at the ready. Another thing you’ve realized is that Lucas is the most adorable person you’ve ever known. He texts you every morning with a little picture of a baby sea turtle or dolphin or other baby marine animal. You reply with a random puppy picture you find on twitter, and every day it makes never fails to trigger an onslaught of heart emojis from Lucas.

It’s really cute.

Lucas is really cute. It’s probably too early to call it a crush, but it certainly feels like one, especially when you get called out by Hana for smiling at your text messages.

The chimes ring when you enter the parlor. “Hi, Johnny.”

“Lucas! Y/n is here!” Johnny yells into the hallway before turning to you. “He has been talking about this appointment all day.”

“Can you shut up?” You hear Lucas before you see him. He comes out of his room and smiles. “Hey, Y/n.”

“Hey, Lucas.” You scurry towards the back room, if only to avoid Johnny’s knowing stare. “How was your day?”

“Good. Better now that you’re here.” Lucas cocks his head to the side and gives you a cheesy smirk. 

You shove his shoulder back and climb onto the big chair. “Let’s get this over with. I have a date with the sun later.”

Lucas falls back into his spinning chair and scoots himself towards you. He rests his elbows beside your thigh and gleams up at you. “You’re gonna ditch me for a nap in the sun?”

He looks so boyishly handsome, smiling at you like that. He looks like someone in love. Like someone who is staring at their significant other in admiration.

It makes you feel vulnerable and naked. You clear your throat and shove your arm in front of his face. “So, forearm?”

Lucas turns on some music and gets started, stopping every few minutes to check with you. “Does it hurt?”

“Not too bad,” you say with a shake of your head. “Just a little sting here and there.”

Lucas holds his left palm out. “You can always squeeze my hand if it gets too much.”

“Do you want to hold my hand that bad, Lucas?” you tease, and the pink that creeps up his neck is enough for you to reach forward and grab his hand.

You hold it in your lap while he finishes up the tattoo, never really squeezing it. At most, you run your thumb along the back of his hand.

It feels good, his large hand encased in yours. His skin is almost as warm as the smile he gives you from time to time.

Soon, with a low hum and one last wipe down, your tattoo is done. “Let me bandage it, and then you can go one your stupid date.”

You giggle. “Are you jealous of the sun, Lucas?”

Lucas brings your hand to his cheek and hums, looking up to the ceiling. “Of course I’m jealous. I want you to spend more time with me.”

“What would you have in mind?” 

Lucas looks surprised. The color reappears in his cheeks and he clears his throat to collect himself. “Would you like to go on a ride with me? We could drive down to the pier and watch the sunset?”

You blink. Is Lucas asking you on a date? An actual date? As in, he likes you? 

“U-Uh, yeah.” You match his grin and feel your chest warm. More confidently, you manage a nod. “Yeah, I’d love that.”

☼

You pick up dinner while Lucas finishes up his shift, and when you return, he’s got that stupid leather jacket on again. He sees the bag of fast food and opens his backpack. “Do you mind wearing this on the way?”

“No,” you giggle. “But let’s get going. I’m hungry.”

Lucas swings his leg over the seat and passes a helmet to you. He revs his bike. “As you wish.”

You swing your legs around and grab his waist, clasping your hands together. Palms against his abdomen, you can feel the smooth lines underneath. It flusters you. Still, you don’t move your hands for the bigger fear of falling off.

Besides, being this close to Lucas is quite nice.

Lucas parks his bike next to a bicycle rack just off the pier’s entrance. 

“I’m not sure you can park here, Lucas.”

Lucas looks ethereal in the light of the setting sun. His large eyes peer down at you, and with a smile grazing his features, he looks like an angel. He shrugs, “It says bike rack.”

“You’re crazy,” you say, eyes bright. 

Lucas bumps his shoulder against yours and grabs for your hand. Linking his fingers with yours, he swings your hands back and forth as the two of you walk towards the end of the pier.

There’s a railing for public safety. Lucas fits his long legs through the lower bars anyways. His feet dangle in the air. “Let’s eat!” He raises his fists in the air.

You avoid the annoyed stares of onlookers and follow Lucas’ actions. You fit your legs under the bars.

The two of you eat burgers and watch as the sunset returns to its bed behind the sea. 

“It’s beautiful,” Lucas says. He reaches his hands out towards the darkening sky. “I love this island. I never want to leave.”

“Me neither,” you sigh. The lighthouse beam switches on, and the beam falls over the two of you before finding its place in the air. You watch the light turn. “I’m glad I came out here with you.”

Lucas grins. His cheeks are blossoming into reds and pinks and you like the way flustered looks on him. “Me too,” he says. “Genuinely. I really like you.”

“I like you too.” You scoot closer to him and rest your head against his arm. “A lot.”

☼

The sun is scorching. It causes an instant sweat the moment you walk under the rays. “Alright, Jaemin?”

The lifeguard waves at you from his perch, a silver whistle pressed between his lips. “Lucas was looking for you,” he says around the metal.

“Don’t tell him I’m here,” you say. “Give me a minute underneath the sun without him or Hana ruining it.”

“Copy,” Jaemin says with a salute, giggling at your perturbed expression. He’s been particularly happy lately. You wonder why.

No matter, you decide, choosing to focus on your plans for today: laying in the sun and ignoring life in general.

The island fills your senses. The sound of the waves; of children playing; of seagulls screaming for food. It’s everything Salos is, and it feels like home. Nothing makes you feel more at peace than here, on the beach. To feel the sand beneath you and know the entire ocean is only a few yards away; that’s heaven.

What isn’t heaven is when a large cloud covers the sun, keeping you from receiving warmth.

You open your eyes, ready to glare at the cloud in annoyance.

Only it isn’t a cloud; it’s Lucas. His large frame blocks the sun from you. His smile is just as bright, though, so you find yourself not minding quite as much. “Hey, Lucas. What’s up?”

Lucas gives you an apologetic grin and sheds his leather jacket. “Sorry for bothering you. I was on my break and I saw you over here. Can I sit with you?”

“Go for it.” You scoot over on the towel so Lucas has room. 

He plops down, dropping his backpack in front of him. He extracts an apple. “Do you want one? I packed two.”

You take a bite of the offered apple and lean your arm against Lucas’. “How was your morning?”

“Good,” Lucas says in his deep voice. “Only two appointments, but the first one took three hours. My hands hurt.”

You take the hand he isn’t holding his apple with and begin to gently massage it. You knead circular motions into his palm and fingers, discarding your apple in favor of the task at hand. 

“You don’t- You don’t have to do that.” Red blossoms across Lucas’ neck. He watches his hand encased in both of yours. 

“I want to,” you say. Lucas’ eyes flit across your face, and you feel openly vulnerable with your face so close to his.

Especially now, when your face is bare of everything, save SPF 80 sunscreen. You can just picture your bright red cheeks and peeling nose. Maybe your lips are chapped too, since you forgot to apply chapstick this morning.

Lucas doesn’t mention any of this, so you assume you’re just overreacting. 

“Y/n?” Lucas asks. He licks his lips, quickly, but you catch the motion.

You know what’s coming. Truthfully, it’s been coming since the day you met Lucas; when the tension began. Then came the feelings, and you’ve been stuck ever since. 

Maybe Lucas has been stuck too.

He ever-so-gently reaches up and tucks a flyaway strand of hair behind your ear. His hands are sticky from the apple juice, but you can’t really be bothered to care right now. Not when Lucas is treating you so softly. 

Your senses zone in on Lucas only. His large brown eyes, colorful tattoos, and too-long bangs falling into his eyes. His scent, like some generic body wash that smells boyish and soft, just like Lucas. 

His lips, pouty and smooth and pink. 

His fingertips trace down from your hairline to your chin. When his thumb swipes across your lips, your breath catches in your throat.

Then Lucas is leaning in, too fast for you to even think about what he’s going to do. Well, obviously he’s going to kiss you, but your brain seems to be filled with nothing but warning bells and signals screaming for you to lower your adrenaline levels. 

His lips fold into yours almost perfectly. Your thoughts turn over into the feeling of his fingertips trailing down your neck. His palm rests in the junction between your neck and shoulder. He pulls your closer to him and sighs against your mouth.

You move your lips, smiling when his nose bumps into yours. He tastes like green apples. You rest your hand on his knee and lean in closer. You giggle at the surprised noise that escapes his mouth. 

The sound of a whistle makes the two of you jump apart. 

“No kissing on the public beach!” Jaemin shouts at the two of you, no real venom in his voice.

You kiss Lucas once more and give Jaemin the bird. 

He whistles again. “That’s illegal!”

“It’s not,” Lucas giggles, hiding his face in the crook of you neck. 

☼

You walk into Neo Tattoos. “Where’s Lucas?”

Johnny closes his magazine and looks at you. “Well hello to you, too.”

“I brought him a lemonade and my break is almost over,” you say in passing, heading for the back.

“Lucas!”

“Y/n!” He shouts back.

You enter to see him with a customer. He’s so cute when he’s focused. You look at his gloved hands and furrowed brows. It makes you lean against the doorframe and watch him fondly for a moment. 

He finally looks away from his customer. “Hey, Darlin’”

His wide smile makes the trip across the boardwalk worth it. You hand him the lemonade. “I have to get back to the shop, but I wanted to see you real quick.”

Lucas stands up and pulls off his gloves. “You’re too kind. Can I come visit you after my shift and take you out?”

“I’d like that a lot.” You kiss him and squeeze him tightly. Hopefully he can feel all of your love through your hug.

Because you really love this boy. He softens your world and makes everything feel warmer. He encases you in an eternal summer, and you don’t ever want it to end.

[andrea-lyn]

For your birthday prompt: Malex fic where one of them is a barista and the other one orders increasingly more complicated orders just to have more time to talk to the super cute barista! Also happy birthday, friend!

Some days, Michael questions why he’s the ride-or-die asshole that he is.

Life would be a lot easier if he weren’t. If he were actually as self-centered and selfish as the image he tries to project, it would be easier, but he’s not. For all that he tries to make people think he doesn’t care, he’s the polar opposite, deep down.

Now is one of those times when he’s debating changing his mindset. Though, it usually happens during these shifts when he’s bored, he’s tired of cleaning the counter, and he’s done with his coursework. He’s only here because he’s getting his Masters and has some spare time on his hands, and Maria had seized on the opportunity for help at barely minimum wage, convincing him to come in.

That’s why it had started.

Now, he’s here because of one particularly gorgeous customer who comes in every morning around eleven for a mid-day pick-me-up. “Michael,” Maria calls over to him when the bells jangle.

He also happens to be Maria’s friend, too, and Maria’s made it her life mission to hook the two of them up. It means that every time he comes in, she makes herself scarce along with any other staff so that Michael’s the only person around to serve him.

Michael’s not sure that the guy likes him back, even if Maria insists he does.

“Alex,” Michael greets him. “Hey!”

“Hey Michael,” he returns, putting down his phone as he leans his elbows on the counter. “So, today…”

Then he launches into an order that’s about ten percent more complicated than yesterday’s (which had already been plenty difficult).

Michael calls over his shoulder for coverage at the counter, because Alex’s order is going to take him away for at least a few minutes, especially since Alex had actually asked for the milk in his latte to be steamed to an exact degree, or be thrown away and restarted. “What’s your day looking like today?” Michael asks, still loving the fact that Alex’s complicated orders mean that he gets to talk to him.

Most customers are busy with their cell phones while they wait for their order.

Alex has never once looked at his phone, giving Michael his full attention every time. “Oh, you know,” he drawls. “The usual,” is the sarcastic addition. “I’m going to go in and warn people that their security is terrible, they’re not going to believe me, and then I’m going to have to go in and tear their systems to shreds to prove it.”

He’s smiling a little like he’s a shark who’s scented blood in the water, and is all too pleased about that.

Michael glances back to the milk, making sure it’s frothing properly. “Somehow, I doubt it’ll be a hardship,” he deadpans.

“What about you? Maria said you have your exams next week.”

Michael shrugs. “Yeah,” he says dismissively. Alex leans up on his toes, peering past the counter. Why? Michael has no fucking clue. “Okay, what?” he protests.

“I don’t see any books, no papers…” Alex gives him a serious look. “Do I have to give you the speech about how you need to take this seriously, Michael?”

The milk starts to steam and froth, the thermometer gauge showing the perfect Alex-approved temperature, which means it’s time to pour. He pulls it away from the steam wand and pours before he wipes the counter down, giving Alex a smirk. “Do I need to give you the speech about how you shouldn’t doubt me?”

“Everyone needs to study,” Alex protests.

Michael doesn’t.

Then again, he doesn’t know Alex that well, so launching into the whole ‘I was a child prodigy and the only reason I’m not off with my degrees right now is because I had foster parents who wanted me to have a normal childhood’. It does mean he can spend most of his days here at the shop, not worrying about his grades.

“Michael,” Alex warns.

“Make you a deal,” he says, handing him his coffee. “If Maria tells you I pass with an A, you have to come in here tomorrow and the next day and the day after that when it’s my shift.”

Alex’s face is flooded with fondness as he sips his coffee. “Why would I need to make that bet, when I already planned to come in?” he asks, and sips again. “Perfect. For this, I didn’t doubt you for a second,” he guarantees, and lets his gaze linger on Michael’s lips before he waves to Maria, heading off for the day.

Michael watches Alex go with a happy sigh, mainly because he always wears tight jeans and the view of him departing is one of the best things he’s ever seen. “Do you believe me now that he likes you?” Maria demands.

“You may be right,” he concedes. “He might like me back.”

After all, there’s no way that Alex would be so picky about his milk temperature, not without a deeper purpose. Seeing as the only reason he would get so complicated and picky with his orders is to spend more time with Michael, it’s fairly strong evidence that he definitely likes Michael.

“What are you going to do about it?”

He’s got a few ideas up his sleeve.

“Man like that, he deserves to be wooed,” Michael says.

Maria’s looking at him warily, and she doesn’t say it, but it’s like Michael can see the thought bubble above her head that reads, what do you know about wooing people?

Not much, but isn’t that what the internet is there for?

Michael decides to launch a campaign of charm, romance, and he intends to do it using the foods of love, found on a site that talks about aphrodisiacs. Every time Alex comes in, he gives Michael a wildly complicated drink order, so it shouldn’t be hard to mix a little bit of that in.

On Monday, he begins his campaign to romance Alex.

It doesn’t start well.

“Michael,” Alex says warily after he sips his drink. “What’s in this?”

“Powdered oysters.”

“That’s…really not what I ordered.”

“We’re trying it out,” he says, his eyes fixed on Alex. “Do you like it?”

Alex musters up a smile, but slides it back. “Thank you?” he offers, “but I really think that I’d like to have my drink without any powdered seafood.” He gives Michael a look like he’s trying to figure something out, but follows it up with a mildly sarcastic, “I’m also pretty sure you shouldn’t be risking fate with anyone who has seafood allergies by sneaking that in.”

Michael doesn’t let that knock him off his stride. So it didn’t work, so what? It’s only the first try.

He remakes Alex’s drink and basks in the sunny smile it earns him, loving how Alex reaches out to squeeze his hand in thanks before he heads off with drink in hand (a complicated layer drink that required Michael to wait a whole minute before adding the next, lest it all collapse and lose the effect Alex had asked for).

Michael makes a few more attempts to introduce aphrodisiac elements into Alex’s coffee and snacks to see if it does anything. The truffle oil he uses on his breakfast sandwich gets a dubious look, and the hints of champagne in his smoothie don’t go over well. That’s why Michael saves the best for last.

At least, he’d thought it was the best.

Alex chokes a little when he sips his hot chocolate, which Michael has loaded up with actual pieces of dark chocolate. “Michael…”

“Yeah?”

“This is like sludge. This is the fourth time you’ve done weird things with my order. Are you trying to give me a sign or something?”

He is, but clearly not the one Alex is reading.

“They’re aphrodisiacs,” he blurts out. “I was hoping that maybe one of these times, I’d get you in the right mood and then I could ask you out.”

Alex gapes at him. “…are you serious?”

His defenses suddenly up, Michael is ready to yank the terrible hot chocolate out of his hands. “What? If you don’t like it, you don’t have to…”

“Do you honestly think,” Alex cuts him off, “that I give a shit what temperature the milk in my coffee is? Michael, I do that because I know it’ll give me an extra few minutes with you, just like I know that by asking you to steep my tea for five minutes before the bag comes out, then I’ll get to talk to you. You didn’t have to douse me with oysters and chocolate and…were there chili peppers in the breakfast sandwich?”

“Yeah,” Michael admits, knowing that he’s definitely gone too far. “And asparagus in the scone.”

Alex gapes at him.

“Please go out with me,” Alex begs. “If only so you can stop trying to poison me with romance.”

Michael’s grin is a radiant thing, something that could light up the skies. “So it worked?”

“If it’ll make you stop, then yeah! Yeah, it worked.”

Michael does stop.

Alex’s orders go back to being his normal orders, Michael stops trying to infuse romance into them, because now he doesn’t need to.

He’s got a date with Alex, and now that they’re going to have dinner, they’re finally into familiar territory where Michael has plenty of tricks up his sleeve to woo and romance Alex, without powdered seafood, mushrooms, or asparagus. And lucky for Alex, Michael hasn’t had any complaints in this department.

He might not be good at wooing, but he’s excellent when it comes to actually being in a relationship.

[qqueenofhades]

the tangled web of fate we weave: xx

welcome to what is absolutely gonna me losing my goddamn mind over these two all week and double hard after the finale. so, the ush.

part xix/AO3

Lucy wakes up the next morning (well, she’s already been up twice, at one AM and then at four, and by the time she is summoned again at seven, figures there’s no point in going back to bed) and shuffles downstairs to find that Amy, wonderful soul that she is, already has the coffee going. Lucy sits down with a groan, shifts Lily to her other shoulder, and lets the life-giving fumes waft up her nose. This will be her first proper hit of caffeine in months, and she is ready to feel good, dammit. As she sits there basking, she says, “Did you talk to Garcia before he left this morning? He was gone pretty early.”

“I woke up as he was coming downstairs, but we didn’t talk.” Amy pulls the pot off, pours it into two mugs, adds cream and sugar to hers, and gives Lucy hers black. “I figured he was off to grab his evidence backups, or wherever he was going. Or that you were both awake because of the munchkin.”

“I was. Briefly.” Lucy has a vague memory of Flynn getting up around the same time she was returning from the four o’clock feeding, but she was already falling asleep on her feet and was out by the time she hit the bed again. “Very briefly.”

Amy snorts, raising her mug. “In that case, here’s to caffeine. Sláinte.”

Lucy picks it up, takes a sip, and moans in ecstasy, unable to gulp it in embarrassing amounts because it’s still too hot. She blows on it a few times, then sips again, performing a delighted little wiggle from head to toe and scoffing at her sister’s smirk. “What? You try it!”

“I’m good, thanks,” Amy says. “But that was adorable. How are you feeling today?”

“A little better.” At least physically, Lucy thinks, though she’s still not up for any triathlons. The argument with Flynn yesterday rocked her, and she has the distinct sense that it has not been resolved or released, even if they did try to silently make it up last night. She starts to get up to make herself breakfast awkwardly one-handed, but Amy waves at her to sit and goes to put in some toast. “Amy, about this – this time travel stuff. Do you really buy it?”

“Everyone else seems to be serious about it, so…” Amy opens the fridge to get butter and jam. “I guess? I like to keep an open mind about things. You know me, I’ve always been into the idea of ghosts and aliens and parallel worlds and stuff beyond what we can see. That was what drove Mom crazy. You two being the sensible solid historians, the ones who worked with facts and logic and empirical evidence, and I was out there being all New Agey and woo-woo. Now, I guess – ” Amy stops, then continues in the determinedly casual voice that means she doesn’t want to be heaping too much of her own pain on Lucy, a shared trait of the Preston sisters. Wherever that compassion came from, it clearly wasn’t Carol. “Now I guess it doesn’t matter what she thought, huh?”

There’s a brief silence. Then Lucy says quietly, “I can’t believe she did that to us.”

“I can.” Amy unscrews the raspberry jam with more than the necessary force and digs her knife in. “I loved Mom – I still do, that’s not gonna stop, even if it’s complicated – but I could never understand how you couldn’t see her manipulating you. Her love always came at a price, her approval was always conditional, she never let you make mistakes, or at least live with them. She pushed and pushed and pushed, and you kept giving it to her and thinking it was your fault that you hadn’t been good enough before. That was why I wanted to move out, even if it meant I was living in a crappy apartment and struggling to pay my bills, rather than let her do to me what she did to you. And I could have spoken up more, I could have done something, rather than just assuming you were smart and you’d figure it out and it wasn’t my business to get into the middle of that. So. I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. God, it’s not your fault.” Lucy gets up and hugs Amy fiercely, one-armed, Lily still snoozing in the other one. “You’re just my kid sister, you should never have had to do that. That shouldn’t have been on you.”

“Yeah,” Amy says, low-voiced. “Maybe. But it was, and I blew it.”

“No, you didn’t. Okay, Ames? You didn’t. You didn’t.” Lucy grips her shoulder hard. “We still have each other, and I have Garcia and Lily, and we’ll – we’ll make our own family. Family isn’t just blood. If this is going to be how it is, with us and Wyatt and Rufus, well – we’ll get used to it. It’ll be better.”

“I guess,” Amy says. She gathers herself together, and musters a smile. “But with all of this going on, it doesn’t seem like we’re about to have any cookouts or whatever soon, does it?”

“Maybe not, but we can do that later.” Even as she speaks it, the usual, casual reassurance – we can do that later, the assumption that’s always been the case for everyone everywhere – Lucy feels a pang. What if there is no later? What if all of earlier gets upended as well? She hesitates, then sits down with her toast, passing Lily over to Amy so she can properly eat. “I – look. Amy. I have something to tell you. It’s going to sound a little weird, but I guess you just reminded me that you can deal with it.”

Thus, not letting herself have time to change her mind, she tells Amy the full story of her future self coming to visit Flynn three years ago, the effect it had on him deciding to go great guns after Rittenhouse, insisting that it was time travel at stake, and the argument they had yesterday about it. Flynn thinking that the logical next step is to escalate the war before Rittenhouse can do it to them, that he has this insane plan of tracking and killing them through history, no matter the damage it could do to God knows what fiber of reality. That he scares her when he talks like that, she doesn’t know how she ends up as this other version of herself or if she wants to, and that he thinks Rittenhouse is trying to prevent them from ever meeting on the night of the car accident. That if they somehow pull it off, Lucy and Flynn will never meet, none of this will ever happen, and Lily won’t be born. A wrinkle in time, rather literally, but not one that can be fixed or unbent. They might not even know.

“Wait. Okay.” Amy has hung in there through most of this crazy shit, but she blinks hard at that. “How could someone just… vanish from history? Lily’s already born. She can’t just… not be born, right? How would that even work?”

“I don’t know.” Lucy sits back. “This is a situation that only comes up in those sci-fi movies, or Back to the Future, when Marty McFly has to make sure his parents get together so he exists. But I suppose that yes, theoretically, if they had the ability to change the timeline and stop us from meeting, she’d just… not be there.”

Amy clutches her niece protectively. “That is messed up.”

“Yeah.” Lucy finishes the last swig of her now lukewarm coffee, and pushes her empty plate away. “Not to mention all the other stuff that would change. I might never know about Benjamin Cahill, I wouldn’t know about Mom, or Rittenhouse, or Wyatt and Rufus. I would never have met Garcia. I’d just be – I don’t know. I don’t know who I’d be. Probably still at Stanford anyway, living the life Mom wanted for me. Still dating Noah.”

“Oh, honey, no,” Amy says. “In any timeline, you can do better than him.”

Lucy laughs weakly, despite herself. “He wasn’t that bad. He was a good guy.”

“Sure,” Amy says. “For someone else. Anyway. This is – this is definitely a lot, but thanks for telling me. We’ll figure it out, okay? We won’t let Wicked Witch Whitmore take this away from you. Did you say she works at Mason Industries? Can we ask Rufus?”

“Ask Rufus what? If he can fetch his evil coworker in for a chat, after she almost killed Flynn the last time she saw him, and destroyed all of his evidence on Rittenhouse? He’s probably in all kinds of danger if he does that, he might not even know who she really is.”

“Maybe not. Should we warn him, though? We don’t want him accidentally letting something slip, if he doesn’t know that she isn’t to be trusted.”

“Maybe, but then he has to see her every day and know she’s dangerous and…” Lucy stops. “No, you’re right. He deserves to know the truth. Mason Industries seems neck-deep with Rittenhouse anyway, they’re the ones paying for the time machine. It’s not fair to Rufus to just dangle him out in that sea of sharks.”

“He might know about it,” Amy points out. “He’s worked there for a while. There might be more he could tell us. Like how close it is to being operational, and – ”

Lucy shudders. “I don’t want it to be.”

“Because you’re afraid Garcia’s going to do – what?” Amy considers her closely. “Steal it, and go hog-wild screwing up history in the name of eradicating Rittenhouse?”

“Yeah.” Lucy hates admitting it, feels disloyal, but she doesn’t entirely trust what Flynn would do if that was an option right now. “Basically.”

“Maybe Rufus can sabotage it.” Amy gets up to clear the dishes from the table. “If he knows the truth about these people and what they’re going to do with it, then – ”

“That would put him in terrible danger,” Lucy objects. “It could cost him his job, his professional reputation. We definitely have no right to ask that of him.”

“Okay, true.” There’s a slight edge in Amy’s voice. “But if we are really going to stop these Rittenhouse maniacs, if everything you say is true and they are completely evil and willing to do whatever it takes to preserve that, maybe we have to figure out what we can ask, and of who.”

Lucy looks at her, startled and unsettled. “Don’t tell me you agree with Garcia.”

“I don’t know, frankly. And obviously I see where you’re coming from too. But at this point…” Amy trails off. “I’m not sure that I don’t not agree with him.”

Lucy doesn’t know what to say to that. Perhaps it’s significant that the two people she loves and trusts the most in the world have now had the same response to the situation, and she – just like her years-long pattern of making excuses for her mother, refusing to see what Amy is now telling her was obvious – is once more dragging her feet, reluctant to upset the apple cart as usual. But if this apple cart is all of time and space and known history, Lucy thinks she’s at least a little justified in keeping it upright. She’s a historian, she loves the past, she’s worked to understand it, to make it relevant to the present, to teach it in meaningful and engaging ways. That gives her some sort of mandate to be its champion, to protect it – whether from Rittenhouse, or from the man she loves. It twists and twists in her gut, it hurts almost physically, but she’s certain. She can’t let Flynn do this.

When she doesn’t answer, Amy seems to sense that she probably shouldn’t push. They clean up the kitchen, as Lucy puts Lily in the baby-sling and tries to think what to do. It’s almost nine o’clock, so she’d usually be at campus by now, unlocking her office and picking up papers and answering emails. She’s not used to sitting around the house and doing nothing, especially when there’s so much that needs to be figured out. Yes, being a mother is important work and all that, and Lucy’s not going to diss stay-at-home moms in the least (especially since she’s getting a sense of just how hard it must be), but she does other things with her time and her talents. She can’t just serve as a dispenser of food and clean diapers and naptime to an occasionally irascible small human, much as she loves her. She should do some research. See what she can find. Not that any of what she needs is likely to be online, or anything that she can get into (Flynn is another story) but still.

Lucy goes upstairs to get her laptop, and when she comes down, glances at her phone, thinking that there should be a text from him by now. They’re far from the kind of couple that constantly has to monitor the other’s whereabouts – they are both adults and can come and go as they please, without signing a register every time. But given everything that’s going on, and the fact of what happened the last time he rushed out without telling her what he was doing, Lucy doesn’t think she’s being unreasonable to expect at least some kind of touching base. He wouldn’t intentionally make her worry, or withhold contact just to be petty. Maybe he just forgot or didn’t want to bother her. She opens their chat and types, Hey, where are you? Left pretty early this am. Lmk when you have a minute. Xo.

Hopefully that doesn’t sound too worried or accusing, and Lucy puts her phone aside. She has just been trying to find the best way to position both Lily and her laptop when she hears a car in the driveway, and looks up. “Amy, is that Garcia?”

Amy peers out the front window. “Nope. It’s Wyatt. He has some lady with him, actually. Looks important.”

“Oh no, that must be the woman from Homeland Security.” Lucy jumps up, acutely aware that she has not yet showered and is still in her pajamas, as well as not wearing any makeup. “Is it rude if I run upstairs for five minutes to make myself presentable?”

“Honestly, this is your house,” Amy says. “And you just had a baby. You can look however you want.”

Lucy supposes this is true, even if she still feels self-conscious, as footsteps click on the walk and the doorbell rings. Amy gets it, admitting Wyatt (who looks as if he’s had at least a little sleep) and his companion, a trim, dark-eyed older woman with black hair cut neatly to her shoulders, a crisp pantsuit, and a folder under one arm, which she shifts so that she and Lucy can shake hands. “I’m Denise Christopher,” she says. “Department of Homeland Security. Sergeant Logan asked if I could stop by and hear something that you had to say?”

“It’s – it’s complicated.” Lucy nods gratefully at Wyatt, then tries to jiggle Lily with one arm as she wakes up and starts to fret. “My partner, Garcia, he’s the one who has most of it, and he’s out right now, but I’ll be happy to give you what I know. Just let me have a couple minutes to run upstairs, I’m sorry, I’m not very – ”

“I’ll be happy to take your baby for a minute.” Denise holds out her arms. “Don’t worry about apologizing. Go upstairs and freshen up if you want to, but certainly don’t feel obliged to dress up on my account.”

Lucy considers Denise for a long moment, and decides to trust her. She undoes the sling and hands Lily over to Denise, who boosts her expertly up onto her shoulder, pats her back with an air of firm authority, and gets her to calm down. It’s the reassuring older-woman motherly-competence thing that Lucy was wishing she could still lean on Carol for, and it briefly chokes her up. “I – ah, I’m sorry, I’m guessing you have kids?”

“My wife and I have two in grade school,” Denise says. “The early days can be hard. Do you mind if we have a seat in your kitchen?”

“That’s fine. I’ll be right back.”

With that, Lucy goes upstairs, jumps quickly in the shower, dresses, puts on a little makeup and brushes her hair, then checks her phone again. No response from Flynn; the message hasn’t been read. Renewed agitation prickles at her heart like thorns. God, he’s just been gone, he’s just been hurt. Please don’t say he’s off on another crusade already. Please.

She tells herself she can’t send another message yet, but she calls him anyway, and it goes over to voicemail without ringing. There’s too much of a lump in her throat for her to form words, so she hangs up, smiles bright and falsely at herself in the mirror, and walks back downstairs. Amy has taken care of supplying Wyatt and Denise with coffee, and they’re sitting at the kitchen table; Denise has a notepad open and is uncapping a pen. “All right,” she says. “Please tell me whatever you know about this organization called Rittenhouse.”

Lucy and Wyatt exchange a look, he nods at her to go first, and she takes a deep breath. Starts at the beginning, tells Denise about Cahill and the event in Marin County and Flynn rescuing her, then getting shot in Windsor the next morning. The trip to the University of Pennsylvania, Emma, the excursion to the house of horrors in West Point, escaping that and going back to some semblance of a normal life, but sending Flynn off for two years to hunt them around the world. The reveal that her mother was in on it, and that Flynn’s painstakingly collected evidence has been destroyed. Tells Denise everything, in fact, except about the time travel. She doesn’t want to sound completely off the ranch first thing.

A faint line gathers between Denise’s brows as Lucy speaks, and remains there when she’s finished. Denise taps her pen, clearly considering what to say, then looks at Wyatt. “And you’ve said that the Black Eagles case we both worked on had something to do with that, didn’t you? That they were funneling the drug profits to Rittenhouse somehow, and that they may have had something to do with the disappearance of your wife?”

“I think so.” Wyatt’s jaw sets hard. “Flynn does, at any rate, and he’s the expert on this. Though I notice he’s not here, again. But yeah. Thought that because I messed around with one of their golden gooses, they came after Jess in revenge. She’s alive, I swear she’s still alive. If it was just killing her, wouldn’t her body have turned up by now, a warning to stay in my lane or whatever? If she’s just gone, she has to still be out there. If we can save her.”

“I’m not unsympathetic to what both of you have gone through,” Denise says crisply. “This does fit with several other unexplained cases that have passed over my desk recently, and obviously you have encountered someone. But right now, all I have to back it up is your word, and that’s not something I can take to my superiors. It sounds like a paranoid conspiracy theory, and the government spends enough time with those. You said there was evidence that was destroyed. Where?”

“I…” Lucy hesitates. “I don’t know exactly. Garcia never told me where his safe house was, he didn’t want me liable. It’s somewhere up in the foothills outside San Francisco, but now it’s been blown up. So that’s not very – ”

“And why does your partner have an off-the-grid safe house that’s rigged with enough explosives to detonate at the drop of a hat?” Denise cocks her head and surveys Lucy critically. “You said he’s ex-special forces. For us?”

“He worked for the NSA for several years, it’s where he picked up the investigation on Benjamin Cahill in the first place. He’s been a – a freelancer for a while, though.”

“Hmmm.” Denise is clearly thinking that there are a lot more threads she could pull at this, given that the vast majority of Flynn’s activities since Lucy met him have been skirting the very edges of legality. “And where is he from again, exactly?”

“He was born and raised in Croatia, but his mother was American, he’s a dual citizen. He’s not a security risk.” Even as she speaks, Lucy can hear Flynn last night, saying that if America couldn’t survive losing Rittenhouse, maybe it doesn’t deserve to exist. “He’s a little… idiosyncratic, but his heart is in the right place. He’s just very opinionated, he’s done this for a long time, and he’s used to working alone.”

“I’d like to talk to him,” Denise says. “Do you know when he’ll be back?”

“Soon, I’m sure.” Lucy damn well hopes so, at any rate. “Can I offer you any more coffee?”

Denise assures her that she’s fine, and starts asking them some more questions about Rittenhouse – any other names or dates or details they can remember. Lucy and Wyatt exchange a glance, as they’re not sure they should bring Mason Industries into the fray without Rufus here. Low-voiced, Lucy asks, “Should we call him? Is he at work?”

“Yeah, he’s at work,” Wyatt says. “He was acting a little weird this morning, though. Maybe we should give him a day off from the insanity.”

“Maybe.” Lucy has a brief unsettled feeling, though she can’t say why. “But this is something we need to tell her about.”

Wyatt looks back at the kitchen table where Denise is writing; they have stepped off around the corner to have a private word. Then he says, even more quietly, “Tell the government that Connor Mason’s invented a time machine and hasn’t bothered to apply for so much as a parking permit? Yeah, I can see that going really well. The place would be covered in red tape and federal agents tomorrow. There’s not any guarantee that that would go any better than Rittenhouse getting their hands on it. I vote no.”

This is essentially what Flynn said earlier, but Lucy can sense another resistance behind it. She tips her chin back to look at him. “You want to use that machine yourself, don’t you?”

Wyatt grimaces, but more as an unspoken admission that he’s been caught, rather than really denying it. He glances at Denise, then moves them a little further out of earshot into the hall. “Come on,” he says. “A time machine? A time machine? Who gets that chance, ever? We’re supposed to – what, hand it over to a bunch of cubicle-farm, pen-pusher bureaucrats who’d keep it in mothballs for eighty rounds of paperwork? No way. Rufus says they’re running advanced tests now, it’s pretty much going to be up and ready to go in a matter of months. If that’s the case, then – I can go back, I can fix my mistake, I can save Jess. Whether or not Rittenhouse ever coughs her up, it wouldn’t matter. I have to.”

“It’s – ” Lucy hesitates. “Wyatt, it’s not that easy. You can’t travel on your own timeline, you can’t go back to 2012, you wouldn’t be able to just pop in and have a re-do with her. You could only go back to somewhere before you were born.”

By the look on Wyatt’s face, that is something he does not like hearing. He whirls on his heel, stares at the wall, then whirls back. “There has to be a loophole. Someone has to have tried it. I don’t care if it’s risky, I’d only have to do it once. Or – what?”

Lucy winces. She doesn’t want to tell him about the whole future-version-of-her visiting Flynn, as that seems like it will get his hopes up in a way that will not necessarily be borne out. “I… heard about a case in which it might be possible,” she says evasively. “But I really don’t know the details.”

“Well, who does?” Wyatt glances at her, picks it up. “Flynn?”

“He – he knows something, but – ”

“Make him tell you, then. You’re married, or close enough. I’d tell my wife, I’d tell her everything, I wouldn’t keep it back. He’s MIA right now again, apparently, but whenever he gets back – he still owes me that information, remember? For what I did?”

“I know, I know.” Lucy can sense his barely restrained frustration and anger and grief, and she doesn’t blame him. Wyatt has been living in a stalemate, using up all his accumulated leave from the Army, where – frankly speaking – he would probably be happier, because at least another mission would keep him out of the squalid attic of his head. He and Rufus have become good friends, it’s better that they’re roommates than it would be if Wyatt was alone, but he still knows no more about Jessica’s fate than he did on the day she vanished. That’s a horrible way to live, one that Lucy would not wish on her worst enemy, and he deserves a breakthrough, to do something with all this. “I’m sure he’ll find it.”

Wyatt makes a noise in his throat that says he isn’t sure. His fingers tap neurotically against his thigh, a muscle works in his cheek. He looks like a man on the hair-trigger of an explosion, and Lucy, who is somewhat familiar with the sight, reaches out to put a hand on his arm. “Hey. Thanks for bringing Denise by, all right? Thank you.”

Wyatt’s blue eyes flick to her, startled, and they hold each other’s gazes for a moment. He coughs. Then he says gruffly, “Yeah. No problem.”

Lucy looks back at him, not sure what she’s about to say, when they’re distracted by the sound of the front door banging open. There’s only one person who would be entering the house like that, and she hurries down the hallway in abject relief. “Garcia?”

Sure enough, it’s him, looking windswept and grumpy, but at least no more banged up than when he went out. He looks at her in some surprise as she throws her arms around his neck, and allows her to pull his head down for a kiss. “Lucy, what – ?”

“I was just…” Lucy bites her lip. “I woke up, and you were gone again. I – I was worried.”

“I’m here now,” Flynn says, more than a little unhelpfully. “Is that Wyatt’s car out front?”

“Yes, he’s here. With Denise Christopher from Homeland Security, he brought her by. She’s in the kitchen, she wants to talk to you. She wants whatever evidence you have on Rittenhouse – is that what you were doing this morning? Getting the backups?”

Flynn shakes his head. “No, I didn’t get those.”

“What were you doing, then?”

“Later.” Flynn kicks off his shoes and strides into the kitchen like a Panzer brigade. He has clearly dialed the imposing factor up to eleven, and Lucy isn’t sure this is the best way to approach a federal agent who has already been asking a few pointed questions about his recent activities. She trots after him, feeling that a sudden need to play mediator might be called for, and steps in just as Flynn is staring at Denise, who in turn is staring back at him. There’s a pause. Then Flynn barks, “So you’re her?”

“Yes.” Denise gets to her feet and offers a coolly professional hand. “Agent Denise Christopher, from Homeland Security. You must be Garcia Flynn.”

Flynn grunts, as if to say that he is exercising his constitutional right not to answer stupid questions. Then he glances at Wyatt, who has stepped back into the kitchen, and something flickers across his face. Lucy can’t tell exactly what, but it unsettles her, somehow. Then Flynn says, equally ungraciously, “You’re here, I see.”

“Yeah. I brought her.” Wyatt stares back at him challengingly. “Because at least one of us follows through with what we said we were going to do.”

Flynn’s mouth twists. He moves to the coffee pot, discovers it’s empty, makes a noise of aggravation, and starts a fresh round. The silence remains tense and awkward as it brews, until Amy sticks her head in. “Hey, Garcia.”

Flynn makes a brief acknowledgment. “Where’s Lily?”

“In her bassinet thingy, in the living room. After Lucy and I looked after her this morning.” Amy’s tone is gentle, but pointed. “Feel like filling us in on where you were?”

“Apparently I have a lot of filling in I’m expected to do.” Flynn jabs the percolator, as if this is going to make it brew faster. “One at a time, eh?”

Amy raises both eyebrows at Lucy, who decides that for now, she’ll pretend she didn’t see that, and withdraws. Once the coffee is finished, Flynn splashes it into a cup and practically kicks out the chair across from Denise, sitting down with a jerk. “Well?”

“I have a few questions for you, yes.” Denise has managed to remain completely unfazed by the sight of a large man in a clearly foul temper, snorting and rampaging like a rhino stung by a wasp, since she is probably no stranger to it in her line of work. “If this is a bad time, I’d be happy to return later.”

“No. We’ll do it now.” Flynn swivels to face her with a wide, snarky smile. “Fire away!”

Denise utters a small sigh in the back of her throat, but commences going down the list. Flynn gives her a few answers, but when he remains utterly unforthcoming on the subject of his two years abroad, how exactly he tracked Rittenhouse, got money to do that, or basically anything whatsoever, she makes another, far more frustrated sound. “You know I can’t do my job with this if you don’t tell me anything, don’t you?”

“What do I have to tell you?” Flynn counters. “You asked me about Rittenhouse. That’s what I’m giving you.”

“You haven’t answered half my questions.”

“Maybe you should stop trying to get me to incriminate myself, then.”

“Is that an admission that you have something that might?”

“How did I know you were going to say that?” Flynn stands up fast enough to almost knock over his chair. “Still sitting there thinking that Rittenhouse is just some paranoid delusion and the real problem here is me, aren’t you? Asking all these clever questions about, let’s be frank, things that are not relevant to the investigation, so you can finger me as the culprit. Either act like you really have come here to help, or get out of my house.”

“Garcia – ” Lucy starts. “Garcia, don’t – ”

Flynn completely ignores her, still staring evilly at Agent Christopher, who stares right back. Then Denise says, “I came here as a favor to Sergeant Logan, to hear about some evil secret society that’s supposedly implanted in all levels of American government, that’s been responsible for a long-term private terror campaign, is partially funded by drug cartels, and has unknown operational capabilities, and whatever else. Don’t insult me by acting like I wouldn’t care about that, if it was real. But if all you’re going to do is rant and rave at me and offer not a single scrap of concrete proof, there isn’t much that I can, or frankly want, to do for you. Now, are we going to keep talking or not?”

“As long as you don’t – ”

At that, Lucy clears her throat. Steps forward, and says, in the dangerously sweet voice that every man recognizes if he knows what’s good for him, “Honey? A word?”

Flynn glances at her almost guiltily, but Lucy doesn’t bother to wait and see if the realization has struck on its own. She jerks her head at him, and he hesitates, then gets up and follows her. She leads them down the hall, away from both the kitchen and the living room, shuts the door, then turns on him. “You stop it right now. Right now.”

Flynn blinks. “I – ”

“Be quiet, I’m talking. I’m not even going to ask you what you were doing this morning, though frankly I would be entirely within my rights to do so, but if you keep bellowing and stamping and posing like a bull in the ring, I might change my mind. Denise is here as a favor to Wyatt. She doesn’t have to be here, she didn’t have to spend most of the morning listening to us, and she definitely doesn’t have to sit there and swallow you acting like a jackass. We barely have any allies in this as it is. Are you going to drive them off because they’re not you? Or maybe you have some better idea about who we should be talking to, some other contact who’s willing to come out here and work this through? Or are you just acting like this because Wyatt brought her, and you have some kind of hangup about Wyatt right now? More than usual, that is?”

Flynn flinches. He opens his mouth, then shuts it. Finally, he says, “I – I didn’t – ”

“Just don’t.” Lucy feels incredibly tired, in a way far deeper even than the first-night fatigue of dealing with a baby. “Either answer her questions like a human being, or tell her to go, if you’re somehow so sure we can do this without any outside help at all. For the record, I don’t think we can. But you’re the expert here, aren’t you?”

Flynn flinches again. A dawning awareness crosses his face that yes, he done fucked up, and he looks at the floor. Finally he says, “I’m sorry.”

“Thank you.” Lucy isn’t going to hold out to punish him more, tempting as it might be, because that would go against what she just told him to do. “These people are on our side. Don’t lash out at them just because our enemies aren’t yet in reach.”

She sees a sigh shudder through him from head to heel. Again, quietly, he says, “I’m sorry, Lucy. I didn’t – I never meant to hurt you.”

“I know.” Lucy steps closer and rests her hands on his chest, as his arms come around her waist. The usual way they find themselves standing when they’re close, tucked up in two neat halves. “I’m just – I’m worried sick, my mother just betrayed me, we have a newborn, and we’re trying to launch an investigation into these evil people, and those are only our somewhat ordinary problems. I need you to be there for me, Garcia. I need you. If any one man in the world could fight Rittenhouse, it’s you, but…” She stops. “Lily and I need you to be more than the soldier, all right? We need you. Just remember that. With what we’re doing, there can be secrets, but there can’t be lies. Not between us. All right?”

Flynn hesitates, then nods. Reaches up with one hand, takes hers, and raises it to his mouth to kiss her fingers. “I don’t think either of us want a fancy wedding,” he says gruffly. “Though if you do, we can work it out. Still, even if it’s just at the courthouse, I want to properly marry you.  That is, if you – ”

“Me too.” It’s not a very traditional proposal, though they’re far from a traditional couple, but Lucy feels a smile wide enough to hurt her face starting to spread across it. “I – I want it. Very much. Now can we go back and finish talking to Denise properly?”

Flynn nods, bends down to kiss her quickly, and that’s it, that’s all the discussion they need. They walk back to the kitchen, where everyone looks slightly thrown by the delighted grins – they definitely were not expecting for Lucy to drag Flynn off in trouble and them to then return engaged – but decides not to ask. Flynn sits down and answers (most of) Denise’s further questions in a markedly more conciliatory tone, as Wyatt catches Lucy’s eye and is clearly very curious to know what happened there. Lucy mouths later, goes to the living room to check on Lily and Amy, and glances occasionally at the kitchen to see if she needs to run interference. Amy, spotting her face, says, “That’s not exactly the expression I thought you were going to have, to be honest.”

“I… told him off. It felt good.” Lucy shrugs awkwardly. “And we decided to actually get married, so there was that.”

Amy snorts. “Deciding to get married in between an argument about the best way to take down Rittenhouse? Sounds like you two.”

“I guess.” Lucy thinks of Noah’s first proposal, which checked all the romantic boxes: sunset on the beach, champagne, rose petals in the picnic basket and a ring tied with a tulle ribbon. Sweet speech that started off with how some author or poet had once defined love, and explaining how she fit that for him. It was nice and he had clearly put thought into it, and she felt very bad about turning him down. Saying that she really liked him, but they were still young, and it felt early. He took it as best as he could, and they sat awkwardly side by side without talking much for the rest of the night. Tried to stay in the relationship for a few more weeks after that, but a failed marriage proposal is kind of a sign that you aren’t on the same page, and they decided to go their separate ways. God, that feels like forever ago. Looking back on herself, trying to get back together just because she didn’t want to be lonely, makes Lucy feel vaguely embarrassed. And yet, a little frightened. Her relationship with Flynn is nothing like her relationship with Noah; she knows beyond a doubt that whatever time she has, she wants to be with him. But what if she ends up alone anyway? Or worse.

Fine, Lucy tells herself. She’s a big girl, an independent woman, she can live without a man. She’s certainly not wishing she picked Noah just because he might have a longer shelf life, and she doesn’t have any regrets. Anything she can do to tie herself and Flynn more concretely together, another reminder to the universe that they’re supposed to be this way, they chose it and they’ll keep it, also seems appealing. As he said, they don’t need fuss. Her mother was the one who envisioned a big white wedding. A courthouse ceremony is fine.

Hearing the interview winding down, Lucy gets up and goes back into the kitchen, as Denise is shutting her notepad and thanking Flynn for his cooperation in a still slightly pointed tone. As she’s reaching for her bag, she thinks of something, and glances at Lucy. “Your mother is Carol Preston? Former Stanford professor of women’s history, Carol Preston?”

“Yes.” Lucy grimaces. “As I said, she… can’t be trusted.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Denise unzips her purse and puts her things in. “I’ve read all your mother’s books, I very much enjoyed them. She shaped a lot of my thinking. I know it’s nothing to compare to what you must feel, but it’s disillusioning for me as well.”

“She… shaped a lot of my thinking too.” Lucy’s throat feels raw. So much of who she is, for better or for worse, as a woman, a scholar, an academic, is filtered through Carol’s lenses. They’ve been things Lucy has liked about herself for a long time. Even when her leave ends, can she just go back to Stanford and continue in that legacy? It feels like it would be very difficult to set foot in those hallowed halls again, much as she loves them, and keep pretending that she doesn’t know what she now knows. As if she already knows that she can’t go back. To that life, or that job, or that person, or that home.

Denise shakes their hands, tells them that she’ll try to see if she can pull anything solid out of it, and she and Wyatt leave. Once they’re gone, Lucy checks that Lily doesn’t need anything, then shuts the kitchen door and turns to Flynn. “Okay. Where did you go this morning?”

Flynn grimaces. “I thought you said you weren’t going to ask?”

“Yes,” Lucy says. “I know. And if there’s some very good reason you can’t tell me, I won’t ask again. But if it wasn’t getting the backup Rittenhouse evidence, then… where?”

There’s a long pause as Flynn leans against the counter, arms crossed. As usual, he looks too big for the room. Finally he says, “I was testing information.”

“What information?”

“Last night.” Flynn sounds reluctant, but he is keeping his promise not to lie to her. “I got a strange call, that’s why I got up. I don’t know who it was on the other end, it was scrambled, but it told me that the name I was looking for was Wes Gilliam. Repeated it several times to make sure I had it, then cut off. I don’t even know if it was a real person, it didn’t sound like one. I assume that the name is the one I promised Wyatt. About who is responsible for his wife’s disappearance.”

“Wes Gilliam?” Lucy blinks. “Is that who you were looking into?”

“Yes,” Flynn says. “I’m not some local cop. I still have my sources, my strings to pull, even without the safe house. Wes Gilliam is currently in jail in San Diego, he’s responsible for killing at least two other women. The blood at the crime scene that wasn’t Jessica’s, it was his. He wasn’t in prison when she went missing, so at least theoretically, he could have killed her. But they found the bodies of Gilliam’s other two victims, partially dressed and – ” He pauses briefly. “Sexually abused. They still haven’t found any trace of Jessica. It’s not quite his modus operandi. So I’m still not entirely sure.”

“But it’s a name,” Lucy says. Thinks of Wyatt’s anger earlier, that he’s been boxed in like this and is desperate to do something, anything, to put an end to the hellish limbo. Even possibly stealing a time machine, at which he might well agree with Flynn that that is the only way. “We promised him some kind of lead, any lead. We’re using too many people, Garcia. We can’t just take what we want and give nothing back.”

“If we do give this to him, though.” Flynn restlessly pushes off the counter. “What does he do, huh? What does he do? Probably quits the Rittenhouse investigation on the spot and goes AWOL. He knows about the time travel now, knows that just killing Gilliam won’t solve the Jessica mystery. I don’t think he’ll stop there.”

“You’re not really one to talk about going AWOL,” Lucy points out. “Or quitting investigations to take up others.”

Flynn shrugs. “I’ve been going back and forth,” he says, after a long moment. “Whether we need Wyatt or not. But for now, unavoidably, we do. I can’t give him this information and tell him to sit peaceably and not do anything with it. It’s sure as hell not what I would do, and I’m not a hypocrite. I promised it, I intended to follow through. I still do. But if we give it to him now, and he runs off and fucks everything up, then – ”

“It’s his wife.” Lucy feels obligated to emphasize the fact that Wyatt wouldn’t exactly be ditching them to run off and hit the Strip in Vegas. “And he did hold up his end of the bargain. If he hadn’t – ”

“Rittenhouse might have scrubbed my records anyway,” Flynn counters. “It’s what they wanted, for me to stay here and in sight. So no matter what he did, they might not have come us for the sake of – ”

“We can’t do that.” Lucy puts her hands on the counter and turns to him. “We can’t play the what-if game. That’s exactly what they’re doing, that’s what is going to get us into trouble. I don’t care if things could have turned out differently or Wyatt could have done more or literally anything else. He did do that. We owe him what we promised.”

There’s a brief silence as they stare at each other. Then Flynn says, “Fine. You’re right. We should tell him. But not over the phone, and not for him to go off and do something stupid. I’ll drive over to his and Rufus’ apartment and tell him in person, try to get ahead of it as much as I can. I don’t think he knows the first damn thing about the details of the time travel part, but it won’t surprise me if that’s what he wants to try. He might also want to go to San Diego and interrogate Gilliam first. Could be I can work that angle for some kind of clue as to whether Gilliam himself is Rittenhouse, or just a useful fall guy.”

“So you’re only agreeing to tell Wyatt because you think you can mine the situation for intel?” Lucy isn’t sure she should be surprised. “Never just about altruism for you, is it? About doing the right thing?”

Flynn shrugs. “Altruism without pragmatism is always what gets the heroes fucked. I don’t care about playing by anyone’s milquetoast rules, especially right now. I’m going to tell him, but I need to keep an eye on him and see if I can work out why Rittenhouse gave us that name now. It had to have been them somehow, it’s not an accident. They’re pulling something with it, whether to separate Wyatt from the investigation or otherwise trip us up. Will you and Amy be all right for a few days?”

Lucy bites her lip. “I’m sure we can manage taking care of Lily, yes. But anything else. . .”

“Do you still have the gun I bought for you?”

Chest tight, she nods.

“Get it. Keep it somewhere you can access it easily, just in case. I don’t think Rittenhouse is coming after you here, not if they’re occupied with getting the time machine ready to hurt us more permanently, but I won’t take any chances. I’ll try to keep Wyatt from botching this too badly, but if he does – ”

“What?” Lucy raises both eyebrows. “Knock him over the head and stuff him into a broom cupboard?”

“Something like that.” Flynn is unfazed. “I feel like Rittenhouse is counting on him turning against us, or just dropping out of the hunt, but we’ll see. I also need to ask Rufus more about the technical capabilities of the machines. But when I get home, let’s go and get married, eh? Run down to the courthouse. Whatever else happens, I want you to be my wife. Rittenhouse may very well try, but I don’t think they can truly take that away from us.”

Lucy looks at him, as ever struck by how he can move from coldly talking tactics and strategy, the best way to work through what is undoubtedly a Rittenhouse manipulation of some sort, and with very little regard for Wyatt’s feelings on the matter, to telling her that she is the most important thing in the world to him, and literally all of time and space cannot take that away. She pauses, then steps forward, raises herself on her tiptoes, and kisses him. “I want to be your wife too,” she says, when she pulls away. “I love you, Garcia. So just – whatever you’re going to do, whatever you have in mind, whatever you think is necessary – remember that, all right? Remember that.”

He looks down at her with all the tenderness in the world, overflowing from his eyes and face and soul. “I love you too, Lucy,” he says. “And I believe that we can defeat Rittenhouse, we can save each other, and our daughter, and our family. Get the gun, eh? Get the gun. Then I’ll see you soon.”

Lucy doesn’t want to. As if she holds back on this one thing, she can stop the planet from turning, hold it in place with her bare hands, make time stand still, and nothing else would ever have to happen. The future would not rush at them like a freight train, the past would never seem so terribly unsteady, and the present would stay as it was, just this, just them. But she has to and she gets it, and Flynn kisses her one more time, ferociously. Then he picks up Lily and kisses her too, and closes his eyes as if to wish the tears out of existence, because his gaze is cool and focused when he opens them. And he says goodbye, and he goes.

It's mostly a quiet afternoon after that. Amy and Lucy sit on the couch watching more nineties movies again, Lily snoozing on Lucy’s chest (she seems to mostly be willing to go back to sleep once the immediate needs have been attended to, which is all you can really ask for in a baby). Her tiny hand is curled on Lucy’s shirt collar, her little body molded soft and boneless into Lucy’s as if she’s still part of it, and Lucy kisses her fuzzy dark head and strokes her back, joggling her absently. They finish up with Hook and to continue the Spielberg theme, are about to start E.T., when Lucy’s phone rings.

Startled, Lucy pushes herself upright with one hand and reaches for it. It’s Rufus, which surprises her for some reason. No reason it should, though. “Hello? Rufus?”

“Hey.” He sounds terse and abstracted. “Lucy, do you have a minute? I need – I need to tell you something.”

She frowns. “Is everything all right? Are you at work?”

“I – yeah, I’m at work, but…” Rufus hesitates, as if trying to gin himself up for something, and then it spills out in a rush. “Lucy, Connor made me spy on you for Rittenhouse. I didn’t want to do it, I’m not sure I even realized what it was for, but – I did. I did it. I’ve had a recorder in my pocket, it’s been picking up all our conversations through until the last time I was at your house. I had to turn it over to Connor last night, he said that if I didn’t, the consequences would be. . . it’s not an excuse, I did it anyway, but. . .”

“What?” Lucy’s chest clenches into a cold fist. “Rufus – what are you – what are you saying?”

“I spied on you,” Rufus repeats, agonized. “For Rittenhouse. Everything I was around for when we talked about it, they know it now. Lucy, I am so sorry. I can’t begin to make it right. You invited me into your hospital room, to your house, and I. . .”

Lucy can’t answer. Her throat has closed as well, and she can hear ringing in her ears, as she slides Lily off her chest and hands her to Amy, then gets up and walks into the kitchen hallway. “I trusted you,” she says, half wonderingly, half because nothing else seems to come to mind, nothing that she can get her tongue around. Extended Rufus access on Wyatt’s account, knows in the back of her head that he would not have had a choice, if Rittenhouse (whether via Connor Mason or otherwise) knew that these meetings were happening and needed to insert a mole on them. She half-wonders if Rufus is recording her right now, waiting for her to blurt out something he might not know – does he know about the Gilliam thing? That was after he left, and as far as she knows, she’s the only person Flynn told. And yet. Logical considerations, the rule and reason of her life, have flown directly out the window. In a croak, she repeats, “I trusted you.”

“I’m sorry.” Rufus sounds even more anguished. “I – I couldn’t live with not telling you, and I – Lucy, I needed to warn you. If Rittenhouse knows about what Flynn was – is – planning to do, then – ”

“I need to call him.” All at once, Lucy realizes sickeningly, if Rittenhouse already knew what Flynn was planning when they called to give him Wes Gilliam’s name last night, that could have been the final piece in their puzzle. However they were expecting him to react, whatever they wanted – she wants to shout at Rufus, even though she knows he’s much a victim here as the rest of them, but there is not time for that. “I’ll – talk to you in – later.”

With that, she hangs up and dials with shaking fingers, praying to every higher power she knows for Flynn to pick up. As she does, she unlocks the drawer and pulls out her gun, wondering if the time is about to come to use it in earnest. The phone’s still ringing, but he’s not answering, it’s like a nightmare where everything has stretched out and turned slow. She doesn’t even know if it’s only been a few rings, because every gap between her heartbeats is taking a thousand years. Jesus, Jesus –

And then, there’s a crash from the living room. Sounds like breaking glass from the patio door, as Lucy has to make a choice: gun or phone? Right now, with her sister and her daughter in danger while she can’t see them, and the knowledge that the trap is sprung, the culmination is complete, she doesn’t have time to think. Drops the phone, still spitting tinny echoes of its rings into the air, and runs back in, pointing the gun, as –

“Hello, princess.” Emma Whitmore looks almost amused to see her, standing in the rubble of the broken door. She’s holding Amy by the hair with one hand, as Amy is frantically clutching a screaming Lily, and twisting a heavy gun into her temple with the other. “Caught up with hubby dearest the other day, but I’ve been looking forward to seeing you. First, you’ll want to put that down, unless you want both of them to die. And then – well. We have a lot of unfinished business. I think it’s time to take a ride.”

[atrashmouthsed]

Part of Your World

The Little Mermaid (Klance)

*aye here I am back at it again with another one shot while slowly dying inside. Originally this was just supposed to be the ‘Kiss the Girl’ scene from The Little Mermaid, but I figured why not add the scenes leading up to that one? As always please do not repost without credit. Special thank you to @keithkogayne for yelling at me to actually write this, and @sir-klancelot for help with this idea in general! And to all my other’s who gave me support!!*

*Also PS! This is merely here for feedback. I may take this down depending on how I want to continue this. I have now added the keep reading option.* 

— The sea was full of life. Lance liked to believe that the stories he heard about mermaids were real, but his efforts were futile in actually finding them. Lance was a prince! At least that’s what Hunk kept saying. Hunk didn’t understand Lances fascination with the inhabitants of the sea (especially the mermaids) and tried to remind Lance that he had more important things to attend to. Lance would always brush Hunk off, saying that he knew that but always giving a ‘what if?’ Hunk knew he would never win that fight, so instead he’d simply sigh and escort Lance off to something important. But every time, Lance would look back to the ocean and wonder what was really going on down there. And if he would ever get to meet a mermaid someday.

If only he knew.

— The kingdom of Aquatica was bustling as tonight was the special performance. It was Queen Allura’s birthday and her seven sons were coming together to sing for one night only to celebrate. If only everyone could be as excited about the hustle and bustle.

The theater was packed to the brim and soon the lights went dim. Allura, always one for something dramatic and sparkly, arrived wearing her shiniest top and pulled along by the most purebred dolphins the sea could offer. Everyone awed and clapped as their queen took her place at the box seat up in the far corner. Soon after the maestro arrived.

Pidge, a unique crab the color of kelp green, was an absolute wreck. Being the royal court composer this would be the biggest show of her career just because she was dealing with the Queens sons. One small slip up could ruin any further chance of a promotion and she started sweating. Hearing the applause as she arrived, she gave small waves and proceeded to quickly head down to the podium. Looking behind her she saw Allura give a reassuring nod and smile; Pidge tried to smile back but was sure she looked like she was sending an S.O.S.

Finally at the podium, Pidge got out of her small shell carriage and pulled the music sheets out. Looking at the band she took a deep breathe and with a small wave the performance was off.

Everything was going perfectly and Pidge almost smiled contently. But then the sons started singing, and when they introduced their youngest brother and the greatest singer, he wasn’t in his shell. Pidge almost fainted.

Everyone gasped in worry while the sons looked scared. Pidge didn’t even have to look at Allura, she could feel her fury a mile away.

“KEITH!!!”

— Keith poked his head out from behind a small sunken ship and smiled. “Come on Shiro were almost there!” Shiro, Keith’s best friend and a flounder fish, painted and shook as they neared the abandoned sucken ship.

“Keith are you sure we should be doing this? It looks scary and dangerous.” Keith laughed a little as he arrived in front of the ship. “You could always turn back you know?” Finding a small window to go through Keith went in. “And leave you alone? I don’t think so.” Keith laughed again as he made his way through the ship.

Keith had always been fascinated with the world of humans. Their inventions were so weird and different that Keith couldn’t help but love them. Shiro was against all involvement with humans and their stuff, but somehow he always found himself in these situations.

After a few minutes of exploring and finding a weird thing with a skinny handle and three small needle things at the top, Keith decided they should head to Coran for advice. Good thing too, because right at that moment a shark came.

Shiro screamed and Keith quickly grabbed him and started swimming away. Sharks weren’t common near Aquatica, but out in the open ocean it was anyone’s playing field.

Deluding the shark and eventually getting him stuck in an anchor, Keith and Shiro swam towards the surface to find Coran’s post. Shiro was still skeptical of him, but Keith liked him so that was that.

— Coran spent his days basking in the sun rays while hopefully catching food here and there. The frequent visits from Keith were the highlight of his life. How they met he could never remember, but he’s glad they did. “CORAN! HEY!” Speaking of Keith. Grabbing his telescope Coran looked out onto the water. “LOOK OUT MERMAID AHEAD! HOW YOU DOING KID?” Bringing his telescope down Coran stepped back a bit as Keith and Shiro were right in front of his face. “Wow what a swim! Okay then what you got for me?”

Keith pulled out the strange looking thing and handed it to Coran. “Well look at this! Haven’t seen one of these in ages. YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS?” Coran shoved the thing in Shiro’s face and Shiro swam back a bit mumbling a no. “ITS A DINGLEHOPPER! Yeah humans use these babies to do their hair.” Coran demonstrated. “See like that! Sometimes I see them at these Uhm dances or whatever. Humans are strange indeed.”

Keith froze for a second. “Dances. MUSIC! OH NO THE SHOW! THAT WAS TODAY! I HAVE TO GO! BYE CORAN!” Grabbing his stuff Keith quickly dove back in the water, Shiro quickly following after. “Bye Keith! That boy is something.” As Keith swam home as fast as he could, he missed two very strange looking eels watching him from under a rock. — In a dark hole, a powerful witch watched the young prince through the eyes of his minions. “Yes, run home to mummy. Wouldn’t want to upset her on her special day now would we?” A hand reached out from the darkness and grabbed a shrimp. “Hmph, back in my day we had grand feasts. Now look at me, withering away to nothing. Banished and forced to live in the boons.” Stepping out completely from the darkness, the man walked over to the middle of his “room” per day. “Haggar! Sendak! Keep a close eye on the little prince. He may be our key to Queen Allura’s undoing.” — “WHERE WERE YOU? DO YOU UNDERSTAND HOW HUMILIATED I WAS WITH YOUR NO SHOW?!” Keith winced as Allura continued to yell at him. “AND PIDGE’S ENTIRE CAREER IS BEING QUESTIONED THANKS TO YOU!” Keith looked over and saw Pidge was giving him a very severe stink eye. Sighing, Keith spoke up.

“I’m sorry! I forgot!” Allura raised her eyebrow at him, not buying it for a moment. “We didn’t mean to be out so long my Queen. See there was a shark and then we visited Coran-” Keith covered Shiro’s mouth before he could continue any further.

“Coran? Oh cuttlefish, you were out exploring the sunken ships again were you?! Keith how many times do I have to tell you not go near those things? And coran? That blasted bird. Feeding you information on the humans.” Keith almost rolled his eyes. This was maybe the fiftieth time him and his mother had had this conversation. “I don’t see what’s so bad about the humans! They have such amazing things!” Allura took a deep breath. “Keith I’m not going to explain myself to you. But you should at least see the major difference between the humans and us. We are mermaids and mermen. We live in the ocean and protect the creatures down here. Humans are the opposite. They live on land and litter our floors with their inventions. And they hunt the very creatures we protect. You must at least understand that!”

Keith huffed. He didn’t want to deal with his mother right now. “So as punishment I forbid you to go near the surface or the ship wreckages ever again!” Keith went wide eyed. “Mom this isn’t fair!” Allura glared at him. “Don’t talk back to me. The punishment is final and this talk is over!” Keith wanted to say more but Allura left no room for argument. So instead he fought back the tears and swam out of his mothers throne room and into the open ocean.

— Lance sighed as Hunk went on about some hunt he recently just came back from. The night was warm and windy, and Lance wished so desperately to be on the beach admiring the stars in peace.

“Lance! Hey are you even listening to me?” Lance shook his head. “Sorry Hunk just got lost in thought. Isn’t this a bit extravagant for a birthday?” Hunk spluttered in response. “Extravagant? Nonsense! You love the ocean right? What better way to celebrate then on a ship in the ocean? Now come one play something or at least drink. Sitting here sulking doesn’t look good for your reputation.” Lance sighed and pulled out his flute. Once he started playing he actually felt a bit better and happier.

— Keith swam up to the surface after seeing a lot of bright lights dance across the top. Shiro swam close behind him while constantly saying how bad of an idea it was to swim to the surface so soon after his punishment. “Shiro shush I have to see this.”

Poking his head out of the water, Keith was met with a huge ship that was the source of the bright lights. Smiling he started swimming closer. “KEITH MY BOY! SOME NONSENSE AM I RIGHT?” Keith merely kept swimming closer, ignoring Coran. Making it to the boat Keith saw an opening in the side. Pulling himself up a bit he looked inside.

Humans were everywhere. Keith almost screamed in excitement at the sight in front of him. It seemed to be a celebration of some sort as everyone was dancing and playing music. Keith scanned the crowd and did a sort of hopping motion to the music. Keith stopped though once he saw one particular individual.

In all honesty Keith hadn’t seen many humans, but he was sure he saw the most beautiful one to ever exist. The man was currently playing something silver and skinny. His skin was a perfect tan tone, (it almost reminded him of his mothers) his hair was short and brown, his eyes could make even the bluest ocean jealous, and his smile, oh his smile, it made Keith weak.

“Keith? What are you looking at?” Coran peered in trying to get a look. “Have you ever seen a more perfect human?” Shiro kept jumping out of the water to get a peek but was failing. “I don’t know, some of them have weird skin.” Keith giggled a bit. “No not them, him.” Pointing towards the tanner one of the entire group, Coran gasped. “Oh he’s different then all I’ve seen. Not bad I’d say.” Keith folded his arms and rested them on the edge, staring contently at this human who was slowly taking his heart.

— Everything took a turn for the worst in a matter of seconds. Keith had felt it first, being a merman and all. The wind started to pick up, the clouds got darker, and the waves got bigger and bigger. A storm was coming, a very nasty storm. Keith held onto a long skinny thing that was hanging off the side of the boat as he heard everyone on board yelling to do different things. Soon lighting and thunder started cracking and booming across the sky and Keith tightened his grip as the ship began rocking violently, but lost his grip when a large gust of wind took him by surprise. Just as he hit the water a large lightning strike hit the ship and everything was on fire. — Lance could see nothing but blurry bodies and water. Everything was going too fast and his only priority at the moment was getting his crew off the ship. Yelling at everyone to get in a lifeboat, a large blast of lighting hit the ship and everyone was thrown off. Lance quickly swam to the surface and heard hunk yelling for him. Looking around, Lance didn’t hear Hunk yelling for him to watch out as at that exact moment a piece of debris came down and hit him in the head.

— Keith swam around the pieces of wreckage as he tried to look for anyone who might need help. Swimming around some more he saw that one human start sinking down with blood slowly trickling out from his head. Quickly swimming over to him Keith hoisted him up by his waist and started swimming towards shore.

Making it in record time, Keith pulled the human out of the water and onto the beach; grabbing some seaweed in the process. Not very many people in Aquatica got injured but in case someone did everyone was trained in knowing what to do. Keith hoped humans would react the same way merpeople did.

Making the seaweed into a squishy ball, Keith pressed it into the humans forehead. Keeping pressure Keith admired the human since he was so up close.

“KEITH! THERE YOU ARE MY BOY! ARE YOU OKAY?” Coran yelled as he flew down and landed next to the human. “Is he dead? I can’t really see him breathing.” Coran hummed as he went down the humans feet and brought a foot up to his head. “Oh, I can’t make out a heartbeat.” Keith was about to say something but then the human started stirring. “Coran! He’s alive!” Bringing his hand up to the humans face, Keith started to sing, not noticing the arrival of Shiro and someone else.

As Keith continued singing, Te human slowly opened his eyes to the sight of a very bright yet beautiful man. Smiling a bit, the human brought his hand up to the one on his face. “LANCE? LANCE ARE YOU OVER HERE?” Keith quickly stopped singing and was gone before the other human came.

— Keith was on cloud nine all morning. His brothers were in complete shock as Keith swam around all aloof and sang some tune non of them knew. As he was swimming Keith bumped into his mother and giggled a bit. “Good morning mother!” Placing a small kiss on her cheek, Keith swam away.

“Well, what’s with him? Not that I’m complaining.” Looking at her sons, her eldest spoke up. “Isn’t it obvious mother? Keith’s in love.” Allura gasped. “My son? In love?” All six sons sighed in agreement.

— “He loves me! Mm he loves me not. He loves me! I knew it!” Keith giggled as he held the flower petal to his chest. “Keith! What are you doing here?” Keith turned over to see the little green crab swimming towards him. “Pidge! I’m in love!” The crab rolled her eyes. “Yes I’m aware. Poor Shiro had a heart attack after your troublesome activities last night. The storm freaked him out and he came to find me for help. Don’t know what he expected me to do, I’m a crab!” Noticing that Keith wasn’t even paying attention to her, Pidge swam in front of his face. “Hey! Are you even paying attention?” Keith laughed. “Sorry Pidge but I can’t stop thinking about him. I have to see him again! I’ll get Shiro and we’ll swim up to his castle. Shiro can splash around to get his attention and then-” Pidge abruptly cut off Keith.

“Keith stop. Keith listen to me, the human world? It’s a mess. Life under the sea is better than anything they got up there!” Pidge started singing and Keith honestly couldn’t be mad at her when she was so adorable and actually knew how to swim. During the middle of her song though, Shiro came along and whispered something in Keith’s ear. Smiling, Keith swam away with Shiro; no one noticing they left.

— Pidge groaned in frustration. Keith was gone (again) and she had no idea where she was. Sighing, Pidge decided to just take a small swim around to clear her head. “PIDGE! MISS PIDGE?” Turning around Pidge saw the royal messenger seahorse swim towards her. “Yes?” The messenger caught his breath first before speaking. “Queen Allura has been asking for you. Says it’s really important. Something about Keith.” Pidge almost fainted. She knows.

— “Shiro! Oh come on can’t you just tell me where your taking me?” Shiro laughed a little. “No can do Keith. It’s a surprise!” Keith rolled his eyes but decided to keep following Shiro. Soon Shiro stopped swimming and spun around. “Ta-da!” Keith looked over Shiro and gasped. They were at the wreckage sight from last night. “Oh my gosh! Shiro this is amazing! All the things I could find here! What if I find something that’s his?” Shiro just motioned for him to go explore. “Just make sure not to say anything to my mom next time we’re late for something.”

“Don’t tell me what exactly?” Keith felt his stomach drop. Turning around he saw his mother and Pidge looking very scared and sorry. “Mother! It’s not what it looks like.” Nice one Keith. “Oh I think it’s exactly like what it looks like. I thought I told you to never go near ship wreckages ever again?” Keith looked to the side. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with you Keith! This is getting out of hand! And you saved a human above all things too!” Keith looked back at his mother. “He was going to die! I couldn’t just let him! I had to do something.”

Allura sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Why not? One less human to worry about. It would’ve been a blessing if he died!” Keith shook his head. “Mother I love him!” Allura gasped. “No. Keith this is too far! Your a merman, he’s a human! It’s forbidden!” Keith puffed his chest out a bit. “I don’t care!” Allura growled, her trident glowing in reaction to her anger. “Keith, so help me I will get through to you if it’s the last thing I do!” Looking around at the wreckage sight Allura knew what she had to do. “And if this is the only way to do it. Then so be it.”

Keith was stunned for a split second as he saw his mother bring her trident in front of her and it glowed brighter then before. Bringing it down it shot out a bright beam and destroyed a bundle of wreckage. “Mom! Stop! What are you doing?!” Keith’s cries went unheard as Allura continued to destroy certain parts of the wreckage. Keith tried to grab her arm or something, anything, but she was a strong woman and barley moved an inch. Scanning what was left, Allura looked at the massive ship. “Mom! No!” A bright blast filled Keith’s vision and soon it was all gone. Everything was nothing but broken debris and Keith sank to the floor. Allura sighed and turned away, but not before giving a sad glance over at Keith’s limp form. Once she was out of ear shot, Shiro and Pidge swam over from their hiding places. 

“Keith? Keith, please I’m so sorry I didn’t mean-” Keith didn’t even look at Pidge when he cut her off. “Just go away please.” No emotion was in his voice. Pidge decide dit was the least she could do and started swimming away with Shiro when she heard swimming and two voices.

“Poor child” “Poor sweet child” “He has a very serious problem.” “If only there were something we could do.” “There is something.” Keith fidgeted a bit under these two very suspicious eels gaze. “Who are you?” One eel swam up to his face. “Don’t be scared.” “We represent someone who can help you.” “Someone who can make all your dreams come true.” The two eels hooked each other as they continued simultaneously. “Just imagine. You and your prince together, forever.” Keith shook his head. “I don’t understand.” The one eel with a glowing left eye spoke first. “Lotor has great powers.”

Keith’s heard the stories about Lotor and none of them were good. “But isn’t he a witch? I can’t, no I won’t! Just leave, go away!” Keith turned around and sat back down on the ground. The eels smirked and started swimming away. “Suit yourself.” “It was only a suggestion.” Whacking a piece of debris towards Keith they continued on their way.

Keith looked down at the debris and thought for a moment. “Wait!” They turned around. “Yes?”

—

Pidge paced back and forth as she contemplated what had happened. Shiro kept swimming in a small circle unsure of how Keith was doing. “Poor Keith. Do you think he’ll ever recover?” Pidge sighed. “I didn’t mean to tell! Allura just-” at that moment pidge saw Keith out of the corner of her eye start swimming away with two eels. “Oh no. Shiro come one we gotta stop him!” Shiro looked confused for a moment before catching sight of Keith and the eels.

Catching up to them, pidge grabbed Keith’s tala. “No Keith please stop! You can’t go with them! Lotor’s a demons!” Keith huffed. “Why don’t you just go tell my mother? You’re good at that.” Pidge winced at that but decided to keep following Keith with Shiro in tow.

—

Lotor’s lair was in a huge piece of coral that looked like the carcass of a giant monster. Steam poured out of every crevice and Keith shuddered at the mere sight of it. Stopping at the main entrance the eels beckoned him to continue, not caring about his discomfort.

As Keith continued to swim he looked on in horror at the garden of, well whatever they were, that littered Lotor’s entrance. Keith decided to ignore them but one latched around his hand and he gasped. Fighting for his hand he heard a voice.

“Come in. Come in my child. We mustn’t lurk in doorways, its rude. One might question your upbringing.” Keith got his hand free and froze a bit at the sight of Lotor. He had long white hair and purple skin. His tail wasn’t even a tail, it was that of an octopus. Keith didn’t really know what to do but swim a little closer and listen to him talk.

Lotor plopped himself at his makeshift vanity and put some product in his hair. “Now then. Your here because you have a thing for this human, this uh prince fellow. Not that I blame you, he is quite a catch isn’t he?” Lotor laughed a bit. “Well, angelfish, the solution to your problem is simple. The only way to get what you want is to become a human yourself.” Keith gasped. “You can do that?” Lotor smirked. Swimming over to Keith he continued.

“My dear sweet child, that’s what I do! It’s what I live for. To help unfortunate merfolk, like yourself! Poor souls with no one else to turn too.” Tracing Keith’s chin, Lotor smiled and then went over to his cauldron. Going on about his deeds, Keith learned that he did help others but at a price. Grabbing a piece of seaweed, Lotor hooked Keith close to him.

“Now, here’s the deal. I will make you a potion that will turn you into a human for three days. Got that? Three days.” Stopping in front of his cauldron Lotor grabbed Keith’s face and brought it close. “Now listen this is important. Before the sun sets on the third day, you need to get the prince to kiss you. But not just any kiss, the kiss of true love.” Bringing up a visual, Keith saw a silhouette of himself as a human. He smiled a bit.

“If he does kiss you before the sun sets, you’ll remain human permanently! If he doesn’t, you turn back into a mermaid and you belong to me.” Keith heard Pidge behind him scream no but the eels silenced her. Lotor cupped Keith’s face. “Have we got a deal?” Keith thought for a moment. “If I become human, I’ll never be with my mother or brothers again.” Lotor put his hand on his hip. “Thats right! But you’ll have your man! Hm life is full of tough choices innit?” Lotor laughed as Keith blushed a bit. Acting as if he realized something, Lotor swam around Keith again. “Oh and there is one more thing, we haven’t discussed the subject of payment! You can’t get something for nothing you know!” Keith fumbled over his words, “but I don’t have anything.” Lotor silenced him. “I’m not asking much! Just a token really a trifle! You’ll never even miss it. What I want from you is, your voice.” Keith was taken aback. “But without my voice how can I-” Lotor cut him off. “You’ll have your looks. Your pretty face! And dot underestimate body language! Ha!”

Lotor swam up to a cabinet and started sorting through ingredients. “The men up there don’t like a lot of blabber! They think a girl who gossips is a bore. Yes on land it’s much preferred for commoners not to say a word, and after all dear what is idle pradle for? Come on there not all that impressed with conversation! True gentleman avoid it when they can. But they dote and swoon and fawn on a foreigner whose withdrawn and if they hold a title they get a partner!” Throwing thugs Keith was clueless about into the cauldron, Lotor continued about poor unfortunate souls and getting him to sign a contract.

Pidge and Shiro looked on in horror as Keith signed his name and Lotor made it go away. Chanting a spell, Lotor took Keith’s voice in a single minute. With the payment given, Lotor laughed maniacally as Keith was turned into a human and started struggling to swim and breathe. Pidge and Shiro swam over an quickly got under Keith’s arms to help swim him up to the surface.

With Lotor’s laugh fading away, the trio soon broke to the surface with Keith coming up first and taking a huge gasp. Looking around the three saw a small glimpse of land and started heading towards it.

[jaeminlore]

Catch a Wave | Jeno

summary: baby go catch some rays on the sunny surf, and when you catch a wave you'll be sittin on top of the world words: 2.3k category: fluff, surfer!jeno, this is rlly soft i'll warn you now a/n: i had to look up celsius degrees for this story

Of all the ways you can think of spending your summer, it certainly isn't chauffeuring your younger cousin around Salos while she visits. Of course, her parents are paying you a decent sum for doing it — after all, you are giving up a month of your summer — but you can't tell if listening to her chatter twenty-four seven is really worth it.

Liv, at fourteen years old, is certainly the more outgoing of you two. She's already found a few locals her age to hang out with. Unfortunately, you still have to be there, chaperoning lamely while three girls chat about how hot the resort's lifeguard — Na Jaemin, your former classmate —  is.

You've decided awhile ago not to tell them that you've seen the same lifeguard passing secret kisses to someone under the pier. It was better to let them run their boy-crazy fantasies.

Besides, Jaemin was certainly not the only boy whose charm the girls have fallen for. They'd already gushed about Jisung, the cute and awkward biker that hangs out at the lemonade shop. Or Mark, the handsome yet completely awkward skater who always seems to be at the boardwalk.

But most importantly, they like Jeno, who offers surfing lessons at the university's private beach. They gush about him the most: the way his dark hair looks soft despite it's constant exposure to the salt water, the way his skin darkens under the hot sun, the way he speaks gently to everyone he had lessons with, encouraging them to do their best.

"Not to mention," Liv had interrupted one day, "he has abs. I mean, it's like a whole four-pack."

"Really?" you replied, turning a page of your mystery novel. "That's interesting."

"Apparently he's had, like, seven girlfriends this summer. He's like the island's bad boy."

You don't want to invalidate her most likely well-researched conclusions, but Lee Jeno as a bad boy? The boy who feeds stray cats on his way to school and gets flustered when people bring up his talent for surfing? The boy who attends shark rallies to fight against the stigma that all sharks are harmful? The boy who cuts plastic drink holders so dolphins won't get their snouts stuck? The boy who cleans the beach in his spare time? The boy who won't eat or drink from anything unless it can be recycled?

Mr. Reduce Reuse and Recycle as the island's bad boy?

"Oh?" you muse, holding in a giggle. You put your book down, because somehow the small girl in front of you is much more interesting than a murder house mystery. "Are you going to be his eighth girlfriend?"

Liv sticks her nose in the air. "I'm going to try."

"How are you going to do that? Follow him around the island?"

"No, I've convinced Dad to get me weekday surfing lessons, as long as you'll lend me your board."

Part of you laments yet another part of your day spent as a babysitter. The other part, however, thinks this is a show you certainly wouldn't want to miss.

☼

Liv's first lesson is the following morning, and she dresses in her matching bikini and rash guard, which looks quite adorable on her. She gets you to braid her hair, then somehow charms you into buying her an iced coffee.

Your only conclusion as to why she'd bring an iced coffee to a surfing lesson is that she thinks it'll make her look cool. Though, you're positive that the only way Jeno would only think coffee was cool is if it were in a biodegradable cup.

When you reach the small section of the beach where the lessons are, you spot a few other kids and teenagers trying their hand at the sport. Some are still practicing their wading ashore, while others are already riding waves.

You wish you were out there. The water looks especially welcoming today, and not to mention the sun is beating down at a sweltering thirty-nine degrees Celsius. Even just sticking your toes in the water would perhaps cure your desire to swim.

You don't want to complain. After all, Jeno does these lessons daily, and probably doesn't get to surf as much as he'd like. At least you'll get two months of summer to yourself when Liv is gone. Jeno is in this never ending loop of kids who watched Teen Beach Movie and think they're the next Tanner Danger.

Speaking of Jeno, he's a few yards away, eyes trained on a young boy who seems to be struggling to catch a wave. He looks deep in concentration, so much so that you pull Liv back from disrupting him.

This gives you a chance to study Jeno. Though you've seen him around school, this was quite possibly the first time you've truly noticed him.

He's wearing a black wetsuit, but it's unzipped halfway, so that the torso part hangs off his waist. His bare skin is paler than Liv described, almost as if it didn't quite know how to absorb the rays. Your eyes catch on his soft smile that grows inch by inch as the boy in the ocean finally manages to catch a wave. Jeno is suddenly whooping with joy, his toned arms rise high above his head as he shouts praises towards the boy.

Soon the boy is back on shore, surfboard tucked under his arm and a triumphant smile on his face. "I didn't eat sand this time!"

"You didn't!" Jeno shouts, wrapping an arm around the boy's neck and ruffling his hair affectionately. "I'm proud of you!"

The moment seems raw to you, and with heat creeping up your neck, you glance away. Sometimes there are exchanges you feel like you aren't meant to see, where people are far too vulnerable to be watched. This feels like one of these moments.

Trust Liv to not give a rip.

She grabs your wrist and pulls you down the beach until you're right in front of Jeno, staring at his surprised expression with a baffled one of your own.

"Y/n?" His voice is soft and baritone, and there's a surprised lilt in the back of his throat that makes you curious.

Your eyes drift to his beaded necklace, one you remember from his "save the sea turtles" campaign he started at school. The small turtle charm wetted from wood was a good thing to focus on when Jeno's eyes felt too intense. "Hi, Jeno. This is my cousin, Liv. She's here for surfing lessons."

"Oh!" Jeno brightens. He turns to Liv and greets her with an exciting smile. "Have your parents signed the consent forms?"

"Yeah," Liv bats her eyelashes at him and hands him the form. She makes sure to brush her fingers against his, which is a power move you're sure you would never have the courage to do.

Jeno reads over the form and gets Liv on a surfboard in no time, leaving you to mess around on your phone for an hour.

☼

"Wouldn't you like to surf with us?" It's Liv's fourteenth lesson, but she isn't the one inviting you. Instead, it's Jeno, with wet hair that curls over his eyes and a smile that could rival the sun.

Your eyes drift from his face to the ocean, where Liv is with another surfing instructor. Jeno's on his break, and he's taken to sitting with you during lunch. A half-eaten apple rests in his palm, turning brown from the oxygen. He takes lazy bites as he waits for your answer.

"Liv has my surfboard," you say. You turn off your phone and set it on your thigh, turning your full attention to the handsome boy beside you.

"How long have you surfed?"

You hum, "A few years. More for recreation than anything."

"Me too. I love it, but it's not my end goal." He turns to you with a shy smile, "I want to be a conservationist."

"Aren't you already?" You think of all the times he's advocated for the ocean and what lives in it. All the parties he passed up because he had to go clean up the beach.

Hues of pink spread across his shoulders and neck. "Ah," he rubs the back of his neck, "Thank you, but there's always ways to improve. I want to work on protecting sea turtles, and figure out ways to lessen pollution."

There's a certain feeling of pride one gets by listening to someone voice their passions. Like a wave — no pun intended — of love and hope that soars over your head and settles somewhere in the depths of your heart. That's what it feels like listening to him. That's what makes you fall in love.

Your revelation is stilted by Liv's loud cheers. She's finally caught a wave, and you're sure she's going to talk your ear off as soon as her feet hit the sand.

"You're off tomorrow, right?" you ask Jeno on impulse.

The sun makes the crown of his head seem to glow as he peeks up at you, palm over his brows to shield him from the sun. "Yeah, why?"

You feel nervous all of a sudden. "Maybe we could surf tomorrow morning? I heard the waves will be really good. Or if you're tired of surfing, we could get shaved ice. Or if you don't want to hang out with me at all—"

"Y/n," Jeno says, and the way he says it is gentle; kind. "I would love to hang out with you tomorrow. Meet me here at eight?"

"Yeah," you breathe, "okay."

"Good. It's a date."

☼

It's midday, and both you and Jeno are sitting astride your surfboards.

Jeno's board is covered with a strip of azure blue in the middle, and stenciled sea turtles patterned with white hibiscus flowers. It's beautiful, much like the boy who owns it.

You can't help but think Jeno deserves the most beautiful board on the island. And with the way the afternoon sun casts beams of light onto his face, spotlighting his straight nose and relaxed smile. When he cranes his neck and basks in the direct warmth, you feel as if you've caught yourself an angel.

Not that he is yours in any way, but just the fact that he's chosen to spend the day with you makes your mind churn with the possibility of something more.

As if he hears your thoughts, he turns to you with a curious gaze. "Would you like to get some shaved ice with me? My friend can get us a discount and I could walk you home while we dry off..?"

The more he talks, the redder your complexion becomes. Your heartbeat quickens, and you nearly forget to agree before you lay on your stomach and began paddling for shore. "Last one to the beach has to pay!"

"No fair! You got a head start!"

Despite his protests, Jeno makes it to the beach first. He pushes his bangs off of his face and holds his hand out for you to take.

His hand feels warm in yours. His palm is slightly calloused, but the way his thumb automatically brushes across your knuckles distracts you before you can mention it.

There's a small wooden cart parked on the beach, close to one of the boardwalk entrances. White paint peels off of the weather-ridden wood, but it's hardly noticeable when there's a giant rainbow umbrella over the entire thing. In chipped red paint, the cart reads "Rainbow Ice", and the fact that you can see the colored syrup bottles form a rainbow makes you think someone couldn't work here and ever be unhappy.

And you are right, because Chenle is perhaps the cheeriest boy you've ever met in your life. He doesn't just give you and Jeno a discount, he gives you free cones and pumps extra syrup onto each. You both get cherry, but Jeno mixes his with lemon syrup.

Then Jeno is walking you home, not holding your hand anymore since he needs both of his to eat his ice. But you're bumping shoulders with him every few steps, and neither of you seem to be complaining about the small shock of joy that runs through you every time your skin meets his.

Then you're both rounding the corner to your house, cones of ice forgotten and left in your neighbor's trash can.

Jeno stops, and so do you. "Y/n, I like you." He blurts it out, most ungracefully and very nearly comedic, like choking on a chunk of ice.

"Do you now?" You're giggling, and from humor or joy you aren't sure, but all you can do is laugh.

Jeno's bottom lip is tucked between his teeth. "Just let me know whether you like me back or not," he whines.

Your fingers are still sticky with cherry syrup, but neither you or Jeno seem to care very much as you cup his jaw and bring your lips up to meet him. His lips are soft, sweet and sour and oh so addicting, and you can't help but feel a small itch near your stomach when he lets out a deep sigh.

He walks back to the beach, mostly to collect both your surfboards from where he made Chenle hold them. You'd get yours in just a bit, after you changed and ate a proper lunch.

Liv stares at you as soon as you walk into the house, shivering from the influx of cold air. "What?"

"Was that Jeno? Did he come to see me?" she squeals, ignoring your denial to text her friends.

You bound up the stairs with a smile painted over your cherry-stained lips.

If only she knew.